Ever see the movie Being John Malkovich? Could you imagine a Being KitKat? Getting inside my head for a few days would be enough to make sane person crazy. I often WTF? myself.
A Runners High or Endorphins should come with some kind of WARNING message. Late last afternoon and into the evening I was so high off my run I could have been floating around on a cloud. In fact I must have been high in the sky because I got the urge to race a sprint distance the very next day. I think the thought of racing when my tri season has officially ended and doing so in a distance I had never done before added to the excitement. I mean so what, I ran 4 hours which turned into 24 miles...I kept my HR low....I had no leg pain or fatigue....I'd be fine racing a sprint, what's 80-100 minutes of anaerobic threshold? So I lay out all my race gear and head off to bed around 8 (omg, did I just say that? It happens.), tossed and turned for the next hour excited about racing. I awoke at midnight hungry, jumped out of bed and almost fell over. My legs....what happened? DOMS! They had become stiff and tight, and my right hip was very sore from my fall. Oy! My dreams of racing were slowly slipping away. I get up around 4:30 and come to find out I have close to no flexibility. I was a hot mess and racing would just be moronic at this point so I flushed that little dream down the porcelain God and decided to go out and cheer on my friends. I'm finally getting around to this whole "listening to your body" and resisting the evils of the self induced drug called "endorphins". Man that stuff is dangerous. Could you imagine if you could sell that?
Back to the race, it was nice to just spectate, cheer and catch up with friends I had not seen in awhile. The PDX Tri Club did a great job putting on a kickass triathlon in the middle of the city. Post spectating I dropped Cadence off at River City to get my power meter installed. Woot! Woot! Can't wait to pick her up! Then I spent the next hour at the gym spinning while reading my Training and Racing with Power book. The recovery spin helped greatly with my leg tightness....they almost feel back to normal. Although I know that feeling will not last long since I will be going out and intend to be dancing until dawn. I'll be getting my gansta lean on with my limp I'm rockin from my bruised hip. Lol, what a mess. At least I'm a fun mess. Got to live life to the fullest right? Tomorrow will be a MUCH needed recovery day.
Inside the mind of Kat...enter at your own risk.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Running for hours on end!
One of my coaches had recommended doing a 4 hour LSD run during my marathon training. Even though my time goal is 3:40 he thinks it's a good idea for my body to get the feel of running 4 hours, so I took him up on the advice.
240 minutes - 4 hours and 24 miles later Nicole and I reach the finish. Woot! Woot! I survived!
I don't know what was wrong with me this morning, I ended up leaving the house without my brain. Here goes the series of unfortunate events
*Arrive at Wildwood trail mile marker 24 3/4 and meet up with Eric and Baier. Pop my trunk to get my hydration and nutrition and come to realize I left ALL my nutrition on my kitchen counter top! WTF #1. Quickly I call Nicole who has yet to arrive. Bless her heart, the girl drives to the nearest store and returns with 6 Power Gels. This would be my first save of the day. Run starts 45 minutes late. Yes, I am a tool.
*70 minutes into the run I fall, but luckily I wore pants today and it was a soft fall on moss.
*80 minutes into the run and I get a kamikaze bee that flies right into my left palm. OUCH! WTF#2. So I stand there for a few minutes and dig the little stinger out which had somehow gotten buried into my skin.
*120 minutes later arrive at car to fill up on hydration and fuel. Go to grab my keys....uh oh! No keys, must have dropped them when I fell. WTF#3. And to make matters worse all my hydration and nutrition where sitting comfortably in my locked POS car. Grrrrr! Eric the superstar he is gave me the rest of his Gatorade and a water. I still had one Power Gel left but knew ultimately this run was going to end in disaster. I was going to be caloric deficient and Gatorade is an arch nemesis on my GI. Oh for the love of God. Nicole and I decide to run back and see how we felt "when" or "if" we found the key. Thankfully 2 miles in and we cross another runner who asks us if we had lost a key. YES! One less thing we had to worry about.
*180 minutes and it's time to turn around. The sugar from the Gatorade did a lot for my energy but in return started a small storm brewing in my tummy. Ugh....
*210 minutes and I take down fall #2. This was a bad one, I fell hard and landed on my right hip. F#@$!!! Ok, pull yourself together, you only have 30 more minutes to go.
240 minutes - 4 hours and 24 miles later Nicole and I reach the finish. Woot! Woot! I survived!
A few things I learned....
*Lots of things can go wrong but that doesn't necessarily mean that the end result will be bad.
I* am surprised that my body doesn't hurt. Ok, well my hip hurts but there is reason behind that. As for my legs and back, well they feel pretty damn good. I am also surprised I was able to cover so much mileage with hills on a trail with such a low HR. I ended up averaging 151 bpm. Keeping that low HR was essential for me to finish since I was lacking nutrition.
*Gatorade is the axis of evil. Although I wouldn't have been able to make it without that 150 calories....my tummy is still paying the price 3-4 hours later, ugh.
*I have some really kick ass training buddies.
BTW, this was a PR for me longest time and distance running.
Post run Nicole had to run (hehe) off to the circus and I was hungry so I decided to make a stop on the way home. The question was, where to go? My mind and tummy battled between sushi, Burgerville and Reo's Ribs. Mmmmm, BBQ. 
Reo's Ribs won. They have the BEST BBQ I have ever had! What else would you expect from a restaurant owned by Snoop Doggs Uncle? Endurox held me over for the 40 minute commute. I pulled in and was instantly greeted with the smell of bbq smoke from the pits, my mouth started watering. I ended up getting 3/4 lbs of Beef Ribs and Brisket (that's a whole lot of meat for me!) coleslaw and home made cornbread. I sat there and ate my food and thought I had died and gone to heaven.
Reo's Ribs won. They have the BEST BBQ I have ever had! What else would you expect from a restaurant owned by Snoop Doggs Uncle? Endurox held me over for the 40 minute commute. I pulled in and was instantly greeted with the smell of bbq smoke from the pits, my mouth started watering. I ended up getting 3/4 lbs of Beef Ribs and Brisket (that's a whole lot of meat for me!) coleslaw and home made cornbread. I sat there and ate my food and thought I had died and gone to heaven. Friday, August 29, 2008
I'm A-ok!
Heard back from my cardiologist this morning and my heart is in the safe zone. Woot! Woot! The stress test indicated abnormally high blood pressure over 168bpm (isn't this supposed to happen?); my doc thinks it could be from exercise induced asthma or possibly pulmonary hypertension (let's hope not!). So now I need to see a pulmonary (lung) specialist...but she did give me the A-ok to train. Thank goodness because I have my first 4 hour run scheduled for tomorrow morning and come Monday I'm signing up for Ironman Canada 09. I am so freaking excited!
Today is a VERY good day :D
Oh yea, BTW I will not be moving. Turns out I got a job with a badass womens cycling and triathlon retailer. I am uber excited to start!
Today is a VERY good day :D
Oh yea, BTW I will not be moving. Turns out I got a job with a badass womens cycling and triathlon retailer. I am uber excited to start!
Lap Swimming
Morning Swim
250 warm up
6 x 50 Drills A-Ok, Fist, Claw; rest 10
3 x 100 paddles; rest 15
3 x 100 fins; rest 15
1 x 200 buoy ; rest 15
1 x 100; rest 10 (50 s/50f)
1 x 200; rest 15 (50 s/100f / 50s)
1 x 300; rest 30 (50 s/100f / 50s/ 50f/ 50s)
1 x 400; rest 60 moderate pace
1 x 300; rest 30 (50 s/100f / 50s/ 50f/ 50s)
1 x 200; rest 15 (50 s/100f / 50s)
1 x 100; rest 10 (50 s/50f)
Cool down
25 x 5 wall push ups
50 x 5 wall push ups
50 x 5 wall push ups
50 x 5 wall push ups
50 x 5 wall push ups
25 x 5 wall push ups
Total Yards: 3200
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Another workout to log
10 min warm up run
15 mins of drills; a$$ kickers, strides, side strides, skips
3 x 1600's at 7:19 pace; 90 sec floats
5.5 mile total
60 minutes noon Pilates.
15 mins of drills; a$$ kickers, strides, side strides, skips
3 x 1600's at 7:19 pace; 90 sec floats
5.5 mile total
60 minutes noon Pilates.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Time to move on to my half assed marathon training....
I say this because all season I have trained to peak at HIMs...and now I want to at least hit my Boston qualifying time of 3:40. I have no desire to run Boston, but I think it would be cool to know I could if I wanted to. I've increased my mileage well but with swimming and biking I haven't been able to focus on run speed work as much as I would have liked. The energy just hasn't been there to do it all.....so alas I'll try to cram in what I can in these last few weeks while still trying to train *smart*.
Wednesday - 8.4 mile marathon "race pace" run
I don't know what I was thinking when I mapped out the route I ran, oh I know, I wasn't thinking at ALL. I've run this route many times and know how hilly it is. PDX marathon is pretty flat but does have a hill or two towards the end, or so I hear. So I figured why not test out "race pace" on this route. Poor choice now that I think about. I got up at my normal morning run time; 4:45am. Got dressed, put my hair up, stepped into my turbo rocket Asics, grabbed a glorious on-the-go breakfast of Power Gel and hit the open roads. My legs felt fantastic! My energy did not. Quickly I sucked down Strawberry Banana slime hoping the caffeine would give me a little up and up....and thankfully it did. Finished the run with a 8:10 avg, 10 sec per mile faster then I was shooting for, although my HR was waaaaaaay too high for too long. I avg'd 172 and I'm not sure I'm comfortable holding that for a full marathon, for me 160-165 feels key. Well see how the next few weeks play out. I'm going to miss tri training but will keep swimming and cycling on my cross training days.
Wednesday - 8.4 mile marathon "race pace" run
I don't know what I was thinking when I mapped out the route I ran, oh I know, I wasn't thinking at ALL. I've run this route many times and know how hilly it is. PDX marathon is pretty flat but does have a hill or two towards the end, or so I hear. So I figured why not test out "race pace" on this route. Poor choice now that I think about. I got up at my normal morning run time; 4:45am. Got dressed, put my hair up, stepped into my turbo rocket Asics, grabbed a glorious on-the-go breakfast of Power Gel and hit the open roads. My legs felt fantastic! My energy did not. Quickly I sucked down Strawberry Banana slime hoping the caffeine would give me a little up and up....and thankfully it did. Finished the run with a 8:10 avg, 10 sec per mile faster then I was shooting for, although my HR was waaaaaaay too high for too long. I avg'd 172 and I'm not sure I'm comfortable holding that for a full marathon, for me 160-165 feels key. Well see how the next few weeks play out. I'm going to miss tri training but will keep swimming and cycling on my cross training days.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
IMC Volunteering and a Stress Test
But aren't they the same?
This weekend I witnessed my first Ironman. Rode up to Canada with a few friends to watch a few friends/athletes compete in the glorious Ironman. I think I slept a total of 15 hours within 72 hours...it was a long incredible weekend. I volunteered at T1 and T2 transition bags. It was our job to sprint to their transition bag and deliver to the athletes after they were stripped of their bike or wet suit, then guide them to the changing tents. It was a lot more difficult then one might thinking, sprinting for 2-3 hours two times that day took a toll on me at the end of the night, but really I have no room to say anything about being tired. Transition was a badass place to volunteer. I was able to see all my friends that were racing, the pros come in and the end of the pack and people that were cut off, which btw was really sad to see. A few of the highlights
*My stellar friends rockin the course out and becoming Ironmen!
*Seeing all of my friends pre race and in transitions.
*Free volunteer food.
*Getting a picture of Desiree Flicker in T2.
*Bonding with the group I will be racing and training with for the next year.
*Watching Sister Madonna cross the finish line....sadly it was at a 17:20 :(
*Helping a TNT team mate from the Bay Area change and transition, it was nice to remind her why she was doing what she was doing and have her hit that marathon with a smile on her face.
And a few of the low points
*Watching the people from the swim not make the cut off.
*Witnessing the carnage from the back of the pack bike and swim age groupers.
*The pain from standing on my feet for 21 hours and being sleep deprived while getting rained on for 9 hours.
What I learned
*Expect the unexpected.
*I am scared.
*Physical training will be a must, but ultimately mental training will get you to cross the finish line.
*I have a VERY long season ahead of me.
On to my stress test....
This was a very interesting experience. First I had an echo cardio exam, I have a heart murmur and am used to having these. The procedure is simple, they just run an ultra sound on your chest and measure your valve and muscle contractions. Then we went on to the stress test. The kept me hooked up to the EKG machine and then added on an oxygen sensor. I'm standing the in my gown and running shoes waiting for them to tell me to put on my sports bra....but nope, that never came. I was not allowed to run in any kind of bra or shirt other then the backless medical gown, WTF?! Somehow they expected me to get my HR up to 193 with no upper support. Who the hell conceived this idea? The reasoning behind it was as soon as my HR hit 193 I had to immediately get another echo cardio scan done, no time to change. Ugh, my babies are going to hurt. I get on the treadmill with a RHR of 49, test starts out at 1.2 mph with a 10% grade and moves to 2% grade and about .75 mph faster every 3 minutes. During this time I get to watch the electronic waves of my heart (which is pretty neat); see how my body is processing oxygen on a graph and periodically get my blood pressure checked. It took forever to get my HR to raise. 20 mins later I hit the max capacity of their treadmill at 24% grade and 6mph. I'm holding a 188 and can't go above it. The doc testing me decides to try to keep me up 2 sessions longer since they can't increase the grade or speed to see if over time my HR will hit the 193 max....but this is not happening, so they get me off and echo scan me at 188. It was cool to see my heart beat on the ultra sound machine, it remind me of a fast african drum session. Then the testing was all over. I should hear back from my doc in the next 2-3 days. Hopefully the testing went well and I can go about my happy training ways. Thankfully I can't sign up for IMC until Sept 1st and I'll have my results back by then.
I have other good news but I can't post that for a few days :)
Friday, August 22, 2008
Run Kat Run
FINALLY....I was able to run today. Initially I had set my alarm to go off at 4:50am to get a run in before work. But the curse of being a women struck me and instead I lied in bed cramping for the next 45 minutes. Thankfully some genius out there created Advil and by 10am I was all good again. 11:30 I hit the open road for an easy recovery run and boy did it feel stellar. Rocked out 9.1 miles at 8:40 pace while the sun tried tried to pry me into its "easy bake 80 degree oven" I resisted and kept cool and hydrated. I can not express for GREAT I feel right now. Off to Canada I go!
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Updates...
The last two days have been stressful and crazy. I've haven't been able to train with this stupid heart concern, busy at work with meetings for our new Fall catalogs. BTW, do you think a 2.5 hour "meeting" (please refer to the Hank commercial below) is a good thing? I think so :D Wish me luck!
So I went to go see the cardiologist today. As I waited in the cold doctors office I took these photos
Believe it or not but this model heart was fun to play with and made the time pass...20 minutes later I'm greeted by a not so friendly doctor whom I only guess tries to hide her bad attitude but a couple lbs of makeup. Hello Tammy Faye. She goes on to take another EKG, listens to my heart in all kinds of positions, and then asks a billion questions. Please insert criticizing my training throughout visit. I don't know if she was trying to bond with me when she went off on a tangent about her early running days or trying to scare me shitless with all the bad long term effects endurance training will have on the cardiovascular system. Funny how she didn't mention any of the good things it does. My Ekg was better this time around, although still posed a cause for concern. Apparently I have a delayed spike between the Q and T....not too sure what that means. She did say I can resume training but to stay away from high intervals until after I have an echo-stress test done....which won't be until sometime next week. UGH! But at least I got the go ahead to run tomorrow, I'm excited about that.....then I'm off to Canada!
So I went to go see the cardiologist today. As I waited in the cold doctors office I took these photos
Believe it or not but this model heart was fun to play with and made the time pass...20 minutes later I'm greeted by a not so friendly doctor whom I only guess tries to hide her bad attitude but a couple lbs of makeup. Hello Tammy Faye. She goes on to take another EKG, listens to my heart in all kinds of positions, and then asks a billion questions. Please insert criticizing my training throughout visit. I don't know if she was trying to bond with me when she went off on a tangent about her early running days or trying to scare me shitless with all the bad long term effects endurance training will have on the cardiovascular system. Funny how she didn't mention any of the good things it does. My Ekg was better this time around, although still posed a cause for concern. Apparently I have a delayed spike between the Q and T....not too sure what that means. She did say I can resume training but to stay away from high intervals until after I have an echo-stress test done....which won't be until sometime next week. UGH! But at least I got the go ahead to run tomorrow, I'm excited about that.....then I'm off to Canada!
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
One day at a time
I would first like to thank everyone that has commented via blog, dropped me a phone call, sent an IM, picked up the phone to voice their concern, lend their support, or send race kudos my way. None of it went unnoticed and I am truly grateful to be surrounded by so many people who care. Although I'm technically alone, I'm never really alone...if that makes any sense at all.
I'm feeling much better today. I slept a solid 8.5 hours last night and awoke to no chest pain. Thank God that went away. With some stretching and Yoga meditation practices my body feels relaxed and almost new again. I went in and got some blood work done today. Doc wants to check out some electrolyte things. Sorry can't be more specific as much of it flew over my head. Won't be able to get in to see a cardiologist until Thursday which sucks major tail because I've been told I can't train until then. I guess it's a good thing, my body probably still needs the rest although with all this extra time on my hands I'm feeling restless. Lol, did that make sense?
Tomorrow is a BIG day. It's filled with a bunch of marketing meetings for the launch of our new fall catalog's and in the evening I have a VERY IMPORTANT meeting. I don't want to go in too much detail as I feel it's bad luck but here is a Youtube video that lets you know what I'll be doing. It's one of my favorites...Instead of Hank they'll be shouting "KAT! KAT!, KAT!" I only wish I had a little mascot doing the "worm" by my side.
Please cross your fingers and send your prayers for the Wednesday night "meeting" and the Thursday cardiologist visit....I need to get back to my marathon training :D.
I'm feeling much better today. I slept a solid 8.5 hours last night and awoke to no chest pain. Thank God that went away. With some stretching and Yoga meditation practices my body feels relaxed and almost new again. I went in and got some blood work done today. Doc wants to check out some electrolyte things. Sorry can't be more specific as much of it flew over my head. Won't be able to get in to see a cardiologist until Thursday which sucks major tail because I've been told I can't train until then. I guess it's a good thing, my body probably still needs the rest although with all this extra time on my hands I'm feeling restless. Lol, did that make sense?
Tomorrow is a BIG day. It's filled with a bunch of marketing meetings for the launch of our new fall catalog's and in the evening I have a VERY IMPORTANT meeting. I don't want to go in too much detail as I feel it's bad luck but here is a Youtube video that lets you know what I'll be doing. It's one of my favorites...Instead of Hank they'll be shouting "KAT! KAT!, KAT!" I only wish I had a little mascot doing the "worm" by my side.
Please cross your fingers and send your prayers for the Wednesday night "meeting" and the Thursday cardiologist visit....I need to get back to my marathon training :D.
Monday, August 18, 2008
Shock waves of the heart
Post Race WTF?
I was sick as usual post race and had a hard time sleeping last night. I went to bed at 10pm and tossed and turned for the next 2 hours until I eventually fell asleep, only to wake up every 60-90 minutes. Every time I moved, my hips, hamstrings and glutes ached....and then there was the chest pain. I couldn't sleep on my back or tummy because I felt like I had a dead weight sitting on my chest. This was the only way for me to lay since my lower body hurt so bad. By 5:30 I grew tired of being restless and tired, got up and headed to work early. Work was a struggle. My energy was low and every time I got up my lower body hurt. I didn't stretch and roll out my legs like I should have post race. Lesson learned the hard way. Thankfully my co-worker was eavesdropping on the msg I left my mom. I called her asking for advice on my chest pain. I figured I was experiencing my normal heartburn/acid reflux post race and was wondering if she knew of some kind of tea or herb that might help. Well I also mentioned the pressure I was experiencing. My co-worker urged me to go see my doctor, said the sensation of weight on my chest was not right. I agreed with him but at the same time just figured it was post race tightness. I really hate seeing the doctor, they usually waste my time and money...but oddly enough I listened to him and went in this afternoon. And like always they took their sweet ass time. Really, why set an appointment if you're always 30-45 minutes late? Anywho, the doctor did the usual vital stats and then took an EKG. Turns out I had abnormal results. Again, I figure this is just due to racing. I mean right now my resting HR is 12-13 bpm higher then normal, this happens post racing. But he says the hearts electrical current is different, the palpitations may change but the electrical current should not. WTF? Are you kidding me? So he's going to consult a cardiologist and try to get me in tomorrow. Until then I have the emergency on call doctors # and am supposed to call 911 if I get any kind of numbness. Why am I allowing this to stress me the f#%$% out?
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Kat's 2008 Hulaman HIM Race Report
Swim :38:18.7
T1 2:01.4
Bike 2:57:55.6
T2 2:17.0
Run 1:56:33.9
Finish 5:37:06.6 - 1st place AG finish; 32nd out of 81; 7 girl out of 30.
Pre Race –
Get up at 4 am. Eat breakfast, English muffin w pb and honey, steel cut oats with a banana washed down with a cup of coffee. I offered to make my mom breakfast, she declined, said it will make her sick to eat first thing in the morning. Whatever….later she confessed she ate one of my Power Gels during my swim. Lol, she didn’t like it. Not really sure why she thought she would. Back to pre race….post breakfast did 15 minutes of Pilates stretching and core work, final gear check and off we went. Note to self: in the future follow the map you printed out. 10 minutes of “detours” and a small panic attack later we arrive at T1. Non-eventful, did a quick set up and headed out to the Hagg Lake.
Arrive at Hagg 15 minutes later then I wanted to which cut me pre warm up run down to 5 minutes. Oh the humanity! Made one last stop at the porcelain God and then went to set up T1. Upon checking my bike out I realized I had a front flat tire over night. WTF?! Oh well, the kind guy at Athlete’s Lounge changed it for me, later I found it cost me $6…if I would haven known before hand I would have changed it myself. T1 was short and fun. Mom asked a lot of silly questions; which where followed up by silly pictures take of me pre race.
Swim – This was interesting..the race was small, under 100 participants so we had a mass start at the end of the docks. The start was good, was never swam over and no need to swim over anyone, I found a clear line and just took it. My goggles fogged up a lot during the swim so my sighting was REALLY off. This was a first for me, well not the fogged up goggles but poor sighting. At one point it was so bad I started swimming out to the small buoy off the course, Doh! Turbo changed back to the group. Ugh, that took it out of me. The second loop around was really chopping. Wasn’t anticipating this….usually I like waves but not today. Over all I felt really crappy about my swim, I just didn’t have a good time and couldn’t wait to get out of the water. Sad because I usually enjoy the swim. Still I PR’d by 35 seconds : )
T1 – Went quick and smooth. Mom made a few jokes and made me laugh and took some pictures. PR’d T1 by 46 seconds
Bike – Was the most enjoyable part of the race for me. I made a strategic decision a few days before the race. I have never gone balls-to-the-wall on the bike portion before. I have always paced myself for a successful run. I’ve made some solid progress on my bike over the last year and wanted to see it reflected in a HIM. So I decided I would give it my all and just pray for the best on the run. Turns out it worked in my favor. The 1 1/3 loop around Hagg Lake was much more enjoyable then I thought it would be. I believe this is due to the fact I am comfortable riding aero. I was able to take most of the descending curves without breaking…and I enjoy hills, for the most part. I maintained 170-180bpm for the duration of Hagg, 18 miles or. Then we headed out Old Hwy 47, which had some bad ass rollers (I love them!). Went onto Stingertown road, which was the first of 3 roads that had been newly repaved with chip seal. SUCKED ASS. Gravel all over the road and Oh So Bad Vibrations. Ugh! Around mile 32 we come to Clapshaw Rd. 600-700 ft climb in ¾ of a mile. This handed me my tail, which I handed back on the descent.
More crappy repaving to ride on, more stellar rolling hills and beautiful country side to take in. 50 minutes to the end I started to feel tired but HAD to break 3hrs, that was my goal anyway. So I pushed forward tucked my head down low, consumed as much fuel as I could hoard in my body and managed to pull in at 2:57:55. Booyah! Another PR, although the last HIM was 58 miles in a 3:07, so not sure it counts….but I’m still happy with my time. It was a challenging course and I accomplished a lot more then a sub 3 hour bike, I over came fear as well!
T2 – This time I did not take a nap! Well the last time I didn’t either but I was so slow you might have thought I did. Of course mom comes over to take pictures, then asks for an interview. I’m so out of it, I’m like WTF, No! Lol, then she yells “Make sure you have your Astro Glide.” LMFAO! Funny women. T2 2:17, 2:12 PR!
Run – Ah yes, so now the question arrives, did my strategy work? Did the bike decimate me legs? Of course not! The first 2 miles were demoralizing though. Not because of my legs, they were A-ok…but my energy was TAPPED. Thankfully Power Gel was there to rescue me. The run was a two-loop course around Intel. Intel is freaking HUGE. As I was running I was cursing it as that is where I got lost in the morning. My run was pretty boring. I ran alone the whole time, which for me sucked. I’m a talker; no one ever wants to talk. Blah. I really wanted to just pee during my run and save a few minutes but my bladder wasn’t so keen on that idea. I was forced to stop at the shit hole to urinate. Ick. Back on to running. As I hit loop 2 I see this girl running out just a head of me. I can tell by her fresh-legged run she was part of a relay team. I followed her for a while and found that she pushed my pace a bit and used her as my pacesetter. Ran into Devin at the 6th aid station, good to see a familiar face. Onward I ran. Energy came and went, had my ups and downs. Managed my Power Gels (every 25 minutes) well, kept the swooshing in my tummy down. Mile 10 and I came up on two girls and passed them. Woot! Woot! Last mile 2 miles I ran at a fast pace pushing 170-180 bpm vs the 160-170 I held for the prior duration. Finished my run in 1:56:33, PR’d by 4 minutes.
I hit every one of my goals. I wanted a 5:35-5:45 finish, got a 5:37. Wanted a sub 2 hour run and a sub 3 hour bike, got it! Swam off course and still got a PR in the swim. But really, you want to know the BEST part of all? My mom was there! She MADE my race!
Now for the crazy nutritional breakdown
4:00am – Steel cut oats, low fat vanilla soy milk and sliced banana. Whole wheat English muffin, honey and pb. Coffee with fat free half and half. 465 kcal 70% carb/ 14% protein / 15% fat.
Race
Pre Swim – 1 Power Gel
Bike – 2 Power Gels, 2 Powerbars (finished all but small chunk of it), 2 32 oz of water with 2 full tabs of Nuun Electrolytes.
Run – 5 Power Gels
Caloric intake during race 1220 kcal, 3140 mg sodium, 675mg potassium
Race nutrition was on point
Caloric expenditure via HR monitor with Vo2 data 3295 kcal, Max HR 187; Avg 166; 30% fat burning zone.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Taper day 13 of 13
End the day in a few pics
Raspberry picking with Carly (in picture) and Lindsay (taking picture). Carly's really beautiful, she's just making a silly face.
A Spider eating a bumblebee....this was too cool!
Spaghetti & Meatballs with 1900+ mg of sodium.
Carb loading dinner with the best of friends,,,
From right to left (Lindsay, Leslie (HIM), Leslie's mom, Me (HIM), My mom, Kelly)
My mom is spending the night with me and french braided my hair. Finally, a race without pigtail braids, I might actually pass for an adult this time! Two quotes from my mom I had to share....
We're watching the women's marathon on the Olympics and she says "I bet those girls use a lot of Astro Glide between their legs"....LMFAO,,,,,,she meant BODY GLIDE....but now I know where my mom's mind is at,
Then I pour myself a glass of Emergen-C and she says "You're drinking a Cosmo before your race?" LOL
Dear lord, thank you for giving me something to laugh through the pain tomorrow.
Off to bed.....then to race. Good night everyone. Any luck or prayers are highly welcomed, with my race strategy I will NEED them.
Raspberry picking with Carly (in picture) and Lindsay (taking picture). Carly's really beautiful, she's just making a silly face.
A Spider eating a bumblebee....this was too cool!
Spaghetti & Meatballs with 1900+ mg of sodium.
Carb loading dinner with the best of friends,,,
From right to left (Lindsay, Leslie (HIM), Leslie's mom, Me (HIM), My mom, Kelly)
My mom is spending the night with me and french braided my hair. Finally, a race without pigtail braids, I might actually pass for an adult this time! Two quotes from my mom I had to share....
We're watching the women's marathon on the Olympics and she says "I bet those girls use a lot of Astro Glide between their legs"....LMFAO,,,,,,she meant BODY GLIDE....but now I know where my mom's mind is at,
Then I pour myself a glass of Emergen-C and she says "You're drinking a Cosmo before your race?" LOL
Dear lord, thank you for giving me something to laugh through the pain tomorrow.
Off to bed.....then to race. Good night everyone. Any luck or prayers are highly welcomed, with my race strategy I will NEED them.
Friday, August 15, 2008
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Blonde Bull
I came across this pic earlier today. Blonde Bull! Yes that is me riding Cadence. Apparently my weight lifting/fitness competition buddies (thanks Seth & Tif!) think I have endless energy and it should be bottled up and sold.
Shelby seems to think this could be my first sponsor...
Some slogans that have been suggested are.....
"Take the Blonde Bull by the areo bars and ride her!"
"Let Loose the Bull"
"Running of the Blonde Bull"
"Blond Bull will give you Blue Balls" (Is this really a selling point? Is there any truth to it?)
Would love to hear if you have any interesting slogans or catch phrases for this product.
Taper Day 10 of 13
40 min Interval Spin keeping my fast twitch muscles in check.
Thank GOD Laura met at the gym for my spin. I'm like a packet of Pop Rocks that have become wet. Seriously, I'm bouncing off the walls. I have so much energy and I can't do jack with it. Having her there kept my energy and intervals in check along with making sure I didn't stay on the bike longer then my alloted time. I am SO READY for RACE DAY!
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Intervals and a new toy!
Taper day 9 of 13
30 min interval run
10 min easy warm up
5 min stretch
3 x 5 min intervals @ 7:30 pace; 120 floats
3.9 miles total
Good run....sucked it was so short. Such a teaser.
On another note...thanks to a friend with a watchful eye I was able to close a deal on a used power meter. Bought a PowerTap Pro Wheel 32-hole, retails around $850-$1000 and I got the little beauty for $500 with a 30 day working guarantee.
Now I know some of my friends are thinking WTF is a Power Meter? Is she going to use this for baking somehow? The answer my inquisitive friends is this little computer thing(hub,whatever) will be installed to the rear wheel of my bike and will measure and transmit the power/wattage my stallion legs pump out to the crank :D Also provides some nifty info like HR, Cadence, Speed, Energy Expenditure, Ride distance and time. Who says you can't have Christmas in August? This gadget is this little data girl's dream toy! It's as good as getting a d!@$ in a box!
30 min interval run
10 min easy warm up
5 min stretch
3 x 5 min intervals @ 7:30 pace; 120 floats
3.9 miles total
Good run....sucked it was so short. Such a teaser.
On another note...thanks to a friend with a watchful eye I was able to close a deal on a used power meter. Bought a PowerTap Pro Wheel 32-hole, retails around $850-$1000 and I got the little beauty for $500 with a 30 day working guarantee.
Now I know some of my friends are thinking WTF is a Power Meter? Is she going to use this for baking somehow? The answer my inquisitive friends is this little computer thing(hub,whatever) will be installed to the rear wheel of my bike and will measure and transmit the power/wattage my stallion legs pump out to the crank :D Also provides some nifty info like HR, Cadence, Speed, Energy Expenditure, Ride distance and time. Who says you can't have Christmas in August? This gadget is this little data girl's dream toy! It's as good as getting a d!@$ in a box!
Monday, August 11, 2008
Taper day 8 out of 13
Evening Swim
250 warm up
1 x 100 fins
6 x 50 drills A-ok; fist; karate
1 x 100 fins
1 x 200 paddles
2 x 50 kickboard
2 x 100 fins
5 x 100; rest 10; increasing speed by 100s
250 cool down w/25 wall pushups
Total yardage - 2000
Oh man, most of the day I felt like crap. I swear I'm bi-polar. An hour would go by and I felt lazy and tired, an hour later and I'm motivated, hour later I'm energetic and silly, hour later tired and bitchy. The cycle is on repeat and is uber annoying. At least I have a few hours a day of silliness and energy....
Hit the pool post work and got my taper swim in. Swimming felt FANTASTIC. Hit my times on the 100s set, 1:55, 1:52, 1:45, 1:41, 1:35...right on.
There was the beautiful man in the lane next to me doing the butterfly. Once I was finished with my swim I just sat and watched him. He must have had >10% body fat, he was so lean, arms and back looked like tightly weaved rope. Watching him swim was a phenomenal work of art.
I checked my phone before I left the gym and noticed I had missed a txt from my mom. She expressed how proud she was of me and how excited she was going to be at my race (first one she's been able to make it to all year). You know it's funny, the action she took was small, like a goldfish. Just a simple phone txt, but the result it had was Orca sized. Receiving that msg MADE my day.
250 warm up
1 x 100 fins
6 x 50 drills A-ok; fist; karate
1 x 100 fins
1 x 200 paddles
2 x 50 kickboard
2 x 100 fins
5 x 100; rest 10; increasing speed by 100s
250 cool down w/25 wall pushups
Total yardage - 2000
Oh man, most of the day I felt like crap. I swear I'm bi-polar. An hour would go by and I felt lazy and tired, an hour later and I'm motivated, hour later I'm energetic and silly, hour later tired and bitchy. The cycle is on repeat and is uber annoying. At least I have a few hours a day of silliness and energy....
Hit the pool post work and got my taper swim in. Swimming felt FANTASTIC. Hit my times on the 100s set, 1:55, 1:52, 1:45, 1:41, 1:35...right on.
There was the beautiful man in the lane next to me doing the butterfly. Once I was finished with my swim I just sat and watched him. He must have had >10% body fat, he was so lean, arms and back looked like tightly weaved rope. Watching him swim was a phenomenal work of art.
I checked my phone before I left the gym and noticed I had missed a txt from my mom. She expressed how proud she was of me and how excited she was going to be at my race (first one she's been able to make it to all year). You know it's funny, the action she took was small, like a goldfish. Just a simple phone txt, but the result it had was Orca sized. Receiving that msg MADE my day.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Useless Sundays...they come into use
Taper has been driving me nuts. I think this taper has been much worse then my last. I’m lazy, lethargic and over uber fricking crabby. Upon waking this morning I had two goals. 1. Take my ass to yoga, 2. Go grocery shopping. Managed to do 2 but not 1. In fact after the morning shopping I found a pretty nice routine. Eat…cook a little, watch the Olympics, nap for 30-40 minutes….
Here a little sap shot of what I made
Baked French toast
Home made cereal (whole wheat bread w/out hfcs, toaasted with Splenda and cinnamon) – healthy version of cinnamon toast crunch really
Whole wheat enchiladas filled with brown rice, sweet potatoes, cheese and cilantro.
I continued to repeat this whole, eat, sleep cooking cycle 2 times before my friend Lindsay called. Just in the nick of time, she came and rescued me from my vortex.
So Lindsay and I had a lot of craziness in the afternoon delight. We started our little adventure off with a glass of red wine which turned into a few bottles.
How to end world muffin top? What is muffin top you ask? That is when you have consumed too much water and your Pillsbury dough roll hangs tantalizing over your sausage casing….(Lindsay is assisting in composing this blog…no she is talking to my my fish Oscar….dare to read on if you dare.)
Berry picking - This was quite the little adventure. We discovered we had a long lost desire to pick blueberries 30 minutes before the farm close. Lindsay strapped on her cape and flew (ok actually drove, but it was FAST) to the farm. Where we then raced to pick berries for the last 10 minutes that they were open. Shit you not, 5:00pm comes around and we’re told to leave….at first we thought we were in trouble. The lady yells at us “We’re not open for berry picking”….and my my semi-toxicated self replies “Can I least pay for what I picked?” Lmfao. Needless to say she allowed us to pay for the berries and go on our merry way.
Moi at the berry farm
Lindsay at the berry farm.
Vacuum sealed muscles….how we look post triathlons. We could easily create a 2am info commercial. Pre tri bloating…..post tri vacuum seal.
Then we go on to talk about letter decals for your nails…you can only have 5 letter words per appendage…go figure. We came up with….
Queen Bitch
Sluty Whore
Pasty Crack
Drunk Hussy
Oh my, you know where our mind is at.
Shared a bottle of wine called Rex Goliath; which was named after a famous 47 lb cock. In fact the picture of the cock was why we bought the wine.
Shitake mushrom soup with sourdough bread
Verne Troy has a sex tape? At last! Wonder how long it is, or how long it lasts? Ahahaha!
This blog is now over since we have ½ a bottle of wine let to finish…….this blog will explode,
Here a little sap shot of what I made
Baked French toast
Home made cereal (whole wheat bread w/out hfcs, toaasted with Splenda and cinnamon) – healthy version of cinnamon toast crunch really
Whole wheat enchiladas filled with brown rice, sweet potatoes, cheese and cilantro.
I continued to repeat this whole, eat, sleep cooking cycle 2 times before my friend Lindsay called. Just in the nick of time, she came and rescued me from my vortex.
So Lindsay and I had a lot of craziness in the afternoon delight. We started our little adventure off with a glass of red wine which turned into a few bottles.
How to end world muffin top? What is muffin top you ask? That is when you have consumed too much water and your Pillsbury dough roll hangs tantalizing over your sausage casing….(Lindsay is assisting in composing this blog…no she is talking to my my fish Oscar….dare to read on if you dare.)
Berry picking - This was quite the little adventure. We discovered we had a long lost desire to pick blueberries 30 minutes before the farm close. Lindsay strapped on her cape and flew (ok actually drove, but it was FAST) to the farm. Where we then raced to pick berries for the last 10 minutes that they were open. Shit you not, 5:00pm comes around and we’re told to leave….at first we thought we were in trouble. The lady yells at us “We’re not open for berry picking”….and my my semi-toxicated self replies “Can I least pay for what I picked?” Lmfao. Needless to say she allowed us to pay for the berries and go on our merry way.
Moi at the berry farm
Lindsay at the berry farm.
Vacuum sealed muscles….how we look post triathlons. We could easily create a 2am info commercial. Pre tri bloating…..post tri vacuum seal.
Then we go on to talk about letter decals for your nails…you can only have 5 letter words per appendage…go figure. We came up with….
Queen Bitch
Sluty Whore
Pasty Crack
Drunk Hussy
Oh my, you know where our mind is at.
Shared a bottle of wine called Rex Goliath; which was named after a famous 47 lb cock. In fact the picture of the cock was why we bought the wine.
Shitake mushrom soup with sourdough bread
Verne Troy has a sex tape? At last! Wonder how long it is, or how long it lasts? Ahahaha!
This blog is now over since we have ½ a bottle of wine let to finish…….this blog will explode,
Free time, a lot of it!
Enough with my mellow dramatic pity party. Who would I be wasting the night away getting drunk alone? Not Kat. Instead I took this new found free time and mental clarity and focused it on being productive.
After several weeks of neglect, my house is now spotless. It’s so clean I will extend an invitation to come eat off of my floors. Yes, I am as anal in my cleaning, as I am my training. I realized during this cleansing process I need to become a minimalist. I have way too much random shit. In my past life I had to have been a pack rat because I keep anything and everything. At the time I think it’s a good idea, movie ticket it here, menu there, beads from the county fair….you know all the random pieces of memories. In reality all these memories are in stored in my head and don’t take up physical space or clutter. So it would only make sense to make mental visits down memory lane and get rid of the random shit.
Worked on my resume tonight. Draft #1 is now done and it’s time to get A. Feedback and B. get in contact with my previous employment and references. The ball is rolling….
There is of course one company that would keep me in Oregon and that is Nike(personal dream company). I will make another attempt before I travel for any interview.
Researching states in which I’d possibly like to move and started a poll on my blogspot. If you get a chance cast your vote, also in you feel so inclined leave me a comment. I’d love to hear your thoughts.
San Diego, CA (father)
Dalles, TX (best friend)
Salt Lake City, Utah (sister)
CO, and any NE State, but more specifically I’m intrigued by MA, CT, VA, VT, PA….although I don’t really know anyone here, just friends met online.
Michael Phelps is amazing. Would love to have some one on one swim time with him….
Speaking of gold medal winners…..I get emotional watching the ceremonies. We are witnessing the best of the best. These athletes live their life to be the best at their chosen sport, in some cases multiple sports. Day in and day out they eat, sleep and live training. It takes an obscene amount of mental, physical and emotional dedication. So much is sacrificed for the win; so much to be respected and honored for.
Hulaman ½ Ironman Goals
Race day is one week today away. I have been giving a lot of thought to my many goals regarding this race, and here’s the breakdown
First and foremost I want a PR. 5:53 at Pac Crest. I’d like my ending time to fall within 5:35-5:50. Although will be happy with anything sub 5:53. Shooting for a sub 3hr bike 2:50-3 and a sub 2:00 run, 1:45-2:00. I’d also like to take a finishers placement in my AG, which is possible considering the turnout thus far looks to be small. I have a tendency to conserve on the bike…never going balls to the wall, at least at a HIM distance. I think I’m going to push my limits, If I don’t I’ll never know, right? I’ve also come to the conclusion that if I need to pee and I need to go bad enough it will just happen, on the bike or run…where ever, there is always baking soda right? A minute is a minute worth shaving. Recently found out the bike course has been torn up in spots. Repaving work in areas, which could easily provoke a flat. I will be ready….not only ready with tools but having my time goals flushed down the toilet. I am avid in taking the positive out of everything and my mental spirit will not be crushed.
Some people don’t think it’s a good idea to reveal race goals, gives competitors an edge or something. Blah, whatever. They have their goals, I have mine. Nothing they do is going to hold me back from achieving what I want….and if I can fuel someone else, so be it.
After several weeks of neglect, my house is now spotless. It’s so clean I will extend an invitation to come eat off of my floors. Yes, I am as anal in my cleaning, as I am my training. I realized during this cleansing process I need to become a minimalist. I have way too much random shit. In my past life I had to have been a pack rat because I keep anything and everything. At the time I think it’s a good idea, movie ticket it here, menu there, beads from the county fair….you know all the random pieces of memories. In reality all these memories are in stored in my head and don’t take up physical space or clutter. So it would only make sense to make mental visits down memory lane and get rid of the random shit.
Worked on my resume tonight. Draft #1 is now done and it’s time to get A. Feedback and B. get in contact with my previous employment and references. The ball is rolling….
There is of course one company that would keep me in Oregon and that is Nike(personal dream company). I will make another attempt before I travel for any interview.
Researching states in which I’d possibly like to move and started a poll on my blogspot. If you get a chance cast your vote, also in you feel so inclined leave me a comment. I’d love to hear your thoughts.
San Diego, CA (father)
Dalles, TX (best friend)
Salt Lake City, Utah (sister)
CO, and any NE State, but more specifically I’m intrigued by MA, CT, VA, VT, PA….although I don’t really know anyone here, just friends met online.
Michael Phelps is amazing. Would love to have some one on one swim time with him….
Speaking of gold medal winners…..I get emotional watching the ceremonies. We are witnessing the best of the best. These athletes live their life to be the best at their chosen sport, in some cases multiple sports. Day in and day out they eat, sleep and live training. It takes an obscene amount of mental, physical and emotional dedication. So much is sacrificed for the win; so much to be respected and honored for.
Hulaman ½ Ironman Goals
Race day is one week today away. I have been giving a lot of thought to my many goals regarding this race, and here’s the breakdown
First and foremost I want a PR. 5:53 at Pac Crest. I’d like my ending time to fall within 5:35-5:50. Although will be happy with anything sub 5:53. Shooting for a sub 3hr bike 2:50-3 and a sub 2:00 run, 1:45-2:00. I’d also like to take a finishers placement in my AG, which is possible considering the turnout thus far looks to be small. I have a tendency to conserve on the bike…never going balls to the wall, at least at a HIM distance. I think I’m going to push my limits, If I don’t I’ll never know, right? I’ve also come to the conclusion that if I need to pee and I need to go bad enough it will just happen, on the bike or run…where ever, there is always baking soda right? A minute is a minute worth shaving. Recently found out the bike course has been torn up in spots. Repaving work in areas, which could easily provoke a flat. I will be ready….not only ready with tools but having my time goals flushed down the toilet. I am avid in taking the positive out of everything and my mental spirit will not be crushed.
Some people don’t think it’s a good idea to reveal race goals, gives competitors an edge or something. Blah, whatever. They have their goals, I have mine. Nothing they do is going to hold me back from achieving what I want….and if I can fuel someone else, so be it.
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Sanity is escaping
Taper day 6 of 13....
Friday night was Carly's Bday and we celebrated it with watching the opening Olympics. Kyle made an incredible grilled pork loin and veggies which was followed up with not one, not two, not three, but four slices of cake! What? I had to try them all! They were small slices :) Chocolate with vanilla frosting, chocolate with chocolate frosting, Kyle's (Carly's Bday) velvet cake and lemon cheesecake. Let's also throw in 2-3 glasses of wine, hershey kisses (have to get kisses from somewhere!) and rejected jelly bellies....which all hurt my belly by bed time. Opening Olympics were phenomenal. Did you guys catch that massive LCD screen? Incredible. My favorite was the sideways dancers on the globe...the flying girl with the kite was pretty cool too!
Saturday - 32 mile EASY bike ride and Dim Sum with friends.
Now when I say easy, I seriously mean easy. We rode out 12 miles out for Chinese Dim Sum and rode 20 miles back. Don't think my HR ever went above 130, which means I was in a constant fat burning zone which we all know I need after reading what I ate last night ;)
Kudos to Crystal for throwing together a great morning/afternoon with friends and showing us how Dim Sum is done. It was my first experience and I was really impressed. Usually Chinese food creates havoc on my insides....but not this time. The food was really light and clean. We mostly had simple starches either steamed or boiled combined with proteins. A few fried pieces here and there but nothing heavy. My favorite was a tie between the green beans and duck. I was kind of dreading the ride back...thought the food would not agree with the bike. But have no fear, good quality food meant a good quality ride home....with of course GREAT friends.
Followed up ride with a 2 hour nap......
And now I am officially going nuts. I've ate a ton of food in the last 24 hours and I feel lethargic. I REALLY want to go swim or run...but I can't. Grrrrrrr!
By mind and body have way too much energy. I'm feeling depressed and seriously just want to to sit on my sofa with a GIANT bottle of wine and watch the Olympics all night long....which will probably happen. AGH!!!!!!
Friday night was Carly's Bday and we celebrated it with watching the opening Olympics. Kyle made an incredible grilled pork loin and veggies which was followed up with not one, not two, not three, but four slices of cake! What? I had to try them all! They were small slices :) Chocolate with vanilla frosting, chocolate with chocolate frosting, Kyle's (Carly's Bday) velvet cake and lemon cheesecake. Let's also throw in 2-3 glasses of wine, hershey kisses (have to get kisses from somewhere!) and rejected jelly bellies....which all hurt my belly by bed time. Opening Olympics were phenomenal. Did you guys catch that massive LCD screen? Incredible. My favorite was the sideways dancers on the globe...the flying girl with the kite was pretty cool too!
Saturday - 32 mile EASY bike ride and Dim Sum with friends.
Now when I say easy, I seriously mean easy. We rode out 12 miles out for Chinese Dim Sum and rode 20 miles back. Don't think my HR ever went above 130, which means I was in a constant fat burning zone which we all know I need after reading what I ate last night ;)
Kudos to Crystal for throwing together a great morning/afternoon with friends and showing us how Dim Sum is done. It was my first experience and I was really impressed. Usually Chinese food creates havoc on my insides....but not this time. The food was really light and clean. We mostly had simple starches either steamed or boiled combined with proteins. A few fried pieces here and there but nothing heavy. My favorite was a tie between the green beans and duck. I was kind of dreading the ride back...thought the food would not agree with the bike. But have no fear, good quality food meant a good quality ride home....with of course GREAT friends.Followed up ride with a 2 hour nap......
And now I am officially going nuts. I've ate a ton of food in the last 24 hours and I feel lethargic. I REALLY want to go swim or run...but I can't. Grrrrrrr!
By mind and body have way too much energy. I'm feeling depressed and seriously just want to to sit on my sofa with a GIANT bottle of wine and watch the Olympics all night long....which will probably happen. AGH!!!!!!
Friday, August 8, 2008
Friday - Recovery Spin
Taper day 5 of 13
Avg HR 152
4:30am, attempt to jump out of bed. Mother of God, my glutes and ribs feel bruised. WTF? Why or how did this happen? Oh yes, PILATES. Hit the spin bike at 5am for a 90 min easy recovery spin all with a little help from my good friend Mr. Coffee Bean. Over the course of 90 mins not one person got on the bike next to me. I wonder if the small version of the great lakes forming around my bike scared people off? Oh well, rocked out to the Ipod and read another edition of Inside Triathlon. Taper is going really well. My body feels like it is recovering and I'm growing really antsy....wanting to push the limits but knowing that I need to restrain. I was thinking about pain and it has been far too long since I've enjoyed my masochistic side. The small beast is forming.......but I'll keep her caged until race day.
BTW....Hot flashes....another reason I HATE being a girl.
Avg HR 152
4:30am, attempt to jump out of bed. Mother of God, my glutes and ribs feel bruised. WTF? Why or how did this happen? Oh yes, PILATES. Hit the spin bike at 5am for a 90 min easy recovery spin all with a little help from my good friend Mr. Coffee Bean. Over the course of 90 mins not one person got on the bike next to me. I wonder if the small version of the great lakes forming around my bike scared people off? Oh well, rocked out to the Ipod and read another edition of Inside Triathlon. Taper is going really well. My body feels like it is recovering and I'm growing really antsy....wanting to push the limits but knowing that I need to restrain. I was thinking about pain and it has been far too long since I've enjoyed my masochistic side. The small beast is forming.......but I'll keep her caged until race day.
BTW....Hot flashes....another reason I HATE being a girl.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Taper day 4 of 13
Thursday - Run/Form work
1 mile moderate run to track
5 min stretch
25 min drills - Ass kickers, Strides, Side Strides, Bounds
1 mile expedient run home
Hehe, this was hard. It's always hard getting the HR between 170-180 FIRST thing (5:15am!)in the morning. I haven't done drills for a few weeks for risk of over stressing my calf. My legs have felt good for the last 2 weeks so I thought a nice short drill workout during taper would be good. Keep my fast twitch muscles memory in check.
60 min Pilates at lunch
Walked in as a stick figure and walked out as a Gumby. Damn those human clams hurt my glutes. My Pilates instructor feels herself up during class...I find this odd.
Open Water swim in the Willamette...
Supposedly the Willaemette River is cleaner then Blue Lake & Klineline. I wasn't feeling like the normal 60-90 min sit in gridlock today so I opted to join the other crazy triathletes for a swim in the city river. Glad I did for a few reasons. First and foremost I got to meet a few new faces....always a good thing. Second, got out of my open water comfort zone. Klineline has felt like my local pool for sometime now so it was nice to have a different change of pace. Still didn't experience open water shock but swimming against the current was a nice challenge to face. Wait did I say nice? I hit the Morrison Bridge in an effortless 14 mins....that is too fast and easy for me. Ah shit, this is going to be line Marine Drive, going back I would be facing the current. I didn't really notice it at first. Reality hit me when I was stuck between the Morrison and Hawthorne Bridge, I kept swimming yet the Hawthorne Bridge was never getting closer. WTF? I really had to kick it up a notch to make any head way. I ended at 30:20.....ugh added an extra 2:20 coming back, sure seemed a lot longer to me. The best part was trying to get my dead weight of a body out of the damn river and onto the dock. First attempt, failure. I was then offered an ever so kind helping hand, which of course I politely declined. Second attempt, failure. WTF? I hate how my upper body strength as deteriorated over the season. It was at this point that I made a clear decision to get out of the water, had to rest a good 60 sec to let my HR go back down before tri'ing though. Aha! 3rd times a charm. This baby sealed propelled herself out of the water. Ok, maybe I didn't exactly propel, I mean that would signify great strength which obviously I didn't have, but I thought it sounded cool :) so go with me here. I look at my HR max, 178, never from swimming, but actually getting out of the water. Awesome! All in all I had a good swim. Enjoyed the waves and the beautiful view of our city.
Can you believe I'm thinking of moving away from this?
I tested out my sweat rate this morning. 132.2 starting weight. Drank 4-5 oz of water with a PowerGel (200mg of sodium). Went out and did 40 minutes of run training...came back and weighed myself again. 130.6 = >1.6lbs. I took this data to PowerBar.com and their nifty little calculator figured in a need 35 fluid oz per hour. Now this was only 40 minutes of exercise and the test says do 60, but my intensity was a lot higher then it normally is. Also, the testing was done at 5am, it a nice cool 60 degrees out. That's a whole lot of fluid to consume during an hour of running. Not sure I could ever put that much down, on the bike yes....but running?
BTW, Powergel Double Latte is not a good flavor. Ugh
As I start taper for a HIM I also taper down my caffeine to one cup off coffee per day and not use it in my training supplements. For some reason seem to think detoxing it from my body and then loading up on race day gives me extra UMPH. The question is does it really have that affect or is it a mind trick? Well I'll find out because today I hook the caffeine IV back up. I MUST have energy!
1 mile moderate run to track
5 min stretch
25 min drills - Ass kickers, Strides, Side Strides, Bounds
1 mile expedient run home
Hehe, this was hard. It's always hard getting the HR between 170-180 FIRST thing (5:15am!)in the morning. I haven't done drills for a few weeks for risk of over stressing my calf. My legs have felt good for the last 2 weeks so I thought a nice short drill workout during taper would be good. Keep my fast twitch muscles memory in check.
60 min Pilates at lunch
Walked in as a stick figure and walked out as a Gumby. Damn those human clams hurt my glutes. My Pilates instructor feels herself up during class...I find this odd.
Open Water swim in the Willamette...
Supposedly the Willaemette River is cleaner then Blue Lake & Klineline. I wasn't feeling like the normal 60-90 min sit in gridlock today so I opted to join the other crazy triathletes for a swim in the city river. Glad I did for a few reasons. First and foremost I got to meet a few new faces....always a good thing. Second, got out of my open water comfort zone. Klineline has felt like my local pool for sometime now so it was nice to have a different change of pace. Still didn't experience open water shock but swimming against the current was a nice challenge to face. Wait did I say nice? I hit the Morrison Bridge in an effortless 14 mins....that is too fast and easy for me. Ah shit, this is going to be line Marine Drive, going back I would be facing the current. I didn't really notice it at first. Reality hit me when I was stuck between the Morrison and Hawthorne Bridge, I kept swimming yet the Hawthorne Bridge was never getting closer. WTF? I really had to kick it up a notch to make any head way. I ended at 30:20.....ugh added an extra 2:20 coming back, sure seemed a lot longer to me. The best part was trying to get my dead weight of a body out of the damn river and onto the dock. First attempt, failure. I was then offered an ever so kind helping hand, which of course I politely declined. Second attempt, failure. WTF? I hate how my upper body strength as deteriorated over the season. It was at this point that I made a clear decision to get out of the water, had to rest a good 60 sec to let my HR go back down before tri'ing though. Aha! 3rd times a charm. This baby sealed propelled herself out of the water. Ok, maybe I didn't exactly propel, I mean that would signify great strength which obviously I didn't have, but I thought it sounded cool :) so go with me here. I look at my HR max, 178, never from swimming, but actually getting out of the water. Awesome! All in all I had a good swim. Enjoyed the waves and the beautiful view of our city.
Can you believe I'm thinking of moving away from this?
I tested out my sweat rate this morning. 132.2 starting weight. Drank 4-5 oz of water with a PowerGel (200mg of sodium). Went out and did 40 minutes of run training...came back and weighed myself again. 130.6 = >1.6lbs. I took this data to PowerBar.com and their nifty little calculator figured in a need 35 fluid oz per hour. Now this was only 40 minutes of exercise and the test says do 60, but my intensity was a lot higher then it normally is. Also, the testing was done at 5am, it a nice cool 60 degrees out. That's a whole lot of fluid to consume during an hour of running. Not sure I could ever put that much down, on the bike yes....but running?BTW, Powergel Double Latte is not a good flavor. Ugh
As I start taper for a HIM I also taper down my caffeine to one cup off coffee per day and not use it in my training supplements. For some reason seem to think detoxing it from my body and then loading up on race day gives me extra UMPH. The question is does it really have that affect or is it a mind trick? Well I'll find out because today I hook the caffeine IV back up. I MUST have energy!
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Taper day 3
Wednesday - 90 min "easy" spin, Avg HR 150
There's not much to report. I sat on the spin bike for 90 mins keeping an easy to moderate heart rate while reading the latest and greatest edition of Triathlete magazine.
I'm starting to get annoyed with these one a day short or low intensity workouts. Blah. My tummy also hurts
There's not much to report. I sat on the spin bike for 90 mins keeping an easy to moderate heart rate while reading the latest and greatest edition of Triathlete magazine.
I'm starting to get annoyed with these one a day short or low intensity workouts. Blah. My tummy also hurts
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
I've got plenty of lemons
Warm-up 250
6 x 50 drills; A-Ok, First, Claw; rest 10
4 x 50 Fins; rest 10
4 x 50 paddles; rest 10
4 x 50 boyie; rest
6 x 200s, rest :20 between each.
#1 & #4: be speedy on the first 100, then swim easy (positive split)
#2 & #5: be speedy on the middle 100 (even split)
#3 & #6: be speedy on the last 100 (negative split)
100 easy.
Warm-down
25 x 5 wall pushups
50 x 5 wall pushups
50 x 5 wall pushups
50 x 5 wall pushups
50 x 5 wall pushups
25 x 5 wall pushups
Total yardage 2700
Ever just have one of those days? Today was one of them. The day seemed to get worse by the hour. I think I have become invisible. For some reason my boss decided not to include me on important emails, found out I wasn't apart of the company email distribution list, excluded from the complex BBQ (maybe I'm getting fired soon), hit 4 times during my swim session and then was ignored by the fuel attendant. The dill hole refueled 3 cars that arrived after I did before even acknowledging I was there. I thought swim would help my work annoyance, but it didn't. Goggles were leaking a 1/3 of the way into the swim before I could get the seal to work. Managed to get water up my nose twice during flipturns....that hasn't happened in a long time. Some stupid girl swimming the backstroke ran in to me 4 times! Not once, not twice...but 4 ****ing times. The first few just annoyed me, after the third I messed up my flip turn and happened to kick her. Hurt my foot but it was well worth it. I know, I know, shame on me....oh well. My swim finally started to feel good at the end of the 200 splits, but by then it was pretty much over. I think I've been invisible all day.
But when life throws you lemons Kat makes lemonade.
Always ending on a positive note.
I found my long lost resume. I thought I lost it when my laptop took a dive and I realized I couldn't archive my email further then two years back....but then searching Monster I realized I had it saved. THANK God. I had one bad ass resume created by my the HR director of my last company, it would SUCK trying to replicate it. So all I have to do is freshen it up a bit. This was the ONE good thing that happened all day and it was a VERY good one. I've been contempt with my job for sometime. It's not my dream career and the company is less then to be desired...IMO. BUT it has allowed my to fundraise and train like crazy for the last 2 years, and with dedicating the first 6 years of my work life to 8-12 hour days, no vacations and basically working my tail off to get promoted every 6 months.....I needed a break from work stress. So that's where this lackluster job came in. It pays me well and allows me to do what I love (outside of work) but it serves no purpose and this has been bothering me for some time. My co-worker brought up a good point, he asked why I don't pick up all my **** and move. I've never traveled anywhere far, just close states CA, WA and NV. Secretly I have a fear of using the airplane bathrooms, so I try to limit my flights to 2 hours. But his comment ignited a fire from within. I really don't have anything holding me down here. I'm single and young and still have plenty of time to see the world. So why not do it now? Why not pack it all up and move somewhere out of my comfort zone? If I was able to get through half the crap I did growing up I could surely handle this right? Taper has come at the right time. I'm going to take my new found time to redo my resume and start sending it out to CA and the East Coast. It's time to see what my possibilities are. If anyone is in need of a BUYER or PLANNER keep me in mind
6 x 50 drills; A-Ok, First, Claw; rest 10
4 x 50 Fins; rest 10
4 x 50 paddles; rest 10
4 x 50 boyie; rest
6 x 200s, rest :20 between each.
#1 & #4: be speedy on the first 100, then swim easy (positive split)
#2 & #5: be speedy on the middle 100 (even split)
#3 & #6: be speedy on the last 100 (negative split)
100 easy.
Warm-down
25 x 5 wall pushups
50 x 5 wall pushups
50 x 5 wall pushups
50 x 5 wall pushups
50 x 5 wall pushups
25 x 5 wall pushups
Total yardage 2700
Ever just have one of those days? Today was one of them. The day seemed to get worse by the hour. I think I have become invisible. For some reason my boss decided not to include me on important emails, found out I wasn't apart of the company email distribution list, excluded from the complex BBQ (maybe I'm getting fired soon), hit 4 times during my swim session and then was ignored by the fuel attendant. The dill hole refueled 3 cars that arrived after I did before even acknowledging I was there. I thought swim would help my work annoyance, but it didn't. Goggles were leaking a 1/3 of the way into the swim before I could get the seal to work. Managed to get water up my nose twice during flipturns....that hasn't happened in a long time. Some stupid girl swimming the backstroke ran in to me 4 times! Not once, not twice...but 4 ****ing times. The first few just annoyed me, after the third I messed up my flip turn and happened to kick her. Hurt my foot but it was well worth it. I know, I know, shame on me....oh well. My swim finally started to feel good at the end of the 200 splits, but by then it was pretty much over. I think I've been invisible all day.
But when life throws you lemons Kat makes lemonade.
Always ending on a positive note.
I found my long lost resume. I thought I lost it when my laptop took a dive and I realized I couldn't archive my email further then two years back....but then searching Monster I realized I had it saved. THANK God. I had one bad ass resume created by my the HR director of my last company, it would SUCK trying to replicate it. So all I have to do is freshen it up a bit. This was the ONE good thing that happened all day and it was a VERY good one. I've been contempt with my job for sometime. It's not my dream career and the company is less then to be desired...IMO. BUT it has allowed my to fundraise and train like crazy for the last 2 years, and with dedicating the first 6 years of my work life to 8-12 hour days, no vacations and basically working my tail off to get promoted every 6 months.....I needed a break from work stress. So that's where this lackluster job came in. It pays me well and allows me to do what I love (outside of work) but it serves no purpose and this has been bothering me for some time. My co-worker brought up a good point, he asked why I don't pick up all my **** and move. I've never traveled anywhere far, just close states CA, WA and NV. Secretly I have a fear of using the airplane bathrooms, so I try to limit my flights to 2 hours. But his comment ignited a fire from within. I really don't have anything holding me down here. I'm single and young and still have plenty of time to see the world. So why not do it now? Why not pack it all up and move somewhere out of my comfort zone? If I was able to get through half the crap I did growing up I could surely handle this right? Taper has come at the right time. I'm going to take my new found time to redo my resume and start sending it out to CA and the East Coast. It's time to see what my possibilities are. If anyone is in need of a BUYER or PLANNER keep me in mind
Planning….Getting lost in the future
Planning….Getting lost in the future
The subject line topic is vague; I guess that describes my train of thought lately. I have so many things on my mind, so many wants and desires and am really not sure which path I want to go on. I really need to stay focused yet I have often found my heads stuck up in the clouds as of lately. My disposition keeps changing.
*Ironman has weighed heavily on my mind. Less then 3 weeks from now I will have signed my life over to training for the next 10 months, all to build up for that one glorious day. It’s really a scary concept. Hours on end of swimming, biking and running, a lot of one on one time all alone (honestly that is where all my fear lies). I was conversing with a friend about it last night and he just laughed out loud. “Kat, you have already signed your life over to training….” And gave me a *WTF are you are afraid of?* look. He brought up a very good point. I have given up most of my outside life to train before dawn, train at lunch and why the hell not, train at night. I have found this is the love of my life and it completes me. But with all relationships you have these lines you have to walk to make them successful, I guess this is where my fear comes from, finding the balance. I can’t keep a guy around for more then a week or two, managing something this intense for so long will be one of my biggest challenges. I expect some heat ache here and there.
*Now I need to address equipment and knowledge. I’m questioning getting a coach. I can’t afford one but I really want to see strong progression in the next year. Ideally I’d like to start getting AG placings and not sure if this can be done on my own. I’m also not sure about what kind of coaching I would like. I can be a bit difficult to deal with as I rebel or challenge against much that is thrown my way. Often I feel like a bull (stubborn at times, yes me) and the coach is my Matador trying to strategically kill me.
There is only one person whom I think I have enough trust to train me to be the animal I want to be. I just don’t know if I should ask him for help or try to wing this adventure on my own. On to the topic of new equipment. I want a fricking power meter BAD. So bad I’ve been dreaming about them at night. Visions of wattage data dancing in my head. Ugh, it’s driving me nuts! I can’t justify dropping $1-2 grand right now, so if anyone knows where I can get one used hit your girl up. Along with a power meter I want a new bike this fall/winter (which I’m looking at dropping $2-$3k new or used in good condition). I haven’t pin pointed which bike I want, I’m still putting research. I do know it will be a tri bike with a double compact cassette. I’m tired of struggling up hills in my standard double and am sure during an IM my legs would appreciate the compact. Not sure if I want to stick with carbon or go with aluminum. I have carbon now and I love how light my bike is, only because I have limited muscle to get it in and out of my car. Cadence is uber stiff, I feel every bump in the road and my *womanhood* is not too pleased with that. I also want to go with high end Dura Ace components. Cadence has an Ultegra rear and 105 front derailleur; she has a tendency to argue with me when shifting. This could be stupid human error….regardless I’d like a smoother shifting transition. I’d also like to stick when a men’s model. My torso is long and the women’s bikes don’t feel like I get enough expansion. If anyone has feedback on what bike to look at or points of interest that I should consider please let me know, would love to hear feed back. Off season. Yes, I am already thinking about it, I told you I think too far in advance. So I’m not sure how to go about this. I’d like to keep my run endurance up while continuing to work on my swim efficiency and power (cross your fingers for that power meter) on my bike. BUT I know I have to give my body a rest or I’ll probably die in the middle of next season. This year has been difficult enough with 2 HIM’s and a marathon on the racing schedule, training for 9 months on end. So really where should my focus be from Nov-Dec?
I was going to get into my desire for a new car, the battle I’m having with choosing a much needed new car or my first home, moving all my shit to some state I’ve never been to and starting over, the status of my father and the trials and tribulation my family has had over the last 5 days (what a fucking nightmare), my endless desire for food and my new found boredom with taper. I guess I’ll leave these topics to be their own blog at a later date since I have so much new time on my hands. Is it time to swim yet?
Sunday, August 3, 2008
A new PR for me
Sunday - 20 mile LSD run - 1st of 2,3 leading up to the PDX Marathon
Today was my longest run to date. Clocking in at 20 miles in 3:08:30. I am REALLY happy and surprised by this run. Saturday night someone stole my attention and I ended up staying up a little too late. Usually I require a solid 8 hour sleep for a feel good workout, somehow I managed by with 6. I also slept poorly, it was hard to sleep with my attention being elsewhere.....and I woke up with a really sore back. So a few things to cause concern. To help alleviate the concerns I started the day off right with a double shot of espresso and some vitamin I (Ibuprofen) followed up with a big breakfast of multi grain pancakes, pb, sliced banana's all drizzled over in agave nectar. Spent a good 45 minutes on Pilates and rolling out my legs.
It was rather brisk this morning, IDEAL running weather. Started out nice and easy and ran the first 10 miles with Darrell, Devin and Nicole. The route was a 2 loop course from bridge to bridge circling the inner city. For the most part it was flat and easy, but did have a few small bumps (hills) here and there. Having never done 20 miles before and my longest on the road being 14 or 15 I was unsure of how I would feel post run. Would this be easy then the 18.75 mile trail run I did a few weeks back OR would it be harder? There was no shade, it's too loops so the scenery is the same which could cause boredom, and running on the road using the same foot pattern over and over and could easily break the body down quicker. The unknown was intriguing yet scary at the same time. We hit the first loop and Nicole and Devin run off for H2o and refueling. Darrel and I opt to continue to keep running so our legs wouldn't lock up. By mile 13 I've kept my HR between 135-145. This is REALLY low for me. It's a good thing but at the same time I was itching to go. I knew I only had 7 miles left so I could push it a little more, Darrell and I departed and off I went. As I take off I think "Damn, should have brought the Ipod", but then I think it was a good thing not having it. I could pay more attention to my body form and energy levels. The last 7 miles flew by much faster then I had anticipated. Energy levels stayed high thanks to Power Gel caffeinated fueling Gels. Mmmm, strawberry banana. I wish they'd come out with more flavors. There are really endless possibilities and I think they only have 6-8 flavors to choose from. I need more variety, my palate gets bored after awhile. Anywho, back on to running. I hit the Hawthorn bridge and it dawns on me, I only have a little over 2 miles to go and I feel great. Hot Damn! Who knew? Not this girl, that's for sure. I finished my first 20 miler at 3:08:30, avging something around a 9:25 min mile, avging 151 HR. I also never hit that wall....must be after 20 this happens. But really when that happens all I have to do is tell myself I have a 10k to go. 10k's are my easy recovery days, I can always do one of those. This run made me REALLY happy. A sub 4 hour marathon should be in the bag.....as long as I'm smart with the rest of my training. The question is come marathon day should I aim for a 3:40? Based off my 1/2 marathon time this is achievable and it's my age group Boston Qualifier time, although I have no interest in running Boston. I guess it's something for me to ponder after my 1/2 ironman. Which by the way means that as of right now I am officially in taper. WooHoo! It's been a long 4 weeks of building. I welcome the rest.
Today was my longest run to date. Clocking in at 20 miles in 3:08:30. I am REALLY happy and surprised by this run. Saturday night someone stole my attention and I ended up staying up a little too late. Usually I require a solid 8 hour sleep for a feel good workout, somehow I managed by with 6. I also slept poorly, it was hard to sleep with my attention being elsewhere.....and I woke up with a really sore back. So a few things to cause concern. To help alleviate the concerns I started the day off right with a double shot of espresso and some vitamin I (Ibuprofen) followed up with a big breakfast of multi grain pancakes, pb, sliced banana's all drizzled over in agave nectar. Spent a good 45 minutes on Pilates and rolling out my legs.
It was rather brisk this morning, IDEAL running weather. Started out nice and easy and ran the first 10 miles with Darrell, Devin and Nicole. The route was a 2 loop course from bridge to bridge circling the inner city. For the most part it was flat and easy, but did have a few small bumps (hills) here and there. Having never done 20 miles before and my longest on the road being 14 or 15 I was unsure of how I would feel post run. Would this be easy then the 18.75 mile trail run I did a few weeks back OR would it be harder? There was no shade, it's too loops so the scenery is the same which could cause boredom, and running on the road using the same foot pattern over and over and could easily break the body down quicker. The unknown was intriguing yet scary at the same time. We hit the first loop and Nicole and Devin run off for H2o and refueling. Darrel and I opt to continue to keep running so our legs wouldn't lock up. By mile 13 I've kept my HR between 135-145. This is REALLY low for me. It's a good thing but at the same time I was itching to go. I knew I only had 7 miles left so I could push it a little more, Darrell and I departed and off I went. As I take off I think "Damn, should have brought the Ipod", but then I think it was a good thing not having it. I could pay more attention to my body form and energy levels. The last 7 miles flew by much faster then I had anticipated. Energy levels stayed high thanks to Power Gel caffeinated fueling Gels. Mmmm, strawberry banana. I wish they'd come out with more flavors. There are really endless possibilities and I think they only have 6-8 flavors to choose from. I need more variety, my palate gets bored after awhile. Anywho, back on to running. I hit the Hawthorn bridge and it dawns on me, I only have a little over 2 miles to go and I feel great. Hot Damn! Who knew? Not this girl, that's for sure. I finished my first 20 miler at 3:08:30, avging something around a 9:25 min mile, avging 151 HR. I also never hit that wall....must be after 20 this happens. But really when that happens all I have to do is tell myself I have a 10k to go. 10k's are my easy recovery days, I can always do one of those. This run made me REALLY happy. A sub 4 hour marathon should be in the bag.....as long as I'm smart with the rest of my training. The question is come marathon day should I aim for a 3:40? Based off my 1/2 marathon time this is achievable and it's my age group Boston Qualifier time, although I have no interest in running Boston. I guess it's something for me to ponder after my 1/2 ironman. Which by the way means that as of right now I am officially in taper. WooHoo! It's been a long 4 weeks of building. I welcome the rest.
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Saturday morning Ride
Another morning I woke up at 5 am. Ate what I like to called The Breakfast of Champions On The Go - A whole wheat tortilla coated in PB, Agave nectar wrapped around a banana. Sooooo good. Hoped on Cadence and rode her out to Hillsboro and back rounding off 34 miles in 1:44, avg'ing 19.5 mph. Kept my HR low, avging 148. Realized before the ride my favorite pair of yellow glasses were broken so I put my black ones in my back pocket, which happened to fall out upon riding on a crappy road and were instantly smashed by a car, double oh well....time to by another pair. My bike also consisted of an interesting conversation between a bunch of lama's. Well it was mostly me doing the talking but they appeared interested as they galloped to the edge of the fence as I rode by. An idiot drive happened to yell at me "Move Over" as I was riding close to the edge, not in the car lane but off to the side of the white line. I thought to myself, "Where would he like me to ride? Off into the side of the ditch?" What a **** stick.
Friday, August 1, 2008
2 days in Recap
Thursday
Noon - 60 minutes Pilates
*We had a sub which was good, it helped switch things up a bit and I learned some new hip flexor and calf stretches. She also killed me on one legged planks. I was fortunate to sit across from a UBER HOT guy with phenomenal abs, yes I looked every time he lifted up his shift to wipe away the sweat from his face. He knew damn well what he was doing. Ugh.....it's been too long.
Evening - Open water swim
5 loops around Klineline - approx 2500-2700 meters.
First loop was blah, I felt slow and was attacked by several sticks and debris. Freaked me out a bit. I think it just took me a while to wake up from my 45 minute power nap I took on the grass before hand. Got to love Kat naps.
Second loop was good, my stoke felt strong, body roll went fluid and breathing was solid and in control. 3rd loop, uh oh, not enough body glide, I feel my suit chaffing my side pretty bad, but stop now? No. Loop 4 and 5 felt just as strong as 2 and 3. Ended swim in just over an hour. I was right about the chaffing, my suit rubbed my side raw....it still hurts.
Went home, showed gross lake water off and went right to bed...must run in the morning.
Friday morning - 10k Tempo run
10 min easy
4 min stretch
6 min easy
13 1:30-2:00 intervals (HR 175-184, drop to 164 recovery and repeat)
53 mins; 8:30 avg
5:00am, beep, beep, beep. Oh no....I'm tired...don't want to get up....must get up....don't want to.....must. Alas, I'm up. I'm tired. As I'm sleep walking I preset my coffee maker, get dressed, sucked down a Power Gel....body glide the hell out of my chaffed side and run out the door. Oh this is nice, running is not as bad as I had thought. I take the first 10 minutes nice and easy, then stop and get my stretch on. The workout was to do a 20 minute tempo. I had doubt this would be possible, I've had a long week...but thought I would give it a tri. Well I did and 2 minutes in I said **** it. I was tired....and pushing it for 20 minutes straight through was not going to happen....so I went back to easy. Along I go and start thinking an easy pace is not really fun either. So I opt to do short intervals. Yes I know for long course short intervals are really not going to benefit me much but I don't care, after I realized the 20 min tempo was not going to happen I turned this training run into Kat's Fun Run. So off I went, 1:30-2:00 min high aerobic intervals pushing threshold. I'd get my HR up to 178-183, hold it for 90-120 sec and the drop my gear down to 164bpm and repeat. I think I was sleep running as I none of it felt real and my mind was completely somewhere else. At first the 180s hurt, felt like I was in a nightmare and I couldn't run fast enough to get out. After a few of them I longed for the high HR. I pushed and when I hit it I'd want to hold it longer...making the pain the fatigue last just a tad bit longer then the last.....this didn't last long as my recoveries started to take longer to get my HR down. Finished off with a sprint to my doorstep. Checked my pace when I got home, easy and warm up included I avg'd 8:32, same pace I hold at tempo on that course. It was nice to see that I wasn't as slow as my fatigue had lead me to believe. The coffee was REALLY nice to come home to.
July EOM Recap
10 recovery days/ 21 training days = 30% off (raced HIM end of June)
Swim 10:04:30 hours; 29,306 approx yards = 16.65 miles 23% of hours to total
Bike 20:34 hours; 329.9 miles 46% of hours to total
Run 13:42 hours; 84.46 miles 31% of hours to total
8 Hours of Pilates
Total
52 hours 20 mins
431.01 miles
Noon - 60 minutes Pilates
*We had a sub which was good, it helped switch things up a bit and I learned some new hip flexor and calf stretches. She also killed me on one legged planks. I was fortunate to sit across from a UBER HOT guy with phenomenal abs, yes I looked every time he lifted up his shift to wipe away the sweat from his face. He knew damn well what he was doing. Ugh.....it's been too long.
Evening - Open water swim
5 loops around Klineline - approx 2500-2700 meters.
First loop was blah, I felt slow and was attacked by several sticks and debris. Freaked me out a bit. I think it just took me a while to wake up from my 45 minute power nap I took on the grass before hand. Got to love Kat naps.
Second loop was good, my stoke felt strong, body roll went fluid and breathing was solid and in control. 3rd loop, uh oh, not enough body glide, I feel my suit chaffing my side pretty bad, but stop now? No. Loop 4 and 5 felt just as strong as 2 and 3. Ended swim in just over an hour. I was right about the chaffing, my suit rubbed my side raw....it still hurts.
Went home, showed gross lake water off and went right to bed...must run in the morning.
Friday morning - 10k Tempo run
10 min easy
4 min stretch
6 min easy
13 1:30-2:00 intervals (HR 175-184, drop to 164 recovery and repeat)
53 mins; 8:30 avg
5:00am, beep, beep, beep. Oh no....I'm tired...don't want to get up....must get up....don't want to.....must. Alas, I'm up. I'm tired. As I'm sleep walking I preset my coffee maker, get dressed, sucked down a Power Gel....body glide the hell out of my chaffed side and run out the door. Oh this is nice, running is not as bad as I had thought. I take the first 10 minutes nice and easy, then stop and get my stretch on. The workout was to do a 20 minute tempo. I had doubt this would be possible, I've had a long week...but thought I would give it a tri. Well I did and 2 minutes in I said **** it. I was tired....and pushing it for 20 minutes straight through was not going to happen....so I went back to easy. Along I go and start thinking an easy pace is not really fun either. So I opt to do short intervals. Yes I know for long course short intervals are really not going to benefit me much but I don't care, after I realized the 20 min tempo was not going to happen I turned this training run into Kat's Fun Run. So off I went, 1:30-2:00 min high aerobic intervals pushing threshold. I'd get my HR up to 178-183, hold it for 90-120 sec and the drop my gear down to 164bpm and repeat. I think I was sleep running as I none of it felt real and my mind was completely somewhere else. At first the 180s hurt, felt like I was in a nightmare and I couldn't run fast enough to get out. After a few of them I longed for the high HR. I pushed and when I hit it I'd want to hold it longer...making the pain the fatigue last just a tad bit longer then the last.....this didn't last long as my recoveries started to take longer to get my HR down. Finished off with a sprint to my doorstep. Checked my pace when I got home, easy and warm up included I avg'd 8:32, same pace I hold at tempo on that course. It was nice to see that I wasn't as slow as my fatigue had lead me to believe. The coffee was REALLY nice to come home to.
July EOM Recap
10 recovery days/ 21 training days = 30% off (raced HIM end of June)
Swim 10:04:30 hours; 29,306 approx yards = 16.65 miles 23% of hours to total
Bike 20:34 hours; 329.9 miles 46% of hours to total
Run 13:42 hours; 84.46 miles 31% of hours to total
8 Hours of Pilates
Total
52 hours 20 mins
431.01 miles
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