Please Don't Take This the Wrong Way

We each have events or accomplishments that we get totally excited about, right?  Is sharing those achievements bragging or boasting? Perhaps. Is it OK to do it? Perhaps. Do we sometimes take it too far? Perhaps. Am I guilty in this arena? Most definitely.

When I share part of an achievement or something I am excited that I have accomplished it is in NO WAY supposed to make anyone else feel less about themselves. I compete with myself. Let me repeat that, I compete with myself. And I applaud all those who are doing the same - who are striving to be better today than they were yesterday, in ANY arena.

 I started this higher level of competition two years ago. And I will say, without feeling ashamed, that I am thoroughly proud of how far I have come. If that is seen as boasting, then so be it. I could not even swim when I began this triathlon escapade. Do you hear me? I could not swim. Sure I could stay afloat, and I swam in the ocean growing up, and had what I thought was a marginal freestyle. Get in the water with a coach and be humbled. That is what happened to me. And now I am consistently in the top 25% of the swim times. I could sit back and say, look at me, look at how far I've come. But really what I am thinking inside is, how can I get faster. That's my personality in a nutshell.

In the last 8 days I have had two very different Wednesdays. 

Wed, Jan 25th - 9am - Goal: 3 hour bike/13 mile run

I set out on the bike feeling great. I was trying out some new nutritional products and was just coming off of a pretty nasty head cold, but felt good enough that I wanted to do the brick workout. This was to be the first larger brick of the season for me, and the first 1/2 Ironman distance brick of many to come in the next 9 weeks before my first race of the season. Everything went according to plan. Nutrition was on, heartrate was in my zone 2 (approx 140-150bpm) and the ride felt easy. I rode 48 miles. I arrived home a little after noon and took about 10 minutes to transition to running. I changed clothes, used the bathroom, etc. As soon as I started running I noticed my heartrate was at 140. Unusually high after a relaxing 10 minute transition. I was a bit concerned but felt ok so I kept running. This was supposed to be a zone 2, easy run; get through it slowly to build my endurance base. Zone 2 is a place where you feel  the exercise is almost too easy, like, "I'm not really getting a workout here." If your breathing is labored at all, you are going too fast. An easy and talkative conversation should be possible the entire time.

Right off, my heart rate was too high, even though I felt like I was in my zone 2. What felt to me like my HR was at a 145, was registering on my monitor as a 165. Was the monitor off? Was being sick the few days prior causing my HR to increase? Was I dehydrated? Any of these could have been the culprit. Since I felt ok I kept going, and disregarded what my HR monitor was saying. I was running at a pace that for me should have been in my low zone 2 and I felt ok doing it. The first 5 miles were uneventful and I felt pretty good. Right about mile 6 I ducked into the local McDonalds to use the restroom, my stomach was churning. That helped and I kept going, though I no longer felt ok. I felt as though I might vomit at any moment and anything I ate or drank (liquid shots and water) tasted awful. I trudged through 3 more miles - only because that's how far out  I was and it was the fastest route home. I went a total of 9 miles, my average pace was 10:52, which included some walking in the last 3 miles, and my heart rate was in my zone 3 the whole time (avg 163). Way too high for the pace I was going. I came inside and wanted to colapse. I forced myself to drink my recovery drink (which I really thought might not stay down - fortunately it did). The next couple hours I was exhausted, but then oddly, I actually felt pretty good later on that day. SO WEIRD!!

After a discussion with my coach about the day. We decided to take a break for about a week to make sure I avoid getting over trained (crashing my system of sorts, from which it can take months, or more, to recover). An easy week followed.


Wednesday, Feb 1st - Goal: 1.5 hr bike/4 mile run
Today was originally supposed to be a 3 hr ride followed by an 8 mile run. Because of last week's crash though, it was cut in half. 1.5 hr bike/4mile run.

Again I started the day feeling great. The whole bike ride I found myself smiling and thinking how lucky I am to be able to do this. It is a beautiful day today in Denver and was warmer than I thought it was supposed to be. Sunny and 40's, no wind. Dress appropriately and it's a great riding weather. I went from my house to the top of the hill at the Chatfield Reservoir, and back. Approx 26 mile round trip. I stayed where it was pretty easy (HR-wise) and it took me 1 hr 40 min with an average speed of 15.2 mph - nothing to boast about there ;) My bike strength needs improvement for sure, but slowly and surely it is coming.

The part of today's workout that I am very excited about came after the bike. I took about 5 min to transition to running and started out with a smile on my face and feeling great. I wanted to try to push this 4 mile run, if I felt I could. The first 2 miles of the run are mostly uphill, but with some relieving downhills mixed in. mile 3 is a wonderful down, and 4 is up or flat. I ran the loop at a 7:47min/mile pace. I've never run that loop, that fast, stand alone, or after a bike ride. And I felt great doing it. I could have kept going (maybe not too long at that pace), but at least for a little longer. ;)

I love good days!

And that's the end of my boasting, for today.

TAPER

Isn't that a lovely word? I absolutely LOVE that word and all it stands for. We are 17 days away from my first Ironman, and after completing my long brick on Friday, (the 14th) - I am in taper mode. Friday was a big one, the biggest yet - actually all of last week was pretty heavy, this week is still a lot of training, but the distances are less, so it just feels easier! Lots of Running - 82 miles of running in 2 weeks (fri 7-fri 21).

10/7 Friday:18 mile easy run

10/10 Monday: 6 am Crossfit / 10 am: 10.5 mile easy run
10/11 Tuesday: rest - I actually got to play volleyball Tuesday night - I've been missing it!
10/12 Wed:  2.4 mile swim / 10 mile run
10/13 Thursday:  1 hr on the spin bike - easy
10/14 Friday: 106 miles Bike /16 mile run
10/15 Sat - Rest

10/17 Mon: 6am Crossfit / Spin class/ swim 1700m
10/18 Tues 7 am- 11.5 mile easy run (with 3x1.25mile steady pace intervals in the last half)
10/19 Wed: 2 hour bike
10/20 Thurs: 6am Crossfit / 45 mile bike/8mile run
10/21 Fri: 75mile bike/10 mile run
10/22 Sat: rest

This is where I get to Ride

When I signed up for this Ironman thing, it was ONLY because time-wise I felt I could do it without taking time away from my first and most important job of being a mom. 4 out of 5 kids are in school from 8am-3pm. The other one, my darling 3 year old, is in preschool 9 hours/week - mon/wed/fri 8:45-11:45. With those 9 hours, an afternoon playgroup for my 3 year old on Wednesdays (once every 3 weeks I host the playgroup); my early mornings (home by 7:15/30 at the latest in order to get kids ready and off to school), and with an occasional long morning on Saturday, I can have 20 hours/week to train without taking "mom" time away. My 3 year old is my little buddy the rest of the time during the day and we do dance and gymnastics classes, play with friends, shop at Costco, Target, and the grocery store, cook, clean, and all the other stuff that comes with living in a household of 7.

So today was one of those Wednesdays where Lydia was off to her friend's house after school, until 3 when I would pick her up, and then we go get her siblings from school. That gives me from 8:45-3pm for a long day - and while that is a long day of swimming, biking, and running; for those really long days - it is actually not enough time! So to remedy this, my husband has rearranged his schedule so that he can be the one in the mornings on Wednesdays to get the kids up and off to school. Fewsh! Now I can leave at 5 or 6 am to get all the training in for those days when I have to RIDE 100 MILES and then RUN 10+ afterwards (which is what I needed to do today), or for those days when playgroup is at my house and I have limited time. Unfortunately, we are in Sept and it is still dark at 5 and 6 am. Which means I waited until 6:20 this morning to take off on my bike for my FIRST EVER 100 MILE RIDE.

The Florida Ironman is a FLAT course, but as there is nothing flat around here, my hundred mile ride was full of rolling hills. I did not go into the mountains, I'm no fool! The ascent was still approx 4500 feet total though.  It was tough, but doable. I used the ride to practice my fueling, making sure to drink and eat every 20-30 minutes, 1 PB&H sandwich, 2 slices of banana bread, 6 gels, and 4 water bottles of gatorade over 6 hours and 20 min. I wanted to get off the bike and feel good running. I did a gorgeous ride today, it actually threatened rain ALL day which stressed me out a little bit, and the fact that I did not see even one other cyclist the whole first 94 miles (I guess they all knew it was really supposed to rain, but lucky for me, it did not!)

This is where I get to ride:

Just about a mile or two after I took this picture, there were two deer bucks on the right side of the road about 50 yards in front of me. I slowed, not knowing what they would do, and also to get my phone out to take a picture. They were beautiful, one had medium sized antlers and the other one had smaller ones. They started towards me, which made me slow even more, and then they crossed in front of me about 10 yards away, crossed the street bounding and as hopped right over the wire fence as if it wasn't even there. It was really cool! That was at about mile 75, and I was thinking how lucky I am that I get to do this, in this environment and see the beautiful things around me.

I finished the ride feeling really good. I was very pleased! My awesome running friend met me to run after my ride. She is a wonderful woman to agree to that. She is a faster runner than me, so to run with me after a 100 mile ride, knowing it will be slower than usual - - - - let's just say I LOVE her!! And she actually pushed me to run faster than I ever thought I would after that ride. I was hoping to have a 10 min average for the marathon portion of the Ironman (4:20). In just an open marathon my goal would be 8:30min/mile average (3:45). Today she helped me run at a 9 min/mile pace for 10.5 miles, on hills! I was way stoked on that. Maybe I can run a 4 hour marathon at the Ironman - it is a totally flat course, at sea level. Or maybe today was just extra good because I was stoked on making it all 100 miles on the bike for the first time. Time will tell. All in all, a great day for such a long day.

Today is the first day where I legitimately feel as though I will be able to accomplish the Ironman feat. And maybe even accomplish it well. It is good to gain confidence in training.

Back to School Brick

My kids started school last week. August 2nd - kinda early, but we have a modified traditional schedule where we get a 2 week fall break and a 2 week spring break, so we start super early. It's good and bad. Anyway - 4 out of 5 started last week with #4 starting kindergarten - it's a full day kindergarten but they did half days for the first week to transition them into it. So that day, Tuesday the 2nd I was scheduled to swim a mile, bike 60, then run 10.  Almost like doing a half ironman, my husband had the same workout. I swam from 6-7am, came home and got kids ready for school, took them for their first day, then was planning to take this little one on my ride. I knew I wouldn't get 60 miles pulling her, I was hoping for 40, I only had 3 hours before I needed to be back to the school to pick up my kindergartner by 11:20.

Just as I was getting ready to head out I get a call from my husband. He is about an hour into the ride portion of the brick and has had 2 flat tires. He's out of tubes, which means I get to go pick him up. He was about 20 minutes away (driving) so I go get him and bring him home and then head out on my own bike ride. I now have only about an hour and 45 minutes for the ride. I got about 25 miles in as I finished at the school to pick up my kindergartner. She had a fabulous day, by the way and LOVES school. Always nice when they do! 

We came home, had lunch, got the babysitter, and I headed out on my 10 mile run. At about mile 8 my plantar fasciitis started acting up. I then got a nasty sore throat that night that I am still (over a week later) getting rid of. I know when I push my self too hard my body rebels and I get sick. It actually doesn't happen very often, thankfully.

I was supposed to run again Thursday and got about half way down my street when I had to turn around because of the fasciitis. Went to crossfit instead that day. Friday I had PT and she worked on my foot (along with all the other ailments I have currently!).

Highgrade to CityView Brick

Longest Brick of the Season: 43 mile bike/6 mile run

I have been afraid of this ride ever since I went out Christmas Eve morning with my husband and almost froze to death (not really, but I seriously have never been so cold in my life - shaking and losing control of my limbs on the way down!) -but that's another story for a different day. It's a 40+ mile bike with A LOT of climbing up steep mountain roads - approx. 6000 feet of elevation gain in those 42/43 miles.

I also have never done this ride completely and knew going with my husband was not the best option for my first time, being that he is so much faster than me and I don't want to hold him back when he is trying to get a good training ride in.

So, my neighbor across the street is actually the only other girl I know personally who is as into these triathlons as I am. And fortunately we are both just starting to get into the longer stuff. She is doing the Cozumel Ironman just 3 weeks after my Florida one. Both of our firsts. Because of that, our training timeframe is pretty similar.

Yesterday we headed out at 5:30am to hit this ride, and then run an easy 6. I have a race on Saturday, so I was not sure how smart it was to do a ride and run like this 3 days prior. But in the big picture, it's more important for me to do these tougher rides to get ready for my bigger races (1/2 IM in Aug, and then Florida). We drove to Aspen Grove (about 10 miles from here and 10 miles to the start of the ride), there is a great flat running course right at Aspen Grove that travels along the Platte River that we would hit when we returned from the bike.

The ride was actually, surprisingly, great! I was very relieved to have it feel doable. The first few miles of climb are a steady slight climb that got me all the way to my smallest gear. That worried me a bit, knowing I had nowhere lighter to go! But it worked out, I alternated between staying in, and getting up out the saddle once we got to the steeper stuff. It is a beautiful ride. Gorgeous mountain scenes. And most importantly, my legs felt great getting off  and starting the run. That may be due to the fact that the second half of the bike was mostly coming back down! That was fun! The ride took 3:17 of ride time. MPH average was 12.9.

The view at the top of City View - a bit hazy, but that's Denver down there.

 Same spot as the above picture, but facing the other direction

I just had a bike fit riding instructional on Monday from my husband's tri coach. Steve Pye - I leaned a ton and hope to be able to implement what I have learned over time. I felt better on this ride than I have in awhile (if ever) - I am hoping the bike fit (and my new knowledge of how to actually sit on the bike) are to credit for this and that it will continue. I do still have the numb foot issue, it is worse when I climb, and hopefully time and improvement in my pedal stroke and climbing technique will be able to alleviate that.

The run was an out an back on the Platte River trail and really felt great. It takes about a mile for me to get into the run and feel good. We took it easy and maintained about a 9 min average. I felt great on the run and knew I could go faster if I wanted to, but was happy to keep an easy pace. With a race on Saturday, the last thing I needed to do was push it hard on either the bike or the run.

Overall, a great day that has helped boost my confidence in my ability to climb on the bike.

Almost Blown Away

I was really looking forward to this morning, it was going to be my first ride in about 3 weeks (spring break, weather, kids, etc). The plan was to head out about 8:30am and return by around 11 in order to get a quick run in before picking up my two sassy princesses at noon. Forecast said 40* and wind at 8-10mph out of the SSW. I headed out a bit late and arrived at my girlfriends house at 9:15. I was hot, the temp was closer to 50* and the winds were much stronger than 8-10 mph - maybe 15-20 would have been my guess.  

We headed south - right into the wind - and uphill. If there is one weather element that I dislike the most, it's wind. The climb was slight for the first few miles so it was doable, and then to the rolling hills. When we finally turned around we FLEW back a good portion of the way, that was the fun part. But of course, going fast and easy always goes by so much faster, so it seemed short! Then we turned west to head home, the winds had picked up and were up to 30mph gusts by now (I checked when I got home because they seemed way stronger than what the forecast had said). And of course, we were heading dead on, into the wind, with gusts coming from the south that almost pushed me off the road a few times. I was seriously CRAWLING up the last hill before turning north to go the last 2 miles home. Those last two miles flew by again with the wind behind me. 

My initial plan was to hop off and run 4.5 miles. About half way through the ride I changed it to 2.5, I blamed the Cross Fit session I had yesterday.  I know, I'm a wimp! I get wimpier, I assure you! When I got home I ran in to change and thought, well, I could take a shower before I go get my girls, or I could run a couple miles and shower after we go to their swimming lessons (which was the original plan). So, I wimped out, and showered. I really did not want to face that wind again. My husband is getting ready for the St. George Ironman and has to ride 100 miles tomorrow (between a swim and a run), and it's supposed to be even windier tomorrow. I don't envy him.

First Brick of the Season

Today was gorgeous here in CO (50*s and sunny, no heavy wind (wind is my LEAST favorite!!)). My plan was to go on a nice long (at least for this early in the season) bike ride. My friend came with, always better with a friend. We rode rolling hills for almost 2.5 hours, covering 45 miles - it's amazing how many "country" roads there are when you look for them.

As I neared home, I knew I had time before my girls needed to be picked up so I decided to hop off the bike and run a short hilly loop around my neighborhood (nothing is flat around here). The main problem was that my left foot, from about midway down and through the toes, was completely numb. This happens to me on every long bike ride and while it's not a problem for the bike ride, it becomes quite a nuisance for the run.

Today was particularly bad, I could almost not feel my foot at all, I actually didn't know if I'd make it to the end of my street. But I kept going and eventually it became bearable at least. The loop is 2.4 miles and I averaged an 8:19 pace. I was pleasantly surprised at that, and actually thought my watch was wrong, you know - not connecting with the satellites or something, because it seemed fast to me, and I did not feel like I was going fast. It was hard, as it always is after the bike, but I trudged through and made it home, still unable to feel my toes, but at least the ball of my foot had some feeling at that point.

I guess one of my next stops needs to be the bike store, get those pedals adjusted, or different shoes, or something. I can't do the numb foot thing all the time, it's really a pain!