Sunday Run

Another long run day....I think it ended somewhere between 15-16 miles.
Ran the first hour with a friend...comfortable LSD pacing. Thankfully the company was good because running down by the industrial area is a little lackluster, there is so much more to be desired for in scenery.
The second part of the run was with the PDX Tri Club Wildflower Training group. We were fortunate to run into Gary and be able to chill in Athlete's Lounge as it was cold outside and we had an hour between runs. Plus I was able to throw down an oh-so yummy salted bagel, funny what the athlete desires. Part 2 of the run felt a more challenging, probably because the first couple of miles were straight up hill, that and it always takes me a good 2-3 miles to open up my run and find my comfort zone. It didn't help sitting for an hour in chilled clothing, at least we had a warm, dry place to wait in. Finishing the run felt great. What was even better was recovering with good friends, sushi and sake! Another weekend has come to an end.......

What a great day!

Athlete's Lounge was having the grand opening of their 2nd store today and one of the many perks was having the pleasure to meet Olympic Beijing Silver Medalist Simon Whitfield. Gary invited a few of us along for a run with Simon before the store opened. For some reason I had thought this was going to be an easy fun run...Ahahahahahaha! I show up at the store and immediately knew I was in some deep shit. 20-25 fast men (some of which were UBER cute!) and 2 other women. Ok, so what. I'm used to training with a ton of testosterone, I'm not a slow runner, I should be able to keep up. Ahahahahahaha! The first 5 minutes felt really good. Then we hit Lower McClay park and started running up the trails. Speed picked up quickly and within another 5 minutes I was dropped. I slowly noticed I was falling further and further behind the group. Was I slowing down, no I don't think so. Speed demons were unleashing their wrath on the trail. Soon I was by myself, which is all fine and dandy...I love trail running, alone or with people, doesn't matter much. What I don't love is being forced to go fast on trails. I'm clumsy and get vertigo on the trails, not a good combination. Did I mention that the first 35 minutes of the trail run was straight up hill? WTF?! My HR was between 175-185 and topped out at 210. Jon and Don were kind enough to wait for me at the turn down....which was nice because if they hadn't I would have kept going and got lost in the forest. The run back down was scary fun. Fun to go so fast, scary as my vertigo was OUT OF CONTROL. Wow, very lucky I didn't fall. We all met back at Athlete's Lounge. Some of the Ironheads (local tri club) went out for a ride. Don and I decided to go out for a loop around Sauvie's Island. The first 10 minutes were brutal, it was only 35 degrees out. My fingers felt like someone had taken a hammer to them. But quickly I got my HR up and my Gore Windstopper Gloves and Jacket worked their magic. The ride was absolutely beautiful, cold, crisp and clear. I noticed as we were riding around Sauvie's (always windy) how much power I would save riding behind Don. I was conserving on avg 30-50 watts. Drafting is great! Well, it can be. I was surprised at how great the ride went for me. I'm running off a lot of fatigue from this past week and the "run through the jungle" this morning wasn't helping anything out. Also, did I mention my lats burn from cross-fit? Stupid DOMS, stupid pull ups. I HATE pull ups.
Anywho, 28 miles later and we are back at Athlete's Lounge. Spent the next couple hours BSing with friends. It was at this time I got to meet Simon. I was so excited because I follow his blogspot.

I felt like I already knew the man. VERY nice gentleman and phenomenal athlete. I got a picture and an autograph too! My day was awesome. And just to put the icing on the cake my bib number was called at a raffle drawing and I won a high end wetsuit. Hot damn! What a kick ass day! Now it's on to the PDX tri club holiday PAR-TAY. Time to have some more fun

Pain In The Park - week 5

Another week of Pain in the Park.
I have say this was probably the least favorite out of the series. Things started to feel repetitive (as in week after week) which is not the objective in the training. It could have just been me, I don't know...we'll see how things turn out next week.
BTW, I hate hoping up a damn hill....I'm not the energizer bunny, who does that?!

Post workout I headed over to NW 23rd to check out Custom Bicycles, a new Guru custom speciality shop. I was impressed. The shop has a sharp layout and the bikes are BEAUTIFUL. Every bike they build is custom fit. The owner Adam was knowledgeable and friendly. It was pretty neat talking to him about the bikes frame and how via wind tunnel testing proved that body positioning and comfort reduces more drag then a frame design. What was even cooler was that I knew exactly what he was talking about as I follow Scott Curry's blog when he was up in Canada testing the Guru's. Pretty neat. Anywho, I'm in love with the rust color Crono....but know I can't make a decision without testing a few other interests. I figure I'll give a few other bikes a ride and go from there.

Santa Baby, I've been a very good girl this year :) How 'bout droppin' off a pretty little custom bike for Christmas :)

Evening Spin

Easy recovery/endurance spin - 90 mins at home watching "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia".
Avg wattage 142, Avg HR 148

Work it harder, Make it better, Do it faster, Make me Stronger!

Oh how do I love anaerobic speed :)

Run
10 min warm up
5 min stretch
5 min warm up drills
5 x 400's at 6:40 pace w/ 2:00 floats
5 min cool down

4 miles total

Hehe, this was brutally fun. I increased one 400 from last week. Honestly I'm not sure if I can keep increasing them week by week. I'm starting to achieve the leg strength to handle the speed, I really need to get my anaerobic cardio up there. My HR reached a 200 max tonight; 103% threshold baby. The last repeat created a whirlwind in my gut, it did not feel good....but alas I completed the task at hand. Immediately went onto swim

500 warm up

Drills
1 x 50 A-ok, 1 x 50 Fist, 1 x 50 Karate, 1 x 50 free; 10 sec rest between 50s, repeat 1 x
3 x 100's w/ paddles; 15 sec rest

Speed work
1 x 100 (50 hard, 50 easy = positive split); rest 20
1 x 100 (25 easy, 50 hard, 25 easy = even split); rest 20
1 x 100 (50 easy, 50hard = negative split REACHED 175 HR baby!) rest 60

200 cool down

1700 yards total

*******************
Time to EAT!

Oops, almost forgot the 45 minute Pilates workout from the morning, that I did not get anaerobic in :p

Kat's primarily 2009 Race/Event calendar

This schedule is tentative as I am in conflict on which Half Iron should be my second for the season

2/22 - Jack Frost Time Trial (bike)
3/15 - Shamrock 15k (run)
4/5 - Race for the Roses 1/2 marathon (run)
4/19 - Estacada Time Trial (bike)
5/2 - Wildflower Half Ironman
5/9 - Gator Grinder Sprint Triathlon
5/30 - Starlight 5k (fun/run)
6/6 - Gecko 2.4 mile open water swim (date tb confirmed)
6/13 - Here's where the variables happen either Blue Lake Olympic Triathlon OR Boise Half Ironman
6/28 - Pacific Crest Olympic Triathlon
7/11 - Seattle To Portland - (bike) - in one day
8/3 - The other variable - Troika Half Ironman
8/30 - Ironman Canada

The big variables regarding the Half Irons are
How many Olympics would I like to do? I would like some short fun tri's.
Cost and travel factor. I don't have much vacation time or funds to drop on traveling...which would make Troika in Spokane the winning Half
Troika is flat and fast and would a good one to shot for a PR and the start to my IM taper since it's 3-4 weeks out. BUT Boise I could attempt to qualify for Clearwater.....I use the word "attempt" lightly.

Of course there will be plenty of century rides, long bricks and runs on my schedule as well....this is just an event guide.
Thoughts or opinions?

Monday Swim

6 x 500's - 30 sec rest

Total Yardage = 3,000

That is all