I'm going for it this week. This is week one of the Build phase of my training plan. I'm going to hit at least 9 workouts out of 10 and I'm going to do all of them as prescribed.
Took Monday off (that's what I'm supposed to do).
Tuesday morning: 36 minute run including 16x(0:30 hard, 0:30 easy).
Wednesday morning: 70 minute ride including 4x(5:00 hill climb), did the 20 minute cool down on the trainer since the hill climb I did ends at our house and I wasn't interested in adding a 5th one at the end.
Wednesday evening: 2200 swim (actually was supposed to be 2175, but that means you end on the wrong side of the pool!) 500 w/u, 50kick, 5x100 moderate, 50k, 7x75 hard (w/45sec rest), 25easy, 6x25 sprint (w/20 sec rest), 400 c/d -- might have been 450, I lost count so I did an extra 50 just in case.
Thursday morning: Brick workout -- 45 minute ride, 10 min FAST run. Kicked butt.
4.30.2009
(4.26.2009) Egh.. what a crappy week of training
Went to the Absolut party and did not do a bike ride Thursday night.
Friday morning: 47 minute run with 13x(0:30, 1:30 jog). Didn't have time to fit it all in per usual, so it was a 35 minute run total, but I got all 13 fartleks in. Best news -- my knee didn't start hurting until the cool down.
Saturday morning: Brick workout 60 min ride, followed by 20 minutes of running. One of the few workouts I did this week as prescribed.
Sunday morning: 75 minute ride. Not as long as I should have gone, but it was a fun ride with my cuz. Oh yeah, and the bike computer works again (randomly)!
So that leaves me with a total of 5 out of 10 workouts completed this week. At least it can only get better from here (I hope)!
Friday morning: 47 minute run with 13x(0:30, 1:30 jog). Didn't have time to fit it all in per usual, so it was a 35 minute run total, but I got all 13 fartleks in. Best news -- my knee didn't start hurting until the cool down.
Saturday morning: Brick workout 60 min ride, followed by 20 minutes of running. One of the few workouts I did this week as prescribed.
Sunday morning: 75 minute ride. Not as long as I should have gone, but it was a fun ride with my cuz. Oh yeah, and the bike computer works again (randomly)!
So that leaves me with a total of 5 out of 10 workouts completed this week. At least it can only get better from here (I hope)!
4.23.2009
Absolut or bike ride?
Slept in this morning and I need to ride tonight.
But then there's this email:
When I tell you we're having a "mixer" this Thursday at 5:15, I mean that [bigwig] at Pernod Ricard USA will be treating [our office] to signature cocktails based on Absolut's new flavors. He's a master bartender and an all-around great guy and he wants to buy YOU a drink...maybe two or three, depending on your level of gratitude and/or thirst!
Now isn't that Absolut-ly the best thing you've heard all day?
What to do...
But then there's this email:
When I tell you we're having a "mixer" this Thursday at 5:15, I mean that [bigwig] at Pernod Ricard USA will be treating [our office] to signature cocktails based on Absolut's new flavors. He's a master bartender and an all-around great guy and he wants to buy YOU a drink...maybe two or three, depending on your level of gratitude and/or thirst!
Now isn't that Absolut-ly the best thing you've heard all day?
What to do...
4.22.2009
The death of a bike computer?
Bike workout Tuesday morning: 60 minutes with 7 hill repeats.
Took off from the house and about a mile in, looked down and saw that my trusty bike computer was flashing 0.0mph. Pulled over, checked that the sensor was in the right place, spun my wheel, still nothing. So, alas, did my workout without a watch or any idea what speed I was going. I literally counted in my head to make sure my hills were long enough. I think my total bike time was short of an hour though. Oh well, time to shop for a new bike computer?
Tuesday night I had a work dinner that went late into the night and didn't wake up early this morning, so I had to run after work. Always a bad idea. Totally a crappy run, but a 35 minute run nonetheless. Some knee pain, not too much though.
Took off from the house and about a mile in, looked down and saw that my trusty bike computer was flashing 0.0mph. Pulled over, checked that the sensor was in the right place, spun my wheel, still nothing. So, alas, did my workout without a watch or any idea what speed I was going. I literally counted in my head to make sure my hills were long enough. I think my total bike time was short of an hour though. Oh well, time to shop for a new bike computer?
Tuesday night I had a work dinner that went late into the night and didn't wake up early this morning, so I had to run after work. Always a bad idea. Totally a crappy run, but a 35 minute run nonetheless. Some knee pain, not too much though.
4.21.2009
OK I'll admit it
I have a little injury. I finally have to admit it because it plays into how my swim went on Monday night. It seems I have Runner's Knee which sounds like the LAMEST injury ever and I think IS the lamest injury ever, so I'm only taking it as seriously as it sounds. But it does hurt. A lot. It's been bothering me since before the St. Patty's day race, so 5 or 6 weeks. Out of the blue my knee will feel like it's going to give out. It hurts mostly when I run downhill or go down stairs. It hurts randomly when I'm walking to work (which must be funny for people to see me walking along and then suddenly grimace and almost fall over). And apparently now it hurts when I swim.
For the swim tonight, Kyle and I were doing 2000. Monday's supposed to be my day off, but I wanted to make up a swim I missed last week. Plan was to do 400,300,200,100,100,200,300,400 - increasing speed up to the 100s then decreasing. Within the first 200, my knee started hurting. So I modified and was basically doing a one-leg kick. After doing that for a while, my leg got mad about doing all the work and my foot started cramping. So I stopped kicking altogether. Sadly did not have a pull buoy, so the rest of my body was just dragging in the water. I gave up on all concept of speed and just did everything at one pace: slow.
The pool is supposed to be the one place you CAN get a good workout when you're injured. Oh well. The good news is that it's probably just that my quads aren't strong enough right now or that my hamstrings and calves are too tight (not surprising since I am bad about stretching). I'm going to continue training and hope that it just goes away if I put a little time into stretching and strengthening. We shall see!
For the swim tonight, Kyle and I were doing 2000. Monday's supposed to be my day off, but I wanted to make up a swim I missed last week. Plan was to do 400,300,200,100,100,200,300,400 - increasing speed up to the 100s then decreasing. Within the first 200, my knee started hurting. So I modified and was basically doing a one-leg kick. After doing that for a while, my leg got mad about doing all the work and my foot started cramping. So I stopped kicking altogether. Sadly did not have a pull buoy, so the rest of my body was just dragging in the water. I gave up on all concept of speed and just did everything at one pace: slow.
The pool is supposed to be the one place you CAN get a good workout when you're injured. Oh well. The good news is that it's probably just that my quads aren't strong enough right now or that my hamstrings and calves are too tight (not surprising since I am bad about stretching). I'm going to continue training and hope that it just goes away if I put a little time into stretching and strengthening. We shall see!
4.20.2009
Weekend run and ride
Saturday morning was taken up with househunting, so I had to do my run in the evening. Surprisingly, I felt great on the run and clipped along at a pretty good pace. I was supposed to run 65 minutes, but I was ending my run at the climbing gym and didn't time it quite right. I ended up getting there in around 60 minutes and since it's not a great area I opted to cut it short rather than draw attention to myself running around the neighborhood to kill time on the clock. Met Kyle and climbed around for a few minutes (literally just a few minutes) before the gym closed.
Sunday morning, Kyle and I drove to the North Berkeley BART station with our bikes, left the car, and set out for the Lafayette station. The ride was really divided into two parts-- part 1 was meandering around really steep neighborhoods in Berkeley and El Cerrito to get to the main road for our ride, part 2 was the real ride on San Pablo Dam Road to Bear Creek to Happy Valley. I was supposed to ride 2 hours and 15 minutes, but the ride we planned was only 25 miles so I assumed I'd come up short. Um, actually it took us 2 hours and 8 minutes. How were you riding that ridiculously slow, you ask?!? See below:
That's some gnarly elevation. At one point going up a huge hill, I realized that I couldn't go any faster, but since I was going so slow, I could manage to take out the camera while riding.
I even got a couple videos, pardon the heavy breathing!
Despite that it was hilly and hot, it was a gorgeous and fun ride.
And eventually we made it to BART in Lafayette to catch a ride back to Berkeley.
Sunday morning, Kyle and I drove to the North Berkeley BART station with our bikes, left the car, and set out for the Lafayette station. The ride was really divided into two parts-- part 1 was meandering around really steep neighborhoods in Berkeley and El Cerrito to get to the main road for our ride, part 2 was the real ride on San Pablo Dam Road to Bear Creek to Happy Valley. I was supposed to ride 2 hours and 15 minutes, but the ride we planned was only 25 miles so I assumed I'd come up short. Um, actually it took us 2 hours and 8 minutes. How were you riding that ridiculously slow, you ask?!? See below:
That's some gnarly elevation. At one point going up a huge hill, I realized that I couldn't go any faster, but since I was going so slow, I could manage to take out the camera while riding.
I even got a couple videos, pardon the heavy breathing!
Despite that it was hilly and hot, it was a gorgeous and fun ride.
And eventually we made it to BART in Lafayette to catch a ride back to Berkeley.
4.16.2009
My first brick
Yes, you read that right, I've been training for triathlons for a while now but today I did my first real brick workout. Previously, I've only done short 10-minute runs following a bike ride. Thursday morning workout was supposed to be a 60 minute ride, followed by a 30 minute run but I only had time for 45/25. I think it went pretty well, except that I sweat so much when I ride the trainer (even though I'm outside on the deck) so I was pretty cold when I went out for the run.
1900 swim after work with Kyle. 400w/u 100k 300 50k 2x150 50k 3x100 100k 300 c/d. It pretty much sucked. The pool was PACKED and the majority of the people there didn't seem to know how to lap swim. Circle swimming was a mess, one guy couldn't swim in a straight line and kept cutting into our lane, at one point someone hit me from underneath the lane line (?!?), and another dude got in front of me in a speedo doing a froggy kick on his back, for real. And I was just plain old slow too and couldn't get into a good rhythm.
BUT! All 3 sports in one day! Pretty fun. Taking Friday off to enjoy time with my hubby on his birthday.
1900 swim after work with Kyle. 400w/u 100k 300 50k 2x150 50k 3x100 100k 300 c/d. It pretty much sucked. The pool was PACKED and the majority of the people there didn't seem to know how to lap swim. Circle swimming was a mess, one guy couldn't swim in a straight line and kept cutting into our lane, at one point someone hit me from underneath the lane line (?!?), and another dude got in front of me in a speedo doing a froggy kick on his back, for real. And I was just plain old slow too and couldn't get into a good rhythm.
BUT! All 3 sports in one day! Pretty fun. Taking Friday off to enjoy time with my hubby on his birthday.
CA is getting to the MN girl
Wednesday morning I needed to do a run with some fartleks, so I decided to hit up the neighborhood track. Seemed a bit cold outside so I went out in tights, windpants, a dri-fit short sleeve and a dri-fit long sleeve. And it was really cold out there. My hands were curled up inside my sleeves and I wished I had a stocking cap (some people did).
It was 45 degrees. I couldn't even see my breath and yet I thought it was freezing. I have officially lost all MN toughness. 45 in MN would have called for shorts. Sigh.
Anyway, still chronically late every morning, I did a 36 minute workout instead of 52, but kept the prescribed number of fartleks in: 5 min w/u, 13x(30sec hard, 1:30 easy), 5 min c/d.
It was 45 degrees. I couldn't even see my breath and yet I thought it was freezing. I have officially lost all MN toughness. 45 in MN would have called for shorts. Sigh.
Anyway, still chronically late every morning, I did a 36 minute workout instead of 52, but kept the prescribed number of fartleks in: 5 min w/u, 13x(30sec hard, 1:30 easy), 5 min c/d.
4.15.2009
Time to get down to business
After the Showdown, I took Sunday and Monday off. My calves were super-sore, but nothing else was. Now it's time to really start training for the HIM.
I added my weekly workouts to the sidebar now so hopefully that'll provide more motivation for me when I can see the whole week laid out. They're in the order that I should ideally do them, but in the past I've messed around with the schedule a little so that I avoid having to run at night or swim in the morning.
So in the sprit of getting down to business, Tuesday morning I was lame and woke up late, so I chose the shortest workout from the list, a 35-minute run because I knew that was all I could squeeze in, and actually I only fit in 31 minutes. Not a good start, but I worked out in the evening too. I was planning to ride outside, but it was super windy (as in a-semi-truck-tipped-over-on-a-bridge windy) so I rode on the trainer instead. Did a 60-minute workout instead of 80 minutes, but included all 11 1-minute "hill" intervals as prescribed by my training plan, just cut the w/u and c/d a bit short.
I added my weekly workouts to the sidebar now so hopefully that'll provide more motivation for me when I can see the whole week laid out. They're in the order that I should ideally do them, but in the past I've messed around with the schedule a little so that I avoid having to run at night or swim in the morning.
So in the sprit of getting down to business, Tuesday morning I was lame and woke up late, so I chose the shortest workout from the list, a 35-minute run because I knew that was all I could squeeze in, and actually I only fit in 31 minutes. Not a good start, but I worked out in the evening too. I was planning to ride outside, but it was super windy (as in a-semi-truck-tipped-over-on-a-bridge windy) so I rode on the trainer instead. Did a 60-minute workout instead of 80 minutes, but included all 11 1-minute "hill" intervals as prescribed by my training plan, just cut the w/u and c/d a bit short.
4.13.2009
Race Report: Vineman Showdown
Pre-race:
The Vineman Showdown is an afternoon triathlon, which was a strange adjustment. We woke up in the morning and it was hard to know what exactly to do until leaving for the race. So we took the dogs for a long walk and picked up bagels and coffee then walked home and leisurely packed up our tri stuff. We thought we had everything but decided to run down a list quick before we left and realized Kyle didn’t have his race belt. We couldn’t find it and he had a makeshift sort of one anyway, so we decided to stop at the bike store on the way to the freeway and pick one up. Well, the bike store didn’t have one, so we had to go down the street to REI, and by the time we did that, we were running a bit behind. When we got to the race course, the main parking lot was full so we had to park in one that was about half a mile from the transition area. We pulled out our helmets and repacked (read: stuffed) our bags and rode to the start. I’m not really serious enough about triathlons yet to do much of a warm up, so it was good to be forced to ride before the race.
The race was really well organized and the racks were labeled by your number, so there was no arguing over space on the rack which was good since we were late (and it made it easy to for me to find my stuff during transitions). We set up our areas and pulled on our wetsuits and it was time to head to the start line. I didn’t feel overly rushed but also wouldn’t have had any extra time if something had gone wrong. I did leave the transition area feeling like I had forgotten to do something, but I couldn’t place what it was.
It was a super beautiful day, warm and sunny, so it was hard to believe the water was going to be cold, but it was (not as cold as a month ago though!). I got in and swam around a bit; I don’t think Kyle did, but now I can’t recall. Anyway I swam around and then got out and watched Kyle’s wave start. People started talking about rumors that there were jellyfish, but the bay is like swimming in a lake -- you can’t see more than a foot in front of you -- so I don't think we avoid them even if they were there.
Swim: 400m swim in the North Bay
The swim was a half-moon shape with 3 buoys to keep on your right. Our wave was pretty big – all women 34 and under – so there were probably 100 women. I’m not sure if it had something to do with the immediate arching to the right of the swim course or what, but it was a totally crazy washing machine swim. Usually I’m rumbling around with people for the first maybe 50 yards but for this one, I was fighting people for the majority of the swim. Elbowing, kicking, punching – at one point I’m pretty sure someone was just riding on top of me. I could NOT get a good rhythm or stroke going. The crowd was swimming a bit wide so I found a little space on the inside, but it didn’t last long. I kept sighting the buoys and each time I would see way too many fluorescent orange swim caps in front of me. When I came out I figured I was about 20th.
Swim split: 6:55
Swim rank: 13/47 women 25-29
T1:
I was feeling pretty bummed jogging to the transition area, I was expecting to come out of the water so much better than that, and the swim usually gets me into a good position, but obviously not this time. It cheered me up a bit that I passed a couple people just on the jog into transition though. Then transition went really well, I was pretty quick and there several women sitting down, taking their time, so that was a good sign.
Transition time: unknown
Bike: 9 miles, out and back
The first thing out of the transition area was a super steep hill out of the park. There were numerous warnings in the course description and race reports about making sure your bike was in the easiest gear so that you could make it up. I was totally ready for it. What I wasn’t ready for were other people who were not ready for it. About half way up the hill, the person in front of me swerved and cut me off, and I was forced to clip out so that I wouldn't fall. I had to run up to a semi-flat part as fast as I could and remount, but I definitely lost some time there. I was mostly mad though because I was so prepared not to let that hill get me! Up another steep section and then it was a long downhill out of the park. I was all set to tackle the bike course now that I was out of the park and when I looked down at my bike computer and DANG IT that’s what I forgot when I was setting up my transition area! So no bike computer to help me figure out how fast I was going or how far I was into the ride. Oh well.
Two girls passed me just as we were going out of the park which I was really excited about because I would have some people to chase. One girl kept passing me on flats but I’d pass her on hills, which I’ve decided means she just had a really great bike. The other girl stayed just out of my reach – her name is Emily.
The bike portion was awesome because it was hard. It was all rolling hills and turns and it was really fun. To add to it, it was really windy. The whole course was all about changing gears, up hill, down hill, short flat, up hill, down hill – all you could hear was click click… click click… click click… click click – everyone shifting all the time. One downside of all the shifting and fun ups and downs though was that it was hard to find time to drink water – I usually do my best to drink as much of my water bottle as possible, but there was a lot left after the race:
I was feeling really good about my ride because I hadn’t let any other women pass me since coming out of the park and I was hanging onto Emily. Then about three-quarters of the way through the ride I looked down and noticed there was no chip around my ankle. I was stunned. I nearly stopped biking. There were tears in my eyes (maybe that was the wind). I swore a bunch. I was so angry. I’m not sure why times and places are so important to me, I guess I’m just a numbers person, and the thought of finishing this triathlon and not really knowing how I did really made me angry. It probably took a half a mile for me to get over my anger and rationalize that it probably came off with my wetsuit and I could probably put it back on and if I couldn’t find it I could just try to figure out how I did if I could keep up with Emily and look at her time. I got back to focusing on the ride, but that definitely broke my concentration and speed and spirit for a mile or two.
Coming back into the park was a long uphill and I passed Emily which really surprised me because I had been trying to catch her the whole time. Then we came to the steep hill that we had biked out, but we had to dismount at the top and run down with our bikes. I had read about this, too, so I knew that it would be easier to take my bike shoes off and run barefoot than try to run in my bike shoes (I’m not advanced enough yet to try getting my feet out while riding). I know I definitely would have fallen on my butt if I had tried it with my shoes on because it was hard even in bare feet.
Bike split/rank: unknown (maybe 16-17mph?)
T2: 3 miles, out and back
Emily passed me somewhere on that downhill run-with-bike thing, but I was still feeling good because I saw that I was the first bike back on my rack. My main focus though was finding my chip. Changed shoes, grabbed my wetsuit and shook it and nothing, more swearing, rustled around everything and couldn’t find it, more swearing, and made the decision to go with out it, turned to run out of the transition and there it was on grass! Strapped it back on and ran out.
Transition time: unknown
Run:
Again we had to get out of the park on the run so we were faced with another version of the steep hill. First, it was a couple sets of stairs. I totally nailed them. People were going up them all gingerly one step at a time. Not me, I grabbed the handrail and bounded up those suckers, only to be faced then with another steep hill. I did my best to run up it, but it was steep, really steep. I’ll admit it, I walked. After conquering the stairs, the hill conquered me. I was truly trying as hard as I could to run, but my legs refused. Finally, I made it to the top and ran the long gradual downhill out of the park. I let gravity do the work and cruised down the hill but I was aware that the out and back meant I’d have to run up that long hill at the end.
The run course was nothing special, just an out and back on the main road outside the park. It was just as windy as being on the bike course though. I couldn’t really tell how I was feeling so I decided to tough it out the first half and then kick it up a notch after the turnaround. I could also see Emily in front of me so I wanted to keep her in reach. About a quarter mile before getting to the turn around I saw Kyle on his way back to the park and realized I could potentially catch him. I decided to pick it up a bit but then my head said, “No, don’t go faster, it hurts so much to run after biking.” It was almost an automatic reaction that my head said no, and I think in the last 3 triathlons my head was right, but for some reason this time I was like, “Wait a minute, my legs don’t actually feel that bad, I think I can pick it up!” This was a huge revelation for me that perhaps I’m getting strong enough the bike to run doesn’t kill me as much as it used to. So I picked it up. (And, yes, I talk to myself like that in my head when I run.)
When I got to the turn around the volunteers were all hyped and said I was among the top 10 women. That gave me another little boost. I was still keeping my eye on Emily and picking off men from the first wave in the process. As we were nearing reentering the park, suddenly I started catching Emily. I’m pretty sure though that it was her slowing down, not me speeding up. I passed her just before getting to the long uphill, but now I had to hold her off. I needed some motivation to get up that hill, and there it was in black shorts and a blue shirt – Kyle! I didn’t focus on the hill at all, instead I focused on catching Kyle. I was working my butt off to get to him, breathing really loudly. I really wanted to just yell, “Hey Ky! Wait up!” but I couldn’t get it out. I definitely owe getting up that hill to him. I caught him just as we got to the top, and said something like, “You have a sexy butt,” to get his attention, and I’m pretty sure this other guy thought I was talking to him. I thought there was about 200 left, just a downhill to the finish, so I took off going pretty hard but it turns out it was more like 400 so that was not as much fun as I wanted it to be.
Swim split: 24:02
Swim rank: 8/47 women 25-29
Post-race:
Kyle finished right after me, so we got some water and went right to the food. I was not at all hungry but by the time we got some food and I finished rehydrating I was totally down with eating a burger. Sometimes it’s amazing how not very good food tastes gourmet after working out.
I would definitely do this triathlon again, it was a fun course with some added challenges and it was really well-organized. My times seemed a bit slow, but I'll chalk that up to the tough course, added challenges, and strong winds. We hung around for the results and awards, I was hoping maybe, just maybe, I was in the top 3 in my age group, but I was 6th. Next year!
Total time: 1:09:02
Final rank: 6/47 women 25-29, 17/216 women overall
The Vineman Showdown is an afternoon triathlon, which was a strange adjustment. We woke up in the morning and it was hard to know what exactly to do until leaving for the race. So we took the dogs for a long walk and picked up bagels and coffee then walked home and leisurely packed up our tri stuff. We thought we had everything but decided to run down a list quick before we left and realized Kyle didn’t have his race belt. We couldn’t find it and he had a makeshift sort of one anyway, so we decided to stop at the bike store on the way to the freeway and pick one up. Well, the bike store didn’t have one, so we had to go down the street to REI, and by the time we did that, we were running a bit behind. When we got to the race course, the main parking lot was full so we had to park in one that was about half a mile from the transition area. We pulled out our helmets and repacked (read: stuffed) our bags and rode to the start. I’m not really serious enough about triathlons yet to do much of a warm up, so it was good to be forced to ride before the race.
The race was really well organized and the racks were labeled by your number, so there was no arguing over space on the rack which was good since we were late (and it made it easy to for me to find my stuff during transitions). We set up our areas and pulled on our wetsuits and it was time to head to the start line. I didn’t feel overly rushed but also wouldn’t have had any extra time if something had gone wrong. I did leave the transition area feeling like I had forgotten to do something, but I couldn’t place what it was.
It was a super beautiful day, warm and sunny, so it was hard to believe the water was going to be cold, but it was (not as cold as a month ago though!). I got in and swam around a bit; I don’t think Kyle did, but now I can’t recall. Anyway I swam around and then got out and watched Kyle’s wave start. People started talking about rumors that there were jellyfish, but the bay is like swimming in a lake -- you can’t see more than a foot in front of you -- so I don't think we avoid them even if they were there.
Swim: 400m swim in the North Bay
The swim was a half-moon shape with 3 buoys to keep on your right. Our wave was pretty big – all women 34 and under – so there were probably 100 women. I’m not sure if it had something to do with the immediate arching to the right of the swim course or what, but it was a totally crazy washing machine swim. Usually I’m rumbling around with people for the first maybe 50 yards but for this one, I was fighting people for the majority of the swim. Elbowing, kicking, punching – at one point I’m pretty sure someone was just riding on top of me. I could NOT get a good rhythm or stroke going. The crowd was swimming a bit wide so I found a little space on the inside, but it didn’t last long. I kept sighting the buoys and each time I would see way too many fluorescent orange swim caps in front of me. When I came out I figured I was about 20th.
Swim split: 6:55
Swim rank: 13/47 women 25-29
T1:
I was feeling pretty bummed jogging to the transition area, I was expecting to come out of the water so much better than that, and the swim usually gets me into a good position, but obviously not this time. It cheered me up a bit that I passed a couple people just on the jog into transition though. Then transition went really well, I was pretty quick and there several women sitting down, taking their time, so that was a good sign.
Transition time: unknown
Bike: 9 miles, out and back
The first thing out of the transition area was a super steep hill out of the park. There were numerous warnings in the course description and race reports about making sure your bike was in the easiest gear so that you could make it up. I was totally ready for it. What I wasn’t ready for were other people who were not ready for it. About half way up the hill, the person in front of me swerved and cut me off, and I was forced to clip out so that I wouldn't fall. I had to run up to a semi-flat part as fast as I could and remount, but I definitely lost some time there. I was mostly mad though because I was so prepared not to let that hill get me! Up another steep section and then it was a long downhill out of the park. I was all set to tackle the bike course now that I was out of the park and when I looked down at my bike computer and DANG IT that’s what I forgot when I was setting up my transition area! So no bike computer to help me figure out how fast I was going or how far I was into the ride. Oh well.
Two girls passed me just as we were going out of the park which I was really excited about because I would have some people to chase. One girl kept passing me on flats but I’d pass her on hills, which I’ve decided means she just had a really great bike. The other girl stayed just out of my reach – her name is Emily.
The bike portion was awesome because it was hard. It was all rolling hills and turns and it was really fun. To add to it, it was really windy. The whole course was all about changing gears, up hill, down hill, short flat, up hill, down hill – all you could hear was click click… click click… click click… click click – everyone shifting all the time. One downside of all the shifting and fun ups and downs though was that it was hard to find time to drink water – I usually do my best to drink as much of my water bottle as possible, but there was a lot left after the race:
I was feeling really good about my ride because I hadn’t let any other women pass me since coming out of the park and I was hanging onto Emily. Then about three-quarters of the way through the ride I looked down and noticed there was no chip around my ankle. I was stunned. I nearly stopped biking. There were tears in my eyes (maybe that was the wind). I swore a bunch. I was so angry. I’m not sure why times and places are so important to me, I guess I’m just a numbers person, and the thought of finishing this triathlon and not really knowing how I did really made me angry. It probably took a half a mile for me to get over my anger and rationalize that it probably came off with my wetsuit and I could probably put it back on and if I couldn’t find it I could just try to figure out how I did if I could keep up with Emily and look at her time. I got back to focusing on the ride, but that definitely broke my concentration and speed and spirit for a mile or two.
Coming back into the park was a long uphill and I passed Emily which really surprised me because I had been trying to catch her the whole time. Then we came to the steep hill that we had biked out, but we had to dismount at the top and run down with our bikes. I had read about this, too, so I knew that it would be easier to take my bike shoes off and run barefoot than try to run in my bike shoes (I’m not advanced enough yet to try getting my feet out while riding). I know I definitely would have fallen on my butt if I had tried it with my shoes on because it was hard even in bare feet.
Bike split/rank: unknown (maybe 16-17mph?)
T2: 3 miles, out and back
Emily passed me somewhere on that downhill run-with-bike thing, but I was still feeling good because I saw that I was the first bike back on my rack. My main focus though was finding my chip. Changed shoes, grabbed my wetsuit and shook it and nothing, more swearing, rustled around everything and couldn’t find it, more swearing, and made the decision to go with out it, turned to run out of the transition and there it was on grass! Strapped it back on and ran out.
Transition time: unknown
Run:
Again we had to get out of the park on the run so we were faced with another version of the steep hill. First, it was a couple sets of stairs. I totally nailed them. People were going up them all gingerly one step at a time. Not me, I grabbed the handrail and bounded up those suckers, only to be faced then with another steep hill. I did my best to run up it, but it was steep, really steep. I’ll admit it, I walked. After conquering the stairs, the hill conquered me. I was truly trying as hard as I could to run, but my legs refused. Finally, I made it to the top and ran the long gradual downhill out of the park. I let gravity do the work and cruised down the hill but I was aware that the out and back meant I’d have to run up that long hill at the end.
The run course was nothing special, just an out and back on the main road outside the park. It was just as windy as being on the bike course though. I couldn’t really tell how I was feeling so I decided to tough it out the first half and then kick it up a notch after the turnaround. I could also see Emily in front of me so I wanted to keep her in reach. About a quarter mile before getting to the turn around I saw Kyle on his way back to the park and realized I could potentially catch him. I decided to pick it up a bit but then my head said, “No, don’t go faster, it hurts so much to run after biking.” It was almost an automatic reaction that my head said no, and I think in the last 3 triathlons my head was right, but for some reason this time I was like, “Wait a minute, my legs don’t actually feel that bad, I think I can pick it up!” This was a huge revelation for me that perhaps I’m getting strong enough the bike to run doesn’t kill me as much as it used to. So I picked it up. (And, yes, I talk to myself like that in my head when I run.)
When I got to the turn around the volunteers were all hyped and said I was among the top 10 women. That gave me another little boost. I was still keeping my eye on Emily and picking off men from the first wave in the process. As we were nearing reentering the park, suddenly I started catching Emily. I’m pretty sure though that it was her slowing down, not me speeding up. I passed her just before getting to the long uphill, but now I had to hold her off. I needed some motivation to get up that hill, and there it was in black shorts and a blue shirt – Kyle! I didn’t focus on the hill at all, instead I focused on catching Kyle. I was working my butt off to get to him, breathing really loudly. I really wanted to just yell, “Hey Ky! Wait up!” but I couldn’t get it out. I definitely owe getting up that hill to him. I caught him just as we got to the top, and said something like, “You have a sexy butt,” to get his attention, and I’m pretty sure this other guy thought I was talking to him. I thought there was about 200 left, just a downhill to the finish, so I took off going pretty hard but it turns out it was more like 400 so that was not as much fun as I wanted it to be.
Swim split: 24:02
Swim rank: 8/47 women 25-29
Post-race:
Kyle finished right after me, so we got some water and went right to the food. I was not at all hungry but by the time we got some food and I finished rehydrating I was totally down with eating a burger. Sometimes it’s amazing how not very good food tastes gourmet after working out.
I would definitely do this triathlon again, it was a fun course with some added challenges and it was really well-organized. My times seemed a bit slow, but I'll chalk that up to the tough course, added challenges, and strong winds. We hung around for the results and awards, I was hoping maybe, just maybe, I was in the top 3 in my age group, but I was 6th. Next year!
Total time: 1:09:02
Final rank: 6/47 women 25-29, 17/216 women overall
4.10.2009
Need... more... sleep...
Good swim to stretch out last night, somewhere between 1100-1200. Not really sure how long it was because Kyle and I couldn't be in the same lane and I am not a good counter. First we did an easy 500, Kyle thought I swam 550 by accident though. Then 100 kick. Then another 500. I was pretty sure I did 500 but Kyle thought I did 450, so I swam another 50 just in case. I'm really bad at counting past 4 laps.
Something must be blooming in Cali now because a little while after we got home, after the dogs had been running around in the backyard and were back inside, my eyes started itching. An hour later I was stuffed up and sneezing and ready to tear my eyes out and I ended up tossing and turning in bed until at least 3am when I finally fell asleep. Slept until 7:30 and then late to work. Since I didn't work out this morning, I probably won't end up working out today -- maybe take the dogs for a long walk this evening.
On the bright side, tomorrow is the Vineman Showdown! I'm super excited to race again, though I don't expect much improvement from Stanford. I'm even more excited for Kyle to race again -- yay!
Something must be blooming in Cali now because a little while after we got home, after the dogs had been running around in the backyard and were back inside, my eyes started itching. An hour later I was stuffed up and sneezing and ready to tear my eyes out and I ended up tossing and turning in bed until at least 3am when I finally fell asleep. Slept until 7:30 and then late to work. Since I didn't work out this morning, I probably won't end up working out today -- maybe take the dogs for a long walk this evening.
On the bright side, tomorrow is the Vineman Showdown! I'm super excited to race again, though I don't expect much improvement from Stanford. I'm even more excited for Kyle to race again -- yay!
4.09.2009
Evening ride
17-mile ride after work yesterday. No specific purpose, just trying to get on the bike before Saturday, so some good hills, some fast flats, and some meandering as well. It was fun to ride in the evening, but next time I have to remember to wear yellow lenses, I kept thinking it was getting dark on me, but then kept realizing I had dark sunglasses on.
This morning I was planning on running a few miles but again overslept and could barely drag myself out of bed for work. Hopefully this is just a remnant of exhaustion from the month of March and a reaction to the stress of househunting. In other words, hopefully I'm over it soon!
This morning I was planning on running a few miles but again overslept and could barely drag myself out of bed for work. Hopefully this is just a remnant of exhaustion from the month of March and a reaction to the stress of househunting. In other words, hopefully I'm over it soon!
4.08.2009
Birthday blunder
Planned to swim last night and then meet up with friends for my birthday, but Kyle was feeling a bit under the weather so we skipped the pool and proceeded directly to dinner and drinks.
Went to bed early, slept a lot, and barely squeezed in a 2 mile run this morning before getting to work for an early meeting. Seems like I need a lot of sleep lately.
Went to bed early, slept a lot, and barely squeezed in a 2 mile run this morning before getting to work for an early meeting. Seems like I need a lot of sleep lately.
4.07.2009
A sleepful night
Slept 10.5 hours last night and it felt great. Really needed that, even though it meant I slept right through morning workout time. Planning to hit the pool tonight after work (likely in the rain!).
4.06.2009
A sleepless night
Kyle and I both had a terrible night of sleep last night and I could not get my body up to workout this morning. I was hoping that I'd snap out of it and be able to go for a ride after work but I've been battling a killer headache all day and it's showing no signs of letting up. I think it's going to be a day off today.
4.05.2009
The last multi-day recap
Recapping the beginning of April and then I swear I'm going to start posting daily again!
Wednesday AM: 4.5 mile run, felt great
Wednesday PM: Bouldering
Thursday: rest
Friday: Crappy 2.5 mile run, likely due to 8 pitchers of Dos Equis consumed at happy hour the night before by a table of 6
Saturday: 60 minute run down by the bay
Sunday: 1600 swim in the gorgeous sun with Kyle (550 w/u, 4x50med w/5 sec rest, 450 easy, 4x50 (25fast,25med) w/5 sec rest, 200 c/d) - long easy 450 in the middle was nice, going to start incorporating those more to get the yardage and endurance up
Wednesday AM: 4.5 mile run, felt great
Wednesday PM: Bouldering
Thursday: rest
Friday: Crappy 2.5 mile run, likely due to 8 pitchers of Dos Equis consumed at happy hour the night before by a table of 6
Saturday: 60 minute run down by the bay
Sunday: 1600 swim in the gorgeous sun with Kyle (550 w/u, 4x50med w/5 sec rest, 450 easy, 4x50 (25fast,25med) w/5 sec rest, 200 c/d) - long easy 450 in the middle was nice, going to start incorporating those more to get the yardage and endurance up
4.02.2009
March was madness...
The month really turned out as I expected it to -- I knew that I wouldn't be able to stick to a hardcore training plan because I just had too much going on. My mom and aunt were in town, then Kyle and I were in DC, then I was in Portland, then Tal and Maria were in town. The month flew by. I did manage to stay pretty active so hopefully I haven't regressed but I also know that I didn't make any progress. So though I had hoped that the Stanford Tri in early March would launch me into HIM training, it turns out it will really be the Vineman Showdown in early April that will be the kick off to 14 weeks of HIM training.
In April I really need to get back into posting every day. The power of accountability is not as strong when I am playing catch up on posts -- it's a lot easier to say I missed a workout a few days ago than it is to say I missed a workout today. I also completely dropped the sit up and push up challenges, so I'll start those again on April 12th (after the Showdown). Looking forward to PROGRESS in April!
In April I really need to get back into posting every day. The power of accountability is not as strong when I am playing catch up on posts -- it's a lot easier to say I missed a workout a few days ago than it is to say I missed a workout today. I also completely dropped the sit up and push up challenges, so I'll start those again on April 12th (after the Showdown). Looking forward to PROGRESS in April!
4.01.2009
Finishing off the rest of March
Saturday AM: 55 minute run -- one of those runs where you just kinda tough it out the whole time and never get into a good rhythm and you finish and don't really feel like you've done anything. Meh.
Sunday AM: Our first real "group" ride! Kyle and I met up with Ben and Mical for a 22-mile tough ride around Tilden. Check out the elevation:
Sunday PM: A new bouldering gym just opened not too far from where we live, so we went to the grand opening and climbed around a bit and got a 2-month promotional membership. The gym also has yoga which will be great for nights when Kyle has more endurance for bouldering than I do.
Monday AM: Since Tal was in town, we wanted to hit the track together. We went to our local gravel track and were running a warm-up when the middle-schoolers came out for gym class and we got kicked off. So we drove over to the Cal track, warmed up a little more and then ran 4 400s (88,85,85,88) and quick cool down. Super fun to run with the little sis, though I'm sure she would have like to go a lot faster.
Monday PM: After the track workout, Kyle, Tal, Maria, and I hung out at Strawberry Canyon pool and then Kyle I did a swim workout. We planned to do 1600 but we didn't realize how late it was and our meter was running out so we cut it a bit short -- 1100 METERS swim (500m w/u, 200m mod, 200m mod, 200m - first 100m hard, last 100m c/d). It's amazing how much longer meters seem than yards when you're in the pool, even though the actual difference is pretty minimal.
Tuesday: Rest
Sunday AM: Our first real "group" ride! Kyle and I met up with Ben and Mical for a 22-mile tough ride around Tilden. Check out the elevation:
Sunday PM: A new bouldering gym just opened not too far from where we live, so we went to the grand opening and climbed around a bit and got a 2-month promotional membership. The gym also has yoga which will be great for nights when Kyle has more endurance for bouldering than I do.
Monday AM: Since Tal was in town, we wanted to hit the track together. We went to our local gravel track and were running a warm-up when the middle-schoolers came out for gym class and we got kicked off. So we drove over to the Cal track, warmed up a little more and then ran 4 400s (88,85,85,88) and quick cool down. Super fun to run with the little sis, though I'm sure she would have like to go a lot faster.
Monday PM: After the track workout, Kyle, Tal, Maria, and I hung out at Strawberry Canyon pool and then Kyle I did a swim workout. We planned to do 1600 but we didn't realize how late it was and our meter was running out so we cut it a bit short -- 1100 METERS swim (500m w/u, 200m mod, 200m mod, 200m - first 100m hard, last 100m c/d). It's amazing how much longer meters seem than yards when you're in the pool, even though the actual difference is pretty minimal.
Tuesday: Rest
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