Philly Women's Tri Penultimate Training Week

So, this is my second to last training week before the Philly Tri. Meep!

On Sunday I took Violet out for a 20-mile ride. She is so much more fun than my old bike, especially coming up hills! I wasn't really faster, but that's all right. I had to stop a couple of times to drink water, eat some gel, and rest my hands because I am not familiar enough with road bike handling.

Monday I went to Haverford College's campus to run on the Nature Walk path. I ran for about 6o minutes before I stopped due to darkness and hunger. I was hoping that would put me about at my 5 mile mark, but the path is apparently 2.2 miles long, not 2.5. My calves are hurting again so I need to contact my buddy for more Myofascial Release.

Tuesday I went for a swim, only I didn't quite leave the house with enough time for a full 60 minute swim. I did get a good solid 40 minutes in though. I increased the number of freestyle laps and decreased the number of backstroke laps.

Wednesday I thought I might check out the Forbidden Drive path in Fairmount Park since it's pretty close to where I'm pet-sitting. Unfortunately, I am ridiculously lame with map reading, so it took me longer than I expected just to get to a parking lot. I get out of the car and spy an entrance with a bicycle/horse/hiker pictorial sign so I figured that's the path I'm supposed to follow. I run for a little bit over gravel and boulders before I decide that I can't possibly be on the part suitable for running. (Trail Running is not my thing it seems; guess I won't be doing any Xterra Tris anytime soon.) I go back the way I came and follow the road a little more until I find the path by the Valley Green Inn. I run for another 20 minutes but then I have to get ready for work. I'm guessing I got somewhere around 2 miles in, but I'm really not sure. It's a far cry from the 5 I was going to run.

Thursday night I came back to the house and took my bike out for a little spin. I wasn't worried about mileage - I just wanted to get more comfortable on the bike. I think I did ok, actually. My tush was hurting on Sunday because of the new saddle so I got a gel seat cover from Target; I think it helped a lot. I came back, got the dog, and walked for about an hour up and down Germantown Avenue in Chestnut Hill.

I have allocated 60 minutes for a swim on Friday. I expect to get all 60 minutes in this time.

On Sunday I'm going to attempt to ride 25-30 miles followed by a 3 mile run. Here's hoping I make it!

I think I'll call her Violet

I haz a new bike!

I went ahead and got the Fuji Silhouette I had on layaway, because I just liked that bike. Plus it's so pretty.

The nice man at the store gave me the SPD pedals they'd put on the bike for test riding. So I don't have the platform pedals that came with the bike, but I'm not that sad about it. He threw in water bottle cages too, which was nice. I bought a computer and gels and whatnot. I also got these new PowerBar Gel Blasts, which taste an awful lot like those frog gummy candies. Mmmm. I only got one package so I'm going to have to stop by and pick up some more.

The only bad thing is that the bike doesn't really fit on my car rack. Not sure what I'm going to do about that yet. I can cram it on, but I'm not happy about it.

Anyway, here's Violet!


(Yes, I am a huge dork.)

Souped Up Training Plan

You know the good thing about having my butt thoroughly kicked on Sunday? Revs up my inner "oh yeah? well I'll show YOU!" attitude.

I was pleasantly surprised to find I was not very sore on Monday. I was traveling back to PA so no workout time.

Tuesday I went to the pool and did a full 60 minutes in the pool. I really need to shop for actual groceries, but since I had no breakfast foods I resorted to a ProMax Nutty Butter Crisp bar about 2 hours before I got in the water. I was really exhausted afterwards, which I expected since I've only done 30 minutes before. I got a chocolate milk for recovery and also got a healthy salad (romaine lettuce, sunflower seeds, black olives, carrots, plum tomatoes, diced egg, and grilled chicken strips with a little bit of ranch dressing). I was dying for snacky foods, but I managed to resist.

Today I got up early and went out for a 5-mile run. I tried to push myself a little more so I did not set my interval timer on my Timex Ironman watch, but instead ran for 8.5 minutes then .5 minute walk, which I repeated until the last mile when I opted not to take the walk break. I was really hoping to complete my run with 12 minute miles, but I ended up being 12:40 minute mile average, ending at 62 minutes. I am glad I could push myself, but frustrated that I couldn't quite get where I wanted to be. I consumed an Acclerade Fruit Punch drink. I really wish they wouldn't add food coloring to sports stuff. It was ok. I just had some mango and will repeat the salad I had yesterday. Yum.

I am going to repeat the 1 hour in the pool practice tomorrow, and do another 5 mile run on Friday.

Luray Prep Clinic "Race" Report

Wake up at 5 am. Put on tri clothes. The top is easier to put on than when trying it on in the fitting room. Actually feel hungry so eat a small bowl of cereal. Get bikes on the car, lug all the tri crap to the car, get everyone in the car, and off we go.

The drive is pretty pleasant. The temperature isn't too hot and we listen to upbeat songs on the way down. Make a small pit stop at a 7-Eleven, where we are stared at like aliens from another planet. Guess they don't see to many people in funny bike clothing. Finally we get to the race site. We were a little confused getting there from the main road, but make it we do. Go get checked in, dither about whether to get the bikes off the car and leave them close to the pavilion or leave them on the car, finally decide to move them close to the pavilion. Eat half of my cashew turtle, hit the bathroom one more time, and go down to the lake.

The water temperature is around 80 F, so S decides not to try out her new wetsuit. When she sees other people in wetsuits she questions that decision but it's too late now. Catch the brief end of the swim talk and everybody in to simulate a mass race start. I'm the weakest link of the 3 of us, so they agree to not swim full bear and just stay with me. Whistle starts, and off we go. It's pretty slow going, as I've borrowed a pair of my friend's goggles and they don't quite fit as well as I would have liked and there was a little water in them which threw me off. I had brought my goggles too, but hers were the first I grabbed so that's what I went with. I alternated between freestyle, backstroke, and doggy paddle like I usually do even for the pool. H is a very strong swimmer so she was watching me to give me some tips. She encouraged me to slow down while freestlying because it was making me too out of breath to sprint the way I do. I explained to her how I still am not comfortable in the water and so I panic when trying to freestyle. I did try to slow it down a little though. There was a guy who had horrible form; he must be right-handed for his right hand would flail and violently dig in the water and the left one was doing almost nothing so he swam in a Z pattern looking like a crab, hitting anybody he came near. It was a little alarming and we got out of his way. They talk about people swimming over you, and I guess he took that to heart because he never seemed to look where he was going. H told me I had good form when I swam and at least I was doing a lot better than that guy, and indeed I would pass him when swimming freestyle, and I swam in a straighter line. It was a very good experience, and I didn't have to hold on to anything although it did take us 40 minutes to go around for the 1/2 mile. I stopped after one loop while S and H did another loop to complete a mile, without me holding them back. I got out of the water and stubbed my feet on some concrete which hurt quite a bit but apparently did no damage. We left the lake and headed for the bike.

We caught the tail end of the lecture again. I already knew all the things the coach said so it wasn't terribly interesting. We interrupted our bike prep to take a picture. I ate part of a protein bar and grabbed some Luna Sport Moon Energy Chews. Then we got started on the bike course, which is a rolling 16.5 miles. We ride and ride and ride. Again I am the weakest link (in everything) so they had to wait for me several times. Not only am I on a heavy mountain bike, but I haven't practiced on hills because I don't like them. Most of the climbs we did were very slow and gradual, so it's not like I could stand and pedal like I do for shorter climbs. We were out on the road for about an hour when H needed to pump a tire. I kept going for a little bit and then stopped to eat the chews. I was struggling on the hills, but eating helped and I felt a little stronger for a bit.* The SAG vehicle started to follow us, which made all of us feel like losers. They were able to bike ahead though, and at one point I needed to take a break. The support guy got out of the truck and was giving me some pointers for the hills, which I did appreciated. But I told him I was fine and yet he continued to shadow me, which made me very uncomfortable as well as gave me performance anxiety. A little bit up a very long slow climb with him still right behind me I throw in the towel and let him rescue me. (Roughly mile 13 or 14?) I think I could have finished had he not been following me, but whatever. I felt very frustrated and even more like a loser. He tried to pep talk me up with how it's a challenging course especially for not training for hills, and for being my first time doing all 3 at once, but I still felt worthless. I do well under pressure for some things, but as a person who was always picked last for gym class, I do not handle well any athletic-related pressure.

We get back to the pavilion and get ready for the run. S found she needed a break after the last hill, but H is ready to go run. I figure since I bailed on the bike I should do the run. Much like the bike course, the run course is also "gently rolling". H paired up with another late bike finisher and I stayed behind a little to not slow them down and also because I like to run/walk. I mostly run/walked up until the 1.5 mile turnaround, and then I gave up and just walked all the way back. S had come to do part of the course so we ended up walking together. There were a fair amount of people walking the course at least by the time I was on it. She passed a woman who made disparaging comments about the number of people who were walking, something along the lines of "it's a run, not a walk". That would have been the very last straw for me, had I heard it firsthand. (Also, it is a clinic for beginner/novice triathletes. WTF do you care if we need to walk and not run?)

Finally S and I get back to the pavilion and get a chance to eat. It's 2 pm by this time*. I scarf down a cheeseburger with lettuce and tomato and a spicy sausage, a bag of potato chips, and some sort of cake thing. The coach is talking about transition stuff, but he's mostly talking about it in terms of the Luray Tri and not for tris in general. I had hoped he would do a whole transition layout, but he didn't. S told me she would show me how to lay it out when we got back to the house. After we eat we decide to shower before we head home, since this park has showers. (I will not be so lucky for the Philly tri.)

We talk about what we're going to do for S's DH when we get back, seeing as how it is Father's Day and he's been with the kids by himself. He had asked to do a group bike ride. We get back to the house, rest for 30 minutes or so, then we head off to Bethesda for ice cream. I am proud of myself (finally!) because I remember when I struggled to do the trail to Bethesda because the trail very gently inclines. Even after those hills today I was able to get there with no problems. Ice cream was the perfect antidote for my No Good Very Bad Day.



* It wasn't until we got to eat lunch that I reviewed what I consumed for the day, nutrition-wise. I started with a small bowl of cereal around 5:30 am. I also drank some water and ate most of a cashew larabar on the way to the race site. I ate half of a cashew turtle candy. I did the swim which took 40 minutes, then went to do the bike which took an hour (and a half or two maybe? should have looked at my watch) with only a bit of protein bar, some energy chews, and more water. Then I finished the run/walk and I don't know how long that took but again I only had water. I wasted all that time for the lecture parts when I thought I'd be able to add stuff because it just didn't occur to me that I actually needed more calories. I think that's partly why I bonked on the bike - I didn't have enough fuel in my body to keep going. I also hadn't added any salts and sweated a lot. Jayne Williams talks about Post Race Stupidity Syndrome in her book. I think I was displaying During Race Stupidity Syndrome. On the plus side, even though this is all 20/20 hindsight, I learned a lot about prepping for a race. It's probably better to overfuel than underfuel. Also, just because I wasn't practicing transitions so didn't really brick all 3 and didn't feel like I was overly active doesn't mean I wasn't pretty active for 4 hours straight. I will do better the next time I try to brick all 3 (or even 2 for that matter!).

Much Like A Slumber Party

Not a lot of slumber going on....

I'm sitting on S's couch next to my friend H. We've gone to REI where I purchased some Zoot tri apparel. I now have this tri top, and this or something like it tri shorts. I got a race belt while I was at it. I wish REI carried Accel Gel packs because the one I tried wasn't too sweet and also had protein, but they carry other Accelerade and Endurox products so I purchased some sport drinks and some powder to try out.

We have to get up really early in the morning, but instead of getting our stuff together S is probably sleeping in her son's room, her DH is taking a look at my bike, I'm updating you, and H is reading an issue of Triathlete Magazine. Poor planning on our part.

On the positive planning front, we had pasta for dinner. I am practicing my race day breakfast of a Cashew Turtle candy. I have found that the chocolate, caramel, and cashews make a good choice, but I haven't tried it as fuel for more than my short training distances. In addition to my regular water bottles I will take coconut water and my nuun tablets, maybe even the Acclerade drink I bought today, but I won't add or prep the non water stuff until I see how it goes tomorrow. We'll have plenty of time to sort stuff out, it seems.

Schedule
8:30-9 AM Check in and welcome
9-10 AM Swim discussion; open water swim
10-11 AM Bike course discussion; bike course ride
11 AM-12 PM Run course discussion; run course run
12-12:30 PM Transition practice
12:30–1 PM Lunch (provided) and open question forum

Fire and Brimstone

It has been HOT in Philadelphia lately. Saturday and Sunday were officially 97 degrees, Monday was officially 98, breaking a 44 year old record for hottest day before June 15. Tuesday looks like it was also 98 degrees. With humidity felt like 105 or so. Even the breeze felt like you were baking in an oven.

On Friday I managed to squeak in a swim. I think I did 750 meters in 28 minutes, although possibly less since I am not good with counting laps. I powered through some of them, so I was very out of breath at the end but felt kind of strong. Saturday was not a workout day, although it was so hot I definitely sweated enough for a workout.

On Sunday I braved the horrible heat for a bike ride, figuring it would give me good practice for July. I froze one of my water bottles and put the others in the fridge so I'd have a fighting chance of coolness. I thought I might try to do the run afterwards so I also chilled some Goya Coconut Water because coconut water is reputed to be even better than Gatorade for electrolytes. (Supposed to be good as a hangover cure, by the way.) I have had limited luck in finding the coconut water in grocery stores, but I did find the sweetened at Genuardi's and at Walmart. It looks like I can buy both sweetened and unsweetened online, which I might pursue at some point.

I got up and decided to get out the door earlier than I normally do, in order to avoid some of the worst of the heat. I filled my Fuel Belt flasks but put them in a lunch cooler bag with some cold packs so they would stay cool. I drove to Conshohocken so I could bike from there toward the city and explore more of the path. I kept the frozen water bottle in one of my jersey's back pockets, which was nice and helped keep me cool. I made pretty good time through Manayunk until I reached the end of the Tow Path and had to go toward the street. I was a little confused as to why everyone was on the sidewalks and no one was on the road (hey it was hot and my brain was fried!) until it dawned on me that the Manayunk Bike Race was going on. I rode a little bit more and then stopped to watch the race. After a while I continued on and then stopped again on Kelly Drive right before the intersection at Falls Bridge. It looks like maybe I rode about 15 miles round trip. I actually had a nice time, but it was 2 pm by the time I got back to my car and no way did I want to try to run. My car's temperature gauge read 101 degrees.

I did no exercise on Monday or Tuesday, apart from work. I very much appreciated AC at the office. I knew there was a storm coming on Tuesday evening that was supposed to break the heat wave. I was at a client's house that night when the thunder came booming down, shaking the house. I think the storm rampaged for 10 minutes or so. I didn't hear much rain and my car wasn't wet later, although there was a lot of tree debris in the road. I wondered if we would have power in my neighborhood, for this was the kind of storm that usually involves power outages. All the lights seemed to be working from there to the laundromat and then to home, so I didn't think more about it. I was therefore surprised when I got home last night to find the power out. I was hoping it would be fixed quickly. Alas, power was out until 8 am this morning. It was very very hot at home, and there was no breeze coming through the windows to cool things down. I was miserable.

It didn't look like I'd have enough time for a swim today so I went for a run instead. I met a nice man in the parking lot who told me he was training for the Lake Placid Ironman. I wish him well! I thought it was still very hot for running, but that may have been because my core temp was still high. I initially thought I'd do a 3 mile run, but as I got back to my starting point I decided to throw another mile in there. Went pretty well, I have to say. Still slow as molasses, but at least I was moving. I finished up with some chocolate milk as my recovery drink. Yum!

Tomorrow I will swim, but I probably won't get any more exercise in before the Luray Triathlon Race Prep Clinic I am doing with a couple of my friends. We aren't signed up for the Luray Tri, and it actually costs about as much as registering for a tri, but it'll be a great way to get some coached info and check out the course in case we want to do that one next year without having to actually compete.

I checked out a Specialized Ruby bike today, but it was not love at first pedaling. They set me up on a trainer for the short term and I will probably go back to test ride, but I think I like the Fuji better. Still want to hop on a few more brands before I plunk down my $$. Also, there's a bike swap in DC this weekend so who knows what kind or where I'll get a bike. I won't have it for the tri clinic, which is sad, but oh well. I wanted to get some tri clothes too, but I wasn't loving the options. I might have been a little cranky from the heat, so I'll try to try some on again tomorrow or Friday. Not the end of the world if I don't. I'm thinking about renting a wetsuit for the open water this weekend to get a feel, but if that doesn't work out it's also not a huge deal.

Trail Mix - Good or Bad?

I love trail mix. It's easy to eat, has decent nutrition, and doesn't need to be refrigerated. I am particularly fond of Trader Joe's Simply The Best mix, which has cashews, almonds, dried cranberries, dried cherries, and dried pineapple. Also interesting is the one with pistachios, walnuts, and dried cranberries. Unfortunately, lately, I've been loving it a bit too much. Trail mix should not be the majority of your food for the day, especially on days you plan to exercise.

I naturally had to learn this the hard way. I should have gone grocery shopping, but was too lazy. Also, trail mix is a little bit like potato chips - hard to eat just one serving's worth. On Sunday I finally managed to drag my butt to the park for planned brick, but almost didn't make it through the bike ride. It was hot, my tum was unhappy, and I wanted to pass out. On the one hand, I still got 10 miles in, but on the other I had planned to do 20 followed by a 3 mile run.

On Monday I got 750 meter swim in. So I know for sure I can make it through the first triathlon swim. Still trying to work on more efficient breathing, and very thankful for the backstroke.

Yesterday I did a 3 mile run. My knee started hurting at the 2nd mile mark, so I actually walked a lot of the last mile because I didn't want to do damage. Knee's fine today, although my thighs are feeling it.

Tomorrow will be another swim day. Then I'll try AGAIN for the 20 mile bike/3 mile brick.