These are the days of my life

Tuesday ....active recovery

Wednesday

Wednesday Team Swim

300 warm up
1 x 100 fins and kickboard; rest 15
2 x 50 fins (streamline ½ way down, freestyle remaining); rest 15
Repeat 3 x

1 x 500 drafting; rest 20
4 x 50 ~ 75% effort, breathe every 4 strokes; rest 20
8 x 25 ~ work on sighting, 2 x side, 2 in front, 2 alligator, 2 your choice
Repeat 1 x
Cool down
25 – 10 wall push ups
50 – 10 wall push ups
25

Total Yards – 3000

I decided to change things up this week and swim with the team Wednesday morning instead of Thursday evening. I have learned that the group swims are much easier first thing in the morning fresh, and not tired from Pilates and a track work out. Lol, who would have thunk? Swim felt good and Jane helped me a bit more with my stroke. Today I learned about having eye balls on your elbows. I think I’ve been converted to a Wednesday swimmer, the RAC (River City Athletic Club) spoils a girl. Fresh towels, shampoo, conditioner, hair dryers and straighteners. No more ghetto PSU swimming for moi.

Wednesday Evening - Part 2
90 min moderate spin - HR between 155-170

I lucked out, both gym floor spin bikes were open when I arrived at the gym and they put on a Tour De France video on the flat screen. One of the employees was kind enough to move the bikes right in front of the tv. There is not much more motivating then spinning and watching Lance. Luck out #2, I got to talk with my favorite spin instructor Peter for about 20 mins before his class. This is the 50+ year old cyclists that almost loses his lungs in every class. He is a really good teacher and not some premadonna pretending to train on their spin bike. One reason he is so great is because he has done many rides in his lifetime, several which include legs of the Tour. During class he will visualize the rides, they're pretty surreal. So it was cool chatting with him, and then another lady biked by my side for 60 of my 90 minutes. This was awesome, it made time pass by rather quickly. I kept my HR elevated and worked my ass off and it felt like a breeze. But now as I sit at home typing up my report....well I am tired. I've been up since 4am, swam, worked, spun and still have to prep for tomorrow. I'm going to sleep well tonight.
*************************************
On a side not I took this rather risque picture Tuesday....

But on the norm....I feel like this, except I'm pathetic enough not to have a kermit by my side

I questioned posting publicly. Believe it or not but I am rather conservative, this pic shows a lot of skin but I am wearing my new speedo, top and bottom. The reason I decided to take and share my pic is to make me feel sexy and like a woman again. I have seriously lost any feeling of being sexy, this happened last year as well. I train so damn much I don't have the time or energy to put into being girly. I don't paint my toes nails, why should I? I swim twice a week and the pool water eats away the polish. I don't grow my nails or paint them, how the hell would I be able to change my bike tire? My feet are covered in blisters and calucious(sp?). My legs are too fatigued to rock my heels, I bring slippers to walk around my work in. I don't carry pretty hand bags and purses, I lug around a 10-20lb tri bag that covers all shower supplies and usually 2 out of 3 sports. I go days on end without washing my hair. It's amazing how long it will keep in a little french roll. Daily I am bloated on carbs and sodium, I often feel like a puffer fish.
So there it is, out on the table...at least I can look back at this picture and be reminded that yes indeed, I am a women, hear me Roar!

Back to Doubles....

Monday Morning
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! It's 4:45am and there goes the ****ing alarm. Good God am I really getting up? Not really motivated to swim this morning but I know this is a normal feeling with having a week off....so naturally I pulled myself out of bed, got dressed, ate a little something and made my way to the pool.

Swim Set
200 warm up
4 x 50s fist/free, rest 15 seconds
10 x 25s, fast, rest 15 seconds
1 x 300; 20 breathing every 6 strokes; 20 seconds rest.
1 x 300;paddles; 20 seconds rest.
1 x 300; 20 breathing every 6 strokes; 20 seconds rest.
1 x 300;Buoy; 20 seconds rest.
1 x 300; 20 breathing every 6 strokes; 20 seconds rest.
1 x 300;paddles; 20 seconds rest.
1 x 300; 20 breathing every 6 strokes; 20 seconds rest.

Warm-down
25; 5 wall push ups
50; 5 wall push ups
50; 5 wall push ups
50; 5 wall push ups
50; 5 wall push ups
25; 5 wall push ups

Total 3000 yards.

Glad I went, feel pretty good.

Monday Part 2
Lunch time - 6 mile tempo run on treadmill

10 min - 9:40 easy warm up
5 min stretching
5 min - 9:30 easy pace
20 min tempo - 7:47 pace HR between 175-179 (ugh, this was tough...but I'm not sure why. My energy was present, no digestive issues and my legs didn't hurt....hmmmm...I think it was all mental.)
5 min - 9:30 easy pace
5 min - 8:00-8:30 moderate pace
5 min - 9:30 easy pace

6 miles total

I REALLY did not want to do run speed work today. My tummy has been bothering me all morning and my energy levels are low due to this weekend and the morning swim. Tomorrow is my scheduled recovery day and I figured that I had kind of grown on the idea of doing nothing last week. So I decided to toughen the **** up and do it anyway. That's what the real Kat would do, not the little B%^*# that has posesed me for the last 8 days. And in the end I'm happy I did. My tummy pain went away after the warm up mile, my legs felt light and quick and my energy was up there. As I'm hitting tempo it was a bit of a mind battle. 10 mins in and I was ready to give in, take it easy for 5 and hit it again for another 10 mins. I've never done a straight 20 tempo before, only time trials and this pace was only +27 sec per min of my time trail pace. I couldn't start something I hadn't done before and just give up so I stuck it out. I just kept telling myself that I could hold this pace and then some and well that's what happened. The mind is a beautiful thing.

Cookie Monster Metric Century

Don't have much time to blog....

56 mile Cookie Monster Ride...was supposed to be a metric century = 61 miles but I got lost coming back, rode along with some guy (who was not hot )who took us on a short cut.

My body was really tight and sore from the brick the day before, I was worried it would affect my performance today but it didn't. The ride was mainly flat and we didn't really experience any headwind. I kept a moderate pace going out, 15 miles into it, 2 cookies later and gave it a little extra effort for the next 15 miles. The last 26 miles were done at a moderate to quick pace. I felt really stable on my bike and even got aero a few times. Although with my new fitment my saddle hurts a lot.....I need to go back in and get another fit done, I think I needed it tilted down more. I can't allow my rides to hurt my womanhood this much, I need those muscles

Anywho, the Monster Cookie Ride felt great....and you know I got down with the cookies. PB Chocolate chip, M& M, PB, Snickdoodle and a Oatmeal Raisin. A little disappointed in aid station cookies, they were generic store bought. The last cookie at the finish was actually a monster sized delicious one, I had enough cookies at this point in time so I just a small piece of a friends.

On the way home I had Popeye's chicken....first time I had fried chicken in over 3 years. It was SOOOOOO GOOD!

29/6 Brick

Saturday 29/6 brick....

Today I woke up with motivation...it's about fucking time. I'm a little tired right now so I'm just going to bullet point some things....
*Pilates felt really good on my well rested muscles this morning.
*The Kill Bill Theme by Hotel Tomoyasu does it for me EVERY time. That and Madonna's Die Another Day.
*I had a terrific ride! Cadence and rode well together. I kept a higher cadence and good power to the wheels. I maintained an avg 170-180 HR for the 29 mile duration. Too high for a half iron but it has been 5 days since I had done anything...I needed to release my inner beast. On a very positive note, there were some corners that in the past I would break at....but not today. My bike fitting kicked ass...I was much more stable and stayed in my drops. I kept my speed upon reaching the corner, cut into the apex and accelerated through. Booyah!
*The Run - oh, ouch. What is this? I am running on fire coals. I experienced hot spots on my feet for the first time ever. These seriously burned like a mother. Guess I'm going to have to upgrade my biking pedals.
*Personal note - French martini's and cheesy french food are not a good night before brick food. Ugh....digestive issues the entire run. WTF? Only managed a 9 min mile. Was hoping to hit 8:30's but the run was pretty hilly and with hot spots and tummy cramping...you just can't win them all.
*Post brick my air was taken away from me again. I had issues processing oxygen for 5-10 minutes...I hate how that happens. Someone suggested an inhaler..I think I'm going to look into that.
*Endurox and roast beef is the best recovery fuel for me.

I'm a little tired now. I forgot what keeping an elevated HR for 2:30hrs felt like. I think I deserve a nap.
I'm happy Kat's back.

PS
I'd really like to thank all my friends and misc readers that have found their way to my blogs and supported me during this trying time. No words went untouched....you all helped me stand tall and rebuild my wall that had crumbled....and I thank you for that. Much love, Muah!

Tomorrow it's on to the Cookie MOnster Metric Century Ride (61 miles)

Day 5 of doing NOTHING.....

Another day I awoke with no drive. Blah....
I had my bike refitted at noon. The fitter dropped me even lower in my bars, she thinks this will put more weight on my front tire in return make me more stable, although I am more aero and aero is scary. Ugh....
I bought myself a pretty sparkly baby blue argyle Castelli jersey to make me feel better. I <3 it.

Went out to happy hour at The Carafe (Woot! Woot! Pascal & Julie) with a team mate. I had 2 french martini's and loaded up on Pommes Frites with melted Oregon Aged Gouda, Gnocchi -gratinéed with ham & Gruyère, and a Croque Monsieur ~
baked Parisian ham sandwich with Gruyère, béchamel & Dijon. We shared it all among three. Pretty sure I put on a lb of fat...but guess what?

IT'S BACK! During happy hour Jenny and I talked about doing Ironman Canada together. My spark became ignited again. Maybe I was high off the fat, or the alcohol or the idea of a 140.2 mile race. I don't know, what I know is I'm going to kill that 30/6 brick tomorrow morning.

Paint It Black

Dragged myself out of bed, it’s just another day…
But it’s unlike my norm; my melancholy has extended its stay.
I splash my face and try to rinse the sadness down the drain,
Again my tears start to flow as if producing rain.
The reflection in the mirror is a pathetic sight;
Disappointment, sadness and fear is at an all time height,
I have no energy or will to put up a fight.
If it takes more muscles to frown then smile,
Then why is it so difficult then running a mile?
I have lost my spark, my flame, my fire…
What’s it going to take to get back my desire?
Why do I feel so empty and hallow?
I need a leader, someone to look up to and follow.
To guide me out of this path of destruction,
And rediscover my true love, passion and function.
Although I am surrounded by people who love me and care;
Faking to be positive, almost too much to bare.
Comforting words temporarily sooth my internal sorrow,
Only time will heal, but I’m still praying the sun will come out tomorrow.

Day 3 of doing nothing.....

So what now?

So what now?

This is the question I ask myself. I had a phenomenal weekend. Started with a joyful easy 11.5 mile run Saturday, fabulous recommitment brunch in the afternoon, great dinner, drinks and hot tubing with friends in the evening. Sunday we did the Cherry of a Ride. I was really looking forward to this ride. Lots off hill climbing and I was going to jump from 50 to 80 miles. Once we get there and view the course, not many people wanted to do the 80. It was windy and there were a lot of hills. So a few people opted to do the 60 and just tack on a few extra miles….I was one of those people. Here is a link to our course.

http://www.stmarysacademythedalles.org/60mileroute.pdf

As you can see the second part of that course had a HUGE descent. I spoke with the ride coordinators and they warned that it was very curvy and had a lot of hairpins. GREAT! I say that with sarcasm. The only part of the ride I was dreading was that last descent. I have to say I had a great ride, but one part ruined it for me and may change everything in my life. I got my mileage in, 70 miles to be exact. I got the elevation climbing in, over 4000 ft. I attacked each hill and never needed to stop. I hade no digestive or nutrition issues and was fueled off of cookies, almonds, banana’s and reeces pieces. Everything would have been great! Except for that fucking decent. As I’m starting to go down I start breaking. I’m thinking, “This will be fine, just hold on the breaks and go down slowly.” The problem was that I was in my hoods and couldn’t get a good grasp on my breaking. I was too frightened to get in my drops and be that close to the ground going so fast that I stayed in my hoods and couldn’t fully break. I could squeeze the tops but not enough on the bottom. The effort of breaking alone took much of a toll on my body. My arms and hands were fatigued. I am around mile 65 at this point. I start accelerating and I can’t control Cadence. The wind is blowing and I’m wobbling a lot. The road was very curving and I started coming up on a 15 mph speed sign with a short hairpin corner. I can’t stop breaking so I unclip going 25+ mph and start dragging my left foot trying to stop the bike. It was at the point a car came around the corner right at me. Why were they right at me? Because I had no control and swerved into the lane of on coming traffic. I start praying immediately. I seriously thought this was it. Either I was going face dive into that car and get ran over or go through the windshield or I would swerve off the cliff. The car swerved first, THANK GOD! And I continued to drag my foot and try to brake. I reach the end of the corner into the gravel and dirt (right near the cliff with no guard rail) and stop. OH MY GOD! I stood there for a minute just shaking. I then realized I had another 2 miles or so to go downhill. Fuck that! I walked Cadence down. As I’m walking I’m thinking about what just happened. I was not confident on my bike. I had no control. I had no strength to break. I wasn’t in the right position to go down the descent, I couldn’t get in that position because I was scared of my cornering skills….which btw don’t exist. What am I going to do? I walk about a ½ mile until Emily and Randal come up from behind and ask me if I’m ok. I’m not. I’m still shaking and refuse to get back on my bike. The stayed with me fore awhile and eventually I got back on her and rode alongside with Emily holding my breaks. My feet and arms were trembling and I felt at total lose of control. I don’t know how I didn’t start crying…it took everything in my power not to. The last 3 miles were the longest 3 miles of my life. They couldn’t end quick enough. We reached the finish and thankfully Jeb had a bottle of Patron, I took a shot, I needed it.

The rest of the night we relaxed in the hot tub, drank and enjoyed good food and company. It saddens me I wasn’t able to enjoy much of it. My mind was elsewhere. I’m lost and I don’t know where Kat went. I went to bed early and just laid there….I couldn’t sleep. I was physically drained but my mind raced on. What’s going to happen to me? I don’t want to get on my bike again, ever. I saw death…I actually visualized dieing, it was one of the worst and scariest experience I think I’ve experienced. Maybe I will bag triathlons and be a runner. I can’t do that; I was a runner before a triathlete. I need multisport to prevent injuries and keep things from getting stale. I just don’t know what I’m going to do with my life. I can’t smile, I'm randomly crying…I just feel so disappointed in myself.

So what now?

Pilates/Run/Swim/Spin

Thursday

Lunch - 60 mins Pilates -- Tracy worked my ass, literally, ouch!

Evening Run - The plan was to do 8-800 repeats at a 7:10 pace BUT my quads were shot from the bike intervals the night before and I did get a good tempo run in on Tuesday so I decided to not do track. Instead I did an easy warm up mile, about 10-15 mins of drills and then ran light and easy up the Twilliger hills. It was a beautiful night and a beautiful run.

Post run - Team Swim

Warm up 100 easy

10 x 25s, 2 easy, 2 fast, rest :10 between each
4 x 100s, 50 drill/50 light quick turnover.
Drills: fist free, long glide, or half catch-up. Rest :15
1 x 600, at 60% effort,
breathe every 5 or 6 strokes; rest 20-30
1 x 50 easy
2 x 200s, at 70% effort, (I'm feeling fatigued)
breathe every 4 or 5 strokes; rest 20-30
1 x 50 easy
4 x 75s at 80% breathe every 3 or 4 strokes; rest 20-30 (OMG this is hard!)
1 x 50 easy
1 x 200 easy with a buoy, roll your hips through to both sides.

Total mtrs:
2400

Coach Jane put me in the fast lane tonight. Why? I haven't a clue, I swam with them last week and it's very well known that I can't keep up and that I'm not "fast". I think she feels it will help push me.....which in the other two sports it does. I like to train with more efficient and faster cyclists and runners, they motivate me.....but in swimming I have no desire. I try to push myself and then just end up feeling let down. My energy was taxed last night. I was uber tired. Post workout I left while the rest of the team played games. I still had some more packing to do (moving next week) and I had to prep things for the next morning.

Friday morning - 95 min easy spin.
HR between 140-155, read Dave Scott's triathlete book, nutrition section. It's an old book with a lot of out dated stuff but it's interesting to hear his theories. I learned that he is not a meat eater. I couldn't live without my beef.
But alas, I am now freaking tired! I figure I just need some good recovery nutrition and maybe a little coffee. Thankfully my body has a full 24 hours to rest before we run 12-13 miles tomorrow morning.

Wednesday Evening 25 mile ride with Time Trails...

Course was Marine Drive. Nice and flat with easy wind for a change. I felt it coming back but I think it was much more mild then normal. Upon starting I didn't feel strong on Cadence. My balance was really off and I was a bit loose. I had to shake it off quickly. This was the first time I have ever done anaerobic time trial work on the bike. I've been doing it on the spin bike for sometime and let me tell you, it is much easier to get your HR up and with hold an anaerobic state standing on a spin bike and not having to worry about balance, traffic or hurling and loosing control. For the love of God. I did 4 x 3 min time trials with HR between 183-189. The first one I think I only held 2 mins. I hit some uneven road repair and it threw me off a little. I gave myself a 3-4 min recover spin out and hit it again. 2nd, 3rd and 4th interval I kept a 183-187 HR for 3-4 mins. Fricken-A that shizzit was hard. I swear I sounded like I was giving birth. It was hard to process oxygen...I don't think I was. My quads were on FIRE! In fact they still are...which reminds me I will need to spend some quality time with my stick tonight. I'm happy I completed the workout but I feel a little taxed. My lungs and chest still hurt and this of course results in dreadful acid reflux. Ick. I'm hoping I don't get restless leg syndrome tonight. Post ride I recovered with sirloin steak with ff garlic ricotta in a whole wheat pita, mmmmm. I took extra magnesium when I got home. Hopefully my legs will be good for track tomorrow....guess we'll just have to see.

BTW, I hate how boys can ride stronger then me

Another day....

Tuesday lunch time tempo run
10 min warm up mile
5 min easy pace 9:40
10 min tempo 7:40
5 min easy pace 9:40
10 min tempo 7:40
15 min easy with a few tempo spikes just for fun
Approx 6.35 miles

Evening Swim

200 warm up
200 Farlech
2 x 50s drill, your choice of: fist free,
long glide,(1/2)catch-up. rest :10
1 x 100 free with light quick arms rest :15
swim set 2 times

Marker set:
1 x 30 minute swim. (1650 y) (this is just pathetic....no progression in a year)

2 x 200s with buoy, long easy stroke, hands exit past hips.
Breathe no more frequently than every 5 strokes. Rest :20.
200 cool down w/20 wall pushups

Total yards:
3050

Training....Searching for the dream

I still think about that day,
The day I decided to throw my outside life away…..
Giving up time with family and friends,
Submitting to a dry spell for months on end.
Discovering which friends are real and will stick with me through it all,
Sadly most have left or don’t answer my calls.
Not giving into temptations,
Staying away from boy/girl crazy relations,
To dedicate everything I have to the triathlon lifestyle
Train, eat, drink, sleep, it’s a constant redial.
The stretching, rolling, beating and tweaking,
Destroying to rebuild the muscle I’m seeking.
The scheduling, building, recovering to peak,
Just once oh-once the muscle I’d like to keep,
But as the mileage goes longer that outcome is bleak.
My heart belongs to the extra mile…..the endurance state,
It’s caught me with endorphin bait,
It’s only my fate,
At this going rate,
That soon enough the Iron and I will have that date.
So day after day I will analyze workouts and nutrition,
Keeping my dreams alive and constantly wishing…
For heightened performance in all three sports,
Juggling over training, trying to keep the ball in my court.
Submitting to the wrath of the ice bath
To demise the lactic acid from turning my body to stone,
It penetrates every muscle, blood vessels and aches my bones.
But with ice and heat the pain will not be condoned.
As one sport punishes the other will cool,
I love my play dates on the bike, track and the pool.
Quick tie laces, running skirts and body glide,
Clip in shoes and a helmet is how I run & ride.
Railing on time trials, tempos and such
Hours in aero position….can you handle this much?
Oh yes, yes I think I can,
My aspirations are going to take me to that glorious promise land.

So How Was Your Weekend Kat?

Bare with me....another weekend that I did too much and lost my sanity.

*Almost got blown off Crown Point by some nasty side wind.
*Biked 51 miles with a whole lot of wind and hills!
*Got to know a few more team mates on a more personal level
*Had way too much self indulgence.
*Sat night I drank 1 glass of white reisling, 2 Espresso martinis (to die for) and 3-4 glasses of Crown Royal on the rocks.
*Hehe...had McDonald's fries and an apple pie at 2:30 in the morning in a drunken state.
*Danced the night away with some kick ass triathlete's
*Spilled a few secrets in my drunken state....thankfully they were just mine but now the whole freaking world is going to know things they shouldn't.
*Ran 14 miles on Lief Erickson after 4 hours of sleep. I hiccuped Crown Royal a few times....it did not taste good.
*Packed up more of my house....yay almost done!
*Cooked my meals for the next 3-4 days, Tuna Wasabi Cakes w/brown rice and soy sauce, S/F Brown Rice Pudding, Kashi Apple Cobbler, Quinoa Strawberry Balsamic Spinach Almond Salad.

BTW, I killed each workout! Booyah!

Bittersweet Triple

Thursday Triple

Lunch - 60 mins Pilates
Yay, so Barb and Shannon....work it girls!

Evening Track - Approx 7 miles
1 mile warm up
15 mins of drills; a$$ kickers, skips, strides, side strides
4 x 1600's with ;90 floats - goal time 7:30
1st 7:25
2nd 7:30
3rd 7:25
4th 7:15

Woot! Woot! I owned track. I think it's difficult for me to do long distance fast paced intervals because I can't go all out fast...I have to hold back a bit and tell myself I am going fast because ultimatley for me it is fast...but in shorter distances I could go faster...does that make sense?

Post track evening team swim
150 warm up

300 Farlech
2 x 50s drill, your choice of: fist free, long glide,(1/2)catch-up. rest :10
1 x 100 free with light quick arms rest :15
swim set 3 times

Marker set:
1 x 30 minute swim.
(1500 meters)
2 x 200s with buoy, long easy stroke, hands exit past hips. Breathe no more frequently than every 5 strokes. Rest :20.

Total meterage = 3250 meters.

Ugh...this was a not so happy swim. First off Jane had me in the fast lane. I'm NOT fast in the water at all, yet I'm not super slow for our team. I'm kind of in between lanes at the moment. I think she thought if I swam in the faster lane I wouldn't have to stop and interrupt my swim so much to pass the slower people in the other slower lane during the marker set. Well this worked in reverse. Because I was in the fast lane I constantly had to stop at the wall and let the faster swimmers pass me. Which doesn't count for much but I'm sure with all the times I stop I could have easily got another 25 or 50 during my marker set. My swim time during the marker was over all disappointing....one due to stopping a lot, two due to the fact that I haven't progressed in over a year....I am still slow Last year I swam a 1450 in 30 mins....but it was a constant swim without stopping....I had an equal swimming partner Jenny with me. This year I only pulled out a 1500. Only 50 meters faster then last year. WTF?! I have tried everything to work on my stroke and become more efficient in the water and it's just not working. I'm failing on my swim and that disappoints me.

The only positive thing out of swim was I swam my furthest this year at 3250 meters and I got out the water not feeling completely exhausted.

Spinning at the gym - blah

Wednesday
Mid morning - 60 min Pilates

Evening - 100 min "easy" spin.

I was going to go on a bike ride with some of the PDX tri members but I was feeling under the weather, had god awful women pains and my irritability (work induced) was through the roof. So I opted to spin at the gym. The schedule called for an easy 25 mile spin. I figured an hour and 40 mins was an "easy" 25 miles. Throughout my spin duration I had conversations with three gym peps, listened to my Ipod on and off (Luv the new JT and Madonna song - 4 Mins To Save The World), and read up on micro-nutrients from Chris Carmichael's Food For Fitness. Kept my HR between 145-155. Felt pretty good throughout the spin. Post spin I tested out Endurox (recovery drink). Mmmmmm, it tasted just like chocolate milk and immediately restored my brain cells. I'm going to use this stuff on all my LSD and heavy intensity workouts.

7 days on end

Monday evening.

Easy 7.5 LSD run through NW and Downtown Portland.

I was a bit concerned going into this run. My right IT has been acting up at my hip and I know it is due to increased mileage BUT I wanted to run anyway. I wish I could shoot that little devil that sits on my shoulders when I'm on the cuspe of over training taunting "do it...do it...do it'. He's such a bastard. So I give into temptation and DO IT. I meet up with Jenny and we do an easy run through the inner city. It was the PERFECT run. We had PERFECT weather, PERFECT course and I had a PERFECT running mate. The ran and somehow it was all effortless. Post run I felt great.....by the end of the night I was tired but over all ok.

I thought today I would hit rock bottom for sure. I've just finished 7 days of straight training. Started the week out with quick, fast, intense speed work and finished off with long endurance adding miles along with strength building hills.....not to mention one night I stayed out too late and danced a bit too much and consumed alcohol....which my body HATES. Throughout the week I had poor sleep, restless leg syndrome and major PMS. BUT my nutrition has been getting better and last night I slept SOLID, yay me! Today is my recovery day and I feel great! I didn't bonk....yay me again! I'm still planning to take an extra day off, Friday at the end of the week. It's going to be another long week of training, fund raising events and I think a night of partying. Overall I'm feeling good, life is good....(lol and this is Kat PMS'ing...something MUST be wrong )

HARDCORE status :D

I’m brain dead…bare with me.

I decided to go dancing with a few girlfriends last night….after the 44 mile hilly ride and pre 13 mile trail run….not sure if it was such a good idea. Maybe I should have left out the Crown Royal. Mmmmm, I <3 Mr. Crown. Tif and I officially have “HARDCORE” status since we are the only girls from the team that made it out to train and dance. We broke it down yo…..
And it broke me down. I’ve become a lightweight. 3 shots of alcohol OWNED this girl.
This morning post 5 hours of sleep I met up with Tif, Coach Seth, Amy and Randle to do an easy (Ahahahahahaha!) 13 mile trail run up at Wildwood. This was the longest 13 miles ever! I was out for 2hrs and 30 mins….I could have gone faster, yes…but why? The point of the run was A. To get mileage in, B. to keep my HR low and go at a slow speed. Damn that trail was muddy. I thought I was going to loose a shoe on several occasions, that or slide off the trail. It’s hard to run up trail hills in the mud. The first few miles hurt my calves and ankles, love agility training. But after a few miles everything just fell into place. Finished the run tired but somehow feeling strong.
On the way home I picked up 2 bags of ice. I filled the tub with cold water and dumped in the ice. I sat in this torture device for 10 mins! ^$^%$%#^E%^R%^ER%@%^@*#(**($&*(!!!!!!! That HURT!! My legs were as red as rhubarb. I followed up with a 20 min HOT soak in Epsom salts. My legs feel pretty good now. I think I need a nap soon.

44 mile team hilly bike ride

I’m going to bullet point since my concentration is not high enough to layout well written story.

• Pre ride we had one of our team mates speak about her reasons for joining TNT. Her story was much like mine, so much that I got teary eyed. Emily lost her partner to cancer two years prior. She joined TNT a year later to help get through those hard dates that would be coming up, birthdays, anniversaries…and to have a support group. I have not lost anyone to cancer yet (thank god) but I will and this is certain, what isn’t certain is when. As she told her story I thought about my reasons for joining the team. My sister and I have had the talk “What’s going to happen when dad passes? How are we going to handle it?” Neither of us know how to respond….we usually both grab a glass of wine/beer and just start talking about the good memories. Other then my sister who lives 300+ miles I away I will have no help with the pain. My mother is a cancer survivor but since my father wasn’t there for she when she was sick she despises the man and has no sympathy. So who will I turn to? What will I do? I now have a community of friends that have either gone through a loss or want to help people get through their loss. I feel loved by my team and know when that god awful day comes who I will be able to turn to. I allowed weakness to shine through as my eyes filled with water and I couldn’t restrain my tears. It was awful. Here I was, strong Kat…..crying…displaying weakness. I was comforted by hugs from people who cared….
• Start of the ride….I ride up at the front behind Lindsay…I don’t want to talk or be around anyone….again I feel weak.
• We tackle our first hill and my chain falls off. WTF else is new. I curse as I get off my bike and fix the chain.
• The first few hills build strength. I tackle them with ease, riding a high and equal cadence.
• Lol, we turn and OMG my jaw drops. Are we seriously going to climb that hill? Is that aerodynamically possible? Yes, yes it is with a little anaerobic threshold training. Lindsay’s response when I asked “Are we really going to climb that?” Was “You’ll thank me on race day.” I’m going to remember that.
• Then the treacherous downhill Logie Trail. I actually caught air going down this last year. Scared the shit out of me. It’s a steep descent immediately going into an extreme ascent. The middle that is flat is a curve so you can’t even get momentum to get up the ascent. Crazy to go balls to the wall fast to becoming anaerobic all in a matter or 1-2 minutes.
• First set of hills are done, energy is good. Time to refuel up on Trail Putty and my Oat/PB Raisin bars…mmm.mmmm.good.
• 8 miles or so of curves and rolling hills.
• Time for the girls to do a group pee in the bushes. So glad I got over that anxiety. It sucks riding on a full bladder.
• On to the next hill. 7 miles of steady climbing….nothing too steep just long and gradual. The only thing that was not so enjoyable was the rain pouring on the way down. My glasses need wipers.
• Over all I felt great up until the last 8 miles. I thought I’d be able to make it back without eating again but then thought to myself…why? I had fuel with me and there was no reason ride the last few miles out feeling fatigued….so I pulled over and down ¾ of a Cliff Bar. It immediately kicked in and I finished the ride strong.

Summary
• 44 miles with lots of hill climbing….Kat showing emotional weakness but becoming physically soooo much stronger.

Easy recovery run

Not much to report, it's my easy day.

Run - Treadmill .5 incline
10 min warm up
5 min stretch
45 min slow easy run; 9:30 pace.

Avg HR 146
5.75 miles.

Thursday Triple

Lunch – 60 mins Pilates

Evening Track workout
1 mile warm up
15 mins of drills. A$$ kickers, leaps, side leaps, skips
4 x 1600’s with 90 sec floats inbetween; 10+time trail pace.

Hooray, I made track my bitch this week! I was really apprehensive going into it, I out too early in last weeks workout and that fear loomed over me.
I learned a few things that must happen for Kat to have a successful track workout

*Have enough nutrition to handle drills before speed work. Both are high intensity and require a lot of fuel.
* Do drills before speed work. I am not a natural runner and it takes my legs doing so really odd moves to get them to open up and run fast.
*Can not listen to Ipod on track! Must repeat “YOU CAN DO IT” “I WILL DIE ANOTHER DAY!” “I AM FAST” “FAST IS ALL RELATIVE”
* Manage how often I check my timer.
*Set my goal out further then needed; I mentally have to make goal and usually want to beat so choosing one that is slower then actual pace allows me to push faster and hit the pace. Seriously, it’s mind games with me.

All of those things lead to a success story at the track. The target was to hit time trial plus ;10 secs. For me that would be 7:30’s. Goal time was 7:40’s….I just thought I wasn’t 7:30’s fast, BUT I was.
1 1600; 7:30
2 1600; 732
3 1600; 7:30
4 x 1600; 7:25, boooyah bitches!

Summary, 4 miles speed work, 15 mins of drills. Total 6.75-7 miles

Night swim
100 meter warm up
12 x 50s, 2 kick, 1 half catch-up free. Rest 15 sec in between each.
Rest 20 seconds after each distance.
1 x 150 with buoy
1 x 250 build speed by 50s
1 x 350 with fins
1 x 450 hold a steady pace, 60% effort
1 x 100 fast
8 x 50s with breathing pattern, per 50: every 3 strokes, 4, 5, & your choice. Rest 20 sec between each.

Relays! (These were so much fun!!!! Our team won both times!! Woot! Woot!)
Total meters:
2300+

Swimming finally works for me. I <3 it.

Riding along Marine Drive – 25 miles - moderate

I met up with the PDX tri club to do the Wednesday evening ride. I was going to get my cadence reader installed as well but it happens that I bought one that didn’t include a harness. WTF? This will be the second one I have to return to them. This is so annoying. I hate riding with out having data, it is driving me insane. Hopefully I’ll figure out the installation on my own and get it hooked up before Saturdays ride. If not I’ll probably be without for another freaking week. Anywho, back to the ride…..
I started off in the back of the group. I wanted to stay back and take the ride easy and try to get more comfortable with my aero bars. On a little side note I lost a family member this last weekend and kind of wanted to have some solitude thinking. Just time alone with my head I guess. Going out I was unable to get aero. Balancing that low just felt too difficult. So I opted to ride most of the way out in my drop bars. They are a bit lower then aero and would allow my body to get acclimated to breathing without worrying too much about balance. I don’t know what the deal was but my head became really clogged and my nose started running. Naturally I went into my snot rocket mode. Problem with this was my snot was not running, it was just kind of stuck, so I would shoot a rocket and oh I’d say ¾ of them would get stuck to my face! Ewwww, yuck! Very gross. I rode out along Marine Drive alone as I returned alone, facing the headwind with no one to pace line with. Along the 2nd ½ of the way back I had some of the side wind blocked and I was able to get aero. Woot! Woot! I practiced getting in and out of my bars for a good 20 mins. I’m starting to feel more comfortable. I’ve noticed the key to aero position is really the core. If I kept my core strong and stable I could easily get in and out along with turning. To my surprise my core really directed the bars on where to go. I think my Pilates are helping a lot with this; my breathing in aero is very Pilates/Yoga like. I inhale through my nose and exhale through my mouth pulling my navel in. Woot! Woot! Multi tasking; Pilates and bike work in one. I returned back to the start feeling good about my accomplishments but uber hungry from the ride. I only had 75kcal from the trail putty and was out for 1:25 and burned somewhere between 800-850 kcal. I should have brought more nutrition. I tried to stay for post ride replenishment with Michele but the service at McMenamins sucked (no surprise there) and took waaaay too long with the food, at which point I bonked. This was really my fault. I should have managed my nutrition better. I grew an evil head and left to get fuel from my car. For the rest of the night I had an insatiable hunger. I woke up twice to a growling tummy and needing hydration…..I also had restless leg syndrome. I hate riding at night….I always get this. I’m also experiencing frequent insomnia….

March Recap

7 days off out of 31 = 22% Recovery

Swam 9 days = 12.5 miles
Biked 4 days = 122.8 miles
Spin Bike 5 days = 6.5 hours
Run 16 times on 12 days = 89.4 miles

Total mileage = 224.7 (excluding spin since I don't have a speedo on the bike)

I'm looking forward to the longer daylight and I can get away from the damn spin bike.

Running, Swimming and Running some more

Morning
1 mile warm up

6 miles tempo
10 min easy (140-150 HR) 9:40 avg
10 min tempo (168-175 HR) 7:45avg
5 min easy (150-160 HR) 9:40avg
10 min tempo (168-175 HR) 7:45avg
20 min easy (150-160 HR) 9:30 avg

7 miles total

Evening workout.

30 min easy treadmill run. .5 incline, 3.25 miles

100 warm up
100 Farlech
6 x 25s fast; rest 15
6 x 25s breaths: 3,2,1 per length; rest 10
1 x 150 easy
5 x 100s descend 1 to 5; rest 20 ((2:00, 1:52, 1:45, 1:40, 1:32)
1 x 150 easy
5 x 100s with buoy, focus on rolling; rest 20
1 x 150 easy
5 x 100 with zoomers/fins, light quick arms; rest 30
1 x 150 easy
4 x 25 half catch-up freestyle
100 warm down

Total yards:
2800

Daily Summary
10 miles
2800 y swim