Week recap

Let me start by saying I can't believe tomorrow is the beginning of September... Where has the year gone???

This week has been a good one. I got all of my training sessions done, with a certain degree of success, and some disappointments too.

I swam the longest I have ever swam in one session at the pool. A whopping 3100 yds. Now, that is impressive for me, the non swimmer :) I discovered some things that I was (well am) doing wrong with my stroke and vowed to fix them during the off season. Trying to fix them now would be stupid, since my big race is only 4 weeks away (yikes) and the "new" stroke is something I am not used to and my endurance is non existent when I try to use it. For my mind's sake I have decided I would swim my regular slow way until after the race :)

I also went on a long ride yesterday (3 hours). I practiced my nutrition plan and I thought I had done pretty well. I drank 4 bottles of fluid (3 of them heed), ate like a champ, and even took in my salt tablets. I covered a decent distance (50 miles), and felt that come race day I would be able to go faster. I also tried a new saddle and to my surprise my "parts" were not as sore as with my previous one.

After the bike I had a 25 minute run in zones 2-3. My legs felt good, I felt I had a good amount of energy. My stomach felt a bit full, I thought I definitely took in enough fluids; and then disaster stroke. I started getting chills... In case you don't know, chills are a sign of dehydration. Dehydration?? I took in a ton of fluid, my stomach told me I could not have taken in any more. And that worries me. Why? Because I do NOT want to get dehydrated during the race. I have heard it tends to get pretty hot on that course, especially on the run; as there are some really long patches without shade.

I talked to coach about the ride and run, and after asking me about my food and drink  intake she suggested I need more sodium. So... I am off to trying a different sports drink. Heed only has 39 mg per scoop and apparently that is not enough for this body. I loved the almost bland taste of it, it resembles water a lot and it is sooo easy to drink. I am a bit disappointed that it won't work for me, at least during the hot summer sessions (I am not giving it up altogether).

After this discovery I headed to REI to pick up some samples from other drinks, and I came back with GU2O, Luna electrolyte drink and Cytomax. They all have at least 190 mg of sodium per serving, which knocks off the boots of Heed in a jiffy. Can't wait to try them and see what they do for me. Hopefully I will find the solution quickly.

Today I am glued to the computer following IMKY and cheering for Katie, Bree and Eileen. 

Hope you all have a great Labor day weekend!

I LOVE MY COACH!

Two years ago, when I first got involved in triathlon I was all about the group setting. Working out with other people, having the extra motivation to get up early knowing that I would not be doing the workout by myself. It was all laid out for us. We had awesome coaches, that handled the group very well. Some of them had their own coaching business and were pretty successful at it.

Fast forward to this year. When the time came to move on from the group setting, you would have thought that I would have chosen one of the people whose coaching style I know. Someone local, someone that already knew me. Oddly enough I did not. The coaches I had while training with the group were awesome; they knew their craft, they were great motivators, but they did not see "IT" in me. Not that they ever told me; that would have been totally classless; but you could tell by their actions. What is "IT"? I am not 100% sure, but I think it is a combination of potential, dedication and passion. 

So after stumbling upon Liz's blog and reading some of her entries (this one in particular) I decided to take a risk and sign up for coaching with her. And, oh boy! am I happy I did!!!!

Ever since I have started working with Liz I have learned more about myself than I have in a while. It is amazing how through something as simple (note that I did not say easy, because gosh, sometimes it is not easy at all!) as coaching me towards a goal she has helped me realize what I am made of. And we are still in the get to know you phase!!! I have been working with her for 5 months and I can tell you for a fact that I am in the best shape of my life. I am in better shape than I was before I had my daughter (and I thought I looked good back then), and I have been crushing all my times in my races.

Yesterday I had a Sprint tri. It was the one that got me started in Triathlons 2 years ago. Back in 2006 I finished that race in a little over 2 hours, I did it last year and I finished it in a bit under 2 hours. I did it yesterday and I finished 15 minutes FASTER than in 2007. 16 minutes!!!! The best part of it is that I felt awesome during the entire race. And after I finished I could have jumped on my bike and gone home. 

And who do I have to thank for these amazing results?? My coach Liz! Yes, I did all the work, but without her guidance I would not be here. It takes a great coach to get the best out of you; and LIZ is one of them.

Ups & Downs

So far this week has been interesting. After taking a week vacation and pretty much slacking in terms of training; I am back at getting up at the crack of dawn to workout. My body has been complaining about the “new” old schedule and not very keen on being put in motion at 4:30 in the AM. When 9:30 pm rolls around I am usually in bed, attempting to watch some TV and end up asleep with my glasses on. Can you say tired??

 

Work has been work; some good days, some bad days. Some days when I question my career, some days when I love what I do. I guess you could say it is a bag of mixed feelings. On one hand I’d like to have more free time to dedicate to the sport, and on the other hand I do not want to put the responsibility of supporting this family entirely on Todd’s shoulders. Not that he is not capable of it; he is more than capable. I just think it is not fair. Why should I be the one that gets to pursue the time consuming sport and not him? I am no better or deserve it more than he does. Know what I mean? My head has gone back and forth on this matter many times and I still have not been able to make a decision.

 

Not to mention how guilty I feel when I leave for 3 hours straight during the weekends to go ride my bike, or swim in the open water, or run. This sport is what keeps me healthy, sane in the head, it is my ME time. And yet, I feel guilty for spending time on something so selfish. That is why I get up at the crack of dawn, to make sure I am using as little of the available family time we have. I know this will get easier as Megan gets older and she becomes more independent. Not to mention when she reaches an appropriate age to even join me in some of the activities. Some days I can’t wait for that to happen; and some other days I do not want her to grow up. Another bag of mixed feelings here. See a pattern?

 

I have also been struggling with my diet. I am not trying to lose weight. I am not starving myself. I am just having a hard time with my nutrition. And my GI tract is paying the price. I do not think that my diet is horrible and full of junk food; but evidently there is something that is not working as it is supposed to. I guess I have always struggled with keeping my diet clean, and for some reason I am having the hardest time now. I know it is a very important part of what we do; of this sport, and somehow I can’t get around to fixing it. I even got a nutrition consultation to get some ideas on what I was doing right and what I was not; only to not even pay attention to it.

 

Lots of things are going through my head these days, lots of questions. Emotions have been taking me by surprise; and sometimes I have been able to handle them just fine; and other times I have crashed and burned.  

 

Ups & downs they call them, right?

My baby is growing up....

Megan is 4 today. Here she is through the years...

A few days after she was born....

At her first birthday party...

When she turned 2....

As a princess turning 3...

And now... 

She is getting big super fast!

I'm Baaaaaack!!!

From vacation that is :)

We had a wonderful time at the beach. It was Megan's first time to see the ocean and we had a blast! Training got sidetracked for the sake of family vacation (totally worth it), but I am back on it as of today with a whopping 3 hour workout day and another 3 hour training day tomorrow.

Still getting acclimated to having a schedule again... I will post more later, and maybe even some pictures (if I can remember to bring the camera upstairs the next time I climb up the stairs... lazy me does not want to go up and down JUST to get the camera... know what I mean??)

5 Years ago today...

Todd and I were doing this....

Happy Anniversary honey!

I am so lucky to have found you. Love you to the sky :)

You win some, you lose some

Well, this week has been a crazy one. Work has been busy, Megan was extra needy and the race I did on Saturday finally hit me full force by about Tuesday… I was tired!

 On top of that, remember that book I had been waiting to come out? Well it showed up at my door on Tuesday evening and I HAD to read it. So I spent a lot of the evenings staying up just so I could read it. You know when a book has you trapped so deeply that you can’t put it down or stop reading to take a rest? Even when your eyes are burning and you are yawning because you got up at 4.30 and it is midnight already? That was me. This week.

 I started the book on Tuesday evening and by Thursday at lunchtime I had already finished it. And no, I did not take off of work. I just read during lunch, during breakfast, during dinner and after Megan went to bed. I was completely sucked up into this wonderful world of vampires. Did I mention that I LOVE vampires?? Crazy? Yeah, it’s my middle name ;)

 Workouts kind of sucked this week. My body was exhausted and my mind was fried with all my stupid deadlines and plans for next week (we are going on vacation for a week to the beach.. YAY!). My nutrition was less than stellar and my body could tell. I guess you could say I dropped the ball this week. I got sidetracked and lost sight of the big picture.

 Did I get discouraged? Yes, but just  a little bit. I decided that I needed to listen to what my body was telling me.

 Thursday evening I was ready for my longest swim ever. 2900 yds. Holy cow! When I saw it on the schedule I got a bit scared. Self doubt populated my head. When I got to the pool I remembered Coach’s post about letting the workout be unwritten, do not get into it predisposed to it being a bad one. Free the mind and just do what you know how to do. I did. And guess what? I had a very nice long swim. The 6x300 yds for the main set were not as hard as I thought they were going to be. Yes, I did struggle with some of them; especially the ones that were “speed” related. But I finished them. And when I got out of the pool I felt a huge sense of accomplishment. Maybe I AM getting better at swimming. Maybe I will become fast one day. I just have to keep at it. Perseverance (that is my second middle name ;) )

This morning I had a long run on the books, and I had been looking forward to it most of the week. I went out early, to beat out the heat. I was pumped. I started running and my legs felt heavy. About a mile into the run my stomach started to feel funny. I could not even stomach water. So after 20 minutes of  slow progress, I turned around and decided to call it a day. I walked the way back. I felt a little bit defeated, and at the same time a bit proud of myself. Proud because I was not super upset about having to cut a workout short. My body had had enough. I listened. I guess sometimes you just have to come to terms with the idea that you win some &  you lose some. And today I did.

Lake Logan Olympic RR

After a whole bunch of back and forth, I finally convinced Todd that he and Megan needed to come to the race with me. He has been traveling much during the week so we do not have a lot of time to spend as "family". This was a great opportunity for all of us to be together and for Megan to see me race for the first time.

We left on friday at about 1:30 pm. It was a 3 hour drive to Canton, NC. We got on the road, and decided we needed lunch. Todd and I had not had anything to eat since breakfast and were starving. So we made a quick stop and then got back on the road. About 25 minutes into the drive, Megan fell asleep for her usual afternoon nap. Wonderful :) The drive there was pretty uneventful. We got to packet pickup at about 5 pm, grabbed my stuff and headed to the hotel. Dropped the gear off and we went to check the race site.

The place was beautiful. The lake/creek was about 6 feet low from normal levels, but it was still gorgeous. As we are driving around checking the transition area and such I look out the window and spot a familiar face.... It was Ashley! I got off the car and introduced myself. She is friends with Coach, and is one fast tri-chica. She was camping at the race site with her sister and some friends. We chatted for a bit, she gave me a short scoop of what to expect the next day and then the family and I headed back to get some dinner.

By the time we arrived back into town it was almost 8 pm and we were pretty hungry. We decided to go to a steakhouse. The wait was about 30 minutes. We put our name on the list and head outside to wait. About 15 minutes later Todd goes in to check where we are on the list, and we are told that someone answered to our name. NOT COOL. The staff was accommodating and they gave us a table right away. We ate some decent dinner and headed to the hotel to get some zzz in. That said, I was NOT able to sleep. Kept waking up every 2 hours.

The morning comes, I get ready eat my bagel with PB, make my bottles of Heed and off we go. We get to the site at about 6 am. Park, get my stuff out of the car and off we go so I can set up transition. As I am racking my bike I hear someone say: "Hey Danni"... It was Wes, he was on the rack right next to mine with DeeDee! It was great meeting some more fellow bloggers. I finish unpacking my tri bag and get this feeling like I am forgetting something. Go over everything and it all looks good, so off I go to get body marked and pick up my chip. Megan decides to tag along for this task and she ends up scoring a cute pink bracelet (a chip strap). She wants to get body marked too, but I had to say no... Almost thought it would be cute for her to have a smiley face on her calf; but decide against it at the last minute.

After Todd helps me apply sunscreen it is time for me to go potty. I always get nervous before the race if you catch my drift :) There is a huge line at the port-a-potties by transition so I decide I will go to the swim start and use those potties. Only problem is that swim start/finish is about 1/2 mile away.. yeah, do to the lake being low they had to move the swim about 1/2 mile down the road. I kiss the family goodbye and head my merry way.

I get to the swim start, do my business ;) and head to the water. I put on my wetsuit and realize I had forgotten to put on body glide on my neck. Luckily for me Wes and DeeDee were there and they had suit juice for me to put on. Thanks guys! I wave them goodbye and I get in the water to warm up. 

I had forgotten how buoyant the wetsuit made me feel and after a few strokes I know I am going to have a great swim. I get out of the water and wait until it is time for my wave to start.

I was in the 4th wave. It was an in water start, so we treaded water for a good 3 minutes before the horn went off. I started swimming as I heard the horn and tried really hard not to panic, but I was not very successful. I don't know why I get this feeling like I am not able to breathe, it feels like my breathing accelerates itself and no matter how many times I try to control it, it just gets worse. So, I end up side stroking more than I would have liked. I manage to get out of the water in under 40 minutes; which was my goal, but I am frustrated by the lousy swim.

Due to the low level of the lake, they had set up a small transition area right out of the water to hold the shoes you would put on to run to T1. I get off my wetsuit, slide my running shoes and start running. I tried to focus on keeping my breathing regulated, my HR in check and not stepping on any pot holes. I get to the "main" transition area, slip off my running shoes; get my bike gear on and realize I had forgotten to unpack my sunglasses. I KNEW there was something missing when I set up. I had to reach into my bag and grab those suckers. Because of the LOOOONG run to T1 from the water I had a T1 time of over 9 minutes. 

As I am getting in/out of T1 I see Todd and Megan and they are yelling for me: "Go mommy go, go mommy go!!!" I make sure I smile each time I see them and also give Megan a thumbs up :) LOVED having my girl and hubby there (they make me want to go faster so I can see them quicker).

The bike was awesome! After mounting the bike, you went about 100 yards and there was one of the 2 big climbs for the course. I manage that challenge really well. Stay on the saddle the whole time. After that climb came the downhill, it looked pretty steep and I got chicken sh!t. Oh well. Better luck next time. 

The course was wonderfully flat; with some minor climbs to keep your legs working a bit. I felt strong the entire time and was able to stay aero for most of the ride. I passed some folks, mostly girls, a few guys and then there was THD (tall hairy dude). Each time I yelled, "on your left" and tried to make a move on him, he would speed up; only to fade about 45 seconds later. If I tried to pass him, while he was behind someone, he would try to pass the person in front of him. He pissed me off. He finally stretched the gap in between us, on some downhill; since I am scared of losing control of my bike. I decided to focus on my race and leave him be. I am killing this bike ride, minding my business, getting the best our of my effort; and then I see him in the distance. THD was about 100 yards in front of me. I am pedaling hard, pushing the big ring and closing in. He is riding far to his right, so I decide NOT to yell my passing attempt this time. I effortlessly go by him and think to myself: You got Chicked! :) Wouldn't you know it? He picks up and passes me. Oh really? I pick up again and pass him, once more: THD you got chicked, twice! I am feeling good. I push it, hard. Get to the 20 mile marker and know that I am almost home. My legs are feeling great, my Hr is keeping nicely but my stomach is complaining. The PB bagel I had for breakfast didn't digest very well... I could taste it (yuck).

Around mile 23 you hit the second big climb of the course, I fought the urge to get of the bike and walk. Powered up, got through it and as I am going downhill, THD passes me and I could see the smile of satisfaction on his face. Me? I thought, you need a DOWNhill to pass me dude... I would not be proud of that :)

T2 goes without a hitch. I think it was one of my fastest of the season. Once again I see Megan and Todd yelling at me. Thumbs up and back to work.

The first 5k of this run was uphill, my calves could feel it (so did my stomach). My legs feel heavy and it seems like I am going nowhere. I sing in my head, walk the water stops, take a sip of water and keep running. As I am in between miles 2 & 3, I see Wes. He yells at me and I don't even remember what I said. It did make me smile. When I reach the turnaround it is amazing how much easier it felt to run. My calves were still on fire but I try to pick up the pace, only to be shut down by my "breakfast threat" once again (note to self: no more PB bagel for breakfast on race morning). I settle into a comfortably hard pace and cruise my way in to the finish. 

As I am running the last .2 miles I see Megan and Todd in the distance cheering me on. I give them the thumbs up again and smile big. Cross the finish line, get my chip removed and walk to the side. Megan and Todd come over. She wants to give me a hug, but I tell her I am all sweaty and wet; so we settle down for a kiss. She proceeds to tell me: You won mommy. All I can do is smile. 

In my own little way, I did win. I had 15 minute PR, even with the long run up to T1. I managed to run with my stomach issues; which is something that would have made me walk before. I met some fellow bloggers. And I made my husband and daughter proud. 

I mean, what else could I ask for, right?