Rove the Cove 5K

I have been having some trouble locating my mojo since Mooseman. All my runs have been pretty poor - slow, sluggish, and hard. There have been many sides stitches. My rides have been mixed - some pretty good, but more than the usual frequency of rides in which I just can't get my legs to turn over at even 85rpm in an easy gear. My swims have been okay - actually had my longest swim ever (4400 yards) yesterday.

Last weekend James and I decided to sign up for a local 5K. I was not looking forward to the race. It was a new distance for both of us. We've each done 1 10k, 2 Half Marathons, and then I've done an Oly and two 70.3s. So we had no idea. In March when my running was going really well I ran an unofficial training run 5K in 23:09 (it was truly all out). Given how poor my legs have been feeling I was just hoping to go sub-25. I was frustrated with myself ahead of time for being so slow. Needless to say I was not pumped for this race.

We got up this morning, ate a regular breakfast and headed across town to this local race. It was cool seeing so many families and young kids planning to run. We had looked at the times from last year's finishers and knew that we needed to line up in the front despite planning on race finishes between 20 and 25 minutes. (In fast, last year the female winner ran 26:15.) There were no chips or anything so being up front gave a better chance of your listed time matching garmin time too.

I don't remember all that much from the race. I went out with the first 15 people. There was a woman at the very front. I promptly got passed by two women as we ran through the woods on an uneven trail that made me a little nervous. Just before mile 1 there was a turnaround and I got passed. Shortly thereafter I passed a woman. I ran in this position for a while. It was painful. My legs did not want to turn over. I could feel my pace slipping as I went. I was breathing as heavily as I think I ever have while running. It was good actually to just give in to breathing fast and hard and not trying to control it. Just before mile 2 I got passed. Then we hit a hill and I passed the woman back. Then she passed me back. I don't know if I could have held on to her. I don't know why I didn't try harder. I had in my mind that I was in 5th place and I was pleased with this. The third mile was hard as hell. My pace I'm afraid was quite sad. I actually tried not to look at my garmin at all and just keep moving. With a third of a mile left we turned back onto the trail and through the woods to the finish. I just didn't want to get passed in this last stretch. I tried to pick up the pace. I did, but it didn't feel fast. As I crossed the finish line I was handed a popsicle stick with my rank - #22 overall. I pulled over, sucked wind and grabbed knees. Two minutes later I felt fine. James came in #12. He was not pleased, having blown up around 1.5 miles in (a "learning experience"). There were two women who finished ahead of him. As they hand posted the results I went to check whether I had in fact held on to 5th woman. In the end, I don't know! There was no indication of gender on the results sheets. I was either 5th or 6th depending on whether we think Antolin is a man or woman's name.

We stuck around for the raffle. There were no awards based on time. James won a gift certificate for 3 personal training sessions. Very cool.

In conclusion - 5Ks are not fun. But its nice to race for less than half an hour and then be done and get to hang out. Now I'm off to the pool...

Rove the Cove 5K
Official Time: 22:29
Pace: 7:13
Place: 22/175 overall, 5th or 6th woman

A Stitch in Time Saves Nine

A little over a week out from Mooseman and I am finally acknowledging that I did not take my recovery seriously enough. The day after the race I was pleasantly sore, hobbling a bit, but getting up and down stairs and on and off the toilet without much difficulty at all :-)  On day two I convinced myself that I would just take an easy spin on the trainer. Which ended up lasting an hour. And when I got out of work early I found myself at the pool, where I swam 2000 slow but comfortable yards. On day three, I felt like crap and wanted to sleep. But I got on the trainer again. Could hardly turn over the peddles. Seriously, like 2mph and 5-10rpm slower than the day before. Day four I went for a run. We'll call it a run, I'm not sure what it was. A shuffle? 9:30 pace and had a side stitch within a mile of starting. Lasted about 35 minutes then called it a day. I resolved not to run again til after the full week. Day five for whatever reason I thought it would be a good idea to ride for 2 hours. That was fine actually. Day six I went for a 90 minute hike. I was feeling very energized by the hike so was going to go to the Y and just bliss out on an arc trainer for a while. But when I got home from the hike my energy tanked and I didn't want to go anywhere. A few hours later I rallied and went to the Y for an hour. Day seven I met up with a friend and rode in the Concord area for an hour forty-five minutes. We had planned to swim but he doesn't have a wetsuit and it was 50s and raining. I tweaked something in my right shin (second time this has happened on a ride with him - I wonder what I change in my technique when we ride, or where we ride). We rode VERY slowly, yet it was kind of hard.

So Sunday afternoon I am sitting at home and realize, shit this is the end of my recovery week and I've put in 9 hours of training. That was dumb. That is not recovery. Last year I was so wrecked after FirmMan that it was clear that some serious recovery needed to happen. This time around my brain (ego?) thinks I'm ready to go. Its not going so well though. My energy is all over the place. I feel right at the edge of unraveling (more than is usual for me) over little things.

Over the weekend James decided he wanted to run a 5k. We looked for 2 weeks out but the better race is this weekend. So we both signed up. This meant that  I needed to do my long run earlier in the week so I could do "speed work" on race day. So I went out for my long run this morning. Perfect running weather: 50s with drizzle. Flew out of the gate with 2 8:15 miles then blew up. Ran a few sub 9 minute miles but then fell apart further. Gave in and switched to a run/walk for the remainder. Every run I've had in the past 2 1/2 weeks has involved side stitches. I do not know what causes these (other than going too fast). I know its stupid to go out at an 8:15 pace on a long run where the planned overall pace in 8:40. And yet I do it time and time again.  Its time to reign myself in. But its so hard for me to do. I want to be a better athlete than I am. Its hard for me to be where I am, who I am. I'm always looking for a plan to keep me busy and to distract myself from "not being there yet." The plans are good when they succeed in distracting me, but when my body doesn't cooperate the illusion kind of falls apart.

I'd love to have a positive wrap up on this one...but I'm drawing a blank.

Theme Song for a 70.3

James made me a mix to get pumped before Mooseman. This was the only song I could remember while racing, buts its pure AWESOME.

Ali in the Jungle

Mooseman Race Report

I find that by the time I have completed the race, told James about it, told my parents about it, told my closest friends who will tolerate triathlon talk about it, and answered numerous questions from people who ask to be kind but think I'm crazy about it that I've often lost some of my steam to blog about it. That being said, I am going to give this a go.

Mooseman. The race I didn't plan to race. The race I didn't know I'd be racing. The race I had 3 weeks to wrap my head around.

Pre:
James and I drove up to Newfound Lake for registration (and Ironman brand shopping) on Saturday morning. We stopped in Manchester just after 11am at a Bertucci's Ristorante along the way to pick up a dozen rolls. These rolls make my stomach happy and since I never know what sort of food I'll find in a new place, we either plan to eat dinner there (like at FirmMan last year) or bring rolls with us. We got to the race site a little before 1pm. It was a little chilly but gorgeous outside. I stood in line for registration and packet pickup. Chatted with the guy in line behind us who was super friendly. He warned that the roads were in pretty bad condition from the hard winter, with a lot of frost heaves in inconvenient places. When I got to the front of the line the volunteer could not find my name. I chose not to freak out. I know I had registered because I saw the $300 WTC charge on my credit card. A staff person sorted it out. They only had me down as Rachel W, not my full last name. It occurred to James that that might mean when I crossed the finish line they wouldn't call out my name correctly. (He was right.) Got my number, chip, and other goodies in the tent. At this point I started to get the whole WTC/Ironman thing. As James would say its a "racket" and I agree. But because of that you get all sorts of cool stuff. Gorgeous tech shirt for the race. A timing chip strap made of neoprene that was so comfortable that I forgot it was on and it left not a single mark on my leg. Fancy booths so ogle. Etc, etc, etc. We went into the Ironman store. I knew exactly what I wanted. I wanted the Mooseman cycling jersey. This is my first proper cycle jersey and I was stoked to get my hands on it. It was a little pricey but James bought it for me as a birthday present. I also sprung for a 50% off 2xu tri top. Good deals. I'll take it. We then grabbed my bike and put it in transition. Having registered late my number was high (1106 out of maybe 1200-1300), so I was way in the back of transition, and had to run through trees and over roots to get out and in. We left the park and drove the bike course to get a feel for this 3.5mile 4-16% grade hill I've been dreading. As well as the 5 miles 5% descent that follows. It was not a confidence boost. I'll say that much. I couldn't decide if it was better to know or not know about this hill. At the very least it was better to know about the false flat 2/3 of the way up so it wouldn't break me when there was more hill to come after. After the drove the course we went to the athlete's meeting. We listened in on the the pro meeting and then scooted out shortly after the age-group meeting started. As we got back to the lot there was a pro leaving us a note. She had hit James' car as she was pulling out. Everyone was very friendly but it was a tough and stressful addition to the afternoon. We then drove 30 minutes east to our motel on Lake Winnipesaukee. It was so cute and the view was amazing.

I prepped my nutrition and we headed to dinner by 6. Dinner was not so good. Its hard to mess up pizza (but they managed to). We were back at the hotel by 7:30 and I started to gear down. Reviewed my race plan for the second to last time, played some sudoku and then dozed off as the Bruins-Canucks game started.

Race Morning:
Alarm was set to go off at 3:50am. I woke up before the alarm wondering what time it was and checked my phone (alarm) to see and found it was 3:49. Perfect. Hopped out of bed. Took a Coke Zero, banana, rolls, and sunscreen into the bathroom to start morning preparations.

We were out the door by 5am, for the 35 minute drive back to Newfound Lake. This place was so cute we wanted to stay another night, but alas I had work to go to Monday morning. After a quick stop at Dunkin Donuts for coffee and an unsuccessful bathroom break we arrived 1.5miles from the lake around 5:40. A cop directed us to park on a side road. James was not thrilled to see others driving past but us getting diverted. It was a long walk with all my transition stuff, hydration, bike pump, etc in tow. But on a 45 degree morning it was good to get moving. I got body marked and set up transition. Transition was very tight. I forgot to do some stuff. Didn't pull sunscreen out of my bad for reapplication after bike. Didn't lube my neck or shoulders for my wetsuit. By the time I was standing in the portopotty line in was 6:30 and we had to leave transition by 6:45 so I realized those things just weren't going to happen.

Definitely a pre-poop face

I'm not looking so psyched to race, am I?

Finished in the line and headed to the swim start. Put on my wetsuit and new neoprene cap. People seemed really cold. Lots of blue lips and shivering. I'm generally not thrilled with my "natural insulation" but on mornings like this it was great not to have any trepidation about getting in the water (which was 60 degrees).

Swim:
The elite men and elite women went off. My wave was 4th. I lined up toward the right just behind the first row of swimmers. It was hard to know where to position myself. I figured I would rather get swum over than have the wiggle past people right away. Given the modified rectangular route I had to swim in toward the buoys  to get a good line but this wasn't too hard. The announcer counted down and we were off. I swam comfortably. Got my bearings. Quickly realized that this was the most gorgeous lake I had ever been in. Reveled in the clarity of the water and the brilliant morning sun. Oh wait, am I racing? Rachel, are you racing right now? Okay, back to business. I took the first 800 relatively comfortably. Picking people off who were ahead but mostly just looking for feet to follow. By the back of the rectangle we were catching the male wave ahead of us so things got congested a little. It occurred to me that maybe I wasn't swimming as hard as I should be. Although I was breathing every stroke (which I never do in the pool) I was hardly kicking and my RPE seemed moderate (at most). I decided that with 500 yards to go I would pick it up a bit (hopefully to get feeling back in my numb feet). In the intervening 500 yards I focused on stretching out my stroke and finding red caps to pick off ahead of me. It felt good to swim harder. Maybe next time I will take the whole swim out harder to see what I can do. I came out of the water and crossed the mat at 34 minutes. I was pleased with this. Maybe if I swam harder in the future I could hit 31? That would be good. [Sidebar - the 30minute time in FirmMan doesn't really count in my mind given the current for the majority of the swim.]

I pulled off my cap and goggles and ran toward the strippers. Dropped my neoprene cap but wasn't going to turn around for it. As I lay down to get stripped a volunteer had retrieved the neoprene and gave it to me (awesome). I jogged into transition and tried to get my frozen feet into my socks and shoes. Race belt on. Garmin on. Glasses and helmet. This takes me a long time.

Compare the determination on this face to how I look in the similar shot post ride...

Off I go!

 Bike:
The bike leg was as advertised. Double loop: rolling, 3.5mile killer hill, 5mi descent, rolling, hill, rolling, repeat, then rolling to finish. I was proud of myself slogging up the big hill. I stayed on my bike and stayed moving. I was very glad to be riding a triple. Those baby gears are money for keeping spinning (is it spinning at 50-60rpm?) on a tough climb. The descents were wild. I've never gone that fast and the roads were winding. I was a little afraid that I would lose control. Saw guys go flying by me on the descents and don't know how they do it. Kept a good effort on the rolling back stretch although my pace wasn't very even. Kept to my nutrition and hydration plan well (4 bottles - 2 w/G2+200cal carbo pro each, 2 water; 4 large dates, honey zinger chews, 1 gel). The gel didn't sit well with me. I think in the end gel is not my best bet [foreshadowing...].  I had been hoping to come in at 3:40. I know this is not a good time. I was figuring that with the hills anything less than an hour slower than my flat FirmMan time (3:09) would be acceptable. I do believe I am a stronger rider now (and want to go sub-3 by the end of the summer), but haven't done any work on hills, so I was going into this blind. I ended up finishing around 3:25. I was pleased with this. I was in T-2 as the winning men were crossing the finish line 100 yards away (ridiculous how fast they are!).

Not looking so great, huh?

 I took my time in transition. I wasn't feeling great so I wanted to give myself a chance to regain a little composure and maybe have my heartrate come down just a smidge. My stomach wasn't very happy with me. Not an all out revolt, but I was immediately nervous about nutrition on the run.

Off I go. That hat didn't last more than a mile...

 The run was gorgeous. Flat to rolling, with a more sizeable hill in the first half of each of the two loops. It was weird running on a double loop because you couldn't really tell who was on their first and who on their second lap. Well, with the fast people you could tell ;-)  The scenery was gorgeous. I tried to take that in.

 The weather (objectively) was perfect. Maybe 70 degrees and we got some cloud cover quickly so the sun wasn't too hot. Regardless, I got to overheating almost immediately. I took sponges at each aid station and choked down my carbo-pro and G2 as best I could. Didn't take any gel or chews on the run like I was supposed to. It was a hard run. From the first mile I couldn't find my target pace. I know there are people who can start slow and pick it up. But for me, if I can't find it in the first 1-2 miles, it generally isn't there. I didn't find it. There were no 8:30 miles. I stopped looking at my garmin and just ran/jogged/shuffled/slogged. The fantasies I had been harboring for the past week of doing an Ironman at the end of the summer (I told no one this) VANISHED. A large part of me wanted to stop. Well, not stop, but not be running. I kept telling myself that walking would just prolong things. So I kept going. My miles ranged from 8:42 (first) to 9:40 (8th - on the hill); mostly they hovered right around 9:00-9:08. When I saw James here at mile 7.5 I told him to expect me 5 minutes slower than my goal sub 2:00 run split.

In the home stretch (3 miles) it occurred to me that I hadn't been running this whole time. I was never in my stride. I was watching other people suffering (or others flying along seemingly effortlessly) and doing the same (suffering). I asked myself, could I be running harder now? It seemed that perhaps I could. I pushed a little harder. And it didn't seem worse (just equally painful). I saw a woman with a 28 on her calf ahead of me and had the thought to catch her. I have never passed anyone in my age group on the run. I swear. Never. At the next aid station she walked through and I passed. I didn't see her again. Then there was another 26 up ahead. I wouldn't say that I took chase, but I certainly did something (stalking and chasing at 9 minute miles seems absurd). And I caught and passed her. I am 90% sure they were both on their second laps so these were true passes. The last mile I pushed. And the last 300 yards I opened the throttle. Garmin says last mile 8:37, fastest mile of the day.

"Sprinting" to the finish

Came through at what I believe will be just over 6:05 official time. Pulled off to the side. Grabbed knees. Sucked wind. Saw stars. Hacked up a lung. Got my medal. Hobbled off to find James.

As bad as the running feels, the stopping sometimes feels worse. I get super nauseous. And do a lot of uncontrollable hacking. And feel dizzy.

After 2 bottles of water I was feeling a little better. Then I got in the lake in my race gear. Instant ice bath! This made things much better. I love this lake! Then James and I got food and ice cream and hung out for a bit. I met the fabulous Mary of Mary: IronMatron. She rocked it with a 3rd place Age Group finish.

 Having not posed for ridiculous pre-race "Manic" photos, James grabbed one as I was rebounding after my dip in the lake, food and soda.

Rolldown was happening by the lake so I swing by to see if I might get a glimpse of what had happened in my age group. I saw something like 45 women in 25-29 and my name was listed 15. Unofficial top third!!! I'm still awaiting results to be posted.

Then we packed up transition and headed home.

It was a great way to spend my birthday. I have a long way to go. But I like the journey.

Officially:
Swim 34:00 (AG rank, 13)
T1: 3:37
Bike 3:25:23  (AG rank, 20)
T2: 3:49
Run 1:58:27 (AG rank, 15)
Total 6:05:16
Age Group Final 15/45

2 Months in Review - April and May by the Numbers

April 2011
Swim: 29,350 yards
Bike: 533.65 miles
Run 100.9 miles
Weights: 5 kettlebell sessions
Other: 3 hours
Total Time: 56 hours 54 minutes

I finally got back on track with my scheduled 3 swims per week. Mostly pretty short, in the 2000-2700 yard range but at least I was finally getting my ass to the pool. This was progress. Lots of miles on the bike, unfortunately still all on the trainer. Solid running all month with another 100+ mile total. Third time ever (March 2011 was the second time).

April was a month of ups and downs. I named the month - "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly."

The Good - Big Day - On Patriot's Day weekend I did my first "Big Day" - 2200 yard swim, 56 mile bike, 1 hour 30 minute run. I nailed it. Seriously. It was awesome. Swim felt easy. Ride was steady, held a pace just a smidge faster than my FirmMan pace from last fall (and it was way easier - although its hard to tell given that it was on the trainer). Lastly, I went outside and smoked the run. It was seriously amazing. I never fell apart. My pace held through the whole run (8:30-8:35). I was feeling so good there was a part of me that got very tempted to push on for the 13.1 miles. I was smart though and stopped when I was supposed to. I think the big lesson here was the nutrition. I often do not eat enough on the bike. Don't get me wrong, I eat. But it might come out to somewhere around 150-200 calories an hour. On this ride I was super diligent and took in 900 calories. I think 300 is the magic number for me - my energy was just so steady. I need to keep this in mind on long rides and when racing. My stomach held through the run as well. Gu and I have a rocky relationship but on April 16 we got along.

The bad - Registration for Patriot Half Ironman closed crazy early and I didn't get in. Was super bummed and spent the second half of April unsure of what I would do for my first big A race of the season. This seriously screwed with my head...training all winter and spring for something and realizing you don't get to do it SUCKS. Lesson learned. If the race is important, register early, no dilly-dallying.

The ugly - Great Bay Half Marathon on April 3... Didn't realize at the time but was entering a migraine cluster that lasted 8 days. Was delirious for much of the run, afraid I would fall, walking when I didn't mean to. The first hour it seemed I might still do okay but then in the second hour the wheels fell off in a way I have never ever experienced. In some ways I was quite surprised I finished. It was very bad for morale and confidence. Think I'm not yet totally over it.

May 2011
Swim: 34,200 yards
Bike: 609.15 miles
Run: 110.55
Weights: 4 kettlebell sessions
Total Time: 63 hours 9 minutes

Some very good swims this month. Still mostly not swimming fast but 3000+yard swims started getting sprinkled in and I put in a few tempo efforts that felt pretty good. Tried to go to Walden for a swim mid month but was stupid and didn't bring a swim cap. I couldn't put my head under water so I only swam a few hundred yards. Had my first outdoor rides of the season, 2 of 50+ miles, 2 shorter with a co-worker. Like riding with company very much but find it hard to gauge effort so far.

[Sidebar: This friend spent a number of years at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado (?) in his twenties for rowing. He's just post back surgery but a total badass. He has these crazy ideas about my potential as a cyclist which are amusing to listen to In fact, today at work he told me he wants me to help him pick an Oly for last summer/early fall. He started saying that I am gonna be super competitive soon, given my biking. As I said, he's insane. When I countered that I'm a slow runner, relative to my fellow speedy age groupers, he calmly stated that I just need to do more speed work like "Do 2 19 minute 3 mile runs with 10 minutes of rest in between and you'll increase you're aerobic threshold." I laughed outloud and tried to explain that I would never run a sub-20 5k. He felt sure I was wrong. It was funny. He's nuts.]

This was my highest mileage running month ever. I only had two runs over 10 miles (13.1 and 14) but put in a lot of solid mid-week mileage and 5 bricks with 5-8 miles runs on the back end. Am pretty happy with how quiet my posterior tibialis has been through these past 2 months and 200 miles. Maybe the form work and slogging slow running through the winter was worth it in the end.

After weeks of torturing myself deliberation I finally picked a race. Mooseman Half Ironman in Newfound Lake, NH. June 5, 2011. My Birthday. Decided it was a fitting way to spend the day. This is a very hilly bike course. I conferred with my brother (a strong cyclist) who scared me shitless about it initially ["think about the craziest hill in Sugarbush VT from when we were kids, then extend it to 3 times its length"] then came back with more support ["forget the time, it'll be a huge accomplishment to finish it and then you'll never be afraid of hills again..."]. This pushed up my training plan by two weeks and suddenly I was peaking.

Now its May 31, I'm in full on taper, which I hate, and the race is in 5 days! Amazing how time flies when you're having fun. If I get inspired I will try to write a goals/pre-race thoughts post before I head up to New Hampshire on Saturday.

REGISTERED!

I am officially registered for Mooseman 70.3, June 5, 2011!  After much too long of a delay and way too much second guessing I finally did it. What better way to celebrate on my birthday than by spending it racing a Half-Ironman...Happy Birthday to me!

freak out

I should be on the trainer right now. I have one of those unusual mornings where I actually have the time to get in a 2 hour workout and didn't have to get up til 6. I don't have to be at work til noon (if I do 3 hours of work at home). And yet I'm not on the trainer yet. I was looking forward to this workout. 70 minute ride, 50 minute run. I love this workout. I'm sitting at the computer.

On Sunday I was finally ready to drop the cash to register for my first A race (of 2) of the season, the Patriot Half Ironman. I got to the website and it was SOLD OUT! There was a waitlist which I gladly paid $1 (plus $3.25 in processing fees) to get on. But I have little hope that I will make it off the waitlist. And now I can't sleep. 2 nights in a row. I feel totally turned around. I have been training for the Patriot. I want to race the Patriot. I have been thinking about the Patriot. Everything feels all wrapped up in this race. This race that I felt I could be ready for. Last year I sort of blew my load jumping straight from 1 Oly into HIM distance. This year I was stoked to feel ready. My endurance is there. I did a combo workout 10 days ago with 2200yds swimming, 56 mile ride, and 10.5 mile run. I felt awesome after. I was exactly where I wanted to be. Now I don't know where I am.

I don't want to race in July/August at HIM distance, its too hot. I overheat too easily. Yet Ironman Rhode Island (70.3) is the nearest and closest (date) race. But I don't know the course (they're changing it). Rev3 Quassy sounds amazing but I looked at the bike map and I just don't feel like I could handle the hills. (Read: I'm afraid). I feel like I keep looking for courses that I think I am ready for and there are so few. Tinman (Tupper Lake, NY) looks good but its 5 1/2 hours from my house and its the weekend of my last week of work, tough timing. I'd have to convince my husband or mother to drive with me and its a lot to ask.

I don't know what to do. I'm freaking out. This sucks.


[Thanks to those who already responded. I appreciate everyone who does swing by my blog and give me feedback. I think acknowledging that I shy away from hills was important. I spent my workout fantasizing about Quassy...so there is a 4 mile hill with 600ft elevation gain...so my time may be a little slower...sooo?]

Great Bay Half Marathon - Pre-race

Tomorrow James is running his first half marathon - the Great Bay Half in Newmarket, New Hampshire. I am running as well. I wasn't sure if I'd be ready for the distance, but I am. I'm not sure whether to race or just to do it as a steady training run effort. My priority is this modified big day on April 16 (40min swim, 3hr ride, 1hr30min run) and don't want to set myself back on that front. I have had difficult recoveries (what is my frame of reference really?) after my races in the past. My posterior tibialis often acts up when I go hard/fast and long and takes weeks to get back to normal. There is a part of me that feels that given the volume I have trained this past month and my solid long runs that no workout shorter than 2 hours should be that hard, yet I know what my body has had to say about that in the past. I don't know what to do. So I don't have a race plan yet. What do you  think? Go hard? Hold back?

My PR is a 1:52 (first and only open HM). I ran 1:52 two weeks ago for the first 13.1 miles of a 13.5mi long run. McMillan says I could run 1:47 based on recent 5k and 10k training runs. I strongly believe this is overly generous though b/c both of those efforts were on the flat (along the Charles River for the 5k and at the track for the 10k) and I tend to fall apart with any hills thrown in. When I think about racing even at the pace I ran 2 weeks ago (8:30-8:35) I start having doubts. I don't know why.

I have been making silly excel tables with paces and HM times (with a range for a total distance of 13.1 to 13.25, depending on how I run the tangents and how bad the congestion is with the first 2.5miles of the course being with 1000 5k runners). I didn't admit it to myself until just as I have been writing this but there is a little part of me that secretly (or not so secretly now) would be really stoked and proud to break 1:50. That's an 8:20. I don't feel that I am there yet. And yet, I had an 8 mile run at 7:58/mi the same week I ran the 13.1 at 8:33/mi. I had hard rides 5 days that week, no taper. I have been feeling confident on my runs. I have been a good cheerleader to myself. I have been improving. I'd like to psych myself up for going after a goal.

I hear a lot of people talking about needing to learn or already knowing how to suffer. Perhaps I shouldn't admit this but, I'm not sure that I want to suffer. I suffer enough. I'm doing this to suffer less, to enjoy myself more. It makes it hard to wrap my mind around this aspect of racing -- suffering. I wonder if there is some other way of thinking about hard efforts.


Thoughts?!?!?

March - By the Numbers

March
Swim: 23,250 yards
Bike:  567.2 miles
Run: 105.15 miles
Weights/Core: 5 sessions
Total training time:  56hrs 50minutes


March was a very good month for training! After months and months of slow, demoralizing running I re-found my "speed." With the outdoor track finally liberated from the snow I have been doing speedwork outside rather than on the treadmill. This was huge - I'm much faster on the road than on the treadmill. Feeling tempo and speed efforts is so much better when you are moving forward rather than trying not to fall off the back of a spinning belt. My long runs were all also really solid. I even had a run where I entertained the fantasy (albeit very briefly) of running a marathon after triathlon season. My pace felt good; I finally stopped falling apart at the 10 mile mark like I did my entire first year of running. Maybe there is something to slow, demoralizing, but consistent running all through the winter.

I was a beast on the trainer this month. Over 30 hours, well over 500 miles. Loved (almost) every minute of it. I got my bike tuned up so its road ready. I thought about switching out my trainer tyre for my road tire but thought better of it and am glad I waited as we just had more snow yesterday. I have a modified Big Day planned for 2 weeks from now, think I might make the transition after that. Can't wait to see how things are back out on the road. I only road Nimbus a handful of times outside last summer - it'll be great to find out what sort of progress I've made with 2000 or so trainer miles I have put in over the winter.

Swimming and weights, still meh at best for this month. Think I was using my paddles too often and for too much distance too soon, which has been aggravating my left shoulder. This past week I put the paddles away and have had a bunch of good swims, and no pain. Lesson learned; for now. Still haven't figured out a good schedule for lifting. At work my schedule is changing a little bit for the next three months so hopefully I might find a better groove.

Steady as she goes

For the past month as I have been working diligently on my foundation, I have taken my long runs to a new location. All of the routes that leave from my house are hilly. There is no getting around it. There are rollers everywhere so both the start and end of every fun involves what for me are not fun (HR spiking) sections. So I have been going out to Needham/Wellesley where there are nice long stretches of relatively flat or steady but slight grade roads, with wide shoulders. This runs have been pretty blissful (except the one day when it was 15F with 30+mph gusts and I had to stop and crouch on the ground for over a minute so as not to get knocked over). My paces have been good on these runs. But it feels like cheating cuz there are no hills! James' upcoming half marathon is a flat course. I am tentatively planning on running it as a training run. So these runs have also been confidence builders for that. However, I can't avoid hills forever. Hills are always what kill me. So today I had 1:35 run on tap and I decided it was time to (wo)man up and run a hilly route. I adjusted my distance goal to reflect a slower pace. Figured 20 seconds per mile slower than flat 1:30 run from 2 weeks ago.

The weather man says 40F this morning so this was my first outdoor run in anything only that hardcore winter gear since November. Capris, t-shirt, and brooks wind jacket --- that's it! It was awesome so actually feel the wind on my skin (without it hurting). I was actually probably even a little too warm. I tried not to look at my garmin, just to run comfortably (well, honestly, maybe a little harder than comfortably) and adjust pace to fit terrain. It was a good run. A very good run. Usually I start falling apart a little bit around an hour into my runs (or 1:10 if I'm having a good day) but this didn't happen. My energy was good. My attitude was good.
When I got home I looked at my lap splits...Two weeks ago I ran that flat course at 8:40, with paces ranging from 8:24 to 8:52.

This week:
Mile 1: 8:48
Mile 2: 8:38
Mile 3: 8:28
Mile 4: 8:43
Mile 5: 8:38
Mile 6: 8:52
Mile 7: 8:38
Mile 8: 8:37
Mile 9: 8:38
Mile 10: 8:39
Mile 11: 8:32

Average pace: 8:39


This is the most even pacing I have EVER run. And there were hills. YAY ME! 


I guess there might be something to be said for patience.

January and February by the Numbers: Prep and Base

January
Swim: 24,225 yards
Bike:  356 miles
Run: 74 miles
Weights: 7 sessions
Yoga: 1x during recovery week
Total training time:  47.1 hrs

Overall a boring month of easy efforts. Trying to get back in the swing of swimming 3 times per week, which I marginally accomplished for 2 weeks in the second half of the month but overall didn't quite stick to. I did have one stellar 4050yd swim in the second half of the month which made me hopeful that my swimming might return to me once I am able to settle into a workable schedule of 3 times per week. I kept every scheduled run and ride for the month. The runs were slow but it was good to finally be doing "long runs" of more than an hour. I was pretty good with weights 2x a week but was unable to figure out timing of lifting sessions that didn't interfere with my running or swimming. I'd say no overall strength gains but a little less of that feeling of being a limp noodle.

February
Swim: 17,350 yards
Bike:  368.5miles
Run: 74.5 miles
Strength: 3 weight sessions, 1 trx session at the Y, 3 yoga (does shoveling count?)
Total training time:  41.7 hrs


I started in on my modified Fitzgerald level 4 and 6 Half Iron plan on January 31. I had started with a Friel plan on January 1 so had a weird first week of February which was a recovery from Friel but the start of base for Fitzgerald (new plan). So I've had 2 recovery weeks in the month of February. Overall this had made for kind of pitiful numbers. I have clearly slipped (again) with the swimming, with only 7 sessions for the month (11 planned). I actually (FINALLY!) made good progress with my running. Ran every run and built my long run to a little over 10miles. On consecutive weeks my long run pace also dropped by 20 and 19 seconds while the distance increased for each one. My midweek runs have still be questionable. Running at 6:30am may just not be my thing. On the week that I had a day off and was able to do my brick with the run starting at 8am I flew around and felt invincible. I've done a short brick each week (on Tuesdays). I'm trying to tack on a short transition run after my long Sunday rides but haven't done this yet as I can't seem to convince myself to layer up and go out in the cold/wet after getting nice and toasty on the trainer. I still have hope for this once we start having temps in the 40's and warmer.


IOn the nutrition front I have finally figured out a way to consistently get my fair share of vegetables. 2 hugely successful smoothies. First a mango, spinach, flax seed combo. Second, a blueberry, spinach, and blueberry/beet/grape juice combo. Both delicious, both 5 servings of fruit/veg per  drink. Some of the winter weight is slowing coming back off. I can even zip my pants, which is a nice perk.


Happy training all!

What's the solution to a rock and a hard place? A brick!

i had one of those days yesterday. stress. catch-22's. self doubt.

this morning i did not want to get out of bed. did not want to do my workout. but i did. a nice weekday brick. i love brick workouts. (btw-has anyone settled the debate re: "bric" = bike run in combination vs. "brick" = named after the guy who decided we should do these back to back workouts?) i don't understand how my runs off the bike are consistently better than my straight runs. but i'll take it. i love it. through the snow and slush, past the grumpy commuters in their cars, dodging low hanging branches my comfortable pace is nearly a minute faster than my regular comfortable pace. this lasts for at least 3 miles before things shift back to normal.

now, 8am, 25miles on the trainer and 5 on the road, its time to face my work day. with 30miles of new confidence, i think i'll survive it...

Year in Review (2010) and a Peek at 2011!

December by the Numbers
Swim: 12,100 yards
Bike:  328 miles with 5 2+hr trainer sessions
Run: 47.5miles
Other cardio: 10hrs
Weights/kettlebells: 4 sessions
Total training time:  40.1hrs


2010:
Swim ~64hours, 189,050yds, 114.6mi

Bike ~200hours, 3223miles

Run ~120hours, 718.35miles

Other Cardio  ~60hours, 285.5miles

Weights  ~26hours

Total hours: ~470hours

I've been working on my goals and training plan for 2011. They aren't quite done. The short version is that I have 2 70.3's on deck (June and September), a spring half marathon with my husband (his first), and hopefully a few more shorter races (either to race or to volunteer). I want to PR in my September 70.3. I want to go sub 3:00 on a bike split of one of my HIMs and not blow up on the run. I want to improve my run (endurance, speed, hills...all of it) by leaps and bounds. I want to find a way to keep up with strength training and core work throughout the year.

In the midst of that I will graduate (finally!) from my PhD program and I'm in the process of finding a job for this first post-doc year. James took a job in Boston so, it looks like there will NOT be a move this summer. Hopefully my landlady agrees!

quick and dirty - a demoralization post before work

I've been re-reading my Triathlete's Training Bible and preparing for my second season of triathlon. I've been super-stoked to be honest. Slowly I have been coming around to the idea of transitioning toward using HR zones for training. I have always avoided this because I seem to have an abnormally high resting HR and an insanely high HR during exercise (even when my PRE is in a low or middle range). Tuesday I finally strapped up on a trainer ride and it wasn't as bad as I thought. Clearly much easier than my usual efforts to stay in a steady low zone 2, but good also to know what that should feel like.

Today was the day I was going to risk it on a run. The run is the problem. I knew it would be the problem. When I run my HR goes to 170-180 really easily and will stay there for a long time (an entire run)? People are telling me I need to run and walk until I can keep it sub 140. I don't even think I can stroll casually with my HR below 140. This puts me in a bind. But I 'm a scientist so I tested it out. Lo and behold, I can't even shuffle with my heartrate below 148 and at an 11:34 overall pace for a run/walk in which I hardly broke a sweat my average HR was 159. I am hydrated. I have no caffeine in my system. THIS SUCKS. I get into this mind game like "how is this possible? i can run an hour at an 8:15 pace (today, if I wanted to). I've run 2 HMs at an 8:35 pace and my half marathon off the bike at FirmMan in under 2:00. Why can't I even shuffle with a normal heart rate?" It makes me kind of panicky about my heart. It makes me question my abilities and my potential as an athlete. It makes me feel abandoned and screwed over by my body. And I don't know how to fix it.

November - By the Numbers

Swim: 10,900 yards
Bike:  322 miles with 5 2+hr trainer sessions
Run: 43 miles with no runs over 5.5miles :-(
Other cardio: 7hrs
Weights/kettlebells: 9 sessions
Total training time:  41.1hrs

Two solid weeks at the end of the month with 12 and 14 hours. 3 of 4 swim sessions in a one week period. Feeling really good on the bike. Really slow and crappy on my short pathetic runs. Deconditioned but fresh and with good form on my swims, with Total Immersion drill emphasis. There are certainly some good pieces in here. Getting back up over 40 hours for the month felt very good, think I want to try to stick to 40 hours for December and January. Need to figure out something to get my running back on track. And need to get back to regular swimming 2+ times per week. It has been tricky for me to figure out how to keep both lifting and swimming in my schedule at once, but this is a must for the upcoming year so there's no time like the present.

Am keeping fingers crossed for lots of fun swim, bike, run gear for the holidays!

September and October by the Numbers

Numbers in taper, recovery and "offseason" are sad to see. Love the return to lifting, feeling stronger through my core and upper body. My very few swims have felt much better than at the end of the season (although I'm clearly losing swim fitness) with the improved core strength. Runs have been short and slow. Almost all of my cycling has been indoors on the trainer before the sun comes up in the morning.

September
Swim: 16,300 yards
Bike:  240 miles
Run: 64.5 miles
Weights: 2 kettlebells
Yoga: 1x during recovery week
Total training time:  32.2 hrs


October
Swim: 5,600 yards - 2 sessions all month :-(
Bike:  242 miles
Run: 38 miles
Other cardio: 6hrs
Weights: 8 kettlebell sessions, 2 freeweights, 1 yoga
Total training time:  33.8 hrs

I've been reading others' posts about 2011 goals and tentative race schedules. I am feeling quite at a loss. In the 2 weeks after my first 70.3 I had lots of thoughts about things I want to work on but so far I haven't been able to figure out a plan for improving my swim bike run. Getting back to weights is certainly a good thing for the offseason; I guess I didn't have a sense of how long I would actually be away from the endurance part of s-b-r. I think not knowing where we will be living come July has also made it hard for me to think about goals/races for 2011 so the carrot isn't out there in front of me in a way that provides some additional motivation and orientation...

The Flip Side of "I don't have to, if I don't want to"

I have been stressing a little bit without a training plan. I realize thats silly given that I'm not a competitive athlete by any stretch of the imagination. But it gets under my skin when I think to myself, "I don't have to if I don't want to"...like I might forsake any semblance of fitness. Admittedly this has never happened before, yet I worry about it. Since FirmMan I was only at the pool 1 time in 10 days. I've only been out on my bike for a spin around the neighborhood with James (on the old hybrid) or on the trainer, no long rides. My runs have been slow slow slow. I hate running slow. It makes me feel like a hippopotamus.  Having a plan makes the world feel orderly. It makes me accountable. And it eliminates waffling from the equation. Without a plan if I'm not in the mood, or I'm distracted, or I'm irritable, what is there to make me get out there?

Yesterday I was psyched to finally go to a masters' swim class. I got up early, put on a new swimsuit and was at the pool by 6:45, 15 minutes early. But, guess what, no one was there. And no one showed up! I don't know what happened to the class. I waited until 7:06 before calling it quits. This screwed with my plan for the day. I had wanted to swim early and ride midday. The other pool is crazy on Saturday mornings and I didn't want to deal with it. So I came home and jumped on the trainer. 2 hours sounded good. I consulted my Workouts in a Binder and pieced together a longish big gear session. It was a blast. First long workout since the race. But then by midday, when the pool again has lap hours I didn't want to go. James pushed me out the door and I thought to grab my new paddles as I went. I did a quick 2000yd set with 400warm up, 400 paddles, 400 pull (no paddles), 400 paddles, 400 pull and cool down. It was very fun. The paddles make me feel like a beast (in a good way)! 12 strokes to a length, sure, why not! This morning, I had been hoping for a longish run. I woke up and didn't want to go. But it was gorgeous out. I decided I'd jog to the track and then do laps until I decided I was done (this can be 3 miles or 10, depending on the day). When I arrived there were hundreds of pee wee flag football kiddos and parents and siblings littering track and field. Not ideal conditions for track work. So I decided I'd just run a mile hard then leave. After a mile, and a little rest I decided I'd run another. Then a third. And a fourth. I've never done mile intervals before. On the one hand they were slow by track work standards (and uneven, with big builds in the 4th lap of each mile). On the other hand these are the fastest miles I have run in a long time. Then I walked home.  It took a while for me to wrap my head around it but no training plan also means I can swim with paddles and not worry about being too sore for the next workout or I can run intervals on Sunday if I want to.  And I realized:
The flip side of "I don't have, if I don't want to" is "If I want to, I can."

do the math, rachel

in early to mid August this miraculous thing happened. every pair of pants in my closet fit. every pair. it made me very happy. it made me very fashionable. (ok, no not really...) i knew my eating was not the cleanest its ever been but the system seemed to be working b/c the pants fit, right? now, "suddenly" my pants and i are not getting along so well. my comfy pants are a little less comfy and my fancy/slim pants are a little more bind-y. In fact, I'm kind of afraid to put on those pants.

after finally logging a 6 mile run, my first >50minute workout since FirmMan I opened my training log to put in the data and fell face forward into the answer to this question/problem. In June and August I logged 55 hours per month and in July (taper and recovery for my first race) still over 40. This month, September, with a longer taper into 70.3 and a demoralizingly long recovery post race, I will be lucky if I log 30 hours. Thats 20 hours less training time that what my body had gotten used to. My eating has not changed like it should. So thats what 12,000 calories of surplus? Not to mention post race indulgences for 3+ days.  Well that explains the 5lbs of added tension on my waistband.

i need a plan. and some mojo.

slacker?

post FirmMan I decided I was going to take at least 3 days off. monday i could not have worked out had i wanted to (and didn't want to). tuesday my legs started to rebound and i did some stretching and a little yoga (warriors, dogs, a little pigeon). wednesday i felt that i could have worked out but decided with it being my first day back at work that i'd give myself the extra sleep to ease back in to that stress. thursday i had my first run. 4 miles at a 9:00min/mi pace with a heartrate that made more sense for an hard tempo pace. i felt pretty trashed at the end and throughout the day. i started thinking i probably should have waited til the weekend for a run. yesterday i did a 40 minute ride in the morning on the trainer and then 20 minutes with my new kettlebell. it felt great to be doing weights and core stuff. but it WRECKED my body. by the end of the day my abs, adductors, abductors and hip flexors were all screaming. this morning they are not any happier. i was out at high holiday services until after 11pm last night and there was no way i was getting up for 6:30am masters' swim. i haven't been to this class yet (started last week) but i really want to see what its all about. didn't happen this week, so will have to wait til week 3 i guess. but now - and this is where i get worried - i don't really want to workout. i certainly don't want to run. a bike ride sounds very involved. and if i were to swim i'd have to wait til 12:30 when the Y pool opens. fooey. what have i become?

Other Post-Race Nitty Gritties

Technical Notes:

Swim: For an ocean start I need to practice dolphin diving. Need to wear clear goggles for races -blue goggles plus orange buoys = not visible. Need goggle defogger - saliva did not work like it does in the pool.
Fuel: 800 calories on the bike: 400cal carbo pro, 100cal gatorade, 200cal luna bar, 100c gu (could have done even a little more 900-1000 next time), 400 calories on the run (shot blocks, 1 gu, pretzels). Pretzels were money. I may consider this in the future for long training sessions. Didn't manage to eat my swedish fish either on the bike or the run. Too bad.
Bike: Looking forward to the offseason to learn to hammer on the bike. I have no idea how hard I could be going. This was way faster than I have gone before and yet I didn't feel like I was near any sort of red zone. In the last hour I had some weakening (not sure what to call it - my legs didn't hurt, they just didn't feel as strong). I remember this feeling in my first 40+ mile rides. Perhaps I could push this back if I did more long long rides (60-80 miles). I remember Alexa of Just Keep Swimming telling me at some point that she would do 80+ mile rides in preparation for a HIM. Maybe I'll work that in next time.
Run: I am not a runner. I tend to fall apart after an hour. I  need to figure out how to push this back.

Goals/Thoughts?
I have new goals brewing. Nothing is final. I don't know if they are reasonable or what the timeframe would be to achieve them. I'd love to hear people's thoughts about them (particularly, ordering, timeframe, necessary steps to realize).

1. Swim: 25 minute mile. I have gone sub 27 once, mid 27's a number of time. Clearly I'd need to get much stronger. There is a masters swim club starting this weekend at a local pool and I know the coach caters to triathletes. Might drop the $75 to see what I can learn.

2. Bike: Get stronger. Get faster. Go longer. Get better on hills. (Do I need a power meter? Can I do this work with the Workouts in a Binder by Joe Friel and Wes Hobson during the winter on the trainer?)

3. Run: Improve endurance. Improve form - bent knees at the front of my stride, midsole striking, shoulders down. I'd also like to be faster. Running fast is way more fun than running slow.

4. Other Fitness: My core has fallen apart over the past 2 months. I need to get back in the weight room. I need to figure out how to get it into my tri routine, not just in the off season but also next summer, even with high volume (ladies, how do you maintain your upper body and core strength during build?)...

5. Food: My eating has also been less than ideal. I've got to clean it up. I feel pulled between the anti-carb (grain/sugar) and the pro-carb schools. I love grains. I have a feeling they are bad for me. I struggle to feel energized with fewer carbs. I need to strike a balance.