Ice, Ice baby

There was a common theme for my week – ice! No, I'm not injured. I'm just trying to do everything anything possible to stay healthy. This includes stretching for 5-15 mins 3- 4 a day. The time I spend

stretching and icing IMO should be counted as training, it's over an hour per day I say!

Tuesday AM – 75 min bike

Z2 steady – trainer. More reading! I recently bought a Kindle. I'm hoping this is easier to read on the trainer then a hard backed book. It should sit nicely on my new aerobars.

Tuesday PM

15 mins of core strengthening

Swim 3800yds

200 pull; 100 kick; 200 pull

12 x 50 - 25 catch up fist/25 free; 10 rest

2 x 200 buoy & paddles; 30 rest

Main Set

4 x 500 descending; 1 min rest

(8:11; 8:00;7:52; 7:49)

c/d 300 pull

Holy Moly! The 500s descending were a challenge!

To keep the workout lighthearted I leave with this question – If one synchronized swimmer drowns, do all the rest have to drown too?

Wednesday AM – No workout :)

Sleep in until 6:30am!

Wednesday PM – LSD trail run un

75 mins / 8.8 mi

This week's LSD run went a lot better then last week. Maybe it's because I had good company? I started out at a MUCH easier pace and was able to finish faster and stronger then I had started. This is my goal for all my long distance swim/bike/run workouts. Fuel belt worked better this time and I did not end up with a fat lip. I was able to get down one serving of malto. The concentration felt pretty good. Although, I'm not fond of the sweetness from my sugar free Hawaiian Punch. I'm going to try a vegetable broth base for the run as well. Hmmmm, or maybe a salty chocolate? I figure that I'll need something different for the bike and run.

I think my running mate my have previously been a part of Cirque Du Soleil. How he managed to fully change clothes, while driving a huge truck (I could make a bad joke but I'll refrain :)), while following my speed demon tail is beyond me. Kudos to you Aaron, and thanks for the run company. Next time lets work on your pacing ;) The longest you'll ever need to last is 90 mins! LMAO!

Post run we met up with my roomie and got sushified!

Thursday AM

10 mins of core strengthening

Swim - 2400yds

w/u 200p , 100k (:20 hard/:20 easy) 200f

Main Set

6 x 150 (20r) - desc 1-3, repeat ---

6 x 100 pull (15r) - desc 1-3, repeat ---

6 x 50 (10r) - desc 1-3, repeat ---

c/d – 100

OMG this was hard! I am NOT a fan of swimming fast first thing in the morning.

I spent the afternoon with my lats pressed against the chair holding up an ice pack.

Thursday PM - Bike 90 mins - tempo

35 mins @ Z2

2 x 10 min Z4 with 10 min easy spin between

Finish mid Z2

“Develop an attitude of gratitude, and give thanks for everything that happens to you, knowing that every step forward is a step toward achieving something that is bigger and better than your current situation.”

I thought about this quote on tempo #2. My quads were not shy in voicing their unpleasantness with this tempo. I was able to drown out their whining with gratitude. Cheesy as it may sound (thinking of you Jesse!), I gazed off into the sunset and reflected on the last year and a half. There were so MANY times that I was not healthy enough to have this type of workout. For that, I am grateful for every muscular pain and cardiovascular push, in the present and near future. The saying “You don't know what you have until it's gone” is so true. I ended tired and sore with a full heart and a big grin.

I capped the night off with ice on my quads, feet (very briefly and not submerged!) and calves. Come to think of it, I iced most of my body today.

Happy Friday! AM Run

10 min warm up run

15 mins of drills

4 x 20 ass kickers

4 x 20 high knees

4 x 20 donkey kicks

4 x 20 jumping in placed followed by leaning forward/backward running for body position feel

4 20 high knee skips

10 min of stretching

25 min easy-peasy run around Nike bark chip trail with Ms. Hello Kitty.

It is the middle of June, for God's sake we should not still be freezing! Brrrrr!

PM – 10 mins of core strengthening

Swim - 2900yds

w/u - 300p, 200k

12 x 50

3 sets of 4 x 50 (25r)- desc 1-4 (1min rest between each set)

1 x 200 pull with paddles

3 x 500 (30r) - z2 easy, every 4th 25 do fist drill

c/d - 100k easy

There's another productive week to hold up a toast to!

PS - On a personal note.... I've decided once a week to dedicate “ME TIME”. It will be an hour or so to reflect back on the week. The objective is to find one or two things that I was not pleased with. Then focus on correcting it in future. By reviewing this weekly I should make continuous progression.

~Life is like riding a bicycle, in order to keep your balance, you must keep moving.~

Red Bull gives me wings! Opa!

Saturday - 70 mile ride

This was a great ride for many reasons!

1. My bike didn't fall apart. I was scared of this; after learning that I had rusted every component with 3 years of salty sweat.

2. Nutrition was flawless. Mmmmm, cream of chicken maltodextrin. I'll probably swap it out for a cream of vegetable malto. I'm fearful of drinking an animal based mixture after exposed to the heat.

3. I increased avg watts per hour by hour, finishing strong.

4. I had great company and favorable weather!

5. My bike fit was very favorable. I was able to man-handle my baby girl

Ms. Hello Kitty and I recovered with a badass burger and cajun tots. 

I spent the evening with some lovely girlfriends at the Summer of Wishes – a benefit for Make a Wish Foundation.

I love this photo - tall, Taller and TALLER

We took off in the photo booth for some serious, silly fun!

Who knew Ms. Hello Kitty was really a viking! I can't explain transforming into Batman with fish lips. My room mate Jessy is always cheesy. 

I think we maybe trying to look glamourous here. Funny attempt if you ask me!

Ms. Hello Kitty and I decided to break it down on the dance floor, as if the ride didn't beat our legs up enough! Dancing in four inch heels is a painful good time. 

Sunday AM Run – 40 mins

After 3 glass of wine and one sugar free Vodka Red Bull (disclosure: anytime I switch to this drink I've already drank too much and now have poor judgement) I woke up a tad bit hung-over. Eh.....I was not especially looking forward to my run. 

But surprise, surprise! I had the best run I've had in well over a year. 40 mins easy, pace was full over a minute per mile faster then norm and my hr was 10-12bpm lower then usual at that pace. WTF?!  But on the real yo, I am NOT complaining. I grew wings and flew.

PM Swim - 3200yds

w/u - 8 x 75 (20r) - 50 drill, 25f

(rotate: fdrag, cu, fist, cu/fist)

400 pull - z2

200 kick

1 x 400 (20r) z2

1 x 300 (20r) z2

1 x 200 (20r) z2

1 x 100 (20r) z2

2 x 300 (30r) neg split

c/d - 150 choice, 300p

Um ok, this workout did not um.....work out as well as my run. I went from 10k weeks down to 7k and then 5k this week. My performance showed the lacking volume. It's time to grow some gills and spend more time in the water. On the positive, my slow, VERY easy pace is now what my comfortable used to be. So, you know what? Toot! Toot!

Later that night my momma introduced me to Ouzo

I have to say - I'm not typically a fan of black licorice, but I am a fan of Ouzo. Opa! I'm going to be the best, drunk triathlete out there! Life is too short to take seriously. 

Monday AM 

45 min spin - easy with a few pick ups

30 mins @ Z2

5 x ;30 Z4/Z5 @ 100-110 rpm; ;60 easy between

Monday PM

25 min easy run

AGAIN! Another kick ass run. Holy Moly. I feel like I'm running down a dream. The pieces to the puzzle are finally fitting together!

The start of a journey to self-discovery and beyond

Monday – Day off! Got much needed R & R

Tues AM – an hour easy spin. Almost done with my book!

Tues PM -15 mins of core strengthening followed up with a swim -2200y

w/u - 200fr --- 300p ---100 kick

4 sets of 4 x 50 (20r)
one set=
1st- breath every stroke one side
2nd- breath every 3rd stroke
3rd- breath every 4th stroke
4th- breath every 5th stroke

600fr- buoy and paddles

c/d - 200p

Wednesday PM – Long run

I was super stoked for my long run of the week. It was time to start testing out my Fuel Belt and malto. I've decided any run over an hour I will be equipped with a fully loaded nutrition belt so that on race day I will be adjusted to running with the clunker.

I hit Wildwood at Germantown. This time opting to go the opposite direction towards Newberry. I remembered that this route was hillier then the opposite direction but I forgot by how much! Oh the good Lord! I am really out of running shape. Those hills handed me my ass on a silver platter. The first 20 minutes felt pretty good. I felt light on my feet. I hopped from rock to root to trail, like Tinker Bell; despite the fluid loaded Fuel Belt. Third mile was a b*** with a ¾ of a mile 300+ft plus climb. Heart rate is a rising! I was happy to crest and stumble down the descent. At this point of time I took the opportunity to bust my lip on my Fuel Belt bottle. “Jeez Kat, no need to beat yourself up.” Now, I'm talking to myself. This is not a good sign. I got some of the malto down, the rest spilled on my shirt. I found out later that this was a blessing in disguise. My malto mixture was too concentrated and was having a party in my GI. Garmin chirped in with vibrations, which was my cue to turn around and run back up. Oh the humanity!!! I was lacking energy and I couldn't stomach the calories I did have to make up for it. Oh boy! The way back hurt. My feet felt swollen and started to blister. I can't wait until they toughen up. I'm not fond of my new Peregrines. There isn't enough cushion. I need to get another pair of Newton Momentum. They're so cushy and comforting! The highlight of my run was counting each wooden bridge I ran over. 20 crossings total. Sometimes it's the little things that count the most.

Garmin reported 1,396 ft of elevation gain in 8 miles.

Thursday AM– 75 min spin

45 min low z2
3 x 5 min low Z4 @ 55-60 rpms/ 2 min easy recovery
Finish mid Z2

Thursday Evening bike fit w/the awesome Michael Sylvester.

Why is he awesome?

Start with a Google search.

2. He was able to see me for an ASAP appointment after hours!

3. I was late to the appointment (F***ing Hwy 26 traffic! Lateness is huge pet peeve of mine!) . He was very understanding and didn't appear annoyed.

4. I got my picture taken on a bike trainer with my aero helmet. Ha! I thought I was the only one to do that.

5. He provided lots of useful information and communicated it well, with easy to understand analogies.

6. A great sense of humor. Not everyone can laugh at powered Katie! What is powered Katie you ask? Dried salt/sweat that has crusted and rusted the bolts of my TT. It sprinkled around the room like fairy dust. LMAO! What is not LMAO is the wear and tear I've done on my baby girl. She's in a serious need for a rebuild. 

7.Correcting my fit so Carnage and I can become "one" again.

Saturday I have a 70ish/4 hour ride on the schedule. It will provide good bike fit feedback.

I'll return in a month or so for fine tuning.

Friday

10 min warm up run

5 laps of drills around the Nike track/ slow jog in between drills
4 x :30 high knees (I HATE these)
4 x :30 jumping in place/mimicking jumping rope
4 x :30 donkey kicks
4 x :30 ass kicks
4 x :30 slow skipping

20 min run around Nike chip trail and then home.

Apparently I am now in Ironman training. I will be praying nightly.

Pine Hollow Pumice Man RR

As always, I never JUST race. There is always a reason behind it.

1. It was a small, some-what local race with interesting people and "flair". 

2. The Aussie style Olympic - 750 meter open water swim, 15k bike and a 5k run X2. That's right! I got to jump back into the water and do it all over again! It was anything but the same ol' mundane race. It was new and exciting!

Pre Race

I kidnapped my room mate for the weekend to support my crazy racing endeavor. The 2.5 hr commute to (excuse the phrase) Butt-F*** Egypt aka Pine Hollow ended up taking us 3.5 hrs. My Google map directions landed us on a closed road up in the mountains. Luckily my room mate is a smart cookie and used her Iphone to find us a route in the right direction. I think this was the first time ever that an Iphone had a signal when my Blackberry did not. 

Alas, we arrive in the beautiful, yet secluded Pine Hollow. A friend of mine hooked us up with a sweet A-frame cabin. Check out our view from our door step!

Here I am infront of the little cabin.

It was little but pretty pimp. Inside fit 2 beds, a sink, dishes, coffee maker, stove top, fridge and a heater/AC. This was campin' like a Pizzimp'!

Apparently I had too much energy.

Room mate and I relaxed the night away eating corn chips and fake guacamole. She bought a dip and didn't look at the ingredients. Upon inspection we learned the dip was mostly made up of coconut oil. Ugh. The green slim with the tortilla chips made for some pretty tasty fat and carb loading, if I do say so myself! 

The only thing the cabins didn't have were bathrooms. Those we had to walk to. But they were "real" toilets and not just a hole in the ground. 

Right outside the bathroom there's a sign that states "Dial 911 for emergency" but the phone next to the sign had been ripped out of the wall. I found that amusing. Room mate was trying to get ET to phone home.

Race day!

I awoke rested with a solid 8.5 hrs of sleep. 

There's many things about this race that I should have been nervous about. 

1. I haven't been in open water in almost a year. Lord only knows the last time I tried on my wetsuit. 

2. How were my feet going to react in 62-64 degree water temp?

3. How was I going to survive the second swim sans wetsuit?

4. I was trying out my new Specialized cycling Tri shoes....for the first time. 

Yet none of these things concerned me. What did concern me was my foot. The same foot I fractured months ago was giving me "phantom" pains near my big toe. This was really a mind f***. I have arthritis in my feet. Sometimes when the weather acts up my feet hurt. It's not an injury but at the time I don't really know what it is. I decided to do a 10 min warm up run to test out my feet. They felt ok. I figured that I would give it a go and if anything "hurt" like it did last time I would stop immediatly. Ultimately if I was already injured there wasn't jack-s*** I could do about it now.  

The race was small. Maybe 50-60 people. I suited up into my Helix.

I've lost 10-12 lbs since I bought this suit. It's now too big :( 

The race had a mass start (sprinters and aussie style oly's). I love these. I started in the front and managed to end in the front pack. Woot! Woot! Go me! Sighting wasn't an issue, nor was any kind of "open water shock". Again, I'll thank my parents for throwing me in lakes when I was a kid. Got to teach your children how to love the water from any early age!

 Here I am running out of the first swim. I talked the race director into letting me wear my TYR Sharkfin swim cap. 

T1 - first time around. My feet were frozen solid!

The bike course was awesome! The first couple miles were pretty flat with a few descents. Perfect for the aero position and achieving free speed. The hills and rollers picked up mid-way through to the end. The route had almost no traffic and was very well marked. I'd say it's one of my favorite bike race course. I think there is something wrong with my bike fit. My right quad cramped severely. This is not the first time this has happened. It usually happens on longer (3+hr) or high intensity rides. No worries, I have an appointment to get it corrected :). Anywho....The bike cramped my right quad bad! 

Starting the run was brutal. My quad was cramped and I still couldn't feel my feet which made me worry. 2/3 of the way in I generated enough internal heat to defrost my feet, and they felt ok. I finished the run feeling strong and avg'ing 7:39 min pace.

And there I go back into the water! Sans Wetsuit!

Oooooeeee! The water was cold! I had initial cold water shock but it dissipated quickly. I started swimming hard. I zoned out the chilly water. I throughly enjoyed the 2nd swim. It felt good to be free of a constricting wetsuit. The chilly water actually helped the cramping in my right quad. The only downside was I that I could feel my body position go to crap when I had to lift my head up to sight. 

I came out of the water  to have the little girl with paddle tell me I was in 4th position, 2nd girl overall. 

Again I hop on my bike and attack the course. Well, ok....you got me. "Attack" is embellishing it a little. My quads were still pretty beat up. I ended up avg'ing almost 10 watts per lower on avg my second time around. Blah! It would have been helpful to have a rabbit in sight to chase!

The last run felt better then the first. I think the fact that I was able to feel my feet helped a ton. 

I managed to avg 7:45 pace - didn't loose much on the second run around.

I finished in 4th place overall and 2nd female overall. Each transition was very slow. I would have closed the gap or possibly beaten the girl who took 1st IF I would have gotten my act together in the T-Zones. It's something I can learn from. After a year and a half off I need practice. 

This was well put on race and a ton of  wacky WTF?! fun. It's an event I would highly encourage local athletes to check out as a break from the norm - Pine Hollow Tri

I recovered in my fancy Zoot Compression Tights

A day later my energy is a bit low but my body surprisingly feels great. 

Thanks Bryan for a great race. Thanks Jesse for being a great room mate, friend and supporter.