Facing my fears...part II

4000 meter (2.48 mile) open water - Race (ahahahahahahaha! I laugh because I will probably never "race" a swim)

My mom picked me up bright and early and we started the day off right with breakfast at La Provence Bakery. they have THE BEST oven baked oatmeal ever! Mmmmm, carbs to fuel the day.

Hagg Lake was absolutely beautiful. Bright and sunny, 60-70, not a cloud in the sky. We got there early and where able to cheer on friends doing the 800 meter and 2000 meter swims. GOOOOOO Scott, Julie, Emily, Alana, LeAnn and Meredith! Suiting up came quickly as did my fear. I knew I could do the distance, I knew I could handle the chaos of open water, what I feared was the amount of fatigue that would set in at say 8 or 9 in the evening. DOMS are a %$#%$ and knew they would unleash their wrath on me. Fear was diminished as I stepped in the water. Did I say stepped? I meant fell. Clumsy Kat took two steps in and fell on her tail, what else is new? :D I swam out a few meters to warm up and came back. Wetsuit was aligned properly and felt good. I ran into Devin and really hoped he didn't puke on me. I was comforted when he told me that only happens during tris. 10 second count down began and we were off. I started out in the front next to Scott, Devin and Leland. I am NOT a fast swimmer and was instantly passed by the masses. I was also swam over 1 or 2 times and hit pretty hard (Leland!). Swim combat! Fun stuff. None off it phased me as I continued on my three stroke breathing and tried to focus on my stroke and body positioning. Rounding off the 2nd buoy I felt like we were going uphill. How is that possible? It felt like this for a good buoy maybe two. Emily, you were right! On and on I swam and continued to get passed right and left. I felt like every time I looked over someone was passing me. It was a bit demoralizing at first. I just told myself that I did a long trail run the day before and would have a long bike post swim so it was OK to take it easy, and that is just what I did. I took the entire swim easy. I suppose I could have pushed myself, but WHY? I'm not going to win an IM, nor would I ever do so in the swim. Coming around to the shore for lap two was a good thing. I could hear the crowd cheering and the second loop is always better than the first. It's a mental thing, I know it's at least half way over :). My goggles had a drop or two of water that would roll into my eyes every time I would turn to breath, this became annoying so I started to swim with my eyes closed. At one point I think I got some extra zzzzzzz's in. I ended up taking in a bit of water 1/3 into my second loop as I remembered a joke my mom and I had. Note to self - do not attempt to laugh in the water. The longest part of the swim was the last buoy up onto the shore. I could hear the crowd cheering, I could see them yet it felt like they were miles away. Each stroke felt like a damn mile. As I approached the shore I took my number and checked my watch 1:06! Much better then I had thought. As I was taking it "easy" and felt like I was getting passed right and left I figured I'd come in at a 1:15ish. Who would have thunk?! Not sure where I placed overall in the pack since the results have yet to be posted. I think I was somewhere in the middle but will let you know when I find out.

Post swim and it was time to bike. None of my friends wanted to bike after so again, I was in this alone. I was happy to run into another triathlete on the way out, Deanne was going to ride a few loops around Hagg Lake. We ended up riding together for a loop and a 1/3 until I had to say "Au Revoir" and continue my ride home. Shortly along old Hwy 47 I ran into a girl training for IM Cordelane. We decided to ride together up until the crest of Clapshaw, about 15 or so miles. It was really nice to ride with two other badass female triathletes for 1/2 of my ride. Company can REALLY do wonders. I rode the last 25ish miles home alone and have to say I felt pretty strong for the duration. My nutrition, hydration and electrolytes where right on spot - felt pretty good for riding without shade in 85-90 degrees for 3 hours. The last 10 miles and my shoulders started to feel heavy. The fatigue of the swim was starting to kick in. I was also getting really hot, hot meaning burned. I applied SPF but obviously not enough as my shoulders and the back sides of my calves were started to glow. Ouch. I finished my ride 53 miles later glowing, from a sunburn and endorphins - this weekend I conquered my fears.

Mom and I recovered with mexican food and cadillac margarita's - Lol, who am I kidding? I only needed on margarita to get lit!

Facing our fears - Part 1

I'll address the subject line in my workout later in the blog

Another morning I awoke far too early. I needed to be up at 6am to drive out to Vancouver Lake to help set up our annual Tri Club mock-tri. It's kind of a season kick off, targeted at beginners or seasoned triathletes that wanted to get their feet in the water pre racing. Anywho, my mind and body must have been on a different time zone because I was up and ready to embrace the day at - ready for it? 4:30am. WTF!? I decided to make the most of my "free" time with Pilates and foam rolling.

It was a beautiful day for our sprint mock -tri. By race start it was in the 60s and not a cloud in the sky. I opted not to participate this year and instead volunteered with transition rack set up, body markings (oh-la-la), a T2 and run clinic, post race food prep and finish line tape holder. It was great to catch up with all the TNT alumni and new TNT athletes. Race season is in the air and it is making me giddy!

Facing our fears - part 1
2.5 hour trail run
I did 2.5 hours last weekend on a road path. I know I can do the distance, that's not what really scared me. Last weekend I ran with my good friend Michelle. I'm a social runner, I love to hear and tell stories. It helps make the time go by and keep my mind in a positive place. Today I would be running alone. Not only was I alone but I had no music. I've had two Ipods die on me in the last month and I'm not about to go invest in another one. So with that being said, I truly ran my run alone. IF things would get rough, IE leg pain, GI problems, fatigue I knew that I only had myself to count on. But really, it's always just me, myself and I. It can be depressing but in the end I think it makes me stronger. I'm testing out a Suunto HR monitor for work. This is good, it would be the first time I'd be able to use HR data since I'd been injured. Lol, it's funny, Suunto has activity settings based off of your training level. The say 2+ workouts a day is level 10. I feel like IM athletes should have their own special level 11, crank it up to level 11! My goal was to do this run at an LSD pace and keep my avg HR down below 160 - my Z2. This would be a bit of a challenge since I've lost run efficiency, I was running on hilly trails and I was running mid day when the temp was around 85 - thankfully for me I was in the forrest and I think it was about 10 degrees cooler. My second goal was to stay positive :) I ran steady and consistent, nice and easy. 1:15 I hit my 1/2 point and turned around. I was feeling good! I spent most of the time day dreaming about IMC and the training. It kept me focused and energized. 2 hours in and I was starting to feel fatigue set in. I didn't bring enough water, 32 oz is just not enough for me. I knew better, I should have done a shorter out and back and refilled. Note to self for next time. I ended my run tired but happy. I did it. I ran alone, pain free (never thought I would say that again!) and stayed in my happy place and avg'd 157 :) I recovered at Sweet Tomatoes where I ate their entire salad buffet, they should have charged me twice - I also treated myself to strawberry apple cobbler topped off with vanilla frozen yogurt. Yummy!

I stopped by the store and treated myself to 21lbs of ice. Tonight pampering came in the form of an ice bath, hot tub and foam rolling. My legs never hurt and my body felt pretty good. BUT the trail can leave behind some nasty DOMS, which I am prone to. Rather then allowing them to sneak up on me I'm trying to be proactive and stop them before they start. Plus tomorrow starts part 2 of facing my fears - I'm pretty sure I will feel as if someone has thrown me up against a wall (not in a good way!) come Sunday night. Ice bath tomorrow as well.

Side note - I was told by 3 different people today during our mock-tri that I scare them or people they know. This is not the first time I've heard this before ad find it rather depressing. I don't want to "scare" or "intimidate" anyone. I want to inspire. I don't race on a competitive level against anyone but myself. I opted out of joining a specific tri club this year for this kind of stero-type. I guess it doesn't really matter, I am who I am and people can think what they want. Maybe next year I'll join the "scary" people, at least then I'll feel like I'm apart of something, rather than an outsider looking in.

Spin

90 min Z2-Z3 spin
Avg watts 155/ Max 205
Avg HR 150/ Max HR 169

None eventful

This weekend of training into next week will either make me or break me. I'm rounding off the third week of my build phase. Technically next week should be recovery BUT life happens. My training will lighten up with additional work load (career) and I have I have an Olympic and HIM in June that I'd like to PR. So I'm going to *attempt* to push myself in mainly volume for another week and hope for the best. I feel ok today BUT training plans for Sunday scare me A LOT.

Food aroma - such a tease!

AM Run - 8.5 miles - easy 9 min pace.

Dare I even say it? I hesitate as superstitious as I am....*knock on wood* running has become natural again :D and I am LOVING EVERY MINUTE of it!

My tummy started growling during the last mile, it started right as we passed Krispy Kreme - Go figure. I tried to hold my breath as a ran by as to not get tempted by the sugary aroma. I advise against doing this as I almost passed out, the sweet smell extended onto the next black (the blocks are longer then avg!), They should really have a smell advisory for the area.
"Sugary sweetness - Run at your own risk!"

Evening Open Water swim - 5 loops at Klineline - approx 2500-2800 meters
*Swimming into the sunset is pretty bad ass.
*Body still has to adjust to swimming in a wetsuit - my arms get tired faster
*4th loop around I swear I smelled BBQ. WTF is the deal with food smells today?
*I got caught up in fishing line - Really? Do I like a look tasty? Oh I got it! They must have mistaken me for a massive fish - stupid fin on swim cap. Lol
*OW is mentally more challenging for me, at least in the pool I can tell I'm going somewhere. It feels like it takes forever to get anywhere in a mass body of water.

Swim, Work, Bike

AM swim

8 x 500s - hit each one on a slow 8:30-9:00 pace, recovered with ;30s

Total Yardage - 4,000

And the morning's workout is sponsored by lack of zzzzzzzzzzzzzz's. I think I may have got in another power nap during my swim. I'm getting good at squeezing those in where I can :)

Work, lots and lots of work - at least I <3 my job.

Evening Bike -
32.3 miles - Marine Drive out and back
It feels good to go out pushing a decent amount of watts hitting 25mph and pushing those same watts on the way back at 20-21 mph. The wind was kind today :) and the sun set was beautiful!
Max watts 348/ Avg watts 155
Max HR 175 / Avg HR 152

Slept some, swam some, ran some, drank and ate some....

8.5 hours of blissful, solid sleep. Sleep does a body sooooooo good.

AM swim -
500 warm up

Drills
1 x 250 paddles; 15
1 x 250 buoy; 15
repeat 1 x

1 x 50 one arm glide; 10
2 x 50 catch up down 25, finger drag back; 10

2 x 100 - 25-aok, 25 fist, 25 karate, 25 free; 10

1 x 50 one arm glide; 10
2 x 50 catch up down 25, finger drag back; 10

Main Set
1 x 200 -fast hard 100/ easy 100 (positive split); 15
1 x 200 - easy 50 / fast hard 100/ easy 50 (even split);15
1 x 200 - easy 100/ fast hard 100 (negative split); 15
repeat 1 x

Cool down
1 x 200 easy

Total yardage - 3400

Went home and took a nice little 30 min power nap

Woke up and drove downtown for a fun run around the waterfront. Today, yes today, I AM A RUNNER. I ran in heat, with limited shade at an easy PE level in a nice little clip. Circled the waterfront 3 times at a 8:30 pace. It's coming back, maybe I'll even be fast again one day :)

Recovered with hard cider, yummy food and wonderful company - my mom. :D

A beautiful weekend in the Gorge....

shared with wonderful friends

Saturday
2.5 hour LSD run - 15ish miles
All week I was nervous about this run. It would be my longest post injury. I was engulfed by butterflies the moment I awoke. Life is so weird, activities that once brought on comfort and joy now cause distress and dread. :le sigh: The one thing that made my outlook on the run better was Michele - I had a great running partner. The run that I dreaded turned out to be highly enjoyable. We ran a beautiful out and back and then some path through the Gorge. No leg pain, no GI distress, limited fatigue (at the end) and GREAT companionship. Thank you Michele, I couldn't have done it without you.

Open water swim - 40 minutes
Post run Michele and I met up with LeAnn for open water swimming - in the freezing 54 degree Columbia Gorge! Brrrrr.
I let Michele use my blue fish cap and I wore my pink camo shark cap over the neoprene. We have this kickass picture of us face to face with the caps - she is smiling (happy fish) and I am growling (mean shark...do sharks growl? Maybe tiger sharks :)) It was funny as hell. It was soooo hard to growl at someone so damn cute!

David was kind enough to stand watch and make sure the wind didn't carry us away. I think this is the coldest water I have swam in. I was very fortunate that my co-worker gave me a neoprene swim cap, it helped keep my skull and ears warm. I did feel like I got "freezer burn" when I stuck my face in the water. The cold was a motivating factor to swim fast. Within 5 minutes I felt pretty good. I swam 3 loops around the cove. The first 1/3rd or so of the loop was pretty easy, the remainder was spent fighting wind and current, it was a bit brutal. I got out feeling ok. Michele on the other hand experienced "the claw" and had the 1st or 2nd stages of hypothermia. Recovery was spent in the hot tub.

Sunday
2.5 hour bike ride
After the best french toast breakfast in the world....a group of us headed out for a bike ride.
*The way out was pretty much a steady climb. At times it would look as if we were not climbing, but we were.
*It was a beautiful day!
*At the turn around point we stopped and shared a turkey/cheese melt and fries - among 5 of us :)
*The way back was suppose to be easy, we were descending the climb....the wind had something else in mind.
*Flying back down at 24-28 mph pushing 200+ watts against the wind - awesome!
*Being pelted by bugs is NOT ok, ouch. Seriously, they hurt.
*A dump truck full of dirt decided to pull out right in front of me, not only did he spray dirt all over me but I got his lovely exhaust fumes in my face as well. It took me a good 5 minutes of coughing to recover. F%^# Stick!
Avg watts - 149 / Max watts 387
Avg HR 146 / Max HR 168

Recovered with a glass of wine in the hot tub.

I had planned on staying out of town w/friends the 3 day weekend, but my energy had a different agenda. I have been training off of 6-7 hours sleep for the last 5-6 days. I'm an 8 hour a night girl and with the volume I'm currently at (16-18 hour weeks) I can't afford to continue on like this. I am becoming a zombie. I thought it was best to come home, rest and get good solid sleep in my own bed tonight. I drove home and rocked out the Rolling Stones and U2....which reminds me. "And I stiiiiiiillllll haven't found.....what I'm looking for." I hate having a hole in my heart.