Thursdays are my Favorites

60 min lunch time Pilates –
It still amazes me on how hard this shiznit is. My muscles are really freaking tight and the flexibility is difficult. Every time we have to lift our legs in the air my hamstrings are yelling “NO, Not again! What are you doing to us!?” Then we have some kind of knee dip from laying on our sides that works the glutes and OMG, these are intense. After we do these she has us smack our butts. Lol, which feels good because they’re so tight from the moves but it’s really weird to have a group of people smacking their asses. I hate the leg work but love the core work. I’ve learned that in more of my training I build some kind of love hate relationship, maybe that’s why I keep going back for more. Thanks to Cathy I had visions Wentworth Miller from Prision Break during the whole freaking class. Stretch, reach, hold, * Wentworth Miller*, release :P

Evening Track & Run
60 mins.
Evening Run-
1 mile track warm up
20 min drills
200 leaps / 200 recover jog x 4
25 step a$$ kickers/ 50 recover jog x 4
30 skips /200 recover jog x 4
30 side leaps / 200 recover jog x 4
25 step high knee/ 100 recover jog x 4
5 min stretch
30 min run up Twilliger (hilly)
.5 mile cool down on track
Approx 6.5 miles

The run felt REALLY good. I have a ton of BS going on in my life and it is causing a lot of stress. As I was driving to the track I felt really angry. I was angry at the rent situation at my apartment. I don’t understand why people can’t have common respect. Even if you don’t freaking respect me respect yourself enough to pay our own damn bills and on time! I’m not dating your ass, I’m not even your freaking friend. You should not be my burden. Then there’s my crappy ass apartment complex and my flaky real estate agent. My agent has known for the last 6 weeks I had to give my 30 day notice at the end of Feb. I put my offer for the condo in at the end of Jan. Why the hell did it take the sellers bank 4 weeks to get a damn appraisal? Because my real estate agent sucks ass and didn’t push this process like she should have. Grrrrrrr. So I won’t know if the bank will accept for another two weeks and then I have to get my own inspection done. Now I’m going to have to rent month to month, on one income and it’s going to go up $150, from $610 to $1312. Awesome. You would think my apartment complex would have some sympathy and give me the same rate just for one month. I won’t even be there for a full freaking month and I’ve been a good tenant for 3 years! WTF? And if the seller’s bank doesn’t accept my offer and comes back with a counter I’m going to seriously tell them to fuck off and die and rent an apartment for the next year or two. This process has been a complete nightmare and I don’t want to have to deal with it until after Ironman. Training, fundraising and trying to move and buy a house on time deadlines sucks! So anyway, back to my run….all my anger, everything I just brought up all diminished. I quickly did my drills and headed up the Twilliger hills. The night was beautiful. The city was light up, it was perfect running temp and I was all alone. I thought about all the shit I am currently going though and assess the situation. So what, I’m out a couple grand. My momma raised me to be frugal, I can handle this on my own. There was a time that I could barely make rent and years I lived off of top roman, white bread and pb & honey sandwiches. Even though I’m out some $$$ I can still train, live and eat healthy. For the longest time (6 years of my life) I was all alone, no family, no one. I survived as a teenager growing into an adult with no one. And today I’m surrounded by people that love and care about me. These are minor obstacles in my path when I’ve overcome hurdles. I will not be defeated with stress, hurt or fear. I will overcome…….amazing what a run will do for you.

Swim
Post run was our team swim. My goggles kept coming undone and I felt like a moron for not being able to put them back together. Thankfully I realized my coach was a moron too since she couldn’t fix them. I’m SO j/k Jane! Thanks to Baier for helping out…..
Swim was ok, it was my first for the week since I couldn’t swim earlier on due to my black eye. The goggles hurt too much. It was kind of weird, Jane always has use do some kind of drill. For some reason my body doesn’t process direction very well and I feel like I can never fully understand the drills. I am not the most efficient swimmer, and have pretty much given up on learning; I mean I’m not going to make up my time in the swim.
But last night we were sculling and then during the freestyles I felt the sculling drills. Wow, I picked something up! This is amazing for me! Gives me a little hope I guess. I couldn’t understand why for the longest time I couldn’t get a drill and then last night it made sense. This morning I woke and was still thinking about it. The only thing that was different was I didn’t swim earlier in the week. Coach Seth made a point that when I’m doing the long yardage and not efficient my body will get used to those movements and drills will not be as effective. I think his point was well made last night. It had been a week since I swam. Our swim was not long last night and it allowed my body fresh muscle memory to try something different. Coach Seth and Jane get an A+ for helping making things click : )

Warm up 100m
12 x 25s, 4 long glide free, 4 quick tempo (“spin”) free, 4 quick tempo free, :10 rest.
~Demo~ armstroke, roll
drills: catch-up freestyle,
Lap swimming:
4 x 100s odd lengths catch-up, even lengths swim. :15 rest.
1 x 300 swim. Breathe every 3, 4, or 5. Rest 1:00
4 x 50s odds with paddles & buoy, evens with paddles only. :20 rest.

Part 1.....easy run/light Strength training

Easy 30 min run on treadmill 3.4 miles

Light Strength Training

Hamstrings (compound) - Long lunges 4 x 12 steps = 48 lunges.
Core - High to low woodchop 5 lbs, 3 sets of 15 ; rest 5 per side
Chest – Stabilization pushups on ab ball (compound) - 2 x 15; rest 15 sec.
Shoulders – Arm Circles (compound) 3 x 15 wide circles w/5lb per arm; rest 10 sec
Quads- compound - Pile Dumbbell Squats with 10 lb weight, 3 sets of 12; rest 30 sec.
Core Crunches with 2 sec hold at top; 2 x 25
Bicep – Alternating Bicep curls (isolation) 3 sets at 12 lbs x 15; rest 10 sec.
Lats – Close & Wide Grip Pull Downs (compound) 3 sets each wide&close at 60 lbs x 20; 20 sec rest between sets
Lower back – Hyperextensions (isolation) - 3 sets of 12.
Core - Roman chair 1 x 20 straight, 1 x 20 side to side
Weight assisted pull ups 2 x 10 at 55 lbs lifting 85 (Back & Bicep; compound)
Weight assisted dips ups 2 x 10 at 55 lbs lifting 85 (Chest & tricep; compound)

It was nice to get up early and hit the gym. The run was so-so. I’m really trying to work on just putting in mileage here and there and keeping my pace down. It’s so hard for me to hold back. My calves felt tight for most of the run and my knees hurt like a mother#$%& do to the scabs on them. I swear every time I move my leg I tear that shit open. I’m slowly losing my strength : (, it’s now been 3-4 weeks since I was training 3-4 days a week pushing good weights….now I strength train 1-2 times at week at most and I can feel the impact to my upper body. The weight assisted dips and pulls up were difficult, blah……this sucks. On the flip side I do feel a stronger on my run and bike and ultimately that is what is most important. I do miss the iron….

Got quite a few comments about my fucked up knees and black eye. One that will result in a $100 donation. Woot! Woot!

Sunday I did an easy L1-L2 right out along Marine Drive with some team mates. I think we had a group of 10-13. My body was uber sore from the fall of Saturday. My knees hurt pedaling on the bike, I swear each stroke tore any kind of scab that was forming. The wind and air also hurt my cuts and my eye was black and swoll as fuck. Somehow I moved forward and didn't let it impact me much. Marine Drive is a pretty flat ride but the head wind can be a bitch. Usually it doesn't hit us until coming back, yesterday it started at the begining. Riding out I pushed an L2 avg'ing 16-18 mph. It was hard fighting the wind, a few of us pacelined to allow recovery. Coming back was any easy 21-24 avg with out pacelining and a high cadence around 90-92. We ended at feel good 28 miles.

It's kind of weird. I trained the last 6 days in a row....multi sport with a lot of focus on running (36 miles wk total), a bit of partying and a decent sized injury/cuts and bruises. YET today is my recovery day and I feel fine. I mean my cuts hurt but my muscles feel good and my energy levels are really high. I think I'm managing my intensity much better, this makes me happy

I should train on how to NOT be a Klutz

I was really looking forward to today’s run. It was an absolutely amazing day to run. The sun was out in full force, sky was clear and the air was cold and brisk. I’m driving over one of our many bridges thinking that I am so lucky to live/train in such a beautiful city. As I arrive everyone is jumping up and down from what they think is the cold, what I think was they were all energetic and eager to start the run. Coach Jane had a few announcements to make which was followed up with a speech from her father. I always enjoy hearing survivors speak, it reminds we of why I join the team and take upon the stresses that I do, to help others it is all worth it. We then split up to our teams, Oly’s and Halfers and had our pre run talk of where and how long we were going to run for. 75 mins along the Spring Water corridor around the Sellwood Bridge, the waterfront and up and over the Hawthorn Bridge…..and then we’re off. It was an LSD (long slow distance) run….the whole point is to go uber slow, keep up a conversation and work those slow twitch muscles. It was during the first half of the run I was able to talk to my coach about my training. Pretty sure he might read this so I’ll keep it nice : ) , j/k…..I have nothing bad to say. Pretty much for the last 3-4 weeks I’ve been a bit torn about my training. One coach will tell me one thing, another will say something different and then my testing results say something completely different. I realized that they all say pretty much the same thing (all but one and he’s not a triathlete) but yet some pull me from my test results saying I am pushing to hard. I’ve been watching my fatigue levels closely for the last few weeks and since I have had my testing done and been training on the TNT schedule with my Vo2 HR zones I have felt good. Even though they have all seen my Vo2 results I think they tend to forget my HR runs high. I can run an easy 155-170, this is my level 2. I can talk; laugh and probably voice record a novel at that HR (I think a lot when I run LSD, probably one of the reasons I’m not such a fan, but that’s another story in it’s own). I highly respect all 3 coaches that I’ve talked with and I think it’s best that I go with my TNT tri coach. This is the race I’m peaking for and I feel he has the highest amount of expertise and there is some kind of trust factor there. So I’m going to follow the TNT schedule, follow my Vo2 HR zone levels and most importantly listen to Coach Seth and listen to my BODY. Back to my run. We come upon the ½ way point, I take my Power Gel (didn’t have time to eat much pre run) everyone grabs some water and we take off again. On the way back I ran with Alana and Ilana (hope I spelled your names right girls : ) ) About 50 mins into the run we come across some uneven concrete and I, one who is usually not paying much attention tripped and landed on my knees and face. I think the knees hit first, then face and palms. How I managed to hit so hand on so many points is really beyond me. I jump right up brush myself off and start running again. The girls are like WTF? Are you Ok? Well in all honesty the fall hurt like a %$%#$@#$. My lip hurt the worst it felt like it was the size of a fat tire. Everything else hurt but they were just cuts and scraps, I had no bone or muscle damage so I didn’t see why I should stop. I asked them if I looked ok and they said I wasn’t that bad. Lol, you girls are sweet, it’s a good thing to hide the truth until after the training run. I used my water bottle to try to clean my eye off. I landed on my left side high up on the cheekbone under the eye. Got a little road rash and dirt and gravel was in my face. We continued on running…..as we come upon the Hawthorne bridge I see coach Joe. He’s like what happened to you? I look at the girl and was like “I thought it wasn’t that bad?” He saw me from a distance….so I knew I looked as jacked up as I felt. The salty sweat was starting to burn my eye. We finish the run at the Vera Katz statue where some of the Oly and Halfers were waiting. This is when I realized that I resembled someone who might be related to Frankenstein. I don’t know how but I torn the back side of my Adidas run jacket. I rolled up my pants and both knees were scrapped and bloody. Then I got a mirror to see my eye. Oh goodlord….I’m a mess. My team was all super supportive checking to see if I was ok and helping me clean up with anti-septic, thanks Tim. I got some pics and will post them up as soon as they’re sent to me. I then met up with Michele and her mentee for breakfast. The restaurant was kind enough to bring me an ice pack for my eye which was now starting to swell along with Neosporin and bandages for my knees. I was going to be a good girl and get oatmeal, but they only had that Mon-Fri. So I figured to sooth my pain with a giant Dutch Baby Pancake with pear sauce….it was sooooo good. Post breakfast I was going to go to the gym with Michele, not to workout but to show her how to do some strength training. This was really not possible now….I had only 5-6 hrs of sleep the night before and my eye was a bout to swell shut so I went home. I think the worst part was when I got home I had to pick the gravel and dirt out of my eye with tweezers and the anti-septic burned like a mother$@$#^.

I just woke up from my well-needed nap and I am thankfully my eye didn’t swell shut upon sleeping, although it is now shades of black and blue. That’s hot, ok maybe not…..that diminishes my chances of hooking up this weekend, oh well. I figure this is just the first of many falls. I wish I wasn’t so clumsy. My goal for my first half iron was 6hrs, I fell 4 times during that ½ and came in at 6hrs 6 mins….maybe my goal for this year shouldn’t be to work on my training so hard, maybe I should focus on trying to contain my clumsiness…… I need prayer….

The Thursday easy Triple

Lunch – 60 min Pilates. Every time I do these I am amazed at how hard my body work while keeping my heart rate so low. My core is sore today, it’s a good sore.

Evening Run-
1 mile track warm up
20 min drills
200 leaps / 200 recover jog x 4
25 step a$$ kickers/ 50 recover jog x 4
30 skips /200 recover jog x 4
30 side leaps / 200 recover jog x 4
25 step high knee/ 100 recover jog x 4
5 min stretch
30 min run up Twilliger (hilly)
.5 mile cool down on track
Approx 6 miles

My stupid Ipod I bought Ebay won’t keep power. $@$#&^%^& First time I have bought something defective from there. Pisses me off. $50 is not enough trouble for me to mail it back and get another….plus I have to wait for the shipping and what not. I’m going to have to go buy another soon. Blah. But on a good note I ran up Twilliger w/out Ipod and had an amazing run. All I heard was the sound of cars, my feet hitting the ground and thoughts racing through my head. It was a highly enjoyable run.

Post run I met the team for swim practice. I wasn’t too thrilled with the swim last night. I’m the second group to start and the first group (beginners) always stay in the water too long and take up our time. I don’t think I got in the water until 7:50, with only 40 mins of swimming. The first 15 minutes were taken up with sculling demos. WTF? Seriously, I wanted and needed to swim. The demo’s were helpful but still, we only had 20 mins of actual swim time left.
Here is what I was actually able to do….blah…I’m so happy I swim on my own once a week.

Warm-up, 200 meters
Demo~ sculling
some 25s sculling...
2 x 25s, tread water in between the 25s for 10 sec. Rest :15 after both.
2 x 50 negative split (= 2nd 25 faster than the 1st), rest :20 between each
Swim set 3 times.
1 x 150 swim with breathing pattern by 25s: every 3 strokes, 4, 5, & a 50 your choice.
Total mtrs:
800

After work I have a 75 easy/moderate spin at the gym……then I’m going to a Pure Romance Pleasure Party…fund raiser, 20% of sales go to the LLS. Woot! Woot! Kat’s going to get some new toys : )

Spinning for breath

Wednesday evening 75 min moderate ride with 15 min tempos
12:00 Moderate (HR 160-182)
2:30 tempo (HR 183-189) (one down, five to go, I can to do )

8:00 Moderate (HR 160-182)
2:30 tempo (HR 183-189) (Whoa!)

8:00 Moderate (HR 160-182)
2:30 tempo (HR 183-189)(Ok, really feeling it now, must take Power Gel to go on!)

8:00 Moderate (HR 160-182)
2:30 tempo (HR 183-189) (My tummy started feeling queazy here, funny how this starts to happen a min into a 185 HR, this is not a comfortable feeling)

8:00 Moderate (HR 160-182)
2:30 tempo (HR 183-189)(OMG, visualizing spewing my powerbar and gel I had pre/during workout all over the floor. Is this for real?)

8:00 Moderate (HR 160-182)
2:30 tempo (HR 183-189)(I did it!!! Not sure how but I did!)

8:00 Moderate (HR 160-182)

Freaking A this was hard. I was good 40-45 mins into it, after that I started feeling nauseous, my tummy felt hollow and icky and I couldn't get enough air to breathe, hence anaerobic training right? I sucked down a Power Gel 40 mins in to make sure I'd last the whole 75, I was running low of calories for the day post ride. Not sure exactly how I managed to pull this off but I did. Hooray! Now I can look forward to a few days of easy L2 workouts. Hip, Hip Hooray!

Track….A mind F$%^!

Last night I had some self discovery. I’m running along thinking 36:42, 43:44, 53:20…..reminding myself of the time I had to hit to stay in my M zone of 3:32-3:38 800’s. I’m strong and focused, pushing myself yet holding back enough as to not run out of steam. The program for the night was 4 x 800’s with 400 recovery jogs in between, then 4 x 400’s with a 100m float between the first 400 then a 300m float on the second, repeat once. My M zone is 2-5 sec’s faster then my 5k avg mile. I have a bad tendency of being over zealous, going to fast too soon and burning out before the end, not during tri’s or running in general just during track. This is what happened last weekend. I left the track with my head bowed in shame. I got feedback from the coach saying that it was a hard workout and I put in good effort and did a good job, what happened to me happens to most during their first workout. It was nice to hear but really it made no difference in my mind. The fact was I didn’t finish, at that point I was a quitter. Throughout the week I thought about not going back. I felt like I was intimidated by the group. Who me? Intimidated? Could that be? They all ran 4:30-6:30 min/miles, and here was Kit Kat rockin a slow 7:15. In all reality it was just me making up excuses and throwing a minor pity party, sadly I have a habit of doing this. I needed courage that I was not able to find deep down beneath myself….I turned to some team mates. I asked my big sis Michele and friend Carly to come out to track. They both want to improve their run times and I knew mentally having friends working to improve their performance would help me improve mine. So back to counting, 36:42, 43:44, 49:20, 57:20, stay focused, stay strong, don’t push too hard. I did it! I made all my 800’s. First was a 3:25, (Coach Rick said not to go faster then a 3:20 for fear of burning out), the next one I tried to focus more on just relaxing and going comfortably while pushing, 3:28, Third came in at a 3:35 and the fourth was a 3:33. Ok, first set is done, now to go to the 400’s. Since I have bike time trails tonight I didn’t want to hit this track with a 100% I wanted to go hard but not too hard it would drain me for the bike. The 400’s I hit at M pace instead of S pace (S pace is 3-5 sec faster the M pace and 9 sec faster the L pace). The first one came in at a 1:40, ok, that was a bit taxing….must try to pace myself, I have three more to go with shorter recoveries. 2^nd came in at 1:46, 3^rd was a 1:48 and last but not least 4^th I hit a 1:42. Woot! Woot! I did the whole track workout successfully and hit my projected times. And you know what? I felt done but if you pushed me I could have done a few more laps. At this point I realized I was not intimidated by these fast track athletes that I was surrounded by, I was intimated by my self. I have come to learn track is a psychological mind fuck. I worry before hand, am I going to be able to do it all? Will I push too hard? Not enough? Will I run out of steam? I’m not a runner, I’m a triathlete….yes, yes I am a runner….These crazy thoughts are rushing through my head…. All I need to do is block them out and just run. I know thy self and what I am capable of…..I will not let fear get the best of me….I will come out victorious.

Endorphin High......

It’s a beautiful day, before dawn to start,
A run through the suburbs while it’s still dark.
The air is crisp, it’s cold and thin,
I take my first breath let my run begin.
Oxygen enters and flows through my chest,
My lungs feel tight, squeezed and highly compressed.
My legs are light and trout along,
Keeping it slow at my warm up song.
Approaching the track and my the anticipation grows near,
For soon I will be flying what I love oh so dear.
Jumps, skips, hops and leaps,
Checking my form, the benefits I’ll reap…
In my 5k, 10k, ½ and marathon, triathlon times
Outshines as the successor, crossing the glorious finisher’s line.
Just a glimpse at motivation to get me through workout,
Eliminating all fears, wonders or doubts.
Of pain that might rear it’s evil head my way,
Bring it on baby, cause I’m not one to stray.
Now time to hit the cardiovascular training,
800 repeats and I’m still sustaining…
My energy for the next steps to go
400’s now.....Anaerobic………. & in the zone.
My body is iced, numbing and cold,
My core is hot and my blood overflows.
My heart beats strong, my blood is gushing,
Through my veins and muscles, which makes my legs start rushing….
The concrete as if it wasn’t there at all,
Not thinking, just doing, praying my clumsy ass doesn’t fall.
But how does one fall when she flies through the sky?
This my friends is called my endorphin high.

Swimming in Solitude

9 x 50s,
1 at 60% effort, 1 at 75%, 1 at 90%, repeated for a total of 9. Rest :10 between 50s.
1 x 100 easy

Swim the following set 3 times:
1 x 100, breathing every 3 or 4 strokes (approx 80%)*. Rest :15
1 x 200, breathing every 5 strokes (approx 70%). Rest :15
1 x 300, breathing every 6 or 7 strokes (approx 60%). Rest :30 before beginning set again.

* The goal on this set is to let your breathing set your pace. If you’re finding it disruptive to breathe so often on the 100, speed up. If you’re finding it too hard to breathe less often on the 300, slow down. Let the pace match the breathing, not the other way around.
Cool Down
25 yd; 5 pool wall push ups
50 yd; 5 pool wall push ups
50 yd; 5 pool wall push ups
50 yd; 5 pool wall push ups
25 yd; 5 pool wall push ups

2750 yards

I was extremely tired this morning. The muscle relaxer from the night before might have had something to do with it. That or adding my run mileage over the last week. I felt like I was swimming on an empty tank of fuel. Blah.....I partied/trained too hard this past weekend. If you can't take the heat get the fuck out of the kitchen.

Great friends, food, training and fun…..

I had an amazing weekend. After the Saturday bike ride I enjoyed breakfast with the team where we all bonded and brainstormed about fund raising. Good productive fun. Post breakfast/lunch I headed over to the tri expo at Fit Right. Listened in on ½ of a triathlon seminar hosted by Mark Kendall of Speed Shot Racing. It was a good seminar, most of the info I already knew and my tummy was growling mid way through so I bailed. Spent another hour or so at the PDX tri club tent promoting the club, trying to get new members and talking with cool tri peps from the community. We're all a bunch of crazy nuts, I happen to be an almond. What that means I don't know. I'm writing this up after a few hours of sleep and a little high off of life, so it might not all make sense. So be it :P Anywho, I had to leave the tri tent early so I could head out to The Dalles with Michele & Johann. Michele has become like a big sister to me. I <3 that women. Once we got up to The Dalles we met up with two of their friends and we spent the night BBQ'ing (yes I finally did get that bloody juicy steak, OMG it was delicious and well over due) enjoying fine wine, hot tubing and engaging in stimulating conversation.
Sunday morning Carly (team mate) got to the house around 8:30 and Johann, Michele and Carly all went out for a bike ride. I opted to go for a run since that is my focus at this point. I ran an easy 70 mins. It was clear and brisk with frost still on the ground. Johann said the run was pretty flat…flat my ass…, which happens not to be flat but the run, was. 1 monster hill, which thankfully I ran down during the end of mile 2, so I know what I'd be running back up. Then I ran around Hwy 141, which IMO was not safe at all. The shoulder wasn't that big and the road was curvy and again hilly. I don't know what he was thinking of when he said this course was flat. %^%$$%. Back up the hill I went and onward back to the house. Beautiful day, great run. Carly and Michele arrived back shortly and 2 more team mates showed up. We then went to a coffee shop to meet up with 4 more team members, and then we all made it up to a trailhead where I got in another 70 min run. This run was not so great. First time in months I have had digestive issues during my run. Ugh, it sucked! I was good for the first 35 minutes out, the way back was another story. I was able to run oh say maybe 800-1200 meters before I'd have to stop and walk the cramps out. It was horrific. The whole time I'm cursing like a fricking sailor. Do you know how bad it sucks to walk? You move soooooo slow. I felt like a turtle, yet running made my tummy feel like I was a blender, not a good thing. Somehow I made it back to the start in one piece…thank God. Walking added another 5 mins to my time on the way back. I got in a total 15-16 miles with both runs combined. I was happy I got the mileage in and one out of two runs went well. In the last 7 days I ran 4 days, 2 with doubles and only one high intensity bringing my total mileage to 33.5 for the week. I'm happy with that.
Post run we all headed back to Michele and Johann's for another BBQ, LOTS of drinking, hot tubbin and some wild and crazy dancing. All I can say is "Damn triathlete's have hot bodies." Too bad I don't shit where I eat. Team mates in bikini's and towels bbq'ing and making dinner….mmm….mmmm.. good. I have had more beef this weekend then I have in the last 6 months. Ok, pick your mind up out of the gutter ;) I had BBQ Ribeye Sat night and BBQ Cheeseburger Sunday……it was all delicious. I think I got my sugar in for the week too. I had one too many Geridellhi caramel chocolates, homemade chocolate chip cookies and home made caramels. Beautiful bodies, delicious food, LMAO conversation, time spent training….I couldn't have asked for a better weekend.

Easy L2 Bike Ride

Damn it was cold this morning! Cold and foggy....I didn't know if I would make it 5 mins into the ride....my hands were so cold it felt like someone hit them with a hammer. Seriously, shifting was difficult. Luckily our route had some hills and that got my blood going. Not too much to report....I did an easy L2 ride with the team, HR avg was 148, traveled 21.5 miles in an hour 15. Let the ride with my team mate Chris. The course was semi hilly, not too windy, but uber chilly and visibilty was difficult do to the fog. Didn't have a chance to get used to the aero bars yet. Shit, I couldn't feel my fingers toes or nose, I sure as hell wasn't trying to balance my semi-frozen body over two little bars....but I did have a good ride and enjoyed a splendid breakfast with the team. The bloody mary hit the spot

Oh yea and on a good note I might still have a date auction. I think I'm coming out of my fund raising funk and about to hit on something creative. Will keep ya posted!

How Vday was meant to be spent.

Pilates – 60 mins during lunch

Yay for me! I am finally able to successfully do something for flexibility and stabilization. Yoga really got the best of me but Pilates I can hang with. The instructor was great and explained the breathing well, at no point did my face turn blue, red or yellow : ). I was amazed at how my core stayed strong the entire 60 mins, that a whole lot of time to flex yo. And I had no clue how much it worked your legs, it put a hurtin’ on my tush too. Those scissor moves and knee dips are no joke. Pilates will become a weekly practice for me. On a side note the instructor had us do a move that looked like we were shooting arrows. She’s like “Pretend your cupid.” I thought “Naw, I’m aiming to take his bitch ass out, Booyah!” Hehe, I’m a dork.

Track

1 mile warm up

20 min drills

200 leaps / 200 recover jog x 4
25 step a$$ kickers/ 100 recover jog x 4
25 skips /200 recover jog x 4
25 side leaps / 200 recover jog x 4
25 step high knee/ 100 recover jog x 4

5 min stretch

50 min easy run through downtown PDX.

The run felt great. I finally got another Ipod, my run was filled with a soundtrack that made me want to get up and dance or run, same thing. :P I love running though downtown PDX. The sky was clear, air was crisp, night all lit up, just beautiful. The only thing that sucked ass was dodging romantic couples all dressed up having their “Hallmark Holiday” and by passing all the steakhouses when all I had to eat was Power Gel. I really need to go out for a steak dinner, I have been craving one for a few weeks now. It’s sad, I can’t even remember last one.

TNT Group Swim

Drills:

“Swim” with board, relax shoulders & breathe to the side

Long glide freestyle, like speedskating.

**2 x 25s “swim” with board, followed by 1 x 50 easy freestyle, 4 times through. Rest 15 sec after all segments.

**6 x 25s long glide freestyle. Easy; approx 6 strokes per breath. Heads & tails.

**9 x 50s, practice breathing every 3 or 4 strokes. Focus on rolling head with body to get the breath. Hold proper body position throughout. 1-3 easy, 4-6 add a little sauce, & 7-9 fast. Max effort: 80% :15 rest between each.

**4 x 25s long glide freestyle. Easy; approx 6 strokes per breath. Heads & tails.

Warm-down Total meters: 1300

Very short swim, which was A-Ok with me. It was 30 mins after my run so the water felt good on my legs and it was nice to have an easy cool down.

Post swimming I filled my tummy with oh so delicious sushi. Mmm, mmm, good. But my steak craving is still there : )

Redemption in Time Trails

Oh where to start? I guess we’ll start with the fear I had pre workout. I pushed myself at the track yesterday. Smart? Not so much, not when I knew I had tempo/speed work planned for today. My abducters/adducters (not sure which one I’m talking about, I’m referring to the quad muscle the runs close to the inner thigh along the quad) were burning from yesterday. Pretty sure that was from my squats during strength training. I was also experiencing mild DOMS on my chest on arms, thinking that was from the weight assisted dips and stabilization work. My energy was high but my muscles didn’t feel at the top of their game and from my convo’s with Coach Mark I’m usually held back from achieving my needed speed work from muscle failure. Plus emotionally I wasn’t feeling so hot since the night prior I allowed the track to defeat me. Mental defeat is not something that I allow or deal with well.
I walk into the gym, take a big breath of air and swallow my fear. I will NOT allow it to me conquered again. I am strong on the bike and I will prevail. Lol, this is actually what I told myself. A little silly? Yea? I think so. Anyway, it works for me, so I’ll roll on with my silly ass. Another reason I thought this was going to be challenging was I that now know my target HR zones for the work that needed to be done. They were a lot higher then what I was accustomed to doing on the bike. The plan was to do a 60 min spin in a moderate zone (HR 160-183) with 4 x 2 min tempos (HR 183-189) thrown in. 183-189 is what scared me. I knew I could hold 165-175 for 60 mins without too much work. The high end aerobic was what was going to hand me my tail. Coach Mark also said that it might take me a while to work up to these zones since I was used to training on over trained muscles, meaning that it would take a few weeks of light workouts for my muscles to repair and for me to be able to sustain the muscular work to push my HR that high. The last week and a half have been a lot lighter to what I am used to and I think tonight the results showed.
I started my spin 20 mins before class started. It took about 4-5 mins for my HR to reach 160. Once it did I did not allow it drop below 160 for another 60 mins. I spun in and out of the saddle with a decent cadence and resistance between 163-170 for the first 15 mins. It took my legs a while to get used to the work, but I managed. 15 mins in I started my first tempo, 2 mins at 184. I watched the clock and I pushed and pushed and pushed. My HR climbed and stayed around 183-185. I made the first 2 mins. Woot! Woot! For Kat, the fear was no longer there. I was breathless at the end but surprisingly enough my recovery was short, I felt good 60 seconds later. For the next 12 mins my HR stayed around 168-173. It was no longer a challenge to keep my HR up. My legs felt light and spins came easier. I think anything feels easier when your heart doesn’t feel like it’s going to explode through your chest. Tempo #2 coming up fast and furious. I hit it again. 183-185. I felt this one a bit more. My lunges started to burn earlier on. But still I stuck it out. Another 12-14 mins at 168-175. Tempo #3 , Oh yea, I’m feeling it now. My quads are starting to sting a bit and my lungs are ignited. Reached and held 188 this time around, Booyah! Thank God for recovery. This time I think it took a good 90 secs to get my breathing and legs under control. One tempo left, that was it. Tempo # 4, again I maintained 185-188 for 2 mins. I felt like a well tuned engine. My legs were pumping up and down like high compression pistons, the air was rushing in through my intake manifold (mouth and throat), swirling around in the combustion chamber (lungs) and igniting in my heart. Fireworks where going off all over my body. I’m guessing this is the endorphin high they speak of when doing speed work. I finished my tempo feeling like I crossed that next challenge. I walked in scared and stared my fear down as if it was a pathetic dog with its tail between its legs. And you know what the best part was? I could have gone for more. I wasn’t done. The workout didn’t work me, I worked it. Tonight I smile and know that one day I will have this feeling at the track….I look forward to it.

Putting a Hit Out On Cupid's Punkass

Random self expression and venting....... I guess

Pretty sure that it will be me, myself and I for all that is eternity. Why is it that our supposed mate always lives within the same city or state that we reside. Out of billions and billions of people our match is right next door? I think not. I’m sure my perfect match is out wondering in the abyss somewhere thinking the exact same thing. We will never meet, my over whelming fear of taking long flights and having to use those tiny bathrooms will prevent all of this. That or maybe he was born decades before me and we missed one another. But that is ok; I enjoy myself and the companionship I provide. I am not in a rush to find love….everything happens for a reason and right now in my life I need to be single, and frankly I am loving it…..except for Vday.

Cupid’s punk ass tried another pitiful attempt recently. He struck me with that poisonous arrow and had me a bit lovestoned for a few weeks. But as we all know with me the illusion fades fast and the arrow disintegrates from lies and deception. Why is it so difficult for people to be open and honest in this day of age? There is no point to lie, good always prevails over evil and the truth is brought out and there you stand sad all alone…..

WTF is the point of Valentines Day? I mean really? One day dedicated to love? Why not 365 days a year? And why is it targeted as a romantic day? Why are the pathetic marketing attempts aimed towards couples? I love my family; why not try to reach your potential consumer with another disposition? One that anyone and everyone can relate to…. If I hear another jewelry, chocolate or flower radio ad or commercial I am going to fucking scream. Don’t they know its Power Gel, Bike Rides and Runs are the way to a girls’ heart. Don’t buy me a necklace, have an ice bath ready for me when I get home. Why is all this Vday crap so girl mushy? What about the guys wants and needs? I don’t hear ads celebrating Vday with porno, sports and beer. You know that’s what a guy really wants. Who works for these marketing companies? You’re all fucking fired…… There may be a part two to this little tangent….

Track with the Lizards…..

What was I thinking???? We’ll come back to that question later….
Tonight was my first meeting with Rick Lovett the coach of the Red Lizard running team. We started with a 1.5 mile slow warm up. During this time he explained the do’s and don’t of track along with the entire lingo. I swear at some point he switched and spoke Japanese on me. L, M, S, pace? 600’s, 1000’s, 300’s, Floating? Recovery? My oh my I’m so confused. I explained my triathlete background and all this track stuff was somewhat new. At least running fast in some kind of structure in a big group. He advised me to just hang back with him and I’d be fine. Or so I thought. Post warm we stretched a bit and he went on to explain the workout. I guess the last few weeks have been semi-easy for the club and tonight they were kicking it up a notch. Why did I have to choose this to be my first night? So here was the workout layout
1 x 400 (200 recovery)
1 x 600 (200 recovery)
1 x 1000 (400 recovery)
1 x 600-600 (300 recovery)
1 x 600-400-600

At L Pace.

He explained L pace at the beginning but my mind was wrapped around these 400’s, 600’s, white lines, in’s and out’s, 5,6,7’s, I kind of lost all the lingo along with my pace. So L pace I think means 5k pace, I could be wrong….who really knows? The Lizards know that’s who…and I have yet to become a lizard, frankly right now I feel like a frog….but that’s another story. We do a 100 meter strides with 100 recoveries x 4 and then start the workout. My first 400 I went to fast. I didn’t really feel like I did but Rick said I did and later I learned he was right. The 600 weren’t too bad but I was starting to feel the pain in my lunges, which I shouldn’t be feeling yet. The 1000 sucked ass, in fact I think I only made it to an 800 before I took my 400 recovery. I lost Rick but he quickly came back for me. I was ready to be done but he said I just needed to pace myself better, which he was right. I then followed up with the 2 600’s. Those were just not fun. I started the 1200 broken out and opted to cool down after 400. Yes I am THAT weak. Goodlord, that workout handed me my tail. Rick of course came back for me. I told him I was done and just want to cool down a few laps…so I did. During this time I thought about my race goals and aspirations. I want to improve my run but I don’t want to be a runner primarily. I want to be a triathlete. I thought about this workout and wondered how I would fit this type of training in my weekly calendar. After realizing I needed to cut the intensities down to one per week how would this fit in? This was high motherfricking intensity. What about my time trails on the bike? Speaking of, I have one of those tomorrow. Thankfully it’s only an hour ride with 4 x 2 min time trials. Shouldn’t kill me, but it will be intense at points. The other thing I thought about was my place in this group. I didn’t feel like a runner, I didn’t fit in with these uber fast people. My 5k’s a 7:15 pace, these people are running 4:30’s -6:30’s. I am nowhere near that. I’m not a quitter yet I allowed this workout to defeat me. What does that say about me? I don’t know but it’s something that will be on my mind for the next few days until I come to the answer. When I do I’ll be sure to let you know. As my thoughts were spilling out all over the track during my cool down some guy made an interruption. I don’t recall his name I just remember him running by me during the speed sessions and thinking I was just passed buy the wind. We chatted a bit. He said it was his first workout of the season (yea, real stab in the side) and asked how I liked it. I confessed I felt out of place and running was not my only focus. I’d like to improve it yes but I still have to work on not falling of Cadence as much. He was kind and encouraged me to join in other team runs and to keep up the good effort. Post run I was speaking with Rick and he said the guy I was talking with was inches away from an Olympic position….well that made me feel better. I guess. Rick said he’d follow up with email on his thoughts about my training. We both know I went to fast too soon. I’m a bit, ok let’s not sugar coat it here, I’m way over zealous and need a lot of help pacing. I’m looking forward to reading his thoughts…
I’m tired and going to bed now….goodnight.

2 mile warm up
.5 mile strides
1.75 mile speed work
.75 mile cool down

5.5 miles