Tried to wake up in the morning yesterday and couldn't.
No spunk in my legs last night after work. Cut the bike workout in half because I was tired and bored and unmotivated.
I think I'm out of the game mentally right now; training alone is starting to get to me.
Tried to wake up again this morning and couldn't.
5.29.2009
5.28.2009
Buying a house is tiring
Started off last week with a 40 minute fartlek run on Tuesday morning. And that’s where it ends until the weekend. Seriously. This week we made another offer on another house. And after 4 months and 4 offers, we are finally in contract on a house. So last week was spent writing an offer, accepting a counter offer, signing piles of loan documents, gathering all sorts of evidence for the loan, and trying to suppress our excitement. So not only was the “house thing” time-intensive, it was also a huge emotional drain on energy. I just couldn’t get up in the morning early enough to workout and the evenings were spent going to the house, working on the paperwork, etc. It was a very lame week, but Kyle keeps telling, “It's OK, we’re buying a house!” and I keep saying, “But I don't think they have an I-bought-a-house-during-training shortcut in the HIM.” So from last Tuesday, my next workout wasn’t until last Saturday, a 40-minute run.
On Sunday, Kyle and I drove up to Sonoma so that I could ride on the HIM course. The middle 15 miles or so we’ve biked before unknowingly. Kyle dropped me about 5 miles from the start and then drove to Healdsburg. At the drop-off:
I biked the 13 miles to Healdsburg and then Kyle joined me for another 25 miles. I’m hoping that this time on the course will be an advantage for me. The first 12 miles that I did alone were pretty rolly. There were a couple good downhills that led into turns with big signs for cars to slow down so I did too but I know for the race that I don’t need to slow down as much as I did. I discovered some fun landmarks to use like these two HUGE white horses that were just chilling and a field of “happy cows” and an old tin shed just before a hill that hurts a bit.
Where Kyle joined me, the course is on a bigger road, the ups and downs are longer and more gradual and I’m very familiar with that stretch. As we were coming up to where I knew from past rides that there was a big hill, we agreed to stop at the top for quick water break since it was tough last time we were there (a few months ago I guess?). But when we got to the cemetery that I thought was the top of the hill it didn’t seem like the hill was nearly hard enough. I actually asked Kyle, “Was that IT? I remembered it being so much bigger!” So I guess riding in the Berkeley Hills is paying off. Around mile 35 of the course (~30 miles into my ride), we turned off back to Healdsburg. Total ride was 38 for me, 25 for Kyle. I’m going to try to get to Sonoma at least once more, because I need to do the infamous Chalk Hill at mile 45.
Monday and Tuesday off. What? Yeah, I know. Back in gear Wednesday though. 38 minute run with 3 3-minute intervals that I did on a hill just to punish myself for sucking so much over the last week.
On Sunday, Kyle and I drove up to Sonoma so that I could ride on the HIM course. The middle 15 miles or so we’ve biked before unknowingly. Kyle dropped me about 5 miles from the start and then drove to Healdsburg. At the drop-off:
I biked the 13 miles to Healdsburg and then Kyle joined me for another 25 miles. I’m hoping that this time on the course will be an advantage for me. The first 12 miles that I did alone were pretty rolly. There were a couple good downhills that led into turns with big signs for cars to slow down so I did too but I know for the race that I don’t need to slow down as much as I did. I discovered some fun landmarks to use like these two HUGE white horses that were just chilling and a field of “happy cows” and an old tin shed just before a hill that hurts a bit.
Where Kyle joined me, the course is on a bigger road, the ups and downs are longer and more gradual and I’m very familiar with that stretch. As we were coming up to where I knew from past rides that there was a big hill, we agreed to stop at the top for quick water break since it was tough last time we were there (a few months ago I guess?). But when we got to the cemetery that I thought was the top of the hill it didn’t seem like the hill was nearly hard enough. I actually asked Kyle, “Was that IT? I remembered it being so much bigger!” So I guess riding in the Berkeley Hills is paying off. Around mile 35 of the course (~30 miles into my ride), we turned off back to Healdsburg. Total ride was 38 for me, 25 for Kyle. I’m going to try to get to Sonoma at least once more, because I need to do the infamous Chalk Hill at mile 45.
Monday and Tuesday off. What? Yeah, I know. Back in gear Wednesday though. 38 minute run with 3 3-minute intervals that I did on a hill just to punish myself for sucking so much over the last week.
5.27.2009
Race Report: Morgan Hill (long) Sprint Triathlon
Pre-race:
I was really nervous for this race. Really nervous. I’m not sure why I was so nervous, I guess the added length was scaring me and I wasn’t sure how I’d come out of the race. Kyle captured it:
Kyle and I stayed a hotel in Gilroy the night before so that we wouldn’t have to wake up at 3:30 to get t o Morgan Hill, which is about an hour and a half drive. So in the morning, we were only a 20-minute drive from the race site.
I should preface my report with my expectations that this race was going to be super well organized because the race web site basically said so. This company does lots of races and so I expected they would have everything down to a science. Not so much.
Got to the race site and there wasn’t actually parking, everyone was just parking along the road. Luckily Kyle brought his bike too so we were able to get my bike all ready and then ride down to the course. The racks were unassigned, which I hate, and unmarked, which I hate more. We asked where packet pick up was and it was on the other side of the site so I decided I better grab some space on the rack. People who get there first always totally spread out their stuff initially, so I had to approach some people, and ask, “Do you think there’s space for one more here?” to which they all give you a pissed off look and then slide over a little bit. (And it’s not like I was late, I bet only half the racers were there at that point.)
Headed over to get in line to pick up my packet and the line was pretty long. Stood in it for a few minutes with Kyle and it was literally not moving. So I left Kyle with my ID and USAT card and went back to the transition area to set up. Came back 10 minutes later and Kyle had barely moved (and the line was now twice as long). I felt bad for people who didn’t have someone with them to hold their place in line while they set up. I think they actually delayed the start of the race a bit because of the packet pick up hold up. When I finally made it up there, it was just totally disorganized. It should have been a quick assembly line, but instead it was two people shouting orders to other people who were gathering everything, it was a mess.
Finally back to the transition area to finish setting up and I realize there’s no number for my bike or helmet so I start looking around and half the bikes have numbers and half don’t. I asked a girl near me what the deal was and she’s like, “Yeah, they don’t have bike numbers for a bunch of people so if you didn’t get one then you’re supposed to wear your race belt with your running number on the bike ride. If you don’t and they see you, they’ll pull you over to check your chip in the middle of the bike race.” My response, “There’s absolutely no way I’ll remember my race belt in T1.”
On to getting body marked – approached where it looked like it was happening, and turned out there was just a box of skinny sharpies and people were just marking each other. Nice. So some people ended up not getting marked at all and lots of people didn’t have their age on their leg which sucks when you’re trying to figure out who to beat. After all that, there wasn’t much time before the start so just headed down to the water.
Swim: 3/4 mile in the UVAS Reservoir
In was an in-water start which I’m not a huge fan of but it was probably good since the reservoir bottom was pretty mucky. The water wasn’t too cold – or at least it was cold compared to the last two swims in the Bay. It was pretty gross though, I think I prefer chlorine or salt water to water that tastes like dirt. I started in the middle of the pack and then cut a bit to the outside so that I had room to swim. I thought there was a decent sized pack that got out way in front of me and by 300-400 meters in, I was swimming all alone.
The swim went around a peninsula which was nice because there were really three straight sections and just turns to make so it was easier to get into a real swim stroke. The second straight away was the longest and when I got around the corner, I could see quite a few swimmers way further out than they needed to be. I was still swimming alone but I just kept as straight of a line toward the buoy as I could and was stunned that these other swimmers were so far off course. I think they must have swam at least 30 yards more than me.
When I came around the last straightaway there was another girl with me who was clearly a great swimmer. We were swimming the same speed but I think she was taking half as many strokes as me. She definitely gave me motivation to really go at the end and we came out of the water together. Overall, I really enjoyed the swim. It felt as long as I thought it would, but in a good way instead of a bad way. The length and the lack of waves gave me a chance to actually swim a solid stroke like in the pool instead of just fighting to make forward motion and not drown.
Swim split: 22:40
Swim rank: 4/16 women 25-29
T1:
The exit from the water was up a concrete boat launch that had traction ridges and that really hurt. I heard Kyle ringing the cowbell on my way up the ramp, and started getting my wetsuit off while I was running. I didn’t struggle with it at all which was great. Also great were the purple socks on the end of my rack to identify it. Best news, I had the fastest transition of my age group, yay!
Transition time: 1:23
Bike: 16 mile rolly loop
Is there any remedy for slippery shorts on the bike seat? That always bugs me until my shorts dry. The ride was a great loop in the countryside. It was full of good rolling hills and when I remembered to look around a bit, it was beautiful. My bike computer thankfully started working about a half mile in after I swore at it a bunch. For the first few miles I cruised around 20-21 mph, then slowed to around 18. I drank lots of Gatorade and water because I knew I needed to prepare for a long hot run. Oh, have I not mentioned that yet? The forecast for the day was to hit 100 by midday. I think it was already 80 or so when we started at 7:15. So I was conscious of hydrating. A few minutes into the ride I realized I didn’t have my race belt, but I figured I still had body markings so hopefully they wouldn’t pull me over (and they didn’t).
At the beginning of the ride I was pretty much alone then about 5 miles in the super fast people from the waves after me start passing me, some really awesome women from the 35-39 wave and then men from a later wave too. Lots of people with the aero wheels that make the WHOOT WHOOT sound. I decided to cruise along at a comfortable pace until after the “steep hill a half mile long at mile 11” that was noted on the course description. Here and there I’d try to keep up with the fast people passing me, but I was mostly concerned with not letting girls in my age group pass me. And it’s always fun to pass slower guys from the waves in front of me. There were some fun downhills, but they usually ended at turns so you’d have to slow down at the bottom. They had volunteers before the turns trying to get us to slow down, but they’d just yell and you fly by them so you can’t catch what they’re saying, so I just started to assume if I saw volunteers, there was probably a sharp turn coming.
When I was approaching the hill at mile 11, I had just been passed by a pack of 6 or 7 fast people. They hit the hill and it killed them and suddenly I was keeping up with them, it was like the hill was the great equalizer. The best part (for me, not the guy) was this guy on a totally stripped down aero bike who was barely making forward motion, his poor wheels were just going whhhoot….whhhoot….. whhhhhoot. About halfway up I passed him YEAH! I don’t care if it was because he probably only had one huge gear, I still passed a dude with an aero bike and that’s awesome. I also don’t care that once we hit the top of the hill, he and his buddies were gone in the blink of an eye.
The hill was super tough, but I told myself to bike hard once it was over and use up all my biking energy. It was right around mile 14 when two things happened: 1. My legs were done and 2. It became hot outside. Most of the ride the heat hadn’t really kicked in, but around mile 14 was probably when it went over 90 degrees and made an impact. I was trying to go, but couldn’t get over 17-18 mph. I just pushed it out as long as I could. I was glad though that I experienced really burning out on the bike because in the past I hadn’t been sure that I was giving it all I could. When I hit the transition, I was just really excited to run and finish.
Bike split: 53:52 (17.8mph)
Bike rank: 10/16 women 25-29
T2:
Pulled into the transition area, ran for the rack with the purple socks, grabbed one quick last drink of water before running out. Second fastest transition time in my wave, holla.
Transition time: 1:13
Run: 5 miles out and back
Run was an out and back along the road. As I mentioned it was now getting hot, really hot. Luckily, the one thing these race organizers did right was have awesome aid stations every mile. I had a Gu just before Mile 1 and took water to drink or pour down my back at each station. My plan was to trudge out getting to the turn around and then focus on picking it up for the last 2.5. The first mile felt like hell of course, I was pretty sure I was running about 20 minute miles, but I was catching some people so it wasn’t that bad. I came through the first mile in 8:45, which I thought was kinda slow, but then I hit mile two in 6:59 - clearly the mile markers were off, so I didn’t give much attention to my splits after that. Since it was out and back, I could start counting women and I figured I was in the top 20 or so of my wave. The run had a few little hills but was mostly flat.
When I made the turnaround I focused on trying to reel people in and got quite a few guys from the back of the waves before me. The best part about the run was that Kyle was on his bike, so he’d pull up, talk to me for a minute and then bike ahead about a mile to take pictures. So I had that to look forward to, and of course I tried to run faster when he was taking pictures, and I even smiled.
The run actually went by a lot faster than I thought it would. Just before the finish, you had to turn and run over this piece of plywood over a ditch and then it was less than 50m to the finish line, but the turn and narrow plywood meant you had to slow down, which was actually kind of great because when I turned the corner I had to slow down a little and that gave me just enough rest to crank out a good sprint to the finish.
Run split: 39:29 (7:54 pace)
Run rank: 5/16 women 25-29
Post-race:
The web site for the race made a big deal about the post race party saying that there would be all sorts of food but there were only bagels and then a little later a bunch of pizzas delivered. Yeah, after a triathlon when it’s nearing 100 degrees, I’m totally craving pizza. Not. The Web site said "free catered food which includes chicken and fresh pasta salad, fresh fruit, hot bagels with shmear, fresh spring water, recovery drinks, beer and more." Humph. There was supposed to be a good raffle, but it wasn’t going to start for at least another hour and it was so hot out, we decided to skip it.
Overall I was happy with my race. I figured it would take me about 2 hours and it did. Now when I do my next race, an Olympic distance, I won’t be so nervous and can try to go a little harder. The HIM is getting closer and closer…
Total time: 1:58:40
Final rank: 4th out of 16 women 25-29, 17th out of women 34 and under, 57th woman overall - yeah, you read that right, women 35+ kicked butt.
I was really nervous for this race. Really nervous. I’m not sure why I was so nervous, I guess the added length was scaring me and I wasn’t sure how I’d come out of the race. Kyle captured it:
Kyle and I stayed a hotel in Gilroy the night before so that we wouldn’t have to wake up at 3:30 to get t o Morgan Hill, which is about an hour and a half drive. So in the morning, we were only a 20-minute drive from the race site.
I should preface my report with my expectations that this race was going to be super well organized because the race web site basically said so. This company does lots of races and so I expected they would have everything down to a science. Not so much.
Got to the race site and there wasn’t actually parking, everyone was just parking along the road. Luckily Kyle brought his bike too so we were able to get my bike all ready and then ride down to the course. The racks were unassigned, which I hate, and unmarked, which I hate more. We asked where packet pick up was and it was on the other side of the site so I decided I better grab some space on the rack. People who get there first always totally spread out their stuff initially, so I had to approach some people, and ask, “Do you think there’s space for one more here?” to which they all give you a pissed off look and then slide over a little bit. (And it’s not like I was late, I bet only half the racers were there at that point.)
Headed over to get in line to pick up my packet and the line was pretty long. Stood in it for a few minutes with Kyle and it was literally not moving. So I left Kyle with my ID and USAT card and went back to the transition area to set up. Came back 10 minutes later and Kyle had barely moved (and the line was now twice as long). I felt bad for people who didn’t have someone with them to hold their place in line while they set up. I think they actually delayed the start of the race a bit because of the packet pick up hold up. When I finally made it up there, it was just totally disorganized. It should have been a quick assembly line, but instead it was two people shouting orders to other people who were gathering everything, it was a mess.
Finally back to the transition area to finish setting up and I realize there’s no number for my bike or helmet so I start looking around and half the bikes have numbers and half don’t. I asked a girl near me what the deal was and she’s like, “Yeah, they don’t have bike numbers for a bunch of people so if you didn’t get one then you’re supposed to wear your race belt with your running number on the bike ride. If you don’t and they see you, they’ll pull you over to check your chip in the middle of the bike race.” My response, “There’s absolutely no way I’ll remember my race belt in T1.”
On to getting body marked – approached where it looked like it was happening, and turned out there was just a box of skinny sharpies and people were just marking each other. Nice. So some people ended up not getting marked at all and lots of people didn’t have their age on their leg which sucks when you’re trying to figure out who to beat. After all that, there wasn’t much time before the start so just headed down to the water.
Swim: 3/4 mile in the UVAS Reservoir
In was an in-water start which I’m not a huge fan of but it was probably good since the reservoir bottom was pretty mucky. The water wasn’t too cold – or at least it was cold compared to the last two swims in the Bay. It was pretty gross though, I think I prefer chlorine or salt water to water that tastes like dirt. I started in the middle of the pack and then cut a bit to the outside so that I had room to swim. I thought there was a decent sized pack that got out way in front of me and by 300-400 meters in, I was swimming all alone.
The swim went around a peninsula which was nice because there were really three straight sections and just turns to make so it was easier to get into a real swim stroke. The second straight away was the longest and when I got around the corner, I could see quite a few swimmers way further out than they needed to be. I was still swimming alone but I just kept as straight of a line toward the buoy as I could and was stunned that these other swimmers were so far off course. I think they must have swam at least 30 yards more than me.
When I came around the last straightaway there was another girl with me who was clearly a great swimmer. We were swimming the same speed but I think she was taking half as many strokes as me. She definitely gave me motivation to really go at the end and we came out of the water together. Overall, I really enjoyed the swim. It felt as long as I thought it would, but in a good way instead of a bad way. The length and the lack of waves gave me a chance to actually swim a solid stroke like in the pool instead of just fighting to make forward motion and not drown.
Swim split: 22:40
Swim rank: 4/16 women 25-29
T1:
The exit from the water was up a concrete boat launch that had traction ridges and that really hurt. I heard Kyle ringing the cowbell on my way up the ramp, and started getting my wetsuit off while I was running. I didn’t struggle with it at all which was great. Also great were the purple socks on the end of my rack to identify it. Best news, I had the fastest transition of my age group, yay!
Transition time: 1:23
Bike: 16 mile rolly loop
Is there any remedy for slippery shorts on the bike seat? That always bugs me until my shorts dry. The ride was a great loop in the countryside. It was full of good rolling hills and when I remembered to look around a bit, it was beautiful. My bike computer thankfully started working about a half mile in after I swore at it a bunch. For the first few miles I cruised around 20-21 mph, then slowed to around 18. I drank lots of Gatorade and water because I knew I needed to prepare for a long hot run. Oh, have I not mentioned that yet? The forecast for the day was to hit 100 by midday. I think it was already 80 or so when we started at 7:15. So I was conscious of hydrating. A few minutes into the ride I realized I didn’t have my race belt, but I figured I still had body markings so hopefully they wouldn’t pull me over (and they didn’t).
At the beginning of the ride I was pretty much alone then about 5 miles in the super fast people from the waves after me start passing me, some really awesome women from the 35-39 wave and then men from a later wave too. Lots of people with the aero wheels that make the WHOOT WHOOT sound. I decided to cruise along at a comfortable pace until after the “steep hill a half mile long at mile 11” that was noted on the course description. Here and there I’d try to keep up with the fast people passing me, but I was mostly concerned with not letting girls in my age group pass me. And it’s always fun to pass slower guys from the waves in front of me. There were some fun downhills, but they usually ended at turns so you’d have to slow down at the bottom. They had volunteers before the turns trying to get us to slow down, but they’d just yell and you fly by them so you can’t catch what they’re saying, so I just started to assume if I saw volunteers, there was probably a sharp turn coming.
When I was approaching the hill at mile 11, I had just been passed by a pack of 6 or 7 fast people. They hit the hill and it killed them and suddenly I was keeping up with them, it was like the hill was the great equalizer. The best part (for me, not the guy) was this guy on a totally stripped down aero bike who was barely making forward motion, his poor wheels were just going whhhoot….whhhoot….. whhhhhoot. About halfway up I passed him YEAH! I don’t care if it was because he probably only had one huge gear, I still passed a dude with an aero bike and that’s awesome. I also don’t care that once we hit the top of the hill, he and his buddies were gone in the blink of an eye.
The hill was super tough, but I told myself to bike hard once it was over and use up all my biking energy. It was right around mile 14 when two things happened: 1. My legs were done and 2. It became hot outside. Most of the ride the heat hadn’t really kicked in, but around mile 14 was probably when it went over 90 degrees and made an impact. I was trying to go, but couldn’t get over 17-18 mph. I just pushed it out as long as I could. I was glad though that I experienced really burning out on the bike because in the past I hadn’t been sure that I was giving it all I could. When I hit the transition, I was just really excited to run and finish.
Bike split: 53:52 (17.8mph)
Bike rank: 10/16 women 25-29
T2:
Pulled into the transition area, ran for the rack with the purple socks, grabbed one quick last drink of water before running out. Second fastest transition time in my wave, holla.
Transition time: 1:13
Run: 5 miles out and back
Run was an out and back along the road. As I mentioned it was now getting hot, really hot. Luckily, the one thing these race organizers did right was have awesome aid stations every mile. I had a Gu just before Mile 1 and took water to drink or pour down my back at each station. My plan was to trudge out getting to the turn around and then focus on picking it up for the last 2.5. The first mile felt like hell of course, I was pretty sure I was running about 20 minute miles, but I was catching some people so it wasn’t that bad. I came through the first mile in 8:45, which I thought was kinda slow, but then I hit mile two in 6:59 - clearly the mile markers were off, so I didn’t give much attention to my splits after that. Since it was out and back, I could start counting women and I figured I was in the top 20 or so of my wave. The run had a few little hills but was mostly flat.
When I made the turnaround I focused on trying to reel people in and got quite a few guys from the back of the waves before me. The best part about the run was that Kyle was on his bike, so he’d pull up, talk to me for a minute and then bike ahead about a mile to take pictures. So I had that to look forward to, and of course I tried to run faster when he was taking pictures, and I even smiled.
The run actually went by a lot faster than I thought it would. Just before the finish, you had to turn and run over this piece of plywood over a ditch and then it was less than 50m to the finish line, but the turn and narrow plywood meant you had to slow down, which was actually kind of great because when I turned the corner I had to slow down a little and that gave me just enough rest to crank out a good sprint to the finish.
Run split: 39:29 (7:54 pace)
Run rank: 5/16 women 25-29
Post-race:
The web site for the race made a big deal about the post race party saying that there would be all sorts of food but there were only bagels and then a little later a bunch of pizzas delivered. Yeah, after a triathlon when it’s nearing 100 degrees, I’m totally craving pizza. Not. The Web site said "free catered food which includes chicken and fresh pasta salad, fresh fruit, hot bagels with shmear, fresh spring water, recovery drinks, beer and more." Humph. There was supposed to be a good raffle, but it wasn’t going to start for at least another hour and it was so hot out, we decided to skip it.
Overall I was happy with my race. I figured it would take me about 2 hours and it did. Now when I do my next race, an Olympic distance, I won’t be so nervous and can try to go a little harder. The HIM is getting closer and closer…
Total time: 1:58:40
Final rank: 4th out of 16 women 25-29, 17th out of women 34 and under, 57th woman overall - yeah, you read that right, women 35+ kicked butt.
5.25.2009
(5.16.09) The rest of the week...
Thursday Kyle and I swam. I don't remember the exact workout but it was 1900, and there were some 100s and some fast 75s in there I think.
Morning run on Friday. Only had time to get 30 minutes in and 6 x30 seconds fartleks and wasn't feeling too great about the run. There’s a guy that I frequently run into on the trail and he’s usually pretty chipper, and today he was giving everyone high-5s. That cheered me up a little.
Saturday, Kyle and I hit up the REI gear sale, which is the greatest event each month. You have to get to REI at 6am and get in line to get a ticket, then you come back at a pre-assigned time to get access to the used gear sale room. Kyle and I are getting pretty good at getting in the first group with access. While we were waiting in line, I did a short jog to pick up breakfast for us. We got some good deals at the sale including two pairs of sporty sunglasses for me and a Timex Heart Rate Monitor for half price that someone returned because they "didn't like the features." Fun stuff.
Morning run on Friday. Only had time to get 30 minutes in and 6 x30 seconds fartleks and wasn't feeling too great about the run. There’s a guy that I frequently run into on the trail and he’s usually pretty chipper, and today he was giving everyone high-5s. That cheered me up a little.
Saturday, Kyle and I hit up the REI gear sale, which is the greatest event each month. You have to get to REI at 6am and get in line to get a ticket, then you come back at a pre-assigned time to get access to the used gear sale room. Kyle and I are getting pretty good at getting in the first group with access. While we were waiting in line, I did a short jog to pick up breakfast for us. We got some good deals at the sale including two pairs of sporty sunglasses for me and a Timex Heart Rate Monitor for half price that someone returned because they "didn't like the features." Fun stuff.
5.13.2009
Blech...
Took Monday off.
Tuesday I ran after work in SF because we were meeting friends to go to the Giants game. 45 minute run. Totally sucked. Only had time to run in the area around my office, which is very urban and where it's not urban, it's touristy. Ran along the water, got annoyed by tourons, and every time I had to stop for a light and then start again, my knee killed.
Wednesday morning bike ride. I'm doing such a poor job keeping up with my blogging lately that I don't remember the ride other than that I noted "blech."
Tuesday I ran after work in SF because we were meeting friends to go to the Giants game. 45 minute run. Totally sucked. Only had time to run in the area around my office, which is very urban and where it's not urban, it's touristy. Ran along the water, got annoyed by tourons, and every time I had to stop for a light and then start again, my knee killed.
Wednesday morning bike ride. I'm doing such a poor job keeping up with my blogging lately that I don't remember the ride other than that I noted "blech."
5.11.2009
Idiot on Grizzly Peak (me)
I had the day off work on Friday, so though I had it off to run a bunch of errands, I was able to do a ride in the middle of a sunny day which was great. I decided to attack Grizzly Peak on my own. Grizzly had a lot of mystique when we first moved to Berkeley, as in, “One day we’ll be good enough to do Grizzly Peak… oooh… aahhh.” But now we’ve done it a couple of times and it’s not actually bad at all. I hadn’t done it in a while though and never alone and I forgot that the hard part is actually getting up Spruce to Grizzly Peak. Toughed that out and then was working on catching some recreational bikers way ahead of me when another biker came up next to me. I thought he was just going to say hi and move on, but it turned out he wanted bike together (evident as he continued onversation). That was fine with me to have some company and he decided he’d bike a little further than he planned to show me the best way down Grizzly.
That brings me to why I don’t do Grizzly all the time – I haven’t found a way down that doesn’t scare the crap out of me. I’m a real sissy on steep downhills. I love a good downhill on a wide unbumpy road that you can really zoom down, I HATE downhills that I have to use my brakes the whole time in order to not end up going 60mph at which speed if I hit one crack wrong I’d fly off my bike. So there’s a good downhill when you’ve reached the top of Grizzly. I knew this guy would cruise ahead of me, but I was having more trouble controlling my breaks than usual, which seemed weird. I thought maybe I’m becoming even more of a sissy than before! Anyway, he waited for me at the bottom, we did some more climbing and then it was time for the real descent. It was steep and it was hairpin turns and I could NOT get my brakes to do what I wanted them to. I was coming around corners and they were not responding and I was sure that I was going to slide out. This poor guy probably waited 10 minutes for me at the bottom thinking I had a flat or something because it took me so long to get down the hill and I was petrified the entire time.
When I got back to Berkeley, I had a little time to kill before picking Kyle up so I rode over to the bike shop to see if they could tell me what was up with my brakes. I told the guy, “I think my brakes are wearing out,” and he looks at my bike and is like, “Well, you know you have to have this down right?” Dammit. The little tab you put down after you put your front wheel on. That entire ride I didn’t have my front brakes fully engaged, which, yes, I’ve done by accident before but usually realize it a mile down the road. I have no idea why I didn’t think of that when I was having trouble braking. I was humiliated. And I have no idea how I made it down those hills alive.
Saturday, I did long run to the dog park and Kyle picked me up. Later in the day, I finally got to the pool. Swam 200 warm up, 1500 straight, 200 cool down.
Sunday, brick workout. My ride went a bit too long - 95 minutes instead of 75 minutes, so I had to cut my run short to 20 minutes so that I could make it to an appointment. Good workout though.
That brings me to why I don’t do Grizzly all the time – I haven’t found a way down that doesn’t scare the crap out of me. I’m a real sissy on steep downhills. I love a good downhill on a wide unbumpy road that you can really zoom down, I HATE downhills that I have to use my brakes the whole time in order to not end up going 60mph at which speed if I hit one crack wrong I’d fly off my bike. So there’s a good downhill when you’ve reached the top of Grizzly. I knew this guy would cruise ahead of me, but I was having more trouble controlling my breaks than usual, which seemed weird. I thought maybe I’m becoming even more of a sissy than before! Anyway, he waited for me at the bottom, we did some more climbing and then it was time for the real descent. It was steep and it was hairpin turns and I could NOT get my brakes to do what I wanted them to. I was coming around corners and they were not responding and I was sure that I was going to slide out. This poor guy probably waited 10 minutes for me at the bottom thinking I had a flat or something because it took me so long to get down the hill and I was petrified the entire time.
When I got back to Berkeley, I had a little time to kill before picking Kyle up so I rode over to the bike shop to see if they could tell me what was up with my brakes. I told the guy, “I think my brakes are wearing out,” and he looks at my bike and is like, “Well, you know you have to have this down right?” Dammit. The little tab you put down after you put your front wheel on. That entire ride I didn’t have my front brakes fully engaged, which, yes, I’ve done by accident before but usually realize it a mile down the road. I have no idea why I didn’t think of that when I was having trouble braking. I was humiliated. And I have no idea how I made it down those hills alive.
Saturday, I did long run to the dog park and Kyle picked me up. Later in the day, I finally got to the pool. Swam 200 warm up, 1500 straight, 200 cool down.
Sunday, brick workout. My ride went a bit too long - 95 minutes instead of 75 minutes, so I had to cut my run short to 20 minutes so that I could make it to an appointment. Good workout though.
5.07.2009
There's a pool calling my name...
...but I can't seem to get to it! I've been doing a lot of work in the evenings and just haven't been able to make it to the pool in the evening.
Wednesday morning I did intervals down the Bay. My bike computer has decided that it will work when it feels like it. Luckily it decided to start working sometime during my warm up and kept working for the intervals, which was good because then I was able to monitor how fast I was going and really push. Most entertaining par of the workout was when a guy passed me who had a done a couple too many rides in his tights and you could see hi butt crack right through them. I would have informed him that he needed to retire that outfit, but he was gone too fast.
This morning I just squeezed in a quick run, so I'll have to tack some time onto my run this weekend to make up for it.
Wednesday morning I did intervals down the Bay. My bike computer has decided that it will work when it feels like it. Luckily it decided to start working sometime during my warm up and kept working for the intervals, which was good because then I was able to monitor how fast I was going and really push. Most entertaining par of the workout was when a guy passed me who had a done a couple too many rides in his tights and you could see hi butt crack right through them. I would have informed him that he needed to retire that outfit, but he was gone too fast.
This morning I just squeezed in a quick run, so I'll have to tack some time onto my run this weekend to make up for it.
5.05.2009
April showers bring May showers
Apparently.
Yesterday was a day off.
Last night, I planned ahead (shocker!) to run outside if it wasn't raining in the morning and at the gym if it was. It rained all night but was just foggy in the morning, so I set off for my outside run. Turned out it was misting and a little bit of mist can leave you soaked if you're out in it long enough.
Nevertheless, had a fun fartlek run and my knee seems to be getting better.
Yesterday was a day off.
Last night, I planned ahead (shocker!) to run outside if it wasn't raining in the morning and at the gym if it was. It rained all night but was just foggy in the morning, so I set off for my outside run. Turned out it was misting and a little bit of mist can leave you soaked if you're out in it long enough.
Nevertheless, had a fun fartlek run and my knee seems to be getting better.
April?
What? April happened? I barely remember the beginning of the month, it seems so long ago, but at the same time it flew by (I guess that means I'm having fun?). I don't really have a recap... the Showdown was fun, I'm getting better at training, and I'm pumped about the summer. That's it!
And already, May is nearly half over...
And already, May is nearly half over...
5.04.2009
Sorry, please play again.
Didn't hit 9 workouts. Only 7. BUT they were all great quality just-as-prescribed workouts, so I'm proud of that. The weekend got pretty jammed up with looking at houses so I only ended up doing one workout a day instead of 2 which would have put me at my goal. There's always next week to try for 9 again!
Friday morning I ran 70 minutes, from North Berkeley to North Oakland and back. My knee didn't hurt on the run (I'm staying away from downhills) but over the course of the day it got pretty sore.
Saturday morning I squeezed in a 35 minute run before helping out at Laura's track meet. My knee was really sore, but sore is better than sharp pain.
On Sunday, I had a solid plan for a long ride, but the weather got me. It was drizzly/rainy and I didn't feel comfortable hitting the road alone in that kind of weather. Instead, I did 90 minutes on the trainer... that's a long time on the trainer.
Also, officially registered for the Morgan Hill Sprint Triathlon in 2 weeks. I'm excited about this one because it's longer than a sprint (and that's all I've ever done) but not quite as long as an Olympic: 3/4 mile swim, 16 mile bike, 5 mile run. And apparently there's a good post-race party.
Friday morning I ran 70 minutes, from North Berkeley to North Oakland and back. My knee didn't hurt on the run (I'm staying away from downhills) but over the course of the day it got pretty sore.
Saturday morning I squeezed in a 35 minute run before helping out at Laura's track meet. My knee was really sore, but sore is better than sharp pain.
On Sunday, I had a solid plan for a long ride, but the weather got me. It was drizzly/rainy and I didn't feel comfortable hitting the road alone in that kind of weather. Instead, I did 90 minutes on the trainer... that's a long time on the trainer.
Also, officially registered for the Morgan Hill Sprint Triathlon in 2 weeks. I'm excited about this one because it's longer than a sprint (and that's all I've ever done) but not quite as long as an Olympic: 3/4 mile swim, 16 mile bike, 5 mile run. And apparently there's a good post-race party.
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