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.

Nutrition, Nutrition, Nutrition

Before the holidays; exactly 3 days before Xmas, I took the next step towards my Ironman success and had a nutrition consultation with a local gal that I had met a few months ago. 

Coach had sent us some information regarding nutrition that pretty much hit home with me; and after thinking about if for a couple of days I came to the realization that I needed to pay more attention to my fueling schedule/nutrition needs.

So after talking with Diane (the nutritionist) about getting together; I made the appointment at her clinic and off I went. We met the Monday before Xmas. I arrived just on the nick of time to my 4:30 appointment and we talked for a long time. She asked me what my typical food choices for a day were and after I told her; she said to me something Coach had been telling me all along: You need to eat more.

Now, don't get me wrong. I trust Coach immensely. She KNOWS her stuff, she is awesome sharing  her knowledge. But food and I have had a rocky relationship all along; and being told that I need to eat more is no easy pill to swallow. 

I grew up on the chubby side. Not overweight, but festively plump :). The society I was raised on (Latin America) is very concerned about how people look. I will make a stupid example here; but it is one that will show you just how important being thin is in my home country. When you go out here; be it to bars or a club to go dancing; you will see overweight people, obese if you will being out there and having fun. Granted; it pretty much depends on how the person feels about his/herself; but they are out there. In my home country, you do not see them. Why? Because the people around them would just STARE them down and prevent them from having any fun. As if being overweight makes you less human. Horrible; I know, but that's I were I grew up. 

Being on the chubby side, I had a couple of family members who upon seeing me; the first comment they would make would be: "Wow, you have gained some lbs" or "You are looking nice, have you been dieting?". So I started getting concerned about they way I looked at a very young age. At the time my weight was a factor of my moods. Once I hit a very HARD depressing time where I did not want to eat and I lost almost 10 lbs in a month. Now, for someone my size, 10 lbs is a whole lot of weight; and I didn't necessarily have the need to lose it. Know what I mean?

Fast forward to after having my daughter. While I was pregnant with Megan, I made the terrible mistake of letting myself eat whatever I wanted; whenever I wanted. So, I gained 50 lbs; which left me really overweight for someone my height. I struggled with this for the better part of 3 years and then when I started training with coach; the weight just melted away. I am now even smaller than I was before I got pregnant.

Even thought I am at a healthy weight/size; there is always this little voice  in the back of my head that is constantly paranoid about eating too much and gaining all the weight back.  As I said before, Coach had told me about eating more a long time ago; I just never wanted to believe it. 

This year I turned the corner and realized that nutrition is key if I want to perform at the level I wish to perform at my races. I can't feed my body crap and expect it to perform at top shape. Along the same lines, I can't starve it and expect no bad consequences. So that is why I decided to consult a nutritionist. To learn more, to be informed and to have someone to turn to when I need reassurance that what I am doing is the right way to go. And being able to see that person face to face is key to me because I can express all my concerns much more easily than by email.

Armed with a new pool of knowledge I started my healthy eating journey; with the intention of making this lifestyle change for good. A couple of days ago, I started a food journal and could not believe what I saw the first 3 days. I am BARELY scratching the surface of the calories I need to ingest. Even after a week of conscious eating; where I thought I was definitely eating enough; I am not getting in enough calories.

To discover that I need to eat even more is not easy to come to terms with. After all, it goes against all that I have ever believed in. But I am determined to get this right. If I want to succeed, I need to re-learn how to eat. It will take time; the best thing I can do is to make small changes every week. Try new things, see what works and what doesn't. I guess it is a bit like practicing your race plan. You try and you try until you get it down pat. 

It is another one of those where you have to have a talk with yourself and decide to trust the plan. I talked and I listened. My head and my soul trust the plan. Now it's just time to put it into action. Food is my new friend. Nutrition is KEY.