Tearing me down

Sleep did not happen. I woke up coughing all night. Finally at 5am I got up and decided to hit the gym for a short swim and a long session in the steam room. Short was putting the swim mildly, I was only able to throw out 1k y. It was pathetic. I couldn't breath to save my life. I couldn't do more then 300 at a time. I'd stop at the wall gasping for air....this, with no effort. The steam room felt good until I was about to pass out.

I only made it an hour into work. I couldn't focus and felt like I had a boa constrictor wrapped tightly around my chest, squeezing the air out of me. I went home.

Emergen-C

Zicam

Cough drops

Ibuprofen

Netty pot

Gargle with salt water

Chicken broth with red pepper flakes

Repeat x10 - yea, that's my day

My mom hooked me up with peppered turkey soup and some bomb ass almond cookies. They had to be good considering it's the only thing I've been able to taste. Have I mentioned previously that I have one of the best mothers in the world?

I'm slowly producing a mass colony of phlegm babies. They've decided to hold my lungs hostage. I think they are in cahoots with the cold/hot sweats aka fever. I'm fearful of falling asleep as I think that may give them the opportunity to take over. After my first nap I awoke to a 101 degree temp and my chest feeling as it had been trampled by a heard of elephants. My back is uber sore and feels like some one has thrown me up against the wall - and not in the good way. My sanity comes and goes. I'm growing restless and bored. This is going to be a very long, depressing weekend. Maybe I'll go buy a fifth of Crown and waste the next two days away in my bed. Dear Fever and Phlegm Gods, I give up. You win.

Obstacles shall not stand in my way- I'll jump over them

"When you get to the end of the rope, tie a knot and hang on" - Franklin D. Roosevelt

Yesterday's little fiasco commuting in and home pretty much had me at my wits end. Oregon's crap-tastic weather has really started to beat me up on my rides. I don't like riding in 40 degree side ways rain. Who does? And really, I could deal with the first flat. But then getting another on the way home....that was the last straw. I was so ready to kick the S^&$ out of Feltalia and call her every name in the book, yet somehow I didn't. I didn't want my commuting to work to come to an end. Deep down I knew it was going to happen sooner than later. But now was not the time. When my commuting ends I will be the one who ends it, not a stupid ^%#&$ flat tire.

When life throws you rotten lemons you make some sweet a$$ lemonade. This morning I told Feltalia to go F%^# herself. I strapped on my camelback of work clothes and fuel (food) and ran my tail to work and back.

AM Run into work - 6.5 miles 8 min avg rockin my oh so pretty Newtons.

The run into work felt great. Running in 40 degree rain is much better than biking IMHO. I stopped in the rain puddles as if I were a 5yr old kid again, trying to make the biggest splash. The water was cold on my feet but that was temporary as I was running in Smartwool. Wool has to be the best fiber known to man. It gets wet yet keeps me warm. I ran across a wooden bridge and a man ran across my mind. This man keeps running around up there. I wonder if he just doesn't know where the exit is. I suppose I'll keep it hidden as I'm enjoying it.

PM Run home - 6.5 miles 8:10 min avg rockin my Brooks.

Ugh, the was not pleasant. By the afternoon I had grown pretty tired. I kept trying to re-energize with Starbucks. I think that did more harm than good. I'd get highs and really low lows. The caffeine dehydrated me and cramped my tummy. My body didn't feel good running for the first 30 minutes. I felt slooooooow. I felt better at the end. I contribute that to knowing that the end was near. I was sure my pace had fallen off. I felt like I was running 9-10 min avgs. When I checked my time at the finish I had only ran :10 more per mile than my morning run. Perception's any interesting thing.

On another note - I really like my room mate. She's a f^$%ing hoot!

Pssssshhhhhhhh

AM Spin - 75 mins

15 min warm up

15 x 1 min Z5 intervals avg 230w/ w 2:00 floats

15 min cool down

http://tpks.ws/ECHj

Max watts 360/avg watts 154

Max HR 186 (pukey)/ avg HR 170

Bike commute in - 45 degrees. Fricking cold. I got a flat tire two miles away from work, I rode it in.

Bike commute home - maybe 50 degrees - another flat tire not even half way in. WTF?! I had inspected the tire when I changed it at lunch. Grrrrrr. As I attempt to change the tube I break off the stem on the new tube. %$#$%&!!! Now I'm stuck with a flat 4 miles from home. I have no walking shoes, only my bike shoes and the heels I brought to work. My bike light decides to die and it starts to sprinkle. I swear the world is pissing down on me. Luckily my room mate answers the phone and is able to rescue me from hell.

I think I'm done with commuting for awhile.

Hiatus

from blogging creativity and training motivation

*The move just about killed me. Scratch that - several Four Loco's, apple infused vodka, three flights of stairs and picking up endless heavy boxes just about killed me.

*3 much needed days off from training of any sort - motivation was gone.

*Kat naps instead of sleep within a duration of 48 hr is NOT enough.

*You know it's going to be a long move when the boys crack open a beer the first U-Haul trip in. To be fair their were only 2 trip involved. Dave took the smart route and left quickly, but still had to "tri" the Four Locos

*Jesse was introduced to Four Loco's, I don't think she'll be going back.

*The boys were running around with my wigs on and Halloween was still a week away.

*I can feel my lungs through my back when I breathe, I don't believe this is a good thing.

*I learned the definition of D.A.D.S - don't ask

*I have one bad ass spin/training room.

*My room is uber Feng Shui

******************************

Today I finally felt back to normal. Woke up early to get my pilates in, followed up with a run.

AM run - 60 mins - 7 miles /8:20 avg

Brrrr, it was a chilly 44 degrees this morning. Lucky for me the rain stopped as I started running. It felt good to run yet hurt at the same time. It was nice to be out before dawn. Running while people are just waking up, eating their breakfast and drinking their coffee. My legs felt light and free flowing, my lungs on the other hand felt encapsulated. The cold air was restricting. My lungs burned as did my core temp. I over heated. I was dressed adequately. My heart was forced to work much harder due to the winter like weather. As it painfully burned I embraced it with a smile.

First day bike commuting from the new place. It's now twice as far to commute. Sure 6.5 miles is not that far but it feels like much more with training 1.5-2+ hours a day. Round trip I'll be getting 50-60 mins in. We'll see how long this will last as day light savings time hits and the "real" Oregon winter rolls around. I can handle some harsh conditions but am a bit of a scaredy Kat when it comes to biking in the dark and rain. I think I'll opt for running to and from work 1-2 days a week instead of biking. I managed to luck out and get dry commutes today.

And on a completely random topic.....

Someone has stolen my heart. I think they may be holding it for ransom.

500 repeats

AM Swim

6 x 500s; 60 rest - PE - moderate

8:30

8:28

8:31

8:35

8:30

8:31

I was consistent, that is all

Running around my mind

AM Run-ning down the yellow brick road..or the concrete road paved with dead leaves. Autumn in Oregon is freaking beautiful, even on the cold, gray days.

PE - Easy 9.2 miles - 6.1 - Brooks Adrenaline/ 3.1 Newtons

PM Run -

PE- Moderate/Challenging - 3.1 miles 7:25 min/avg - Newtons

The moderate/challenging is a little misleading. This run was not muscular challenging. At the clip I was going at it should have been. But alas, I think this is another indicator that my form is changing and I am becoming more efficient. It wasn't really changing on the cardiovascular system either. I was sweating a lot and at points I would feel tired BUT my lungs never burned and I never felt like I was gasping for air. Maybe next time I'll push myself harder.

In all honesty I need to take my tail back down to the track and do a 20 minute time trial to figure out my pacing. Ugh, that scares me so.....but it must be done, sooner than later.

I'm tired, good night moon.

Make it BURN

AM Spin - 90 mins

15 min warm up - 125-140 watts

Drills

2 x 1:00 high cadence spins w/;30 floats - 210w/102 rpm; 203w/ 99 rpm - %^##%$#$%!!!!!!

4 x 1:00 one legged drills (these suck ass)

2 x 1:00 high cadence spins w/;30 floats - 206w/98 rpm; 212w/ 102 rpm - ^&%^$$%#$#*!!!!!

Big Ring work

3 x 15 min 55-60rpm; 5 min floats - 173w, 163w, 163w - as you can see my power is WAY down. I'm down 14-19% over 3 weeks ago. I'm sure this is a result from being sick last week.

Evening Swim - Courtesy of Vince

Warm up

1 x 500

40x50 Main Set
• 16x50 as 1 Fast, 3 Steady (x4); all on 5s rest
• 12x50 as 1 Fast, 2 Steady (x4); all on 10s rest

W/ Paddles

• 8x50 as 1 Fast, 1 Steady (x4); all on 15s rest
• 4x50 as all Fast; all on 20s rest - :38-:40's (F%^#en A my arms burn. Damn you Vince!!!!)

Cool Down

1 x 300 - felt like heaven after those damn paddles

Total yardage = 2800

Swim was hard but felt really, really good. I felt like I made up for some of the lack of power from the bike in the morning. Since my upper body was on fire I decided to ignite my mouth with uber hot Tom Yum recovery soup. Burn baby burn!

Neglectful blogging

Highlights, lowlights and everything in between

*Why am I still going to bed at 9pm on a Friday night?
*Jessie I think your mom might out do my mom :) hehe, but we will see
*I think I'm finally on defrost mode, we'll see how long this lasts
*Stuffed mushrooms, fruit salad and oh-so delish wine
*I am really excited to move in with my future room mate!
*2 hours on the damn in-door trainer. Why does 10 minutes feel like an hour? *sarcasm font applied here* Oh how I'm looking forward to winter in-door biking!
*Breathless, in a way I wasn't expecting
*Boxes, boxes and more boxes, I despise packing
*I'm so over LOST. Netflix finally hooked me up with Weeds season 4. Why am I addicted to corrupted suburbia?
*I suppose Mark, you're right, if I wasn't going to eat it in 06 I'm probably not going to eat in 09
*Tom Yum soup is the Bomb!
*30 minutes waiting for a damn pool lane line. Try putting your head in the water lady, and keep it there
*One can look like an ugly duckling yet be treated like a beautiful swan
*A smile says so much without saying anything
*Got my tail handed to me in the pool....damn Ironmen
*Why do my pen and tape go hiding when I start packing?
*IMCDA - possible? Please say so :)
*Dum, dum, dee, dum, dum, dum, dee, dum, dum - Coach or no coach? Still have not come to a conclusion
*I recently had one of the best dates in the last several years
*I love running through the morning mist of the forest; surrounded by red, orange and green foliage.
*I finally made it to Papa Haydn's. Their chocolate /vanilla cheesecake is pure utopia.
*My run stride is finally changing. I really want to start up barefoot running again. My feet are just not looking forward to cold track pavement. Eh, what doesn't kills us makes us stronger, right? Or develops frost bite.
*They're here ladies and gentlemen - Pumpkin Spice MAN-CAKES
*Listening to my friends and co-workers race experiences, future goals & desires inspire me. It also makes me feel oh-so blessed to be surrounded by such awesome people
*4 hours of sleep is not enough to function right
*My Zoot Ultra NanoShell Jacket came in today, along with a pair of compression socks. Woot! Woot! or Zoot! Zoot!
*I believe I may have finally met my match......tbc


This Sunday I'm going to RUN like Hell for a 10k in costume - taking shots every hour. Who's with me?

Value

"It is not good for all our wishes to be filled; through sickness we recognize the value of health; through evil; the value of good; through hunger the value of food; through exertion, the value of rest" - Dorothy Canfield Fisher

Yesterday I got the extra R & R I needed. I'm still not 100% but my internal spark came back and inspired an AM run.

6.1 miles - PE - easy /8:30 avg
This run puts my Newton's at a ripe age of 21 miles. I extended my last run in the shoes by 1.5 miles. It's the first run I've had in them that I didn't feel the need to ice after. My shins started with pain but this has been the norm. 10-20 minutes of discomfort and then all is eliminated. My wings expanded and I soared above the ground. I was soaring at a slow pace but that didn't matter - flying is flying :)

I've thought a bit about naming my Newton's. I've never named a pair of shoes and frankly find it a little silly. This is coming from a girl that names each of her bikes. Why do I think naming shoes is different then naming a bike? I couldn't tell you. Maybe because I "ride" the bike I find it to be more personal. Who knows. Anything that gives me as much satisfaction as these shoes do should have a name. It's something I suppose I'll ponder over my soup dinner with my mama tonight. Maybe she'll come up with a good name.

Of course I could just be bias. I'm smitten over the shoes, but possibly more smitten by the boy that gave me the shoes. :)

TSF - should not be ignored

After too much it all finally hit me....I have bad luck/IE cursed and I'm sick :(

I should have paid more attention to my training journal - starting from my second week post IM, brings me to 6 weeks and I've only had 5 off days. Not to leave out;

**I did Vegas w/work

**Bike commuting to work in crap-tastic weather cold and side ways rain

**Have been known to drink myself silly on more occasions than I care to remember, or could for that matter

I can't account for the bad luck, eh...shit happens, right? But I shouldn't have neglected my TSF - Training Stress Factors.

During the season I am on schedule - 3 week build, followed by one week extra rest and recovery days. Shouldn't the "off" have more rest days than then "on"? The answer is yes.

A little extra rest time and I'll go back to the drawing board.

Still have yet to settle on a coach....

Still not sure if I want one

Still not sure that I need one, although looking at this blog post it should be clear I do.

:( eh

Woke up feeling like S^&$- swollen lymph nodes and fatigue. I decided to try to burn/sweat the illness out with a spin session.

AM Spin - 70 mins
15 min warm up
12 x 1 min max effort (consistently stayed between 220-240 watts); 2 min floats between 130-150 watts
15-20 min cool down

http://tpks.ws/BbJh

As the day grew on my fatigue grew on. Things are not good. I have to see the doc in the morning :(

Hot, Hot Mary with a little sideways wind..... please

Yesterday was a much needed recovery day. I convinced a few friends to check out the Haunted Corn Maize at Sauvie's Island. I completely botched that up by not checking the hours of operation. They had closed by the time we got there :( Instead of getting arrested on the island for trespassing(I have enough arrests) we opted to get our drink on. Our options as Mark would point out were
*N. Po Dive
*N. Po Mcmennamins
*N. Po Dive with pool tables
*N. Po High-End Dive (what?)
*N. Po Dive
*N. Po Mcmennamins
N. Po Dive w/pool tables was the consensus- how it not be? If we can't get scared by a haunted corn maize, drunk college kids, society rejects mixed in w/ Boyz N The Hood was going to have to do. We went to the Twilight Room. As I always say - everything happens for a reason. I got to experience the BEST damn bloody mary! I think the bartender put in 2 tbsps of horseradish in each drink! Each sip made me cringe with hot delight. The spicy/devilious endorphins whispered sweet nothings in my ear - Drink another. So I did! A plate full of greasy food was next on the agenda, yet to my surprise it was not greasy. Again - BEST turkey sandwich and cajun onion rings EVER. The turkey sandwich was grilled on wheat bread coated with Dijon mustard and filled with spicy pepperjack cheese, pepperoncini's, tomatoes and turkey. Mile high turkey! I ended up sharing 1/2 my sandwich with Baier who shared 1/2 of his amazing cajun onion rings. The onion rings were hand battered in a tempura base, they were so light and crispy. My tummy was in a spicy, gluttony heaven. At one point I felt a little guilty. I did not need to drink or eat such poor nutritional food choice. But that was quickly diminished when I reminded myself "I'm on my off season!" When in Rome....OR N. PO :)

Tuesday - AM run
Much to my surprise I had no issues getting up at 5:30 to get my Pilates on. Post Pilates I headed out into "storm of the century" for another run to break in my Newtons. The weather was something fierce. 45 degrees and massive side ways rain. I don't know how I didn't end up getting blown over. I experienced an incredible high 20 minutes in. I opted to run listening to music - this is rare. Etta James "At Last" came on. Now, all that know me know I'm not a girly girl. I don't care for sappy love songs. BUT "At Last" is MY song. I turned to run up a good mile incline. The rain was pouring hard and I was running straight into a wall of the wind. I felt like Casper the ghost was trying to push me backwards. And I hear
"At laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaast
My love has come along
My lonely days are over
And life is like a song"
yadayadayada. My "love" for running. The avg person does not go out and "run" in this type of weather. It's the passionate, the devoted, the love stoned that are willing to face mother nature when she is being a Queen B(*%!(. I finished another Newton break-in run 4.5 miles later /8:30 avg - I was frozen to the bone.

My high quickly came down when I choose to ride Feltalia into work. Apparently I wasn't thinking much. Biking in sideways rain is much more difficult than running. I wish I had put my power meter on because I was pushing some serious watts.

The ride home was better. Windy, yet dry :), it started to rain as I rolled up to the door step.

Evening swim - Objective - strength building

10 min defrost in the sauna

All effort done at 80-90%

1 x 500 warm up - 8:05

1 x 300 paddles

2 x 25 - kickboard

1 x 150 buoy

repeat 3 x

--by the third set my lats and triceps ached

1 x 500 interval - 100 hard/ 50 easy/100 hard/50 easy/ 100 hard/ 50 easy/50 hard

Cool down

1 x 200 - easy

Total yardage - 2700

10 min cool down in the sauna

An autumn weekend

Saturday - My last Century of the Year
Harvest Century 103.24 miles

I talked my buddy Mark into joining me for this *little* ride. Around mile 90 we both came to a consensus that I'm an idiot.

Mile 1-16.5
Sucked serious a$$, We wanted to start early as to not ride with the masses. This meant departing around 7am when it was a bone numbing 38-40 degrees. I had wool socks with adhesive Little Hotties, cycling shoes and neoprene bootie covers. My hands had wool glove liners, more Little Hotties followed by another wind blocking glove. I lost feeling to all my extremities within the first 5 minutes. I think the worst part was frozen face. There were times I thought I lost my nose. I'd find it only to shoot out a massive snot rocket from the never ending snotfall I was producing. Luckily my core stayed pretty warm with a Craft baselayer Luna L/s Jersey and a Sugoi wind blocking jacket.
Mark had his own issues with the cold. The beginning of the ride was by far the worst.

Mile 17-40
The sun had now been out for awhile. We had been riding for awhile. Temperatures started to rise, this was a very good thing. This block of mileage came with a lot of fun rollers. This is the third year in a row I've done this century. This year they reversed the route. It was really nice to hit those rollers early on and not have to deal with the normal massive afternoon headwind in Yamhill county.

Lunch! The event was fully supported which included a lunch stop. I was considering drinking my malto for the entire duration. BUT when tempted with REAL food a normal person will eat REAL food....so I devoured 1/2 a sandwich, yummy trail mix, a cookie here and there and an AMAZING chocolate caramel candy. Mmmmmm.

Mile 40-70
Lunch bit me in the tail. I have a few problems eating real food with riding. First would be digestive. I am slow and lethargic while my tummy works on breaking down the yummy goodness I had just consumed. Do you know how hard it is to ride aero while digesting? Do you know how many watts you can conserve riding aero? It was a B$%@ to have to sit up for the next 20 minutes, The other downside is the highs and lows of real food. The first 10-20 mins I was slow due to digesting. Then I got a massive sugar high that lasted all but 15 maybe 25 minutes. Then I got my LOW. Lows suck.

Mile 70- aid stop - Canby Ferry
I think riding the Ferry is the #1 selling point for this ride. It's so much fun and the climb up and off the Ferry is AWESOME. Maybe 1/4 of a mile straight up. A lot of people fall off their bike or have to walk it, that's rather amusing to watch. This aid station also had chocolate milk. Who doesn't drink chocolate milk on a ride? Here's a pic of Mark and I before we got on the Ferry


Mile 71-83
Afternoon was upon us and it was now pretty warm out. I tossed the Hotties, jacket, bootie covers and the wind blocking gloves. The base layer would have gone if I had an extra pocket. Mark was kind enough to carry my booties. This section was pretty non-eventful, just more miles to ride into.

Mile 83-103
We stopped at the last aid station for sugary goodness. Along the stop we ran in my friend April and her gf Melissa. We decided to the ride the last part together. That ended up not happening as somehow Mark and I pulled away after 5 or so miles. We decided to ride the end easy. Well actually the whole ride was done at an easy pace or watts should I say. But during the end fatigue was starting to hit both of us pretty hard and easy was now becoming difficult. I should have stuck to my malto plan because the highs and lows I got at the end sucked serious a$$. Around mile 94 I started to get dizzy and shaky. The wind had picked up and I felt out of control in aero; yet sitting up took too much energy to deal with. I sucked down some more malto which helped get me out of my dark spot. Around mile 96 we were both is a world of fatigue misery. We focused on the positive to enjoy the last bit of the ride. It was a beautiful day out and we were no longer cold. Due to the weather changing this would be the last long ride out doors until next Spring. We appreciated riding into the sun and actually going somewhere...instead of spinning for hours on end in a small claustrophobic room.

103.24 - THE END - Which came with a delicious BBQ hamburger and a piece of pumpkin pie! April and her friend finished shortly after. Recovery came with good food and good friends.

Ride data
103.24 miles - 6:16:10 ride time
Max speed 38.2/avg speed 16.7
Max HR 173/ Avg HR 145
Max watts 384 (this is messed up because my power tap was in sleep mode when I climbed up off the Canby Ferry. Grrrr), Avg normalized watts 154 (how was almost 10 watts higher than my IM race?! I was taking it much easier, or at least felt like it), Avg watts 131

The rest of the evening I followed Kona on Ironman.com while downing 2 bottles of Cliff Bar wine (I had help:)) - good stuff! Yes, you two will look lit after riding 103 miles and several bottles of wine.

Big ups to Chrissy Wellington for breaking the woman's Kona record and doing so with her notoriously big smile. Craig Alexander rocked the big island winning IM Kona for the second year in a row. Amazing performances!

Sunday - 2 hour LSD run on the Wildwood Trail

Mile marker 18.5 - 6 miles in - 1/2 way turn around. 12 miles/ 10 min avg
The run was much more difficult then it should have been. I was a bit surprised that my legs felt fine. It was my energy that suffered. I was tired. A century ride and several bottles of wine the day prior was not supportive of the run. My upper GI had issues as the red wine decided to come up for the duration, ugh. Lungs didn't feel so hot either. I have yet to adapt to running/cycling in 40-50 degree weather. The only saving grace was running Wildwood. I may have felt crappy but I stayed happy as the view was phenomenal and sounds of nature were uplifting. I love my city!

Swim, bike, run...all in a days work

1 x 500 warm up

Drills
1 x 200 - 50 a-ok/50 fist/50 karate/50 sprint;15
2 x 25 kickboard (I hate these! I suppose they're good practice since I don't kick to save my life); 15
6 x 50 - 25 one arm catch up/return 25 high elbow finger drag; 5
1 x 200 - 50 a-ok/50 fist/50 karate/50 sprint;15
2 x 25 kickboard; 15

Main Set - ascending ladder
4 x 100's - first 75 easy/last 25 hard - avg 1:47-1:48 ;10 rest, ;15 on the last
4 x 100's - first 50 easy/last 50 hard - avg 1:42-1:43- ;10 rest, ;15 on the last
4 x 100's - first 50 easy/last 50 hard - avg 1:38-1:39- ;10 rest, ;15 on the last (Ick, starting to feel tired, recoveries are not long!)
4 x 100's - first 50 easy/last 50 hard - 1:35 every time! ;10 rest, ;15 on the last (this last set of 100s was fricking hard! My body was tired, going forward was mental. I just keep telling myself "High bent elbow, strong core, pull down hard, recover - repeat, repeat, repeat." Oh yes, and on the occasion "BREATHE!"

Cool down
1 x 500

Total yardage 3400

The ride into work was F^$*ing cold. I lost feeling to my face. It took a good 2-3 hours before I could feel my nose again. I think I'm going to have to invest in one of those Hannibal Lector masks.

Post work run - another opportunity to break in my Newton's. I can't wait until I hit "said" mileage to do real runs in these bad boys. 4.5 miles - 36 mins/ 7:50avg - PE easy. I felt like I was running in slow motion. Not sure where the 7:50s came from. I'll take it and shall not complain.

Slim Shady

Breaking in my Newton's....
Another 3.1 mile easy run into the sunrise. Since my runs are usually much longer in the AM, I have grown used to running in the darkness only to see light at the end. Today was different. I didn't start running until 6:50am. The sky was brightly lit up by the moon. Within 20 minutes it changed to a light pastel watercolor as the sun peaked it's beaming head through. Ah, sunrise.

Evening fun run-
Tonight I took part in the Fit Right NW First Thursday (2nd for the this month only) run. For 60 minutes you're supposed to run to misc locations and pick up tickets for the post run raffle. I ran with my friend Joe and his buddy Matt. It was a pretty casual affair, for the first 20 minutes or so we stuck in this slow-go congested mess. We decided to take the more "challenging" location and ran up to Vista to the Japenese Rose Gardens...this handed me my ASS, no doubt! Going up was difficult but coming down was much worse, it was VERY steep and it hurt my shins. An easy run out through NW made my legs feel much better. The run event was pretty cool. Not so big on the post-after party. For the next 30-45 minutes people parlayed down in the beer garden as the raffle went down. There really wasn't much reason for me to stick around. My friends opted to partake in the beer festivities (I didn't blame them) which left open and exposed in the meat market. I don't know what's wrong with me. I'm in my "dating season" yet I wasn't feeling anyone around me and there were some cute boys. I just got this weird feeling of "fakeness" from those I spoke to. I think people try to play themselves up too much, spit too much game and or name drop. Really? I don't care who you know or what you've done.....just be real. Will the real Slim Shady please stand up?
Ugh, maybe if I set up some kind of competitive goal to my "dating season" I'd invest more into it. Honestly it feels like too much work.... Maybe that's why I signed up for a century this weekend instead of hitting the nightlife. Priorities Kat, priorities.

Oh well, another early night in bed...I do have a 6am date with the water.

Spinning and swimming into vertigo

90 min Spin

15 min easy warm up - avg watts 148
2 x 1:00 100+ rpm spin w/ :30 floats- avg watts - 245
4 x 1:30 min one legged spins - this s^$( is hard!
2 x 1:00 100+ rpm spin w/ :30 floats- avg watts - 229

3 x 15 min big ring 55-60 rpm w/5 min flats - avg watts 1- 200, 2 - 197, 3 - 199 - Ugh, 3rd on was getting difficult

Max HR 175/ Avg HR 159
Max watts 285/ Avg watts 176 - 60 min avg 190


Aftermath - 1.8 lbs light = not enough sodium

Work has been so crazy busy I swear I've lost my mind.

Theraputic post work stress swim

Evening swim workout courtesy of Vince, thanks!

1 x 400 easy; 15
4 x 100 steady; 10
4 x 50 descend; 5
1 x 200 Easy

Main Set
1,000 y - 16:50 - 1:41 avg
Look to Build the swim very gradually.
Overall goal is the distance, not the pace.
This workout is about training your mind as much as your body.

2 x 200 - steady; 10

1 x 100 easy cool down.

Total yardage - 2,700

Normally 1k yards wouldn't be much mental training. I'm one who likes to day dream while swimming. It was tough due to caloric deficiency. I ate a lot today, but I trained at harder intensities then I'm used to (morning spin) and I trained a lot. Spin, bike commute to and from work and then swim. I got dizzy during the 1k. I took the pace at what felt easy, yet 1:41 avg is usually pushing it a bit for me. Remember I do 100's at 1:35 give or take 2 sec. Then again I'm a better swimmer when fatigued. I'm less mechanical.

Turn Off The Lights

AM Swim

1 x 500 - warm up

Drills
2 x 25 kickboard
1 x 250 buoy
1 x 100 sprint
2 x 25 kickboard
1 x 250 paddles
1 x 100 sprint
2 x 25 kickboard
1 x 250 buoy
1 x 100 sprint
2 x 25 kickboard
1 x 250 paddles

Main Set
1 x 200 - first 100 hard/last 100 easy (positive split); 10
1 x 200 - first 50 easy/middle 100 hard/last 50 easy (even split); 10
1 x 200- first 100 easy/last 100 hard (negative split) ; 10
repeat 1 x

Cool down
1 x 100

Total yardage - 3300
I need new swim workouts/challenges.

Post swim my time was limited. I had to race my car home from the pool. Grrrr, stupid traffic! Then race my bike to work. It was a clear and chilly 41 degree ride! The ride home was a nice 65 degrees, which would have been comfortable if I wasn't over dressed from the morning ride. I sweated like a roasting pig at a luau.

Once I got home I decided to try my new Newton's out for a quick little run around the block.
3.1 miles - 25 mins 8 min/avg. The Newton's felt identical to my barefoot runs - I was free flying.

Finished the night off with more packing. I hate moving, but I hate Godzilla who lives in little Tokyo above me.

Curiosity - kills the Kat

What girl doesn't like to shop?
This girl! I hate it almost as much as I hate doing laundry.
I'd like to hear from you - what is it you look for in a coach?
No, not a handbag. A coach as in a mentor. I need someone who is going to be able to hand me my ass and do it with enough authority and tack that I will listen and respect them.

I'm curious -
*Does your coach have to be "faster" than you? Or just show results of improving an athlete's times?
*For multisport - Do you choose someone that excels in your weakness? Or look for someone that balances all three equally?

There are many choices and options. Researching and interviewing is taxing. If I'm shelling out a monthly car payment to have someone tell me what to do it needs to be the right person. I need to find a light at the end of this long ass tunnel.

On to my next question. To cut my hair or not to? I ask myself this once or twice a year. I've always had long hair....except for when I was a kid, then I was fat and looked like a marshmallow. Round little kid with an uber blond bowl haircut, yea, I was a marshmallow on the spot. Times have changed and I'm no longer fat, thus I could pull off a short hair cut. But then I think about how women cut their hair to feel young again and end up regretting it. I already feel young, I don't need to loose my hair for that. I also don't need the "short" old women look either. I suppose I'm just bored.

Marathon Day!

And I was sooooooooooooooo happy I wasn't running it.

I spent the early morning biking around the Portland Marathon course with Jess and her mom, stopping and cheering for the boys - Mark, Scott and Daniel. I met Mark around mile 18-19 with whom I ran with for awhile and then ended the last 7 miles running with Scott. All 3 men gave great effort and should be proud of their accomplishments under said circumstances, I know I'm proud of them.

Fun/or just odd highlights of the day -
*Am I really awake at 3am? More coffee, NOW
*Talking with Jess's mom about triathlon, it's always inspiring to hear about your elders rockin' triathlon.
*The pee/ water bottle incident outside of Starbucks...ewwww, followed up Vaseline and the scone...ewwww!
*Racing around from check point to check point.
*Voodoo doughnuts and Stumptown coffee, mmmmm
*Running!
*Mark and Scott dancing during the run around mile 19-20
*See'ing friends along the marathon course
*Running the last 7 miles with Scott
*Mocha
*Hearing about all my friends finishes - what a day!
*Fire On The Mountain raspberry and habenero hot wings

Way to go to all my friends rockin the marathon - Mark, Scott, Daniel, Joe, Dave, MaryJane, Diane, Cat, Scott and Meredeth - you all are awesome.

********************
Today was an easy 9 mile recovery run. The DOMS from Thursday are finally going away. Today was day 10 in a row for me. I figure I should take tomorrow off and all my energy to rebuild.

DOMS, make them go away!

Who gets up at 5:15 for a swim on a Saturday morning? This girl!
AM swim

10 min sauna - I work up uber stiff. I was still stuck with DOMS. I hoped warming up in the sauna would help.

1 x 500 warm up

Drills
2 x 25 kickboard
4 x 50 - one arm catch up 25/return 25 high elbow finger drag
2 x 25 kickboard
1 x 200 - 50 a-ok/50-fist/50 karate/50 free
2 x 25 kickboard
1 x 200 pull buoy
2 x 25 kickboard
2 x 100 easy

Main Set
3 x 500s - moderate 8:30s

Total yardage - 3000
10 min cool down sauna - Not sure if the sauna helped or not as my body HURT the whole swim, mostly in the lats and chest. Stupid pushups and attempts at pull ups.

Shortly after....
AM Bike Ride
2 hrs
28.5 miles - 2500+ ft elevation gain
Max HR 175/ Avg HR 145
Max Watts 351/ Norm avg watts 164/ avg watts 133

Oy, it was cold this morning! I lost feeling to my toes quickly :( My body was pretty stiff for the first part of the ride but managed to loosen up as miles went by. The climbing was a nice change. I was able to work my quads (probably the ONLY muscle group that did not hurt) and give my calves and hamstrings a bit of a break. Luckily I had a great riding partner to take my mind away from the ramped up fatigue and massive soreness.

I'll have to re-think this whole crossfit/track stuff. I feel it is taking me too long to recovery from. The pain and high amount of fatigue I am not so keen on.

At some point in the day I turned into this....

I was sober, yet I can't explain it. I think in a prior life I may have been a mexican wrestler. .....hmmm, what would I have called?

Pain is weakness leaving the body...

Or is it?
I didn't sleep at all last night. Well I initially fell asleep but was rudely awaken by twitchy calves 90 minutes later. I tossed and turned for about 2 hours before I decided to get up and do something about it. I drank some warm milk with a magnesium supplement and put on my Zoot compression socks. Back to sleep I went. My legs calmed down for the next couple hours but my mind wouldn't rest, I still felt hyped up from the evening track session. I now remember why I avoid any high intensity workouts other than swim in the evenings.

After a pathetic 3 hours of solid sleep I opted to get up.

5:15am
75 min recovery spin - goal/lactic flush
Max HR 152/ Avg HR 142
Max watts 179/ Avg watts 141

My lats started to burn on the bike, but my calves started to feel much better. I opted to bike commute to work. I later regretted this as DOMS sunk in like a mother^&$^er by 2pm. I started my pimp lean as my tail hurt too bad to to walk straight. At some point I think my rear end turned into a rock, as it was not pleasant to sit upon. The pernicious burn in my lats was amplified by my coffee tumbler stabbing me through my messenger bag. Really? Can't I get a break? Ah yes, the showers had stopped, the sun was shinning and I hit all green lights on the way home. I get home and am greeted by these bad boys -


Newtons :)

I was able to end the night with a smile.

Burn baby burn

Today was my first time at the track since Lord only remembers when. The track has this way of making me sick. It will set on a fire of fear and make me feel like a coward. I will dread the "date" that takes place on recycled running shoes and white lines for hours prior. Then at some point I'll suck it up and do what has to be done.

Since I haven't done speed work since I fractured my fibula I decided to "go easy" and not hold myself accountable to unrealistic time expectations. My pre injury track workouts would consist of drills followed up with 800 or 1600 repeats. I could pull out 8 x 800s at 3:30s and 4-5 x 1600s at 7:10-7:15s with 1-2 min floats. I know I can hit that, today just wasn't going to be the day....so instead I did this

10 min warm up - 1.25 miles

20 min barefoot run - 2.5 miles PE - easy. I freaking LOVE running barefoot. I feel so free, I feel like I'm a kid again. I truly think it is the best feeling in the world.

45 mins of drills
Side strides
Long strides (which is a lot of work for me since I have NO stride what so ever. My buddy and I were talking about this, I think we're in agreement that I can blame it on my 29 inch inseam. I have short limbs people!)
Bench Steps
Pull ups - oh wait, that was FAILURE because I'm a weaka$$, no upper body strength what-so-ever
Lunges (ouch!)
Bench Dips
Push Ups
Tail kickers
hmmmm, am I missing anything?

Upon completion my calves started to ache. They were telling me to stop, so I listened. Iced on the car ride home as I sunk my limp body into my toasty heated seats.

Foam roller tonight and expecting DOMS tomorrow morning-mid/day. I think I'll start the morning off right with an easy recovery spin. Lactic flush at its best!