I'm getting ready to head to Denver in a few hours to visit my family, and I'm definitely excited to be going. It's been 6 months since I've been home, and in that time, a lot has happened! My dad has gotten a new job after retirement. My sister got her Captain wings. My other sister took a new job. And my mother has dropped 22 lbs on Weight Watchers and has found new energy and new life. I can't wait to see how they are all doing.
To top this brief visit off, I will be doing the Danskin Denver sprint tri relay with my Mom and sister on Sunday. I reluctantly agreed to swim, seeing as how I have no shame in a bathing suit these days, while my mom is biking and sister is running. Mom walks the dog on a hilly 3-mile hike every day, but she didn't touch her bike until last week, when she went apesh*t (pardon my French, but it's serious here) and went on (3) 14-mile bike rides in a row. She's still sore and tired, but I'm pleased to say she is alive. Suffice it to say her 10-mile bike will surely be painful to endure, but hopefully it won't take her too long and she'll enjoy herself out there. Little sister is running the 5K. She's been diligent in her training, although she's had some difficulties with asthma and has finally turned a corner with her new inhaler. This is the sister that watched me do Pacific Coast last year. I'm trying to calm her down about Danskin, telling her that the atmosphere is far more relaxed than Pacific Coast, but she is still a nervous wreck.
So my hopes for this trip are a bit selfish. I hope to motivate my mother to continue down this new healthy lifestyle path and to become more involved in sports.....and I want my sisters to become addicted to triathlon so that when I finally move home, I'll get some training partners!
At any rate, I'm out for a few days. Will post the race report on Monday!
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Monday, June 23, 2008
Iron PS
She did it!
Coach is officially an Ironman.
In true Coach fashion, she hammed it up all the way down the finish chute and I could see her coming on Ironman Live for a mile away, it seemed. There was a party in Idaho last night, for sure. And judging by the look on her face crossing that finish line, there will be many more Coach watching parties in the future. :)
Congrats to all the other blogosphere finishers today, too. I tracked who I could, and it was great fun. Probably far more fun that actually doing the race, but you made me proud!
Coach is officially an Ironman.
In true Coach fashion, she hammed it up all the way down the finish chute and I could see her coming on Ironman Live for a mile away, it seemed. There was a party in Idaho last night, for sure. And judging by the look on her face crossing that finish line, there will be many more Coach watching parties in the future. :)
Congrats to all the other blogosphere finishers today, too. I tracked who I could, and it was great fun. Probably far more fun that actually doing the race, but you made me proud!
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Iron Sunday
All I can say this morning is, it's a glorious morning for triathlon!
And I am not racing.....
Today is Ironman Coeur d'Alene. A little race in Idaho that my Coach has spent the greater part of 2 years trying to get to, so she can put herself through a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and 26.2 mile run, all before the clock strikes midnight. (Technically the cutoff is 17 hours, so not sure what that really equates to) But because she is a MACHINE, I have so much confidence in her that by the end of tonight, I will be watching IM Live and crying like a baby when they say that she is an Ironman.
Anyway, thought I'd make an "Ode to the Crazy Coach" post. I know she's a tough cookie, and she will get there.....hopefully quickly. So that's my day today. Eating, and watching IM Live. It's a glorious day!
And I am not racing.....
Today is Ironman Coeur d'Alene. A little race in Idaho that my Coach has spent the greater part of 2 years trying to get to, so she can put herself through a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and 26.2 mile run, all before the clock strikes midnight. (Technically the cutoff is 17 hours, so not sure what that really equates to) But because she is a MACHINE, I have so much confidence in her that by the end of tonight, I will be watching IM Live and crying like a baby when they say that she is an Ironman.
Anyway, thought I'd make an "Ode to the Crazy Coach" post. I know she's a tough cookie, and she will get there.....hopefully quickly. So that's my day today. Eating, and watching IM Live. It's a glorious day!
Thursday, June 19, 2008
A Pictorial Journey Through Mayhem
I just couldn't resist adding pictures of the race this past weekend. There was something almost absurd about swimming in a murky, artificial brown lagoon surrounded by roller coasters and Ferris Wheels. I can't help myself!
Behold the swim start, where 100 women are loaded onto a narrow boat ramp and held, by noodle, until the gun goes off. If you are in the back of said wave, instantly add 2 minutes to your swim time:
Oh, and here's the best part. The finish! Except I really cannot explain the whole hands thing. I didn't realize I did this, but this is the 2nd finish where I have been documented to do this. It's not a "heck yeah, I finished the race and I am awesome!" finish. It's more like, 'thank freakin' goodness I am done!' You can see my rabbit in the foreground. She was in the wave in front of me and was the only person I wanted to beat in the race. Somehow I was content to just sit behind her for the entire race, because I'm.....lazy?!
Behold the swim start, where 100 women are loaded onto a narrow boat ramp and held, by noodle, until the gun goes off. If you are in the back of said wave, instantly add 2 minutes to your swim time:
Here is the course, before it got crowded. It swam a whole lot like 500 meters, but that's awfully hard to tell with all the traffic. Remember the boat ramp? Well, that's also the swim EXIT!
Ah, happier times. This is me on the bike. Suck it in and smile for the camera! Notice the full water bottles. No nutrition or liquid for me in this race. No sir! And I felt fantastic, so obviously this is a great strategy for sprint distance races.
Oh, and here's the best part. The finish! Except I really cannot explain the whole hands thing. I didn't realize I did this, but this is the 2nd finish where I have been documented to do this. It's not a "heck yeah, I finished the race and I am awesome!" finish. It's more like, 'thank freakin' goodness I am done!' You can see my rabbit in the foreground. She was in the wave in front of me and was the only person I wanted to beat in the race. Somehow I was content to just sit behind her for the entire race, because I'm.....lazy?!
And we cannot forget the team photo. Look at how big we are! I'm ashamed to say that even after all the name tag days and training sessions, I still don't know half the women who race with us. Maybe one day I'll get better with names. :) But this was our biggest team yet, and what a great place for the newbies to cut their teeth in the world of triathlon.
Now, wasn't that fun?!
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Disney Madness!
This morning was my first Danskin triathlon, and I have to admit, it is definitely one I will remember for years to come.
There's something very unique and slightly crazy about 1300+ women in the happiest place on Earth. Leaping into a man-made, brown-dyed "Paradise Bay" whilst listening to carnival midway tunes and spotting roller coasters and Ferris wheels is crazy enough....but add hundreds of flailing and half-drowning women, and you have a spectacle quite unlike any other on Earth.
I had a tough time finding a balance today between my competitive, die-hard spirit and my compassion for the women who were doing their first triathlon today to prove to themselves that they could do it. I was them three years ago. I know what they were going through and how hard their journey was. But I tasted blood and I wanted to race! Oh, it was difficult indeed.
The race started out with a 4:30am opening of the transition area. Yes, 4:30am. To prepare us for the first wave at 6am. Yes, this is abnormally early!!! I got an end cap and set up shop, then walked around and visited with my friends. Because I knew this would be a crazy race, I had no expectations other than "turn and burn." No stress. No nerves. I was pretty happy.
They moved us into a staging area in back of Disney's California Adventure, between the parking lot and the Paradise Pier area. We never saw the swim course until we were loaded onto the boat dock, three minutes before the swim start. We went off in waves of less than 100, every 3 minutes. I was fortunate enough to be in the front row of my wave, giving me a clean first 1/2 of the swim.
Unfortunately, the rest of the swim was a bit of a nightmare. Lots of people over on their backs breastroking, forming solid barriers that were quite difficult to maneuver around. I saw lots of people hanging on to longboards and noodles....far more than I was expecting. I got stuck behind a lot of these people and rather than swim over them or make them more miserable than they were, I just stood up and walked. Disappointing swim for me, but what can you do?
My bike was fantastic. I was 30th overall out of 1300+ women, and I just felt like I was flying out there. Bike handling is getting better, so I could accelerate in my turns and maneuver around people. I pushed pretty hard and although my legs were a little dead in the end, I felt phenomenal.
T2 was a pain in the rear. Forgot a sock, struggled with my Garmin, and pretty much lost my fight. I ran out of transition, then walked as I put on my hat, watch, and race belt. I then granny ran my 2 miles to the finish line. I was tired, and I just didn't think I could run any faster. In retrospect, this was wrong-- it was all mental! So I have quite a ways to go to get my run in shape, but it was respectable overall with an 8:59 min/mile average pace.
I ended up finishing 4th in my age group out of 135, and 34th overall in the competition. I was floored by how well I did, but frustrated that I didn't try harder because there was only one minute separating me from the 3rd place winner. Next time.....next time I'll conquer the mental demons and have a breathrough race.
Anyways, totally surreal venue and an overall good experience. A lot of women completed their first triathlon today and have jump-started a healthy lifestyle because of this race. How can that be a bad thing?!
There's something very unique and slightly crazy about 1300+ women in the happiest place on Earth. Leaping into a man-made, brown-dyed "Paradise Bay" whilst listening to carnival midway tunes and spotting roller coasters and Ferris wheels is crazy enough....but add hundreds of flailing and half-drowning women, and you have a spectacle quite unlike any other on Earth.
I had a tough time finding a balance today between my competitive, die-hard spirit and my compassion for the women who were doing their first triathlon today to prove to themselves that they could do it. I was them three years ago. I know what they were going through and how hard their journey was. But I tasted blood and I wanted to race! Oh, it was difficult indeed.
The race started out with a 4:30am opening of the transition area. Yes, 4:30am. To prepare us for the first wave at 6am. Yes, this is abnormally early!!! I got an end cap and set up shop, then walked around and visited with my friends. Because I knew this would be a crazy race, I had no expectations other than "turn and burn." No stress. No nerves. I was pretty happy.
They moved us into a staging area in back of Disney's California Adventure, between the parking lot and the Paradise Pier area. We never saw the swim course until we were loaded onto the boat dock, three minutes before the swim start. We went off in waves of less than 100, every 3 minutes. I was fortunate enough to be in the front row of my wave, giving me a clean first 1/2 of the swim.
Unfortunately, the rest of the swim was a bit of a nightmare. Lots of people over on their backs breastroking, forming solid barriers that were quite difficult to maneuver around. I saw lots of people hanging on to longboards and noodles....far more than I was expecting. I got stuck behind a lot of these people and rather than swim over them or make them more miserable than they were, I just stood up and walked. Disappointing swim for me, but what can you do?
My bike was fantastic. I was 30th overall out of 1300+ women, and I just felt like I was flying out there. Bike handling is getting better, so I could accelerate in my turns and maneuver around people. I pushed pretty hard and although my legs were a little dead in the end, I felt phenomenal.
T2 was a pain in the rear. Forgot a sock, struggled with my Garmin, and pretty much lost my fight. I ran out of transition, then walked as I put on my hat, watch, and race belt. I then granny ran my 2 miles to the finish line. I was tired, and I just didn't think I could run any faster. In retrospect, this was wrong-- it was all mental! So I have quite a ways to go to get my run in shape, but it was respectable overall with an 8:59 min/mile average pace.
I ended up finishing 4th in my age group out of 135, and 34th overall in the competition. I was floored by how well I did, but frustrated that I didn't try harder because there was only one minute separating me from the 3rd place winner. Next time.....next time I'll conquer the mental demons and have a breathrough race.
Anyways, totally surreal venue and an overall good experience. A lot of women completed their first triathlon today and have jump-started a healthy lifestyle because of this race. How can that be a bad thing?!
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Ready to Rumble!
Well, I'm back from Atlanta.
DURING:
And AFTER:
Apparently, in Atlanta, I run fast and swim like a drowning cat.
So although my training week was a bust, I have been reveling in the post Mud Run glory. I have to say that the race was the most fun I've ever had while running! My team of five was phenomenally funny, and I loved every second of being out on the race course, mud and all. I can't wait to do it again, but I'm glad my first time I didn't "race" it. So much pressure is off of you when you are racing under a team name and your results don't show up on a "record." :)
Here is the race, BEFORE:
DURING:
And AFTER:Glorious good times!!
This weekend is Danskin Disneyland. I'm not sure I'm at my peak. In fact, I gained 3 lbs in Atlanta (who couldn't--- they sneak butter into everything), so I am sure I'm slower than molasses. But I'm kind of excited about this race, because it seems a little on the "short" side. .35 mile swim (I'm thinking they'll be hard-pressed to get us to 500 meters), 10 mile bike, and 2.5 mile run, although I mapmyrun'ed the run and can't get more than 2.1. Anyway, this sucker is going to be fast and furious-- an all out puke fest! With the 6am start time, I'm thinking this will be an interesting race. My first Danskin, to boot, and the water is excruciatingly warm, so it'll be my first non-wetsuit race. I guess it's gonna be slow for me?
Anyway, stay tuned for the race report......more good times to come.
It's good to be home!
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Distractions
I've been negligent on this blog for a few weeks now. I'm not quite sure why, but I suppose a lot has to do with the fact that I'm just not terribly interesting. I'm not training for something exciting like an Ironman. I'm just boring old me.....and even that bores me at times.
This past week has been pretty distracting. I turned another year older and hubby and I celebrated our second wedding anniversary. Along with those celebrations came a cake binge eating weekend and a night of fondue excess. Seriously, you could roll me through my next triathlon at this point.
I've been taking 2 days off a week, which makes me feel more lazy than anything else. I'm just having trouble keeping the aches and pains away. I don't like to work through them, but it takes me two days to recover from a swim, 2 days to recover from hill repeats on the bike, 3 days from a long run.... Well, you get the point. I'm barely still functioning, and I have to baby this big ol' body of mine.
Tonight, I was supposed to do a 5 mile trail run race. But my training plan called for 4 aerobic miles...... Since I know myself and know that I cannot be memorialized forever as slow because I did a race in my aerobic zone, I opted to run on a local trail closer to home....for free. And I sucked big time. It was good for the first two miles, and then I turned around and it all went to hell. Hip flexors ached, my heart rate skyrocketed, and I just could not settle. All I wanted to do was cry!! It's been so long since I've had a horrid run like this-- I suppose I was due for one with all my recent breakthroughs. But why now?? Argh. I'm just going to try to forget about it and blame it on the sodium overkill from my lunch of tortilla soup at a horrid local Mexican restaurant.
Saturday, I have been asked to substitute for a team member in the Camp Pendleton Mud Run. It's a 10K, with obstacles I've only seen in Full Metal Jacket. Oh, and hot marines to hose you off. While I can deal with the latter, I'm quite frankly a little concerned about the rest of it!! But my team has a weaker link than I, so hopefully that means we'll just keep chugging along and it won't be too difficult. I suppose I am actually more concerned with what to wear. Our "uniform" is a puffy-painted wife beater and men's underwear. Yeah, you tell me how that's going to stay on in the mud run. :)
Next Sunday is the Danskin Disneyland race. I'm psyched about this, because the distances appear to be getting shorter and shorter!! 0.3 mile swim, 10 mile bike, and a 2.1 mile run (if I measured it correctly)......turn and burn, baby! All I have to do is stay healthy and I think it'll be an amazingly fun race. It'll be my first Danskin, but my fourth women's race. Again, stay tuned. That will be a great story to tell. (Don't get me started on the 6am start time)
I'm spending all next week in Atlanta, so I am on a personal quest to find a lap pool in Buckhead. Since my boss won't spring for the JW Marriott, I'm thinking YMCA...... That, again, shall also be an adventure. But at least next week is "aerobic." Easy peasy!
So, those are my distractions. Reasonable excuses for laziness, right? OK, maybe not. But it's all I got.
This past week has been pretty distracting. I turned another year older and hubby and I celebrated our second wedding anniversary. Along with those celebrations came a cake binge eating weekend and a night of fondue excess. Seriously, you could roll me through my next triathlon at this point.
I've been taking 2 days off a week, which makes me feel more lazy than anything else. I'm just having trouble keeping the aches and pains away. I don't like to work through them, but it takes me two days to recover from a swim, 2 days to recover from hill repeats on the bike, 3 days from a long run.... Well, you get the point. I'm barely still functioning, and I have to baby this big ol' body of mine.
Tonight, I was supposed to do a 5 mile trail run race. But my training plan called for 4 aerobic miles...... Since I know myself and know that I cannot be memorialized forever as slow because I did a race in my aerobic zone, I opted to run on a local trail closer to home....for free. And I sucked big time. It was good for the first two miles, and then I turned around and it all went to hell. Hip flexors ached, my heart rate skyrocketed, and I just could not settle. All I wanted to do was cry!! It's been so long since I've had a horrid run like this-- I suppose I was due for one with all my recent breakthroughs. But why now?? Argh. I'm just going to try to forget about it and blame it on the sodium overkill from my lunch of tortilla soup at a horrid local Mexican restaurant.
Saturday, I have been asked to substitute for a team member in the Camp Pendleton Mud Run. It's a 10K, with obstacles I've only seen in Full Metal Jacket. Oh, and hot marines to hose you off. While I can deal with the latter, I'm quite frankly a little concerned about the rest of it!! But my team has a weaker link than I, so hopefully that means we'll just keep chugging along and it won't be too difficult. I suppose I am actually more concerned with what to wear. Our "uniform" is a puffy-painted wife beater and men's underwear. Yeah, you tell me how that's going to stay on in the mud run. :)
Next Sunday is the Danskin Disneyland race. I'm psyched about this, because the distances appear to be getting shorter and shorter!! 0.3 mile swim, 10 mile bike, and a 2.1 mile run (if I measured it correctly)......turn and burn, baby! All I have to do is stay healthy and I think it'll be an amazingly fun race. It'll be my first Danskin, but my fourth women's race. Again, stay tuned. That will be a great story to tell. (Don't get me started on the 6am start time)
I'm spending all next week in Atlanta, so I am on a personal quest to find a lap pool in Buckhead. Since my boss won't spring for the JW Marriott, I'm thinking YMCA...... That, again, shall also be an adventure. But at least next week is "aerobic." Easy peasy!
So, those are my distractions. Reasonable excuses for laziness, right? OK, maybe not. But it's all I got.
Monday, May 26, 2008
PR, baby!
Well, this morning was momentous indeed.
Not only was it Memorial Day, but it was also the first time my husband has ever run a 5K with me. Or a 5K, period. It was incredibly memorable, for sure.
We were up at the crack of dawn, zip tying our chips to our shoe laces and figuring out what to wear on this rather chilly SoCal morning. We got to the race site 1/2 hour before the start of the 1/2 Marathon, and spent the next twenty minutes in line at the port-o-lets. I saw a few of my teammates in line, but never saw our halfers. (I felt like such a lazy girl doing the 5K, but who am I kidding? I've never run more than 7 miles in my life-- why would I start in a race?!)
Before long, we were in line. I told my hubby that I hope he wouldn't be offended, but I was going to run my own race and see him at the finish line. No problem from him! He was trying his MP3 player for the first time while running (hey, everyone else was doing it, and he has it on pretty low so he can hear people talking), so he was happy to just chill out and do his thing, which happens to be some random run/walk combination that he's been messing with for months. Hubby is very tall and covers more ground vertically than horizontally....you'd think the tall lanky body would reveal a fast runner, but he's actually got some form issues going on that keeps him pretty slow. (One day I'll fix it!)
We ended up in the middle of the pack, and that was a little annoying because I had to weave my way through hundreds of people within the first quarter mile. But I suppose it could be worse-- today was a chip start, so until we crossed the mats I wasn't worried about traffic.
The course itself was a lot of fun. We meandered through a retirement community, and all the adorable residents were outside in their driveways waving to us. I wanted to raise my hands up and say "woohoo!" for the first mile -- I just felt phenomenal and was enjoying the race. But then I looked down at my Garmin, and I did the first mile in 8:05. Oh, crap. I'm a 9:30-minute miler here. I've never run that fast before. I once did a 7:30 mile, but that was a track workout and I threw up afterward.
Anyway, I tried to slow down, but I settled into a comfortable pace that was under 9 minutes and I stayed there the whole race. What a shocker! The 2nd mile ended in an incline of ~75 feet and it crept into the 3rd mile, but then it was a 100 ft. downhill for the last 1/2 mile. (It was a point-to-point race, not out and back) Although I hate the downhills for my knees, I am not afraid to kick it into high gear for the race and just pounded that last hill, sprinting into the finish with all I had. When I looked down at my Garmin after finishing the race, I was floored. I broke 26 minutes!!! Now, this is slow for the vast majority of the population, but it was a major breakthrough for me. My last 5K was 28 minutes, and in my last sprint, 29:45. So I was praying I could break 28, but given my lack of training in the past 2 months, wasn't sure I was capable. So dropping over 2 minutes from my PR is huge, and I am still beaming about it.
I even finished with enough time to grab a water bottle, down an orange slice, and then find a spot on the hill to cheer hubby on when he made his way to the finish. He even finished RUNNING....you have no idea how proud I was. He sprinted in and ate that finish line up--- it brought such a huge smile to my face because I know it meant a lot to him and I think now he understands why I do all of this.
We hung out and then cheered my coach on as she came in from the 1/2......even saw the lady that smoked her while wearing Crocs. Oh yes, it was great fun.
So, PRs for two of us today. Popped hubby's 5K cherry, and whetted his appetite for even more. Wonder if I can get him to learn to swim now so we can do a tri together?!
Not only was it Memorial Day, but it was also the first time my husband has ever run a 5K with me. Or a 5K, period. It was incredibly memorable, for sure.
We were up at the crack of dawn, zip tying our chips to our shoe laces and figuring out what to wear on this rather chilly SoCal morning. We got to the race site 1/2 hour before the start of the 1/2 Marathon, and spent the next twenty minutes in line at the port-o-lets. I saw a few of my teammates in line, but never saw our halfers. (I felt like such a lazy girl doing the 5K, but who am I kidding? I've never run more than 7 miles in my life-- why would I start in a race?!)
Before long, we were in line. I told my hubby that I hope he wouldn't be offended, but I was going to run my own race and see him at the finish line. No problem from him! He was trying his MP3 player for the first time while running (hey, everyone else was doing it, and he has it on pretty low so he can hear people talking), so he was happy to just chill out and do his thing, which happens to be some random run/walk combination that he's been messing with for months. Hubby is very tall and covers more ground vertically than horizontally....you'd think the tall lanky body would reveal a fast runner, but he's actually got some form issues going on that keeps him pretty slow. (One day I'll fix it!)
We ended up in the middle of the pack, and that was a little annoying because I had to weave my way through hundreds of people within the first quarter mile. But I suppose it could be worse-- today was a chip start, so until we crossed the mats I wasn't worried about traffic.
The course itself was a lot of fun. We meandered through a retirement community, and all the adorable residents were outside in their driveways waving to us. I wanted to raise my hands up and say "woohoo!" for the first mile -- I just felt phenomenal and was enjoying the race. But then I looked down at my Garmin, and I did the first mile in 8:05. Oh, crap. I'm a 9:30-minute miler here. I've never run that fast before. I once did a 7:30 mile, but that was a track workout and I threw up afterward.
Anyway, I tried to slow down, but I settled into a comfortable pace that was under 9 minutes and I stayed there the whole race. What a shocker! The 2nd mile ended in an incline of ~75 feet and it crept into the 3rd mile, but then it was a 100 ft. downhill for the last 1/2 mile. (It was a point-to-point race, not out and back) Although I hate the downhills for my knees, I am not afraid to kick it into high gear for the race and just pounded that last hill, sprinting into the finish with all I had. When I looked down at my Garmin after finishing the race, I was floored. I broke 26 minutes!!! Now, this is slow for the vast majority of the population, but it was a major breakthrough for me. My last 5K was 28 minutes, and in my last sprint, 29:45. So I was praying I could break 28, but given my lack of training in the past 2 months, wasn't sure I was capable. So dropping over 2 minutes from my PR is huge, and I am still beaming about it.
I even finished with enough time to grab a water bottle, down an orange slice, and then find a spot on the hill to cheer hubby on when he made his way to the finish. He even finished RUNNING....you have no idea how proud I was. He sprinted in and ate that finish line up--- it brought such a huge smile to my face because I know it meant a lot to him and I think now he understands why I do all of this.
We hung out and then cheered my coach on as she came in from the 1/2......even saw the lady that smoked her while wearing Crocs. Oh yes, it was great fun.
So, PRs for two of us today. Popped hubby's 5K cherry, and whetted his appetite for even more. Wonder if I can get him to learn to swim now so we can do a tri together?!
Monday, May 19, 2008
Ode to the Shoe Nerd
Well, we all have our people we turn to in times of crisis. You may have a McTherapist like me, who finds ways to heal you and get you to the starting line of your next race. Or perhaps you have a favorite butcher at the grocery store who cuts your ham slices "just so." Others may have a girl at the bookstore who always recommends the best reads for your next airplane ride.
I have the Shoe Nerd.
Now, I haven't been particularly nice to him in the past. He is a bit of a low talker, with not-so-stylish hair and a nerdy look about him. He is an expert in all things shoes, from materials to the way your feet sit in shoes. He eats, breathes, sleeps shoes and feet, something I really cannot appreciate because I hate feet. But I digress. The Shoe Nerd knows all, and he is the clutch dude when you are having problems with your legs and there is no other explanation but the shoes.
At the start of the season, I went to the Shoe Nerd to see if I was in the right shoe. I'm a Mizuno follower out of familiarity, but was willing to go through all the testing to see if I was wearing the right shoe. In the end, he sold me on the Asics Gel Kinsei, which I promptly returned to the store after finding the heel to be absolutely intolerable. His other recommended shoes just didn't seem comfortable to me, and I was so pissed about the Kinseis that I basically refused to listen to him and then told him I would buy the new version of my old shoe, the Wave Inspire. So I buy the Mizunos, happy that I trumped the Shoe Nerd and went with a stability shoe.
4 months and 130 miles later (i know, pathetic, but let's not go there), I have had more runner's knee issues, a hip flexor strain, and achilles tendonitis. Insanity! I've resorted to many McTherapist visits, and I've taken to resistance training at the gym. So with no other recourse but to stop running, I decided to go to the Shoe Nerd once more, except this time I was going to actually follow his advice.
Saturday, I went to the shoe store and the Shoe Nerd was there to help me. He was looking all smug, like somehow he remembered me and he knew that I would be back. I ran on the treadmill for him, and he commented on how much he liked my "forefoot strike" and my quick turnover as I nonchalantly hit "6" on the treadmill. He then examined my foot, practically drooling over my "beautiful high arches." (yeah, yeah--- I have sexy feet. But why am I creeped out?!) Then he informs me that I have way more shoes to choose from this time, and out comes the onslaught of Nikes, Brooks, Mizunos, New Balance, and Zoots. The Zoots were just for fun. He wanted to know if I wanted to have some shoe fun. Why not? So I guess I have one foot that is perfect, and one that slightly underpronates. I have to get a shoe with lots of cushioning to protect the knees. I loved the Zoots, but I felt like I was running barefoot and this body of mine needs a wee bit more cushioning. I also loved the Mizunos I tried on, but decided to swap brands and try something new.
So I ended up choosing the New Balance.....some long 4-digit number in my least favorite color.....and I also allowed him to talk me into the inserts, to support my sexy high arches. I think the Shoe Nerd loved that I said, "I will do whatever you tell me to do, just make sure it helps get rid of my pain." He must not get many women telling him to do whatever he wants with them.
2 days later, I am happy to report that every time I step into my new New Balances, I have a footgasm! The Shoe Nerd was on to something.....my first brick resulted in NO PAIN at all on the run. None!! The shoes are like buttah.
And for as creepy as the Shoe Nerd is, I have to admit, he does good feet....and he can do mine whenever he wants from here on out. Shoe nerd, I not only salute you.....I submit to you!
I have the Shoe Nerd.
Now, I haven't been particularly nice to him in the past. He is a bit of a low talker, with not-so-stylish hair and a nerdy look about him. He is an expert in all things shoes, from materials to the way your feet sit in shoes. He eats, breathes, sleeps shoes and feet, something I really cannot appreciate because I hate feet. But I digress. The Shoe Nerd knows all, and he is the clutch dude when you are having problems with your legs and there is no other explanation but the shoes.
At the start of the season, I went to the Shoe Nerd to see if I was in the right shoe. I'm a Mizuno follower out of familiarity, but was willing to go through all the testing to see if I was wearing the right shoe. In the end, he sold me on the Asics Gel Kinsei, which I promptly returned to the store after finding the heel to be absolutely intolerable. His other recommended shoes just didn't seem comfortable to me, and I was so pissed about the Kinseis that I basically refused to listen to him and then told him I would buy the new version of my old shoe, the Wave Inspire. So I buy the Mizunos, happy that I trumped the Shoe Nerd and went with a stability shoe.
4 months and 130 miles later (i know, pathetic, but let's not go there), I have had more runner's knee issues, a hip flexor strain, and achilles tendonitis. Insanity! I've resorted to many McTherapist visits, and I've taken to resistance training at the gym. So with no other recourse but to stop running, I decided to go to the Shoe Nerd once more, except this time I was going to actually follow his advice.
Saturday, I went to the shoe store and the Shoe Nerd was there to help me. He was looking all smug, like somehow he remembered me and he knew that I would be back. I ran on the treadmill for him, and he commented on how much he liked my "forefoot strike" and my quick turnover as I nonchalantly hit "6" on the treadmill. He then examined my foot, practically drooling over my "beautiful high arches." (yeah, yeah--- I have sexy feet. But why am I creeped out?!) Then he informs me that I have way more shoes to choose from this time, and out comes the onslaught of Nikes, Brooks, Mizunos, New Balance, and Zoots. The Zoots were just for fun. He wanted to know if I wanted to have some shoe fun. Why not? So I guess I have one foot that is perfect, and one that slightly underpronates. I have to get a shoe with lots of cushioning to protect the knees. I loved the Zoots, but I felt like I was running barefoot and this body of mine needs a wee bit more cushioning. I also loved the Mizunos I tried on, but decided to swap brands and try something new.
So I ended up choosing the New Balance.....some long 4-digit number in my least favorite color.....and I also allowed him to talk me into the inserts, to support my sexy high arches. I think the Shoe Nerd loved that I said, "I will do whatever you tell me to do, just make sure it helps get rid of my pain." He must not get many women telling him to do whatever he wants with them.
2 days later, I am happy to report that every time I step into my new New Balances, I have a footgasm! The Shoe Nerd was on to something.....my first brick resulted in NO PAIN at all on the run. None!! The shoes are like buttah.
And for as creepy as the Shoe Nerd is, I have to admit, he does good feet....and he can do mine whenever he wants from here on out. Shoe nerd, I not only salute you.....I submit to you!
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Dam Sprint Race Report
or, Kicking it Old School
Well, today I went back to my roots. After this insane focus on doing the Olympic distance, I returned to 2 oldies but goodies: the Sprint, and last year's uniform.
And it was good to be back! Now that I've done an Olympic, I have no shame in saying, "I'm doing the Sprint." When you do Olympic, you get to go fast, but you have to play your cards right. In the Sprint, you just hammer it out. I prefer to keep it simple.
I went to packet pickup yesterday with my husband, which was nice because I had a chance to scope out the site and see where everything was going to take place. It was also an hour and ten minutes away, so driving it the day before took away a lot of my early morning anxiety. As far as races go, this one was quite small. I'm not going to venture a guess, but it was smaller than Bonelli and quite intimate.....but not in a bad way.
I left the house at 4:30am and was at the race site by 5:30am. Hit the potties, then went and set up my bike in transition. I had PLENTY of time, as the pre-race meeting wasn't until 6:30am, and I didn't have anybody there with me to distract me. I got an end, but it wasn't on the highly-trafficked side. It was a gamble, but in the end I'm not sure it added more than a few seconds of an impact...and in a race this small, a few seconds is no big deal.
I knew *1* person there. Just one. But that was fine, because I wan't as stressed as I could have been. I will admit, as I walked down to the water and pulled my wetsuit up, I was starting to think I was the world's biggest idiot for doing this alone. I mean, I really hate the pre-race. I psych myself out and convince myself that I am not worthy of towing the line. I lose my competitive drive. I just want to go home and go back to bed.
But before I knew it, we were waste deep in the shockingly warm (as in, imagine 50 people standing in one place before the race goes off and you tell ME why it was that warm) Lake and awaiting the gun. It was supposed to be a 750 meter loop, but we started 9 minutes after the first group and the leader of that pack (who was a good 100 meters ahead of everyone else) had yet to reach the turnaround point....... I suspected at this point that the course was a little long, and I still think it was, but we'll never really know. Anyway, off we went.
Despite the co-ed wading start, it wasn't too killer out there at the start. But unfortunately, it was super choppy on the Lake, and it seemed that I could not shake any purple caps for quite some time. (Purple was for women-folk and "everyone else," red was for "men 45 to eternity"....yeah, how fabulous is it going to be to get old?!) For the first time in 7 open water triathlons, I had a bit of a panic attack out there. I'd heard a lot of people talk about them, but thankfully I'd never been plagued and I always blew it off. But 100 meters into my swim, I was convinced that it was too choppy and that I was not a good enough swimmer to stay on course. I fought these insane mental demons that were telling me I was weak....that I was scared.... I mean, come on-- I'm in a freaking Lake!! What was going on? It wasn't even a heart rate issue. I just think for a few moments, I went totally nuts. Thankfully, I was able to pull it together and continue on. It helped that some of the men in my heat were floating around and commenting on what a hellatious swim it was....that made me feel like I wasn't in my own personal hell. I will say that this felt like my weakest and slowest swim ever, but I will wait until I see the splits to determine that.
I emerged from the water completely alone, with no women in sight. We had a very long run to transition, up the rough beach and then through a long grass lawn. They'd tied it all off with tape, so it was easy to find.....but I was tired! I remembered my Las Vegas run to T1 and decided that this time, I was going to catch my breath and try to recover. So, I walked. Just a little bit, but enough to not feel like I was going to pass out when I got to my cycling shoes. I had sand all over my feet, so I had to pour some water over them before putting on my socks....a first for me, as I usually just go for it and screw comfort. But today was a glorified practice for me, so I made sure I took my sweet time.
Was out of transition as quickly as I could and then headed onto the bike. This is where I saw my first woman, on her fancy, gorgeous, pimped-out Cervelo tri bike. This would also be the last time I saw said woman. We took off and my measly 20mph could not catch her. Ouch! The bike was mostly flat, with a small hill at the start to get us out of the Lake area. I was tired climbing this hill, so clearly my weakness is in coming out of the swim and onto the bike. Must train this more. Anyways, going down this hill was a blast. I even exceeded the 35 mph speed limit!!! And then I started picking off the dudes on their hybrid bikes. Bless them, they were trying so hard. Anyways, I got passed by boat loads of men with disc wheels and fancy tri bikes and goober helmets. More than I can count, I am sure.... I did my best to try to push an average of 18mph the entire time, but I wasn't sure how to pace myself. I've been training for 24 miles, not 12! So I think I left a little on the table in the bike, but not much....the final hill chewed me up and spit me out. I had to abandon the big ring and then join the painfully slow process up 400 feet in a mile. Which doesn't sound like much, but after pushing big gears for 9 miles, your dead legs are NOT in the mood for climbing. But with every climb is a downhill, and for good measure I threw it back into the biggie and finished the bike segment with a rockin' downhill.
T2 was not so bad for me, but I did take the time to grab my Garmin off my bike because my trusty old race watch was not working anymore. I grabbed my hat, watch, water bottle, and number and bolted out over the mat. I looked like a bag lady crossing that line, I am sure, but why put it on in T2 when you can get dressed later?!
The run was an odd one for me. Typically, I get out of T2 and I am thrashed. I absolutely HAVE to walk, or I convince myself to stay running for 5 minutes and THEN I die. Today, my legs had life. Even though I couldn't feel my feet (it was cold), I felt strangely strong and had no need to actually stop. This didn't stop my brain from trying to play with me, though. So today I decided to try out positive mental affirmations. I wasn't feeling like experimenting with nutrition, or clipped-in shoes on the bike, or new equipment.....I needed to work on my mind games. I had done a 5K time trial a few days earlier and knew for certain that I had the stamina to power through it without walking and to maintain a fairly strong pace. So I used that knowledge to fight back whenever I felt like walking. I passed the only girl out on course who had passed me (on the bike), and I buried her! Me, passing a runner...who would have thought the day would come?
The turnaround came and went, and I had only seen a very small handful of women coming back in to the finish. I was confused, but they were running so fast that I was convinced they had to have been in the front of the pack. As I made my way back to the finish, I started to see other women out there. I wanted to yell at them and ask them why they were hiding for the entire race!! We were few and far between out there, for sure. The finish chute was lovely....just enough of a runway that you could sprint and NOT vomit at the end because it was too long. I told the guy ahead of me to hurry because I was going to close fast, and we both high-tailed it in to the finish.
Overall, I felt pretty good. Disappointed in my swim, a little upset that my bike was so slow, but psyched about the run. I have never had a run where I didn't feel stomach cramps or feel like I wanted to die. This run was as good as it gets for me, and I had plenty left in my legs at the end. (Could have gone even faster, maybe?)
The real kicker of the day was that because there were so few women, yours truly was 1st in her age group and the 5th girl across the line!!! Now, I have no idea how many of us womenfolk there were, but there were only 2 in my age group so the victory wasn't that sweet. Regardless, I will take it. If for nothing else than the shock factor.
And of course, I attribute all of my happy thoughts to the day to my old uniform. It hides the belly pudge and carries good chi. :)
Well, today I went back to my roots. After this insane focus on doing the Olympic distance, I returned to 2 oldies but goodies: the Sprint, and last year's uniform.
And it was good to be back! Now that I've done an Olympic, I have no shame in saying, "I'm doing the Sprint." When you do Olympic, you get to go fast, but you have to play your cards right. In the Sprint, you just hammer it out. I prefer to keep it simple.
I went to packet pickup yesterday with my husband, which was nice because I had a chance to scope out the site and see where everything was going to take place. It was also an hour and ten minutes away, so driving it the day before took away a lot of my early morning anxiety. As far as races go, this one was quite small. I'm not going to venture a guess, but it was smaller than Bonelli and quite intimate.....but not in a bad way.
I left the house at 4:30am and was at the race site by 5:30am. Hit the potties, then went and set up my bike in transition. I had PLENTY of time, as the pre-race meeting wasn't until 6:30am, and I didn't have anybody there with me to distract me. I got an end, but it wasn't on the highly-trafficked side. It was a gamble, but in the end I'm not sure it added more than a few seconds of an impact...and in a race this small, a few seconds is no big deal.
I knew *1* person there. Just one. But that was fine, because I wan't as stressed as I could have been. I will admit, as I walked down to the water and pulled my wetsuit up, I was starting to think I was the world's biggest idiot for doing this alone. I mean, I really hate the pre-race. I psych myself out and convince myself that I am not worthy of towing the line. I lose my competitive drive. I just want to go home and go back to bed.
But before I knew it, we were waste deep in the shockingly warm (as in, imagine 50 people standing in one place before the race goes off and you tell ME why it was that warm) Lake and awaiting the gun. It was supposed to be a 750 meter loop, but we started 9 minutes after the first group and the leader of that pack (who was a good 100 meters ahead of everyone else) had yet to reach the turnaround point....... I suspected at this point that the course was a little long, and I still think it was, but we'll never really know. Anyway, off we went.
Despite the co-ed wading start, it wasn't too killer out there at the start. But unfortunately, it was super choppy on the Lake, and it seemed that I could not shake any purple caps for quite some time. (Purple was for women-folk and "everyone else," red was for "men 45 to eternity"....yeah, how fabulous is it going to be to get old?!) For the first time in 7 open water triathlons, I had a bit of a panic attack out there. I'd heard a lot of people talk about them, but thankfully I'd never been plagued and I always blew it off. But 100 meters into my swim, I was convinced that it was too choppy and that I was not a good enough swimmer to stay on course. I fought these insane mental demons that were telling me I was weak....that I was scared.... I mean, come on-- I'm in a freaking Lake!! What was going on? It wasn't even a heart rate issue. I just think for a few moments, I went totally nuts. Thankfully, I was able to pull it together and continue on. It helped that some of the men in my heat were floating around and commenting on what a hellatious swim it was....that made me feel like I wasn't in my own personal hell. I will say that this felt like my weakest and slowest swim ever, but I will wait until I see the splits to determine that.
I emerged from the water completely alone, with no women in sight. We had a very long run to transition, up the rough beach and then through a long grass lawn. They'd tied it all off with tape, so it was easy to find.....but I was tired! I remembered my Las Vegas run to T1 and decided that this time, I was going to catch my breath and try to recover. So, I walked. Just a little bit, but enough to not feel like I was going to pass out when I got to my cycling shoes. I had sand all over my feet, so I had to pour some water over them before putting on my socks....a first for me, as I usually just go for it and screw comfort. But today was a glorified practice for me, so I made sure I took my sweet time.
Was out of transition as quickly as I could and then headed onto the bike. This is where I saw my first woman, on her fancy, gorgeous, pimped-out Cervelo tri bike. This would also be the last time I saw said woman. We took off and my measly 20mph could not catch her. Ouch! The bike was mostly flat, with a small hill at the start to get us out of the Lake area. I was tired climbing this hill, so clearly my weakness is in coming out of the swim and onto the bike. Must train this more. Anyways, going down this hill was a blast. I even exceeded the 35 mph speed limit!!! And then I started picking off the dudes on their hybrid bikes. Bless them, they were trying so hard. Anyways, I got passed by boat loads of men with disc wheels and fancy tri bikes and goober helmets. More than I can count, I am sure.... I did my best to try to push an average of 18mph the entire time, but I wasn't sure how to pace myself. I've been training for 24 miles, not 12! So I think I left a little on the table in the bike, but not much....the final hill chewed me up and spit me out. I had to abandon the big ring and then join the painfully slow process up 400 feet in a mile. Which doesn't sound like much, but after pushing big gears for 9 miles, your dead legs are NOT in the mood for climbing. But with every climb is a downhill, and for good measure I threw it back into the biggie and finished the bike segment with a rockin' downhill.
T2 was not so bad for me, but I did take the time to grab my Garmin off my bike because my trusty old race watch was not working anymore. I grabbed my hat, watch, water bottle, and number and bolted out over the mat. I looked like a bag lady crossing that line, I am sure, but why put it on in T2 when you can get dressed later?!
The run was an odd one for me. Typically, I get out of T2 and I am thrashed. I absolutely HAVE to walk, or I convince myself to stay running for 5 minutes and THEN I die. Today, my legs had life. Even though I couldn't feel my feet (it was cold), I felt strangely strong and had no need to actually stop. This didn't stop my brain from trying to play with me, though. So today I decided to try out positive mental affirmations. I wasn't feeling like experimenting with nutrition, or clipped-in shoes on the bike, or new equipment.....I needed to work on my mind games. I had done a 5K time trial a few days earlier and knew for certain that I had the stamina to power through it without walking and to maintain a fairly strong pace. So I used that knowledge to fight back whenever I felt like walking. I passed the only girl out on course who had passed me (on the bike), and I buried her! Me, passing a runner...who would have thought the day would come?
The turnaround came and went, and I had only seen a very small handful of women coming back in to the finish. I was confused, but they were running so fast that I was convinced they had to have been in the front of the pack. As I made my way back to the finish, I started to see other women out there. I wanted to yell at them and ask them why they were hiding for the entire race!! We were few and far between out there, for sure. The finish chute was lovely....just enough of a runway that you could sprint and NOT vomit at the end because it was too long. I told the guy ahead of me to hurry because I was going to close fast, and we both high-tailed it in to the finish.
Overall, I felt pretty good. Disappointed in my swim, a little upset that my bike was so slow, but psyched about the run. I have never had a run where I didn't feel stomach cramps or feel like I wanted to die. This run was as good as it gets for me, and I had plenty left in my legs at the end. (Could have gone even faster, maybe?)
The real kicker of the day was that because there were so few women, yours truly was 1st in her age group and the 5th girl across the line!!! Now, I have no idea how many of us womenfolk there were, but there were only 2 in my age group so the victory wasn't that sweet. Regardless, I will take it. If for nothing else than the shock factor.
And of course, I attribute all of my happy thoughts to the day to my old uniform. It hides the belly pudge and carries good chi. :)
Friday, May 9, 2008
Just for Kicks
Tomorrow is my "freebie" race, the DAM Sprint, somewhere in the middle of the desert in a somewhat sketch artificial lake. I don't believe I'll "know" anybody there, and I'm not too upset about that. There's something a bit exciting about driving alone in the dark and throwing down a race without any distractions or expectations or any of that fun stuff. I'm just going to set up shop, listen to some tunes while I'm all bundled up waiting for the swim start, and then "git 'er done."
I'm not so nervous about this one, nor am I excited? I don't know....just another workout and hopefully a cool t-shirt that says "DAM Sprint." Been there, done that.
I've had quite a stressful week at work. So much uncertainty, bouts of inactivity, interspersed with random hysteria. So much so that I called my boss this morning and told him I just couldn't handle coming in to work today. My head isn't in the game, and I swear I will bite someone's head off if I show up. I just need a day off!!!
We're headed to packet pickup now, and then back home to pack the car and have a nice romantic, easy on the stomach dinner.
Will give a race report when I get back tomorrow. Fingers crossed the Achilles holds up. (But so far so good-- ran a PR 5K yesterday by accident, and it was no worse for wear)
I'm not so nervous about this one, nor am I excited? I don't know....just another workout and hopefully a cool t-shirt that says "DAM Sprint." Been there, done that.
I've had quite a stressful week at work. So much uncertainty, bouts of inactivity, interspersed with random hysteria. So much so that I called my boss this morning and told him I just couldn't handle coming in to work today. My head isn't in the game, and I swear I will bite someone's head off if I show up. I just need a day off!!!
We're headed to packet pickup now, and then back home to pack the car and have a nice romantic, easy on the stomach dinner.
Will give a race report when I get back tomorrow. Fingers crossed the Achilles holds up. (But so far so good-- ran a PR 5K yesterday by accident, and it was no worse for wear)
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Bringing Lazy Back
I feel a slight ping of panic just thinking about my training plan for this week. It was sparse to begin with, but it certainly wasn't helped by the fact that I abandoned my workout last night. Intending to do an hour on the trainer whilst watching ABC TV's Bachelor from last Monday, I only got 20 minutes in and the smell of burning rubber overwhelmed the room. Now, I love my tires, and I love my bike, so leaving half of my tire on the trainer's resistance unit was NOT acceptable to me. I had sunlight left in the day, but what did I do? I hopped off the bike and watched the rest of the episode from my computer chair. How LAZY am I? (and does the hand belong to Chelsea or Shayne?!)
It's killing me.
My Achilles is strained, but McTherapist doesn't think it's torn or anything serious, for the matter. Never mind the fact that I walk around like a slut after dark in high heels around my house....nope, it's not that major. Nothing a little iontophoresis can't fix, he says. He worked me on Thursday, too. Kicked my rear with all the toe lifts and calf presses and such. My ankle is still sore, but the Achilles? Well, I'll be damned, but it may be getting better.
With the freebie race next weekend, I am hoping I at least have a sprint base leftover.......hopefully this weekend I'll do a nice brick with the team and start to feel strong again.
I'm serious about my diet this time around. I'm going to go back over to my old blog and journal my points, and I am going to get this extra weight off. I know, I know....I keep saying I will, but then I get hungry when I get home and I eat. OK, it's not even that. It's work. They eat like pigs and I've become accustomed to taking just a little. And then I go out to eat and I've forgotten all that I learned while on program and fall into the trap of eating more points than I intended to. Like, Red Robin on Thursday night. I ordered my teriyaki chicken burger, sans fries, tomato, mayo, with the teriyaki on the side. So, basically, it was a plain bun with white chicken breast, a slice of cheese, and grilled pineapple. I took half the cheese off when I got it, too. Guess the calories? 800!!!! For that. I mean, what the hell are they doing to the chicken? I was floored. Here I was, desecrating my favorite sandwich on Earth, only to find out that it wasn't worth it. I could have gone home and eaten 20 English muffins for that sandwich. Argh. So, the plan of attack is to write it all down again. Journal, journal, journal, and only plan to fuel for my workouts. I need good thoughts for this-- I feel like I've lost some control here.
Work sucks, too. I used to be mission critical, and now I find that I am not. You lose your sense of self-importance and security when you are no longer "in the clutch." So that has me frustrated.
Hubby hates his work life, too, but my Dad recently offered him a chance to interview with his airline. Hubby turned him down. I know, what gives?!! But he's all about doing it on his terms now, so I am forced to sit back and let him do it. It's made for quite a strain, as you can tell. Some days I love him and others I hate him. I suppose that is normal. Could just be PMS. But I'm in the hating mode right now, mostly because he slammed the door and woke me up this morning. (Yeah, I have to get dressed in the dark every flippin morning with your sorry ass still in bed, so KISS IT-- I'm sleepin' in)
To top this all off, my morning coffee ritual at work has been severely interrupted this week. I find the break room to be a peaceful place for me, where I grab my cup every morning and deal with my lovely caffeine-induced headaches. But this week, we tried out coffee vendors for our new office. This total AHOLE came this week, and I swear, he never left. He wanted to be our own private barista. With a coffee machine. Self-serve coffee machine. I couldn't even stand to look at the man, let alone allow him to press a button on the coffee machine for me. I'm an independent woman, and I cannot tolerate his sorry attempts at service! So I told him my cardiologist said no coffee.....and then begged my admin to slip into the room and get me a cup. This went on for several days. One morning I had to wait until 10am for coffee--- I just about murdered the entire office. Argh!! Can you not see why work sucks for me? (I am joking here....but only somewhat)
So back to triathlon..... My race on Saturday. I'm going totally alone, sans family or friends. I'm going to have to get up at the ass crack of dawn and drive to early packet pickup, and then hope and pray it doesn't get too hot. I've heard some horrible things about the Lake I'll be swimming in, so it's tempting to spray myself in Lysol before I put my wetsuit on and maybe start antibiotics. :) But I figure nothing could be worse than the Long Beach Tri swim last year, so I'll take my chances with the manky man-made lake. Part of me is excited to do something without my tri team next weekend. There's always pressure to perform, but here, I can totally suck and nobody will care. I can show up, get it done, and then go home and go back to sleep with little fanfare. Hopefully, it'll be a great workout and I will learn to bring a little speed back into my life. Who knows? So even though I'm skeptical, part of me is jazzed. We shall see.
With that, I suppose I will cease the torture. I didn't mean for this to become a personal life vent, but I've got to have some outlet here! So apologies for the bad read......but at least *I* feel better. Ha!
It's killing me.
My Achilles is strained, but McTherapist doesn't think it's torn or anything serious, for the matter. Never mind the fact that I walk around like a slut after dark in high heels around my house....nope, it's not that major. Nothing a little iontophoresis can't fix, he says. He worked me on Thursday, too. Kicked my rear with all the toe lifts and calf presses and such. My ankle is still sore, but the Achilles? Well, I'll be damned, but it may be getting better.
With the freebie race next weekend, I am hoping I at least have a sprint base leftover.......hopefully this weekend I'll do a nice brick with the team and start to feel strong again.
I'm serious about my diet this time around. I'm going to go back over to my old blog and journal my points, and I am going to get this extra weight off. I know, I know....I keep saying I will, but then I get hungry when I get home and I eat. OK, it's not even that. It's work. They eat like pigs and I've become accustomed to taking just a little. And then I go out to eat and I've forgotten all that I learned while on program and fall into the trap of eating more points than I intended to. Like, Red Robin on Thursday night. I ordered my teriyaki chicken burger, sans fries, tomato, mayo, with the teriyaki on the side. So, basically, it was a plain bun with white chicken breast, a slice of cheese, and grilled pineapple. I took half the cheese off when I got it, too. Guess the calories? 800!!!! For that. I mean, what the hell are they doing to the chicken? I was floored. Here I was, desecrating my favorite sandwich on Earth, only to find out that it wasn't worth it. I could have gone home and eaten 20 English muffins for that sandwich. Argh. So, the plan of attack is to write it all down again. Journal, journal, journal, and only plan to fuel for my workouts. I need good thoughts for this-- I feel like I've lost some control here.
Work sucks, too. I used to be mission critical, and now I find that I am not. You lose your sense of self-importance and security when you are no longer "in the clutch." So that has me frustrated.
Hubby hates his work life, too, but my Dad recently offered him a chance to interview with his airline. Hubby turned him down. I know, what gives?!! But he's all about doing it on his terms now, so I am forced to sit back and let him do it. It's made for quite a strain, as you can tell. Some days I love him and others I hate him. I suppose that is normal. Could just be PMS. But I'm in the hating mode right now, mostly because he slammed the door and woke me up this morning. (Yeah, I have to get dressed in the dark every flippin morning with your sorry ass still in bed, so KISS IT-- I'm sleepin' in)
To top this all off, my morning coffee ritual at work has been severely interrupted this week. I find the break room to be a peaceful place for me, where I grab my cup every morning and deal with my lovely caffeine-induced headaches. But this week, we tried out coffee vendors for our new office. This total AHOLE came this week, and I swear, he never left. He wanted to be our own private barista. With a coffee machine. Self-serve coffee machine. I couldn't even stand to look at the man, let alone allow him to press a button on the coffee machine for me. I'm an independent woman, and I cannot tolerate his sorry attempts at service! So I told him my cardiologist said no coffee.....and then begged my admin to slip into the room and get me a cup. This went on for several days. One morning I had to wait until 10am for coffee--- I just about murdered the entire office. Argh!! Can you not see why work sucks for me? (I am joking here....but only somewhat)
So back to triathlon..... My race on Saturday. I'm going totally alone, sans family or friends. I'm going to have to get up at the ass crack of dawn and drive to early packet pickup, and then hope and pray it doesn't get too hot. I've heard some horrible things about the Lake I'll be swimming in, so it's tempting to spray myself in Lysol before I put my wetsuit on and maybe start antibiotics. :) But I figure nothing could be worse than the Long Beach Tri swim last year, so I'll take my chances with the manky man-made lake. Part of me is excited to do something without my tri team next weekend. There's always pressure to perform, but here, I can totally suck and nobody will care. I can show up, get it done, and then go home and go back to sleep with little fanfare. Hopefully, it'll be a great workout and I will learn to bring a little speed back into my life. Who knows? So even though I'm skeptical, part of me is jazzed. We shall see.
With that, I suppose I will cease the torture. I didn't mean for this to become a personal life vent, but I've got to have some outlet here! So apologies for the bad read......but at least *I* feel better. Ha!
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
My Body is Rejecting My New Hobby
I just have one question. One teensy, weensy question.
Why can people twice my size run twice the distance I can, twice as frequently, and NEVER GET HURT??? Are they superhuman? Can their muscles and joints, which are identical in structure and function to mine, sustain superhuman forces moreso than mine? How is this fair??
I swear, I am just floored that I am the only one on my team experiencing all sorts of injuries. It started with IT Band Syndrome. Then -- shocker --- runner's knee. A million dollars in physical therapy later, the hip flexor pain appeared. Yes, you can run through all of them, but the pain and potential for crippling aren't worth it. So you spend more money in physical therapy. Make sure the shoes are proper fit. Rotate the schedule to make sure you aren't stressing your body out too much.
And then.....the flippin' Achilles starts in. Seriously, I'm RUNNING OUT OF BODY PARTS HERE!!! I started feeling a little "pull" in the Achilles while climbing up those wrotten hills in the Las Vegas race. It was part of the reason I ended up walking the hill. You see, my Dad ruptured his Achilles fifteen years ago, and he's not been the same since. It was almost debilitating, so any tweak in that region freaks me out. Anyway, I had a fabulous bike ride last Monday, where I sustained the big ring for over an hour on some gnarly hills. I attacked those mofos! But then I felt tight in the Achilles again, which turned to soreness, and I stupidly ran on it Wednesday night and then on Sunday morning. Brilliant me. So I sit here now, happily in high heels (only pulls when it's flat), and waiting for my PT session on Thursday where we will yet again focus on a new body part. This time around, I am prepared to drop money on a bike fitting AND orthotics. Anything that'll help the cause.
I have to say, all these pings and pangs really get me down. So many people can follow the plans without any injuries at all. So why me?? I'm not overexerting. I'm not underexerting. I'm not exceeding distances. The plan is far from challenging at this point. Why why why why why why why????
Just to spite my Achilles, I intend to race on it next Saturday. I am signing up for the Sprint, which I will race by myself with the hopes of just adding a race under my belt. (And reintroducing some speed) I am not afraid about the race, but somehow I am freaking out about this Wikipedia article I just read about the dam and Lake we are swimming in. Apparently it is structurally unsound for a 7.5 magnitude earthquake, and the lake is 1.5 miles from the San Jacinto fault, which is more than capable of predicting one. In light of all the small earthquakes popping up in the US these past few weeks, I can't help but freak out a little about it. I mean, I guess if it's your time, it's your time, but I'll be damned if it happens to me in a free sprint triathlon I'm doing by myself.
I suppose I'm done bitching now. Hopefully the coffee machine salesman has vacated the kitchen so I can get my 2nd cup of heaven in peace.
Why can people twice my size run twice the distance I can, twice as frequently, and NEVER GET HURT??? Are they superhuman? Can their muscles and joints, which are identical in structure and function to mine, sustain superhuman forces moreso than mine? How is this fair??
I swear, I am just floored that I am the only one on my team experiencing all sorts of injuries. It started with IT Band Syndrome. Then -- shocker --- runner's knee. A million dollars in physical therapy later, the hip flexor pain appeared. Yes, you can run through all of them, but the pain and potential for crippling aren't worth it. So you spend more money in physical therapy. Make sure the shoes are proper fit. Rotate the schedule to make sure you aren't stressing your body out too much.
And then.....the flippin' Achilles starts in. Seriously, I'm RUNNING OUT OF BODY PARTS HERE!!! I started feeling a little "pull" in the Achilles while climbing up those wrotten hills in the Las Vegas race. It was part of the reason I ended up walking the hill. You see, my Dad ruptured his Achilles fifteen years ago, and he's not been the same since. It was almost debilitating, so any tweak in that region freaks me out. Anyway, I had a fabulous bike ride last Monday, where I sustained the big ring for over an hour on some gnarly hills. I attacked those mofos! But then I felt tight in the Achilles again, which turned to soreness, and I stupidly ran on it Wednesday night and then on Sunday morning. Brilliant me. So I sit here now, happily in high heels (only pulls when it's flat), and waiting for my PT session on Thursday where we will yet again focus on a new body part. This time around, I am prepared to drop money on a bike fitting AND orthotics. Anything that'll help the cause.
I have to say, all these pings and pangs really get me down. So many people can follow the plans without any injuries at all. So why me?? I'm not overexerting. I'm not underexerting. I'm not exceeding distances. The plan is far from challenging at this point. Why why why why why why why????
Just to spite my Achilles, I intend to race on it next Saturday. I am signing up for the Sprint, which I will race by myself with the hopes of just adding a race under my belt. (And reintroducing some speed) I am not afraid about the race, but somehow I am freaking out about this Wikipedia article I just read about the dam and Lake we are swimming in. Apparently it is structurally unsound for a 7.5 magnitude earthquake, and the lake is 1.5 miles from the San Jacinto fault, which is more than capable of predicting one. In light of all the small earthquakes popping up in the US these past few weeks, I can't help but freak out a little about it. I mean, I guess if it's your time, it's your time, but I'll be damned if it happens to me in a free sprint triathlon I'm doing by myself.
I suppose I'm done bitching now. Hopefully the coffee machine salesman has vacated the kitchen so I can get my 2nd cup of heaven in peace.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Freebie
Oh, I'm around. I do check in. I'm just so boring that I don't feel like writing all that often!
I've been somewhat lazy since my race two weeks ago. I suppose traveling for a week will do that, but we are in a quiet build week, so I haven't worked particularly hard. Rode some hills on my bike on Monday (I hate them so much now that I attack with all my power--- it's funny how getting your rear kicked in a race by a hill fuels your anger), and yesterday I ran 6.5 miles around a challenging, hilly course. Aside from the fabulous hip flexor pain I've grown accustomed to, it was easy. Can you believe that? I have a 6-mile running base. And miles 4-6 are the happy ones. Who would've imagined?
So this weekend is all about the hard swim, the long bike, and another strong run. I'm looking forward to it, but I hope my legs recover enough. Am considering getting a bike fitting with a FIST certified fitter....I did a pretty good fitting when I first got my bike, but I am having some very specific pings and pangs as a result of cycling and I can't help but think it may be time to make the investment.
It's odd that I haven't enveloped myself in training this week. Work is uncertain, and hubby's work is pretty horrible, too. Too bad we now work for the same company! We are having some communication issues at the moment......he doesn't think I know what it's like to hate your job, but he is woefully mistaken. And he doesn't think talking about it will help because there's nothing I can do. At least he's right about that one. I can't do anything. Yes, I helped to get him this job, but it's not MY fault he had to take it. Oh, it's all so frustrating. I know it'll all work out for the best in the end and that it's not the end of the world, but right now I just want to disappear.
To top it all off, the love of my life, my kitty, has had some bad allergies that resulted in some scratches around his eye. Tonight, the scabs got itchy and he went after his eye again. He's walking around looking all beat up, like Rocky. Pink, puffy eyelids.....weeping.....itchy itchy. I've drugged him with children's Benadryl, but he is such a beafy boy that the cat dosage didn't even touch him. I was hoping that even if it didn't help the irritation, it'd put him to sleep... No can do.
Yes, it is a sad day when I am more upset about the puffy-eyed cat than I am about my depressed and non-communicative husband.
And to top it all off, after looking at my race photos and seeing how my lovely fat POOCH hangs down when I'm in aero on my bike, I am determined to lose this extra weight. But I weigh 3 lbs over my WW goal weight, so I am too embarassed to go back because that's 4 lbs heavier than I was the last time I went a few months ago. Can you believe the insanity of this? I've lost 1/2 inch in my hips, thighs, boobs, and waist, but I've gained 4 lbs in the same 3-month time frame. Life is cruel. And those race pictures just go to show that maybe, just maybe, I could have made it up those hills during the race if I wasn't carrying 10 lbs of fat in my baby-virgin belly. (ie. I have no excuse-- it shouldn't be there!)
Oh, the title of my post. My LBS is giving away a free entry into a triathlon the 2nd week in May. Somewhere in the desert, where I vowed I'd never race again. It's not USAT certified, but it's got both Oly and Sprint distances, and it'd be free. Can I turn that down? I'm seriously tempted to sign up, but only if I can convince more people to come with me. SIXTWOTHREE??? May 10th............
So yeah, that's my update. Lazy, sore workouts. Work sucks. Husband sucks. Kitty's eye sucks. My stomach sucks. And I'm contemplating yet another race. Dude, I need some chocolate. What a week.
I've been somewhat lazy since my race two weeks ago. I suppose traveling for a week will do that, but we are in a quiet build week, so I haven't worked particularly hard. Rode some hills on my bike on Monday (I hate them so much now that I attack with all my power--- it's funny how getting your rear kicked in a race by a hill fuels your anger), and yesterday I ran 6.5 miles around a challenging, hilly course. Aside from the fabulous hip flexor pain I've grown accustomed to, it was easy. Can you believe that? I have a 6-mile running base. And miles 4-6 are the happy ones. Who would've imagined?
So this weekend is all about the hard swim, the long bike, and another strong run. I'm looking forward to it, but I hope my legs recover enough. Am considering getting a bike fitting with a FIST certified fitter....I did a pretty good fitting when I first got my bike, but I am having some very specific pings and pangs as a result of cycling and I can't help but think it may be time to make the investment.
It's odd that I haven't enveloped myself in training this week. Work is uncertain, and hubby's work is pretty horrible, too. Too bad we now work for the same company! We are having some communication issues at the moment......he doesn't think I know what it's like to hate your job, but he is woefully mistaken. And he doesn't think talking about it will help because there's nothing I can do. At least he's right about that one. I can't do anything. Yes, I helped to get him this job, but it's not MY fault he had to take it. Oh, it's all so frustrating. I know it'll all work out for the best in the end and that it's not the end of the world, but right now I just want to disappear.
To top it all off, the love of my life, my kitty, has had some bad allergies that resulted in some scratches around his eye. Tonight, the scabs got itchy and he went after his eye again. He's walking around looking all beat up, like Rocky. Pink, puffy eyelids.....weeping.....itchy itchy. I've drugged him with children's Benadryl, but he is such a beafy boy that the cat dosage didn't even touch him. I was hoping that even if it didn't help the irritation, it'd put him to sleep... No can do.
Yes, it is a sad day when I am more upset about the puffy-eyed cat than I am about my depressed and non-communicative husband.
And to top it all off, after looking at my race photos and seeing how my lovely fat POOCH hangs down when I'm in aero on my bike, I am determined to lose this extra weight. But I weigh 3 lbs over my WW goal weight, so I am too embarassed to go back because that's 4 lbs heavier than I was the last time I went a few months ago. Can you believe the insanity of this? I've lost 1/2 inch in my hips, thighs, boobs, and waist, but I've gained 4 lbs in the same 3-month time frame. Life is cruel. And those race pictures just go to show that maybe, just maybe, I could have made it up those hills during the race if I wasn't carrying 10 lbs of fat in my baby-virgin belly. (ie. I have no excuse-- it shouldn't be there!)
Oh, the title of my post. My LBS is giving away a free entry into a triathlon the 2nd week in May. Somewhere in the desert, where I vowed I'd never race again. It's not USAT certified, but it's got both Oly and Sprint distances, and it'd be free. Can I turn that down? I'm seriously tempted to sign up, but only if I can convince more people to come with me. SIXTWOTHREE??? May 10th............
So yeah, that's my update. Lazy, sore workouts. Work sucks. Husband sucks. Kitty's eye sucks. My stomach sucks. And I'm contemplating yet another race. Dude, I need some chocolate. What a week.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Race Report
I did it.
That's all I wanted to be able to say after this race. I know I have this crazy, speed-seeking reputation and all, but honestly, I do triathlon because it pushes me to do things I don't think I can do. The Olympic distance, until Saturday at 12:00pm (approximately!), was something I wasn't entirely sure I could do. A year ago, if you mentioned the distance, I would have said I'd have to be smoking crack to do it. Well, here I am, crack free and I've done it.
It wasn't pretty, though.
So, to the race.
I strolled into transition at 5:30am and couldn't help but notice that nearly every other Diva was already in transition and done with their setup. Seriously, I thought I was early!! I looked like the kid who came to class late. Anyway, I had no trouble getting in, dropped my gear, got marked, and then chatted a bit. I was more concerned with where I was going to use the bathroom than what was happening in transition. To help alleviate all other stress, my Garmin mysteriously turned itself on sometime in the night and had run its battery dead….so I had no way of knowing my speed, distance, or time on the bike or run. Oops. This race was going to be done on perceived exertion…..how can I go all out when I don't know how fast I'm going?
We had a ½ mile walk to the swim start, where I put my wetsuit on at the car and then joined the other Olympians down by the water. The Sprinters were already in their chutes, and the crazy, FAA-rule-breaking NBC helicopter was continuously buzzing by. We took a few photos, chatted, and waited. And waited. And waited. When the Sprinters went off, we started getting nervous again…but then nothing happened and we had to wait some more. So there was time for some "acclimation" in the water and a fabulous photo op with Elvis. I was a wreck until our Elvis photo. How bizarre that this triathlete with a shaved chest dressed up like Elvis actually calmed me down more than my husband or fellow Divas!!
That's all I wanted to be able to say after this race. I know I have this crazy, speed-seeking reputation and all, but honestly, I do triathlon because it pushes me to do things I don't think I can do. The Olympic distance, until Saturday at 12:00pm (approximately!), was something I wasn't entirely sure I could do. A year ago, if you mentioned the distance, I would have said I'd have to be smoking crack to do it. Well, here I am, crack free and I've done it.
It wasn't pretty, though.
So, to the race.
I strolled into transition at 5:30am and couldn't help but notice that nearly every other Diva was already in transition and done with their setup. Seriously, I thought I was early!! I looked like the kid who came to class late. Anyway, I had no trouble getting in, dropped my gear, got marked, and then chatted a bit. I was more concerned with where I was going to use the bathroom than what was happening in transition. To help alleviate all other stress, my Garmin mysteriously turned itself on sometime in the night and had run its battery dead….so I had no way of knowing my speed, distance, or time on the bike or run. Oops. This race was going to be done on perceived exertion…..how can I go all out when I don't know how fast I'm going?
We had a ½ mile walk to the swim start, where I put my wetsuit on at the car and then joined the other Olympians down by the water. The Sprinters were already in their chutes, and the crazy, FAA-rule-breaking NBC helicopter was continuously buzzing by. We took a few photos, chatted, and waited. And waited. And waited. When the Sprinters went off, we started getting nervous again…but then nothing happened and we had to wait some more. So there was time for some "acclimation" in the water and a fabulous photo op with Elvis. I was a wreck until our Elvis photo. How bizarre that this triathlete with a shaved chest dressed up like Elvis actually calmed me down more than my husband or fellow Divas!!
Then it was time.
I wasn't panicky this time around. The thought of doing Pacific Coast had me whimpering at the swim start, but this race I was determined to just get it over with. So I lined up to the far outside in the very front, and then I made them swim over me when the gun went off. It seemed to be pretty smooth compared to the kicking and throttling we witnessed in the Sprint starts. I got out pretty cleanly and managed to stay somewhat close to the front. I never really sighted the big orange buoy too much…..every time I looked up I was headed for it, so that was a plus. About halfway through the swim, we started getting some waves. When we turned towards shore, they started hitting us from the right and I swear, they were almost like rollers out in the Pacific Ocean. They really hit the snot out of us! It was fun, though, and soon enough we were under the bridge and it was time to focus on the bike.
I wasn't panicky this time around. The thought of doing Pacific Coast had me whimpering at the swim start, but this race I was determined to just get it over with. So I lined up to the far outside in the very front, and then I made them swim over me when the gun went off. It seemed to be pretty smooth compared to the kicking and throttling we witnessed in the Sprint starts. I got out pretty cleanly and managed to stay somewhat close to the front. I never really sighted the big orange buoy too much…..every time I looked up I was headed for it, so that was a plus. About halfway through the swim, we started getting some waves. When we turned towards shore, they started hitting us from the right and I swear, they were almost like rollers out in the Pacific Ocean. They really hit the snot out of us! It was fun, though, and soon enough we were under the bridge and it was time to focus on the bike.
(that's me on the far left!)I crawled out of the water and when I got to the pavement, whipped that wetsuit right off. I then proceeded to run. Well, not before I looked at my watch. 26 minutes. Holy cow. Either that was not 1500 meters, or I just swam the fastest I ever have. Anyway, this is important, because I then ran my little tush off to get to the mat as fast as I could. Coach said it was ¼ mile according to her Garmin. My transition time was 28 and change, so this means I clocked an 8-minute mile pace up that miserable hill, barefoot, into transition. FYI – I don't run 8-minute miles. I am slow, and 8-minutes is what I muster in an all-out timed mile. And then I vomit immediately afterwards.
So I think this is the first thing that went wrong for me. In my vain quest for a good swim split, I sprinted to transition and blew out my legs. In T1, I quickly got my gear on and sucked down a gel while pushing my bike over the mat.
Hopping onto the bike, my legs were shaking and my heart rate was refusing to come down. I was whooped by the time we got out of the Lake Las Vegas vicinity and onto the multi-use trail. I just have to note here that I carefully studied the elevations on this bike course, and while I'm not so good at measuring how comparable one course is to the other, I was certain Santiago Canyon could kick this course in the rear. But I was WRONG. The 3 sisters (er, Bitches as I am told they are really referred to by Nevada locals) are evil cows. That's what they call the three hills that we hit in the first few miles of our time on the trail. They are fairly short as far as hills are concerned, but the grades were ridiculously high and not something I'd ever encountered before on a road bike. I heard someone say 17% at one point? At any rate, my inner quads were shaking 1/2way up the first and I saw several girls walking towards the top.
I had initially sworn I would never walk these hills, but I started to do some math. These hills finish by mile 9, and then that's it for the hills. So I have 12-15 + miles of downhill and level riding ahead of me, which I knew I could hammer out on "fresh" legs. Why blow out my legs on these ridiculous hills and sacrifice the majority of my bike leg? So what did I do? I clipped out as I neared the top of #1 and walked my sorry butt a few feet up the remaining part of that miserable, god-forsaken hill. I made it up #2 with no problems, but again with #3, I dismounted and started to hike.
And then I got caught in the act. There went Shannon, FLYING up the hill right past me on her little blue bike. Talk about deflating. My fellow Diva saw me walking up the hill on my strongest sport. Oops! But I was supposed to ride my own race and not get injured, so I let it go.
The rest of the bike was easy, minus the insane crosswinds that rocked my bike out on the trail, the headwinds that fought us back up to Lake Las Vegas, and the car that pulled out in front of me in the street right in front of the cops. I almost threw a bottle at him, but decided that I couldn't afford the abandonment penalty. After Hill #3, I was never passed again and was able to pass a few people in my age group, finishing the bike fairly strong. I was insatiably thirsty despite drinking all the liquids on my bike, but I did come into transition at 1:25 feeling pretty good.
I'm not sure how I managed to spend three whole minutes in T2. I did take time to apply sunscreen, but I didn't even rub it in! Oh well. Room for improvement next time.
I was on pace for a 3-hour finish. Or so I thought……….
One of the pros in the race was overheard proclaiming that the run course for this race was VERY HARD and that she felt like she was running on the moon. Honey, we weren't running on the moon. It was more akin to Dante's 1st circle of hell, filled with the virtuous pagans and unbaptized children (you know, that's us—Olympic virgins and those that just don't know any better--- and yes, it's sad that this race actually invoked a Paradise Lost reference from me). Not only was there not enough water out there, but the damn course kept going up and up and out. Denise was right—you would look out and see little ants in the distance. Girls who were faster than you. On the course you had to run…..in the land that looked like the place in all those horror movies where college coeds' cars break down and then some crazy cowboy in a blue pickup stalks them and chops them up? Yeah. That was like the run.
The run chewed me up and spit me out. Between the horrible stomach ache I had, the racing heart rate that refused to settle, and this overwhelming voice in my head saying "just stop trying so hard—this is torture—just walk," I was in pretty bad shape for the first few miles. I had seen Shannon out of transition, but lost sight of her after she ran up the first hill and I ended up walking. I was pretty much alone for quite some time and just had no concept of how far I'd gone or how I'd be able to salvage the run. (Darn the Garmin for dying on me!) I walked up the hills, ran the downhills and the flats, and spent as much time as I could downing water at the aid stations and dousing myself. Robin told me to keep drinking to make my stomach feel better, and she was right. After I got out of that horrid wasteland of a course out in back of the resort, I was back in the groove. Run a mile, walk a minute. I stopped getting passed. I kept moving forward. And I kept thinking to myself, "there is no way anybody could possibly convince me to run longer in a triathlon."
I'd just like to state that all the people at the transition area saying that the finish line was only a mile away….only six minutes away….almost there --- they were wrotten and cruel liars. That was the longest mile of my life, then! It was such a tease to run through the excitement of transition only to have more race left to run. And then snaking through the village and finishing UP another freaking hill? Insanity, I tell you. But I kept running for the sake of the camera crew and because my fellow Divas had stuck around to cheer us on through the finish chute. And then it was over, and instead of crying like I thought I would, I had no emotion at all. The run had sucked my poor brain dry. I was proud that I had finished, but a little disappointed in my run and in the end, was a bit upset to see that I wasn't as high up on the results list as I'd like to have been. I know, I'm so shallow. It just means I'll have to train harder and focus on my newfound weaknesses so that I can hammer out Danskin and redeem myself at Pendleton!
I was on pace for a 3-hour finish. Or so I thought……….
One of the pros in the race was overheard proclaiming that the run course for this race was VERY HARD and that she felt like she was running on the moon. Honey, we weren't running on the moon. It was more akin to Dante's 1st circle of hell, filled with the virtuous pagans and unbaptized children (you know, that's us—Olympic virgins and those that just don't know any better--- and yes, it's sad that this race actually invoked a Paradise Lost reference from me). Not only was there not enough water out there, but the damn course kept going up and up and out. Denise was right—you would look out and see little ants in the distance. Girls who were faster than you. On the course you had to run…..in the land that looked like the place in all those horror movies where college coeds' cars break down and then some crazy cowboy in a blue pickup stalks them and chops them up? Yeah. That was like the run.
The run chewed me up and spit me out. Between the horrible stomach ache I had, the racing heart rate that refused to settle, and this overwhelming voice in my head saying "just stop trying so hard—this is torture—just walk," I was in pretty bad shape for the first few miles. I had seen Shannon out of transition, but lost sight of her after she ran up the first hill and I ended up walking. I was pretty much alone for quite some time and just had no concept of how far I'd gone or how I'd be able to salvage the run. (Darn the Garmin for dying on me!) I walked up the hills, ran the downhills and the flats, and spent as much time as I could downing water at the aid stations and dousing myself. Robin told me to keep drinking to make my stomach feel better, and she was right. After I got out of that horrid wasteland of a course out in back of the resort, I was back in the groove. Run a mile, walk a minute. I stopped getting passed. I kept moving forward. And I kept thinking to myself, "there is no way anybody could possibly convince me to run longer in a triathlon."
I'd just like to state that all the people at the transition area saying that the finish line was only a mile away….only six minutes away….almost there --- they were wrotten and cruel liars. That was the longest mile of my life, then! It was such a tease to run through the excitement of transition only to have more race left to run. And then snaking through the village and finishing UP another freaking hill? Insanity, I tell you. But I kept running for the sake of the camera crew and because my fellow Divas had stuck around to cheer us on through the finish chute. And then it was over, and instead of crying like I thought I would, I had no emotion at all. The run had sucked my poor brain dry. I was proud that I had finished, but a little disappointed in my run and in the end, was a bit upset to see that I wasn't as high up on the results list as I'd like to have been. I know, I'm so shallow. It just means I'll have to train harder and focus on my newfound weaknesses so that I can hammer out Danskin and redeem myself at Pendleton!
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Olympian
Me! That's me!
I did it. It wasn't pretty, but I finished the race. I'm actually at a class in Phoenix right now and can't post photos, but will post those and a race report when I have a chance. Finished in 3:09, but not so sure of the official distances. My swim time seemed too fast for 1500 meters, the bike seemed shorter than what they said it was going to be, and the run seemed longer. So who knows what this means in the real world. I was a middle-of-the-packer yesterday, but I was just happy I conquered that monster. My run gave me quite a bit of trouble, but that wasn't surprising considering all the time I lost on training due to my injuries.
So, thought I'd report back, even though SixTwoThree already knows. I'm happy to be a finisher, but now I feel a need to redeem myself. Pendleton, perhaps?
I did it. It wasn't pretty, but I finished the race. I'm actually at a class in Phoenix right now and can't post photos, but will post those and a race report when I have a chance. Finished in 3:09, but not so sure of the official distances. My swim time seemed too fast for 1500 meters, the bike seemed shorter than what they said it was going to be, and the run seemed longer. So who knows what this means in the real world. I was a middle-of-the-packer yesterday, but I was just happy I conquered that monster. My run gave me quite a bit of trouble, but that wasn't surprising considering all the time I lost on training due to my injuries.
So, thought I'd report back, even though SixTwoThree already knows. I'm happy to be a finisher, but now I feel a need to redeem myself. Pendleton, perhaps?
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Hard to Taper when you have a TAPEWORM
Holy cow, I will hit this race 5 lbs heavier, I swear. Uncontrollable hunger......OUCH!
I can't even do my taper week exercises because my knees and IT band are still so sore from my first 7-mile run on Sunday. Yeah, smoothness. To top that all off, I am starting to feel sick. Like, bowling ball in the head and drippy nastiness kind of sick.
If I end up at this race SICK and LAME on Saturday, I am going to cry. I am going to cry and scream and maybe even eat a donut.
Insanity.
As you can tell, I'm heading to sleep now and praying that my Zicam, excellent rest schedule, and pure luck get me through the next few days.
Why did I pick this sport?!!!
I can't even do my taper week exercises because my knees and IT band are still so sore from my first 7-mile run on Sunday. Yeah, smoothness. To top that all off, I am starting to feel sick. Like, bowling ball in the head and drippy nastiness kind of sick.
If I end up at this race SICK and LAME on Saturday, I am going to cry. I am going to cry and scream and maybe even eat a donut.
Insanity.
As you can tell, I'm heading to sleep now and praying that my Zicam, excellent rest schedule, and pure luck get me through the next few days.
Why did I pick this sport?!!!
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Progress....it's a good thing
I'm happy to report that DH is now gainfully employed and his first day on the job is Monday. This is momentous, as it's his first non-aviation job since college, and he actually has to wear a suit and tie to work. YES!!! This is fabulous for me, because now he looks hot ALL of the time. The downside, of course, is that I have to purchase this wardrobe with my lovely bankroll. I would much rather take $1000 and buy new trishorts, a new helmet, enter a few races, take a vacation......but I suppose this is a small price to pay for a new career and a chance at creating a "fall back." He'll probably still go into the whole pilot thing, but his new job (with MY company!) should fund his flying habit a bit better than unemployment. So I am pleased to report this progress in his life.
My work life? Eh, not so fabulous. Hard to do huge mixed use real estate projects when the funding is so limited out there. So I am working with the apartment side, but not managing anything of my own and feeling like I'm not exactly mission critical. I LOVE being mission critical, so this is stressing me out beyond words. Can't say there's been progress in this area of my life.
Peak week has revealed personal bests with every workout. Wednesday evening, it was 20 sets of 100's in the pool, on the 2:00, alternating between all out effort and race pace. Up until the very end, I was seeing 1:45 and was SO happy to see that it was sustainable. I may not be the best swimmer in the world, but I am seeing a wee bit o' progress in the pool.
Thursday saw a brick workout-- 1/2 hour of race pace bike followed by 1/2 hour of race pace running. I did a set of hill repeats for the bike, beating my personal best time up that hill on BOTH repeats. Then I knocked out my fastest 5K time ever and felt like I had plenty more to give. Yes, was sore and beat and had to take Friday off, but it was exciting to see the progress.
And this morning.....I did the same Canyon bike loop that I've been doing for a month, followed by a quick 10 minute run. I beat my best loop time by 8 minutes, even with 30 billion Team In Training people clogging the bike lane. (Love them, just not this morning-- I felt like I was in a race, but there were horrible cars everywhere!) I'm psyched.....progress, progress, progress. I may actually finish this race in a somewhat decent time. (Publicly aiming for 3:20...if I take longer than that, I will shoot myself)
So that is my update. I'm not exactly going for volume in peak week.....just hard effort and personal bests. Tomorrow is my 7-mile run, and then I am on taper until Saturday, when I join the ranks of 1000 other women and hit the Lake Las Vegas race course. I get to share the race course with the likes of Sam McGlone and Mirinda Carfrae -- -2 pros who will surely give us some serious speed envy --- I'm psyched!
So overall, I guess you could say I am making progress in life. It's painfully slow, but I'm getting there.....
My work life? Eh, not so fabulous. Hard to do huge mixed use real estate projects when the funding is so limited out there. So I am working with the apartment side, but not managing anything of my own and feeling like I'm not exactly mission critical. I LOVE being mission critical, so this is stressing me out beyond words. Can't say there's been progress in this area of my life.
Peak week has revealed personal bests with every workout. Wednesday evening, it was 20 sets of 100's in the pool, on the 2:00, alternating between all out effort and race pace. Up until the very end, I was seeing 1:45 and was SO happy to see that it was sustainable. I may not be the best swimmer in the world, but I am seeing a wee bit o' progress in the pool.
Thursday saw a brick workout-- 1/2 hour of race pace bike followed by 1/2 hour of race pace running. I did a set of hill repeats for the bike, beating my personal best time up that hill on BOTH repeats. Then I knocked out my fastest 5K time ever and felt like I had plenty more to give. Yes, was sore and beat and had to take Friday off, but it was exciting to see the progress.
And this morning.....I did the same Canyon bike loop that I've been doing for a month, followed by a quick 10 minute run. I beat my best loop time by 8 minutes, even with 30 billion Team In Training people clogging the bike lane. (Love them, just not this morning-- I felt like I was in a race, but there were horrible cars everywhere!) I'm psyched.....progress, progress, progress. I may actually finish this race in a somewhat decent time. (Publicly aiming for 3:20...if I take longer than that, I will shoot myself)
So that is my update. I'm not exactly going for volume in peak week.....just hard effort and personal bests. Tomorrow is my 7-mile run, and then I am on taper until Saturday, when I join the ranks of 1000 other women and hit the Lake Las Vegas race course. I get to share the race course with the likes of Sam McGlone and Mirinda Carfrae -- -2 pros who will surely give us some serious speed envy --- I'm psyched!
So overall, I guess you could say I am making progress in life. It's painfully slow, but I'm getting there.....
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Can we just get this over with?
I vote that we skip peak week and go right to the race. My tummy is more nervous than you can possibly imagine and I just want to get it over with!
In true freakshow fashion, I've checked out all of the girls in my age group on Athlinks. I know that there are a handful that will surely kick my rear so bad I will question why I have chosen the sport. There are a few who can give me a run for my money in the sprint department (same races, close results). There are some freakishly fast marathon and half marathon runners who I hope will sink in the Lake, but I am sure they will join the ranks of those who will slaughter me. There are even a few slowpokes who are PAINFULLY slow according to their race results....consistently, painfully slow.....and I know that I won't be last. (important) And then there are TONS and TONS of women who have no race history at all. No 5K. No 10K. No bike race. No tri. Nada. So who knows what their stories are?!
Did researching all these women make me feel better about the race?
Absolutely not. Because this race, unlike my sprints, isn't really about them. It's about me. This is my journey. This is me proving something to myself. Maybe next year I'll worry about beating them.
Things are coming into place, though. Hip flexors are great-- my McTherapist came through and worked magic on them. I did a 2000 meter swim tonight that was alternating 100's between race pace and all out effort, on the 2:00....and I could have made them on the 1:50. Yes, I was PSYCHED. 12 weeks ago, I couldn't make it to 1000 meters on the 2:00. So this is a big deal to me. I ran 6.25 miles on Sunday, proving to myself I could definitely make the distance. And my bike is coming along. We did a brick after a really tough 1:44 ride, and I was able to comfortably run 3 miles without any pain.
I'm ready!! April 12th, hurry up..........I'd like to be able to incorporate acidic foods back into my diet again without them burning a hole in my tummy.
:)
In true freakshow fashion, I've checked out all of the girls in my age group on Athlinks. I know that there are a handful that will surely kick my rear so bad I will question why I have chosen the sport. There are a few who can give me a run for my money in the sprint department (same races, close results). There are some freakishly fast marathon and half marathon runners who I hope will sink in the Lake, but I am sure they will join the ranks of those who will slaughter me. There are even a few slowpokes who are PAINFULLY slow according to their race results....consistently, painfully slow.....and I know that I won't be last. (important) And then there are TONS and TONS of women who have no race history at all. No 5K. No 10K. No bike race. No tri. Nada. So who knows what their stories are?!
Did researching all these women make me feel better about the race?
Absolutely not. Because this race, unlike my sprints, isn't really about them. It's about me. This is my journey. This is me proving something to myself. Maybe next year I'll worry about beating them.
Things are coming into place, though. Hip flexors are great-- my McTherapist came through and worked magic on them. I did a 2000 meter swim tonight that was alternating 100's between race pace and all out effort, on the 2:00....and I could have made them on the 1:50. Yes, I was PSYCHED. 12 weeks ago, I couldn't make it to 1000 meters on the 2:00. So this is a big deal to me. I ran 6.25 miles on Sunday, proving to myself I could definitely make the distance. And my bike is coming along. We did a brick after a really tough 1:44 ride, and I was able to comfortably run 3 miles without any pain.
I'm ready!! April 12th, hurry up..........I'd like to be able to incorporate acidic foods back into my diet again without them burning a hole in my tummy.
:)
Thursday, March 27, 2008
T Minus 16 Days
Yes, just 16 more days until I start to address other topics in life other than my injuries and trepidation regarding the Iron Girl race. Until then, you'd best be believing I'm going to milk this for all it's worth.
So, my lovely, miserable, tight, heinous hip flexors are proving to be quite an issue these days. I gave them 8 whole days off from running and kicking (but not cycling-- can't stop that), so last night I decided, in my infinite wisdom, to partake in my team's track workout. OK, let me stop here. No, I am not so stupid that I did the workout with them. I just casually ran around the dirt track, walking around the ends for an entire hour with my very good friend and mentor, who happens to be on taper for CA 70.3 on Saturday. At any rate, I had a lovely time minus the slight pulls from the hip flexors. Managed to add 4.37 miles of volume into these legs last night, which I think is infinitely better than zero. And am I worse for wear? Well, maybe a little tighter than normal, but I brought my ice pack to work so I am working diligently on minimizing any damage. On Sunday, I'm going to attempt to walk-run the full 6 miles after my swim set. I need to get over this mental barrier, even if there's walking involved.
In the interim, I'm booking physical therapy AND ART massage to help counter the pain. I've heard of miracles from these people, so I am putting them to the test!
On Saturday, my dear blogger friend SixTwoThreeTries, my coach, my BT mentor and mentor groupee, and my good friend Denise and her hubby are doing CA 70.3. A HALF IRONMAN. Yes, I bow down to you. All of you. And I intend to show up around the bike-run transition time (sorry, must do a long bike before I go down to Oceanside) with POSTERS. So if you can think of anything fun or motivational that will help you get across the finish line, let me know and I'm happy to do some arts and crafts for you. I was thinking I'd ask my coach how her butt was feeling after 58 miles, but I may try to keep it PG.
So that's how I'm putting IronGirl into perspective. It's nothing compared to the Half Ironman, so I shouldn't worry too much. And coach says that even if I walk the run, I'll still finish before most of the girls on my team. (She's just trying to make me feel good about myself because she knows I am beat down) So there. Am calming myself down RIGHT NOW!
So, good luck to all my pals on Saturday. I shall be with you in spirit at the swim start, but certainly by the time you get to that run, I'll be out there cheering for you! Stay warm. :)
So, my lovely, miserable, tight, heinous hip flexors are proving to be quite an issue these days. I gave them 8 whole days off from running and kicking (but not cycling-- can't stop that), so last night I decided, in my infinite wisdom, to partake in my team's track workout. OK, let me stop here. No, I am not so stupid that I did the workout with them. I just casually ran around the dirt track, walking around the ends for an entire hour with my very good friend and mentor, who happens to be on taper for CA 70.3 on Saturday. At any rate, I had a lovely time minus the slight pulls from the hip flexors. Managed to add 4.37 miles of volume into these legs last night, which I think is infinitely better than zero. And am I worse for wear? Well, maybe a little tighter than normal, but I brought my ice pack to work so I am working diligently on minimizing any damage. On Sunday, I'm going to attempt to walk-run the full 6 miles after my swim set. I need to get over this mental barrier, even if there's walking involved.
In the interim, I'm booking physical therapy AND ART massage to help counter the pain. I've heard of miracles from these people, so I am putting them to the test!
On Saturday, my dear blogger friend SixTwoThreeTries, my coach, my BT mentor and mentor groupee, and my good friend Denise and her hubby are doing CA 70.3. A HALF IRONMAN. Yes, I bow down to you. All of you. And I intend to show up around the bike-run transition time (sorry, must do a long bike before I go down to Oceanside) with POSTERS. So if you can think of anything fun or motivational that will help you get across the finish line, let me know and I'm happy to do some arts and crafts for you. I was thinking I'd ask my coach how her butt was feeling after 58 miles, but I may try to keep it PG.
So that's how I'm putting IronGirl into perspective. It's nothing compared to the Half Ironman, so I shouldn't worry too much. And coach says that even if I walk the run, I'll still finish before most of the girls on my team. (She's just trying to make me feel good about myself because she knows I am beat down) So there. Am calming myself down RIGHT NOW!
So, good luck to all my pals on Saturday. I shall be with you in spirit at the swim start, but certainly by the time you get to that run, I'll be out there cheering for you! Stay warm. :)
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