Post of Shame

What can I say?  It's Summer's fault?

Meh.

Last I checked, my most recent update on this blog was sometime in June.  Over two months have passed and I swear it happened with a blink of an eye.  I stayed on track most of that time even though I laxed on my updates.  I figured that as long as I continued with my faux-training plan, I was still building my base and coming here every week was okay to skip out on because with limited time, something had to give.  Here's a run down of what did and didn't happen and where I am now.

I started this "super simple 70.3 Ironman training plan" immediately following the 4th of July weekend.  Initially, my thought was that starting at that time would get me ready for Ironman 70.3 Miami late October.  I really liked the swim and run courses on this and the idea that my family could be there along with my hometown family and friends seemed like icing.  My hubby was on board and even considered for a hot minute that maybe he could train with me and DO. IT. TOO.  (gasp...too many more thoughts and words about this...it totally would deserve its own post on what all happened there).  I had browsed through the training weeks in this plan and I thought "hmm, totally doable". Of course, I was only concerned with the physical aspects of "doing" it.  I cringed a little at the later weeks of the plan as there never seems to be a true recovery time and the brick workouts appeared to be very intense but nonetheless, I was pretty confident in my ability to get it done.

What I put in the back drawer of my brain was the schedule.  The changes in the schedule that were fast approaching, specifically.  Week after week, I swam, ran and biked as prescribed.  I bricked early in the morning and squeezed my long rides on Fridays and runs on Sundays.  In the mean time, I looked into the logistics of Miami.  Travel with or without kids?  Bike transport?  The schedule, like an internet pop-up, came into the frame and it reminded me "oh yea, school will be in session.  And soccer.  And golf"  Uh-oh.

I had a Plan B in my back pocket if I did in fact continue on this journey without obstacles...Ironman70.3 Austin.  Closer to home and a week or two later than the first race, Austin was the initial obvious choice for a first 70.3.  The thing is, I read sooo many reviews about the swim and bike that just seemed awful.  Chip and seal sucks and swimming in a plant lake leaves much to be desired in the scenery department.  The topper on this one is that the run is 3 loops.  UGH.  I hate loops!! Clearly, this is not where I wanted my first (and quite possibly last) run at 70.3 to be.

Because of all these excuses reasons, Austin was in pencil.  I wasn't about to pull the trigger on registering until later on in training when I knew I felt strong and ready. (Miami has since sold out)

I managed 6 weeks of training.  Even on a mini vacation getaway, I managed long runs and squeezed bikes and swims before and after travel.  On that sixth week, swims were tough because I just couldn't get to the pool.  And then, we went on another getaway.  There was lap-length pool there but getting up early to swim before the vacationers came in was TOUGH.  I succumbed to vacation mode.  I needed it really and I was guilt free about it.  I managed to even run 9 miles on our time away.  My husband was so impressed.  I ran down the hill from the hotel, under and across the freeway to the nearby trail and back finishing up that treacherous hill to get to my shower, breakfast and pool.  Beast mode!

I was ready to conquer week 7 when I got back home.  Except that back to school, work deadlines and a travelling husband also happened that week.  I wore a cape on week 7, really.  I did it all. Everything you could possibly imagine that needed to get done, I did.  Except swim, bike and run.

School started, new schedules at 3 different schools and a SUPER busy entrepreneur husband that was cooking up big deals and was totally in the "zone" and me...in the busiest time of year for a corporate tax person.

Y'all.  I'm motivated and at times crazy about getting what I need to get done, done.  My priorities are not skewed, however.  My family always comes first.   I thought that missing all my workouts was going to really mess with my head, emotions and body very quickly.  I thought I was going to turn into a raving lunatic craving and needing to "escape" the chaos for a run.  I am happy to say that I was wrong.

I feel pretty freakin' fantastic (and accomplished) to get all the work done at the office (at whatever hour necessary), support my hubby's endeavours all the while being a supermom who treks across town for soccer practices, carpools, cooks, tutors, launders and still has time to play princess, kick a ball and ride tricycles with the littles and doesn't tire of the thousands of "moms" I hear on the daily. My heart is full, I am so very grateful and I am ok with not sleeping much.  So far.

I have not had a workout (the 9 mile run) since August 16th.  Technically and in reality, that is not THAT long.  But with my history, that could snowball into what I am feeling right now "I feel great, I am never getting up at 5 for a workout again!!" and then soon after, I feel awful and starting again is much like dragging my 3 year old to her new PK3 class, lots of tears and whining is involved.  Ahem.

So what's the plan, you say?  How do I stay ahead of this unpreventable situation that is looming given your time constraints, you say?  Well...I'm either hiring a tutor, housekeeper (that cooks) and putting my babysitter on the weekly payroll,  or quitting work.

Bahahahaha.  Dream on, sister.  I don't know is the answer.  Sleep even less?  Honestly, I don't know. I have been creative before but usually much more motivated than I am right now.  Maybe another week will get me itching and motivated.  Maybe a short run on this upcoming free and clear (so far) holiday weekend will spark the motivation.  Because that post run feeling is SO AWESOME.  Again, I don't know.

I hope all of you that still come out here looking for my updates are staying active and keeping with your programs.  My workout buddy has not quit on me (yet)...she still texts and emails in hopes that one day I WILL join her at the pool at 6 or for the 5:30am Define Rev class.  She is still hoping that I agree to do the TowneLake Labor Day Tri with her but I just don't feel like doing it because I know I'd be beating myself up during the entire swim, bike and run about how weak, tired I feel and what a miserable experience it is.  Not being prepared will do that to you.  I want Tri's to be FUN!  The reality is that a 3 week hiatus will make it not fun for me...pretty sure.

In any event, I will keep you all posted when I figure this out because you know what?  If I do, I will most certainly want to SHARE!! Lol!

Have a wonderful Labor Day weekend everyone and TGIF!!

Valerie :)

Springs Back Sprint Tri Race Recap

First and foremost:  I DIDN'T DROWN!!!

That right there is cause for celebration!  And the fact that I can write about it...yay!

I mentioned my trepidation about open water swimming so I won't beat that dead horse any further. Bottom line, I was way out of my comfort zone.  But I was sucking it up and faking strength for my friend...who was scared shitless.  She almost didn't come to the race having battled a sinus infection for what seems years.  Poor thing...she hadn't even been in the pool in over a month and yet she was going to come out.  Her plan was to check it out and make a game time call...worst case, she would be my spectator.  Of course, she's much like me...once your foot is in the water, what the hell, race the whole dang thing.  Right?

So...when she told me she was terrified, I wasn't about to tell her that "oh, shit, me too!"  Rather, I tried to pass along the tidbid of good advice that I had received in the prior week or so.  The whole flip on your back and breathe bit, that the breast stroke and even the doggie paddle were options and that there were people everywhere on kayaks and boats to save us if necessary, I told her.  And also, good news is that there was only ONE alligator in the lake, so odds are it was a pet, fed and caged for such an event.  (wink, wink)

Oh goody, just one!

Honestly, we are swimming in a lake with an ALLIGATOR?!  I have lived near and travelled often to the Everglades...seeing those suckers in a body of water is best from an airboat.  Just sayin'.

Having been thrilled that I had company to this event really helped my jitters and all kidding aside, my friend has a very calming effect on me.  She's positive and reassuring (even when she's terrified). We talked about imagining the beach, swimming in the ocean with the sun beating on us.  And after a collective "yeah, right", we decided to just watch all the waves heading out before us and try to determine how in the heck the buoys were set up and how far we needed to go.

All the olympic distance waves went out first.  This was great for two reasons...1- the alligator had plenty to choose for breakfast before we got in the water. 2- it got warmer AND lighter out and we can see where exactly the "turn" for the sprint wave was (since us old fogies were one of the last waves).

SWIM

We agreed that we would remain calm.  Backstroke if necessary the whole way but calm nonetheless.  And then the fog horn goes off.  What it in the hell?  Everyone of us (22 female over 40) jumped out our skins and took off!  So much for that zen moment!

The temperature of the water was at 77 (perfect) and the sun was out to make it warm but nonetheless, those conditions did not make the visibility any better.  Also, I was wearing a brand new pair of goggles so that I would ensure that the anti-fog coating was spot on.  I wished I had tested them first...fear of leaks was also in the back of my mind.  :\

Hard as I tried to just "swim", regular freestyle, not being able to see has a way of making things very claustrophobic.   I really didn't think of all things, that that would be the issue.  But it was.  I probably swam a decent 25M before I start thinking that I needed to flip.  The more I thought of it, the more irregular my breath would get.  And uuuugggghhh...here we go.  A quick flip to regain composure, right?  Uh, no.  I backstroked until I ran over a body (indicating that I was at least moving in the forward direction to exit the lake!)  I am sure "I" was the one to piss plenty of people off by bumping them...sorry ladies! :/  I tried the side arm swim, a little doggie paddle and then a few "regular" strokes.  It wasn't awful but it was shortlived and when I came back up, I was way off course.  Ahh!  More strokes to get back to where I was.  I had plenty of time later to think about just how fast I was "regular" swimming to get off course in just a few strokes.  If only I could kick my own ass to get it together and GO I'd be out of the damn lake so much faster!

Clearly, there is LOTS of room for improvement and we can all agree that swimming my forte, is not. Out of 10 in my age group, my swim came in 8th.  Meh.  Not surprised but ok with it just the same.
Final time was right about the same as it was in the pool with my "mock" race.  11 minutes...at least I can say I know how to simulate like a mofo.  Lol.  ...and the goggles were PERFECT! No leaking, no discomfort or fog!

On to transition but first, uh...rocks at the exit of the lake.  Not little rocks...like BOULDERS. OUCH! More on this later. :/

T1

A quick goofy "I made it" grin to the photographer (OMG, most hilarious picture ever)  and running to T1.  Why again did we rack in the LAST possible rack?  Good grief, it felt like a half hour in there but luckily that wasn't the case.  Still...I was tied 6/7 place in transition but better than 3+ minutes at the last tri!

BIKE

Oh, the bike.  Yay, the bike!  I heart the bike!

I quickly settled in and started scrolling through all my dad's advice in my head.  First, fuel.  I PRE-opened my Hammer Gel and had already mixed some Hammer Heed into one of my water bottles. (I have never tried either but my dad has done some extensive research...he is an all around guru and when he researches and endorses, you listen!)  I ate my gel and quickly discovered that like bike grease on my calf, getting sticky fingers (and handlebars) is inevitable for a clutzo like me.  However, this is better than the alternative of trying to open the package while riding.  I have attempted this and have given up (see clutzo comment above) in fear that I'd topple and eat it (the pavement, not the gel).

It was a fairly flat course with slight hills back in the more rural areas.  It was quite scenic and enjoyable.  However, it was windy!  It cried Mary as my dad would say.  I didn't realize how windy it was until afterwards when I heard others speaking of it AND seeing some of the bike speed results.  I was expecting low 20s, high teens for the uber fast in the age group but I was surprised to see it top off at 17.8...my average mph was 16.7 so I'm glad to have held my own.

Again, I charged up my old Garmin (secured to the charger with packing tape to get a true charge) and hoped it would work for my bike and run segments of the race.  They sorta did.  The bike didn't show me what I needed (speed, cadence) only total "lap" time.  I really had no idea what my mph was at the time other than each mile was 3:40, 3:22, 3:07 etc.  It took me a few miles to see a pattern and after that I just tried to "beat" the last mile.  That, coupled with trying to pass people kept me trucking along.

No road kill this time or bugs in my mouth (thank goodness)...just country smells that seem extra potent first thing in the morning...manure, bacon, fresh cut grass, jasmine.   No complaints but am glad I took an allergy pill before heading out first thing!

T2

It was clearly faster than the last transition but it's a blur.  I just remember seeing the girl who we racked our bikes by heading out for her run (I caught up!).

RUN

This is so tough.  It's so not like "just" going for a run.  Everything feels so different and some things, numb even.  My legs were on autopilot and I took that time to sort out my technology issues.  I didn't exactly nail the Garmin button pushing from to T2 to Run but I noticed from the get go that it was not on "MultiSport" (which I had double checked the night before...ugh!) so my running pace was again, not helping.  In the mean time, my much bigger phone was sitting in my race belt and began thumping against me at every step.  I had to take it out and while there, decided to run Nike+ for the sake of pacing.

After the initial distraction, I was back to realizing my legs felt awful but still better than the last time.  I also felt tired!  A 5k seemed like a long way at that moment.  But then I turned on the mind game.  I looked around and the scenery was so quiet and peaceful out in the 'burbs!  The route went out of the subdivision into a trail that backs up around it and was all paved.  There were quite a few bridges and elevations so it did not seem as flat a course as I thought.

I wanted to stop so bad.  So many times.  But I gave myself some random point to achieve before allowing myself to think of it again (the bench, bridge, end of the pond) and when I got there, I moved the target further.  Seems silly, but it worked.  The further I went, the hotter I got. When I arrived at the fork in the road where the Olympic and Sprint courses divided,  I realized I was happy to be racing Sprint and wondered how I could possibly EVER do the other.  I was pooped!

I saw a young boy on the course walking and I tried hard to motivate him to go, he smiled at me but was not budging...and the words just stuck to ME and kept me moving forward.  I started visualizing different muscles in my legs doing their job and I think my quads must have been sleeping.  I felt like once I engaged them, I was able to move faster and with more determination to finish.  I caught up to someone in my age group (that had passed me on the bike) and felt a little victory and then later, caught up to and passed the girl we racked by (that I saw in transition).  These two things were my final motivators to not stop and push to finish strong.

I couldn't help but fist pump through the finish (with giant phone in hand)! Garmin had very little use to me and Nike, which I started late in the game, came in with a 3.3 distance.  It's no wonder when I asked the volunteer jokingly on the course "are we there yet?!", I was surprised he said "just over a mile" when I would be done in about a 1/4 mile by my calculation.  Yikes!

FINISH!

After sending a text home about my survival and scoping out the after race scene, I headed back to the finish line and right then, my friend was coming through!  SOOOOOO excited to watch her cross!!  We did it!! Yay!!!  She was sick and undertrained and she kicked some serious booty.  I am so proud!  We grabbed our breakfast tacos (the true reward at the end of the race!), bananas and KIND bars and took a second to sit and chat.  I remembered I had left my flip flops by the dock and ran over there to get them.  It felt so far!  Haha! But when I got back, my shoes suddenly felt tight.  I kicked them off and noticed a huge gash on the inside of my right foot!!  OMG.  That rock on the lake exit got me good.  I'm so glad I didn't know of it until after the race!  It is right under on the flip flop strap so I hobbled all the way to the car.  Ouch! I've got my first official triathlon war wound! Haha.

I'm not signed up for another race until the Oktoberfest Sprint that I learned is the exact same course as this.  I am tempted to switch that to an Olympic but I still have a few bigger decisions to make by the end of the month regarding HIM.  I have a race in July, August and September to sign up for too but again, the distances will hinge on 70.3.

Stay tuned!!

Valerie


My Last Race Report: No Label Sprint Tri
My Swimming Trepidation: Here and Here

Another week bites the dust

My goals this week were fairly general as they were last but I decided on a whim to add a tad of structure.  It may be a little ambitious but I am going to try to stick with it.

I regularly read the TriSwimCoach Facebook updates and usually, they are pretty spot on to what I am feeling or thinking about in the swimming department at any given moment (fears of open water, getting faster, new drills, conquering boredom on long swims, etc.)  I decided to download their app (2.99) because they have training plans on there that I think could WILL be helpful to ramp up my "pseudo" training.

I chose the 70.3 plan because I really wanted to test the waters (pun intended) on whether I can "handle" it.  It ramps up pretty quick so I hope that I can hang on.  The time commitment to longer workouts can be less than feasible most of the time so I'll just have to play it by ear.

The Goals:

Run - 10 miles
Bike - 2:15 (time)
Swim - 5000M (before taking the training plan plunge)
Strength - at least 1 class
Yoga - 1 class
Brick - 1

The accomplishments:

Monday - Cancelled PowerOne class so I had to improvise.  15 min Ab workout & 15 min Dynamic Yoga workout on the Nike Training Club app + 30 min on the trainer.
Tuesday - 5 mile TM run
Wednesday - Day 1 of 70.3 training plan - 1700M
Thursday - Barbell Strength (3 weeks in a row coming to this one...it's tough but a great full body workout!)
Friday - The power went out in the whole building at work and they sent us all home...FREE DAY!!
Side note:  What would you do with your day off knowing that the weather will be sketchy the whole incoming weekend?  Sure I could have gone shopping (which I really need to do), run errands, get my nails done (Oh, yea, I shoulda done that) or just napped (aaahh...sounds good now) So is it nuts that I get excited at the possibility of cramming in all my workouts left in one day instead?! Hmm.

Ok, sorry.

Friday - 30 mile bike OUTSIDE!!, 5k run (OUTSIDE) BRICK!!+ a break for a sandwich and then 1250M swim.  I followed day 2 of the plan but had to cut it short...my daughter was hounding me to get to the school auction so I can bid on something for her! :/  I figured I'd done enough in the day that missing half a workout would be fine.

Saturday - Rest day

Sunday - 2 miles on the Mountain Bike pulling babies to the park and a late swim post more family fun.  Day 3 of plan with 2650M in!!  That's the longest I've ever swam!  Also, the plan calls for yards so I feel like a total overachiever! ;)  I also wanted to finish off my mileage goal and jumped on the treadmill afterwards for my last 2 miles (brick!).  I also wanted to check on my left ankle that I twisted while teaching my 3 year old how to play hopscotch.  Seriously, why did I even attempt it with my LEFT leg?  Ugh.  First jump and it folded like an accordion.  I keep forgetting how old I am and how ratchety my joints are.  :(

I forgot how many hours I spent doing this as a kid.

Good news is the ankle if fine and more so, I hit 95% of my goals!!

Run - 10 miles ---> 10.2! Yay! CHECK!
Bike - 2:15 (time) --->3:15 CHECK! OVER
Swim - 5000M ---> 5600M! CHECK! (OVER - good thing I cut that one one workout short! Ha!)
Strength - at least 1 class ---> barbell strength CHECK!
Yoga - 1 class ---> 15 min UNDER about 45 minutes
Brick - 1 ---> 2! CHECK! OVER
Extra:  Sunburn and awesome cycling tan lines.

But look at all the Overs!  I think I've over compensated for the yoga I missed out on so I am A-OK with that.   Plus, did I mention that I rode tricycles, played with bubbles, waterguns and almost to a fault, hopscotch too?!

It's been a great week, now to plan for the next and up the ante (and remember the sunscreen).

Have a great one and Happy Monday!

Valerie :)

Oh!  And congrats to all the awesome runners in Boston today with some serious "wicked" weather especially my awesome friend, Doan.  Her 39th marathon and 4th consecutive Boston...and she only started running a few years ago!  My inspiration and hero!  Way to go all...you guys rock!

P.S. - Thanks to the fine folks at Triathlete Blogger Network for picking up this little space of mine and mentioning it there. So super cool!  Welcome all!  Go check them out at their site and follow them @ChiTriBloggers.  Lots of great information for fellow newbie triathletes and experienced hardcore veterans too. :)