Taper Week

I have been so sore from the ChiRunning Workshop that I have fallen again into a very quiet on the exercise front Taper Week.

On Monday I went for a bike ride and had the aim to brick as a way to move some of the lactic acid out of my muscles. I biked for almost 1.5 hours. I wasn't really pushing too hard, and I also had to stop every now and then because there was this weird noise coming from my bike. The last time I stopped the guy who sold me my bike stopped to help. That was kind of funny. Turns out the frame pump slid down from it's position a little and the crank was banging into it. Easy peasy problem to solve!

I tried to brick afterwards but my legs hurt so badly I didn't want to push it. Also, I'm a wuss when it comes to pain!

I was going to try to swim this week, but timing just isn't coming together for me. I'm really hoping the weather will cooperate so we don't have to du. There is a practice swim on Saturday, so at least I'll be able to get swim time in then. Also, woohoo! I found out that we are in the 7:30 am swim wave! Which means I have 5.5 hours to complete the tri! Man I hope I can do that.

I should be getting my tri stuff together and sleeping. So I will leave you with this article on Nation's Newbies and helpful tips. Make sure you read all the way to the end!

d is for destruction

Today I got to the gym a little too early for the pool, so I decided to take a book and do a mild walk on the treadmill since I hadn't brought running clothes and anyway did running yesterday. I get upstairs, fill my water bottle, and then turn towards the treadmill. Which is also the direction of the spinning bike. Then I notice the guy in the bike clothes on the floor with tools, messing with a pedal. Curious. I go over to see what he's doing and see that there's a cleat stuck in the pedal. Uh oh. I quickly think back to yesterday when I was using the spinning bike (for 60 minutes!) and how hard it was for me to unclip so that I could get off and put my running shoes on and do a brick session. Um, I believe that might be my cleat you are trying so hard to dislodge. Oops. I try to help and at some point he does manage to dislodge the cleat. I tell him and the guy who's in charge of the fitness center that I'll replace the pedals if they're broken. The fitness center dude tells me not to worry and if the pedals are broken the college will replace them, and really they're just glad I'm working out. Finally, the guy who just wanted to work out gets everything patched up and he tests them out. Pedals are fine, plus a little bit of adventure for his workout.

I'm mortified, and also really annoyed at my shoes. This cleat is from the shoe where both screws have been replaced, and apparently that still doesn't matter. I don't have any idea if the screws are stripped, or what. I was thinking about getting more tri specific shoes anyway, and this might be the opportunity. I have to get this straightened out though because I'm supposed to bike about 30 miles on Saturday!

Anyway, yesterday I followed a good bit of the 9.0 difficulty spinerval vid, although not all of it, and then I just pedaled for the remaining time, totaling 60 minutes. Then I hopped off and put my new Mizuno sneakers on to try them out (much much better than the icky Nike+ ones) and ran for 25 minutes. I started off really slowly and then was able to increase the speed, although I still didn't quite get 2 miles in. I know I need to brick outside, but it was nice to have the treadmill be easier on my legs.

Today I repeated my lackluster 60 minutes in the pool. At least I put the time in. Tomorrow I'm going to get another pool session in before it's closed all next week, and if I have time I'll try to throw in some elliptical or treadmill work too.

Saturday I'm going to attempt 30 miles on the bike, and Sunday I'm going to get a 5 mile run in. Then Monday I think will be a rest day.

Big Breakthrough!

So training has not been going all that well since the race. The week after the race was just bad, and last week I just couldn't find the time to fit it in without losing the few marbles I have left.

I did manage to squeak in an unanticipated 2 mile run on Monday, and either Tuesday or Wednesday (is it bad I can't remember?) I went for a swim. I was pleased with that swim because I was able to get 2 laps of freestyle and one length backstroke for 20 laps. Then I went out of town on Thursday-Sunday and got no training in at all! Plenty of eating though. Nom nom nom.

I thought I might not get a chance for much training in this week either, but on Tuesday I was able to go to the gym and do some interval training on the treadmill. I don't have any particular information on interval training for running, but I used the pyramid from my spinning video - warm up several 30 seconds 6 mph, 30 seconds 4 mph for 3 sets, and then 30 seconds run, 30 seconds walk; 60 seconds run, 30 seconds walk; 90 seconds run, 30 seconds walk; 60 seconds run, 30 seconds walk; 30 seconds run, 30 seconds walk. I took a couple minute break in between and then repeated the pyramid. I was feeling a little pooped after that and my heart rate was a little higher than it should be so I took some time to cool down a little before attempting to jog again, only then my knees were acting funning so I mostly just walked for a bit.

The biggest breakthrough for me, however, was my swim session in the pool yesterday. I got in the water and was feeling pretty relaxed and groovy. I did 3 or 4 laps to warm up and then I started to swim. I was on lap 2 or 3 when I decided I would try to kick turn. Which totally didn't work. After I came up for air and tried to stop coughing, I backstroked my way to the starting point to catch my breath and decided I would start over again. My goal was to swim 5 laps in a row freestyle before needing to backstroke. Imagine my surprise when I got through the 5th one and felt like I could keep going! It did get a little tougher to breathe at lap 6, but I pushed through and was able to complete 10 laps in a row without stopping or backstroking! I did have to rest for a couple of seconds at the turn around points, but no more than 5 seconds before heading back into the swim. I briefly debated about doing more than 10 laps, but I was pretty out of breath and also keep reading about not pushing too hard so the body can catch up. I swam a "recovery" backstroke lap and then I did it all over again - another 10 laps freestyle! I almost pushed for a 3rd set of 10, but I was pretty tired and also wanted to still get in a spinning session so I called it quits in the pool.

I neglected to bring any food with me (again with the sports nutrition problem!) but I was hoping I could take it slow enough not to be too crippled. Yes, I am sure there are people who can do 1.5 hours straight through with no food but not me. I hooked up my ipod and started to do the Spinervals video I've been doing, opting not to skip to the super hard one. I forgot to bring in 2 water bottles, which was very dumb, but I just got off the bike when I needed to refill my bottle. I did fine with the warm up but was having a hard time with the pyramid, although I did complete that portion. I skipped on past the spin your legs out portion and just did some gently spinning for at least 15 minutes, and then I finished with the last segment, very glad to be finished. I had a Pro Bar because it has lots of protein (need to get more of them!) and also had hummus and carrots. Tasty!

I'm back to worrying about making it through Nation's, but I do still have 6 more weeks. I bagged running today, but might do some time on the elliptical machine after my swim, which I am determined will be awesome again!

The Last Hurrah Before T-Day.

I very carefully followed the nutrition advice this time, and I didn't bonk on the bike! Hurray!

I woke up this morning and had a pretty big bowl of shredded wheat 'n bran. Four hours later I had a bagel with cashew butter and cherry preserves. I think for the tri itself I'll do it on regular bread so my yummy goodness doesn't fall through the hole. I didn't quite make it out the door and onto my ride until 2 hours later, but I figured I had enough stuff with me that it would be ok.

I kept one of the gels taped to my frame from Friday, but it fell off on the trail. Oops! I stopped to pick it up but didn't consume it. I had one bottle filled with water/nuun, and one bottle filled with cytomax. I cycled for 22 miles. I was mildly contemplating making it a 30 mile ride, but stopped myself because the goal was to do a brick workout. I didn't quite calculate the time because I forgot to set my timer. I did 20 miles in an hour and a half, and didn't count the first 2 miles (probably add on 10-12 minutes). I finished both bottles before I got back to the car.

Hopped off the bike and put the bike on the rack, put the lock on the bike, and put on my running shoes in 2.29 minutes.

And then came the run. Oh man have I not practiced bricking enough! My legs did not love me. Also, I got bodywork from my friend Andrew on Saturday so my legs were still a little sore. He found a little tear in my gastroc, so every time my right foot landed I could feel that spot ache. I gave up on trying to run 6.5 minutes with a .5 minute rest like I've been doing for my 5 mile runs. I ended up with about 3 minutes with a .5 minute rest and every now and then a few minutes rest when I needed a break. I had three 7 oz flasks - two water and one cytomax. I consumed all the fluids plus one clif shot block either cranraz flavor or strawberry. (I need to pick up more of the margarita ones - they're yummy and have extra salt!) It took me 40 minutes to run/walk 3 miles. Not my best effort ever.

I was pretty hungry afterwards so I headed over to Panera to refuel my carbs/protein. I had half a chicken sandwich of some sort, potato chips, and a bowl of turkey chili. Delish! I did think it was funny when the cashier asked me if I'd just done a triathlon. Her cousin does them so she recognized the gear, I guess.

Then I came home and hopped in the tub for about 20-30 minute soak, mostly my legs, in cold water to help reduce inflammation. Brr! Ended my shower with a cold water bout too.

After Philly I am definitely going to practice bricking more. I just have to make sure I eat enough day of and get bodywork when I need it so I won't be injured or exhausted.

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!).

Group Brick

Today I drove into the city for a group brick. Fortunately I knew mostly where to go because of sherpa-ing last year, because the directions from the race website are truly awful. I was still unclear about parking, but I ended up parking in the Red Cross Walk area because they waved me in and didn't care that I wasn't supposed to be there.

We in the moderately slow group biked one 8.5 mile or so lap. Happily we got to see what the route is like; unhappily we got to see how insanely crowded the route was and might be on race day. There was an Alzheimer's walk going on, some other 5k running race, and all the other people who were out and about because the weather is so fabulous. The Alzheimer's walkers were in my opinion kind of rude because they took up the whole walkway. We ended up getting off our bikes to walk through them, and they were still giving us dirty looks! I did not appreciate that. Anyway, I think all the delays is why the fast group didn't do 2 full laps either. Those who wanted to run followed the bike with a 3 mile run.

I met some nice people today, and hopefully I'll even be able to train with them at some point. It was nice to be in a group effort at least once before race day though. I wasn't working on my transition time or even my running time so I have no idea how fast I did anything today. I did set my dual-timer for the return leg of the run. I can't imagine running the whole way without stopping. My training buddy today usually gets in a jog and just keeps that up, but that doesn't so much work for me. I probably slowed her down. Oops!

It was a good experience and probably in late June I will try to do the land part of the course again on my own. Now, however, I'm going to go outside and enjoy this gorgeous weather!

It was supposed to be a brick workout

My TrainingPeaks plan called for 40-60 minutes on the bike, followed by 10 minutes of running.

Ah, hubris, you got me again.

See, I haven't really be running much, so I figured I'd do more like 3 miles instead of 10 minutes. No big deal, right? I put my running tights on, and my bike shorts over that, a tank top, a long sleeve dri shirt, and my long sleeve bike jersey. I couldn't find my hat, but I don't like it under my helmet anyway and figured no big deal.

I heard the news about the wind advisory for today, but didn't pay it much mind. (You read the part above about hubris, right?) So, I get to the park, and yeah it's a little chilly (which is actually the only reason I took some gloves) but it's still close to 40F degrees. I forget to bring my sunglasses, but I'm already cycling so I decide it isn't worth going back to the car for them.

The title of this post was going to be "I think the spin workouts are really helping", at least for the first 20 minutes of my ride. I'm doing really well, I'm feeling really good, and so I decide to turn around after 6 miles. Know what I hadn't counted on? The frelling wind! I could barely move forward, the wind was so strong. I was so disheartened. I stopped from time to time, sometimes for some water. Know what I discovered? The mouthpiece was frozen, and there was ice in the bottle I'd already almost consumed! Made me glad I went with the gloves after all. The wind was really stinging my eyes, particularly the eye I hurt last year. (Well, my kitty hurt it after she spazzed and popped a paw in my eye. So much for the blinking reflex.)

It took me almost twice as long to get back to my car, so I decided to bag the run. I just couldn't face it. It took me about 2 hours to warm up. My eye still hurts. Hopefully I still have some eye drops left.

Oh pride, how you let me down.

My USAT Timing Chip came in the mail yesterday!

I have no real training news. My work schedule and the reduced times the gym is open have prevented me from being active these past couple of days. I will try to make up for it tomorrow. I need to at least get a run in, even if I don't bike. Although I'll probably brick again. Can one brick too often, I wonder?

I did squee a bit yesterday when my timing chip arrived. Some races give you a discount if you have your own chip, although neither of the tris I have signed up for gave me that option. Still, the ankle strap is surprisingly light and comfortable! I'm sure I'll be able to use it for running races. I need to start looking at the schedule. I do so much better when things are broken down into smaller chunks. Training for a race in February or March is much easier to grasp than training for a race in July or September.

I am close to registering for a 140-mile 2 day bike ride called Ride For The Feast. It goes from the beaches in Delaware to Baltimore, MD. It's a fundraising drive for Moveable Feast, and sounds like a very interesting experience! I think it'll be a great opportunity to meet new people. It's also a great excuse to invest in a new bike. Will I be able to get up to 70 miles at a time before May?

I'm also considering signing up for the Philadelphia Tri Club. (I'm a little bit unhappy with the fees for everything; I would have to pick one of the more spendy sports options... Oh well, it's for healthy lifestyle choices, right?) I think the club might be great, but since my work schedule is so erratic it's really hard to get together in the evening, and I doubt there are very many mid-morning group workouts. That's my complaint with the gym, too. I think I saw a flyer for a masters swim class, but it met from 6:30-9 pm or something like that. That is prime working time for me! Well, the start is. My appointments are usually completed by 8 pm. My other problem is the website doesn't seem to be very well updated; I'm not sure they are even a club anymore!

I had a good laugh at articles some friends of mine wrote about some of their tri experiences. I wish I were half as funny!

My First Brick Workout

I haven't been on my bike since before Thanksgiving, so I was way overdue for a bike ride. Thanks to Global Warming, it was a balmy 50+ degrees out. With the weather so mild I ended up in my regular bike shorts and my new Super Grover short sleeved jersey instead of worrying about my awkwardly padded long bike tights.

I am a slow "athlete". I sometimes get discouraged as cyclist after cyclist passes me and quickly is out of sight. I have a hybrid bike, with pretty fat tires, and it's just not speedy. Even so, I managed to pedal almost the entire 10 miles, ending up with about 5 minute/mile. Felt pretty good as I got off the bike at my car.

I don't know yet how long one should plan for a transition time, but I managed to put my bike back on my car rack, lock it in, take my helmet off, and add the fuel belt I got for Christmas (thanks sis!) under 2 minutes. Which I thought was pretty good.

And then came the run. WHY do people do this? The first mile of my 3 mile run was extremely hard. My legs just did not feel like they belonged to me, and instead I had some weird rubber stilt type appendages in their place. I got a new watch so that I could plan out my run/walk intervals, but since this was the first time I used it apparently I didn't push the start properly to have it count down! I don't know how long I was oddly jogging before I decided I did something wrong, but I did get it to count down properly after a bit. I think I averaged about 13 minutes per mile, which is a bit slower than what I can sometimes do, but my first time running post bike.

All in all I am pleased with my first brick workout. Tomorrow -- first time in the pool!