*Today is my rest day and I feel great. I really thought with the volume and intense record breaking heat we've had in the last week that I would have hit a wall. But alas, I'm still standing tall with a massive smile on my face. A dental cleaning, pampering on my hair and a yummy Starbucks Banana Chocolate Vivanno can do a lot for a girl. Speaking of dental cleanings, the fluoride toothpaste my dentist prescribed is awesome. Malto, Gu and Cliff bars can't faze my pearly whites...I'm sure the Scope I bring on my long bike rides help as well :D. I almost feel like a girl again, almost.
*Living in hell for the last week (talking about hot weather here) I've managed to drop 5 lbs, this is with taking in salt sticks and drinking (H2o :)) like a fish. The weight loss is purely water weight and brings up a few questions. I'm 5 lbs lighter, am I more efficient? Do I really need to carry around 5 lbs of water in my muscles? I really don't feel dehydrated, if I'm not dehydrated how much of this hydration loss is going to affect my training? Sodium is such a fine balance, too much or too little and I swell....it's not often I don't swell. Note to self - never get pregnant. Too much and my tummy hurts, not enough and my muscles cramp. WTF?!
I'm not really a fan of sweating when I'm not training.
*7/31/09 - I am now less then a month a way from my "A" race. How did this happen? How did the days go by so quickly? I've been avoiding the countdown. I didn't want to think about time, but now is the time to start. On August 30th I will come face to face with what I believe is my true love, we'll see if it's as good as I expect it to be.
*I've been asked the question "Are you prepared for the fact that you might not finish?" and read or heard comments such as "potential Ironman".
This is a topic I really tend not to focus. It's a negative and I don't want any kind of negativity floating around in my head. YET it's a very real subject and I am a realist. Shit may hit the fan...take that back, it will hit the fan, I just hope I have what it takes to bounce back. I'm doing everything I can mentally and physically to prepare for this race. IF for someone reason I am unable to cross the finish line then I will accept that it just wasn't meant to be, everything happens for a reason.
*I'm excited to meet Gumby :)
*I've walked on a "burning ring of fire....I went down, down, down and the flames went higher. And it burns, burns, burns, the ring of fire. The ring of fire."
There have been times this year that when in confidence I've become arrogant, maybe not boastful to those around me but in my own head. Not that I ever bit off more then I could chew but having the mentality of success without using common sense fundamentals to back it up. I went into a few training workouts without correct nutrition/hydration - thinking I'd be ok without. Ha! I thought I was invincible to injury - then I fractured my fibula. I raced my "B" race in arrogance and thought my fitness could over rule heat. Ha! I allowed my level of fitness to overrule my mental toughness, allowing negative words to race throughout my head and admit defeat. I've disgraced myself, shamed myself and become very humbled.
*Training schedule / lemons and lemonade
I went into the year with a well throughout periodization schedule. My training was very structured with 3 weeks of building - 1 week focused recovery, built in races with rest in between. THEN I got injured - fractured fibula and everything went to shit. This totally F%$ed with my mental TYPE A must-plan-every outlook. I was taken out of run commission for 3 months - in the heat of my strength and power period. On top of that I had to withdraw from the Wildflower HIM, I was looking forward to racing this almost as much as doing IMC. This was lowest point I had reached thus far in my triathlon training/racing. My heart was crushed. What in the world was I to do? A phrase, mental outlook and an alternative fitness method changed it all.
***Always be ready to think/train outside the box
***Know how to turn sour lemons into the sweetest lemonade
****Aqua Jogging
I still do believe aqua jogging is the axis of all evil, along with sugar. But it was aqua jogging that kept my run fitness/form/endurance up. 3 months off of dry land contact and it only took me a couple of weeks to get back up to a 1/2 marathon. I missed out on the speed phase of running but realistically I was already where I needed to be for my IM marathon goal and with aqua running I did not loose any fitness :). Not being able to run forced me to work on my speed/efficiency in swimming and biking power, both of which I made significant gains. This was encouraging. My type A-ness also got a much needed tone down as my training schedule had gone A-Wall. I kept the periodization going but didn't forecast out. I knew how many weeks of what kind of training I needed. I decided to build my weeks as they came along, never more then 2 weeks out. What more did I need? A long bike here, a long run there with a few bricks and races thrown in an wa-la! Race day will be the true test if my chaotic training worked our not.
*5 weeks of long training weekends.
June 27th-28th
27th - Raced Pac Crest HIM - 2nd AG finish
28th - Recovered with the Pac Crest Oly - hehe placing 15th in my AG and a PW - but had a ton of fun!
July 3rd-5th
3rd - Biked Bull Run in 95 degree heat - 65 miles with over 9000ft of climbing
4th - Ran 3 hours
5th - OW swim
July 11th-12th
11th - Biked from Seattle to Portland in one day - 203 miles /11:20 min riding time
12th - recovered
July 18-19th
18th - 3.5 hour LSD run
19th - 80 mile ride up Larch Mnt - 4500ft of climbing
July 25th-26th
25th - 102 mile bike ride w/ 5200 ft of elevation gain/ 4.25 mile run - 70-90 degree heat!
26th - OW swim and recovery
3 more weekends to go and I'm still energized, motivated and giddy :) And who says this girl over does it?
*And to save the best for last
I am truly blessed to have an amazingly mother. She
-follows me daily on my blogs
-checks in when training goes poorly
-joins me for pretraining and recovering fuel
-inspires me
-sits at my looooong races only to see me all of 5 seconds to cheer. Hehe, "run like a girl" I'll never forget that one. When she can't make it to a race I get endless supportive txts
-makes me smile when I'm having a bad day - Toe-knee-fish!
-lets me sleep in her tempurpedic bed (she takes the futon) after I biked 203 miles and can barely remember my own name.
I <3> my MOM
Inside the mind of Kat...enter at your own risk.
Friday, July 31, 2009
R & R and a little training self reflection
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Please pass the Salt
Sleep = non-existent. I laid awake, sweating, ick. It's nights like these I want to shave my damn head. I pulled myself out of bed and weighed myself before swim. I was down 2.2 lbs from bed time. I'm glad I checked because that is too much water to have lost throughout the night. I would need more sodium then yesterday to get through the double I had planned for today.
AM swim
1 x 500 Warm up
Drills
1 x 200 paddles;10
2 x 25 kickboard; 20 (ugh, this is soooo hard! I hate kicking)
1 x 200 buoy; 10
2 x 25 kickboard; 20
repeat 1 x
4 x 50s - One arm catch up down/ high elbow finger drag back
Main Set
4 x 100s; 10 (first 75 easy/last 25 hard)
4 x 100s; 10 (first 50 easy/last 50 hard)
4 x 100s; 10 (first 75 hard/last 25 easy)
4 x 100s; 10 (all hard!)
Cool down
1 x 500
Total yardage - 3800 yards
Mr. Speedo was at the pool again, this time he swam in my lane. I wish he hadn't because I realized he was MUCH older or at least looked much older then my views at a distance...and I'm sad to report he had a buther face :( . Candid? Me? Oh well, I don't shit where I eat anyways. He still swam at a decent clip which provided the motivation for me to swim just a tad bit faster.
Evening run
The words that described the evening workout......
Blazing, , dizzy, sweaty, hot, glowing, molten, salty, sizzling, tired, free, overheated, feverish, pink, flushed, inflamed, thankful, muggy, steamy, "Not AQUA RUNNING!" broiling, burning, happy, fiery, piping hot, red-hot, hot-mess, roasting, scalding, scorching, searing, sultry, superheated, sweltering, vacuum, happy thoughts,
Today I was given a nice little break from the heat as it was 5-10 degrees cooler the yesterday. I ran smart and filled a zip lock up with ice cubes that conveniently fit inside my sports bra :) At 96 degrees I ran off up into the Twilliger Curves. Hills - ugh. Why did the beginning have to start with hills? My HR soared up to 170 as I was running a sad 10 minute pace. The heat felt like it was sucking the life out of me. The first 15 minutes were the worst. I really wanted to stop and walk but if I did I would allow the workout to defeat me. Once again this wasn't about pacing or even running, it was about mental toughness. I must continue to run forward - even if it was a slow run or :gulp: jog, I was NOT walking. I just kept telling myself to suck it up. The heat was just a mind %%#@. I had sodium loaded and hydrated throughout the day. I had what I needed to pull out an 1-1/2 hour run. With positive words repeating in my head I was able to tune out heat wave I was running though. "I'm not aqua running" I yelled aloud at one point. Oooo, Shade - yay. Oooooo, Cute boys without their shirts on - yay. More hills - ick. More boys - yay. 25 minutes in and I was acclimated. I finished the 5.2 run in a slow but none walking 8:50 pace.
I cooled down with a 26 minute barefoot run at Dunaway track. 6 laps on the grass around the inner loop and 6 laps on the out track lane. Easy, breezy 8:40 pace. Oddly enough my avg HR was 157 - not as high as I had thought!
Total mileage 8.4
Tomorrow is a much deserved recovery day. I'm going to enjoy it and get a little "girly"...if that is at all possible.
Another loooooong weekend ahead.
AM swim
1 x 500 Warm up
Drills
1 x 200 paddles;10
2 x 25 kickboard; 20 (ugh, this is soooo hard! I hate kicking)
1 x 200 buoy; 10
2 x 25 kickboard; 20
repeat 1 x
4 x 50s - One arm catch up down/ high elbow finger drag back
Main Set
4 x 100s; 10 (first 75 easy/last 25 hard)
4 x 100s; 10 (first 50 easy/last 50 hard)
4 x 100s; 10 (first 75 hard/last 25 easy)
4 x 100s; 10 (all hard!)
Cool down
1 x 500
Total yardage - 3800 yards
Mr. Speedo was at the pool again, this time he swam in my lane. I wish he hadn't because I realized he was MUCH older or at least looked much older then my views at a distance...and I'm sad to report he had a buther face :( . Candid? Me? Oh well, I don't shit where I eat anyways. He still swam at a decent clip which provided the motivation for me to swim just a tad bit faster.
Evening run
The words that described the evening workout......
Blazing, , dizzy, sweaty, hot, glowing, molten, salty, sizzling, tired, free, overheated, feverish, pink, flushed, inflamed, thankful, muggy, steamy, "Not AQUA RUNNING!" broiling, burning, happy, fiery, piping hot, red-hot, hot-mess, roasting, scalding, scorching, searing, sultry, superheated, sweltering, vacuum, happy thoughts,
Today I was given a nice little break from the heat as it was 5-10 degrees cooler the yesterday. I ran smart and filled a zip lock up with ice cubes that conveniently fit inside my sports bra :) At 96 degrees I ran off up into the Twilliger Curves. Hills - ugh. Why did the beginning have to start with hills? My HR soared up to 170 as I was running a sad 10 minute pace. The heat felt like it was sucking the life out of me. The first 15 minutes were the worst. I really wanted to stop and walk but if I did I would allow the workout to defeat me. Once again this wasn't about pacing or even running, it was about mental toughness. I must continue to run forward - even if it was a slow run or :gulp: jog, I was NOT walking. I just kept telling myself to suck it up. The heat was just a mind %%#@. I had sodium loaded and hydrated throughout the day. I had what I needed to pull out an 1-1/2 hour run. With positive words repeating in my head I was able to tune out heat wave I was running though. "I'm not aqua running" I yelled aloud at one point. Oooo, Shade - yay. Oooooo, Cute boys without their shirts on - yay. More hills - ick. More boys - yay. 25 minutes in and I was acclimated. I finished the 5.2 run in a slow but none walking 8:50 pace.
I cooled down with a 26 minute barefoot run at Dunaway track. 6 laps on the grass around the inner loop and 6 laps on the out track lane. Easy, breezy 8:40 pace. Oddly enough my avg HR was 157 - not as high as I had thought!
Total mileage 8.4
Tomorrow is a much deserved recovery day. I'm going to enjoy it and get a little "girly"...if that is at all possible.
Another loooooong weekend ahead.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Riding a Highway to Hell - 100+ degree bike ride
I was spoiled all day in my moderately A/C'd work space and was able to talk myself into denial about the inferno that was waiting for me outside. I got off work and headed to my car and BOOM I was hit with this massive wall of heat. Quickly the A/C kicked in and once again I was safe in my world of denial.
I received txt's from some of my friend's saying "don't do it" but what else is new? There will always be people who play it safe and then those who take risks. I'm a risk taker. Life would be too boring if we always played it safe. Would I gain fitness from this workout? Probably not. Then why do it? We learn from struggle. So I may just be reminded that I'm an idiot, but I can happily say I took away much more then that :) This was another workout that was focused on mental outlook.
I met the peps from the PDX tri club at 6:15pm and we headed out into the West Hills. It was hot, my car temp read 105 before we left. I managed to get down approx 900 mg of sodium within 2hrs before the ride. It was a bit depressing as I looked and felt like the Pillsbury Dough boy but I know it needed to be done. The ride started out climbing and it was hot. I kept telling myself it was all a state of mind. Physically I was suffering in an inferno of hell but my mind had me bathing on nude beach sands of Monaco....hehe, I was delusional - at least it was happy delusion :) We hit Thompson and I took my time and climbed up. It was kind of amusing to watch a guy attack the hill only to have me pass by sitting in my saddle over and over and over again :) efficiency is key. Once we reached Skyline out fearless leader Paul treated us with ice packs and water. He did the whole ride with a massive backpack carried with ice and water just to make sure we all stayed cool and hydrated - now that is an leader if I've ever seen one. Once we all got our ice we headed along the Skyline Rollers (which felt amazing!) down Old Corneliues Pass and then hit climb #2 Old Germantown road. First time I ever did this climb. I liked it, it was long and gradual with a few up out of the saddle peaks. I was rather surprised at my energy level once we crested. I was still on top of my game. By now I had consumed another 700 mg of sodium to bring my total somewhere around 1600mg, and the bloat was gone :) We rolled along Skyline, down Thompson back to AL. My car temp now displayed 90 - yet I was no longer hot :)
This ride was highly successful. I went into it prepared yet ready to be humbled and I finished standing tall with a giant smile on my face. Although the title is "Riding a Highway to Hell" I was "Climbing a Highway to Victory" :D
Ride data
27.72 miles with over 2000ft of elevation gain
Ride duration 1:50:41
Max HR 179 (I kept talking my HR down) , Avg HR 155
Max watts 422, normalized average watts 169 - yay baby!, avg watts 142
I received txt's from some of my friend's saying "don't do it" but what else is new? There will always be people who play it safe and then those who take risks. I'm a risk taker. Life would be too boring if we always played it safe. Would I gain fitness from this workout? Probably not. Then why do it? We learn from struggle. So I may just be reminded that I'm an idiot, but I can happily say I took away much more then that :) This was another workout that was focused on mental outlook.
I met the peps from the PDX tri club at 6:15pm and we headed out into the West Hills. It was hot, my car temp read 105 before we left. I managed to get down approx 900 mg of sodium within 2hrs before the ride. It was a bit depressing as I looked and felt like the Pillsbury Dough boy but I know it needed to be done. The ride started out climbing and it was hot. I kept telling myself it was all a state of mind. Physically I was suffering in an inferno of hell but my mind had me bathing on nude beach sands of Monaco....hehe, I was delusional - at least it was happy delusion :) We hit Thompson and I took my time and climbed up. It was kind of amusing to watch a guy attack the hill only to have me pass by sitting in my saddle over and over and over again :) efficiency is key. Once we reached Skyline out fearless leader Paul treated us with ice packs and water. He did the whole ride with a massive backpack carried with ice and water just to make sure we all stayed cool and hydrated - now that is an leader if I've ever seen one. Once we all got our ice we headed along the Skyline Rollers (which felt amazing!) down Old Corneliues Pass and then hit climb #2 Old Germantown road. First time I ever did this climb. I liked it, it was long and gradual with a few up out of the saddle peaks. I was rather surprised at my energy level once we crested. I was still on top of my game. By now I had consumed another 700 mg of sodium to bring my total somewhere around 1600mg, and the bloat was gone :) We rolled along Skyline, down Thompson back to AL. My car temp now displayed 90 - yet I was no longer hot :)
This ride was highly successful. I went into it prepared yet ready to be humbled and I finished standing tall with a giant smile on my face. Although the title is "Riding a Highway to Hell" I was "Climbing a Highway to Victory" :D
Ride data
27.72 miles with over 2000ft of elevation gain
Ride duration 1:50:41
Max HR 179 (I kept talking my HR down) , Avg HR 155
Max watts 422, normalized average watts 169 - yay baby!, avg watts 142
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Good work/Bad workout
Attempted to go to bed early so that I could get a little ride in before work and before it got too hot. I was able to fall asleep around 9pm (yes I have a bed time like a child, which reminds me. I used to beg my parents to stay up til 8:30 or 9:00pm at night so I could watch Nick at Night - Mr. Ed, I loved that talking horse!) I woke up around 11pm with welts on my legs. My heat hives were getting worse. I went into the kitchen and grabbed some Benadryl and took a cold shower. Back to bed by 11:30. Awake again at 2am - another cold shower, and back to bed by 2:30am.
My alarm went off at 5am and I felt like I had slept for days. My heat hives were gone. Yay! I quickly took down some breakfast, got dressed and Carnage and I hit the open road...
5:30am
72 degrees/53% humidity - really? Are you kidding me? I was coated with sweat within 10 minutes of my ride, it was utterly disgusting. Since the last few morning rides I've learned to map my routes out a little better. Today I had 9 miles before the first big hill climb, enough time for my mind wake up and my muscles to warm up. The first couple miles were flat until I hit West Union for minimum to moderate rollers. I then went on to climb up Pumpkin Ridge. Power up Pumpkin was pretty good. I decided to make the most of my energy and stay in the big ring for duration of the climb. I even got my lazy tail out of the saddle and attacked a handful of hills. I reached the end of the climb and felt amazing! I felt refreshed, happy, giddy, energetic, grateful! I had so many joyful emotions it's hard to describe them all. I decided it was a good time to take a picture of my view
6:30am
The descent was BADASS. I could pedal through with some kind of resistance for most of it and the curves were wide enough they didn't freak me out. Once I hit the bottom I decided to head out to Shadybrook and the back around on Jackson School Road to West Union and home. This was a pretty cool ride as it was filled with so many memories.
*My first few rides ever riding my bike with TNT. Lol, I rode right by my famous "swamp ditch" :)
*The Hulaman bike course - racing Hulaman
*Pre-race Hulaman ride that Leslie and I did in 95+ degree heat in which I had a spectacular meltdown
*My first time getting in my aero bars on Cadence while Lindsay was leading a group ride.
*Climbing Pumpkin Ridge with Chris and a few others when it was snowing
I've had a lot of stellar memories along that route. I think rides like this is what IM training is all about.
Ride data
34.2 miles
Riding duration 2:01:11
Caloric expenditure 1033
Caloric intake pre ride 380kcal +400mg of sodium / caloric intake during ride 160kcal of malto + 350mg of sodium
Max HR 167/ avg HR 142
Max watts 336/ Norm avg watts 163/ avg watts 142
Max watts per kg 5.53/ avg watts per kg 2.34
Power % output
17% recovery
8% endurance
56% Threshold
28% Race-max
Evening swim
500 - warm up
Drills
1 x 250 paddles;10
1 x 250 buoy; 10
repeat 2 x
It all went downhill from here. Yards into the paddles/buoy drills I got a massive headache, then dizziness and stomach cramping.
2 x 200's -50 A-ok, 50- fist, 50 - karate, 50 free/fast
4 x 25 - kickboard; 30
1 x 500 - turn into my cool down.
I couldn't go on. My body was torn between deciding to make my head explode or twist my stomach into a figure eight, the dizziness was just the icing on the cake.
Total yardage - 2500
I realized as I was driving home this nightmare was caloric and heat induced. I didn't eat enough today. The heat broke me down and killed my appetite which lead me to a catabolic state by workout #2. I've been force feeding myself since I got out of the pool and still don't feel any better. It's hard playing catch up. On the bright side - the heat hives didn't come back this evening, as of yet.
My alarm went off at 5am and I felt like I had slept for days. My heat hives were gone. Yay! I quickly took down some breakfast, got dressed and Carnage and I hit the open road...
5:30am
72 degrees/53% humidity - really? Are you kidding me? I was coated with sweat within 10 minutes of my ride, it was utterly disgusting. Since the last few morning rides I've learned to map my routes out a little better. Today I had 9 miles before the first big hill climb, enough time for my mind wake up and my muscles to warm up. The first couple miles were flat until I hit West Union for minimum to moderate rollers. I then went on to climb up Pumpkin Ridge. Power up Pumpkin was pretty good. I decided to make the most of my energy and stay in the big ring for duration of the climb. I even got my lazy tail out of the saddle and attacked a handful of hills. I reached the end of the climb and felt amazing! I felt refreshed, happy, giddy, energetic, grateful! I had so many joyful emotions it's hard to describe them all. I decided it was a good time to take a picture of my view
6:30am
The descent was BADASS. I could pedal through with some kind of resistance for most of it and the curves were wide enough they didn't freak me out. Once I hit the bottom I decided to head out to Shadybrook and the back around on Jackson School Road to West Union and home. This was a pretty cool ride as it was filled with so many memories.
*My first few rides ever riding my bike with TNT. Lol, I rode right by my famous "swamp ditch" :)
*The Hulaman bike course - racing Hulaman
*Pre-race Hulaman ride that Leslie and I did in 95+ degree heat in which I had a spectacular meltdown
*My first time getting in my aero bars on Cadence while Lindsay was leading a group ride.
*Climbing Pumpkin Ridge with Chris and a few others when it was snowing
I've had a lot of stellar memories along that route. I think rides like this is what IM training is all about.
Ride data
34.2 miles
Riding duration 2:01:11
Caloric expenditure 1033
Caloric intake pre ride 380kcal +400mg of sodium / caloric intake during ride 160kcal of malto + 350mg of sodium
Max HR 167/ avg HR 142
Max watts 336/ Norm avg watts 163/ avg watts 142
Max watts per kg 5.53/ avg watts per kg 2.34
Power % output
17% recovery
8% endurance
56% Threshold
28% Race-max
Evening swim
500 - warm up
Drills
1 x 250 paddles;10
1 x 250 buoy; 10
repeat 2 x
It all went downhill from here. Yards into the paddles/buoy drills I got a massive headache, then dizziness and stomach cramping.
2 x 200's -50 A-ok, 50- fist, 50 - karate, 50 free/fast
4 x 25 - kickboard; 30
1 x 500 - turn into my cool down.
I couldn't go on. My body was torn between deciding to make my head explode or twist my stomach into a figure eight, the dizziness was just the icing on the cake.
Total yardage - 2500
I realized as I was driving home this nightmare was caloric and heat induced. I didn't eat enough today. The heat broke me down and killed my appetite which lead me to a catabolic state by workout #2. I've been force feeding myself since I got out of the pool and still don't feel any better. It's hard playing catch up. On the bright side - the heat hives didn't come back this evening, as of yet.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Sometimes I listen
Yesterday was odd. I started in a funk with a whole lot of melancholy. Saturday's brick WORKED me and provoked self doubt. The fatigue that carried into Sunday and the new found fear was depressing, add women pains and you have one hot mess. Thankfully I listened....I listed to my body and took rest that was needed, I listed to another endurance athlete and looked at my "A" race from another perspective, I listened to my PMS and ate yummy food without guilt. This BULL listened and it did a world of good.
I awoke this morning refreshed and re-energized. Laced up my running shoes and hit the open road at 5am for an easy 2 hour LSD run. 5 am and it was already 70 degrees out side! The workout was pretty non eventful. I ran a slow and easy at a 9 min pace and enjoyed being alone with my thoughts and watching the sunrise.
I was happy I had the motivation to run before work as it reached over 100 when I got off and I experienced heat hives. Got to love hives! I don't have AC at home and it's supposed to be over 100 all week. I hope the hives go away, they hurt :(
I awoke this morning refreshed and re-energized. Laced up my running shoes and hit the open road at 5am for an easy 2 hour LSD run. 5 am and it was already 70 degrees out side! The workout was pretty non eventful. I ran a slow and easy at a 9 min pace and enjoyed being alone with my thoughts and watching the sunrise.
I was happy I had the motivation to run before work as it reached over 100 when I got off and I experienced heat hives. Got to love hives! I don't have AC at home and it's supposed to be over 100 all week. I hope the hives go away, they hurt :(
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Chillaxin' Sunday
*Sleep was poor, legs twitched all night :(
*5:20am I finally got fed up and got up for the morning
*An hour of Pilates, a good breakfast and a little nap helped a ton
*Put in an hour or so of weekend work, I like my job enough to take it home with me :)
*Hanging out with a friend that was recovering from their first 50 mile run put my aches and pains in place.
*Mmmmm, true french style french toast with peaches - to die for
*Open water swim in the chilly Columbia off of Sauvie's Island felt great on my legs! Surprisingly enough I had some good energy, enough to swim sans wet suit against the current. It was 90 degrees today, who wants to swim in a wetsuit?
*41 minutes swimming out to "the pole" an astonishing 12-13 min return! The current going out was strong! I was swimming in an endless river, going nowhere.
*Four Loko Watermelon is like a rejected Jolly Rancher, ick
*Blueberries are the best when you pick them yourself....even if your rinsing them in your sweat.
*Habenaro raspberry hot wings are delightful, as are fried pickles.
*Laying in a freshly made bed with the cool air fan blowing down upon you is a great way to end a very long hot weekend.
Looking forward to waking before dawn to get a nice and easy long run on. My body loves me again :)
*5:20am I finally got fed up and got up for the morning
*An hour of Pilates, a good breakfast and a little nap helped a ton
*Put in an hour or so of weekend work, I like my job enough to take it home with me :)
*Hanging out with a friend that was recovering from their first 50 mile run put my aches and pains in place.
*Mmmmm, true french style french toast with peaches - to die for
*Open water swim in the chilly Columbia off of Sauvie's Island felt great on my legs! Surprisingly enough I had some good energy, enough to swim sans wet suit against the current. It was 90 degrees today, who wants to swim in a wetsuit?
*41 minutes swimming out to "the pole" an astonishing 12-13 min return! The current going out was strong! I was swimming in an endless river, going nowhere.
*Four Loko Watermelon is like a rejected Jolly Rancher, ick
*Blueberries are the best when you pick them yourself....even if your rinsing them in your sweat.
*Habenaro raspberry hot wings are delightful, as are fried pickles.
*Laying in a freshly made bed with the cool air fan blowing down upon you is a great way to end a very long hot weekend.
Looking forward to waking before dawn to get a nice and easy long run on. My body loves me again :)
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Big brickin it!
102 mile ride w/over 5200 ft of elevation gain / 4.25 mile run - 8:05 pace
Start-Mile 16
Woke up at 5 am to ride out the front door by 6am, on to the west hills I went. I'm not sure about "the more you do it the easier it becomes." I have climbed the west hills (avg elevation gain from house is 900-1100 ft) within 30 minutes of waking several times now and it NEVER gets any easier. My quads are always yelling at me "WTF?! Woman! WTF?!" I thought my quads might enjoy a little serenade, even if I am tone deaf...so I sang as I climbed. "I was born in a crossfire hurricane......but it's alllll riiiight now, it's a gas." Hehe, even got the roosters to sing with me. I reached the bottom of Newberry Rd 10 to 7 and made my way over to Sauvie's to meet up with another rider.
Mile 16-Mile 25
The Pac Grove TNT team was doing a 25/4 brick on the island and I had the fortune of seeing Pascal and Julie - love you guys! After a little catch up Jeremy and I rode off out to Scappose to meet up with David and Clay, two others fella's training for IMC. A quick water stop and we headed out to Vernona.
Mile 25-Mile 47
Most of the way out on Hwy 47 I rode alone. I really wanted to make sure I conserved enough energy to conquer the *little hill* I had planned around mile 75, plus I wanted to have a successful run. I stayed in my saddle, in the back and went about my climb. It felt like I climbed forever...but forever is an exaggeration, reality was about 13 miles - some moderate, some steep.
The descent at the end was badass, I'm getting much better at these.
Mile 47-mile 74
Jeremy and I bid farewell to David and Clay, wished them luck and safety and turned back around. The climbing at the beginning wasn't nearly as bad as I had imagined during the descent. I was very grateful to go down the 13 miles we had just climbed - it was starting to get hot. Another quick water stop in Scappoose and we're back on the road again.
Mile 74- Mile 76.5 Logie Trail 1090 ft of gain in 2.6 miles
http://legacy.lclark.edu/~kolitch/cycling.html#Logie
This is by far the hardest west hill climb I've ever done. Every time I do it I ask myself "WTF were you thinking?" Today was no different...but I had a reason why. I wanted to get some kind of feel for what Yellow Lake at mile 90 at IMC would feel like. I'm hoping it won't be as difficult as Logie, but if it is....I am READY for it. Lol, I once made a comment that I would buy a 6 pack for any person I saw climb the whole thing in the saddle. Jeremy decided to accept the challenge and rocked it - so with that being said next time I see him I'll have a 6 pack in hand :) That is seriously badass. Anywho, back to the climb. The first mile came pretty fast and not too difficult, but the again it never is. The 2nd mile is a major BITCH. Switchback after switchback, up, up and up some more. Once again my quads started a cursing fest. My HR started soaring and I was roasting like a pig at a luau. Eventually I made it up to the top and didn't do as bad as I felt, I was only a minute or so behind Jeremy. It was time for my cycling buddy to depart and for me to finish the last 25 miles on my own. Let the mental toughness begin!
Mile 76.5-102.1
Logie crest's the Skyline rollers which was a nice break from climbing. Most of the rollers I was able to descend fast enough to hit the top of the next....except there were a few mother$#%$# that made me climb again. The rollers lasted for about 10-12 miles. I thought Logie's wrath would have affected my legs more but it didn't they felt ok. I descended upon Springville making my way home...until I looked at my Power Tap and realized I was only at mile 91. Agh! I hit up West Union for an additional 4-5 miles of rollers and then back again to finish at 102.1
Transition -
I put my bike away and decided to change. I wanted a fresh pair of socks, shorts and top. Grabbed my fuel belt (not that I needed that much water for the distance I was going but I need to start replicating race conditions), visor and I was out the door.
Run - 34 minutes - 4.25 miles
Oy! This was MUCH harder then I was anticipating. I started running at 1:30 in the afternoon and it was HOT, 88 to be exact. My legs weren't really feeling the run, my posture sucked and the fuel belt was too heavy. I was not happy at all. I kept telling myself that this would be the worst part. I never like the first 20 minutes of running any way, why would this be any different. On I continued. Good lord it was HOT, I felt like I was in the fiery depths of hell. Since I run without music I decided to sing to myself again. "How does it feel? How does it feel? To be on your own, with no direction at all, a complete unknown....just like a Rolling Stone." The guy sitting at the bus stop told me to "rock on!" this made me smile. My plan was to do a 6.6 loop which I can usually do in 55-56 minutes. 10 minutes in my left quad started to knot up. Not like sodium/electrolyte muscle cramping...this was like the quad/abductor knot I had in the other leg a week or two ago. WTF? Why does this keep happening? I must have some kind of muscular imbalance. I decided 20 minutes in as the knot grew worse to turn around. I'm close to 30 days out from my A-Race and this is not the time to risk a potential injury. I figured if the knot worked it's way out when I reached home I'd go out for another 10 minutes and back. 30 minutes in I started to feel a little better. My posture was now tall and I ran with my shoulders back and my chest up - kind of like a proud peacock :). The quad pain never went away but never got any worse, I decided to call it good when I reached home.
Techy data stuff
Ride 102.1 miles
Riding time 6:35:25 - this scares me. All of my long rides have been so slow. I can only hope the LSD rides are like LSD runs and on race day I'll cut that time down. Then again I've never done a century rested.
Caloric expenditure based off of wattage - 3168 kcal
Caloric intake on bike - 1180/w 2700 mg of sodium
Max Speed 32.68/Avg speed 15.4 (ugh!)
Max HR - 175 (damn you Logie Trail!)/ Avg HR 142
Max Torque 49.15/ Avg torque 7.79
Max watts 359/ Normalized avg watts 155/ avg watts 134
Max watts per kg 5.91/avg watt per kg 2.2
Run data -
4.25 miles - 34:30 - 8:05 pace
1 GU Roctane right before run and a swig of pickle juice
Post brick I had no desire to eat, blah...food sounded gross, I think the heat had something to do with this. I drank a chocolate Endurox and took a nice long shower. An hour later I felt pretty dead to the world and fell asleep. 45 min power nap felt like I had been sleeping for days, I work up to my legs twitching. Lovely. My appetite returned so I decided to eat my weight in sushi.
You know you've done it too :) Post sushi I took a much needed ice bath and got out looking like half lobster half human. It took a good 30 minutes for my legs to regain feeling, I'm hoping this is a good thing. Foam rolleing, Zoot compression tights and Yogi time tea might be my only saving grace against the evils of RLS. Wish me luck!
What I tested and learned from this workout -
*I know my nutrition. I took my malto/salt at 20 min intervals and my energy stayed consistent. No dehydration or bloating :)
*Tried riding without gloves - this works, even with crappy road conditions
*Tried a new pair of TYR Tracer tri shorts. I have to say these are the FIRST tri shorts I have ever been able to wear that don't give GI pain. I'm shaped like a boy, meaning my waist doesn't really curve in...I'm very straight waisted and have a long torso BUT my tail and legs are small and I like to receive compressive benefits in my quads while riding. For me to find a comfortable pair of bike or tri shorts to fit right I need them to not have elastic in the front waist and from what I've found there are no tri shorts like this. TYR's Tracer short on the other hand has a draw string but doesn't create a squeezy feeling, and the legs are uber compressive which was awesome to ride in. Plus the fabric is so slick and luxurious, I kept wanting to touch myself. IF I were to wear a tri suit for IM I would go with the Tracer but I think I'm going to take my time in transition and put on cycling shorts and a fresh run top and shorts. Changing after doing that long of a ride felt really good and I'm all about comfort 7 hours in.
*The run was MUCH more difficult then I had imagined. I know this was mostly due to heat. I can only pray that IMC will be as cool as it was last year, but know I can't rely on that. I ran too fast too soon. I have a goal of a 9 min pace, there is no reason I should be running 8's straight out of the gate. I won't be able to hold it, I know that. Today I ran easy, I never felt like I pushed myself other then fighting the heat. I think what I might do is a run/walk program at IM. Run 10 minutes walk 30 seconds...this should give me the recoveries I need. I'll be testing this idea out on a few more workouts. I'm also not so sure about running with a fuel belt. All I need are my salts and GU. I can take water at every aid station. I need to find a hat or visor that will hold my GUs and I should be set.
*This brick was a mindf%^# at the end...this is something I need to work on.
Originally I had intended on doing this ride alone. I'm really happy I had the fortune of having Jeremy, David and Clay's company for portions of the ride. 100 miles of talking to yourself can be a brutal thing.
Start-Mile 16
Woke up at 5 am to ride out the front door by 6am, on to the west hills I went. I'm not sure about "the more you do it the easier it becomes." I have climbed the west hills (avg elevation gain from house is 900-1100 ft) within 30 minutes of waking several times now and it NEVER gets any easier. My quads are always yelling at me "WTF?! Woman! WTF?!" I thought my quads might enjoy a little serenade, even if I am tone deaf...so I sang as I climbed. "I was born in a crossfire hurricane......but it's alllll riiiight now, it's a gas." Hehe, even got the roosters to sing with me. I reached the bottom of Newberry Rd 10 to 7 and made my way over to Sauvie's to meet up with another rider.
Mile 16-Mile 25
The Pac Grove TNT team was doing a 25/4 brick on the island and I had the fortune of seeing Pascal and Julie - love you guys! After a little catch up Jeremy and I rode off out to Scappose to meet up with David and Clay, two others fella's training for IMC. A quick water stop and we headed out to Vernona.
Mile 25-Mile 47
Most of the way out on Hwy 47 I rode alone. I really wanted to make sure I conserved enough energy to conquer the *little hill* I had planned around mile 75, plus I wanted to have a successful run. I stayed in my saddle, in the back and went about my climb. It felt like I climbed forever...but forever is an exaggeration, reality was about 13 miles - some moderate, some steep.
The descent at the end was badass, I'm getting much better at these.
Mile 47-mile 74
Jeremy and I bid farewell to David and Clay, wished them luck and safety and turned back around. The climbing at the beginning wasn't nearly as bad as I had imagined during the descent. I was very grateful to go down the 13 miles we had just climbed - it was starting to get hot. Another quick water stop in Scappoose and we're back on the road again.
Mile 74- Mile 76.5 Logie Trail 1090 ft of gain in 2.6 miles
http://legacy.lclark.edu/~kolitch/cycling.html#Logie
This is by far the hardest west hill climb I've ever done. Every time I do it I ask myself "WTF were you thinking?" Today was no different...but I had a reason why. I wanted to get some kind of feel for what Yellow Lake at mile 90 at IMC would feel like. I'm hoping it won't be as difficult as Logie, but if it is....I am READY for it. Lol, I once made a comment that I would buy a 6 pack for any person I saw climb the whole thing in the saddle. Jeremy decided to accept the challenge and rocked it - so with that being said next time I see him I'll have a 6 pack in hand :) That is seriously badass. Anywho, back to the climb. The first mile came pretty fast and not too difficult, but the again it never is. The 2nd mile is a major BITCH. Switchback after switchback, up, up and up some more. Once again my quads started a cursing fest. My HR started soaring and I was roasting like a pig at a luau. Eventually I made it up to the top and didn't do as bad as I felt, I was only a minute or so behind Jeremy. It was time for my cycling buddy to depart and for me to finish the last 25 miles on my own. Let the mental toughness begin!
Mile 76.5-102.1
Logie crest's the Skyline rollers which was a nice break from climbing. Most of the rollers I was able to descend fast enough to hit the top of the next....except there were a few mother$#%$# that made me climb again. The rollers lasted for about 10-12 miles. I thought Logie's wrath would have affected my legs more but it didn't they felt ok. I descended upon Springville making my way home...until I looked at my Power Tap and realized I was only at mile 91. Agh! I hit up West Union for an additional 4-5 miles of rollers and then back again to finish at 102.1
Transition -
I put my bike away and decided to change. I wanted a fresh pair of socks, shorts and top. Grabbed my fuel belt (not that I needed that much water for the distance I was going but I need to start replicating race conditions), visor and I was out the door.
Run - 34 minutes - 4.25 miles
Oy! This was MUCH harder then I was anticipating. I started running at 1:30 in the afternoon and it was HOT, 88 to be exact. My legs weren't really feeling the run, my posture sucked and the fuel belt was too heavy. I was not happy at all. I kept telling myself that this would be the worst part. I never like the first 20 minutes of running any way, why would this be any different. On I continued. Good lord it was HOT, I felt like I was in the fiery depths of hell. Since I run without music I decided to sing to myself again. "How does it feel? How does it feel? To be on your own, with no direction at all, a complete unknown....just like a Rolling Stone." The guy sitting at the bus stop told me to "rock on!" this made me smile. My plan was to do a 6.6 loop which I can usually do in 55-56 minutes. 10 minutes in my left quad started to knot up. Not like sodium/electrolyte muscle cramping...this was like the quad/abductor knot I had in the other leg a week or two ago. WTF? Why does this keep happening? I must have some kind of muscular imbalance. I decided 20 minutes in as the knot grew worse to turn around. I'm close to 30 days out from my A-Race and this is not the time to risk a potential injury. I figured if the knot worked it's way out when I reached home I'd go out for another 10 minutes and back. 30 minutes in I started to feel a little better. My posture was now tall and I ran with my shoulders back and my chest up - kind of like a proud peacock :). The quad pain never went away but never got any worse, I decided to call it good when I reached home.
Techy data stuff
Ride 102.1 miles
Riding time 6:35:25 - this scares me. All of my long rides have been so slow. I can only hope the LSD rides are like LSD runs and on race day I'll cut that time down. Then again I've never done a century rested.
Caloric expenditure based off of wattage - 3168 kcal
Caloric intake on bike - 1180/w 2700 mg of sodium
Max Speed 32.68/Avg speed 15.4 (ugh!)
Max HR - 175 (damn you Logie Trail!)/ Avg HR 142
Max Torque 49.15/ Avg torque 7.79
Max watts 359/ Normalized avg watts 155/ avg watts 134
Max watts per kg 5.91/avg watt per kg 2.2
Run data -
4.25 miles - 34:30 - 8:05 pace
1 GU Roctane right before run and a swig of pickle juice
Post brick I had no desire to eat, blah...food sounded gross, I think the heat had something to do with this. I drank a chocolate Endurox and took a nice long shower. An hour later I felt pretty dead to the world and fell asleep. 45 min power nap felt like I had been sleeping for days, I work up to my legs twitching. Lovely. My appetite returned so I decided to eat my weight in sushi.
You know you've done it too :) Post sushi I took a much needed ice bath and got out looking like half lobster half human. It took a good 30 minutes for my legs to regain feeling, I'm hoping this is a good thing. Foam rolleing, Zoot compression tights and Yogi time tea might be my only saving grace against the evils of RLS. Wish me luck!
What I tested and learned from this workout -
*I know my nutrition. I took my malto/salt at 20 min intervals and my energy stayed consistent. No dehydration or bloating :)
*Tried riding without gloves - this works, even with crappy road conditions
*Tried a new pair of TYR Tracer tri shorts. I have to say these are the FIRST tri shorts I have ever been able to wear that don't give GI pain. I'm shaped like a boy, meaning my waist doesn't really curve in...I'm very straight waisted and have a long torso BUT my tail and legs are small and I like to receive compressive benefits in my quads while riding. For me to find a comfortable pair of bike or tri shorts to fit right I need them to not have elastic in the front waist and from what I've found there are no tri shorts like this. TYR's Tracer short on the other hand has a draw string but doesn't create a squeezy feeling, and the legs are uber compressive which was awesome to ride in. Plus the fabric is so slick and luxurious, I kept wanting to touch myself. IF I were to wear a tri suit for IM I would go with the Tracer but I think I'm going to take my time in transition and put on cycling shorts and a fresh run top and shorts. Changing after doing that long of a ride felt really good and I'm all about comfort 7 hours in.
*The run was MUCH more difficult then I had imagined. I know this was mostly due to heat. I can only pray that IMC will be as cool as it was last year, but know I can't rely on that. I ran too fast too soon. I have a goal of a 9 min pace, there is no reason I should be running 8's straight out of the gate. I won't be able to hold it, I know that. Today I ran easy, I never felt like I pushed myself other then fighting the heat. I think what I might do is a run/walk program at IM. Run 10 minutes walk 30 seconds...this should give me the recoveries I need. I'll be testing this idea out on a few more workouts. I'm also not so sure about running with a fuel belt. All I need are my salts and GU. I can take water at every aid station. I need to find a hat or visor that will hold my GUs and I should be set.
*This brick was a mindf%^# at the end...this is something I need to work on.
Originally I had intended on doing this ride alone. I'm really happy I had the fortune of having Jeremy, David and Clay's company for portions of the ride. 100 miles of talking to yourself can be a brutal thing.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Tired.....oh so tired
AM swim
8 x 500's - 9:01, 9:02, 9:08, 9:12 (WTF?!), 9:12, 8:52, 8:34, 8:35
Now as you can see my first 5 were slooooooow. I wasn't really clear why they were so slow. I was focusing on body position and stroke form, I think I just had no "go". Well 1/2 way through my 5th set Mr. Speedo struts in. Yes, this is the same Mr. Speedo I was goggling over 2 weeks ago. Maybe he's a Thursday morning swimmer. I'm going change my schedule to Thursday AM swims because homeboy was pure motivation. Not only was he gorgeous to look at but he invoked some kind of competitive spark. I wasn't going to allow Mr. Speedo to beat me....even if I was already 2500+ yards into my swim. So what did I do? I decided to kick. Ha! Ha! I realized up until this point I hadn't really kicked....my legs were tired from last night, plus triathlete's don't really kick when they swim. But for training I should really kick, and KICK I did. I cut almost ;45 off of my 500s - and that was at the end of my set!
I grew tired as the day grew longer
Evening Trail Run - 60 mins 6.3 miles
This run was hard. I was tired....I am tired. 20 mins in I got really dizzy and experienced massive vertigo and not the fun roller coaster kind. My GI hates me and decided to show how much by shooting stomach acid up my throat throughout the entire run! If that wasn't bad enough my lower tummy had me hurled over a few times from stupid girl pains, WTF?! I'm glad I stuck it out ran through all of this crap-o-la, in the end I believe it helped my mental toughness. Or I'm just telling myself that to try to make me feel better.
I'm ready to fall on my face, must sleep soon.
8 x 500's - 9:01, 9:02, 9:08, 9:12 (WTF?!), 9:12, 8:52, 8:34, 8:35
Now as you can see my first 5 were slooooooow. I wasn't really clear why they were so slow. I was focusing on body position and stroke form, I think I just had no "go". Well 1/2 way through my 5th set Mr. Speedo struts in. Yes, this is the same Mr. Speedo I was goggling over 2 weeks ago. Maybe he's a Thursday morning swimmer. I'm going change my schedule to Thursday AM swims because homeboy was pure motivation. Not only was he gorgeous to look at but he invoked some kind of competitive spark. I wasn't going to allow Mr. Speedo to beat me....even if I was already 2500+ yards into my swim. So what did I do? I decided to kick. Ha! Ha! I realized up until this point I hadn't really kicked....my legs were tired from last night, plus triathlete's don't really kick when they swim. But for training I should really kick, and KICK I did. I cut almost ;45 off of my 500s - and that was at the end of my set!
I grew tired as the day grew longer
Evening Trail Run - 60 mins 6.3 miles
This run was hard. I was tired....I am tired. 20 mins in I got really dizzy and experienced massive vertigo and not the fun roller coaster kind. My GI hates me and decided to show how much by shooting stomach acid up my throat throughout the entire run! If that wasn't bad enough my lower tummy had me hurled over a few times from stupid girl pains, WTF?! I'm glad I stuck it out ran through all of this crap-o-la, in the end I believe it helped my mental toughness. Or I'm just telling myself that to try to make me feel better.
I'm ready to fall on my face, must sleep soon.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
At Last....my love has come around
Ha! I meant my POWER has come around :)
For the first Wednesday night ride in Lord knows how long I actually had POWER. I started strong, maintained power throughout the ride and finished with a negative power split. I think the muscle hardest worked was my core. Marine Drive was throwing out some nasty sideways wind and my core battled in aero position, fighting to keep balance. One point a semi drove by too close + the wind threw me completely out of my comfort zone and a had about 20 seconds of pure shaking - in aero, very much surprised I didn't land up in the ditch in the side of the road. Holding good power today is another indicator my training is on track :) Now for the fun data
Mileage 31.76
Ride Duration 1:35
Energy expenditure 961
Energy consumed (malto) 240kcal + 560mg sodium
Max speed 32.81/Avg speed 19.73
Max HR 177/ Avg HR 160
Max torque 36.27.avg torque 5.78
Max Power watts 353/ normalized avg watts 178/ avg watts 166 (held threshold 190-210 watts for 60 mins :))
Max Power/kg 5.81/ avg 2.73
Ended the ride with an easy 19 min transitional run - 8:45 pace, even got a buddy to join me in the brick :)
For the first Wednesday night ride in Lord knows how long I actually had POWER. I started strong, maintained power throughout the ride and finished with a negative power split. I think the muscle hardest worked was my core. Marine Drive was throwing out some nasty sideways wind and my core battled in aero position, fighting to keep balance. One point a semi drove by too close + the wind threw me completely out of my comfort zone and a had about 20 seconds of pure shaking - in aero, very much surprised I didn't land up in the ditch in the side of the road. Holding good power today is another indicator my training is on track :) Now for the fun data
Mileage 31.76
Ride Duration 1:35
Energy expenditure 961
Energy consumed (malto) 240kcal + 560mg sodium
Max speed 32.81/Avg speed 19.73
Max HR 177/ Avg HR 160
Max torque 36.27.avg torque 5.78
Max Power watts 353/ normalized avg watts 178/ avg watts 166 (held threshold 190-210 watts for 60 mins :))
Max Power/kg 5.81/ avg 2.73
Ended the ride with an easy 19 min transitional run - 8:45 pace, even got a buddy to join me in the brick :)
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Barefoot running, choppy waters and becoming sushified
Am Run
I <3 chasing the sun as it's rising, somehow it always wins. :) Why the hell was it hot out at 5am? Can someone explain this to me? I opted to do an hour long loop from my house. My weekday runs are usually 75-90 minutes long but since my muscles have been "overly-sensitive and whinny" lately I decided to play it safe and do an easy 30 out and back. If my legs felt ok I'd go back out for longer. Safe then sorry, right? My upper body felt sore and heavy but as I ran by the store windows I noticed it did not affect my run posture/form. I pulled out a negative split finishing at 56 mins - 6.6 miles 8:30 pace. I ran in the house, quickly removed my shoes and finished up a 25 minutes barefoot run. Running on the freshly watered grass felt soooo good on my feet, I think it lowered my core body temp as well. I was forced to run slower as A. I had to watch for sticks and twigs and stuff and B. Had to run on the sidewalk for short portions - ouch! Another 2.75 miles added at a 9 min pace. When I returned home my feet were a tad bit sore, the sidewalk hurt. But after an hour or so they went back to normal. I <3 running barefoot!
Total mileage - 9.35 miles
Evening OW swim - 30 mins - ok, ok, really only 28
My swim tonight was pathetic. Swam off of Sauvie's Island in the Columbia. Tested out a new AquaSphere mask, it was a photocromatic mask that I had hoped to wear for IM. That's not going to happen as I realized my face is too narrow and couldn't get a seal. My friend was kind enough to let me use his goggles for the workout. Ha! If one might even call it a workout. I suppose the first 1/2 was but the way back was a cluster$%@$. A huge barge drove by which created big waves. At first I found it to be fun, but that was short lived as I kept hitting the waves wrong and ended up with lungs full of water. Once the barge was far enough away you would think the waves would die down - but they didn't! The wind was picking up one way and the currant another which made some choppy water. I was disappointed I didn't have the desire to go back out and do more. My lungs burned and I was down. The only thing that made me feel better was the fact Roxy aka "the dog" had to get out of the water several times as it was too rough for her, she's a good swimmer too!
Anywho, I finished my night off becoming sushified. I couldn't swim with the fish so I choose to eat them instead :)
I <3 chasing the sun as it's rising, somehow it always wins. :) Why the hell was it hot out at 5am? Can someone explain this to me? I opted to do an hour long loop from my house. My weekday runs are usually 75-90 minutes long but since my muscles have been "overly-sensitive and whinny" lately I decided to play it safe and do an easy 30 out and back. If my legs felt ok I'd go back out for longer. Safe then sorry, right? My upper body felt sore and heavy but as I ran by the store windows I noticed it did not affect my run posture/form. I pulled out a negative split finishing at 56 mins - 6.6 miles 8:30 pace. I ran in the house, quickly removed my shoes and finished up a 25 minutes barefoot run. Running on the freshly watered grass felt soooo good on my feet, I think it lowered my core body temp as well. I was forced to run slower as A. I had to watch for sticks and twigs and stuff and B. Had to run on the sidewalk for short portions - ouch! Another 2.75 miles added at a 9 min pace. When I returned home my feet were a tad bit sore, the sidewalk hurt. But after an hour or so they went back to normal. I <3 running barefoot!
Total mileage - 9.35 miles
Evening OW swim - 30 mins - ok, ok, really only 28
My swim tonight was pathetic. Swam off of Sauvie's Island in the Columbia. Tested out a new AquaSphere mask, it was a photocromatic mask that I had hoped to wear for IM. That's not going to happen as I realized my face is too narrow and couldn't get a seal. My friend was kind enough to let me use his goggles for the workout. Ha! If one might even call it a workout. I suppose the first 1/2 was but the way back was a cluster$%@$. A huge barge drove by which created big waves. At first I found it to be fun, but that was short lived as I kept hitting the waves wrong and ended up with lungs full of water. Once the barge was far enough away you would think the waves would die down - but they didn't! The wind was picking up one way and the currant another which made some choppy water. I was disappointed I didn't have the desire to go back out and do more. My lungs burned and I was down. The only thing that made me feel better was the fact Roxy aka "the dog" had to get out of the water several times as it was too rough for her, she's a good swimmer too!
Anywho, I finished my night off becoming sushified. I couldn't swim with the fish so I choose to eat them instead :)
Monday, July 20, 2009
Motivation is what gets you started, habit is what keeps you going
Not sure how it happened but I woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed! Maybe good sleep? Maybe my Zoot compression tight's? Maybe my Yogi Time Tea? Maybe a combination of all of the above? I'm motivated and energized and ready to face another long week of training!
AM Swim
500 warm up
Drills
1 x 250 paddles;10
1 x 250 buoy;10
1 x 50 - one arm glide
2 x 200 - 50-a-ok, 50-fist, 50-karate, 50-free;15
1 x 50 - one arm glide;10
2 x 50 - one arm catch up;10
2 x 50 - high elbow finger drag;10
1 x 250 paddles;10
1 x 250 buoy;10
Main Set
1 x 200 - positive split (first 100 hard/last 100 easy);10
1 x 200 - even split (first 50 easy/middle 100 hard/last 50 easy);10
1 x 200 - negative split (first 100 easy/last 100 hard);10
repeat 1 x
1 x 100 - Cool down
Total yardage 3500
That, that, that is all folks :)
AM Swim
500 warm up
Drills
1 x 250 paddles;10
1 x 250 buoy;10
1 x 50 - one arm glide
2 x 200 - 50-a-ok, 50-fist, 50-karate, 50-free;15
1 x 50 - one arm glide;10
2 x 50 - one arm catch up;10
2 x 50 - high elbow finger drag;10
1 x 250 paddles;10
1 x 250 buoy;10
Main Set
1 x 200 - positive split (first 100 hard/last 100 easy);10
1 x 200 - even split (first 50 easy/middle 100 hard/last 50 easy);10
1 x 200 - negative split (first 100 easy/last 100 hard);10
repeat 1 x
1 x 100 - Cool down
Total yardage 3500
That, that, that is all folks :)
Sunday, July 19, 2009
The Good, the Bad, The Ugly
The Good - Saturday LSD 3.5 hour run along the Wildwood Trails.
Approx 20 miles - avg HR 150
Focus on run was to
A. run slow
B. run the duration
C. feel good
Mission accomplished
I recovered with a much need ice bath. My legs thanked me greatly.
With little to no peer pressure I tried a Four Loko's
which turned me into this
Juego loco Kat
Washed down the Four Loco with 2 Cadillac Margarita's - ceviche and fish taco's - not sure if this was the prime recovery food it forced me into a Kat nap -
The Bad & Ugly - Sunday 80 mile ride starting at The Kennedy School riding up to Larch Mnt and back down.
I don't think this ride would have gone UGLY if I hadn't left my two bottles (800kcal) of premade malto and salt sticks at home in my refrigerator. This mishap thew me into a little panic. I had malto in the back of my car, but it was not measured and I had no clue how much to use. The bottles I was left with were 4 oz shorter then my norm and I don't measure malto via a scooper, I use a gram scale. I throw a couple scoops into each bottle, hoping it is enough. So now I had the calories but I was shit out of luck for sodium. I can not go without sodium, I sweat entirely too much. My riding partners stopped at a Plaid Pantry with me 20 miles in. I was looking for Pedialyte, which they did not have so I opted for a salt shaker. Table salt - Ick, but it would have to make due. Seth saved me with a picked salt pack a bit later. Now I have malto and sodium and am ready to move onward. I took the climb up Larch (approx 3500ft clinb) very easy and stayed in my saddle. With my recent pain in my quad/abductor I was not trying to push my luck. I reached the top a few minutes after the boys and can honestly say I was whipped. My legs and body were tired. I was a little light headed and at this point didn't think about the caloric deficient I was in. Seth talked us into climbing up to the view point. Out of all the times I've climbed Larch I've never gone up to the view point, I'm glad I did today - it was breath taking.
After a quick rest we moved on to the descent down Larch. This is were my ride got REALLY ugly. I didn't pack arm warmers (it was 85 today!) or a jacket and the descent was 14 miles in the cold shade. As I descended my body shook from A. the cold chills and B. the road vibrations. My back started hurting. I great REALLY tired or staying on bars out of aero. My hands hurt to break, I didn't have the muscular hand power to break anymore - I was too tired. By the time I finally (took me waaay too long) met up with the boys at the bottom I was in poor shape. I had realized I had bonked. My first "bonk" on the bike of the year. I was dizzy and my tummy was growling. At this point I had no idea how deficient I was. My power meter had me at 1900kcal and I think I had taken in somewhere around 500-600 kcal - but really who knows. I sucked down a lot of malto and we continued on our way. The ending descent was much more forgiving. The malto quickly kicked in and I felt a little stronger and lost the dizziness. The end strip along Marine was a little tough. I felt I had decent muscular power left in my legs (as I had never pushed them) but my upper body had taken a toll and I felt as if I had a dagger sticking into my right shoulder blade. Sitting up helped but this was not an option with the head wind, so I stayed aero and just kept telling myself to suck it up.
I was uber happy to reach the car and opted out of my planned brick. I needed food and didn't want to piss my body off more then it already was. Instead I opted to recover with a fat-ass cheeseburger. Mmmmm, cheeseburger never tasted so well.
Post ride I was a little disturbed with my performance. Am I starting to over train? Or was this just a workout gone bad off of poor nutrition? Seth said he thought I just had a bad workout and could be pushing through a new fitness wall. What doesn't kill us makes us stronger right? This made me feel better and after I went home and downloaded my power data I believe he was right. One thing I love about my power meter - wattage does not lie. Regardless of how shitty I felt (via poor nutirion) I still performed and held good wattage. It turns out the "easy" climb up Larch was done at my threshold 90 mins at 170 watts. Without adequate fueling I was bond to bonk - yet still I held the power. I also learned that I can bounce back from bonking. The end of my ride I was still holding good power 150-170 through the head wind.
My apologizes to Seth and Mark for whining so much, thanks for putting up with me :)
Ride data
80 miles - approx 4500 ft of elevation gain
5hrs 20 mins ride time
2690 kcal expenditure - via wattage meter
Max speed 32/ avg speed 15.01 :(
Max HR 159 (this is badass considering I was climbing for 90 mins!)/ Avg HR 125 - I <3 endurance
Max Watts 355/ Normalized avg watts 145/ Avg watts 124
Approx 20 miles - avg HR 150
Focus on run was to
A. run slow
B. run the duration
C. feel good
Mission accomplished
I recovered with a much need ice bath. My legs thanked me greatly.
With little to no peer pressure I tried a Four Loko's
which turned me into this
Juego loco Kat
Washed down the Four Loco with 2 Cadillac Margarita's - ceviche and fish taco's - not sure if this was the prime recovery food it forced me into a Kat nap -
The Bad & Ugly - Sunday 80 mile ride starting at The Kennedy School riding up to Larch Mnt and back down.
I don't think this ride would have gone UGLY if I hadn't left my two bottles (800kcal) of premade malto and salt sticks at home in my refrigerator. This mishap thew me into a little panic. I had malto in the back of my car, but it was not measured and I had no clue how much to use. The bottles I was left with were 4 oz shorter then my norm and I don't measure malto via a scooper, I use a gram scale. I throw a couple scoops into each bottle, hoping it is enough. So now I had the calories but I was shit out of luck for sodium. I can not go without sodium, I sweat entirely too much. My riding partners stopped at a Plaid Pantry with me 20 miles in. I was looking for Pedialyte, which they did not have so I opted for a salt shaker. Table salt - Ick, but it would have to make due. Seth saved me with a picked salt pack a bit later. Now I have malto and sodium and am ready to move onward. I took the climb up Larch (approx 3500ft clinb) very easy and stayed in my saddle. With my recent pain in my quad/abductor I was not trying to push my luck. I reached the top a few minutes after the boys and can honestly say I was whipped. My legs and body were tired. I was a little light headed and at this point didn't think about the caloric deficient I was in. Seth talked us into climbing up to the view point. Out of all the times I've climbed Larch I've never gone up to the view point, I'm glad I did today - it was breath taking.
After a quick rest we moved on to the descent down Larch. This is were my ride got REALLY ugly. I didn't pack arm warmers (it was 85 today!) or a jacket and the descent was 14 miles in the cold shade. As I descended my body shook from A. the cold chills and B. the road vibrations. My back started hurting. I great REALLY tired or staying on bars out of aero. My hands hurt to break, I didn't have the muscular hand power to break anymore - I was too tired. By the time I finally (took me waaay too long) met up with the boys at the bottom I was in poor shape. I had realized I had bonked. My first "bonk" on the bike of the year. I was dizzy and my tummy was growling. At this point I had no idea how deficient I was. My power meter had me at 1900kcal and I think I had taken in somewhere around 500-600 kcal - but really who knows. I sucked down a lot of malto and we continued on our way. The ending descent was much more forgiving. The malto quickly kicked in and I felt a little stronger and lost the dizziness. The end strip along Marine was a little tough. I felt I had decent muscular power left in my legs (as I had never pushed them) but my upper body had taken a toll and I felt as if I had a dagger sticking into my right shoulder blade. Sitting up helped but this was not an option with the head wind, so I stayed aero and just kept telling myself to suck it up.
I was uber happy to reach the car and opted out of my planned brick. I needed food and didn't want to piss my body off more then it already was. Instead I opted to recover with a fat-ass cheeseburger. Mmmmm, cheeseburger never tasted so well.
Post ride I was a little disturbed with my performance. Am I starting to over train? Or was this just a workout gone bad off of poor nutrition? Seth said he thought I just had a bad workout and could be pushing through a new fitness wall. What doesn't kill us makes us stronger right? This made me feel better and after I went home and downloaded my power data I believe he was right. One thing I love about my power meter - wattage does not lie. Regardless of how shitty I felt (via poor nutirion) I still performed and held good wattage. It turns out the "easy" climb up Larch was done at my threshold 90 mins at 170 watts. Without adequate fueling I was bond to bonk - yet still I held the power. I also learned that I can bounce back from bonking. The end of my ride I was still holding good power 150-170 through the head wind.
My apologizes to Seth and Mark for whining so much, thanks for putting up with me :)
Ride data
80 miles - approx 4500 ft of elevation gain
5hrs 20 mins ride time
2690 kcal expenditure - via wattage meter
Max speed 32/ avg speed 15.01 :(
Max HR 159 (this is badass considering I was climbing for 90 mins!)/ Avg HR 125 - I <3 endurance
Max Watts 355/ Normalized avg watts 145/ Avg watts 124
Friday, July 17, 2009
It was all a matter of time
I knew it would happen, it always does....the question really falls down to when. Weekend after weekend of long training workouts, usually the endorphins of such workouts will carry me through the work week - but not this week. This week Oscar my evil head appeared. Long time no see. Yes, I have an evil head - it resembles something like the Mike's hard lemonade commerical.
I'm sure you all have one as well, maybe just not as crazy as mine...as I tend to talk back to it :) Monday I was tired, Tuesday was a little worse. The amount OT I've been putting in at work hasn't helped my fatigue. I'm grateful that I love my company and what I do for a career so I'm not complaining, I'm just pointing out that training +work+ life can = too much sometimes. I should have given myself more then 2 days to recover before jumping back into the daily grind. The 5lb water/carb weight gain from the bike ride wasn't helping my mental state. Tuesday night I tweaked my left abductor during a run, bad enough that the knot stayed with me for a couple of days. Wednesday night Oscar appeared and I knew it was time to take some more R & R. I wanted to swim and run on Thursday but knew I needed to let my leg heal...or I would screw myself yet again. The potential injury and fear of returning to aqua running put me into forced rest and was a complete mind &^$&! Not to mention my phone decided to died and I had to deal with Verizon's BS for over 2 hours!
TGIF - I woke up today with no abductor pain, a new phone and new found energy. I'm opting to give myself another day off from biking/running just to keep things on the "safe" side.
AM Swim
8 x 500's - each one felt really long and slow, maybe because it's a %^# ton of yards? Landed on 8:45-9:00s and gave myself 45-60 min rest between - swimming time 1:10:03/ 1:45s - which I am happy with.
I've got another long training weekend ahead of me and I can honestly say I am looking forward to it :)
I was recently asked a question that I couldn't respond to, I did not know the answer.
Q. What is it you want?
Now this is a very broad question and it was asked in context to several different things.
After sitting and pondering it for a few days I think I have found my answer.
A. I only want what I can not have. Nothing good ever comes easy. Once I set my mind on something I achieve it (that could sound wrong and right in many ways) then I move on to the next whatever it may be. I don't stick with anything for too long for once it becomes easy it becomes boring.
I look back at this answer and I think in some ways it's good - always look for bigger and better things and in other ways bad - as I can not settle. It's bittersweet I suppose. I wonder if I will ever find that one thing that will make me settle......
I'm sure you all have one as well, maybe just not as crazy as mine...as I tend to talk back to it :) Monday I was tired, Tuesday was a little worse. The amount OT I've been putting in at work hasn't helped my fatigue. I'm grateful that I love my company and what I do for a career so I'm not complaining, I'm just pointing out that training +work+ life can = too much sometimes. I should have given myself more then 2 days to recover before jumping back into the daily grind. The 5lb water/carb weight gain from the bike ride wasn't helping my mental state. Tuesday night I tweaked my left abductor during a run, bad enough that the knot stayed with me for a couple of days. Wednesday night Oscar appeared and I knew it was time to take some more R & R. I wanted to swim and run on Thursday but knew I needed to let my leg heal...or I would screw myself yet again. The potential injury and fear of returning to aqua running put me into forced rest and was a complete mind &^$&! Not to mention my phone decided to died and I had to deal with Verizon's BS for over 2 hours!
TGIF - I woke up today with no abductor pain, a new phone and new found energy. I'm opting to give myself another day off from biking/running just to keep things on the "safe" side.
AM Swim
8 x 500's - each one felt really long and slow, maybe because it's a %^# ton of yards? Landed on 8:45-9:00s and gave myself 45-60 min rest between - swimming time 1:10:03/ 1:45s - which I am happy with.
I've got another long training weekend ahead of me and I can honestly say I am looking forward to it :)
I was recently asked a question that I couldn't respond to, I did not know the answer.
Q. What is it you want?
Now this is a very broad question and it was asked in context to several different things.
After sitting and pondering it for a few days I think I have found my answer.
A. I only want what I can not have. Nothing good ever comes easy. Once I set my mind on something I achieve it (that could sound wrong and right in many ways) then I move on to the next whatever it may be. I don't stick with anything for too long for once it becomes easy it becomes boring.
I look back at this answer and I think in some ways it's good - always look for bigger and better things and in other ways bad - as I can not settle. It's bittersweet I suppose. I wonder if I will ever find that one thing that will make me settle......
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
So Be It
Warm Up
1 x 500
Drills
4 x 50 - catch up/high elbow finger drag; 10
1 x 300 buoy; 10
4 x 50 - extended pull down/water splash
1 x 200 easy
Main Set
6 x 200s on the 3:30 - 3:10, 3:14, 3:12, 3:15, 3:15, 3:17 (ugh, I had too much coffee before swim and acid reflux kicked in on the 4th interval. Nothing like tasting your stomach lining. Mmm, mmm, good)
1 x 100 easy
2 x 200 - 50-Aok, 50 fist, 50-karate, 50 sprint
Cool down
1 x 500
Total yardage = 3400
Evening Ride
Up the West Hils - Skyline Rollers and back down - 25 miles
I took it very easy on this ride. My left abductor is still a little pissy and I didn't want to make things worse. For the most part I didn't feel it while I was riding. I felt it after, but not any worse then before. I may take the next 2 days off from running or biking to let the irritation go down. We'll see how it feels in the morning.
I grew an evil head to night, my attitude went to shit and I pretty much kept to myself. We all have "those" days right?
Max watts 353/ Avg normalized watts 154, Avg watts 130
Max HR 170/ Avg HR 135
1 x 500
Drills
4 x 50 - catch up/high elbow finger drag; 10
1 x 300 buoy; 10
4 x 50 - extended pull down/water splash
1 x 200 easy
Main Set
6 x 200s on the 3:30 - 3:10, 3:14, 3:12, 3:15, 3:15, 3:17 (ugh, I had too much coffee before swim and acid reflux kicked in on the 4th interval. Nothing like tasting your stomach lining. Mmm, mmm, good)
1 x 100 easy
2 x 200 - 50-Aok, 50 fist, 50-karate, 50 sprint
Cool down
1 x 500
Total yardage = 3400
Evening Ride
Up the West Hils - Skyline Rollers and back down - 25 miles
I took it very easy on this ride. My left abductor is still a little pissy and I didn't want to make things worse. For the most part I didn't feel it while I was riding. I felt it after, but not any worse then before. I may take the next 2 days off from running or biking to let the irritation go down. We'll see how it feels in the morning.
I grew an evil head to night, my attitude went to shit and I pretty much kept to myself. We all have "those" days right?
Max watts 353/ Avg normalized watts 154, Avg watts 130
Max HR 170/ Avg HR 135
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Back to the grind
AM Swim
Normally I would break out my swim details by warm up/drills/mainset BUT this workout was a thoughtless recovery (mental recovery) so it's 90% drills without any kind of mainset. I also didn't limit myself on rest time, if I was tired I held on to the wall for awhile, reasoning behind 3200 yards taking my slow ass 1:05 to do.
1 x 500 - easy
5 x 100 - paddles
1 x 50 - one arm glide
4 x 50 - out/catch up, return/high elbow finger drah
1 x 250 - buoy
1 x 200 - easy
1 x 50 - one arm glide
1 x 250 - buoy
1 x 200 - 50 A-ok, 50 Fist, 50 Karate, 50 Sprint Free
1 x 500 - moderate
3 x 100 - sprints
1 x 200 - cool down
Total yardage 3200
Evening Run - 8.5 miles/ 8:05 pace - avg HR 157 (80 degree heat)/ PE -easy
Tonight I decided to run in my Nike LunarRacer's. I haven't ran more then a 10k in these and would like to see what I can do without compromising stability. I usually do this loop in the morning and with a PE of easy avg around 9's - 9:30s. I think today's run shoes proves what a difference weight makes. My Triax 12's (normal run shoe or at least trail shoe) weighs somewhere around 11 oz - they are heavy. The Lunar's weigh just over 4 oz..which in return cut my avg mile down by over a full minute. I did experience muscle cramping tonight but I don't think it was shoe related. My left abductor cramped up at my turn around point and the muscle knotted and grew as I ran home. I'm 99% sure this was from the long bike ride this weekend as the abductors were the only muscle group in my legs to have DOMS. Monday my muscles felt fine as did today, reasoning as to why I decided to run. I'm hoping ice and marble rolling pin will help get this knot out, it hurts like a mother%^$%#.
Highlights of my run
*Running in the evening sun
*Running around Nike and gazing at all the beautiful men running with glistening bodies and no shirts. Yay for no shirts!
*Running a decent clip with no effort
Low lights
*Knot in abductor
*Almost getting hit not once, not twice, not three times BUT 4 FRICKENING times! All by cars that tried to take their "free" right without coming to a stop or LOOKING. The one I was most surprised with was the guy rolling out of the Nike headquarters. Could you imagine if the dude hit me? 5 o'clock news - Nike employee hits runner on his way out of work. WTF?!
Normally I would break out my swim details by warm up/drills/mainset BUT this workout was a thoughtless recovery (mental recovery) so it's 90% drills without any kind of mainset. I also didn't limit myself on rest time, if I was tired I held on to the wall for awhile, reasoning behind 3200 yards taking my slow ass 1:05 to do.
1 x 500 - easy
5 x 100 - paddles
1 x 50 - one arm glide
4 x 50 - out/catch up, return/high elbow finger drah
1 x 250 - buoy
1 x 200 - easy
1 x 50 - one arm glide
1 x 250 - buoy
1 x 200 - 50 A-ok, 50 Fist, 50 Karate, 50 Sprint Free
1 x 500 - moderate
3 x 100 - sprints
1 x 200 - cool down
Total yardage 3200
Evening Run - 8.5 miles/ 8:05 pace - avg HR 157 (80 degree heat)/ PE -easy
Tonight I decided to run in my Nike LunarRacer's. I haven't ran more then a 10k in these and would like to see what I can do without compromising stability. I usually do this loop in the morning and with a PE of easy avg around 9's - 9:30s. I think today's run shoes proves what a difference weight makes. My Triax 12's (normal run shoe or at least trail shoe) weighs somewhere around 11 oz - they are heavy. The Lunar's weigh just over 4 oz..which in return cut my avg mile down by over a full minute. I did experience muscle cramping tonight but I don't think it was shoe related. My left abductor cramped up at my turn around point and the muscle knotted and grew as I ran home. I'm 99% sure this was from the long bike ride this weekend as the abductors were the only muscle group in my legs to have DOMS. Monday my muscles felt fine as did today, reasoning as to why I decided to run. I'm hoping ice and marble rolling pin will help get this knot out, it hurts like a mother%^$%#.
Highlights of my run
*Running in the evening sun
*Running around Nike and gazing at all the beautiful men running with glistening bodies and no shirts. Yay for no shirts!
*Running a decent clip with no effort
Low lights
*Knot in abductor
*Almost getting hit not once, not twice, not three times BUT 4 FRICKENING times! All by cars that tried to take their "free" right without coming to a stop or LOOKING. The one I was most surprised with was the guy rolling out of the Nike headquarters. Could you imagine if the dude hit me? 5 o'clock news - Nike employee hits runner on his way out of work. WTF?!
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Seattle to Portland - 203 miles
Once again I will reiterate - Fear is a very good thing. Not only is it a good thing but it creates an amazing high once you “man-up” and tackle it.
A BIG thanks to Seth for STP in one day invite - you know you can count on me for the 4-man Hood To Coast Team :)
A BIG thanks to Sue for all her kindness and hospitality, you made a stranger feel like a good friend.
Thanks Shannon and Nadine for the carb loading pre race fun.
On to the event....well let's start off with a short preface. Seth and I relaxed on a nice 3.5 hour train ride up to Seattle. The ride was fun filled with compression socks, a bit of alcohol and a whole lot of race/training talk. Sue graciously picked us up from the train station and we then headed over to Serious Pie for a carb loading dinner with Shannon and Nadine. For the next 2-3 hours we indulged in, need I say it? Serious Pie :) - or some might say some oh-so-delicious pizza and a couple glasses of red wine. I went to bed with 5 hours of sleep to spare, not an ideal situation for an 8 hour girl but the night of fun was well worth it. Unfortunately I paid for that fun, at 3:45am my alarm went off and I awoke to a serious headache. Ouch. Kat started the morning, (or maybe still night) with an evil head. A little coffee, yummy food and a kick ass riding partner quickly put the evil head in it's place and it disappeared for the rest of the day :)
The first century
Mile 1-50
The STP start was one of the many things I fear from this ride. As most of you know I am not a graceful rider…ok that’s the sugar-coated way of putting it. In all honesty I have poor bike handling skills, I’m clumsy and don’t like riding in packs. Starting a ride with several hundred riders was intimidating. Seth and I got to the start line, just in the nick of time. We were able to ride off at the end of the last “early bird” riders (1 day-ers) - 15 minutes ahead of the two day mass start. The start wasn’t as bad as I had imagined. People were overall pretty respectful of space - as much as one can be with several hundred riders. They were loud and vocal with riding communication. IE “slowing” “to the left” “stopping” and so on. We took the first 15 or so miles easy as it was pretty crowded and we were riding through town. I think my highlight during this time was riding by Lake Washington as the sun was rising - absolutely beautiful. Once we got out of town it was time for Kat to learn about pace lining. I had pace lined before - Ha! With one or two riders, does that even count? I struggled with it at first. Seth would “take off” like a fricking rabbit, grab on to a wheel and leave me in the dust. I tried to sprint off but it was difficult. My watts would sore sky high and it would hurt my quads. Sprinting scared me so early in the ride. I had to manage my intensity to last 200+ miles. We were passed by a tandem with aero helmets - it was badass! I was able to cling on their wheel for a short bit, once we hit some corners I fell back - to be expected from Kat. Seth “schooled” me on pace lining. I soaked up the info and after a few attempts I got it down. I knew this was a necessity as I was able to conserve 50-80 watts in the line while going 5-7 mph faster. We hit the first aid station around 8ish - 50 miles down. I refilled my bottle of malto, downed a PB & J, banana and ½ a Cliff bar. During the our first brake Seth named me the Bumble Bee as I was rockin a yellow cog jersey (uber cute IMO) and black shorts. I would have opted for something more aggressive like a Yellow Jacket but I’ll take what I can get J
On to leg 2
Mile 50-100
Shortly after the start we found a quick pace line (25-30mph) and attached on. Seth lost his sponge (aero bottle, which this would not be the only time in the ride!) and we were parted. Kill Bill’s whistle song goes off from my pocket. It’s Seth. I’m trying to stay with this fast pace line and my phone is ringing. What to do?! What to do?! Of course I had to answer it, I had to get back with my riding buddy. Talk was short. Signal disconnected and I wasn’t going to let these guys drop me. A txt later we decide to meet at the mini aid station at mile 86 - Tenio’s famous cookie stop. I lost the pace line when the riders decided to “cycle-cross” over to the bike path. I was too slow on the movement and rode the first of the bike path alone. This was actually a good thing as the bike path was not too crowded and I was able to finally get aero. I will not, repeat will not follow a pace line in aero bars - ever! I took the whole bike path in aero and was able to maintain a nice clip of (22-24mph) at a moderate intensity level. 1/3 way down the path and I look behind me and found out I had a tail. Hot damn! I would have never thought that I would lead a pace line - a pace line of all men at that! There were a few dudes that I picked up along the bike path that I would see miscellaneously around the route during the next 140+ miles. I was referred to as the “tri-girl” or the “rabbit” :) . Seth and I met back up at mile 86. I stopped and had one of the famous melted oatmeal chocolate chip cookie at the aid station - it was phenomenal! We continued on together until we hit the ½ way point in Centralia.
½ way point -
I can honestly say at this point I was whipped. I had managed intensity well but the heat was starting to catch up with me. I was almost relived to know Seth was feeling it too. We both agreed the second half was going to be much slower then the first half. The stop was longer then expected - as were most stops. At this point my back was starting to turn pink, thankfully Centralia had a sunscreen tent and I got slathered up. I ended up with a golden tan - no burn, thanks sunscreen ladies. We took in some more solid food. I had a plain turkey and cheese sandwich on white bread. At first I thought, ugh - so plain, but after devouring it I found it rather tasty - funny how that happens. Seth got one of the vendors to donate a few paper boats of pickle juice. I think this saved us from cramping and re-energized out electrolytes. Way to go Seth! Water stop, malto refill and we were off.
The second century
Mile 100-145
This was by far the worst leg for me. Coming out of half way point I felt heavy, bloated, hot and fatigued. My tummy took a good 20-30 minutes to digest all the food I had force fed down. Digestion came at the wrong time as we were approaching the “rollers.” Up and down and round and round. This was my leg of being “dazed and confused.” I’d look down at my power meter. I was going 18-19 mph at low wattage - yet I was tired and didn’t feel like I was moving forward. Seth loses his sponge somewhere around mile 135. I stop so he can go back to get it. This was a mistake because as I try to get back onto my bike I clip in and fall right over. What’s a ride if Kat doesn’t fall over? I was pretty much at a standstill and I didn’t break skin - I was A-ok. We decided to stop at the next mini aid station a mile down the road to get water and try to regain some sanity. Picture moment.
On ward we went to the next food aid station at mile 145. This was a good time as we got more solid food and took some time to rest a bit. The last 45 miles were tough. I was now experiencing my longest ride ever, prior had been 112 miles. I looked within myself and found the positive. 10 or so more miles and we’d be in Oregon - home town. Then all we had to do was highway 30, one more food stop and coast home. It’s funny how after doing 145 miles that 65ish more doesn’t look all that bad. Plus the sun was shinning - things could always be worse.
Mile 145-175
This was an incredible leg. I don’t know where my energy came from but it was in full force. On the train ride up I had told Seth I didn’t know what I was great at. I’ve felt a little lost in training. I mean in tri I’m not great in any of the three sports, I’m just ok in all 3. Well during this ride I found what I’m great at - endurance. As most of the pack suffers as mileage/duration goes on I excel. For the remainder of the ride I had good strong power. 5 or so miles into the leg we come up to the Longview Bridge. I looked up at it, longer moderate climb, so far into mileage it scared me. The bike lane was narrow, there was a lot of debris and I would be riding it up with 20-25 other men. Forward I pedal and I hear something from Seth like “Ride up you animal”. I laugh to myself as I don’t feel animalistic at all. 150 miles in I didn’t feel strong, but in comparison to the group I was. I passed all but one man climbing the bridge and I did so quickly. Descending the bridge was scary as shit! It was windy and there where ruts in the road. I had MASSIVE front wheel wobble. I thought I might fly right off the bridge. My arms, hands and wheel shook violently - this was not ok. To calm myself I started singing Bobby Darin’s - Don’t Rain On My Parade. It helped and I survived. As we reached the highway another rider came up behind me and said he thought my wheel was going to fly off. “You and me both buddy”. The next 20-25 miles my power really came out. I’d come up on pace line after pace line - attacked and passed. I would have probably sat on the back of a wheel if they were moving fast enough but at this point each pace line was avging 15-17 mph, I was hitting 20-21 in aero. I had the power so I decided to ride with it. I think the real confidence booster was passing pace lines of 20-30 MEN - quickly.
Mile 175-203
The last aid station! I fueled up on more PB & J and decided it was now time to take some vitamin I. Upon getting back on the bike I realized my abs and sit bones were sore. Riding aero for so long really works the core! And I guess 175 miles into the ride and just now experiencing some kind of tail pain is not bad. I <3 my Gore Bike shorts! The first few miles back on the bike were slow. Eh, we had a tad bit of headwind. I was getting tired of my position on the bike so I was shifting around too much. My tummy was still digesting from the last aid station so aero was not that comfortable BUT riding aero saved me 30-40 watts and I was able to go several mph faster - so I forced myself to ride aero. Again, the last 20 miles or I went along passing pace line after pace line of dudes. I wish I had a camera of this, it was one of the highlights of my ride. The compliments from the boys didn’t hurt either. I rolled into the finish at 203 miles - 11hrs and 20 mins of riding time - not bad for a “non” cyclist.
And now for the techy-nerdy stuff
Ride data
Total distance (miles) 202.25
Uphill distance (miles) 30.87
Uphill altitude (feet) 1,951
Maximum altitude (feet) 463
Power data
Ride Time 11:20:19
Caloric expenditure (based off of watts-pedaling only) 5220 kcal
Max speed 42 mph :) / Avg speed 17.93 mph
Max cadence 143 / Avg cadence 68
Max HR 173 / Avg HR 144
Max torque 33.56 / Avg torque 519
Max Power 470 (hehe, sprint to a paceline) / Normalized Avg watts 142 / Avg watts 126
Max watts to kg 7.73/ Avg watts per kg 2.05
Seth - you were right. I am now confident for the bike leg for IMC. Thank you!
A BIG thanks to Seth for STP in one day invite - you know you can count on me for the 4-man Hood To Coast Team :)
A BIG thanks to Sue for all her kindness and hospitality, you made a stranger feel like a good friend.
Thanks Shannon and Nadine for the carb loading pre race fun.
On to the event....well let's start off with a short preface. Seth and I relaxed on a nice 3.5 hour train ride up to Seattle. The ride was fun filled with compression socks, a bit of alcohol and a whole lot of race/training talk. Sue graciously picked us up from the train station and we then headed over to Serious Pie for a carb loading dinner with Shannon and Nadine. For the next 2-3 hours we indulged in, need I say it? Serious Pie :) - or some might say some oh-so-delicious pizza and a couple glasses of red wine. I went to bed with 5 hours of sleep to spare, not an ideal situation for an 8 hour girl but the night of fun was well worth it. Unfortunately I paid for that fun, at 3:45am my alarm went off and I awoke to a serious headache. Ouch. Kat started the morning, (or maybe still night) with an evil head. A little coffee, yummy food and a kick ass riding partner quickly put the evil head in it's place and it disappeared for the rest of the day :)
The first century
Mile 1-50
The STP start was one of the many things I fear from this ride. As most of you know I am not a graceful rider…ok that’s the sugar-coated way of putting it. In all honesty I have poor bike handling skills, I’m clumsy and don’t like riding in packs. Starting a ride with several hundred riders was intimidating. Seth and I got to the start line, just in the nick of time. We were able to ride off at the end of the last “early bird” riders (1 day-ers) - 15 minutes ahead of the two day mass start. The start wasn’t as bad as I had imagined. People were overall pretty respectful of space - as much as one can be with several hundred riders. They were loud and vocal with riding communication. IE “slowing” “to the left” “stopping” and so on. We took the first 15 or so miles easy as it was pretty crowded and we were riding through town. I think my highlight during this time was riding by Lake Washington as the sun was rising - absolutely beautiful. Once we got out of town it was time for Kat to learn about pace lining. I had pace lined before - Ha! With one or two riders, does that even count? I struggled with it at first. Seth would “take off” like a fricking rabbit, grab on to a wheel and leave me in the dust. I tried to sprint off but it was difficult. My watts would sore sky high and it would hurt my quads. Sprinting scared me so early in the ride. I had to manage my intensity to last 200+ miles. We were passed by a tandem with aero helmets - it was badass! I was able to cling on their wheel for a short bit, once we hit some corners I fell back - to be expected from Kat. Seth “schooled” me on pace lining. I soaked up the info and after a few attempts I got it down. I knew this was a necessity as I was able to conserve 50-80 watts in the line while going 5-7 mph faster. We hit the first aid station around 8ish - 50 miles down. I refilled my bottle of malto, downed a PB & J, banana and ½ a Cliff bar. During the our first brake Seth named me the Bumble Bee as I was rockin a yellow cog jersey (uber cute IMO) and black shorts. I would have opted for something more aggressive like a Yellow Jacket but I’ll take what I can get J
On to leg 2
Mile 50-100
Shortly after the start we found a quick pace line (25-30mph) and attached on. Seth lost his sponge (aero bottle, which this would not be the only time in the ride!) and we were parted. Kill Bill’s whistle song goes off from my pocket. It’s Seth. I’m trying to stay with this fast pace line and my phone is ringing. What to do?! What to do?! Of course I had to answer it, I had to get back with my riding buddy. Talk was short. Signal disconnected and I wasn’t going to let these guys drop me. A txt later we decide to meet at the mini aid station at mile 86 - Tenio’s famous cookie stop. I lost the pace line when the riders decided to “cycle-cross” over to the bike path. I was too slow on the movement and rode the first of the bike path alone. This was actually a good thing as the bike path was not too crowded and I was able to finally get aero. I will not, repeat will not follow a pace line in aero bars - ever! I took the whole bike path in aero and was able to maintain a nice clip of (22-24mph) at a moderate intensity level. 1/3 way down the path and I look behind me and found out I had a tail. Hot damn! I would have never thought that I would lead a pace line - a pace line of all men at that! There were a few dudes that I picked up along the bike path that I would see miscellaneously around the route during the next 140+ miles. I was referred to as the “tri-girl” or the “rabbit” :) . Seth and I met back up at mile 86. I stopped and had one of the famous melted oatmeal chocolate chip cookie at the aid station - it was phenomenal! We continued on together until we hit the ½ way point in Centralia.
½ way point -
I can honestly say at this point I was whipped. I had managed intensity well but the heat was starting to catch up with me. I was almost relived to know Seth was feeling it too. We both agreed the second half was going to be much slower then the first half. The stop was longer then expected - as were most stops. At this point my back was starting to turn pink, thankfully Centralia had a sunscreen tent and I got slathered up. I ended up with a golden tan - no burn, thanks sunscreen ladies. We took in some more solid food. I had a plain turkey and cheese sandwich on white bread. At first I thought, ugh - so plain, but after devouring it I found it rather tasty - funny how that happens. Seth got one of the vendors to donate a few paper boats of pickle juice. I think this saved us from cramping and re-energized out electrolytes. Way to go Seth! Water stop, malto refill and we were off.
The second century
Mile 100-145
This was by far the worst leg for me. Coming out of half way point I felt heavy, bloated, hot and fatigued. My tummy took a good 20-30 minutes to digest all the food I had force fed down. Digestion came at the wrong time as we were approaching the “rollers.” Up and down and round and round. This was my leg of being “dazed and confused.” I’d look down at my power meter. I was going 18-19 mph at low wattage - yet I was tired and didn’t feel like I was moving forward. Seth loses his sponge somewhere around mile 135. I stop so he can go back to get it. This was a mistake because as I try to get back onto my bike I clip in and fall right over. What’s a ride if Kat doesn’t fall over? I was pretty much at a standstill and I didn’t break skin - I was A-ok. We decided to stop at the next mini aid station a mile down the road to get water and try to regain some sanity. Picture moment.
On ward we went to the next food aid station at mile 145. This was a good time as we got more solid food and took some time to rest a bit. The last 45 miles were tough. I was now experiencing my longest ride ever, prior had been 112 miles. I looked within myself and found the positive. 10 or so more miles and we’d be in Oregon - home town. Then all we had to do was highway 30, one more food stop and coast home. It’s funny how after doing 145 miles that 65ish more doesn’t look all that bad. Plus the sun was shinning - things could always be worse.
Mile 145-175
This was an incredible leg. I don’t know where my energy came from but it was in full force. On the train ride up I had told Seth I didn’t know what I was great at. I’ve felt a little lost in training. I mean in tri I’m not great in any of the three sports, I’m just ok in all 3. Well during this ride I found what I’m great at - endurance. As most of the pack suffers as mileage/duration goes on I excel. For the remainder of the ride I had good strong power. 5 or so miles into the leg we come up to the Longview Bridge. I looked up at it, longer moderate climb, so far into mileage it scared me. The bike lane was narrow, there was a lot of debris and I would be riding it up with 20-25 other men. Forward I pedal and I hear something from Seth like “Ride up you animal”. I laugh to myself as I don’t feel animalistic at all. 150 miles in I didn’t feel strong, but in comparison to the group I was. I passed all but one man climbing the bridge and I did so quickly. Descending the bridge was scary as shit! It was windy and there where ruts in the road. I had MASSIVE front wheel wobble. I thought I might fly right off the bridge. My arms, hands and wheel shook violently - this was not ok. To calm myself I started singing Bobby Darin’s - Don’t Rain On My Parade. It helped and I survived. As we reached the highway another rider came up behind me and said he thought my wheel was going to fly off. “You and me both buddy”. The next 20-25 miles my power really came out. I’d come up on pace line after pace line - attacked and passed. I would have probably sat on the back of a wheel if they were moving fast enough but at this point each pace line was avging 15-17 mph, I was hitting 20-21 in aero. I had the power so I decided to ride with it. I think the real confidence booster was passing pace lines of 20-30 MEN - quickly.
Mile 175-203
The last aid station! I fueled up on more PB & J and decided it was now time to take some vitamin I. Upon getting back on the bike I realized my abs and sit bones were sore. Riding aero for so long really works the core! And I guess 175 miles into the ride and just now experiencing some kind of tail pain is not bad. I <3 my Gore Bike shorts! The first few miles back on the bike were slow. Eh, we had a tad bit of headwind. I was getting tired of my position on the bike so I was shifting around too much. My tummy was still digesting from the last aid station so aero was not that comfortable BUT riding aero saved me 30-40 watts and I was able to go several mph faster - so I forced myself to ride aero. Again, the last 20 miles or I went along passing pace line after pace line of dudes. I wish I had a camera of this, it was one of the highlights of my ride. The compliments from the boys didn’t hurt either. I rolled into the finish at 203 miles - 11hrs and 20 mins of riding time - not bad for a “non” cyclist.
And now for the techy-nerdy stuff
Ride data
Total distance (miles) 202.25
Uphill distance (miles) 30.87
Uphill altitude (feet) 1,951
Maximum altitude (feet) 463
Power data
Ride Time 11:20:19
Caloric expenditure (based off of watts-pedaling only) 5220 kcal
Max speed 42 mph :) / Avg speed 17.93 mph
Max cadence 143 / Avg cadence 68
Max HR 173 / Avg HR 144
Max torque 33.56 / Avg torque 519
Max Power 470 (hehe, sprint to a paceline) / Normalized Avg watts 142 / Avg watts 126
Max watts to kg 7.73/ Avg watts per kg 2.05
Seth - you were right. I am now confident for the bike leg for IMC. Thank you!
Thursday, July 9, 2009
AM PM
AM Swim
500 warm up
Drills
1 x 250 paddles;10
1 x 250 buoy; 10
repeat 1 x
2 x 50 - Aok;10
2 x 50- Fist; 10
1 x 50 - one arm glide; 10
2 x 50 - catch up;10
2 x 50 - finger drag/high elbows
1 x 50 - one arm glide; 10
Main Set
4 x 100's (first 75 easy; last 25 hard) ; 10 -;15 rest at end of 100 block
4 x 100's (first 50 easy; last 50 hard) ; 10 -;15 rest at end of 100 block
4 x 100's (first 25 easy; last 75 hard) ; 10 -;15 rest at end of 100 block - 1:36; 1:38, 1:37, 1:34 (how is it my 100 sprints are the same speed 3000+ yards into a workout as 200 yards into a workout? I really have no "fast" speed. I think this just means I need to work on my efficiency.)
4 x 100's (hard) ; 10
Cool down
200
Total yardage - 3800 yards
A beautiful specimen rockin a Speedo joined me with 1000 left to go. My oh my, he was a beauty. During the cool down we swam side by side, what a great way to end the swim!
PM Run -
1 mile warm up around the track
5 min stretch
Easy run up Twilliger hills :) 5.2 ish miles
cool down with 15 min run barefoot on the grass around the track - did 9 loops which is just a tad bit over 2 miles in 16 mins - I have NEVER run an 8 min pace so easy before. Makes me think I'm wearing the wrong kind of shoes....if any at all. I <3 barefoot running.
500 warm up
Drills
1 x 250 paddles;10
1 x 250 buoy; 10
repeat 1 x
2 x 50 - Aok;10
2 x 50- Fist; 10
1 x 50 - one arm glide; 10
2 x 50 - catch up;10
2 x 50 - finger drag/high elbows
1 x 50 - one arm glide; 10
Main Set
4 x 100's (first 75 easy; last 25 hard) ; 10 -;15 rest at end of 100 block
4 x 100's (first 50 easy; last 50 hard) ; 10 -;15 rest at end of 100 block
4 x 100's (first 25 easy; last 75 hard) ; 10 -;15 rest at end of 100 block - 1:36; 1:38, 1:37, 1:34 (how is it my 100 sprints are the same speed 3000+ yards into a workout as 200 yards into a workout? I really have no "fast" speed. I think this just means I need to work on my efficiency.)
4 x 100's (hard) ; 10
Cool down
200
Total yardage - 3800 yards
A beautiful specimen rockin a Speedo joined me with 1000 left to go. My oh my, he was a beauty. During the cool down we swam side by side, what a great way to end the swim!
PM Run -
1 mile warm up around the track
5 min stretch
Easy run up Twilliger hills :) 5.2 ish miles
cool down with 15 min run barefoot on the grass around the track - did 9 loops which is just a tad bit over 2 miles in 16 mins - I have NEVER run an 8 min pace so easy before. Makes me think I'm wearing the wrong kind of shoes....if any at all. I <3 barefoot running.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Random Musings
*Luckily for me Godzilla and Transformers moved into the apartment above me. Throughout the night they took down Tokyo and quite possibly my bedroom which landed me an hour maybe two of solid sleep. Most of the day was spent with my coffee cup glued to my hand.
*I get paid to shop all day - shop for my passion - triathlon. Isn't this what living the dream is all about?
*Great food pairings are like great friends
Bratwurst & mustard -Mmmm mustard. Any kind will do but my personal favs are Honey-Dijon, sweet/hot, ground mustard seed, good 'ol Franz yellow mustard. Am I missing out on any others?
Cantaloupe & Prosciutto - Served cold with the prosciutto wrapped around the melon.
Bacon Vodka (yes that is correct) & Jalapeño Vodka & V8
Ok, so the pairing has now become three's a company. These 3 make the BEST bloody mary.
Peanut Butter & Whole Grain Pasta
Ok, I drizzle agave nectar on it too....so yummy!
Chocolate Chip cookies & Milk -
Does that need an explanation?
Wasabi & Soy Sauce -
Together I could probably eat this on anything - ooo pizza would be good!
Dark Chocolate & Espresso beans
Endorphins + caffeine
Jalapeño Jelly & Toast
A lot of spicy, a little sweet and some whole grain goodness - kind of like me!
M & M's
Hehe, had to throw that out there, couldn't resist.
I'm hungry, yet again.
And now for actual training
Evening Bike Ride - Marine Drive 25 miles - easy
Max watts 292/ Norm avg watts 145/ avg watts 137
Max HR 164/ Avg HR 137
*I get paid to shop all day - shop for my passion - triathlon. Isn't this what living the dream is all about?
*Great food pairings are like great friends
Bratwurst & mustard -Mmmm mustard. Any kind will do but my personal favs are Honey-Dijon, sweet/hot, ground mustard seed, good 'ol Franz yellow mustard. Am I missing out on any others?
Cantaloupe & Prosciutto - Served cold with the prosciutto wrapped around the melon.
Bacon Vodka (yes that is correct) & Jalapeño Vodka & V8
Ok, so the pairing has now become three's a company. These 3 make the BEST bloody mary.
Peanut Butter & Whole Grain Pasta
Ok, I drizzle agave nectar on it too....so yummy!
Chocolate Chip cookies & Milk -
Does that need an explanation?
Wasabi & Soy Sauce -
Together I could probably eat this on anything - ooo pizza would be good!
Dark Chocolate & Espresso beans
Endorphins + caffeine
Jalapeño Jelly & Toast
A lot of spicy, a little sweet and some whole grain goodness - kind of like me!
M & M's
Hehe, had to throw that out there, couldn't resist.
I'm hungry, yet again.
And now for actual training
Evening Bike Ride - Marine Drive 25 miles - easy
Max watts 292/ Norm avg watts 145/ avg watts 137
Max HR 164/ Avg HR 137
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Swimming, Running, Flying...Oh My!
AM Swim
8 x 500's - Eh slow 8:40, 8:45, 8:47, 8:42, 8:50, 8:57, 9:02 - ugh 9:07; 45 rests
Apparently two hard ciders last night was one too many.
Total yardage - 4,000
Evening Trail Run - 65 min tempo on the Wildwood Trail - 7.25 miles
5 min easy warm up Z2 (140-155)
20 mins Z3 (170-180)
10 min easy float (150-160)
20 mins Z3 (170-180)
10 min easy cool down with the last 1/4 being a sprint - best way to end a run!
My energy was restored by the evening run - I <3 flying
BTW, I've been stuck on AC/DC lately, what gives?
8 x 500's - Eh slow 8:40, 8:45, 8:47, 8:42, 8:50, 8:57, 9:02 - ugh 9:07; 45 rests
Apparently two hard ciders last night was one too many.
Total yardage - 4,000
Evening Trail Run - 65 min tempo on the Wildwood Trail - 7.25 miles
5 min easy warm up Z2 (140-155)
20 mins Z3 (170-180)
10 min easy float (150-160)
20 mins Z3 (170-180)
10 min easy cool down with the last 1/4 being a sprint - best way to end a run!
My energy was restored by the evening run - I <3 flying
BTW, I've been stuck on AC/DC lately, what gives?
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Lazy Sunday
After 4 hours of sleep and a spectacular 4th of July I found my way home :) managed to get an additional 2 hour power nap.
The afternoon was spent being lazy on Sauvie's Island. I swam about an hour of open water. At first I was going to swim sans wetsuit but after being in the water a couple minutes I found it to be too cold. Not only that but the currant was strong, I was tired and rockin a hangover, I needed the security blank. To give you an idea of how strong the Columbia currant was it took us 32 mins going out only 16 mins to come back. Experienced "real" open water as Roxy (Mark's dog) swam over me and kept tickling my toes, it was pretty badass to have a dog swim by your side, she's a strong swimmer. Mark, maybe she could each you a thing or toe :) J/K!
Post swim I laid out on the beach and took another Kat nap. Finished the island adventure with blueberry picking.
"Oompa loompa doo-ba-dee-doo
I’ve got a perfect puzzle for you
Oompa loompa doo-ba-dee-dee
If you are wise you’ll listen to me"
Hehe, For every blueberry Mark picked 5 went into his stomach...I was pretty sure he was going to turn into a blueberry by the end of the night. I haven't heard from him since so this is very well possible. Kat 2.5lbs of blueberrys - Mark 1lb. Muahaha You may have owne me on the cherry pit spitting contest but I walked away with all the blueberries!
The best way to end a lazy and relaxing day is at Gustav's for a massive Bratwurst - when a girl craves a sausage she's got to have it. Go BIG or Go home! :D
The afternoon was spent being lazy on Sauvie's Island. I swam about an hour of open water. At first I was going to swim sans wetsuit but after being in the water a couple minutes I found it to be too cold. Not only that but the currant was strong, I was tired and rockin a hangover, I needed the security blank. To give you an idea of how strong the Columbia currant was it took us 32 mins going out only 16 mins to come back. Experienced "real" open water as Roxy (Mark's dog) swam over me and kept tickling my toes, it was pretty badass to have a dog swim by your side, she's a strong swimmer. Mark, maybe she could each you a thing or toe :) J/K!
Post swim I laid out on the beach and took another Kat nap. Finished the island adventure with blueberry picking.
"Oompa loompa doo-ba-dee-doo
I’ve got a perfect puzzle for you
Oompa loompa doo-ba-dee-dee
If you are wise you’ll listen to me"
Hehe, For every blueberry Mark picked 5 went into his stomach...I was pretty sure he was going to turn into a blueberry by the end of the night. I haven't heard from him since so this is very well possible. Kat 2.5lbs of blueberrys - Mark 1lb. Muahaha You may have owne me on the cherry pit spitting contest but I walked away with all the blueberries!
The best way to end a lazy and relaxing day is at Gustav's for a massive Bratwurst - when a girl craves a sausage she's got to have it. Go BIG or Go home! :D
Saturday, July 4, 2009
LSD on Wildwood
3 hour LSD run on the Wildwood Trail - 17.75 miles a tad bit over 10 min miles avg'ing a 147 HR :)
*Started the run early - 7am to beat the heat. It's going to be another mid 90's scorcher today and I had enough "heat" training yesterday. I started the run mid 60s and ended mid 80s. Luckily the shading in the forest keeps the temp down 5-10 degrees
*Consumed 1550mg of sodium and 48 oz of water, I have realized that sodium is my bff while training-unlike a man a can't seem to get enough of it. 300 kcal in GU (2 of with were Roctane - I <3 my Roctane!), I did eat a sizable breakfast an hour before running.
*I've found I highly enjoy running long without music. 3 hours is a lot of time to think about things and with a lot of things on mind I find it therapeutic.
*I was waiting for the run to get hard. I figured by mile 15 or so I'd have some kind of pain....in my feet, or my back, or my legs (especially after all the climbing yesterday) or massive fatigue, but I didn't. I felt as good at mile 17.75 as I did at mile 1. I managed nutrition/hydration and intensity very well.
*On the way home I picked up 28lbs of ice and indulged in another 15 minute ice bath. My legs felt fine but I almost always get DOMS, prevention is key.
Now it's time for a nap. I hope later I can find some pool to pass out at.
*Started the run early - 7am to beat the heat. It's going to be another mid 90's scorcher today and I had enough "heat" training yesterday. I started the run mid 60s and ended mid 80s. Luckily the shading in the forest keeps the temp down 5-10 degrees
*Consumed 1550mg of sodium and 48 oz of water, I have realized that sodium is my bff while training-unlike a man a can't seem to get enough of it. 300 kcal in GU (2 of with were Roctane - I <3 my Roctane!), I did eat a sizable breakfast an hour before running.
*I've found I highly enjoy running long without music. 3 hours is a lot of time to think about things and with a lot of things on mind I find it therapeutic.
*I was waiting for the run to get hard. I figured by mile 15 or so I'd have some kind of pain....in my feet, or my back, or my legs (especially after all the climbing yesterday) or massive fatigue, but I didn't. I felt as good at mile 17.75 as I did at mile 1. I managed nutrition/hydration and intensity very well.
*On the way home I picked up 28lbs of ice and indulged in another 15 minute ice bath. My legs felt fine but I almost always get DOMS, prevention is key.
Now it's time for a nap. I hope later I can find some pool to pass out at.
Friday, July 3, 2009
Vitamin D does a body good
67ish mile ride from Edgefield out to Bull Run and then some - 9000+ ft of elevation gain
Nice little recovery ride :) Seriously, I took it pretty easy. I may have gotten out of the saddle once or twice but for the most part I was glued down. It was hot today, something like 95 and we were riding in it by 3 o'clock. Today nutrition/hydration was managed well. I stuck with Malto 80kcal every 20-30 mins along with massive salt sticks. In the end I consumed 760kcal, expended 2300 kcal and took in 2300mg of sodium along with somewhere around 150 oz of water...not counting the water we hijacked.
Max watts 386 (see, I was a good girl)/Avg watts 127 - normalized avg 150
Ride highlights
*Vitamin D - it was a beautiful day!
*Watching Mark antagonize every animal we rode by. We had a cow charge at us! Thankfully there was electrical barb wire to stop it.
*Climb after climb after climb - it was actually pretty badass, except for the last one. The last long climb had no shade, straight sun and it was HOT
*Hijacking the water hose, itt's good to have water
*Attempting to cycle-cross our bikes down to the river. Jumping in the river, it was so cold! Utopia!
Ride lowlights
*Booyah! Didn't have any :) ...ok wait, I did have fear when we rode underneath some power lines and you could hear them sizzle.
Post ride we recovered at McMennamins with a pint of beer/hard cider and cajunized tots.
On to work#2 -
1 hour open water swim - sans wetsuit
It was just too damn hot to wear a wetsuit so I just swam in my swimsuit. Again I took it easy, by the end of the hour I was tired...by body is tired.
Recovered with Mark's kickass lasagna, thanks for sharing.
Now I'm going to lay my head dow on my blissful pillow and hope to get some solid sleep. I've got to get up early for a very long run before it gets to hot again!
Nice little recovery ride :) Seriously, I took it pretty easy. I may have gotten out of the saddle once or twice but for the most part I was glued down. It was hot today, something like 95 and we were riding in it by 3 o'clock. Today nutrition/hydration was managed well. I stuck with Malto 80kcal every 20-30 mins along with massive salt sticks. In the end I consumed 760kcal, expended 2300 kcal and took in 2300mg of sodium along with somewhere around 150 oz of water...not counting the water we hijacked.
Max watts 386 (see, I was a good girl)/Avg watts 127 - normalized avg 150
Ride highlights
*Vitamin D - it was a beautiful day!
*Watching Mark antagonize every animal we rode by. We had a cow charge at us! Thankfully there was electrical barb wire to stop it.
*Climb after climb after climb - it was actually pretty badass, except for the last one. The last long climb had no shade, straight sun and it was HOT
*Hijacking the water hose, itt's good to have water
*Attempting to cycle-cross our bikes down to the river. Jumping in the river, it was so cold! Utopia!
Ride lowlights
*Booyah! Didn't have any :) ...ok wait, I did have fear when we rode underneath some power lines and you could hear them sizzle.
Post ride we recovered at McMennamins with a pint of beer/hard cider and cajunized tots.
On to work#2 -
1 hour open water swim - sans wetsuit
It was just too damn hot to wear a wetsuit so I just swam in my swimsuit. Again I took it easy, by the end of the hour I was tired...by body is tired.
Recovered with Mark's kickass lasagna, thanks for sharing.
Now I'm going to lay my head dow on my blissful pillow and hope to get some solid sleep. I've got to get up early for a very long run before it gets to hot again!
Thursday, July 2, 2009
A smile says a thousand words
AM Run - 60 mins easy
I don't recall the last time that I slept as solid as last night. Waking up was hard...I got my full 8 hours in but felt pretty groggy. This feeling lasted for the first half of my run. Energy is lacking. I know this is to be expected after last weekend. I'm rather happy that my strength and building phase is over and I can enjoy the LSD work.
PM swim - Splashed around for 2000 yards :)
I leave you with a picture my friend Kelly took of me right before I changed into my wetsuit for the Pac Crest Olympic - I really like this picture because inside I was scared shitless....yet you can't see it from my smile :)
I don't recall the last time that I slept as solid as last night. Waking up was hard...I got my full 8 hours in but felt pretty groggy. This feeling lasted for the first half of my run. Energy is lacking. I know this is to be expected after last weekend. I'm rather happy that my strength and building phase is over and I can enjoy the LSD work.
PM swim - Splashed around for 2000 yards :)
I leave you with a picture my friend Kelly took of me right before I changed into my wetsuit for the Pac Crest Olympic - I really like this picture because inside I was scared shitless....yet you can't see it from my smile :)
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Evening ride into the sunset
This was supposed to be recovery but the wind and hills had another plan for me. I took it easy as really that's all I have in me. Today I was tired, pretty much all day. I've heard of delayed on set muscle soreness but delayed on set fatigue? Ugh, fatigue is no fun at all. Even though my tail was draggin' pretty much all day I still had enjoyable ride. I spun up the hills and glided up, down and all around the Skyline rollers. I think at several points I had a ghost following me around trying to push me off my bike, stupid wind.
26 miles 1500+ of elevation gain
Max watts 356/ Normalized avg watts 159 / avg watts 136
Max HR 179 (first big hill, my legs nor lungs were warmed up yet)/ avg HR 145
I'm discontent with a whole lot right now, I hope I can come to my senses and figure things out soon.
26 miles 1500+ of elevation gain
Max watts 356/ Normalized avg watts 159 / avg watts 136
Max HR 179 (first big hill, my legs nor lungs were warmed up yet)/ avg HR 145
I'm discontent with a whole lot right now, I hope I can come to my senses and figure things out soon.
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