Ch-Ch-Ch-Chia!

I've recently had to revamp my diet, for some medical reasons. While in the bulk food section of the grocery store checking out the grains, I ran into a bin for chia seeds. I didn't think much about them, other than having a quick chuckle at the thought. Just a few days later, I received an Active.com newsletter with an article on new foods to try, including a "pudding" recipe using chia seeds!

I did a quick search on what else one can do with chia seeds. I'm a trifle skeptical of all the claims people make, but I am experimenting with food so I thought I'd give it a shot. Plus, apparently you can use chia seed gel as a replacement for eggs in baking, and at some point I'm going to try that.

I still haven't tried the pudding recipe, but I have made up a batch of regular chia gel using 2 cups water to 1/3 cup seeds. The chia gel is...odd. The seeds are fairly tasteless, which is nice. However, it does gel pretty impressively with the water, and eating a mouthful of tasteless jelly is, well, tasteless. I've only eaten a few spoonfuls of it since I made it. Some people claim it gives them this great boost of energy, which I have not yet noticed. I have noticed, however, that it does a very good job of making me feel full or satisfied for longer.

This past weekend I needed to work an outdoor athletic event, and I wanted a good way to not feel too hungry, as I knew I wouldn't have many chances to eat. In my google searching I came across an interesting recipe on No Meat Athlete's page about making a chia energy gel. I like the idea of orange and pineapple, but I am not a fan of brown rice syrup, nor do I have any in my house.

I decided I would try my own bastardized version, using strawberries as my base. I wasn't going to worry this particular time about the electrolytes, as I knew the weather wasn't going to be too hot. I added vinegar because I thought it might help as a natural preservative while I was outside all day. Plus, who doesn't love strawberries with balsamic vinegar? Unfortunately my strawberries weren't quite as fruity as I would have liked, and while the mix was good, it was still lacking some oomph. I went ahead and added some sweetener. It turned out pretty well, I think. Here's what I used.

Strawberry Chia Goo

2 cups strawberry puree (I was slightly under, so just added a little water to get to 2 cups)

1/2 oz tangerine balsamic vinegar

1/2 oz lemon balsamic vinegar

1/3 cup chia seeds

1/2 oz (probably less, I didn't measure) maple syrup

1 oz honey

Stir together, then allow to rest for at least 15 minutes so the seeds can gel. I made mine the night before. This makes a fairly thick (and chewable) goo.

Photo will be added when I remember where I put my camera!

I filled a brand new 3 oz GoToob (which I have been calling Goob Tubes until I went looking for a link!) and took it to the field with me. Whenever I felt like I was getting hungry but either didn't really want to eat or didn't have time, I ate some goo and was good to go!

While I am enjoying it on its own, I bet it would be good in a lot of ways, including thickening up a smoothie.

Nation's Triathlon Race Report - "You People!"

Oh mon dieu, what an experience.

On Saturday the plan was to leave for packet pickup, practice swim, and bike racking. We got a little later start than we wanted to, but did manage to get to the hotel in time for a "mandatory" safety meeting. They had 5 or so mandatory meetings scheduled throughout the day, one every hour, in an auditorium which held about 200 people. (Total number of race participants was 2,700.) The meeting gave us no new information about the race itself, although we were told that parking would be limited for the race and it was highly recommended that we park at the hotel and take one of the shuttles to the race site. Also these shuttles would bring us and our bikes back to the hotel after the race. After the meeting, which was remarkably short, all 200 people tried to get out to pick up our packets so we could attempt to make the swim practice. We weren't allowed to get our packets without first getting our hands stamped to prove we'd been to the meeting. Then we all rushed down to the packet area, which was swamped with people waiting to get processed. There is a term frequently used by the military which describes the logistical process of this tri. It includes an f*bomb so we'll alter it a little bit to keep this G or PG rated. Packet pickup was a total cluster-chicken*. S and I were discussing how they might have made the process a little smoother. We think staggered safety meetings might have helped so as to not have 200 people cramming to get through. Frankly, that stupid meeting shouldn't have been mandatory at all.

Finally we got through packet pickup into the expo where we picked up our race bag and tshirt. Oh, and United Healthcare gave us a race belt but it has the snaps that I don't like as opposed to the bungee snaps which works better because no two race numbers have holes spaced the same distance apart. (That's about it for goodies. Philly Tri was less expensive and at least gave us a water bottle too.) We noticed that there is not enough time to make the swim practice so we wandered around the Expo for a while. Got a free dixie cup of juice from Naked Juice (the mango is delish), wandered around the area, stood in line for chair massages until we saw 2 therapists pack up and go home and only 1 therapist left so we bailed. All this time we were grumbling about what a cluster chicken packet pickup was, and how other tris have handled it so much more smoothly. Also, why in the heck do they have mandatory bike racking and why is it so far away from packet pickup? Grumble grumble grumble.

We drove to the official parking lot for the tri (our first mistake), which is about .5 mile or more away from transition. Parked, got out, decided to ride our bikes there in our street shoes (i.e. flip flops for me) because it seemed easier than fussing with our bike shoes. Debated about putting the number on the bike, decided we'll just take care of it tomorrow, and off we went. Got to transition and were told we must have our number on our bikes in order to enter transition (our second mistake). You know, that would have been nice to know. Too bad the effing mandatory meeting didn't give us that information. Saw everyone parked much closer to transition. Sighed heavily. Biked back to the car. I decided it was just too hard to bike with my flippies on my very small SPD pedals. S has Look style pedals which have a bigger platform so she was ok. I dumped out my race bag, put my flippies in, put my shoes on, and attached the number to the bike. First good news of the day - the bike number is vinyl so won't peel the paint off our bikes the way the adhesive adhered ones do. Unfortunately, my bike is a lot fatter on the top tube than most so the number didn't quite fit the way it was supposed to.

Finally got back to transition and found our rows which were handily marked with signs. Another good thing because we won't have to find external markers to find our bikes and apparently they clip all the balloons people typically use. (That's 2 good things, and some bad things, in case you're keeping score.) S and I are not transition buddies for this tri, she's in a completely opposite place. We dropped off our bikes and also decided to leave our helmets. Finally got back to the car and got ready to leave for Heidi's place. Found it, got a great parking spot outside, and lugged our crap inside. I'm still pretty rookie, so I brought practically every piece of sports nutrition I have. We went to Otello for a yummy yummy dinner (I had the linguine burli) and then went back to Heidi's place. We checked Sundays weather. 96 degrees with 70% humidity. Oh, joy. (Basically it would feel about 100 degrees.) We watched 2 Secondes again while I packed my stuff, and then it was bedtime!

I set my alarm for 3 am but didn't actually wake up until a little before 3:30. S and I got up and started to eat some PowerBar Energize bars. These are basically pure sugar. I have salt water taffy that isn't as sweet as these bars! I tried the Tangy Tropical and S tried the Berry Blast. If you try these, the Tangy Tropical was tastier than the Berry one. Anyway, we didn't actually eat the whole bars because of looming diabetic coma, so we switched to bagel with cashew butter and jam. I also drank some Cytomax and ate a banana and a few brownie bites. I put some brownie bites in a bag to take to the race, thinking I might eat them on the bike. While I was at it I packed a cashew butter and jam sandwich to eat an hour before the race. I filled my water bottles with regular water. I decided not to fill with Cytomax because last time I wanted just water and not anything else. Because it was so blasted hot I knew I needed one of the bottles to have Nuun. I planned to put Gel Blasts in my bento box and two vanilla Accel gels on my frame; I figured that should last me energy-wise through the bike leg.

Finally we gathered all our stuff and got down to the car. We had decided yesterday that the shuttle sounded like a good option. Partly because we saw where the shuttle was dropping people off really close to transition, and partly because they warned us about parking. We arrived at the hotel and chose to park in the pay lot for convenience. We waited outside with a lot of other triathletes and then got on the shuttle. The shuttles were nice, although we weren't sure exactly how our bikes were going to fit for the return trip. Oh well, I'm sure they have something figured out because they told us that was how it would work. The shuttle dropped us off far far away from transition, not at all the place they were dropping people off yesterday. (I actually didn't see a shuttle yesterday; should also have been tricky because that's when people had to bring their bikes over to rack.) We joked about how nice of them to give us a chance to warm up. We are irritated, but what are you going to do? Maybe they'd blocked the road off already and the shuttle couldn't get closer. Finally we got to transition area and stopped to pick up our timing chip and got body marked. Fortunately our race number was printed our our wrist band because I had no idea what my number was. Hooray, we're all ready to get into transition and set up our spot. Which we did. I laid out my towel with my race belt, hat, luna chews/clif shot bloks, and a flask of water on the back half. I did not want to have to carry my fuel belt, and they told us that there would be aid stations every mile so I figured I didn't need to carry that extra weight. I put my running shoes on top. In front I positioned my bike shoes and my socks. I also had extra sunblock and a sunblock stick to use on my face. I positioned my helmet and sunglasses on the wires in front of my handlebars like I saw other people doing. Worked pretty well, actually. The race director announced that the water temperature was 77 degrees, the same temp the Schuylkill was for the Philly Women's Tri. So wetsuits were legal, but not necessary. I decided even after all the drama in getting a wetsuit that I hadn't practiced enough to feel comfortable wearing it and since the water temperature was so nice I wouldn't need it. S decided she would wear her wetsuit because of the buoyancy. I decided I didn't want to add the brownie bites to my bento box; they just weren't sounding good. I added a nuun to one of my water bottles. I got my sunblock on and had S finish up the spots I couldn't really reach. I was jumping around a little trying to keep moving. I didn't need to stay warm because it was already hot, but I needed to do something to calm my mind a little. Did I practice enough? Would I survive? Suddenly it was 6:30 and time to eat my sandwich. By the time I finished my sandwich it was about time to leave transition and get corralled in the Swim Pen.

We listened to the National Anthem and then the Elite Men were the first to start the race. We sat on the grass to wait, and had to move once because the lines for the Porta-Potties was incredibly long. (Another irritation; they doubled the registration but didn't double the number of porta-potties.) I figured I'm just going to wait until I get in the water to pee, so no need to jump in the line for the john. We waited until we needed to line up. Oh my goodness it's about to be a reality. And we're up! Most of the women in my group decided to suit up. I was one of the few without a wetsuit. I jumped in the water and waited for the horn to blow. And the race has started for me!

I was able to get some good freestyle strokes in before coming up for air. I was a little disoriented. There weren't a whole lot of kayaks or buoys in the water so you really had to look for direction. It seemed I was pretty far out from the buoys so I tried to aim inward as I swam. It's just like a practice swim, right? But there were people all around me and I couldn't catch my breath! I know I had done this before at the last tri, but this was such a longer distance and there seemed to be so many more people. I started to panic a little and had a hard time breathing so I flip over to backstroke. But then I worried about using too much leg power and not having enough energy for the bike or the run. Flipped over and tried to freestyle again. Came up for air, looked for a buoy, where the heck is it? Switched to breathing every other freestyle stroke instead of every third. That helped a little. Ack, I needed to flip over onto my back again. Why could I not get it together? I've been able to swim before, Get With The Program! Alas, no. My goggles kept leaking a little bit which also did not help. I kept burping a little and the ghost of sandwich past repeated on me a little. Yuck. I could not get a mantra to run through my head for this tri, and in fact it didn't even occur that I didn't have one to chant until it was all over. I got to the first turn. Hooray! I managed to get to the next turn. Then it was the long, slow trek down the last stretch before the short jog over to the exit. I looked at my watch. I was really hoping to get the swim over in 40-45 minutes. It was already 40 minutes and it seemed like I had a long way to go still. Discouragement set in as all the women's waves behind me came and passed me, and then the last of the men's waves too! Ugh. Was that the last buoy to turn? No, people kept swimming past it. Why! I needed to be done swimming! Ack. Ok, finally reached the last buoy for the long length. Ooh, almost there! Turned for the last time and made it to the stairs. Climbed up the stairs and slogged through the muddy run back to transition. My big toe on my right foot got caught in the mud and I pitched forward, almost falling on my face. I caught myself and continued to run to my spot.

Thankfully the rows were numbered. I got to my spot, squirted water on my feet, put my socks on, put my shoes on, put my helmet and glasses on, and off I went. I ran to the mounting area and got on my bike and headed off. One of my gels fell off not too far into the course. Oops. I'm not stopping to pick it up. Technically I could have received a penalty for leaving stuff on the course, but nobody seems to be paying attention. The route was relatively pleasant. It would have been nice to know where I was along the course. There were no mile markers for the bike course and I still could not get my bike computer to work after I reset it that one time plus I had forgotten it at home anyway. Also, I was feeling some urgency to use a porta-potty, but there weren't any along the bike route and there wasn't a good secluded spot either. My body was feeling pretty rough after the swim. I figured that I didn't need to push too hard through the bike part, since I was only there to finish and not to shatter any records. Sometimes I was able easily bike and other times it took more of a push. Part of the bike course was shaded and the air felt nice. I didn't feel too hot. I did drink all of my water and part of my nuun. I needed to stop a couple of times because the rassen-frassen frame pump kept knocking into my crank. I figured out to turn it 180 and then it was fine. I didn't see anyone I recognized on the bike, but I sure did see a lot of Team In Training suits. Who knew it would be 80% or so Team In Training athletes? Wished it didn't feel so exclusionary for those of us who weren't with Team In Training. Finally I saw signs for the Dismount. I was a little disoriented by the time I made it back to the dismount. I was tired, so I did not run back to my spot. I got there, sat down, took my cycling shoes off, put my running shoes on, put more sunblock on my face, sprayed more sunblock on my shoulders, added a nuun tablet to my 7 oz flask, took my helmet off, put my hat on, stuck my nutrition in my back pocket, got up and lumbered to the Run Out. Did you catch what I forgot to put on? I was almost to the exit when I saw someone else with their race number on and realized I'd forgotten to put my race belt on. Crap. Turned around and lumbered back to my spot. Put my race belt on and headed for the run again. Attempted to run. Much like the Philly Tri, it wasn't so much happening for me. Plus, I was having increased urgency for a bathroom. I tried to run from time to time, walking the other bits. It was really hot and I was sweating a lot. Passed the first mile marker. At the first Aid Station downed some water and some Powerade which I assumed was the electrolyte fluids. (Turns out, nsm.) Continued to walk/run for a while. No porta-potties to be found. Somewhere between the second and third mile I think I ran into the Haines Point bathrooms. Huzzah! My intestines were still not feeling happy, but at least I was feeling a little better. People kept passing me and encouraging me to run. I tried. My body rebelled. Around the 3 mile or 4 mile mark I met Carmen. I walked with her and she became my run buddy. We got to the point where we would run for 30 seconds and walk for a minute. Run for 30 seconds and walk for a minute. I felt like my tum was going to explode. "You're doing great!" I would hear from people. Liars!! I would think. We struggled on. I drank water and powerade at every stop. They offered ice, but I didn't think to actually put some in a cup to chew, and after the first time I tried to put some in my hat I didn't bother. My tum was spasming. Come on, Carmen would cheer. Ugh. Somewhere around the 5th mile they have misting tents. Oh, could I just stay in the misting tent? No, less than 2 miles to go! The course winds around. Just when you think you are done you have to keep going. (The bike course was like that too; kind of irritating to be winding so much.) Got to another misting tent. Almost there, you can do it! Heidi spots us before the last misting tent. "Where have you been?" I almost cried. "No, no, you're doing great, almost there!" S had finished and all my supporters were waiting for me. I honestly thought I wasn't going to make it to the end. I figured I would walk mostly until the chute and then run. I got to the chute and didn't actually realize that was it because I was confused. Where exactly is the finish? Oh, it was right before my eyes. Run! No fists of huzzah for the picture this time, just let me get to the end without dying. I think I smiled, because there were cameras and I of course want pictures to look good, but it was totally a facade.

I was feeling nasty at the end. I collapsed on the side and Heidi went to fetch people to come to me instead of me going to them. We watched as the Emergency Medical people took people away. At least I didn't need that. Right? They had pizza at the end for food. That's recovery food? Ugh. I ate a couple of slices and had some water and some more powerade. Blech. S had my flip flops in the race bag, so I didn't have to put my shoes back on. I got up to go to the porta-potties. Ouch! At least they still had TP. I waddled back to the group. Several people left to do other things and it was then just Heidi, S, and I. We thought about how to get our stuff from transition since the race finish was pretty far away from the race start, and thought it would be a good plan to walk to the hotel to pick up the car and then drive to transition. I'm all doubled over from spasming in my tum. We get near a Barnes and Noble and I needed to go inside to use the restroom. Oh, it feels good to sit. While I'm looking for them to start walking again I realize that I don't have my car keys. I hadn't put the key into the race bag because they told us not to put anything valuable in the race bags. No key, no way to get the car. We said goodbye to Heidi who had to go to the office to do stuff and walked to the shuttle. There's a big long line and I don't think I can stand in it. I go sit on the wall. There's a guy who needed some medical attention. The EMS people are on their way with ice. Ooh, maybe I can get some of that. But then S is in line to get on the next bus before I could get some. Oh well. Get onto the shuttle. At least we won't have to be outside for too long before we can get back to the car, right? Oh, no. The shuttle stops far away from transition at the World War II Memorial and tells us we're at our transition stop. What? Are you kidding me? What kind of BS is this? We have no choice but to get off the bus and walk. In the heat. I was hobbling along, still thinking if I can just make it to transition and then get on the shuttle I'll be ok. We came across a bathroom. I needed to go again. I'm not looking good but what could I do? We continued to walk towards transition. Why does it seem that everybody is riding their bikes from there? We get to transition. There are shuttles to take us and our bikes back to the hotel, right? Um, no, the volunteers said they were getting conflicting reports and most people were getting cabs. At least the cabs are being helpful, that'll make you feel better, right? Um, NO. What the hell kind of operation is this, anyway? I'm really really having a hard time at this point. They sat me down in a chair and some team in training coach came over and asked me questions. She looked at my hands and told me I haven't had enough salt. Were you drinking enough? Yes, I really think so. And I had that powerade stuff at every stop, that's got salts in it, right? (Turns out? Not really.) She gave me a salt pill and had them move me into the shade. Some race official type person comes over and says he'll call EMS. They bring some ice and start shoving it into my clothing. Ah, that starts to feel good. An ambulance comes. No, I really don't want to go to the hospital. Seriously, with the ice I am feeling so much better. I'm totally lucid, I did not pass out, I didn't even feel like passing out, seriously, it will be ok. We're still stuck on how to get back to the hotel, and also stuck on how to get home because my car is a stick and S doesn't know how to drive manual transmission. A very nice lady, Margaret, offers to put my bike on her rack and take us to the hotel. But the EMT doesn't want to let me drive. Neither S or I brought our cell phones to the race site, so we can't even try to track anyone down. Someone lends S a phone. She calls her husband but it's not really feasible for him to come with the kids and we still wouldn't be able to get everyone in the car. Margaret thinks she'll be able to put all our of bikes on her rack. Where do we live, because she'll just take us home. God Bless Margaret for being so kind.

We got to S's house and unloaded the car. I got into the house and collapsed onto the couch with a cold pack and ice water. I also chowed down on some salty pretzels. Yes, I think I will be ok. I was still a little shaky but about an hour later when I was doing much better we went back to the hotel to get my car. S and I were able to really rant about the whole logistical aspects of the race. We decided we would not do this race again or recommend it to anyone else unless they make some serious changes. I don't want to participate in any race where they lie about the transportation issues. We would have had a whole different game plan had they told us the truth.

So, to sum up, I finished and I have a medal. It was a lot harder than I mentally thought it would be, although I'm sure a lot of that was due to the heat cooking my organs. I won't put off the idea of doing another olympic distance, but I'm not upset I won't be doing Columbia with my friends. I'm going to need a lot of training time to build up for another one. I think we're going to do a 10k in October or November. That'll give me something to train for. Also, I should be happy with my results. Even though it took me longer to finish than I hoped, I still finished under twice my time in the Philly Women's Tri.


phillytrigirl Race Results
Swim 52:14
T1 2:14
Bike 1:41:38
T2 5:16
Run 1:44:46
Total Time 4:26:06

Overall Placement 2330/2395 (did 400 people not show up/disqualify/fail to finish?)
Age Group Placement 171/174 (why does mine differ from S's?)
Gender Placement 905/953 (out of all women?)

S's Race Results
Swim 41:27
T1 3:11
Bike 1:29:31
T2 3:13
Run 1:34:51
Total Time 3:52:11

Overall Placement 2123/2395 (did 400 people not show up/disqualify/fail to finish?)
Age Group Placement 54/84 (why does hers differ from mine?)
Gender Placement 755/953 (out of all women?)
Nice Job!


*Cluster-Chicken Definition: Its more precise usage describes a particular kind of Catch-22, in which multiple complicated problems mutually interfere with each other's solution. The looser usage, referring to any chaotic situation, probably prevails.

Camping

Well, I made my reservation too late for this weekend so I was only able to go for 1 night. I opted for Friday instead of Sunday. On Thursday I purchased a new tent, and on Friday I stopped to pick up an airbed and some sheets. I already had a regular sleeping bag and a fleece sleeping bag.

I was doing stuff Friday morning and finally got on the road to the campground around 3 pm. I arrived at Hickory Run State Park a little before 5 pm. I was listening on the radio about chance of showers, and it was sprinkling a little. I hoped to be able to set up the tent without rain. The tent instructions said set up time of 10 minutes. Wrong! Anyway, I finally got it up except for the staking into the ground because I need to get a mallet, and Hickory Run has especially rocky ground. Then I had to wrangle the rain flap. I managed to get it moderately in the right place. Then I started my campfire. I love campfires! I purchased the makings of s'mores just for that very reason! I got the fire going and everything is going great. I threw my steak on the grill and waited for it to cook when suddenly the rain came. Oh noes!* One of the bad things about camping by yourself? There's no one to take a picture of you holding your umbrella over the fire so the flames don't go out, especially since your dinner hasn't finished cooking. Unfortunately, while I was successful in finishing dinner cooking, I was not successful in s'more having. Sob!



After I got tired of hanging out in the rain, I went and took a shower, and then brought a book to bed. I had a new Maglite torch so I could read. Which was good, because it was only 8 pm! I read for a while and then tried to sleep at 9:30. I wasn't entirely successful, partly because of the rain and partly because I was right across from that bathrooms and there was a lot of talking nearby. Finally I was able to sleep except for the 4 times I had to wake up and leave my tent to use said facilities. Also I got to see how much water was creeping into the tent. Wish I'd had that mallet to keep the tent staked out! I hate that dampness feeling that permeates everything, even if it's not actually wet.

Saturday morning dawns and I woke up to a lot of noise. I'm surprised I slept in as late as I did. It's 7:30 am and I couldn't be bothered to move. However, it's plenty light inside the tent so I could read! I had to get up to use the bathroom again so I went to the car afterwards to snag myself a lemon poppyseed muffin and then I went back to the tent to continue reading. For Saturday I had decided to swim and bike, possibly back to back, possibly separate. I put my swimsuit on and grabbed my wetsuit, thinking I would walk to the lake. Only I couldn't find the path so I went back to the car to drive it. I got to the lake around 10:30 am. I was the only one there. I put my wetsuit on and got in the water. Brr! Glad I had the wetsuit, actually! There are a couple of swimming areas roped off and I don't see protocol for which to use so I stuck to the middle section. (From google maps satellite image it looks like the middle section is 50 or 60 meters long.) I was in the lake for an hour, and then I got out for a break and also to go get my camera so I could document for you! Here's what I looked like for the swim (and taking this picture with the timer was hard to do!) I'm wearing my .5 mil neoprene skin suit, so not a full wetsuit but since my wetsuits are for scuba the sleeves aren't cut for swimming. I figured the thinner one would be easier to swim in than the thicker one. I did feel like my arms were being strangled, which was not fun, but I was able to freestyle a good bit. So I am hopeful that I can swim more of the race course freestyle.


I swam for about 1.5 hours and then I got bored so I went back to the campsite. I did not have to "check out" until 3 pm, so I decided to stoke up the fire and make the s'mores I couldn't do the day before. I got the fire going, and in between stoking it I started to take down the tent. Things were still wet, so I just shoved it in the car and will need to take it out to dry and refold later. I didn't really have lunch food, but I did have 3 small mozzarella balls left over from my tomato & mozz salad the night before so I ate that before I just ate sugar. I thought I might stop to get food before my bike ride (although that didn't work out) so I wasn't concerned with campground food. I read my book and ate roasted marshmallows and life was good. I didn't actually like the graham cracker or chocolate or something so the actual s'more didn't hit the spot, but I have huge love for melty marshmallows. Finally it was 3 pm and I had to scoot as the next people were there already. I just moved my car over to the washhouse to be out of their way. I then needed to oil my bike chain because it was rusty from the rain. I had taken my old bike, the super super heavy one, because I figured I wouldn't be horribly upset if someone stole it. Anyway, I oiled the chain and then went to the bathroom to wash my hands and change my clothes. I did not take the opportunity to fill my water bottles, and I didn't fill the brita pitcher either. I figured I'd just stop at a convenience store and pick up some nice cold water. I left the campground and went in search of a convenience store. Oops, it's farther away than I remembered. Oh well. I came upon a bunch of people pushing a van. "Do you need a jump?" No, they'd run out of gas. I needed to get out of the way of oncoming traffic so I scooted past them. When I got to the gas station I got a gallon of water, some beef jerky, and a container to fill a gallon of gas. The cashier took forever but finally I filled the gas can and headed back to the stranded car. They were still there, so I stopped and gave them the container. I can't imagine being stuck on the road, and they had a bunch of kids in the car. At least it was in the daylight, but still. Anyway, I left them with the container and headed off to the entrance to the Lehigh Gorge trail. (Which apparently wasn't quite the trailhead, but whatever.)

I filled my water bottle, hurriedly ate some jerky, grabbed some snacks and my camera and off I went! It was turning out to be a much prettier day than it had started. I was mostly alone on the trail. It runs right by the river so I was once again on a river trail! It was nice to have a change of scenery though. The trail was heading downhill ever so slowly, which meant I would have to pedal uphill to come back; not the ideal way to do it. Anyway, I figured I would bike for an hour and a half and then turn around and come back so I wouldn't get stuck in the dark. I met this couple from Maryland on the trail. We stopped at the waterfall to take a picture.


In the 1.5 hours one way I rode 15 miles. On the way back, I ate my 2 packs of Gel Blasts and drank all my water. I wasn't in the mood for my luna moons or shot bloks. I think if I'd had a normal lunch it might not have been so bad, but the last 8 miles of the return trip were hard! I kept in my head the "spinning spinning spinning" chant S used during the irongirl tri. I didn't bonk, per se, but I was really glad to make it back to my car and chow down on another lemon poppyseed muffin. I had a hard time getting the silly bike back on my car rack because it is so heavy and I was so tired. I succeeded. I was covered with bugs and sweat so I decided to stop and get some real food and change into more comfortable clothing. I stopped at an A&W store and got a burger and rootbeer! The drive home was unremarkable.

I don't know what I'm going to do with the rest of the weekend. It's going to be beautiful! Maybe run if I can get my leg to feel better! What are you going to do with Labor Day weekend?



*What's with me and new tents and rain? I went camping in 2001, 2004, and 2008 and every single time I've been in a new tent being used for the first time it rains.

Less Than A Month To Go

Yeesh!

So it's technically Sunday morning, August 17. Let's see where I am in terms of race preparedness.

I have gotten NO swimming in since August 8, thanks to the pool being closed. Also, a moment to reflect on the fabulous schedule for next week: 7:30-10:30 M-F.

I have not run more than 3 miles in the last 2 weeks. Now to be fair, I have actually run a bunch of times, but generally in a 2 mile block. Especially since for some reason my knee was hurting last weekend and I didn't want to push it. Knee is feeling better now. I also did a few brick workouts in the gym; spinning bike to treadmill.

I had not biked more than 60 minutes since the triathlon, I think. Sweet! That'll get it done.

I'm going to pretend it's Saturday still, since I haven't gone to bed yet. Yesterday I went to the bike shop so I could get a new floor pump, more inner tubes, more Gel Blasts, new SPD cleats, and other things I bought on a whim (Camelbak backpack!). Friday night I worked on replacing the back inner tube on Violet, since I broke the tip off the valve stem the last time I changed it. I also lubed the chain before I put the tire back on. It went much smoother this time, incurring no tears. I put the new cleat on one shoe, and could not figure out where I put the other shoe. I watched more olympics and then went to bed. I still could not find what I did with my other shoe so I went back to the store to buy new ones late this afternoon. I think I might actually like the new ones better than the old ones! I ended up with these Forte Mountain Bike Shoes. I rushed home, put the cleats on, and then rushed to the park to get in 20 miles. I made pretty good time, the weather was great, and life was good. I got to Conshohocken and slowed down to see the damage from the 8 Alarm Apartment Complex fire from Wednesday. I unclipped at the 10 mile mark to turn around and had some technical difficulties. Fortunately I also got a new little tool kit and was able to use it to tighten the screws on my new cleats. (What is it with me and the screws on my shoes? Sheesh!) It got dark on my return trip, and I finished the last 5 miles in the dark, which was a little bit scary since I have no headlight. I was able to use the Damselfly seat for the 2nd time, but I am still going to exchange it for something else. (Even though I'm over the 30 day return limit. I called on the 15th to see if it would be possible to still exchange and the nice Terry people are going to let me do that.)

I was hoping to go camping this weekend at a campground with a lake so I could practice open water swimming as well as transitioning to all 3 sports. Unfortunately it took me a long long time to get my bike stuff together and I don't want to camp Sunday into Monday. What I will try to do instead is to just go for the day tomorrow. I have to look at the options again as I had been only looking for lakes with camping. Now I will look for lakes with biking and leave the camping for some other weekend. If I can do that I think it'll set me up for hope to finish Nation's.

I need to turn off the Olympics, but they are so exciting! And they're only every 4 years! And there's some amazing history being made! It's totally messing up my sleep schedule though.

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.

Race Day Nutrition

So my roomie from college, who is also a triathlete, is studying to be a nutritionist. She gave me very helpful information for Race Day Nutrition Strategies.


The Day Before

Eat mostly carbs, plus salty foods if it's really hot/humid/you sweat a lot. These should be neutral, not fibrous, not spicy, not acidic, etc. Eat plenty to top off glycogen stores in the muscle.


Race Day

• 3-4 hours before race start consume 200-350 grams of carbohydrates (and whatever fats/proteins included). This will top off carb stores in the muscle if needed, plus carb stores in the liver from your overnight fast. The liver glycogen stores help keep blood glucose levels steady, thus maintaining good mental/emotional/psychological control.

• 1 hour before race start consume 40 grams of carbohydrates (like a nut butter & jelly sandwich which is easy to make and store and carry around and eat in transition or on the beach or wherever you're standing 1 hour before you get in the water). Again this should be neutral food, not spicy or acidic or anything that will upset the stomach.

• Every 15-30 minutes, or whenever you need to, consume Gatorade or your beverage of choice. Something with carbs and electrolytes will supply carbs for use in the muscle, preserving stores so you can go farther, and electrolytes for whatever you've sweated out.

• 30-45 minutes after you finish the race you should consume 1-2 grams of carbohydrates/kg bodyweight (1 kilo = 2.2 lbs, so for me it's somewhere in the 60-130g carb range), plus .05g/kg protein (for me somewhere in around 30-35g). There's a window of opportunity to replenish carb stores in the muscle that closes at around 2 hours, and the max time is 30-45 minutes after stopping. If you really work hard (like maybe for my Olympic distance in September) you can keep eating another small carb meal every 2-3 hours just so the body keeps stuffing in carbs even though the optimum window is closed. If you work really hard and you think you need to rebuild muscle, you can move more to a bodybuilding system, and eat more protein starting with the 2nd meal after the race. This will supply amino acids to stimulate protein synthesis. In short, if you work really hard and your legs are rubberized after the race, just eat a lot that's low in fat.

Whee! Training.

So Sunday's ride was horrible. Again. I am frustrated that I can't quite get my act together nutrition-wise. I decided to go the other way on the bike path. I started at Betzwood and biked towards Green Lane, going from the Schuylkill River Trail to the Perkiomen Trail. What I didn't know was that the Perkiomen Trail is mostly gravel, and not paved. Some people might have no issues with that, but I don't like gravel and I'm still not completely comfortable on my new bike so it was a very unnerving ride. I ran out of water and forgot my gels in the car so it was a bad time. I actually stopped and took a 30-minute rest/nap on the way back.

Monday I took a day off. I love rest days!

Tuesday I went for an hour long swim. I found it took me 45 minutes to warm up enough to do several freestyle laps in a row. I decided this week is going to be a much better week than last week, training-wise, so I redirected my attitude when I started feeling down about needing to do backstroke laps.

Wednesday I went for my 5-mile run. I did really well for the first 2.5 miles, but the last 2.5 were tough. I'm so looking forward to getting bodywork from my buddy this Saturday for my legs are in sore shape. At any rate, I finished so yay me! Even though it did take me 63 minutes this time.

Today I went for another long swim. It only took me about 30 minutes to warm up, in a way. I was feeling really proud and strong at the end. Although I think I need a new swimsuit - rinsing mine in the shower I noticed the lycra is really thin in the rear!

Tomorrow I am going to practice transitions, instead of worrying about the run or bike. I can't practice the swim-bike transition all that well, although I am going to try running barefoot to my towel to practice putting socks and shoes on. Wish me luck!

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.

Two Months To Tri

I'm a little less than 2 months away from my first triathlon. Meep!

I have continued to do more swim workouts than biking or running for fear of injury. On May 8 I visited my friend Andrew so he could use myofascial release to release the pressure in my calves. The words "why are you being so mean to me?" may have come out of my mouth, for it was a painful process. Necessary, but painful. Since then my calves have felt so much better! I need to follow up with him for more work, but just one session helped enormously.

On Mother's Day I went for a 20-mile bike ride. I didn't have food in the house so I didn't really eat beforehand, which was a dumb thing to do. I did have a vanilla flavored gel with protein at the 10 mile mark. It tasted like warm super sweet frosting. Yummy? I was very cognizant of my heel position, as I am not interested in screwing up my legs again. For the first 10 miles I was riding against the wind, so that was not quite so much fun. The return trip was much easier with the wind helping me along. Still, that last 1/2 mile was excruciatingly difficult to do! I completed these 20 miles under two hours, which is pretty good for me. I'm going to attempt to get all the way to Manayunk next time.

I started at Betzwood (number 3 on the map below) and biked a little bit past the Spring Mill train station (number 8 on the map) before turning back.

Yesterday (May 14) I did a little running on the treadmill. Earlier this week I bought some new shoes, to have backups when my Saucony's get too worn out (which I don't think they actually are yet). I got another pair of Saucony ProGrid shoes like my current shoes, and I opted to get a pair of Nike Structure Triax 11 shoes instead of the Mizuno Wave Rider(?) shoes. They both felt comfortable in the store, but the Nike's felt a little more comfortable I thought. Skip back to yesterday's run, and boy are those Nike's not comfortable! I don't know what the problem was, but my feet got very hot and uncomfortable. I stopped at one point to loosen the laces, then I stopped again to pull out the insole. Even that didn't really help. I ran about 3 miles all said, but they were the most uncomfortable miles for my feet. I'm going to see if I can take them back to the running store and exchange them for the Mizunos.

I bought some flippers, a nose plug, and some ear plugs last Saturday, which really helped my last swim session! I can even breathe while swimming, some times! I will keep plugging away at the swim; in fact I'll be swimming again today, and hopefully tomorrow. After that the summertime hours kick in, unfortunately.

Whew!

I think I took Thursday off. Is it bad that I can't remember?

Friday I took my clipless shoes (now with cleats!) and did the 45 min spin session with them. It was really interesting to see which parts were easier and which were still hard. I liked it. I still haven't gotten the pedals on my bike, but that isn't the end of the world.

Saturday was the swim clinic. Really interesting and I learned a whole lot. Got some spiffy new tools too. I still had feelings of inadequacy in the pool for lo the water still freaks me right out when trying to breathe. I didn't get into the lane where they were taping, but at some point the camera did pan over to me a little. Good news is I had pretty good form when I was swimming. I just have to work on the breathing thing. Everyone assures me it will get better and I will manage it. I hope so! It was a gorgeous day. When I got home after swimming I looked at putting my new pedals on, but I didn't have the right tools. I did clean my chain though with some new lube. Last time I rode my bike on Easter I was squeaking so I wanted to fix that.

Today I ran 6 miles in 76 minutes. I'm about where I was for the 10k run. Unfortunately I have positive splits, if I understand that correctly. My first mile was 11.5 min, but the time per mile steadily increased until the end. About the only good thing from my perspective was trying out my Tropical Fruit flavored Cytomax. Which is pretty tasty!


My goals for this coming week are to get in the pool as many times as possible, even if I'm not working on any drills or techniques. I will be doing the dry land drills, and possibly that's all I will focus on this week for actual swimming. I think I'll aim to run 3 miles again. If the weather's nice I might skip the spin dvd and just go for a bike ride for the short one. This Saturday has a Rookie Tri Group brick, I think. I like to have my long workouts on Sunday, but I'll just have to get over it for this week.

It was a good day.

Finally I've had a decent workout.

A client today told me about how a friend of hers uses pennies to count laps in the pool. I thought this was a fantastic idea, so I took 15 pennies with me. The first triathlon is 750 meters, which is 15 laps (up and back). I was very excited to see the pennies move pretty quickly! My swimming still is not great, but between breaststrokes (i.e. doggy paddling), backstrokes, and free style I complete 15 laps in about 22 minutes! I should have stayed and completed more, but I wanted to brick the bike in afterwards.

I tried to sort of "lay" everything out in the locker for transition. I even stuck my ipod and a Clif Mojo bar in my jersey pockets. I figured I'd attempt the multisport nutrition thing.

I neglected to get clips for my SPD shoes, so I used my Saucony's in the toe clips like I usually do. I completed the Ride Strong spinervals dvd, although I skipped the last 2 segments of the spin your legs out portion (have almost no tension on the wheel and go as fast as you can). I think the food experiment worked ok, although I think I don't like solid food during exercise. I still have to try Shot Bloks, Power Bars or some other things with protein, and my Sport Beans. Although I might just keep the beans for my running reward.

I didn't feel like running after all that, but I was watching the other women on the elliptical and decided I'd do 10 minutes of that at the end. Why, I'm not quite sure. I was pleased though; 4 years ago I hopped on an elliptical machine and struggled to reach 10 minutes. I wouldn't say I could have gone on forever, especially after the swim and bike, but I didn't feel too badly at the end.

All in all, a really good workout.

Absence Makes The Heart Grow Fonder?

Sorry for the delay in updates. I have wiring issues from fingers and toes, I haz no internets wherever I goes! Between cranky computer issues and training/work I have not been able to post!

On Sunday I ran 6 miles. I like to run on the bike path in the Valley Forge Park, partly because it's is nice and flat, and partly because the bike path is marked every .5 mile. I wish I were faster. I at least was consistent with my time for the Jingle 10k race - 78 minutes. I bought some Muscle Milk the week before and finally tried it out. I put some in 1 of the flasks on my fuel belt, and kept the other 4 flasks water. I have come to the conclusion that muscle milk is kind of gross, even if it is chocolate flavored. Soy protein is just not something I think I will ever like. I do love water; 4 7 oz flasks is only just enough for 6 miles when I have to provide all my own water. I knew I should have filled the 6th flask! Fuel belt is still comfy, for those who were wondering. I also still love Jelly Belly Sport Beans for a quick jolt of energy and an easy mental reward. Much tastier than the Muscle Milk!

Six miles of running is really hard on my knees. For one thing I stink at stretching, even though as a massage therapist I yell at my patients when they don't stretch. On the plus side, I am taking a whole stretching seminar next weekend (Active Isolated Stretching) so I will not have that excuse for much longer. Also, running is just not kind to the body. I need to do better with pacing; I got slower and slower with each mile. All in all I was proud of myself, but for sure pretty exhausted and sore.

Monday was a rest day, because I forgot my swim suit at home and did not have time to go retrieve it.

Tuesday I got to the gym and had the intention of working on the bike, but I started on the treadmill to warm up and just kept going. I used the one treadmill that has quick buttons to jump between "jogging" at 4 mph and "running" at 6mph so I could easily go between the two. I generally run on a flat path as I am averse to hills, but since the treadmill is a wee bit easier on my body I decided to try to do interval training and increase the incline. I started at 5 minutes of jogging (=14 min per mile) at zero incline and then did 1 minute of running (=10 min per mile). I dropped back down to jogging, but increased the incline to 3, jogged for 5 minutes and then ran for 1. I repeated this for another cycle, except I kept the run at 2 minutes before dropping down to jogging. At this point I got bored (about 20 some minutes in) but I was close enough to 2 miles that I just decided to get to 3 miles and then quit. I lowered the incline, played with the speed, got t0 3 miles and quit. Drank some more water, did 5 useless minutes on the Stair Master (I have always hated the stair master, but thought I should do more than just run for some reason probably because I am insane), drank more water, and eased my way down to the locker room to change into my swimsuit.

I brought my mask and snorkel this time, hoping it would help with the swimming and breathing problem. Unfortunately all I discovered was a) I had to keep my face down for if I tried to look ahead at the wall water got in the snorkel, and b) I was doing hyperventilation breaths. As my legs already were a bit tired from the run it was fairly useless, as workouts go.

I do have a swimming-related question. Why, when I was the ONLY person in the pool until some guy came in, did he choose the lane right next to me for swimming? I chose that lane so I would be away from people, not to swim right next to people! He was a much better swimmer than I, so after a half-hearted attempt to try to get 10 laps in I just gave up. I think I sort of managed 8 or 9 laps.

I stopped by the library on my way to work and picked up a few books on swimming. Hopefully I'll learn something before tomorrow's workout. I'm going to bike first and then swim. Silly gym schedule so is not working for me. I would much rather swim first, but the pool is still only open from 12-3. Oh well, students return next Monday so the schedule should be more accessible soon.

I weighed myself on a friend's scale today. I need to get a new battery for mine. I was somewhat pleased with the result, but I have no idea what I was before I started training to know if I'm having much weight loss. Don't really care what the scale says, as I can clearly see more muscle definition in my legs!

Hopefully the phone lines (DSL) and computers will cooperate tomorrow. Stay tuned!