None, nada, nothing. I just flat out didn't feel like working out this week. I intended to several evenings, but just couldn't make it. Part of it was that I had some really long days at work last week, and was completely wiped out by the time I even got in my car to head home. Yeah, I probably would've felt more energized if I exercised, but I didn't. And I'm okay with that. I'm headed to the gym tonight to run and swim. Back on the horse.
I've completed week 2 of my 20 week winter maintenance/base program. I did 7 of the 9 workouts and feel quite good about that, especially considering that we went to a snowboarding clinic on Thursday night and left town right after work Friday to spend the weekend in Wisconsin. I missed 2 of my 3 swim workouts, but will try extra hard to get all three of them in this week. I was very proud of myself for getting up both Saturday and Sunday to workout in the hotel "fitness center." I didn't have a very good workout yesterday because of too much beer and fried foods on Saturday, but I still stuck it out for the whole time.
I'm getting better as far as sticking to my training. I finally exercised in the morning today! Went for 35 minutes on my bike on the trainer. Wasn't going very fast, but that's okay. I have to cut myself some slack since I've been off the bike for so long. My butt needs to get used to the saddle again. Last night I went to the gym after work and ran 30 minutes and biked 15. Again, did the "slave to the HR monitor" thing. I felt pretty good, but it started to drift especially in the last 10 minutes. I just have to continue to be patient with this and remind myself that my fitness levels will come back and improve in time. I just have to stay focused on the right goals and not worry about pace/speed on the run at this point. I intended to swim last night, too, but wasn't feeling great on the bike (even cut that short due to not feeling well), and it was getting late and I had some things I needed to get done at home. So, I missed that 800 yard swim workout. I'm not going to try to make it up, I'm just going to accept that I wasn't able to get to it and be okay with it. Goal for tomorrow is to get up early early and run and swim before work. The catch is I want to be into work super early so I can leave work early and head out of town as soon as possible... that mean's getting to the gym super super early!
Ok, getting up to exercise in the morning is still not happening. I didn't even bother trying to today. Monday, I made it over to the gym after work and ran 20 minutes (went farther in the same amount of time while keeping my HR in check = improving my fitness!), then swam 400. I really focused on my swim form and felt quite good in the water. I rushed my butt off in "transition" so that I could get the whole thing done (parking, changing, running, changing, swimming, showering, dressing, validating my parking ticket) in under 60 minutes so I wouldn't have to pay to park. I'm cheap, I know. But I made it, with three minutes to spare. Whoo hoo me!
I got my bike set up with the special training tire (that thing is a PAIN to install), so I can ride on the trainer at home. I meant to last night, but was cold and tired and didn't do it. Tonight, I'm going back to the gym to run for 30 minutes, bike for 25 minutes, and swim 800. I will end up paying to park, but it's my punishment for not dragging my booty out of bed and exercising in the morning. My goal is to ride my bike on the trainer tomorrow morning, and then swim and run on Friday morning, since Heath and I are going out of town this weekend and I won't be able to work out after work on Friday. We'll see how well I stick to my goals!
I did end up going to the gym on Friday after work and doing the following: Run 20 minutes, Bike 20 minutes, Swim 400 yards. I was pretty pleased with how much I got done and wasn't too tired. I did notice that my back isn't as strong as it used to be, as it started to get very tired during the last part of my swim. For the week's training, I was under my planned training by 50 min for biking and 800 yards for swimming, but was over my planned running by a whopping 2 minutes. Given that I'm just getting back into training, I'm not going to be too hard on myself. I did an hour of pilates (plus running to and from the gym) on Saturday. Friday night, I also rode the mountain bike alongside Heath while he ran for about 2 miles.
My struggle right now is admitting how poor my cardiovascular health is for running. I can keep up a really good speed on the bike while maintaining an aerobic heart rate, but when I run, my heart rate spikes up really high. I am forcing myself to be a slave to my HR Monitor for this winter training. I have it set such that the treadmill will adjust in speed and incline to make sure my heart rate stays in an aerobic zone. This means (ugh) that by the end of my 20 minute run, I was going super duper slow. This is frustrating to say the least, but I'm hoping that if I train right and make sure I'm training aerobically, I'll get to a point where I can go quite a bit faster and still keep my HR in check. This will help me considerably going forward. I've been running my 5Ks at an anaerobic rate, which means I can't keep it up much longer than 30-45 minutes. I've never taken the time to make sure I'm aerobically fit for running. My legs and joints and everything are fine with me going faster than my heart wants to. I need to be okay with slowing down, so I'm going to suck it up and do that for the next while and hope that it pays off in the long run.
Today, I'm headed back to the gym for 20 minutes of running and another 400 yards of swimming. My overall goals for this week is to stick to the training plan volume and stay in the proper heart rate zones.
So, yeah. I didn't get any workouts in. I have a million excuses and none of them good enough. I knew it was going to be a challenge to get going again. I'm motivated, but haven't been good about making myself do what I need to do. I brought my gym bag to work with me. I have to make sure I go straight to the gym right after work and get my exercise in. I know I'll feel better if I just go and do it. Once I get into the habit, it will be easier, but I'm having a hard time right now because I've let it slide so much. Fortunately, I'm still in decent shape so it won't be too bad to get back into it. I have to remember how much it will pay off next summer in making me faster and better in my races. I think that if I work hard and stick with the training, I could potentially place in the Time Trial Series that ABD puts on. I was close to doing it last year without having really a clue of what I was doing. This year, I might be in a really good position to place. Most important to me is beating my times from last year. That is a good motivation for me. I'll post an update after I go to the gym tonight!
Today's workout: 20 minutes on the bike. I'll do this on the trainer at home tonight, since I didn't get up and get to the gym this morning. My sleep schedule is off. Early to bed tonight because...
Tomorrow's workout: 10 minutes running and 400 yards swimming (but I may bump that up to 600 to make up for not swimming on Monday or Wednesday).
I'll check in tomorrow to update my progress.
Time to raise this blog from the dead... Okay. It's been about two and a half months since I've posted here. That was my post-season break. It's November 1 and I wanted to look back on last season's races and training and think about where I want to go from here.
Whirlpool Steelhead 70.3 Triathlon Race Report
This is a copy of the post on my other blog. Things have been super busy lately, so I failed to keep up on my regular blogging here. Oops!
Okay, I think keeping everybody waiting for over a week is long enough. Just a warning, this is going to be a long post…extremely long…
Overall, this race went better than I could’ve ever imagined. I’d be lying if I said I was anywhere near 100% compliant with my training regimen, but I still managed to make it through the race without too much difficulty. Yes, I walked good portions of the run, but I’m okay with that, since the most important thing to me was just to finish the race, and I did that with plenty of time to spare.
The 1.2 Mile Swim:
I was running a little late getting to the swim start (whoops!), but managed to line up and get my wetsuit on and zipped up with a few minutes to spare before they called my wave: Wave #5, red swimcaps, leaving at 7:15. It was probably best that I didn’t have a ton of time to stand there and stew and get nervous. I walked up to the edge of the water and waited for the horn. We all splashed our way in, some girls diving in when it was still too shallow, then getting up and running some more before re-diving in. Once it got to about thigh deep, I started doing the dolphin dives, where you dive in to go forward, then stand up and dive in again. Once it got deep enough, I started to actually swim. This was the ONLY time during the race that I felt like quitting. I don’t know if it was the wetsuit, or my nerves finally catching up with me, but I felt like I couldn’t breathe. No matter how much I tried to calm myself down, I felt like I was gasping for air. I unzipped the top of my wetsuit a couple inches, and did the breast stroke for a bit. I looked for a kayak or sea-doo or somebody to rescue me. It’s probably good there were none around, or I might have quit. Instead I just kept going. I abandoned the dual-sided breathing technique I had worked so hard for, and breathed every other stroke, always breathing to the right, where I could sight the buoys and the shoreline (which seemed forever away). The swim went South to North, with the sun in our eyes as it rose above the treeline. I got into a rhythm and noticed I started passing some of the people in my wave (red caps). I was being passed, too, but that was okay, since I knew stronger groups were behind me and that was inevitable. I ended up losing track of time in the water. I just went buoy to buoy until I got to the end. It could’ve been 10 minutes or 2 hours, I had no idea how long I’d been swimming. I figured though, that due to my problems at the beginning, I was probably way off my pace. I was okay with that, and just wanted to get through the swim. After massaging out a calf cramp after the last buoy on the last stretch into shore (ouch!), I made my way onto the beach, walking up toward transition. I glanced at my watch, and it was somewhere around 50 minutes, which is not as far off my pace as I feared. It gave me a boost for getting on the bike. I didn’t let myself think about how much I had yet to go ahead of me.
Transition 1
I got into transition, and managed to yank my wetsuit off. I took my time to make sure I had everything. Put on my cycling shoes (after rinsing my feet a bit), put on my helmet and sunglasses, changed my mind and decided to proceed sans gloves. They didn’t want to go on over my wet hand anyhow. I made sure I had enough food and unracked my bike. I failed to notice that I had my cleat covers still on my shoes (doh!), so that made clipping in a bit of a challenge, but I yanked them off and was on my way.
The 56 Mile Bike Ride:
It was shady and smooth for the first portion of the bike section. I settled in right away and felt good. I was in my small chainring (= harder, faster gears) for most of the race (save for some of the hills), and felt great. I got to the 10 mile marker before I knew it and still felt really strong. I lost my chain on a hill between 10 and 15, but got it back on and kept going. At the mile 15 marker, it hit me that I was really going to be able to finish the race. I kind of got a little emotional, and was really excited. Even though I had been telling myself, especially in the week leading up to the race, that I was going to be able to finish, there was that lingering doubt in my mind and it disappeared right then. I felt like I was flying along. I managed to eat enough and hydrate enough, though Gatorade did not taste good at all to me. I was getting passed by lots and lots of guys, who had made up the time gap from their later swim starts. So many people were so friendly as they passed, having brief conversations, telling me I was doing great. That type of support and sportsmanship does wonders. You don’t feel so alone out there, despite it being an individual sport. I tried to remember to take in the scenery. Through the rolling hills, there were lots of fruit farms, and it was such a pleasant day. There were stretches of rougher pavement, which were painful, but then there were stretches that felt like I was just flying on. I was cruising over 20mph without even feeling it. Before I knew it, I was at the halfway point, and still felt great. By the time I got to mile 40, though, my legs started burning. My thighs were getting tired. I ate some more to get some more fast carbs in me, and dealt with the headwind I was suddenly facing. Ugh! And more hills. I got a little discouraged for a stretch. Then I reminded myself: “You are biking 56 miles. It’s SUPPOSED to hurt.” I changed my perspective and realized I should be grateful that I didn’t start hurting until the 40s, when I could have been hurting at mile 20! At this point in the race, I was so close to being done, that I just had to push through. Some of the hills at the end were toughies, but nothing I couldn’t handle. I just kept pedaling. I saw my family cheering for me as I made my way to the bike dismount in front of transition. I had made it through the longest portion in under my goal time of 3 and a half hours.
Transition 2
I took my time in transition 2 so that my legs would feel good on the run. I had stretched on the bike from time to time, keeping the hamstrings and calves as loose as I could. I racked my bike, yanked off the helmet and shades, changed into my running shoes, grabbed some food, and my visor and started the brisk walk to the run exit. I saw my family again as I left for the run.
The 13.1 Mile Run:
I still felt as if I had a ton of energy as I took off on the run. I think part of that is due to not allowing myself to think ahead to how much was left. I just wanted to take one mile at a time. I started out at an easy pace and quickly came to the bottom of a large-ish hill that was quite steep. Knowing that my calves would probably seize up if I tried to run it (which happened in my last triathlon and was horrible!), I decided to walk up it as a warm up. When I got to the top, we were already almost at one mile. I started to jog again and got a sip of water and Gatorade at the first aid station. I just kept going along, trying to enjoy the experience. I would now say that running is my weakest sport of the three. I walked a lot more than I wanted to. The one nice thing about walking was getting to chat with other people that were also walking. I met a number of people out there and everyone I talked to was very friendly. The course winded up some roads and into the Whirlpool corporation campus. The paved path turned through the woods and around and through a marshland type area. It was really pretty and pleasant. I still felt pretty good as I got to the 6.5 mile mark (halfway!) and began my 2nd loop. I liked that it was looped since then it meant that I knew exactly what to expect for the second half and how much was left. I wound through the paths again. The ice cold sponges at the aid stations were wonderful. The day was slightly overcast, which was great, since I could feel myself really heat up when the sun would come out. My stomach started to give me a little bit of an issue around mile 8, but I had some banana, which seemed to help, and felt a 2nd (3rd? 4th?) wind around mile 9.5. There were some kids with water guns out on the course, which was a lot of fun. They loved squirting us and we appreciated the cool down. By the end of the race, my tri top was soaked, but I think it was as much water as it was sweat. The last couple miles were long. Around mile 11, my legs came to a stop without my permission. It was a weird sensation. I literally felt like they just disobeyed me, “I didn’t tell you you could stop!” It just became a bit more effortful to keep them moving. But I was so close, and I knew we got to run DOWN that big hill (the one I walked up at the beginning). As I turned the corner at the bottom of the hill, I could hear the music and the announcer and it felt so amazing to know how close to the end I was!
The Finish:
One last left turn, and there it all was. Kind of a dune valley, lined on both sides with people cheering, waiting for their friends and loved ones to finally turn that corner. I saw my family as I approached the finish line. 7 hours, 10 minutes, and 32 seconds. It was such a great feeling to get to the end. I had actually finished this race that had been looming since February. This race that a month ago I was terrified of. I got my finisher’s medal, and my towel. They had a bucket of ice cold
After the race:
I found my family after I left that tent, and they all gave me hugs, despite me being so gross and wet. I was still flying high on my adrenaline and endorphins, so I felt really good. We sat in the pavilion and waited for my turn at a massage, which took too long so didn’t happen. I stretched a bit and talked with my family, who had sat there all day waiting for me and being there to see me at every opportunity they could. I got some food, but wasn’t very hungry. Then I started to get tired. You can see in some of the pictures Mindy took how tired my eyes look. I also started to get cold. After a little while, we gathered up, and went back to transition so I could pick up my bike and gear. We walked the mile or so back to the cars, and said our goodbyes. Heath and I headed back to Dan and Sarah’s so I could shower and we could get back on the road to head to
In the end I raised $2360 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Being part of Team in Training is really special, and I recommend it to anybody who is thinking about it. There are a wide variety of races that you can train and raise money for. Wearing that uniform made me feel really good about the cause I was doing this for. You are definitely part of a larger community as part of Team, and you have that much more support and fans on the course and cheering from the sidelines. It was great!
2. A transition bag. This item is riding on the fence of necessity. I could surely get by without one, but certain features of this bag will make things much easier for me, such as, two internal mesh shoe pockets (to hold both my running and cycling shoes for those of you unfamiliar with the multishoe aspect of multisport), an expandable mesh bottom compartment for wetsuit or towel, removable waterproof bag, it zips open to open ALL the way , plus lots of pockets for waterbottles, mp3 player, foodstuffs, cellphone, etc. I went with the TYR bag pictured here. It was a lot less expensive than some of the "triathlon" brand ones and had everything I think I could need.
3. Speed laces. This should be interesting. I'm going to try it out a bit before any races, but I ordered some Yankz! (that is their exclamation point, not mine) laces that allow you to put on and take off your shoes without any tying or untying. In the world of triathlon transition, the tying of shoes is a serious time sucker. I'm pretty slow at the actual sports, so I hope to have the quickest transitions I can to help my times. ;)
I needed some extra motivation to run, so I signed up for the Run for the Zoo 2007. The course winds through Lincoln Park Zoo and I get a nice Dri-Fit t-shirt (and we all know that the t-shirt is what really matters). I bravely signed up for this as my first 10K race, but I should be more than capable of covering 6.2 miles at this point. Small races along the way help to get my butt outside and running.
new frustration. i'm changing the tires between my two bikes since i'm going to be primarily using my "good" bike. i was excited to change to my newer tires on my main wheelset, thinking that the tires were easier to mount than my old tires. but crap. turns out that the problem isn't with the tires, but with the rims. my hands are in huge pain from trying to seat my good tires on my good rims. back to it shortly. ugh.
The 28th Annual Shamrock Shuffle is coming up on Sunday. It should be a lot of fun. I'm hoping I can run the whole thing. (I'd better be able to!) With 30,000 participants, it is certainly going to be crowded, and I'm guessing it will be at least a mile before it breaks up enough for me to get up to pace, so then it makes it only about 4 miles on pace, which I think is doable. I'm shooting for 10 minute miles, but that may be wishful thinking. I know a few other people running in it, including an old college friend that I haven't seen in years. Hopefully I can find her and at least say "hi" and catch up a little. There is a post-race party that starts at 10am with beer, food, and live music. It should be fun, though I'll definitely be eating something before I start in on any beer!
Thankfully, I was able to con my way ;) into overnight accommodations near the train so I won't have to drive into the city for the race or the expo. That will make things a lot less stressful and more convenient. No worrying about negotiating closed streets or paying for parking. I'll definitely post an update post-race to share how I did.
A MILE! This morning before work I swam an entire mile!! Not continuously, but 1650 (so actually a tad over a mile if you want to be specific) total. 2 x 50 (those were only because my left goggle kept leaking, ugh), then a 500, then a 200 then 8 x 100, then another 50 (go ahead, add it up, I know you want to). Whoohoo! "Real" swimmers may scoff, but I've never swam that far before, so I'm extremely pleased. I'm all adrenaline-y right now and not too tired. I also made my goal of getting in the pool 4 times this week. I probably covered between 2.5 and 3 miles total. I'm debating running after work again, but we'll see how tired I am this afternoon.
I'm not a great swimmer by any means, but I think I do alright. I'm getting a little better and a little stronger every time I get into the pool. I've gone three days so far this week, and am planning on getting my fourth swim in tomorrow, hopefully during lunch again, since that seems to work quite well. It seems that no matter how clunky I feel in the water, or how smooth, or how fast I try to go, or how tired I am, my pace is ALWAYS the same. I'm kind of happy that I'm able to maintain, it, but at the same time, it's a bit troubling that it doesn't seem to deviate from 2min/100m AT ALL.
On a related note... I'm no pool etiquette expert, but today at the pool something strange happened. The pool is four lanes. I was the only person in the pool, in one of the outer lanes. Some dude comes into the pool area as I'm just starting my 1 min rest between 200's. As I am standing (clearly visible) at the end of my lane, he gets into the pool. IN MY LANE!! What the heck?!?! I KNOW that can't be proper pool etiquette. So after a period of confusion and a quasi-standoff, I ducked under the lane line thingy into the adjacent lane and resumed swimming. Totally threw me off. What would posses a person to do such a bizarro thing?
I've been quite proud lately for how much I've been teaching myself about taking care of my bikes. I'm not terribly knowledgeable yet, but I'm getting better. It's pretty satisfying to be able to fix or adjust something by myself. Plus, it's going to make me feel a whole lot better on longer rides (like in Ireland), knowing that I will be equipped to deal with mechanical issues should they arise. Tonight I decided to work on the brakes on my 2nd bike (the one I'm taking overseas). When I was putting new tires on yesterday, I noticed the brake pads were set way too tight, even with the quick release levers open. I managed to mess around with the cables and the various adjustments to get them working properly. I also cleaned up the drivetrain, which was really gross and gunked up. Now it's all shiny and clean. This weekend I'll be looking at and working on my old mountain bike at my parents' house in Michigan. I'm hoping it's still in decent shape and I can get it cleaned up and in good working condition without putting too much money into it.
This is from a weekly newsletter I get (www.roadbikerider.com). Those of you who have had to tolerate my bike-related ramblings may appreciate this. Then again, it's probably only funny to us bike geeks...
A coworker friend and I have started going to the gym at lunchtime on Tuesday and Thursday. It's good to get a break from the monotony of the office and get in a quick workout. We're taking the "six-pack attack class." (Yes, lame name, but it does the job.) I'm anxious to see how my middle looks after a few weeks of this.
Tuesday was a great workout, which I definitely felt, particularly in the upper abs. We did a lot of pilates moves, and it was relatively low key and slowly paced. Today, however, was completely different. We got our butts kicked. As the instructor barked at us and our legs shook, my friend kept looking over at me as if to say "she can't be serious." I will certainly be a sore girl tomorrow. Abs, butt, back, inner and outer thighs, quads, all worked WAY past fatigue. Both our legs felt like jelly walking down the steps in the parking garage afterwards.
But is that enough for me? Nooooo, of course not. I'm heading back to the gym in a little bit to run 2 miles then take my spinning class. I'll sleep well tonight. And hopefully be able to walk tomorrow. Tomorrow will be sort of a recovery day with swimming and a low intensity bike ride.
Ah, bike tires. I am completely new at buying bike tires, so I've been doing a lot of research on them and talking to various people lately. The Michelin tires have consistently gotten good reviews as far as comfort, performance, and durability, so I've sprung for some of those. I decided on the Michelin Krylion Carbon tires for general training and for my trip Ireland. They are built for durability and puncture resistance, so while I'll be bringing a spare to Ireland, I doubt I'll have to use it. I'm going to put them on both of my road bikes. I got the grey/black ones, figuring red or yellow wouldn't look too great.
Those ones are rated great for lots of miles but are not so great for racing. When I'm going to race, I'll switch over to the Michelin Pro 2 Race tires. They have a lower rolling resistance and are lighter. These come in lots and lots of cute colors, including the lovely sky blue (pictured below) that I got. I think they will look great on my Kestrel for races.
Tires are sorta expensive. But, I'd rather have good ones that will last me (and I fully trust these will) than have to replace cheapies over and over. Plus, anybody that knows me knows that I found THE best prices possible on these. eBay was the winner for both types. For each set, I got the PAIR for about $10 more than ONE tire would cost at a bike shop. I can't wait to get them!
The current overall standings for the time trial series are posted on the ABD website and my category standings are shown below (click for a larger image that is actually legible). For the individual race, I was 4th out of 7, and I'm 5th out of 11 overall right now. I'm pretty happy with that. I was really hoping to catch that Joy Houser person, but as you can see, she blew her previous hilly time out of the water. Just goes to show you that all you can do is race your best, since it's just you against the clock. In time trials, you have no control over how other people race, only yourself. I'm happy with my improvement over time. The Fraser Memorial TT (10 Miles) is the last race in the series. It's April 1st in Maple Park and will be my first outdoor cycling race, and my first time racing in my aerobars. Yikes! Should be interesting.
The final indoor Time Trial was today. I raced really well. The girl next to me was pushing really hard and it was all I could to to hold her off. It paid off, though, since both of us ended up going a lot faster than if we hadn't been going head to head. My time was 18:41.11, with an average speed of just under 20mph, which is the fastest time I've managed. I'm interested to see how I placed in my category and where I'm at overall. I'm going to try to get some pictures up of the race. Here is the progression of my performance over all four races. Note that my power increased from race to race, it indicates that I'm getting stronger and stronger every time.
Race 1: 19:16.24 / 19.3mph / 178watts (flat)
Race 2: 19:15.26 / 19.3mph / 191watts (hilly)
Race 3: 18:53.16 / 19.7mph / 199watts (flat)
Race 4: 18:41.11 / 19.9mph / 202watts (hilly)
Update: I put some pictures of the race up on Photobucket. Still waiting on ABD to post the results. Below is one of me warming up before the race started. I'm SO rocking those pink socks.
Before yesterday, I was pretty concerned about my cycling. I'm still nervous about completing the distance for the race, but I'm feeling much better. I spent 1 hr 20 min on my bike indoors on the trainer yesterday. I did my Spinervals DVD, which I really liked. I'll definitely be buying more of them in the future. Even though it was quite a chunk of time, it wasn't horribly painful, despite being on the trainer. My hamstrings started to get a bit tight and my butt started to get sore, but that's to be expected. So basically, I covered not quite half the time I expect to take during the tri. Considering how long I still have to train, I'm confident that I'll be able to cover it. Plus, I'm feeling better about Ireland. I'm going to try to do this DVD a few times a week (three, hopefully) to build up more aerobic base for those long rides. On other days, I'm going to try to incorporate interval workouts to increase my speed. I've got my final indoor time trial on Sunday, and I'm determined to beat my time again.
Indoor Time Trial #3 was today. I was out sorta late last night, but still got up and went, and wasn't all that sleepy, so that was good, particularly since I had to race at 9:30, which is significantly earlier than my other two races. This is the most training (all sports) I had done in a week leading up to a race. I definitely felt it, and not in a good way. My goal going in was 18:30 (20.1mph), and I maintained that for about the first 2.5 miles. Then mentally and physically I really started to hurt. My brain was like "this sucks" and my body was feeling very weak, sore, and tired. I came SO close to just quitting, but no WAY was I going to do that.
I tried to focus on my breathing and just making sure I didn't drop below 19mph too often. I knew the girl to my left was going to kick my booty, but I wanted to beat the other two girls in my heat. The one on the other side of "fast girl" was trying to catch me in the last mile and a half, which really pushed me. I was so afraid that she was gonna get me. She was behind distance-wise, but was going faster than me when I started to die and lose speed. All I did was try to stay even with her speed, which was tough. With about .25 miles to go, I decided to just go all out and sprint and get this painful race over with. I was hanging around 22-24mph for that stretch, which was good, but kind of bugged me, since I obviously had something left that I hadn't been able to tap into earlier in the race.
My average speed was19.7, but I was so tired that I forgot to look at my exact time. It was between 18:30 and 19:00. I was happy to break 19, but was a little bummed that I didn't hit my goal. When they post the results later tonight or tomorrow, I'll update this with my time and place. Fast girl had her "best time ever" and broke 17min. Crazy fast. I didn't let her speediness distract me, though. Also, everybody was really nice to me today, which was cool. The girl working the computer was encouraging me, and the girl to my right was friendly, too. Oh, and the guy who had to unhook my bike from my warm up trainer because I wasn't strong enough. :P
Update: My actual time was 18:53.16 (5th place for the day). Unfortunately, I dropped to 6th place in the overall standings (adding together best flat + best rolling time, which will then be added to the outdoor time trial time). I am currently 15.17 seconds behind the 5th place girl and 16.21 seconds behind the 4th place girl. I have one indoor race left (another rolling course) and the outdoor 10 mile time trial to try to bump myself into a top five spot. I think top 5 get plaques, which would be cool. Gives me something to shoot for! Grr, if I had hit my goal of 18:30, I'd be in 4th place overall!
Saw this posted somewhere and thought it was cute. Not all of them apply to me, but plenty of them do.
You know you're a triathlete when:
How can three bikes possibly be enough? I need at least two more - at LEAST. :) Yes, I have managed to collect three bikes in the past year, and yes, I still feel that I need more. I can justify all this, really. Honest, I can.
First I got my hybrid/comfort bike, which is great for fitness and recreational riding on the limestone paths, etc. It even carried me through my first triathlon, so I love it for that reason. However, as people flew past me on road bikes, tri-bikes, in aero position, I felt like a gigantic sail and was ready to upgrade.
So, I got myself a road bike. I got a deal on a quite nice road bike, a Kestrel Talon. Full carbon frame, with Ultegra 10-Speed components, aero tubing, internal cabling. Very nice. I adore it and am able to slap some Carbon Stryke's on there and get into aero to reduce that whole frontal surface area wind drag thing.
But, seeing as how that is such a nice bike, I was quite scared at the prospect of taking it to Ireland with me (and to and from there), where it might be left outside, be in the elements a lot, etc. So, I remembered a friend of mine was looking to sell his road bike since it was too small for him. Turns out it fits me just fine and is a perfect "beater" bike for Ireland, bad weather rides, the trainer, etc. It needs to be cleaned up a bit, but is nice (aluminum with carbon fork and stays, carbon seatpost, 105 components, some cool looking wheels).
So here's where I'm at now. I'm sure all of you (whoever you are) are VERY aware (/sarcasm) that road bikes are not the ideal mode of transport for multisport athletes. The seat tube angles, aero position, and how that impacts the muscle groups, which then impacts the muscles for the run, etc etc. Thus, I need a Tri-Bike or Time Trial (TT) bike. These have a steeper seat tube angle, bar end shifters at the ends of the aerobars (so you don't have to go un-aero to shift), and well I think those are the main differences. The one pictured below is the Cervelo Dual, which consistently pops up as a favorite of mine with glowing reviews, good looks, great components, and a decent price point. At $1800 with Dura-Ace components, this bike is practically a steal. That may seem like a ton of money to some, but, trust me, I can find bikes that cost more than my car (and I don't drive too bad a car). I'm pretty sure my budget will require me to wait until next season for a tri bike, but I had a little down time this afternoon and felt like posting this. And wow did it get long!
(p.s. Isn't it pretty? /drooooool)
(p.p.s. I also "need" a mountain bike, but hopefully my old Trek back in Michigan is salvageable! Hmm that actually means I own four bikes...)
I completely wimped out this morning. I intended to go to the 5:30 am spinning class this morning, then hop in the pool for a bit, but I hit the snooze button and reset my alarm instead. Oh well, it's ok since my body needs a bit of a rest after my circuit from yesterday. That thing usually kicks my butt. I have a late meeting today, so I don't think I'll be able to make my normal 4:30-5:30 class (grr). It really would have been good to get to spin class this week since I've got that race Sunday and the fitter the better.
I found out I'm racing at 9:30 and am next to one of the fastest girls. Awesome. Hopefully I can balance keeping my own pace and being motivated to go faster by being next to her. I'm not sure I could keep up with her, but who knows? My goal would be 18:30 (20.1mph) which is slightly less than a mph faster than my previous races. I'd really like to bump myself up a place or two in the overall standings, and hitting that mark would certainly help. Of course, I can't control how much the other girls ahead of me have been working out or improving. Shoot, I should've gotten up and spun this morning!
Update: Meeting cancelled, I can go to my beloved 4:30 session after all! I'll have to take it sort of easy since my legs are a bit achy from yesterday, but it'll still be a great workout. Pam is the best spin instructor over there. :)
The blizzard-like conditions here led to a cancellation of the group swim practice last night. I'm glad because I wasn't going to go anyhow. Once I got home from work last night, that was it - I wasn't going out again. So tonight (which was originally slated as a rest day) has turned into: doing the circuit that I didn't feel up to on Monday, followed by swimming for 20 min or so. Shouldn't be too bad. I kind of like swimming after doing another workout since then I'm not freezing as I get in the pool. Plus, it's a much more soothing and graceful activity, so while my heart rate is still elevated and I'm getting a good workout, my joints and muscles aren't taking the same pounding they get on the treadmill or straining like they sometimes do when I'm on the bike.
Also, Indoor Time Trial #3 is this weekend. I'm hoping to improve my time from the previous flat course by 45 seconds, which would put me at about 18:30. I think it's very doable - my strength and fitness have improved considerably since the beginning of January. Plus I'll have my tunes, which I know helped a ton on the rolling course a few weeks ago. Hopefully I can con somebody into coming along for moral support (and to hold my backpack while I race.)
It's Alive! My fundraising webpage is finally up and running. Please donate and pass the info along to your friends, family, coworkers, neighbors, dentist, hair dresser.... so they can donate, too. I've got a long way to go before I meet my goal, so I need all the help I can get!
Did the circuit that Aubrie (my trainer) put together for me. I feel like such a doofus pulling a mat and dumbbells over by the treadmills and doing the workout. The girl getting her hair done in the salon was giving me weird looks. The circuit is tough, but it is a good workout and I'm going to try to do it every Monday. Last time I was doing the run portions of the circuit (1/4 mile x 5 with exercises between) at about 6mph (10 min miles) but this time I ran all of them at 7mph, which is closer to an 8.5 min mile. I'd like to be at 8.5 min miles for my race pace, but I'm far from it. I can run the quarter miles that fast, but I don't know how long I could maintain it for. I also seriously suck at pushups.
Still no website. ARGH! We were told there was a good chance that we would be able to set them up by yesterday and still no word. I'm getting very frustrated.
I was checking out the website for the Steelhead 70.3 Triathlon again today as I was trying to convince my friend to sign up for it with me through TnT. While checking out the site, he pointed out what a pretty image they are using for the race, so I thought I would post it here. I think he's interested in signing up, but he is hesitant (with reason). He said he'd let me know later today.
TnT Kickoff Event was Saturday, and training began yesterday. I'm still pestering them about getting it so that I can set up my webpage. I'm frustrated that my fundraising is being held up so much by that simple fact. Hopefully I can get it going soon and get a bit of money in. I am trying to come up with some fundraising ideas and have a few so far. Hopefully they work and I'm able to get some money fairly quickly here. Training starts off nice and slowly, so hopefully I'll be able to manage alright. I have to bike tonight and am going to try to do my circuit from my trainer tonight as well.
I may be getting a bike from my friend, so I'll have a bad weather/trip to Ireland/Mindy can borrow/beater bike. I'm getting a great (and by great I mean phenomenal) deal on it, and it has all the features (materials, components, etc) that I was hoping against hope that I could get. I just will have to lean it against the wall in my apartment unless I feel like investing in a rack that holds two bikes. I'm excited though, since I was in need of a bike for Ireland, and this will be great to have even beyond that trip.
My new personal trainer kicked my butt this week. I think I like what she has me doing better than what my old trainer had me doing. She is also going to break down my running form to help me run more efficiently, which should help considerably. I've been seriously slacking on the running lately. I tried to run Wednesday night and just couldn't get going. Not sure why that was, but I'm going to try again tonight. I'm also going to head to an abs class at 6:30. I'm kind of scared of it, but hopefully it will be fun and start getting my abs in great shape.
I'm still waiting to set up my website for TnT. For whatever reason, my event isn't available on the drop-down menu for the setup page. They have been trying to fix it for some time now. Hopefully it will be done soon so I can start raising money. I feel like I had all this momentum last week and it was all for nothing since I couldn't get things set up. Hopefully that will change since, we have our kick-off meeting tomorrow. I feel like I have next to no info about this whole thing. I got an email from my mentor so I maybe I will contact her to see if I was supposed to get some packet of some sort, since she mentioned it in the email. Oh well.
Indoor Time Trial #2 was yesterday. My heat was me + seven guys, ugh! I have my warmup routine down for these, now, which helped immensely. I was very happy with my performance, 19:15.26, which put me at 19.3 mph again and in 4th place out of 10 in Women's Cat-4. Even though I got the same time (essentially) and the same speed, it was a vast improvement. This was a hilly course (course profile below), and so was considerably harder than the flat course from last time. I compared some of the other girls' times and just about all of them did worse by approx a minute on this course as compared to last time. So I must've improved a bit, which is surprising since I haven't been training ALL that much. I think my pared down warmup (only 15 min) and having my ipod working helped a lot. I managed to beat the guy to my right, and was hoping I could catch the guy to my left, but the computer thingy he was on pooped out about 2/3 of the way thru. I would've been PISSED! Overall, a good race for me. I still have a lot of endurance work to do, but yesterday motivated me to really get going on being faster for the next flat course!
Happy Birthday to Me! Today is my birthday and I decided to mark it by signing up for something substantial. I sent in my registration forms for Team in Training. I am going to do the Whirlpool Steelhead 70.3 (Half Ironman Distance) Triathlon on August 4th, 2007. This is way farther than I've ever gone, but I want to do something big. My goal is to just finish the distance. It's scary to think about covering 70.3 miles, but with the support of the coaches, teammates, mentors, and the motivation of knowing I am raising money for a good cause, I'm sure I can do it. For anybody not sure, Team in Training (TNT) is the world's largest endurance sports training program. I will be doing some fundraising in the next few months, which will include putting together a website specifically for that purpose. 75% of everything I raise will go directly to The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. I will be documenting my experience of training, fundraising, etc on this blog and will provide links to my TNT website as soon as I get it up and running (no pun intended har har).
Went for a run this morning. Just for 30 minutes, and went slower than I would've liked, but since I've been slacking, it was probably about right. I decided that I would just feel like crap if I didn't get my butt up out of bed and at least do something this morning. I do feel better for following through on it. I feel like I'm really far behind, and have kind of been moping about that. I also tend to get blue around my birthday (which is today, ugh). I had to shift my mindset and instead of sulking about being behind, which was only putting me further behind and in worse shape, I needed to just snap out of it and do something. Something is better than nothing, even if that something is less than where I want to be right now. Just keep making forward progress. I need to think hard about my goals for the year. I fear I may be trying to bite off more than I can chew, but at the same time, I really want to push my limits and do something big. I got some information about the local Team in Training chapter, and it sounds really great. I just need to make sure it is what I want to do.
Had a bad run on Saturday. I know it was primarily because I hadn't eaten enough, but it was cold and I got discouraged and just couldn't keep going. I need to keep at things, though, and remind myself that there will be bad workout days and better workout days and good workout days.
I feel like I'm behind somehow, too, which isn't helping. I feel like I should be a stronger runner than I am yet, and able to go farther than I can at the present time. I am getting worried about being ready for the Riverbank Run in May.
I've also been slacking on the bike workouts. I have another time trial in 2 weeks, and need to get ready for that. It's extra hard this week with a house guest. I don't want to be vanishing and working out when I know my friend is sitting around without me.
Overall, I think my training plan is overly ambitious and I need to scale it back a bit. I also need to get my butt up outta bed in the morning and get to the gym. That way, half my workout is over before I even start my day, and trying to fit everything in won't seem so overwhelming. Now I just need to make it so I don't hit snooze at 4:45 am. Just gotta remind myself how much I want to succeed at this whole race thing this year and not think about how sleepy I am. I'm usually just being more lazy than sleepy anyhow.
I've finally put some more detail down on my training plan. I'm sure I'll be adjusting it, but I'm going to build my endurance base over the next several weeks. I was feeling really crappy this week and discouraged about some things in my personal life, and I'm trying to get out of the funk by focusing on training. We'll see how it works, but I'm quite motivated currently. I figure it is something I can put my attention into and hopefully distract me from some unhappy things. Those things are out of my control, which is frustrating and hard to deal with, but working out is completely mine. I set goals for the remainder of the week for my training, and will do everything I can to meet them. It will be a challenge, though, since my mood and energy have been lacking as of late, but reminding myself what I'm shooting for and that it is a good place to put my energy should help.
Indoor Time Trial #1 was yesterday. There were computer problems, but my section got underway at around noon. About two miles in, I thought I would die and wasn't sure if I could make it. My legs were feeling heavy all morning and I was just having an "off" day all around. I managed to push it though and refused to let my speed drop below 18. There was another girl in the heat that I wasn't far behind, but hard as I tried, I just couldn't quite catch her! She stayed approx .2 mph faster than me the whole time, grrr! Anyway, I definitely gave it my full effort, which I am proud of. I ended up getting 4th place out of 8 in the Women's Cat-4 with a time of 19:16:24 (average speed = 19.3 mph). I'm happy with that, especially since it was my first race ever. It definitely motivates me to improve for next time. I'm happy I was able to be in the middle of the pack as opposed to at the rear end. :P
I did a practice time trial last night in preparation for my race on Sunday (which I'm nervous about since I just don't know what to expect). I managed to meet my goal, averaging over 21 mph for the entire 10K distance. It's good because now I know that I can maintain that, which is something I wasn't sure of before. I also put together a playlist for my iPod, which should help me stay focused/ distracted/ motivated during the ride. I'm pretty sure you can wear headphones for these races. It looks like people in the pictures have them on, but we'll see. I find out my start time this afternoon.
Had my first race of the year yesterday, the New Year's Day 5K Fun Run/Walk in Lincoln Park in Chicago. I've been slacking on my running so it was a good way to kick off the new year. Don't have my official time yet, but it was slooooow. Partly because the paths were narrow and it was a big pack, partly because I was tired from being up late the night before, but mostly because I'm slow.
After the race, my friend and I wandered over to North Avenue Beach where we joined the Polar Bear Club for a quick dip in Lake Michigan. Yes, it was cold, especially since the wind really seemed to pick up as we were walking over there. After getting out of the water, my legs were numb and my feet were shaking as I tried to get dressed. Fortunately the weather was quite mild compared to what January in Chicago can be.
Going to sit down tonight and plan out specific workouts for the next four or so weeks. I've been putting it off and been busy, but it's got to get done now.