Unleashing the animal

Countless times I have read on Coach’s blog about racing and training “like an animal”. Always wondered what it meant and if I had experienced it. The answer came to me last night during my group ride.

After riding the century on Saturday I thought for sure this week would be a slow, steady slugfest. I rested hard on Sunday; and when Monday came around I was actually looking forward to my run and testing my legs. I went out after work and was surprised to feel my legs respond well. I was not necessarily fast; but it was one of the best runs I have had in a while. I decided to run without music and to go out as light as possible. It was just a one hour run and I had hydrated well during the day; so I thought there would be no problem if I ran without water.

The schedule also called for running without HRM and boy did I love that! Going by feel felt awesome and the time ticked away pretty fast. My simple out and back route proved to be efficient, fun and yet challenging; as the last ¾ mile was mostly uphill. I was very happy with my performance and headed home in a high of sorts. As it always happens when I run after work; my adrenaline kept me up way past my regular bedtime. When I finally fell asleep; a severe storm rolled through that made me wake up every 45 minutes or thereabouts. A bad night of sleep to put it in simple words.

Tuesday morning came way too early and I was exhausted. The 3000 yds on tap did not look appealing; but I was going to put the effort and get through them. And then I reached the pool. The lanes were full and I made the decision of just showering and heading to work; switching my rest day from Friday to Tuesday. Needless to say; Tuesday night I was asleep by 9 pm.

Wednesday morning found me working from home; able to get a couple more hours of sleep and well rested. Work was busy, nothing too terrible but a constant stream of projects and requests. My feelings towards the evening ride swing back and forth: I wanted to bag it, I wanted to go out and ride hard…. Eventually I decided I would go and try my best to hang with the “B” group. A couple of times I had ridden this ride with the “C” group and found their pace too slow for me; but the B group seemed intimidating as it was always full of guys with long strong legs and a policy of “If you have never ridden with us and don’t know the route, take a cue sheet because we will not wait”.

Armed with a couple of bottles of water and a cue sheet, I decided I’d give it my best to ride with B. After the long, steady century I just wanted to go and ride HARD for once. My schedule had a couple of intervals built into it; but I wanted more. We rolled out and knowing that the first 15-20 minutes of all my rides feel awkward I stayed comfortably on the middle/back of the pack and spun my legs to make sure they warmed up nicely before I started the efforts. A couple of people must have thought I was already struggling by mile 1 when we were going up a hill and I was just spinning instead of pushing the higher gears. A couple of words of encouragement were thrown my way and I smirked and thanked them.

About 5 miles into the ride; the group got split in 2 at a traffic light. Since I was on the middle/back I was on the group that stayed behind. I got a little pissy about it; but quickly decided to change my attitude and make the most of it. There were about 8 of us and I quickly put myself towards the front. I got into the big ring and decided I would keep up with the leaders no matter what. I was going up hills on my big chain ring (something I do not do much); descending like a champ (I am a big chicken when it come to descending); and finding that I had to slow down so I would not pass the leaders that knew the route. I was holding back; and I just wanted to GO.

I rode like this for a while until I was certain of where we were going and what the route did. In one of the flat sections, I passed the leaders and asked if I could take a pull. I was met with incredulous eyes. And I took that as a challenge. I shouted: “jump in” and started hammering. I cannot begin to tell you how good I felt. Getting down in aero, pushing the gears yet keeping my cadence at the level I wanted; knowing that I (the short girl in the small bike) was pulling the big guys. I was riding on roads all too familiar to me, at speeds about 2-3 mph faster than I normally ride them at. We came to a stop light; I looked behind and saw I had dropped about ½ of the group. The guys that stayed with me were commenting on how fast I had pulled them on this particular stretch of the road; and were actually complimenting me on a job well done. But I was no where near finished. As soon as that light turned green I started going again and was determined to pull until the end of the ride.

I gave it my best; I was working hard and one of the guys passed me as if I was at a stand still. I tried hard to get on his wheel, but to no avail. Definitely too fast for me, but I did not get discouraged; it just made me want to work harder. I finally caught up to him at another traffic light. As soon as that one turned green I went back to pulling. And man, I was going fast! And I felt STRONG. I felt the animal coming out right from inside me; and it was the best feeling I have experienced in a long time.

I wanted to ride a bit longer so I headed to ride an extra loop; but the guys wanted to go back so we said our goodbyes. I left with a bunch of "Well done's" some "thank you for a great pull" and the one that made me feel the best of all: "hope you come back next week and I can ride in your draft".

Century!

I honestly do not know where time has gone. It has been over a week since I posted my last little update and so much has happened ever since. Here are some little snippets:

- I improved my OWS time for the one mile by 3 minutes
- That same weekend I went on a riding adventure and ended up getting lost; taking longer than expected and loving my iphone and its map application
- I participated in another 10 mile TT with my bike; and not only did I cut almost a minute of my previous time; I also came in second AG (not a lot of people in my AG; but it still counts J )
- I realized that of all 3 sports, I LOVE riding my bike; and think that during the winter I need to do a better job of working on my bike fitness
- I have become totally addicted to the TDF; and suffered withdrawal symptoms on both of their rest days
- I realized that I only have 3 months left until Ironman (holy cow!)
- I went on my first century ride and I am still able to walk! Ha!

I thought I’d expand on the last one since it was quite the occasion. Last year I did this organized ride called “Lake Norman Excursion” if you look at my posts from last year; you will see that I had done the 65 mile option and was considering doing the 100 mile this year. Since I knew that long rides were coming; I ran the idea by coach. I mostly wanted to do my first century on a “supported” environment. What does that mean? With potties along the way; with water stops and with the peace of mind on the back of my head: should I need someone to pick me up; there would be vehicles doing exactly that. I didn’t exactly take advantage of all the stuff they had at the rest stops; after all I was experimenting with new ideas for my IM nutrition; but it was nice to not have to carry a gazillion bottles of water.

I got there early; mostly because I thought the ride started an hour earlier than it actually did; I got set up and started socializing with different people. I saw some old “friends”, some new ones, and just hung out until it was time to roll out. The first couple of miles were slow. You can imagine, about 600 people all starting at the same time; it is not exactly a recipe for fast, fast, fast. I was riding with a group of 3 other people and we were just keeping a conversational pace with some bursts of speed here and there to pass people that were going a little bit too slow. One thing that made me laugh early on: we had been riding for all of 15 minutes and we passed a couple, just as we were passing them the lady said: The first stop is at what 12 miles??. I thought to myself… there is someone who is really not enjoying herself on this ride; and who is having a hard time already. I did not want to be in her position.

We rolled past the first rest stop; we had plenty of water and food so we could skip it. We were keeping a nice pace; and I was focusing on my nutrition and hydration. I decided to try a combination of Carbo Pro 1200 and EFS liquid shot. Even though the Carbo Pro tastes like cough syrup; I found it quite enjoyable (I am one of those freaks that likes the taste of cough syrup) and the EFS liquid shot tasted like vanilla and was going down nicely. One of the things that I struggle with the most when fueling/hydrating during long workouts; is the taste that remains in my mouth after drinking sports drink. I can only drink so much of it; after a while it makes me gag. So I decided to get my calories from “food” and my salt from salt tabs, and stick with water as my main hydration source. This worked quite well for me. When we got to the second rest stop I already needed to use the potty (good sign of hydration spot on). So we took about 5 minutes to refill water bottles, stand in line and use the “facilities”. Then we rolled on.

At about mile 30 the routes split; and the group I was riding with chose the shorter distance. Here started my solo riding. I will say that it was not as mentally hard as I expected it to be. I was able to always keep people in sight and I think that helped. I would catch up to a group, ride with them for a few minutes and promptly get dropped on a climb. My strategy was to spin up the hills to try to keep my HR as steady as possible. With this being my first century I did not want to take the chance of pushing too hard too soon; and then be left with no energy to finish. Coach’s instructions were: I do not care how long it takes you, just FINISH the ride. And I was going to follow that to the T.

My nutrition was working great. I was getting a bit dehydrated perhaps; so I upped my water and salt intake. Within 30 minutes I was back on track. Around the fifth hour; my EFS liquid shot had ran out; so I reached for the first gel I could find. It happened to be a Chocolate power gel. I ate it; and within 15 minutes I could tell that it had messed up my stomach. It just felt like a rock; sitting there. I forced more water down; and made sure to keep eating and drinking as close to schedule as possible. The heavy feeling never went away; but it also did not get any worse. And I was able to get through that.

The route was H-I-L-L-Y; and I would be lying if I said that my hear did not sink a couple of times when after turning a corner I looked up and saw yet ANOTHER climb. But I put my head down, spun up and got through them. One thing that I noticed is that my cycling fitness has tremendously improved since last year. The 65 and the 100 mile options of this ride share a good part of the route; and I was able to realize that some of the climbs that last year “killed” me; this year were barely leaving me winded. Score!

The hours ticked by and then, I was done. I rolled back into the campus we had departed from; located my car; dismounted my bike and, even though I was tired, I noticed I could run. I got my running gear on and set on to my 10 minute run. My legs felt strangely ok. Sore? Yes. Painful? No. I could do this! Then, I noticed they were putting away the post ride food; so I chose to stop running to go eat. I wanted to eat something other than a gel. Man, a muffin never tasted so good. And ice cold water. Ahhhhh!

What did I take away from this experience? I think 2 things: I CAN ride the 112 miles in IM; and perhaps I need to revise my goals for the race. I was not as fast as I would have wanted to be; and I am not sure I can quite get there by race day in November; so it is time to take a good look at myself, my fitness and my progress; search deep in the heart and come up with goals that challenge me yet are attainable. Am I giving up on my “top secret” goal? Heck no! I just think that fixating myself on THAT particular goal; is just a recipe for disaster at this time. It might not be this year; but I WILL get there.

The week in review

It is sunday, 7:46 am and I am enjoying my rest day. This has been a crazy week. I feel like I am always saying that.... Oh well.

To say this week was busy is an understatement. On Easter Sunday the husband was brought to tears by some pain in his neck/shoulder area. Truth be told, it scared me. He never cries when something hurts; this must have been bad. I tried massaging it for him, used my handy stick and was able to find a couple of knots. I convinced him to go see my ART guy on monday. So he stayed home and was planning on driving himself over there; except that he was barely able to move his head... not very apt for driving, wouldn't you say? So I came back home, drove him over there and then picked Megan up from school. I had a long run on tap and after considering the idea of doing the 1 mile loop in my neighborhood for the hour and 40 minutes the schedule called for I realized doing that would be setting myself up for failure; so I moved the run to the following afternoon.

The run went well, I thought I was running slow as snails and it turned out it wasn't. That was particularly satisfying due to the fact that in my attempt to try and run the less amount of downhills possible (really bad for the IT band) I managed to score a route with some very steep and long uphills. Can you say: ouch?

On wednesday I had my long swim of the week. Since I am doing a 2.4 mile open water swim in May, coach has me swimming over 3000 yds once a week. The workouts always seem daunting, as swimming is still NOT my favorite; but on the positive side I have been able to "risk" it a bit more while in the pool. Before, if I was feeling too much burn on my lungs I would back off, now I have managed to overcome the fear of not being able to breathe and have pushed myself harder than I ever thought possible. Now, I am by no means fast, BUT I have been able to find my different paces in the water. Moderate IS moderate, fast IS fast; before it was all the same. While this progress is not fast or easy; I am getting there. One of these days I will arrive, one of these days my stroke will feel fluid and I will not feel like I am dying after a 500 moderate.

Thursday brought in a bike ride. Have I mentioned how much I LOVE riding?? Even when my butt is uncomfortable in the saddle. I love the feeling of power in my legs. I love pushing the big gears and feeling the burn. After a really bad bike test the previous saturday (where I could not bring my watts up - we then figured my calibration was WAY off-) it was beautiful to see I was able to put out some big numbers (for me) without much effort. BEAUTIFUL.

Friday was another swim, with some speed sets built into it. I gave them my all and did not chicken out once :) YAY! Victory.

For the longest workout of the week I had a 4 hour brick on tap on saturday. 3:30 on the bike and :30 run. I woke up with a sour stomach. Let's just say I considered apropriate to have a bathroom within reach.... So I stayed inside. Got my set up all ready, Buffy on the TV, drinks, cliff shot bloks, 2 fans, air on my tires, reset computer; and finally got on my bike. While the hours did not tick quickly enough, I really enjoyed the "ride". I never went over the HR zones stipulated and I was also able to ride over 65 miles. While I know it's just "indoor" miles, last time I had a 3 hour indoor ride I did not even get to the 50 mile mark. Definitely improvement. What's best of all is that when I got off that bike and into my T run; my legs felt fresh. My HR stayed in check and I was able to run at my goal pace no problem.

There are only 3 more weeks until my first race of the season. Up next, two weeks of lower total volume race specific work; then taper and then game on! Can't wait!

POWER!!!

I can't believe it is only 12:30 and I have already had somewhat of a full day.

It all started at 4:45 this morning. For some reason, my body has been deciding to wake up way before the alarm goes off, with me being wide awake at about 4 am. Today I managed to stay sort of relaxed until 4:45. On my schedule for today was a bike test.

About a week ago, I purchased a new piece of equipment to use with my bike when I ride indoors. I purchased a new trainer that is actually like a computrainer but a different brand called Tacx. I set it up last weekend and immediatly tried it. I loved what I saw. It measures power, cadence, distance, speed. You can also adjust slopes, so when you need to feel like you are going uphill, instead of switching to a harder gear; you just crank up the slope and then you are able to ride your bike as you would outside. The only problem I encountered with this new friend of mine, was the installation of the software on the PC. For some stupid reason every time I connect it to the USB port it asks me to re-install the driver for the bike computer. Certainly a minor issue, but annoying nonetheless.

As most of yuu know the tests call for you to not eat for the 2 hours prior to the test; so this morning I got up at 4:45 with the sole purpose of eating some breakfast. I got up, went downstairs; ingested some toast and guess what?? I went back to bed and set the alarm for 7 am! I hae the day off from work, so I was not about to stay up. Know what I mean?? When the alarm went off I got dressed and ready to test.

I got to my little "workout room", set up my stuff and got on the bike. The warm up was uneventful. I kept it really easy and spun my legs as best as I could. After the warmup was done; I recalibrated the computer to get the most accurate data detail as possible. Reset the HR monitor, take a sip of sports drink and go.

The test comprised of 2x8 minute sets where you are supposed to go as fast as you can, separated by 4 minutes of easy spinning. My goodness! I did not know what I got myself into when I bought the new whatchamacallit.

Liz had advised me that it would hurt in my lungs and legs. And boy, did it ever!!!! I could feel my heart pounding in my cheast, my breath burning my throat and my mouth getting dry with every second that went by. Those first 8 minutes seemed to last an eternity. I wanted to stop so badly! But I made it and the 4 minutes easy spin in between the 2 tests where so welcome!

The second set was more of the same. Hurt as badly, my lungs and legs burnt. I tried to keep the power level at the same numbers than the first set, but fatigue in the legs had started to set in and it showed. This time I covered the computer screen and focused on the music I had playing on my iPod. When it was over, all I had left was a 15 minute cool down along with a 15 minute run off the bike. Surprisingly, the run felt quite good. I thought my legs would be shot, but they actually fared pretty well.

After sending all the data to Liz, I had to get ready for my next adventure of the day. A date with my Father in Law at the shooting range!!!!

I had never shot a gun before and pretty much all the members of my husband's immediate family had told me how much fun it was. So I decided to give it a go. A couple of months ago I would have told you I was anti-guns, but with the husband traveling and spending many a nights alone in the house with Megan I started considering keeping a gun in the house for protection. But first I needed to learn how to shoot and see if I felt comfortable holding a gun.

After going through the safety issues about 3 times and showing me how to properly handle the gun we got to the firing line; put the target out and shot. Wow! What a rush. I tought I'd be scared, but I wasn't. I'd be lying if I said that the noise did not make me jump at first; but it was more from the other people in the range than from the gun I was firing. At first my aim was horrible, but once I kind of got used to what to expect I did much better. Did I enjoy it? Yes. Did I feel comfortable with it? yes. Would I want to go back? Yes. Am I still considering keeping a gun in the house? Yes, given that we take the needed precautions to keep it out of Megan's reach and sight. Luckily for us, my father in law is very versed in firearms and is willing to help me make sure it is all the way it's supposed to be.

Today was a day where I felt powerful; both on the bike and at the range.

I do not know what the numbers I sent to Liz from the bike test mean, or even if I am about average for someone my age and size. But I felt that given the proper training and recovery it can only get better. I still trust the plan, and most importantly the coach. I just now have different tools to get where I want to go.

The end of peak week

Well folks, I survived Peak week. It kicked my ass, but I survived it.

What did it include?? Let me tell you...

Monday: 1.5 hrs run. With 30 minutes in zone 3 and then on the last 30 minutes, some hard efforts x 8. Nice.

Tuesday: Easy 45 minute spin to get the leg circulation going.

Wednesday: 2400 yrds in the pool, with a LOOONG main set and speed (of which I have none). Man, it burnt in my lungs... But swimming always does, so what else is new, right?

Thursday: 45 min run in zones 1-2. Wake up the legs and get them ready for the next day.

Friday: 2 hr brick, as follows: bike for 1:30, following race day nutrition plan. With 30 minutes in zone 3 and them some time in zone 4 just for kicks. Get off bike and run, first 15 minutes in zones 3-4 and then cool down the last 15. Oh, and find a place that resembles your race course (that would be hilly).

Saturday: a 40 minute swim, with some drills and open water like practice. And then to finish it of a 30 minute easy spin of the legs.

Sunday: It's my day off :)

Oh, did I mention that my office was moving this week? So not only did I do all my workouts as prescribed by coach, I also packed, lifted boxes and got my arms a NICE tiring weight training like workout.

How am I feeling?? Race ready. I have written down my race plan. I have my "words". I have my timeline of events leading to the race (day before race and race day). I have my nutrition figured out... I still need to pick out my outfit... Wanted a new top because of the occasion, but I think I will have to settle with what I already own... None of my local stores carries Zoot :( and that is a bummer. I even got a new hat! Because now that I cut my hair I really look ridiculous in my Triathlon Mom visor, something about the layers bouncing up and down and making me look totally dorky. Oh well. 

Nest week is taper and then on sunday, game on!

I am ready to end my season with a bang. Wish me luck.

Peak week

Well folks, it's finally here. Peak week starts tomorrow. I can't believe I have only 2 weeks left until my "big" race. It will be my first 1/2 IM and I can't hardly wait. 

These past too weeks have been pretty hard on me. I have been extremely exhausted, busy at work, and with a gazillion other things going on. I spent an entire week without being able to sleep properly, and my body almost quit on me about 100 times. Somehow I managed to push forward and got myself to a rest week, where I was able to unplug, recharge and get ready for the Betty's (sorry, just saw a cartoon with Megan this afternoon and they have this very catchy song... "Ready for the Betty's", I have been singing it ever since) You know what? I like the expression, so I shall use it going forward... Ready for the Betty's. Yeah..

Anyhow, today we got back from the mountains. Very relaxing trip, short, and beautiful. I realized also that I would not be able to live in the mountains, as every time the road encountered a switchback I was holding onto anything and everything in the car. Vertigo. A lot of it. Not good.

The funny thing is that as we were getting ready to have dinner at the resort last night, I saw a guy with a 37 sharpied on his calf. Turns out he had done a tri that morning. And he said it was in preparation for his 1/2 IM on the 28th... The same one I am doing. Small world. 

Coach gave me my goals for the upcoming race. We took into consideration my current abilities, and we came up with a time that would be doable. A time that would be challenging but not a killer.  Do I have a super secret goal?? Of course I do! I have a super secret time goal for the perfect race conditions; that is if the star, moon and sun align... A bit of a long shot; but coach once told me "Dream Big"... so I am.

Of course, the first goal is getting myself to the finish line. I am NOT quitting this race, no matter how much it hurts; because I know it will. The long distance is a different beast than the short course, and I respect the beast. Does not mean I don't want to crush it, because I do; it just means that I will approach it cautiously and take a good look at it, study it for a bit before I decide to go at it with all my might. 

The focus is on executing the race plan to the T. Making my nutrition on the bike priority number 1; because I know that once I hit the run, my stomach is only capable of handling one gel every 50 minutes or so. 

So of to peak week I go tomorrow. Speed awaits. It's time to let the fun begin.

65

Yesterday I went on the longest bike ride I have ever  done. 65 miles. The furthest I had gone before was 45, so this was quite the accomplishment.

Originally Coach had put on my schedule a 3 hour ride and I was planning on doing it by myself. Until I came across this organized ride where they offered sag support, food and drinks. I mostly ride by myself, so I thought this could be fun. Only problem was that they offered a 40, 65 and 100 mile options. I can ride 40 miles in well under 3 hours so that one was not going to cut it. And then I thought... I can attempt the 65 mile loop. I asked coach and she said to go for it. So I signed up.

I got up early saturday morning (5 am yikes!) ate some breakfast, drank some coffee and left. Drove about one hour to get to the event place and when I got there it was packed! People of all sizes, ages and fitness levels. Some super hard core cyclist were giving me funny looks for wearing my riding skirt. But I was happy and excited about riding with people and going long. Coach had said this would be a "bread and butter" ride, in preparation for my 1/2 IM later in september, and to pace and fuel myself. Keep HR in zones 1-2. I was all over it. No problemo I thought! And then I started hearing how difficult this course was, how many hills there were, and my heart started to sink. My super secret goal was to finish this 65 mile ride in under 4 hours. Let me just say that it's a good thing the goal stayed super secret.

At 8 am they gave us the green light to start rolling. I waited until most of everybody had gone so that I didn't have to ride super tight with the crowds. Something about being closely surrounded by 50 people in bikes makes me nervous and I did not need to be nervous; it's a waste of energy.

The first couple of mile were without incidents. I rode amongst people and managed to keep a good pace. There were hills right from the get go, and even thought it hurt to climb them; I was more scared about going down them. Just because there were too many people in front of me and I did not know their riding abilities.

On one particular stretch of the road I was riding behind these 2 girls who were taking pretty much the entire lane. I was going a bit faster and wanted to pass them. And you know, you pass people on the left. So I yell "On your left" and the chick does nothing. I think she must  not have heard me, so I yell again "On your left". She ignores me. There is traffic coming the opposite way and this girl is pretty much riding on the yellow line. I can't go around her. When traffic stops coming I venture to the "wrong" side of the road and finally pass her. I mumble to myself "b!tch". And then she starts playing the cat and mouse game with me. As if this was a race of some sort, and I fall for the trap. It took me a couple of miles to realize that if I kept playing I would blow myself up and be tired before the  1/2 way point.

The first rest stop was at about mile 13 and I decide to skip it. My legs are not tired and I have plenty of food and drink. I keep riding, alone for the most part but surrounded by other people. I realized that it is hard to find someone that wants to go at your pace, or someone you can keep up with. When I reach the second water stop at mile 23 I stop, reload my bottle with water, use the potty and keep going. It actually felt good to get out of the saddle and walk a couple of steps. Not wanting to rest too much I get back on the bike and go to work. HIlls, hills and more hills. Some of them slow me down to a crawl, some of them make me want to cry and one of them pushed me close to seeing "the wizard". Hard work, but it makes me feel good. Oh yeah, keeping HR in zone  2... Impossible, too many climbs. So I settle into zone 3.

I stopped 2 more times during the ride, mostly to reload water bottles and to get my head wet since it was hot and I needed to cool off. 

After the last water stop I reached uncharted territory as I went over my previous record of 45 miles. My legs were sore, yes, but I knew I could finish the race. I was riding with this lady, who kept getting on my nerves, A LOT. I finally dropped her at about mile 52. 

So there I was riding alone, singing and pretty much talking to myself (yes I am crazy) when I heard "Butch no!" (i don't remember the exact name, but it will serve the purpose). I look to my right and I see a very fierce looking dog coming at me. "Oh, snap!" I thought. My head starts thinking that I am toast, and somehow I end up convincing my legs to push with every single bit of energy they have left. I start pedaling as fast as I can go. The dogs keeps getting closer and closer. I see him and try to pedal harder. He is right by my right leg now, totally unaffected by my pedaling motion. I can feel his hot breath in my calf muscle. For a moment I thought he was going to bite and get away with a chunk of my leg. And I thought, I was going to crash and he was going to eat me alive. But he didn't, somehow I was able to "outrun" him. I was able to escape "Butch the terrible", and now I was officially TOAST. The pacing I had done up until that point was totally crashed by the suer human effort I had to put to get away from the dog. And I still had 11 miles to go.

I crossed the 56 mile mark in about 3:30. I was happy and disappointed at the same time. I had proven that I could ride the distance of the 1/2 IM, but was not super pleased with how long it took me.

After that the last 9 miles were a suffer fest. Grind uphill, go down, grind up, go down. Get aero, parts hurt, get out of aero, parts hurt. Legs want to quit, head keeps saying: push, push, push. You get the picture. I slowed down considerably, my legs were D-O-N-E.

Finally after about 4:12 I rolled in to the finish. I could not help but smile. I had just done 65 miles on my bike! And even though my legs hurt and I was tired; I felt GOOD.

It was a very humbling experience. Even though it was supposed to be an "easy" long ride, it tested my limits and showed me that it is indeed mind over matter. It made me question my abilities and my determination. It was a great experience and I am already thinking about next year and trying the century ride. Want to come along??

In a funk

Well, the weekend came and went. Lots of stuff going on around here.

Todd was back in town on Thursday night; Megan LOVED having her daddy around so much that she chose not to listen to me a.single.time. (I guess that is what is considered a daddy’s little girl, don’t you think?)

Friday was kind of a busy day. We got up relatively early as Megan is an early riser and I tried to do my outside run. I think the stressful week finally caught up with me and I was exhausted. My legs did not want to go. My body ached all over; my breathing was super labored, even though I was doing a zone 1-2 run. I ran 20 minutes of my prescribed 45 and decided to call it quits. I thought I was getting sick because of that aching feeling all over my body and was overly cautious as last time I got sick I was out of commission for the better part of a week.

We had breakfast, got dressed and went out shopping. Earlier this year we made the decision that for now we are sticking with just one child (if you remember it was a defining moment for us, and particularly me); and that left our house with an empty bedroom (what used to be the nursery-since we gave all of our baby stuff to my sister in law who is pregnant). Up to that point we had a total gym and my trainer set up in our bedroom, and had been talking about moving them to the spare room to use as a “gym”. I am happy to report that we finally did it. And not only did we put those pieces of equipment there… we also got a treadmill! Shocker! I am not a fan of the ‘mill, but with Todd traveling it is pretty much the only option I have if I want to do my runs during the week. So our little gym is all set up and our bedroom looks more like a bedroom, which is always nice.

In the evening we went to my in-laws house and had a small BBQ to celebrate the 4th and then we took Megan to see some fireworks. She was more interested in the puppy the people next to us had than the actually fireworks… And she had been anticipating the fireworks all day!

Saturday was pretty uneventful. I had my bike test on the schedule for the morning. Luckily I was feeling much better. I got some good sleep after the fireworks and I think that helped TONS. We stayed around the house, hit the neighborhood pool, ordered in some pizza for dinner and called it a night. Pretty low key.
I remember back in my 20’s when a Saturday night like this would have seemed “boring”. Ah! Growing older will change ya!

Sunday flew by. I went grocery shopping while Todd was still at the house. We had a nice lunch and then it was time to take Hubby to the airport for his second trip to Miami. After we dropped him off Megan and I hit target, and then it was back home to get back in the weekly wagon.

When Monday rolled around I was ready to tackle the week full force. Get back into the full swing of training after a challenging “rest” week (where I did not really get a lot of rest… not it terms of training though). And then I got into work. I was super busy and by the time I realized it, I needed to get my bootie to the pool before the camp kids got there. On the schedule, Liz put 2400 yds. Let me just summarize: it did not go so well. I freaked out on some of the sets (breathing 1-2 per 25… yeah, right). I got mad, upset, scared, wanted to cry. I thought: “I will never be good enough at this; I might as well stop now”. But I didn’t. Did I feel better afterwards? Not exactly. I guess you can say I am stubborn and I am not going to let the water win. I will keep at it, until I figure it out. It might take me my entire life, but I will eventually win. Man, I am just like my dad!

Yesterday I needed to do some hill repeats. I was really looking forward to the hurt. I needed it. I had arranged for my in-laws to pick Megan from daycare, so I could run after work. I was even looking forward to the heat and humidity (weird I know). And then, as I am getting ready to leave work… The sky starts falling in the form of rain, thunder, lighting and 50 mph winds (that is what the weather man said, so I will believe him). There goes my outside run. I was bummed. I drove to my in-laws to get Megan and the commute that usually takes me 35 mins, took me close to 1 hr! Traffic lights were not working at major intersections, trees had fallen into the street, accidents galore… you get the picture.

We ended up at home, eating dinner at 7:50 pm and I still had to do my run. After Megan went to bed I decided to jump on my treadmill. What followed was one of the suckiest run workouts I have had in a long time. My pace sucked. I needed to stay in zone 2 and could not even run an 11 minute mile without spiking my HR. I know that it was probably a combination of tiredness, stress, my stomach digesting the food, and the fact that I NEVER have done a workout at 9 pm (yes you read that right… I got on the ‘mill at 9 pm). I was still hoping for a bit more.

So today, I am in a funk of sorts. I am kind of disappointed. Mostly at myself I think. I am questioning if I am really doing my workouts right. Am I self sabotaging? Could I give more? How would I do it? How long will it take me to get to where I want to be? I know it is not easy, I know it will hurt, and I am ok with that. But evidently there is something that has not clicked 100% yet.

Tonight I have a session with my head. I will put on some nice mellow music. Grab pen and paper; and let it all come out. Hopefully I will find where the short circuit is and will be able to fix it.

Weekend wrap up

Yesterday I got up early and went on my saturday morning ride. Coach had scheduled me a group ride, with some harder efforts; so I went to my local tri store to join in the "women" only ride. The other ride they have on saturday mornings is way too fast for me to keep up.

When I get there I find out that the regular ride leader broker her ankle during the week on a trail run, so we will have a "sub". As the sub is pumping her tires, she gets a flat... on her back wheel! Now, put a whole bunch of ladies; with absolutely no tire changing experience in a situation like this and what do you get? A ride leader who is panic mode because she can't change her tire; and the rest of us on a panic mode because, what if we get a flat? I am proud to report that even though I had no tire changing experience myself, I was able to help put the back wheel in place. I guess all the watching other people do it paid of. 

As we are getting ready leave to the parking lot, I notice a new girl (who I shall call A). A is not sure she can go the entire 26 miles we have planned going (which turned out to be more like 23); as the most she has ridden was 9 miles. I assure her she will be fine, she will be sore but will do just fine. People start pedaling away and as A is trying to get going, she can't clip her second foot and falls off the bike. At this point, you could see the tears start welling in her eyes and she says to me " I am really scared of this ride". I tell her she shouldn't be and that we have all fallen of our bikes... Hey, I did last weekend! I show her some tricks on how to clip in and out (like being able to push your pedal even though you are not clipped, so that you have more momentum) and I vow to stay back with her for the duration of the ride. 

I remember my first group ride and how my heart was literally jumping off my chest. I wish someone had taken the time to show me things. I had no such luck. What I learned about biking I learned alone on trial and error. I fell of my bike numerous times and each time I got up and kept riding.

So anyhow, off we go. I stay back with A and tell her about cadence and being effective on your pedal strokes and how not to be scared of shifting. She is riding her granny ring and I make her change to the small ring. Once there I tell her we will work on getting comfortable with shifting around the gears in her cassette. She asks me questions, and I answer them to the best of my knowledge. I share experiences and keep assuring her she will be fine. I finally convince her she will be able to go the entire distance and we keep riding past her much shorter turn around point. Every now and then the group leader comes to find us and I take this time to push out of my comfort zone. I ride the big ring, feel the burn in my legs and and eat it up. I am loving this ride. 

We get to the turnaround point and A is looking awesome. We all tell her "it's all downhill from here" (in a figurative way). The group stays much closer now, I guess people are starting to get tired; and I just want to GO. I ask A if she is feeling good, and tell her my intentions, she says to go for it. So I take off. For the first time I am leading the group and feeling good about going fast. I practice my eating strategies, drinking (tried Heed and loved it! Thanks Katie!) and staying Aero.

We get back to the shop and I have this overall good feeling. My ride went awesome and I am also super glad I was able to help someone out. I tell A she needs to keep coming to the group rides. That she will get better and faster each time. She is looking a lot more confident now. Mission accomplished.

After the ride I went home and showered quickly to get ready for my dress shopping morning. I went out and hit a bunch of stores and could not come up with anything I liked. I had done some online shopping and saw a bunch of dresses I liked but the always look so much better in pictures. I came back home empty handed. 

I did, however, go to the hair salon and got my hair colored. I think I look much better with dark color hair. I will try to take a picture and post it later. 

Oh yes! I have some Megan news. She is turning into such a big girl! Friday night was her first night sleeping without a pull up and she did awesome! She did not wet her bed. She repeated that saturday night. We leave the bathroom light on, so she can go if she needs to during the night. And she has used it! Yesterday we took her to the pool and she has embraced swimming! This is a total shocker for us since last summer she did not want to have ANYTHING to do with the water. Granted, she is still not going under, but now she wants to swim without us holding her (don't worry we are still in the pool next to her, and she wears those arm floating thingies).

Today we are going to my sister in law's house to celebrate her birthday and help out with some home projects. She and her husband have just moved into town and since she is pregnant her hubby has been enlisting family help to do fix the little things the house needs. We have given them all of our baby stuff... furniture, toys.. you name it. Our old "nursery" will become our home gym and we are pretty excited about it.

Today is IMcda. I send big waves of good luck and positive thoughts to all those racing. Also a big Congrats to Bree who came in 2nd in IM Japan on her first IM as a pro. Go Bree!!!!

Random bits

Well, it’s official. As of this week the company I work for is merging with another one. What does this mean? I am not quite sure. My job is still here, for now at least; but who knows? I am not necessarily worried about it right now. I will continue to do my job, at the same level I am doing it now. I guess time will tell what happens.

Lately I have been considering becoming a stay at home mom or working part time. Why? Because I’d love to have more time to dedicate to this sport. I have Ironman plans for 2010 and I will need more “free” time to get in the 20 hrs per week of training. On the down side, this is an expensive sport and it is always nice to know that you can afford it. Know what I mean? Yes, yes, my mind is a mess. Oh well, I’ve learned to live with it.

Training has been going good. I had a nice talk with Coach the other day about my training and the feedback she is getting from me after my workouts. I always think that it is not enough and that I am not giving her enough tools to fine tune my training. One of the things that had me the most concerned was my level of tiredness. I remember previous seasons being extremely tired; even though my workouts were not as consistent as now; so I was expecting to be as tired this year too. But I am not; and that made me question my performance. Coach assured me that I am doing the right thing and that not being as tired is actually a sign that we are going about this training thing the correct way. It means I am getting more efficient. And it made sense. In case you have not noticed, Coach rocks!

Today I had a nice run set. I had to warm up for 15 minutes and then do 30 minutes of short 1 minute intervals. Since I needed to change my pace ever so many seconds I decided to do this on the treadmill to avoind having to look at my watch the entire run. The clock on the ‘mill is much more easy to read. I developed a love/hate feeling for this workout. I loved going fast, but I hated having to watch the clock as much as I did. It made the time crawl. And even though I love running, when you are on the ‘mill pushing a hard pace you just want the time to go by as fast as possible. Don’t you agree?? I finished the set just fine, my legs felt tired as they should and my HR was all the way to zone 3. I was please with the result.

Tomorrow I have a 1:30 hr group ride, with some hard efforts on the schedule. Looking forward to it. It will probably feel like nothing after the 2:30 hrs I did last weekend. I just hope I don’t fall this time.

I also have a nice morning of dress shopping ahead. I am going to a wedding the following weekend, and since I am actually feeling awesome about my body (first time in a while I like looking at myself in a bikini) I want a new dress to sort of “show off”. Why not, right? “If you got it, flaunt it” I am looking for a nice red one (my favorite color and it does look good on me), and I have a very specific shape in mind. We will see if I can find something that resembles the image I see when I close my eyes. I will let you know if I am successful

Last, but not least I just want to wish good look to all the tri-blogger racing IMCda. Go get’em guys!!!

The week that was

There has been so much going on this past week.

- I was out of commission for about 4 days.
- Managed to sort of work out 3 days
- My daughter has a case of the “I want to go somewhere mommy”; so we have been out and about everyday after school/work
- My friend from Virginia came to visit for the weekened and it was great to catch up and see her and her family.
- Todd has been working crazy hours and sometimes that makes me mad.
- I had a monster ride on Eleanor on Saturday. It was hard and I almost coughed out a lung.
- I discovered that the casssette on my bike is NOT meant for climbing, so I took the bike to the shop and changed it.
- I got the seat water bottle racks installed. So now I can hydrate properly.
- I discovered my stomach can handle powerbars and Cliff Blocks, and oddly enough I like them both.
- This was supposed to be a rest week, but since I was forced to rest last week, I think it will be hard training instead.
- I am still exhausted and on medication for my ear infection/strep.
- The medicine tastes HORRIBLE and kills my stomach.
- My eating habits have been sucking big time and I am having a hard time getting back on track.
- My body CAN tell when I am not eating healthy.
- One glass of whine will make me open up about personal stuff, especially when I share it with a friend.
- I wish my mom had been with me while I was sick, so she could have given me some TLC (yes, I miss my momma)
- Even though I try to ignore/brush off the people that make me mad.. they still manage to make me mad. I need to find a way to channel that energy towards something else.

So, as you can see this past week has been one full of ralizations, good times and not so good ones too. I am looking forward to this week; spending some time playing with my daughter and working out as hard as I can. Bring it!

Say hello to my little friend....

As I promised earlier, I took some pics of Eleanor... Here they are

Here is a picture of her from a different angle

And another one :

Oh, and I also have a new helmet:

Because the helmet HAS to match the bike (and red is my favorite color)

I am all ready for racing, see??