About a month left until my half IM!
I've been feeling good about my training lately, but also wishing I was getting in more time on the bike.
It was very inspirational to watch Tesia do the Ironman, and I've gotten great tips on nutrition. Doing the whole bike race route last weekend was a great workout and I learned if it's going to be that hot I need to drink more, and eat more regardless.
One of my college friends/post-college Brooklyn roomies just invited me to do the Texas IM with her next May but to be perfectly honest I currently have no urge to do the full IM just as I've never wanted to do a marathon. So much training, so much time. Plus, can't imagine myself in the 2.4 mile swim yet.
Last Friday I did my second 1.2 mile open water swim race of the summer, and I was excited to drop 8 minutes off my time. I'm still super slow but this means progress. June 11 time = 1:07 and July 9 time = 58 minutes!
This weekend has in store a Friday long run (my day off), and a race simulation Saturday consisting of Fat Salmon 1.2 mile open water swim, followed by 30-40 miles on the bike then whatever 30 minute-ish run I feel like. Maybe more run, maybe less.
My husband has his full body scan for cancer residuals tomorrow (he had thyroid cancer 2 years ago) so I guess it's a good thing I'm getting lots of chances to work off the stress of waiting for those test results...
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Putting on my game face
The last couple of weeks, I've been feeling tired. Tired of training, tired of talking about and thinking about Ironman. I've heard myself say "I'm really looking forward to being done with Ironman," to more than one person. I say that I can't wait to have more time, less structured training and not feel obligated to spend the entire day on my bike, even if it is raining. These things are true, but I'm already starting to feel nostalgic for Ironman training. I have loved the journey (ahem, sorry Muggy!). Slowly I've gotten used to packing my assortment of workout clothes and snacks each night, waking up at 5 (6:30 feels luxurious), filling bottles of Gatorade and Perpetuum the night before a big ride, taping Gus to my bike frame. I look forward to the different post work-out sensations: the scent of chlorine on Mondays and Wednesdays, the tight calves after hard runs, the insatiable hunger that follows a six hour bike ride. I love pushing myself to my perceived limit, only to realize I can go further and faster.
After the hardest training weekend of my life, I've started my taper (woohoo!) and am trying to prepare mentally for the big day. This article provided a bit of perspective. I'm trying to think of the race as a celebration, rather than a dreaded test. Muggy, who was that teacher who called exams a "celebration of knowledge?"
After the hardest training weekend of my life, I've started my taper (woohoo!) and am trying to prepare mentally for the big day. This article provided a bit of perspective. I'm trying to think of the race as a celebration, rather than a dreaded test. Muggy, who was that teacher who called exams a "celebration of knowledge?"
Sunday, May 30, 2010
73 rounds up to 112, right?
I've also been meaning to post for weeks now. I thought about posting about my 100 mile Tour de Cure ride. It was the coldest, rainiest most miserable ride of my life until yesterday, when I rode the IM Coeur d'Alene course. I was planning to ride two loops, to complete the full 112 miles, but my friends bailed after the first one because we were all soaking wet and chilled to the bone. I went out for a couple of shorter loops totaling 73 miles for the day and headed out for an 8 mile run. My feet thawed out after 15 minutes of running and I felt pretty good. I also learned that I LOVE sports beans. They're so salty and sweet and delicious.
Today, I ran another 18 miles, aiming to run an 8 minute pace, but my right hip flexor was screaming at me from mile 8 on and my pace slowly increased to about 8:40 by the end. Other than my legs hurting, I felt pretty good, but I could have used another Gu or two. I had a mint chocolate gu (yum!!) at mile 8 and pineapple gu (not so yum) around 11. I took a nice 2 hour nap after the run, but my legs are still tight and achy.
Tomorrow, I'm going to do another ride and then I'm heading back to Seattle where I will be signing a mountain of paperwork to become a homeowner with my brother!
I'm looking forward to my taper (which I starts next week, I guess) and to seeing Muggy in Portland or Seattle soon!
Today, I ran another 18 miles, aiming to run an 8 minute pace, but my right hip flexor was screaming at me from mile 8 on and my pace slowly increased to about 8:40 by the end. Other than my legs hurting, I felt pretty good, but I could have used another Gu or two. I had a mint chocolate gu (yum!!) at mile 8 and pineapple gu (not so yum) around 11. I took a nice 2 hour nap after the run, but my legs are still tight and achy.
Tomorrow, I'm going to do another ride and then I'm heading back to Seattle where I will be signing a mountain of paperwork to become a homeowner with my brother!
I'm looking forward to my taper (which I starts next week, I guess) and to seeing Muggy in Portland or Seattle soon!
Falling Off the Wagon
I've been meaning to write a post for many weeks and have even come up with various things to write about in said post. At the moment, however, my mind is a blank and we're going to go with the mundane training details to get me back on the wagon of both posting and training.
Training was going pretty well through week 9 of the 18 week plan--I was missing maybe one or two workouts each week, but felt pretty good about that generally. Then came defense week when I allowed my celebration of finishing my PhD to get in the way of training. And then came graduation week when I allowed cleaning for, feeding, and entertaining 13 out-of-town guests to get in the way of training. Then came break-up week when I started to get back on the training horse, then broke up with Paul, and spent many days on the couch and thus NOT training. Then came packing week when I divided up belongings, packed, and planned for my impending move to Portland and went on nightly runs to beat the stress out of my body, but didn't get back on my bike or back in the pool.
This pretty much brings me up to date. Next week is moving week when I'll return to Madison on Monday (currently in Minneapolis), pick up the truck Tuesday, and drive to Portland Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, and, once again, NOT train. So the NEXT week, I will get back on the training wagon and I cannot wait. I feel like a complete slug having spent 10 days off of my bike and away from pools. I feel like an even bigger slug for doing no long runs or rides in the same 10 days. And clearly, I could use the added exercise to deal with my stress and the unexpected course that my "journey" has taken me (excuse me while I puke over the using the word "journey").
I won't be returning to WI for the tinman I had planned on doing (thank god I hadn't registered already), but I'm still planning on competing in one in the Pacific Northwest. Any suggestions??? I know you've done several, Tesia. Would you recommend one over the other? Any interest in doing a tinman later this summer after you've already become an Ironman? Hopefully a new race date will provide some focus and structure to my life as I embark on a summer of unemployment, turning 30, and living with and being financially supported by my brother. Here's hoping!
Training was going pretty well through week 9 of the 18 week plan--I was missing maybe one or two workouts each week, but felt pretty good about that generally. Then came defense week when I allowed my celebration of finishing my PhD to get in the way of training. And then came graduation week when I allowed cleaning for, feeding, and entertaining 13 out-of-town guests to get in the way of training. Then came break-up week when I started to get back on the training horse, then broke up with Paul, and spent many days on the couch and thus NOT training. Then came packing week when I divided up belongings, packed, and planned for my impending move to Portland and went on nightly runs to beat the stress out of my body, but didn't get back on my bike or back in the pool.
This pretty much brings me up to date. Next week is moving week when I'll return to Madison on Monday (currently in Minneapolis), pick up the truck Tuesday, and drive to Portland Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, and, once again, NOT train. So the NEXT week, I will get back on the training wagon and I cannot wait. I feel like a complete slug having spent 10 days off of my bike and away from pools. I feel like an even bigger slug for doing no long runs or rides in the same 10 days. And clearly, I could use the added exercise to deal with my stress and the unexpected course that my "journey" has taken me (excuse me while I puke over the using the word "journey").
I won't be returning to WI for the tinman I had planned on doing (thank god I hadn't registered already), but I'm still planning on competing in one in the Pacific Northwest. Any suggestions??? I know you've done several, Tesia. Would you recommend one over the other? Any interest in doing a tinman later this summer after you've already become an Ironman? Hopefully a new race date will provide some focus and structure to my life as I embark on a summer of unemployment, turning 30, and living with and being financially supported by my brother. Here's hoping!
Monday, May 3, 2010
Blistering in the sun/Wildflower race report
After a 15 hours of driving, I'm back in Seattle and have that droopy, dehydrated, sunburned feeling that seems to follow races. The Wildflower long course was a great confidence boost for CDA! Keep reading for more details than you ever wanted about my race....
Pre-race
Chris and I left Seattle on Wednesday night, stayed at my folks' house in Portland that night, and went for a modified golf course run on Thursday morning before hopping back in the car for a 10 hour drive to Alameda. On Thursday, we stayed with Sarah and Johnny in their lovely beachfront apartment and got up early to drive the last 3 hours down to Lake San Antonio.
We arrived at the course around noon on Friday. After setting up camp, we drove a bit of the bike course to check out the "nasty grade hill" at mile 42 and went for a 10 minute swim to say we'd done some open water swimming this season. I was feeling well rested, but also tired. I slept for 3 hours in the car on Friday and still managed to fall asleep by 9:00 p.m. the night before the race, after a dinner of chicken burritos at the race festival and ravioli back at the campsite.
On race morning, the temperature was 35 degrees and ice crystals had formed on the outside of my tent. Needless to say, I was not excited to jump into a cold lake. We biked down Lynch Hill to the start (this caused me some stress because I had to ride down the hill with my race gear stuffed into a Trader Joe's tote bag, which I precariously strapped to my back). Since Chris's wave was an hour before mine, I had plenty of time to make friends with the women setting up next to me in transition, stand in line for the bathroom and watch the pros start their swim, finish their swim, and tear off their wetsuits in about 1/300th the amount of time it takes me to transition.
At 9:00 I headed down to the start for my race.
Swim: 37:47
I started in the front, which was a BIG mistake. After running into the water, 25 or so women immediately plowed over the top of me, and I choked and sputtered. I tried to keep my head down, stay calm and not panic. I moved out to the outside left and got into a relaxed rhythm. Maybe a little too relaxed because soon I was all alone with no drafting options. Then I veered too far to the left and had to re-orient myself and swim back toward the buoys. About halfway to the turnaround, I started catching a few of the slower swimmers in the waves before mine and got kicked a couple of times. I still felt like I was swimming really slow, breathing every 3 or 5 strokes, but I felt comfortable. I tried to imagine doing the whole loop twice in the Ironman and it didn't seem impossible. For the first time in a race, I didn't consider quitting and stayed positive. Near the end, I even started to feel a bit nostalgic about the swim and wanted it to last longer. What?!!
T1: 4:17
A bit slow, but I always feel wobbly when I get out of the water. My friend Ryan somehow picked me out of the crowd and cheered me up the hill to the transition area. I slathered on sunscreen, but couldn't reach my back and now have a huge, blistering burn between my shoulder blades.
Bike: 3:13:23
Shortly after getting on my bike, I realized that I hadn't added any water to my flask full of perpetuem. I learned this by taking a swig of powder. Oops! I pulled over at the first aid station and dumped all the perpetuum into my water bottle and shook it up. I had a mix of Gatorade and carbopro in my aerobottle, half of which splattered on my arms and handlebars as I started out on the bumpy road. I felt great on the first hill, passing people continuously, and then got passed by most of them on the way back down. I used my heartrate monitor for the first time in a race and tried to keep my heartrate between 140 and 150, but allowed it to go up to 160 on the hills. I felt relaxed most of the ride, but around mile 17, my tummy started to hurt. I thought I might have had too much sweet Gatorade, so I ate some of a Luna bar, but that didn't help. I finally I pulled over at a Honey Bucket around mile 20 and the problem was solved! I used the stop to top off my aerobottle as well, which was a mistake because the next 3 miles were downhill and I was drenched by Gatorade. The back of my legs were sticking to each other with every pedal stroke. The middle of the ride went by quickly, partly because I was focusing on conserving energy for the big hill at mile 41. I downed a Roctane Gu just before the hill and felt great all the way up. I tried my best not to ride the brakes down the other side. The whole ride went by quickly (so much shorter than 100!). During the last 5 miles, I was ready to run.
Nutritionwise, I think I did pretty well. My goal was to take in about 300 calories/hour on the bike. I think I got about 1100, including: one 16 oz. bottle of perpetuum (~350 calories), 16 oz. of carbopro/Gatorade mix in my aerobottle (200 calories), 1 luna bar (~150 calories), 2.5 gels (~220 calories) and and a couple of Gatorade refills (~200 calories?). I also planned to have 1 salt tab per hour, but couldn't get the plastic ziplock bag open on the bike, so gave up until the run.
T2: 2:06
This transition was uneventful. I grabbed my watch, gu, salt stix, hat, race belt, sunscreen and was off.
Run: 1:44:09
My first two miles felt nice and easy and were both 7:48's (w/ a 20 second bathroom stop between the two). Mile 3 was a 7:37, and then miles 4 and 5 combined were 18:21, much slower because the hill on mile 4 was so steep that I almost put my hands down on the trail at one point and was scrambling. Mile 6 was a slight downhill and I felt great (6:55). Mile 7 (7:21), 8 (8:03), and 9 (7:10) were mostly uneventful. Around mile 8, the course circled back to the campgrounds where the crowds cheered us on. I saw Ryan again and gave him my heartrate strap and declined the beer bong being offered around mile 9. Mile 10 (7:51) was the start of a long out (down) and back (up). Mile 11 (8:53) was hardest one for me. My feet started hurting, the end didn't feel close enough, and it was a long gradual uphill in the sun. Mile 12 (8:34) was about the same, but by mile 13 (7:20), I knew I was home free. Overall, I couldn't believe how easy the run felt. My feet started to hurt near the end from all the trail running, but no blisters, hot spots or leg pain. My calves burned on the steep uphill, but I felt good overall and continuously passed people. I drank water or gatorade at every aid station and had a salt tablet every 45 minutes or so. I had 1 gu around mile 8.
I finished in 5:41:42. I felt strong through the whole race and finished 10th in my age group!
Pre-race
Chris and I left Seattle on Wednesday night, stayed at my folks' house in Portland that night, and went for a modified golf course run on Thursday morning before hopping back in the car for a 10 hour drive to Alameda. On Thursday, we stayed with Sarah and Johnny in their lovely beachfront apartment and got up early to drive the last 3 hours down to Lake San Antonio.
We arrived at the course around noon on Friday. After setting up camp, we drove a bit of the bike course to check out the "nasty grade hill" at mile 42 and went for a 10 minute swim to say we'd done some open water swimming this season. I was feeling well rested, but also tired. I slept for 3 hours in the car on Friday and still managed to fall asleep by 9:00 p.m. the night before the race, after a dinner of chicken burritos at the race festival and ravioli back at the campsite.
On race morning, the temperature was 35 degrees and ice crystals had formed on the outside of my tent. Needless to say, I was not excited to jump into a cold lake. We biked down Lynch Hill to the start (this caused me some stress because I had to ride down the hill with my race gear stuffed into a Trader Joe's tote bag, which I precariously strapped to my back). Since Chris's wave was an hour before mine, I had plenty of time to make friends with the women setting up next to me in transition, stand in line for the bathroom and watch the pros start their swim, finish their swim, and tear off their wetsuits in about 1/300th the amount of time it takes me to transition.
At 9:00 I headed down to the start for my race.
Swim: 37:47
I started in the front, which was a BIG mistake. After running into the water, 25 or so women immediately plowed over the top of me, and I choked and sputtered. I tried to keep my head down, stay calm and not panic. I moved out to the outside left and got into a relaxed rhythm. Maybe a little too relaxed because soon I was all alone with no drafting options. Then I veered too far to the left and had to re-orient myself and swim back toward the buoys. About halfway to the turnaround, I started catching a few of the slower swimmers in the waves before mine and got kicked a couple of times. I still felt like I was swimming really slow, breathing every 3 or 5 strokes, but I felt comfortable. I tried to imagine doing the whole loop twice in the Ironman and it didn't seem impossible. For the first time in a race, I didn't consider quitting and stayed positive. Near the end, I even started to feel a bit nostalgic about the swim and wanted it to last longer. What?!!
T1: 4:17
A bit slow, but I always feel wobbly when I get out of the water. My friend Ryan somehow picked me out of the crowd and cheered me up the hill to the transition area. I slathered on sunscreen, but couldn't reach my back and now have a huge, blistering burn between my shoulder blades.
Bike: 3:13:23
Shortly after getting on my bike, I realized that I hadn't added any water to my flask full of perpetuem. I learned this by taking a swig of powder. Oops! I pulled over at the first aid station and dumped all the perpetuum into my water bottle and shook it up. I had a mix of Gatorade and carbopro in my aerobottle, half of which splattered on my arms and handlebars as I started out on the bumpy road. I felt great on the first hill, passing people continuously, and then got passed by most of them on the way back down. I used my heartrate monitor for the first time in a race and tried to keep my heartrate between 140 and 150, but allowed it to go up to 160 on the hills. I felt relaxed most of the ride, but around mile 17, my tummy started to hurt. I thought I might have had too much sweet Gatorade, so I ate some of a Luna bar, but that didn't help. I finally I pulled over at a Honey Bucket around mile 20 and the problem was solved! I used the stop to top off my aerobottle as well, which was a mistake because the next 3 miles were downhill and I was drenched by Gatorade. The back of my legs were sticking to each other with every pedal stroke. The middle of the ride went by quickly, partly because I was focusing on conserving energy for the big hill at mile 41. I downed a Roctane Gu just before the hill and felt great all the way up. I tried my best not to ride the brakes down the other side. The whole ride went by quickly (so much shorter than 100!). During the last 5 miles, I was ready to run.
Nutritionwise, I think I did pretty well. My goal was to take in about 300 calories/hour on the bike. I think I got about 1100, including: one 16 oz. bottle of perpetuum (~350 calories), 16 oz. of carbopro/Gatorade mix in my aerobottle (200 calories), 1 luna bar (~150 calories), 2.5 gels (~220 calories) and and a couple of Gatorade refills (~200 calories?). I also planned to have 1 salt tab per hour, but couldn't get the plastic ziplock bag open on the bike, so gave up until the run.
T2: 2:06
This transition was uneventful. I grabbed my watch, gu, salt stix, hat, race belt, sunscreen and was off.
Run: 1:44:09
My first two miles felt nice and easy and were both 7:48's (w/ a 20 second bathroom stop between the two). Mile 3 was a 7:37, and then miles 4 and 5 combined were 18:21, much slower because the hill on mile 4 was so steep that I almost put my hands down on the trail at one point and was scrambling. Mile 6 was a slight downhill and I felt great (6:55). Mile 7 (7:21), 8 (8:03), and 9 (7:10) were mostly uneventful. Around mile 8, the course circled back to the campgrounds where the crowds cheered us on. I saw Ryan again and gave him my heartrate strap and declined the beer bong being offered around mile 9. Mile 10 (7:51) was the start of a long out (down) and back (up). Mile 11 (8:53) was hardest one for me. My feet started hurting, the end didn't feel close enough, and it was a long gradual uphill in the sun. Mile 12 (8:34) was about the same, but by mile 13 (7:20), I knew I was home free. Overall, I couldn't believe how easy the run felt. My feet started to hurt near the end from all the trail running, but no blisters, hot spots or leg pain. My calves burned on the steep uphill, but I felt good overall and continuously passed people. I drank water or gatorade at every aid station and had a salt tablet every 45 minutes or so. I had 1 gu around mile 8.
I finished in 5:41:42. I felt strong through the whole race and finished 10th in my age group!
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Wailing, Spanking, and Slapping
Paul has long referred to his lifting sessions as "wailing;" for example, "I'm going to wail on my pecs." After this weekend's long ride and long run, I tried to use wailing to refer to how my legs felt; "that ride really wailed on my legs." Paul, however, maintained that because these activities were much longer in duration than the normal lifting session, they required different terminology. So we came up with a continuum of physical intensity and pain: wailing, spanking (as in how my legs felt after the long ride), and slapping (how my legs felt after the long run). I'll keep you all posted as to whether these terms actually catch on.
With that introduction, there has been a lot of spanking and slapping going on for me in the last couple weeks. I decided yesterday that given the aimless nature of my life right now (in limbo with a finished but not defended dissertation and no job in sight), I was focusing all my energy on training and avoiding the world by training instead. Case in point: after the trip to Phoenix, I did 11 workouts in 6 days (5 swims, 3 rides, 3 runs). I've eased up a bit since then, but did a solid 48 miler on Saturday (that felt like ass on a cold, foggy day) and a 70 minute run on Sunday.
In other training news, I've ditched my physical therapist and his exercises. After almost 9 months of regularly seeing him and doing the exercises (he was also the 4th PT I'd seen), my hamstring still wasn't cured. In Phoenix, I thought things were great, but it turns out that really just going slow makes my leg feel 10 times better than going normal pace (8:30s). This is both awesome and (to me) tragic. I can run 10 minute miles without pain, but am afraid that having gotten myself into double digits pace-wise, I will lose any fitness and speed I ever had. I think I'm going to have to convince myself that really I'm running 9:59s just so I can mentally keep doing what my leg needs to feel ok and for me to get through all of this training. The other downside to this is that since I normally don't run 10 minute miles and have no sense of pace these days, I've done my last 3 or 4 runs on a treadmill to make sure I'm going slow enough. It sucks. I did not enjoy an hour on the treadmill Sunday when it was 50 outside, but hopefully this will all help in the long run and/or I'll adjust to this pace and get to go outside. Keep your fingers crossed because it's a gorgeous day outside and I can't keep myself on the treadmill too much longer!
I'm off to find other forms of distraction from job applications and a dissertation abstract that needs to be written (or copied and pasted from my diss intro). I'm thinking some sewing and soup making. And maybe a nap...
With that introduction, there has been a lot of spanking and slapping going on for me in the last couple weeks. I decided yesterday that given the aimless nature of my life right now (in limbo with a finished but not defended dissertation and no job in sight), I was focusing all my energy on training and avoiding the world by training instead. Case in point: after the trip to Phoenix, I did 11 workouts in 6 days (5 swims, 3 rides, 3 runs). I've eased up a bit since then, but did a solid 48 miler on Saturday (that felt like ass on a cold, foggy day) and a 70 minute run on Sunday.
In other training news, I've ditched my physical therapist and his exercises. After almost 9 months of regularly seeing him and doing the exercises (he was also the 4th PT I'd seen), my hamstring still wasn't cured. In Phoenix, I thought things were great, but it turns out that really just going slow makes my leg feel 10 times better than going normal pace (8:30s). This is both awesome and (to me) tragic. I can run 10 minute miles without pain, but am afraid that having gotten myself into double digits pace-wise, I will lose any fitness and speed I ever had. I think I'm going to have to convince myself that really I'm running 9:59s just so I can mentally keep doing what my leg needs to feel ok and for me to get through all of this training. The other downside to this is that since I normally don't run 10 minute miles and have no sense of pace these days, I've done my last 3 or 4 runs on a treadmill to make sure I'm going slow enough. It sucks. I did not enjoy an hour on the treadmill Sunday when it was 50 outside, but hopefully this will all help in the long run and/or I'll adjust to this pace and get to go outside. Keep your fingers crossed because it's a gorgeous day outside and I can't keep myself on the treadmill too much longer!
I'm off to find other forms of distraction from job applications and a dissertation abstract that needs to be written (or copied and pasted from my diss intro). I'm thinking some sewing and soup making. And maybe a nap...
Thursday, April 15, 2010
First Century Ride of the Year
Let's be honest: this was my second 100 mile bike ride ever. The first was a 140 miles on the first day of the STP ride last year. This ride felt (and was!) much faster, despite more than 4000 feet of elevation gain. After the ride, I was happy to find out that the ride had about twice as much elevation gain as IM CDA. This is a good thing because I was HATING life as I pedaled up the last hill back into Kirkland. Other than that, it was a great ride - no flats, no crashes, good company, and I almost had enough nutrition.
I tried a few new things nutrition-wise that I want to remember for CDA:
1. I felt like I was eating constantly, but I didn't get hungry until the last 10 miles. I had 2 bars, 2 gus, 2 bottles of Gatorade w/ carbopro for extra calories, Strawberry shot blocs, a flask of Perpeteum, and I bought 2 extra liters of Gatorade along the way. Next time, I want to double the Perpeteum and carbopro and and ditch one of the bars. Too much chewing!
2. Salt Stix! After about an hour of drinking and eating sweet gus and sports drinks, my tolerance for sweets is low. Very low. I don't know if this has anything to do with not getting enough salt, but I took a couple of Salt Stix pills w/ water during this ride and it seemed to help.
3. Knowing I had to run 13 miles in a relay race the next day, I wanted to try out a recovery drink. I had some protien and a not-so-tasty packet of strawberry Recoverite w/in 20 minutes of finishing the ride. The next morning, I was able to hold a 7:02 pace for my first 8 mile leg of the relay! Of course it was downhill, and it helped that 3 miles from the finish, a guy caught up to me and carried me the rest of the way. Not literally, but after he told me he was "taking it easy" because he did a "really hard workout" the day before, I couldn't let him beat me. When did I get to be so type A? Don't answer that.
I tried a few new things nutrition-wise that I want to remember for CDA:
1. I felt like I was eating constantly, but I didn't get hungry until the last 10 miles. I had 2 bars, 2 gus, 2 bottles of Gatorade w/ carbopro for extra calories, Strawberry shot blocs, a flask of Perpeteum, and I bought 2 extra liters of Gatorade along the way. Next time, I want to double the Perpeteum and carbopro and and ditch one of the bars. Too much chewing!
2. Salt Stix! After about an hour of drinking and eating sweet gus and sports drinks, my tolerance for sweets is low. Very low. I don't know if this has anything to do with not getting enough salt, but I took a couple of Salt Stix pills w/ water during this ride and it seemed to help.
3. Knowing I had to run 13 miles in a relay race the next day, I wanted to try out a recovery drink. I had some protien and a not-so-tasty packet of strawberry Recoverite w/in 20 minutes of finishing the ride. The next morning, I was able to hold a 7:02 pace for my first 8 mile leg of the relay! Of course it was downhill, and it helped that 3 miles from the finish, a guy caught up to me and carried me the rest of the way. Not literally, but after he told me he was "taking it easy" because he did a "really hard workout" the day before, I couldn't let him beat me. When did I get to be so type A? Don't answer that.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Sun, sun, and more sun
I'm still in Phoenix, enjoying vacation and getting in some great training. It really helps to be visiting someone who's also training for a triathlon and doesn't think it's weird when you tell them you want to do two workouts a day!
Saturday morning, I did a 50-minute long run which went surprisingly well. I ate a full breakfast and was just finishing a cup of tea when we decided that if we were going to get out for a run before it was uber hot, we needed to leave asap. So my stomach was full and not too thrilled with the running at the start and quickly settled into a nice large side ache. But we were going slow so it wasn't too bad. We detoured after about 20 minutes for a bathroom at the gym, but other than that, the run went great. I was hot, but my leg had no pain the whole time which was truly awesome!!
After the run, we headed out to visit Steve at work (he's starting a metal recycling company, so we got to tour the yard and warehouse) in the Phoenix ghetto which Steve affectionately calls "Mexico." Had some great Mexican food for lunch, followed by some lying on the couch, and a quick swim later in the afternoon. The swim went ok, I ended up doing the intervals I needed to instead of wimping out and just swimming easy, but the pool itself had some issues--nasty disgusting taste, super foggy, and really shallow which made turns difficult.
Yesterday we declared a day off and instead headed out to do a quick hike in the Superstition Mountains which were super cool. And we just completed our ride for the day WITHOUT getting lost!!! It was great not to be wandering in town, detouring onto sidewalks, and stopping to ask complete strangers if they knew how to get home. Truly a great ride.
Now it's time for a shower and maybe sitting by the condo pool while we write resumes. It's a hard life in Phoenix.
Saturday morning, I did a 50-minute long run which went surprisingly well. I ate a full breakfast and was just finishing a cup of tea when we decided that if we were going to get out for a run before it was uber hot, we needed to leave asap. So my stomach was full and not too thrilled with the running at the start and quickly settled into a nice large side ache. But we were going slow so it wasn't too bad. We detoured after about 20 minutes for a bathroom at the gym, but other than that, the run went great. I was hot, but my leg had no pain the whole time which was truly awesome!!
After the run, we headed out to visit Steve at work (he's starting a metal recycling company, so we got to tour the yard and warehouse) in the Phoenix ghetto which Steve affectionately calls "Mexico." Had some great Mexican food for lunch, followed by some lying on the couch, and a quick swim later in the afternoon. The swim went ok, I ended up doing the intervals I needed to instead of wimping out and just swimming easy, but the pool itself had some issues--nasty disgusting taste, super foggy, and really shallow which made turns difficult.
Yesterday we declared a day off and instead headed out to do a quick hike in the Superstition Mountains which were super cool. And we just completed our ride for the day WITHOUT getting lost!!! It was great not to be wandering in town, detouring onto sidewalks, and stopping to ask complete strangers if they knew how to get home. Truly a great ride.
Now it's time for a shower and maybe sitting by the condo pool while we write resumes. It's a hard life in Phoenix.
Friday, April 9, 2010
Phoenix: sunny, 85, and lost on a bike
After spending $150 to get 5 copies of my dissertation printed and sent off to my committee on Tuesday, I figured it was high time to take a vacation! So I'm in Phoenix for the next 5 days to hang out with my friend Bri, train, apply for jobs (we're both unemployed), and enjoy the sunny weather!
This morning Bri and I decided to head out on a 30-mile loop that had flummoxed Bri earlier in the week. Apparently navigating the streets of Phoenix on-bike is a bit difficult--tons of the roads don't go through, but then reappear miles later with the same name, making for some very complicated directions. Bri was pretty sure she could do the loop the second time around, so we hopped on the bikes (I'm using her boyfriend's sweet road bike while I'm here) and headed out.
We rode a few miles, made a couple turns, and then... we were lost. The road we were looking for was nowhere to be found, but we hadn't missed any turns. A mere 20 minutes into the ride and the Phoenix-streets had already gotten us. Bri used her awesome navigational skills to work out a new route to hopefully connect back up with where we should be and it magically worked. Mountain Drive saved us from speeding motorists on bike-unfriendly streets. But...
No sooner had we turned onto quiet and serene Mountain Drive than Bri asked me for the directions which were stowed in my jersey pocket. I reached back, and the directions are gone!!! That's right. I managed to lose the directions when we got lost even WITH the directions. The next several miles involved a lot of guesswork, mostly accurate, and Bri guided us to an awesome bike path close to the Phoenix Mountains (think Mount Tabor-esque) and then to a nice canal path. And then the path ended and the wandering began. We ended up on a major road that Bri recognized but that was so nasty to ride on we ended up on the sidewalk for a couple miles! Then some wandering on a nice residential road in the hills, and we magically got back to a place that Bri recognized and could navigate home from.
Of the rides where I've gotten lost, this was probably my most successful--we still got in close to 30 miles, we still saw great views of the city and mountains, and there were no close calls with cars or jerk drivers. In fact, the one stop sign that I started to go through before realizing the on-coming car was turning, pulled up behind me afterward, thanked me for moving onto the shoulder, and assured me it was fine that I'd gone through the stop sign. I guess these Phoenix people are friendly!
I'm now sporting my first Phoenix sunburn (just a bit on the face) and lounging on the couch, reading about how to write resumes rather than actually writing my own, and wondering when snack time will roll around. Oh, it just came: Bri just got out the dried pineapple! Score!!
This morning Bri and I decided to head out on a 30-mile loop that had flummoxed Bri earlier in the week. Apparently navigating the streets of Phoenix on-bike is a bit difficult--tons of the roads don't go through, but then reappear miles later with the same name, making for some very complicated directions. Bri was pretty sure she could do the loop the second time around, so we hopped on the bikes (I'm using her boyfriend's sweet road bike while I'm here) and headed out.
We rode a few miles, made a couple turns, and then... we were lost. The road we were looking for was nowhere to be found, but we hadn't missed any turns. A mere 20 minutes into the ride and the Phoenix-streets had already gotten us. Bri used her awesome navigational skills to work out a new route to hopefully connect back up with where we should be and it magically worked. Mountain Drive saved us from speeding motorists on bike-unfriendly streets. But...
No sooner had we turned onto quiet and serene Mountain Drive than Bri asked me for the directions which were stowed in my jersey pocket. I reached back, and the directions are gone!!! That's right. I managed to lose the directions when we got lost even WITH the directions. The next several miles involved a lot of guesswork, mostly accurate, and Bri guided us to an awesome bike path close to the Phoenix Mountains (think Mount Tabor-esque) and then to a nice canal path. And then the path ended and the wandering began. We ended up on a major road that Bri recognized but that was so nasty to ride on we ended up on the sidewalk for a couple miles! Then some wandering on a nice residential road in the hills, and we magically got back to a place that Bri recognized and could navigate home from.
Of the rides where I've gotten lost, this was probably my most successful--we still got in close to 30 miles, we still saw great views of the city and mountains, and there were no close calls with cars or jerk drivers. In fact, the one stop sign that I started to go through before realizing the on-coming car was turning, pulled up behind me afterward, thanked me for moving onto the shoulder, and assured me it was fine that I'd gone through the stop sign. I guess these Phoenix people are friendly!
I'm now sporting my first Phoenix sunburn (just a bit on the face) and lounging on the couch, reading about how to write resumes rather than actually writing my own, and wondering when snack time will roll around. Oh, it just came: Bri just got out the dried pineapple! Score!!
Monday, April 5, 2010
One Too Many Blue Hawaiians
Thanks to my brother's magical hangover pills, I woke up on Easter morning feeling only slightly bleh after my Hawaiian themed birthday bash on Saturday night. The workout for the day was a 65 mile ride + 30 minute run and I was less than eager because,
1. I hadn't touched my bike in 2 weeks
2. My quads were tight from Saturday's hills and the 1/2 marathon a week ago (is this possible?)
3. The forecast called for wind and rain - one of my least favorite combos
4. I was dehydrated (see title of post)
I met up with Lilia at 1:00 at the Washington Arboretum. An aside: Muggy, do you remember when I visited you in Madison and we ran in the Arb? It was 100 degrees at 6:00 and the air felt like armpits. I miss the humidity of the midwest....Anyway, Lilia is a much stronger biker than me, but she was also recovering from a 3:07 marathon last weekend, so she promised to take it easy. As we headed south around Lake Washington and the headwind made me feel like I was towing a 900 lb in one of those kiddie bike trailers. Lilia let me draft behind her for the first 33 miles, but I still had a hard time keeping up.
By mile 64, I was ready to keel over. I need to keep working on my hydration & nutrition on long bike rides if I'm going to have enough energy to run (walk/crawl) a marathon. I've been experimenting with Gu, Perpetuem, all kinds of bars and some other snacks. When I'm riding, it's easier to drink my calories, but I have a hard time getting enough. Any ideas?
1. I hadn't touched my bike in 2 weeks
2. My quads were tight from Saturday's hills and the 1/2 marathon a week ago (is this possible?)
3. The forecast called for wind and rain - one of my least favorite combos
4. I was dehydrated (see title of post)
I met up with Lilia at 1:00 at the Washington Arboretum. An aside: Muggy, do you remember when I visited you in Madison and we ran in the Arb? It was 100 degrees at 6:00 and the air felt like armpits. I miss the humidity of the midwest....Anyway, Lilia is a much stronger biker than me, but she was also recovering from a 3:07 marathon last weekend, so she promised to take it easy. As we headed south around Lake Washington and the headwind made me feel like I was towing a 900 lb in one of those kiddie bike trailers. Lilia let me draft behind her for the first 33 miles, but I still had a hard time keeping up.
By mile 64, I was ready to keel over. I need to keep working on my hydration & nutrition on long bike rides if I'm going to have enough energy to run (walk/crawl) a marathon. I've been experimenting with Gu, Perpetuem, all kinds of bars and some other snacks. When I'm riding, it's easier to drink my calories, but I have a hard time getting enough. Any ideas?
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Maui Half Marathon
The Valley to Sea Half Marathon in Maui was the last race I did as a twenty-something. And it was a good one! Thanks to a downhill course, I shaved 4 minutes off my PR and got to spend the rest of the day lounging on the beach. Here's the official report:
5:17: My alarm goes off and I hop out of bed, wide awake. I'd woken up at 3 and 4, worried that my alarm wouldn't go off. I heated up some of yesterday's coffee, tried to choke down a luna bar, some milk and some orange juice (I do better with liquids early in the morning). I tiptoed out in the dark and drove 4 miles to the shuttle. I'd missed the 5:45 shuttle, so I waited for half an hour for the second shuttle, carrying only me, to leave. I had no extra clothes and it was raining at the start, so I was happy to have only 15 minutes to warm up and hit the Honey Bucket before the Hawaiian fire dancer did his thing and the gun went off.
7:00 a.m: Just before the start, a woman, now known as Marie, started talking to me. I asked her about the course and made some small talk. I had no idea I would end up running most of the race or that she'd win the race. We both took off fast and formed a pack in the front with two other women. The first three miles were downhill and when I checked my splits for the first time at the three mile mark, my watch read 18:52. Woops! Lindsey, one of the other women in the pack commented about breaking her 5k PR. I found out that Lindsey and Marie both ran at Division 1 schools and realized that I might be a bit out of my league, but I felt good and was having fun chatting with Marie, so I kept going. Marie just moved to Maui for a wildlife preservation job from Seattle and used to run with Club Northwest. Small world!
7:30-ish: About 5 miles in, I still felt great, but was really really hot. After we came out of a lush rainy jungle, we were running along the highway and even early in the morning, the pavement was radiating heat. At the second aid station, I grabbed a Gatorade and a water and splashed the Gatorade in my eye as I attempted to drink and poured the water over my head. I had taken off my sunglasses in the rain and as I tried to wipe them off and put them on, one of the lenses popped out. I stuck the lens down my shirt and put my glasses back on my head. So much for sunglasses.
Mile 8: Marie's roommate Jeff was taking pictures along the course and around mile 8, she pulled off to get some water from him and go to the bathroom. I ate my vanilla gu and ran alone for 3 or 4 miles. I could see the two front runners about 50 meters ahead and I tried to close the gap as the caffeine kicked in.
Mile 11: I started HURTING. I missed the 10 mile marker so mile 11 felt really long, especially running alone. My hip/hamstring started to ache and I started having a debate with myself. Should I slow down and treat this as a training run or should I keep racing and risk hurting myself? My pride won and I kept pushing. The last 1.5 miles were on the beach and I had the same debate, knowing that the sand is rough on my achilles. Marie caught up to me and took off for the two first place women, who seemed to be slowing. When Marie passed me, I felt like I wasn't even moving. I tried to hang on, but I couldn't. There was a turnaround at the half mile mark, so I got to cheer on Lindsey and Marie a few seconds before rounded the corner. I tried to catch up, but my legs had nothing. I was 4 seconds behind 3rd place and as I crossed the finish line, I saw the time: 1:30:48!!!
That night we ate the world's worst cheeseburgers, some delicious fruity drinks and went out dancing in Lahaina. The DJ was playing nothing but cuts (Imma be Imma be!) and before I knew it, the bartender was making last call. I could hardly walk the next two days because my quads hurt so bad. Luckily, all I had to do was walk to the beach, where I could plant my butt and stare at the impossibly blue ocean.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Recommendations?
I have a butt chafing problem when I ride. Always. Always have, from the first day I got my bike. I've tried every kind of lubricant known to man (even though that sounds dirty), and it doesn't get rid of the chafing.
Tricia suggested that perhaps I should try different shorts, so I'm polling ALL our readers :) to find out your short recommendations. Yes, I could search on my own, but this is way more fun, allows me to write a quick post, and avoid the last two paragraphs of my dissertation!
Tricia suggested that perhaps I should try different shorts, so I'm polling ALL our readers :) to find out your short recommendations. Yes, I could search on my own, but this is way more fun, allows me to write a quick post, and avoid the last two paragraphs of my dissertation!
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Tesia's carrots
So I was sitting at work last week, munching on Tesia's veggie largesse that she donated to us on her way out of town, thinking about how jealous I was to be stuck at work while Amy and Tesia were living it up in Maui. It looks like you are having such fun; can't wait to see more pics.
I said I couldn't go on the trip because my husband has been unemployed for a year and BOOM! The girls go to Hawaii and my husband just got a JOB (started today). Yay! So much stress relief for us.
Workout-wise...
Thursday I biked to the Evans pool in the rain, swam an alphabet's worth of laps (for some reason it's easier for me to keep track of letters than numbers) and then biked home in the rain and then took a shower. Too much water for me!
I can't wait to get back to real running. I've been deep-water running (took classes in NYC in the late 90's; see www.enhancesports.com/dwr.pdf), and getting on the elliptical, doing ankle and calf strengthening, researching shoes (I turned my ankle while in a 3 year old pair of trail runners, bad Amy), etc. etc. Nothing like the real thing though.
Has anyone tried the zero gravity shoes like Newtons or other low-heel shoes?
Anyway, it's hard to bear not running in the lovely springtime. I have a few upcoming trips to distract myself, but I think I may do a short easy run in Central Park when I hit NYC next week.
I said I couldn't go on the trip because my husband has been unemployed for a year and BOOM! The girls go to Hawaii and my husband just got a JOB (started today). Yay! So much stress relief for us.
Workout-wise...
Thursday I biked to the Evans pool in the rain, swam an alphabet's worth of laps (for some reason it's easier for me to keep track of letters than numbers) and then biked home in the rain and then took a shower. Too much water for me!
I can't wait to get back to real running. I've been deep-water running (took classes in NYC in the late 90's; see www.enhancesports.com/dwr.pdf), and getting on the elliptical, doing ankle and calf strengthening, researching shoes (I turned my ankle while in a 3 year old pair of trail runners, bad Amy), etc. etc. Nothing like the real thing though.
Has anyone tried the zero gravity shoes like Newtons or other low-heel shoes?
Anyway, it's hard to bear not running in the lovely springtime. I have a few upcoming trips to distract myself, but I think I may do a short easy run in Central Park when I hit NYC next week.
Lessons from the Last Week of Training
1. 1000 meters is not the same as 1000 yards.
Our training program assumes you're swimming in a pool measured in yards and for the first week+ of training we were, although I hadn't realized it. The pool at the university usually is divided into two 25-yard segments during the school year and then switches over to one 50-meter segment for the summer. Only they switched it early and last week we arrived at the pool to 50 meters. Now this is awesome for training, you really get into a better grove and just swim, but not so good for the ego. It took most of the first workout to realize that we'd been at 25 yards, not 25 meters and consequently my times for intervals were soooo SLOOOOOW. Note to self: meters are longer than yards.
2. Long rides take a long time.
We were supposed to do 30 miles for our long ride this weekend and so I picked a loop without mapping it out because I "remembered" from last year that it was the right distance. Then we proceeded to head out at 3 in the afternoon (because of weather) when I needed to be home, showered, dressed up, and out the door for Paul's work event by about 5:30. Hah! Turns out the loop was much closer to 35+ miles and we were a bit slow. I arrived home at 5:40 after Paul had already left without me, and proceeded to have the fastest shower/dress combo ever. My stretching post-ride included stretching my quads in the shower while rinsing my hair, and that was about it. Note to self: long rides ALWAYS take longer than I think they will.
3. A bike that shifts properly really is a plus when biking.
I've had issues with my front gears shifting since the fateful day two summers ago when I fell in a ditch. Yes, you read that right, I fell in a ditch. The best part of this story--and why it cracks me and Tricia up every time we talk about it--is that I was fully stopped at an intersection and needed to turn around because we'd taken a wrong turn. Unfortunately, I always unclip on my right side, but that's not so helpful when you're trying to pull a 180 to the left. So I started to turn, and promptly fell in the ditch on the other side of the road. And this was a seriously deep ditch. The best part was that my one foot was still clipped in and the bike was on top of me, so I couldn't get out without Tricia pulling me out. So wonderful.
Anyway, my bike has some shifting issues and no matter how many times I take it in to the bike shop, it's never perfect. It did ok for the long ride on Saturday, and thankfully I had Paul do a bit of maintenance on Sunday. But apparently bad shifting is contagious. Tricia and I headed out for a ride yesterday and her back gear refused to shift out of the easiest position. Even if you stopped and physically moved the chain, it would switch her back there. On the one hand, this really sucked for trying to go fast at all and Tricia looked a bit silly just spinning her legs way too fast. On the other hand, it gave us a nice excuse to go slow and easy for yesterday's ride which was probably for the best.
Hope you're ready to hit the training when you're back from Maui, Tesia!!! Can't wait to see all the photos!
Our training program assumes you're swimming in a pool measured in yards and for the first week+ of training we were, although I hadn't realized it. The pool at the university usually is divided into two 25-yard segments during the school year and then switches over to one 50-meter segment for the summer. Only they switched it early and last week we arrived at the pool to 50 meters. Now this is awesome for training, you really get into a better grove and just swim, but not so good for the ego. It took most of the first workout to realize that we'd been at 25 yards, not 25 meters and consequently my times for intervals were soooo SLOOOOOW. Note to self: meters are longer than yards.
2. Long rides take a long time.
We were supposed to do 30 miles for our long ride this weekend and so I picked a loop without mapping it out because I "remembered" from last year that it was the right distance. Then we proceeded to head out at 3 in the afternoon (because of weather) when I needed to be home, showered, dressed up, and out the door for Paul's work event by about 5:30. Hah! Turns out the loop was much closer to 35+ miles and we were a bit slow. I arrived home at 5:40 after Paul had already left without me, and proceeded to have the fastest shower/dress combo ever. My stretching post-ride included stretching my quads in the shower while rinsing my hair, and that was about it. Note to self: long rides ALWAYS take longer than I think they will.
3. A bike that shifts properly really is a plus when biking.
I've had issues with my front gears shifting since the fateful day two summers ago when I fell in a ditch. Yes, you read that right, I fell in a ditch. The best part of this story--and why it cracks me and Tricia up every time we talk about it--is that I was fully stopped at an intersection and needed to turn around because we'd taken a wrong turn. Unfortunately, I always unclip on my right side, but that's not so helpful when you're trying to pull a 180 to the left. So I started to turn, and promptly fell in the ditch on the other side of the road. And this was a seriously deep ditch. The best part was that my one foot was still clipped in and the bike was on top of me, so I couldn't get out without Tricia pulling me out. So wonderful.
Anyway, my bike has some shifting issues and no matter how many times I take it in to the bike shop, it's never perfect. It did ok for the long ride on Saturday, and thankfully I had Paul do a bit of maintenance on Sunday. But apparently bad shifting is contagious. Tricia and I headed out for a ride yesterday and her back gear refused to shift out of the easiest position. Even if you stopped and physically moved the chain, it would switch her back there. On the one hand, this really sucked for trying to go fast at all and Tricia looked a bit silly just spinning her legs way too fast. On the other hand, it gave us a nice excuse to go slow and easy for yesterday's ride which was probably for the best.
Hope you're ready to hit the training when you're back from Maui, Tesia!!! Can't wait to see all the photos!
Friday, March 26, 2010
Aloha!
Everything everyone says about Maui is true. It IS paradise. This morning I ate pineapple on the lanai before our six mile run. My training is definitely falling off, but as long as I get a little run or think about running, I feel like I'm ok. Rachel and Amy and Nick joined me today. We headed South from Kihei toward Wailea and found a paved path that winds through the fancy resorts along the beach. Nick stopped after 2 miles - partly because his 5-toed shoes were giving him blisters on all sides of his feet, and partly to stop off and visit our cousin Molly and aunt Fran who were staying nearby. Amy, Rachel and I continued to the 30 minute mark before turning around. When we got back, I jumped into the pool to cool off and then we all headed to the nude beach. Nick got hit on by more than one guy; us girls were pretty much ignored.
Tomorrow we're driving the road to Hana and I'm contemplating running beforehand, but my hip is bothering me, so I might just sleep in. I think that biking and swimming help my hip from getting too bad - all I can really do here is run. My other two sports are paddling around on my boogie board and re-applying sunscreen and neither seem to be particularly helpful for me hip. I really wish I'd brought a tennis ball to roll on.
I signed up for a half marathon on Saturday, here in Maui. The last three miles are on the beach. Woohoo!
Tomorrow we're driving the road to Hana and I'm contemplating running beforehand, but my hip is bothering me, so I might just sleep in. I think that biking and swimming help my hip from getting too bad - all I can really do here is run. My other two sports are paddling around on my boogie board and re-applying sunscreen and neither seem to be particularly helpful for me hip. I really wish I'd brought a tennis ball to roll on.
I signed up for a half marathon on Saturday, here in Maui. The last three miles are on the beach. Woohoo!
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Slow but consistent?
Tricia and I headed out for our "long" ride Sunday morning. I put long in quotes because although it was technically the long ride for the week, it wasn't very long--just an easy 25 miles. It was, however, VERY cold. It was 30 degrees when I left the house and I had no idea how to dress for such an occasion. If we had been running, I wouldn't have given it another thought, but I'd never been on a bike below about 50 degrees. Luckily it was bright and sunny with very little wind (at least on the way out when we were warming up), so it wasn't so bad.
The actual bike part was actually pretty nice. The roads were empty except a few other bikers and we took the ride really easy. And, to top it off, we finished feeling very virtuous for having finished off Week 1 even on a very cold morning.
Week 2 started off Monday and Tricia and I were both suffering from bum hamstrings. We did a very slow, easy 45 minute run, which felt ok on my hammie with off and on discomfort, and then did a 1000-meter swim, with 5x100 meter intervals. Despite the fact that I actually felt way better doing this workout this week than last, my times didn't reflect that. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't go faster than 1:57, but did that exact time for all 5 intervals. Slow, but consistent.
Today was supposed to be a 20-mile bike, but Tricia's hamstring and work were catching up to her, so she backed out. Once I knew she was getting a day off, I kind of wanted a day off too. The fact that my hamstring twinged off and on all day was also a motivating factor in skipping today's ride. It's not clear yet whether we'll be able to rearrange our week to make up for it or not, but I'm hopeful that the day off will have done both our hammies some good. And I'm hoping that they'll allow us to continue to be slow but consistent--I don't need to be a speed demon, I just need to be able to get through the training without amputating my hamstring.
Enough moaning. Tomorrow's another day and I can't wait for Tesia's posts from Maui!!!!!
The actual bike part was actually pretty nice. The roads were empty except a few other bikers and we took the ride really easy. And, to top it off, we finished feeling very virtuous for having finished off Week 1 even on a very cold morning.
Week 2 started off Monday and Tricia and I were both suffering from bum hamstrings. We did a very slow, easy 45 minute run, which felt ok on my hammie with off and on discomfort, and then did a 1000-meter swim, with 5x100 meter intervals. Despite the fact that I actually felt way better doing this workout this week than last, my times didn't reflect that. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't go faster than 1:57, but did that exact time for all 5 intervals. Slow, but consistent.
Today was supposed to be a 20-mile bike, but Tricia's hamstring and work were catching up to her, so she backed out. Once I knew she was getting a day off, I kind of wanted a day off too. The fact that my hamstring twinged off and on all day was also a motivating factor in skipping today's ride. It's not clear yet whether we'll be able to rearrange our week to make up for it or not, but I'm hopeful that the day off will have done both our hammies some good. And I'm hoping that they'll allow us to continue to be slow but consistent--I don't need to be a speed demon, I just need to be able to get through the training without amputating my hamstring.
Enough moaning. Tomorrow's another day and I can't wait for Tesia's posts from Maui!!!!!
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Run Bike Switcheroo
I skipped my 20k race this morning to go on a bike ride in the sunshine. Lucky for me, because the weather has gone from sunny and 70 to rainy and 40 in a Seattle second. I rode with my friend Chris from his place in Kirkland up north toward Lake Stevens. He has a fancy GPS watch that records the distance and time and speed and elevation and heart rate data from the ride. Check out the elevation gain! I felt great on the uphills and am gaining some confidence on the downhills. I'm getting better at riding on my drops and staying relaxed when descending. I still use my breaks WAY more than I should. The cycleU mantra helps: "I will descend with confidence and speed." Saying it over and over helps distract me from my usual visions of hitting a bump and skidding on my face for 20 feet or some other horrible horror.
Snow, snow, go away, come again another day (like next winter!)
Midwest springs are so cruel. You want to believe that the warm weather is here for good and that you can forget about all those past springs where it snowed sporadically through March, April, and May. And your delusion is going great (last week was gorgeously sunny and 60 degrees) and then it goes and snows and the snow essentially shits all over your delusion and brings you back to the cruel reality. Case in point: today, there are 2 inches of snow on the ground and it's about 30 outside. So sad.
Knowing that this evil snow was predicted and given other restrictions of the weekend, Tricia and I opted to do our long run yesterday and our long bike tomorrow morning when it will be dry but cold. I ended up doing yesterday's workout by myself which was good for concentrating on my running form, but no so good for how hard I pushed myself since I always run too hard when I'm by myself.
I took the bus to school, fit in the week's last swim (300m warmup, 500m swim, 200m cooldown) and then changed and did a 50 minute run home. The swim felt really good, probably the combination of having been in the pool the day before (I oddly always feel better on the second of back-to-back swim days) and not having been on my bike since Wednesday. I wasn't sure how the run would feel considering that I'd also run on Thursday and I wasn't sure how my evil hamstring would respond to back-to-back run days. The last time I tried this (with a 5 miler one day and an 8 miler the next), I managed to set my hamstring recovery back several weeks. But since clearly I don't learn from my mistakes, I thought I'd give it another try. The run actually felt great for the first 25 minutes or so. I felt really energetic and peppy, was running faster than I have been, was hitting 180 strides a minute no problem, and my hamstring felt great through about 20 minutes. I probably should have just stopped and stretched at that point, but I really wanted to hit 25 minutes before stopping so then I could just run the second 25 minutes all the way home. Probably that too wasn't the best idea. After stretching, my leg did feel better, but I started to get tired and then my leg also started to hurt which was super demoralizing. The rest of the run essentially had off-and-on leg pain and moments of extreme fatigue followed by moments of me convincing myself I felt peppy and good again. I did manage to maintain 180 strides/minute throughout the run which is good, but I wish that my leg had felt better.
I was also really surprised by how tired I felt at the end of the run. We'd done a 55 minute long run last weekend that felt fine, so I didn't anticipate that the volume would be a problem, although I'm sure the combo swim-run was a large part of being tired. Oh, and the running too fast part! Other than eating, showering, and grocery shopping, I lay on the couch for the rest of the afternoon and moaned (to myself) about how tired I was. Pretty pathetic.
The bright side of yesterday's effort is that today is a day off!!! Yippee!!! I need to stretch and do my PT and would love to go lift, but no major workout for the day which is great. Instead, it's laundry, cleaning, and lying on the couch. Oh how I love Saturday, even when there's snow.
Knowing that this evil snow was predicted and given other restrictions of the weekend, Tricia and I opted to do our long run yesterday and our long bike tomorrow morning when it will be dry but cold. I ended up doing yesterday's workout by myself which was good for concentrating on my running form, but no so good for how hard I pushed myself since I always run too hard when I'm by myself.
I took the bus to school, fit in the week's last swim (300m warmup, 500m swim, 200m cooldown) and then changed and did a 50 minute run home. The swim felt really good, probably the combination of having been in the pool the day before (I oddly always feel better on the second of back-to-back swim days) and not having been on my bike since Wednesday. I wasn't sure how the run would feel considering that I'd also run on Thursday and I wasn't sure how my evil hamstring would respond to back-to-back run days. The last time I tried this (with a 5 miler one day and an 8 miler the next), I managed to set my hamstring recovery back several weeks. But since clearly I don't learn from my mistakes, I thought I'd give it another try. The run actually felt great for the first 25 minutes or so. I felt really energetic and peppy, was running faster than I have been, was hitting 180 strides a minute no problem, and my hamstring felt great through about 20 minutes. I probably should have just stopped and stretched at that point, but I really wanted to hit 25 minutes before stopping so then I could just run the second 25 minutes all the way home. Probably that too wasn't the best idea. After stretching, my leg did feel better, but I started to get tired and then my leg also started to hurt which was super demoralizing. The rest of the run essentially had off-and-on leg pain and moments of extreme fatigue followed by moments of me convincing myself I felt peppy and good again. I did manage to maintain 180 strides/minute throughout the run which is good, but I wish that my leg had felt better.
I was also really surprised by how tired I felt at the end of the run. We'd done a 55 minute long run last weekend that felt fine, so I didn't anticipate that the volume would be a problem, although I'm sure the combo swim-run was a large part of being tired. Oh, and the running too fast part! Other than eating, showering, and grocery shopping, I lay on the couch for the rest of the afternoon and moaned (to myself) about how tired I was. Pretty pathetic.
The bright side of yesterday's effort is that today is a day off!!! Yippee!!! I need to stretch and do my PT and would love to go lift, but no major workout for the day which is great. Instead, it's laundry, cleaning, and lying on the couch. Oh how I love Saturday, even when there's snow.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
St. Paddy's Day Cut-Down
Prior to drinking beer, I did two St. Paddy's day workouts: A 3650 swim in the morning with the master's team and track practice in the evening. It was the first day I've been to Wednesday night track practice in a loooong time and I was happy to have sunshine, even if the wind was cold. I joined a friendly foursome running the 5A pace (the groups start at 1/1A and get slower through 6. Yes, I'm in the second to slowest group. But these people are fast!) and we started our first mile aiming for 7:08. We ended up running a second fast on each lap, for a 7:04 mile and it felt amazingly easy. Besides my tight muscles from the bike ride the night before, 7:04 felt like a comfortable pace. When did this happen?!
We managed to run negative splits, taking turns leading each mile, and ran the 4th mile in about 6:30. That one definitely hurt, especially the last 200. Everytime I run a workout with people, I'm surprised at how much faster and easier the workout feels. It makes me realize the importance of the mental aspect of running. I think my high school track coach (Mr. Noble?) told me that races are 10 percent physical and 90 percent mental. He just might be right.
Note: 1.5 beers is too many on a weeknight after track practice for me these days. I didn't do any workout out at all on Thursday - unless you count my massage!
We managed to run negative splits, taking turns leading each mile, and ran the 4th mile in about 6:30. That one definitely hurt, especially the last 200. Everytime I run a workout with people, I'm surprised at how much faster and easier the workout feels. It makes me realize the importance of the mental aspect of running. I think my high school track coach (Mr. Noble?) told me that races are 10 percent physical and 90 percent mental. He just might be right.
Note: 1.5 beers is too many on a weeknight after track practice for me these days. I didn't do any workout out at all on Thursday - unless you count my massage!
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Thanks!
I'm honored to be invited!
I checked out the trinewbies plan and it looks great - my favorite part is where it says to piddle in the water on the easy swims ;)
I wonder if I will actually get myself to swim three times a week. I'm doing the Lake Stevens 70.3 which is August 15th. I don't have a time goal yet. I'm babying my left ankle and haven't run a step since 1/31. I've been biking, swimming a tad and filling in with weights, Pilates and yoga. Looking forward to more bike commutes with Tesia! We can spice it up by doing speed bursts.
I checked out the trinewbies plan and it looks great - my favorite part is where it says to piddle in the water on the easy swims ;)
I wonder if I will actually get myself to swim three times a week. I'm doing the Lake Stevens 70.3 which is August 15th. I don't have a time goal yet. I'm babying my left ankle and haven't run a step since 1/31. I've been biking, swimming a tad and filling in with weights, Pilates and yoga. Looking forward to more bike commutes with Tesia! We can spice it up by doing speed bursts.
This and That
As we speak, email invites are zipping through the internet to Amy and Tricia to contribute (or just read) to this phenomenal blog. Hopefully with 4 people training and posting, there will always be something new to read, because, lets be honest, I like to procrastinate on the finishing touches on my dissertation. And I'll have to brainstorm new blog titles to encompass more than the Portland natives, i.e., more procrastination!
1. The Madison tinmen are training for a race in Racine, WI (on Lake Michigan) on July 18th. Turns out this too is a 70.3 event as it was recently purchased by the whole Ironman corporation. As long as they don't change the flattish bike and run courses and maintain the point-to-point swim (WITH the current), I couldn't care less who owns the race.
2. Goals for the race? At this point, I'm thinking of it more as goals for the training. Tricia and Tesia have heard all about my woes of training last year (just to refresh your memory: solo training, quitting long rides, not enough bike miles, bum leg and no running, 2 weeks off for Iceland), so I'm aiming to improve on those issues and do really solid training. Of course, I'd love for it to turn out that I'm professionally fast when it comes to the race, but I would be totally satisfied if I did the same time as last year (5:50+) but actually felt good and strong doing it, rather than barely hauling my ass across the finish line.
3. The training program: http://www.trinewbies.com/tno_trainingprograms/tno_HIM.asp
Tricia used this several years ago and I've used it a couple times. I'm sure there are more hardcore programs out there, but I like the way this program is set up, know what's expected of me (this is year 3 after all), and really like the specific directions on what to do each day and especially what to do for each swim session. What I love most is not having to come up with my OWN plan. Turns out I am a docile athlete: if the plan says "do x," then I do x and don't ask questions. If it's up to me and in the AM I think "I'll do x," by the afternoon I'm more likely to think, "I'd like to nap on the couch instead." Thank god for training programs.
So for today's workout: 20 mile ride in gorgeous 60 degree weather and sun. My legs definitely felt the last couple days of exercise, but I actually felt more comfortable on the bike and even though my legs were burning and tired, I felt like I could bike harder than on Monday. We biked relatively hard, but no shakiness when I got home, yay!
Hope you're getting healthy in Seattle, Tesia!! Please tell me you're going to post about your "workouts" in Maui!
1. The Madison tinmen are training for a race in Racine, WI (on Lake Michigan) on July 18th. Turns out this too is a 70.3 event as it was recently purchased by the whole Ironman corporation. As long as they don't change the flattish bike and run courses and maintain the point-to-point swim (WITH the current), I couldn't care less who owns the race.
2. Goals for the race? At this point, I'm thinking of it more as goals for the training. Tricia and Tesia have heard all about my woes of training last year (just to refresh your memory: solo training, quitting long rides, not enough bike miles, bum leg and no running, 2 weeks off for Iceland), so I'm aiming to improve on those issues and do really solid training. Of course, I'd love for it to turn out that I'm professionally fast when it comes to the race, but I would be totally satisfied if I did the same time as last year (5:50+) but actually felt good and strong doing it, rather than barely hauling my ass across the finish line.
3. The training program: http://www.trinewbies.com/tno_trainingprograms/tno_HIM.asp
Tricia used this several years ago and I've used it a couple times. I'm sure there are more hardcore programs out there, but I like the way this program is set up, know what's expected of me (this is year 3 after all), and really like the specific directions on what to do each day and especially what to do for each swim session. What I love most is not having to come up with my OWN plan. Turns out I am a docile athlete: if the plan says "do x," then I do x and don't ask questions. If it's up to me and in the AM I think "I'll do x," by the afternoon I'm more likely to think, "I'd like to nap on the couch instead." Thank god for training programs.
So for today's workout: 20 mile ride in gorgeous 60 degree weather and sun. My legs definitely felt the last couple days of exercise, but I actually felt more comfortable on the bike and even though my legs were burning and tired, I felt like I could bike harder than on Monday. We biked relatively hard, but no shakiness when I got home, yay!
Hope you're getting healthy in Seattle, Tesia!! Please tell me you're going to post about your "workouts" in Maui!
Inquiring Minds, Here You Go!
1. My Tinman is May 2, aka the Wildflower Long Course triathlon
2. My goals for the Tinman are: a) stay calm in the water, b) practice my IM nutrition plan on the bike and c) pass as many people as possible on the run. (note to self: figure out IM nutrition plan). I don't have a time goal because I don't know the course - it's supposed to be hilly. Under 6 hours would be fantastic!
3. Yes! I was going to ask the same question. When I was lifting with Amy last night - she was showing me some of her hot pilates moves - I mentioned the blog to her. She's training for the Lake Stevens 70.3 in August. Let's invite our training friends to contribute! I can hardly wait to read Tricia's post on poop!
4. During my first two of weeks of training, I was hungry all. the. time. The post running and the swimming hunger has subsided, but after long bike rides, I can't be satiated. I drink my post ride chocolate milk, then eat until I'm full, but an hour later, I feel hungry for Idontknowwhat. I spend the rest of the day trying to figure out what to eat. Goldfish crackers are good. So are carnitas tacos with extra avocados. As long as it's not a gel or a gu, I'll eat it.
5. Cool? I think you have the wrong Tesia.
And now, some questions for Muggy:
1. When is your Tinman?
2. What is your goal time?
3. Where did you get your training plan? It sounds really specific. I am jealous.
4. Is that a spoonful of peanut butter in your hand?
2. My goals for the Tinman are: a) stay calm in the water, b) practice my IM nutrition plan on the bike and c) pass as many people as possible on the run. (note to self: figure out IM nutrition plan). I don't have a time goal because I don't know the course - it's supposed to be hilly. Under 6 hours would be fantastic!
3. Yes! I was going to ask the same question. When I was lifting with Amy last night - she was showing me some of her hot pilates moves - I mentioned the blog to her. She's training for the Lake Stevens 70.3 in August. Let's invite our training friends to contribute! I can hardly wait to read Tricia's post on poop!
4. During my first two of weeks of training, I was hungry all. the. time. The post running and the swimming hunger has subsided, but after long bike rides, I can't be satiated. I drink my post ride chocolate milk, then eat until I'm full, but an hour later, I feel hungry for Idontknowwhat. I spend the rest of the day trying to figure out what to eat. Goldfish crackers are good. So are carnitas tacos with extra avocados. As long as it's not a gel or a gu, I'll eat it.
5. Cool? I think you have the wrong Tesia.
And now, some questions for Muggy:
1. When is your Tinman?
2. What is your goal time?
3. Where did you get your training plan? It sounds really specific. I am jealous.
4. Is that a spoonful of peanut butter in your hand?
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Inquiring Minds Want to Know
Tesia, our avid readers want to know:
1. When is your tinman?
2. What's your tinman goal?
3. Can our blog link be shared with local training partners? (Tricia would like you to know that if she were posting today it would be entitled "Moderating Bowels")
4. Do you eat ALL the time? Have you gotten the point where you eat peanut butter straight out of the jar with a spoon?
5. And finally, how did you get to be SO cool, and how can I achieve the same level of coolness?
1. When is your tinman?
2. What's your tinman goal?
3. Can our blog link be shared with local training partners? (Tricia would like you to know that if she were posting today it would be entitled "Moderating Bowels")
4. Do you eat ALL the time? Have you gotten the point where you eat peanut butter straight out of the jar with a spoon?
5. And finally, how did you get to be SO cool, and how can I achieve the same level of coolness?
Sore Ass
That's right, my butt is letting me know how it feels about the new training regime and that message is coming through loud and clear in the form of ass pain. But, here's the real kicker, I kind of like it. It reminds me of the college days of being sore after cross country workouts, the kind of satisfying sore where you know you did a kickass job. I didn't exactly do a kickass job yesterday, but I'm still enjoying the muscle soreness. Yes, I have a problem.
Day 2 of training called for a 40-minute run and a 1000-meter swim, so Tricia and I met up at the gym at 5 (that's in the evening, in case you were thinking I was an early riser) and headed out for a run to be followed by the swim when the pool opened at 6. The run was interesting: sore quads and left ass/hip from biking yesterday and a bit more fatigued than recent runs have been (no surprise there). I'm still working on the new running form and feel like today was at least more successful than Sunday where I got so distracted talking to Tricia that I kept forgetting to suck in my abs and run with tiny strides. My evil hamstring did about as well as I could hope for the run which is good, and the extremely sore hip/ass on the left side is at least a nice change of discomfort. And as Paul always tells me, change is the spice of life.
The swim started out awesome.... for 50 meters before my upper body remembered that it had been on a bike the day before for the first time in forever and instantly tightened up and started to burn. Awesome. 300 meter warmup, 5x100 meter (average about 1:50) with 15 second recover, 200 meter cool down. I survived and that's about all I can say. At moments I felt like I was flailing in the water and not making any progress, gotta love it.
The only downside to the back-to-back run/swim is the lack of stretching after the run, although I do find that the swim at least loosens my legs up a bit (I'm pretending, don't ruin it for me). I did some stretching when I got home, did the evil PT (seriously painful), and now it's off to bed.
Goal for tomorrow: enjoy the afternoon's bike ride and include fewer parenthetical comments in my blog post.
Day 2 of training called for a 40-minute run and a 1000-meter swim, so Tricia and I met up at the gym at 5 (that's in the evening, in case you were thinking I was an early riser) and headed out for a run to be followed by the swim when the pool opened at 6. The run was interesting: sore quads and left ass/hip from biking yesterday and a bit more fatigued than recent runs have been (no surprise there). I'm still working on the new running form and feel like today was at least more successful than Sunday where I got so distracted talking to Tricia that I kept forgetting to suck in my abs and run with tiny strides. My evil hamstring did about as well as I could hope for the run which is good, and the extremely sore hip/ass on the left side is at least a nice change of discomfort. And as Paul always tells me, change is the spice of life.
The swim started out awesome.... for 50 meters before my upper body remembered that it had been on a bike the day before for the first time in forever and instantly tightened up and started to burn. Awesome. 300 meter warmup, 5x100 meter (average about 1:50) with 15 second recover, 200 meter cool down. I survived and that's about all I can say. At moments I felt like I was flailing in the water and not making any progress, gotta love it.
The only downside to the back-to-back run/swim is the lack of stretching after the run, although I do find that the swim at least loosens my legs up a bit (I'm pretending, don't ruin it for me). I did some stretching when I got home, did the evil PT (seriously painful), and now it's off to bed.
Goal for tomorrow: enjoy the afternoon's bike ride and include fewer parenthetical comments in my blog post.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Quick, before the Alka Seltzer kicks in!
I've been sick since Tuesday and while I'm feeling a lot better, I have the voice of a 60 year old smoker. Pack a day. And I have the cough to match. To ensure that I'm 100% by the time I leave for Maui next Tuesday, I've prescribed myself an early bedtime and plenty of drugs.
I've already medicated for the night and my eyelids are getting heavy, but I wanted to contribute to our new blog! Thanks for making it happen Muggy! This is so fun! I love the title. Way to use the words "tri" and "train" and "NE Portland."
My weekend workout was sick (as in kickass) so I'm going to start with it. As a side note, this is not intended to one-up you Muggy. All you readers out there (Muggy), remember that I'm three months into training for a Tinman (Wildflower 1/2) followed by an Ironman (CDA), so my workouts are a bit longer than Muggy's day 1.
On Saturday, I met up w/ a group of runners training for the Boston Marathon - their goal time is 3:10-3:15, so they're a bit (ok, a lot) faster than me. Luckily there was a less fast girl there who ran the 6 mile tempo workout w/ me (average pace: 7:07 - pretty damn good, for me). Afterwards, we went to Super Jock and Jill and I rewarded myself w/ a super cute running tanktop (for Maui! and summer!). I was parked around the corner and ran into the parking police on my way back to the car, right after she wrote me a ticket. $#*#%! That was an expensive run. Oh well, it's the overhead cost of life, right?
On Sunday, I went for a 50 mile ride with Ironman Tricia and her husband, Ironman Jeff (note: in this blog, I will refer to anyone who has completed an Ironman as Ironman. I feel like they've earned the title). I was super happy to have company because I get lost on my own, or end up doing the same route (let's see, shall I do Mercer Island or Mercer Island?) all the time. This ride let me see new scenery, climb some new hills ("I was born to climb") and practice descending ("with confidence and speed"). More on my new hill-climbing mantra tomorrow.
At the end of the ride, changed my clothes and ran a slow easy loop around Green Lake. It wasn't exactly easy. I had a blister on my big toe and all I could think about was the pint of chocolate milk waiting in the fridge. Ggghhhmmmm.
I've already medicated for the night and my eyelids are getting heavy, but I wanted to contribute to our new blog! Thanks for making it happen Muggy! This is so fun! I love the title. Way to use the words "tri" and "train" and "NE Portland."
My weekend workout was sick (as in kickass) so I'm going to start with it. As a side note, this is not intended to one-up you Muggy. All you readers out there (Muggy), remember that I'm three months into training for a Tinman (Wildflower 1/2) followed by an Ironman (CDA), so my workouts are a bit longer than Muggy's day 1.
On Saturday, I met up w/ a group of runners training for the Boston Marathon - their goal time is 3:10-3:15, so they're a bit (ok, a lot) faster than me. Luckily there was a less fast girl there who ran the 6 mile tempo workout w/ me (average pace: 7:07 - pretty damn good, for me). Afterwards, we went to Super Jock and Jill and I rewarded myself w/ a super cute running tanktop (for Maui! and summer!). I was parked around the corner and ran into the parking police on my way back to the car, right after she wrote me a ticket. $#*#%! That was an expensive run. Oh well, it's the overhead cost of life, right?
On Sunday, I went for a 50 mile ride with Ironman Tricia and her husband, Ironman Jeff (note: in this blog, I will refer to anyone who has completed an Ironman as Ironman. I feel like they've earned the title). I was super happy to have company because I get lost on my own, or end up doing the same route (let's see, shall I do Mercer Island or Mercer Island?) all the time. This ride let me see new scenery, climb some new hills ("I was born to climb") and practice descending ("with confidence and speed"). More on my new hill-climbing mantra tomorrow.
At the end of the ride, changed my clothes and ran a slow easy loop around Green Lake. It wasn't exactly easy. I had a blister on my big toe and all I could think about was the pint of chocolate milk waiting in the fridge. Ggghhhmmmm.
Day 1
Today was the first day of my training program for this summer's half-Ironman, or as my friend Tricia (my current Madison training partner) likes to call it, the Tinman. The program called for a 20-mile bike ride and a 1000-meter swim. Based on the week's scheduling and Tricia's busy schedule (in comparison to my final-days-of-the-dissertation freedom), we opted for the bike ride and will throw in the swim on Friday.
So after a day of proofing and formatting footnotes, I headed home early, dusted off my bike, pumped the tires (after a long search in the garage for the pump!), and hit the road. Madison's spring is early this year, thank god. It was a balmy 55 with little wind and lots of sun! Unfortunately, the street cleaners haven't been out yet and there's a solid 2+ feet of thick, nasty gravel on every shoulder which made the riding a little more hazardous. I tried to avoid the gravel as much as possible, but that meant riding in traffic a bit more which makes me nervous, especially on my first day on the roads in 9 months.
Despite my gravel anxiety, the ride was wonderful. It felt so great to be out on my bike, whizzing down the hills, and enjoying the great outdoors doing something other than running and getting to see parts of the area that I only see when on my bike. That said, the first 15 of this 20 miler felt way better than the end. Of course, the last 4 miles are when Tricia and I part ways AND when I encounter the hardest hills of the ride.
By the time I got home, I was tired, starving, and a bit shaky. If only my personal chef had prepared dinner for me! oh wait, I don't have a personal chef. It was 6:30 and my stomach was growling like Dennis at a stranger, so I threw some raisins and a banana down the hatch to quiet the beast, quickly threw together dinner, jumped in the shower, and then feasted. After an hour of lying on the couch (I told you I was tired!), I cleaned the kitchen, straightened the house, and did my daily PT which I hate (it may be time to re-enact the star chart system I've been using in 2010).
Here's hoping I don't have gravel nightmares tonight!
So after a day of proofing and formatting footnotes, I headed home early, dusted off my bike, pumped the tires (after a long search in the garage for the pump!), and hit the road. Madison's spring is early this year, thank god. It was a balmy 55 with little wind and lots of sun! Unfortunately, the street cleaners haven't been out yet and there's a solid 2+ feet of thick, nasty gravel on every shoulder which made the riding a little more hazardous. I tried to avoid the gravel as much as possible, but that meant riding in traffic a bit more which makes me nervous, especially on my first day on the roads in 9 months.
Despite my gravel anxiety, the ride was wonderful. It felt so great to be out on my bike, whizzing down the hills, and enjoying the great outdoors doing something other than running and getting to see parts of the area that I only see when on my bike. That said, the first 15 of this 20 miler felt way better than the end. Of course, the last 4 miles are when Tricia and I part ways AND when I encounter the hardest hills of the ride.
By the time I got home, I was tired, starving, and a bit shaky. If only my personal chef had prepared dinner for me! oh wait, I don't have a personal chef. It was 6:30 and my stomach was growling like Dennis at a stranger, so I threw some raisins and a banana down the hatch to quiet the beast, quickly threw together dinner, jumped in the shower, and then feasted. After an hour of lying on the couch (I told you I was tired!), I cleaned the kitchen, straightened the house, and did my daily PT which I hate (it may be time to re-enact the star chart system I've been using in 2010).
Here's hoping I don't have gravel nightmares tonight!
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