While I say I am feeling jolly I am not necessarily referencing the holiday spirit as much as I am feeling quite round. So I think jolly fits in this situation. I have been busting my butt working out it and seems like nothing is working. But oh well it is the holidays right? Sure, that will be my excuse for this month! On to the things that are fighting this jolly feeling for me. Workouts!
This past weekend was a mile repeat weekend. I had been feeling like I was coming down with a cold, but I figured, what the hell, I will try it out. On Sunday I got up early and hit the gym (it was too cold to go outside), once on the treadmill I knew I wasn't feeling too hot but I figured I could get through 4 miles. After a 10 minute warm up, I set the pace to 7:19 and started my first mile. While not fun, I felt ok when I was done, ok enough to try again at least. I set it again at 7:19 and off I went. Now this one didn't feel too good. By the time I hit .85 miles I felt like I was going to just shoot off the back of the treadmill. I finished the mile and felt trashed. I took a few minutes to rest and started the 3rd mile. And then it all went to shit, I just couldn't do it. So I let the cold win this one and I gave up.
While I was a bit disappointed, I knew that if I pushed myself too hard I would feel even worse on Monday, so I gave up and went home to sit on the couch for the rest of the day.
Monday came and I had to teach and swim. I got it all done early in the morning so I could sit and relax the rest of the day. Then Monday night I went back to my hometown for dinner with 2 of my best friends. One person was missing from the usually outrageous foursome, but I will see her on Christmas Eve (you know who you are). We ate, had some wine and acted evil and it was just too much fun.
Tuesday, I had a recovery run and bike. As always the run was just annoying but at least it was short and I got through it. Today I plan on running some errands and then heading to the pool for a 45 min swim. Maybe if I am lucky this will help my jolly feeling a bit. But if not, really, who cares! I figure I got about 5 months until I need to start putting on a bathing suit, so I have time! Right? Riiiight.
Well that is it for now! Have a great week everyone!
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
What day of Christmas is it Again?
Seriously, between work and working out, I have lost track of everything. Usually I can count on my advent calendar to keep me up to date, but I am way behind on that too. Who gets behind on eating chocolate!? This week has been one of those weeks where I think every day is Thursday. I think it is because I allowed myself to be my gym's bitch and I have been subbing spin classes left and right. I mean, I try not to, but then they wave some extra money in my face and I am sold! Whoring myself out to spin. Oh well, I guess it can't hurt right? But it does! My legs are super tired, and I want to sleep all....the....time.
But enough about my inability to say no. As for my regularly scheduled work outs. I had a pretty solid weekend. I got in a 2:45 Z1 ride and a 25 Z1 run on Saturday then a 1:30 ZR ride and 1:40 Z1 run on Sunday. And I must admit I felt fantastic during the run. I average 9:14 min miles and came 3 beats under my top HR. Which is a definite improvement from my usual average of 9:25 min miles. Then I taught a double on Monday, swam and lifted and taught again last night.
Today I have a 1:00 ZR ride and some lifting to get done. Since I am supposed to race this weekend, I have a light schedule this week. But the problem is, races around here during this time of year are scarce. I did find one 15k but it was closed. So it is either going to be a weekend of mile repeats or just the normal heavy bike on Saturday and heavy run on Sunday. I think I would rather the intervals and take a Saturday off to be honest.
I also need to start planning my race schedule for next year. For some reason my brain keeps thinking Ironman. But I just don't know if I have all that training in me. Or if Nick will want to be around me while I do it. I am going to sit on it a bit and think. Who knows, maybe next year is the year!
Annnnnd I am tired just thinking about it. Have a great Thursday everyone! :-)
But enough about my inability to say no. As for my regularly scheduled work outs. I had a pretty solid weekend. I got in a 2:45 Z1 ride and a 25 Z1 run on Saturday then a 1:30 ZR ride and 1:40 Z1 run on Sunday. And I must admit I felt fantastic during the run. I average 9:14 min miles and came 3 beats under my top HR. Which is a definite improvement from my usual average of 9:25 min miles. Then I taught a double on Monday, swam and lifted and taught again last night.
Today I have a 1:00 ZR ride and some lifting to get done. Since I am supposed to race this weekend, I have a light schedule this week. But the problem is, races around here during this time of year are scarce. I did find one 15k but it was closed. So it is either going to be a weekend of mile repeats or just the normal heavy bike on Saturday and heavy run on Sunday. I think I would rather the intervals and take a Saturday off to be honest.
I also need to start planning my race schedule for next year. For some reason my brain keeps thinking Ironman. But I just don't know if I have all that training in me. Or if Nick will want to be around me while I do it. I am going to sit on it a bit and think. Who knows, maybe next year is the year!
Annnnnd I am tired just thinking about it. Have a great Thursday everyone! :-)
Thursday, December 8, 2011
It's Opposite Week
Last week I couldn't get a full night's sleep if I tried and was working out like an animal and feeling no pain. This week is the exact opposite. Per the usual I didn't sleep on Sunday night, but that is nothing new. I was wide awake for my alarm and went on to teach and swim and lift. Then by Monday night I was done. I fell asleep before Nick even got home from work with my half eaten sushi (a serious addiction I need to deal with, but that's another post for another time) in front of me. He managed to get me off the couch and into bed and before I knew it, it was Tuesday.
This week I have been spending some time in the office, not my favorite thing, because my new office is about a mile on foot away from the train as opposed to the 3 blocks it used to be, but I am doing it anyway. So Tuesday and Wednesday I got up and got in my workouts in the morning and then went into the office only to come home completely exhausted to wake up on my couch at midnight realizing I fell asleep again after dinner.
Today I decided to not head into the office and work my event from home. Right after lunch I jumped on my trainer for my 50 min Z1 ride and I was dragging. My heart rate was through the roof and I was just plain tired. I have another one to try in a few minutes and to be honest, I am dreading it!
So what is the deal? Last week I was all pumped and this week I am deflated! Where is the happy medium? Maybe this time of year there is none? Who knows! I am hoping maybe next week I will go back to normal and even out a bit. Here's to hoping!
This week I have been spending some time in the office, not my favorite thing, because my new office is about a mile on foot away from the train as opposed to the 3 blocks it used to be, but I am doing it anyway. So Tuesday and Wednesday I got up and got in my workouts in the morning and then went into the office only to come home completely exhausted to wake up on my couch at midnight realizing I fell asleep again after dinner.
Today I decided to not head into the office and work my event from home. Right after lunch I jumped on my trainer for my 50 min Z1 ride and I was dragging. My heart rate was through the roof and I was just plain tired. I have another one to try in a few minutes and to be honest, I am dreading it!
So what is the deal? Last week I was all pumped and this week I am deflated! Where is the happy medium? Maybe this time of year there is none? Who knows! I am hoping maybe next week I will go back to normal and even out a bit. Here's to hoping!
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Tis the Season...
Not much to report other than very sore legs after a long week of workouts. Today I have a 2 hour Z1 ride and a 25 min run. I also wanted to try to get to the gym for a quick swim and steam to try to loosen up my muscles a bit. Let's see if that actually happens.
Today we are heading out to cut down a Christmas tree for the first time. I personally feel like I might like going to the normal lot we go to and then heading to the diner for a tuna melt instead, but they would most likely not be as fun. Satisfying, but not fun. Since I have nothing else to report other than limbs that don't want to bend and it is the holiday season I leave you with a holiday greeting from Hailey:
Have a great weekend!
Today we are heading out to cut down a Christmas tree for the first time. I personally feel like I might like going to the normal lot we go to and then heading to the diner for a tuna melt instead, but they would most likely not be as fun. Satisfying, but not fun. Since I have nothing else to report other than limbs that don't want to bend and it is the holiday season I leave you with a holiday greeting from Hailey:
Have a great weekend!
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Excuses...Stop the Madness!
Man, I have heard a enough of these to last me a lifetime. From work, to friendships, family, workouts, fitness, I mean the list could go on and on. I have made them, we all have made them, but lately they are just grating on my nerves. Does anyone else ever feel this way?
I saw this quote yesterday in the midst of fielding everyone's half-assed excuses and I couldn't help but fall in love with it:
"Excuses are the nails used to build a house of failure."
Amen to that! I mean it is so true. Why make an excuse, just tell the truth. We all have the urge to make an excuse but it is so much better for your mind to just say that you didn't do something because you didn't feel like it. I skip workouts for that exact reason all the time. If I start a long run and I am draggin ass for the first mile or two, I stop and go home. I know it won't be a good run and I will regret trying to complete it. I don't say, oh my head hurts and I have so much work to do, so I should go home. Because truth be told, even if that was the case, I would run. I won't run when I don't want to.
And making these excuses then makes it even easier to excuse you way out of the next thing. It is like you convince yourself that as long as you make an excuse for something the decision is justifiable.
Now I am sure you are wondering why I am up on my high horse about this. Well I am dealing with a particular situation in my life where one person is constantly giving me excuses for not doing things, mostly dealing with fitness, but other things as well. To be honest, just don't make the plans with me, so you don't have to bother thinking up lame excuses when you don't come through. It seems like a lot of wasted energy to me. And I know the excuses aren't real and that is the worst part.
As a person I am pretty determined. When I put my mind to something I do it, no excuses. I work hard and but I also love to play hard, but if I play hard, I know that the next day I have to deal with the consequences and complete all my tasks, no excuses. So having listened to these particular excuses for so long puts me, well at wits end.
Breathe......ok I am done! Ha, I hope this person doesn't read my blog, I don't think they do.....or maybe I want them to, and get the hint. (ooofa I am bad!) Now I am going to have a vodka soda and think about my workout schedule for tomorrow and remind myself a vodka drink, while delish, is not an excuse tomorrow. Bottoms up!
I saw this quote yesterday in the midst of fielding everyone's half-assed excuses and I couldn't help but fall in love with it:
"Excuses are the nails used to build a house of failure."
Amen to that! I mean it is so true. Why make an excuse, just tell the truth. We all have the urge to make an excuse but it is so much better for your mind to just say that you didn't do something because you didn't feel like it. I skip workouts for that exact reason all the time. If I start a long run and I am draggin ass for the first mile or two, I stop and go home. I know it won't be a good run and I will regret trying to complete it. I don't say, oh my head hurts and I have so much work to do, so I should go home. Because truth be told, even if that was the case, I would run. I won't run when I don't want to.
And making these excuses then makes it even easier to excuse you way out of the next thing. It is like you convince yourself that as long as you make an excuse for something the decision is justifiable.
Now I am sure you are wondering why I am up on my high horse about this. Well I am dealing with a particular situation in my life where one person is constantly giving me excuses for not doing things, mostly dealing with fitness, but other things as well. To be honest, just don't make the plans with me, so you don't have to bother thinking up lame excuses when you don't come through. It seems like a lot of wasted energy to me. And I know the excuses aren't real and that is the worst part.
As a person I am pretty determined. When I put my mind to something I do it, no excuses. I work hard and but I also love to play hard, but if I play hard, I know that the next day I have to deal with the consequences and complete all my tasks, no excuses. So having listened to these particular excuses for so long puts me, well at wits end.
Breathe......ok I am done! Ha, I hope this person doesn't read my blog, I don't think they do.....or maybe I want them to, and get the hint. (ooofa I am bad!) Now I am going to have a vodka soda and think about my workout schedule for tomorrow and remind myself a vodka drink, while delish, is not an excuse tomorrow. Bottoms up!
No...Sleep....Til......
UGH, who knows! I haven't been sleeping well since Sunday night and it is starting to get to me! This morning Nick got out of bed, walked the dog, showered and I was sleeping so heavily I didn't hear a thing until he said goodbye. Which sadly was my cue to get up and get on my bike. That was after 1 hour of sleep. I have no idea why I am not sleeping but it has to end soon. I am hoping tonight after I teach I just crash.
Well after I managed to peel myself out of bed, I made some coffee and whipped up some blueberry muffins for breakfast. I am in search of a good low fat, high fiber muffin recipes if anyone has any and would like to point me in the right direction to grab the recipe. I used to use Fiber One muffin mix but I can't seem to find it anywhere. So today I settled on blueberry muffins, made some coffee while the baked then ate one fresh out of the oven. Then it was on the bike for 1:40 Zone 1 ride. I actually felt pretty good and it seemed to go fast so I was happy with the whole thing.
The ride was my only planned workout for today so I did some laundry and sat on the couch and banged out some work for the next 8 hours. Now I am sitting waiting for the clock to reach 6:45 so I can head out teach my class and hopefully get some rest tonight.
Tomorrow I have an early swim so I need to get some sleep. Although I guess if I am feeling it I can just float on my back and nap for my allotted swim time tomorrow. I mean at least I will be in the pool. That counts right? I think I may try and get off the comp now and try to take a nap. I have an hour to kill and sleeping may the best use for it.
Well after I managed to peel myself out of bed, I made some coffee and whipped up some blueberry muffins for breakfast. I am in search of a good low fat, high fiber muffin recipes if anyone has any and would like to point me in the right direction to grab the recipe. I used to use Fiber One muffin mix but I can't seem to find it anywhere. So today I settled on blueberry muffins, made some coffee while the baked then ate one fresh out of the oven. Then it was on the bike for 1:40 Zone 1 ride. I actually felt pretty good and it seemed to go fast so I was happy with the whole thing.
The ride was my only planned workout for today so I did some laundry and sat on the couch and banged out some work for the next 8 hours. Now I am sitting waiting for the clock to reach 6:45 so I can head out teach my class and hopefully get some rest tonight.
Tomorrow I have an early swim so I need to get some sleep. Although I guess if I am feeling it I can just float on my back and nap for my allotted swim time tomorrow. I mean at least I will be in the pool. That counts right? I think I may try and get off the comp now and try to take a nap. I have an hour to kill and sleeping may the best use for it.
Monday, November 28, 2011
What's is my social responsibility here?
After a fun and exciting Sunday of steaming our carpets and buying groceries for the week, we hit the hay nice and early and much like every other Sunday, insomnia crept in and slept about 2 hours. Ah, it was worth a try! When the alarm went off at 5:20 I had been wide awake since 4am, so it made it quite easy to get out of bed and get ready to teach. I got to class and was pleasantly surprised to be greeted with a full, all girls class. It is seldom that it happens but when it does, it seems I can push them all a bit harder than I would the guys and really give them a good Monday morning workout.
After class, I headed out to do my sit ups, which I am not sure if I mentioned I have challenged myself to do 3 sets of 60 sit ups a day, with a plank in between each set for the next 2 months, to see A., if i can do it and B., what I will look like when I am done. So I hit the mat for sit ups and then into the pool for the following set:
Warmup:
6 X (50 fist, 50 free)
Main Set:
6 X 100 aerobic paddles (no buoy8 X 25 all out -- no kick, no buoy -- rest is half of repeat time
Cooldown:
200 free at Z1 pace
After the pool, I had had enough so I stretched and headed home.
So now I am sure you are wondering how any of this has to do with my blog title for today. Well, a lot. Now I know anyone who sees me on any given day in the gym, or during my multiple trips to the gym is probably wondering what the hell is wrong with me and thinking I work out too much. Those who know me, know I am constantly training, those who don't would have no clue what my agenda is and could even think maybe something was up with me.
Well at my gym there is a girl who is there 1 hour prior to class on the elliptical, then takes my 45 min class and then hits the treadmill for another hour or so. Now, I have talked to her and she is not training, she is just "working out". This would not be a cause for worry for me except that she weighs about 98 pounds. And having dealt with an eating disorder personally, this is concerning to me. I would say that her arms have the diameter of a clementine orange in some spots and her legs are the same. With all this being said, it makes me wonder, as a business, that works to help people maintain a "healthy" frame of mind, is there a sense of responsibility there? Can anyone even say anything in this situation?
To be completely honest I have no idea what the answer is, but since I met this girl about a year ago, I have watched the situation and thought something is wrong here. I worry that one morning she will pass out during my class or hurt herself because she looks so tired. But what can I do? I do not believe much in this situation, which is kind of sad.
A little deep for a Monday post? Maybe. But this morning in particular I couldn't stop thinking about it. One can only hope someone will step up and help her out.
After class, I headed out to do my sit ups, which I am not sure if I mentioned I have challenged myself to do 3 sets of 60 sit ups a day, with a plank in between each set for the next 2 months, to see A., if i can do it and B., what I will look like when I am done. So I hit the mat for sit ups and then into the pool for the following set:
Warmup:
6 X (50 fist, 50 free)
Main Set:
6 X 100 aerobic paddles (no buoy8 X 25 all out -- no kick, no buoy -- rest is half of repeat time
Cooldown:
200 free at Z1 pace
After the pool, I had had enough so I stretched and headed home.
So now I am sure you are wondering how any of this has to do with my blog title for today. Well, a lot. Now I know anyone who sees me on any given day in the gym, or during my multiple trips to the gym is probably wondering what the hell is wrong with me and thinking I work out too much. Those who know me, know I am constantly training, those who don't would have no clue what my agenda is and could even think maybe something was up with me.
Well at my gym there is a girl who is there 1 hour prior to class on the elliptical, then takes my 45 min class and then hits the treadmill for another hour or so. Now, I have talked to her and she is not training, she is just "working out". This would not be a cause for worry for me except that she weighs about 98 pounds. And having dealt with an eating disorder personally, this is concerning to me. I would say that her arms have the diameter of a clementine orange in some spots and her legs are the same. With all this being said, it makes me wonder, as a business, that works to help people maintain a "healthy" frame of mind, is there a sense of responsibility there? Can anyone even say anything in this situation?
To be completely honest I have no idea what the answer is, but since I met this girl about a year ago, I have watched the situation and thought something is wrong here. I worry that one morning she will pass out during my class or hurt herself because she looks so tired. But what can I do? I do not believe much in this situation, which is kind of sad.
A little deep for a Monday post? Maybe. But this morning in particular I couldn't stop thinking about it. One can only hope someone will step up and help her out.
Sunday, November 27, 2011
A Week of Cooking and Cleaning Complete...Let the Holiday Season Begin!
Well Happy belated Turkey Day to everyone. If you had a week like mine you spent a few days food shopping, followed by 2 full days of cooking, only to feed 14 people 1 meal and send them all on their way. Nick and I have hosted Thanksgiving for the past 3 years and we love it. But as much as I love it I am happy to sit down and have a glass of wine in the peace and quiet once it is over!
As per our on going Thanksgiving weekend traditions, on Black Friday, we pack up our hiking and drinking gear and head out for a weekend in New Hope, PA. New Hope is for sure an interesting place and it never disappoints. We stay at the Fox and Hound Bed and Breakfast, which is about a half mile outside of town and spend the weekend sampling beers at the brewery, hiking and window shopping. We had a fun night out on Friday and slept in on Saturday, then spent the day walking around on Saturday to be back in bed playing scrabble by 10pm on Saturday night. Yep! We are old, but we are embracing it!
Outside of Thanksgiving prep last week I logged a lot of time on the bike and treadmill. With the longest ride at 2:21 in Zone 1. I also spent some time thinking about next season. Right now I am in the process of training for a March marathon down at the Jersey shore (Anyone want to join me on this one?). Then I plan on doing an April half marathon and then open my tri season with Devilman in May, but other than those I don't have a solid plan yet. I am open to any suggestions! I am hoping to have a plan by December and just continue to try to lose these honeymoon pounds by then.
This week again is just a lot of the same with less cooking. But I will keep you posted if anything exciting happens.
As per our on going Thanksgiving weekend traditions, on Black Friday, we pack up our hiking and drinking gear and head out for a weekend in New Hope, PA. New Hope is for sure an interesting place and it never disappoints. We stay at the Fox and Hound Bed and Breakfast, which is about a half mile outside of town and spend the weekend sampling beers at the brewery, hiking and window shopping. We had a fun night out on Friday and slept in on Saturday, then spent the day walking around on Saturday to be back in bed playing scrabble by 10pm on Saturday night. Yep! We are old, but we are embracing it!
Outside of Thanksgiving prep last week I logged a lot of time on the bike and treadmill. With the longest ride at 2:21 in Zone 1. I also spent some time thinking about next season. Right now I am in the process of training for a March marathon down at the Jersey shore (Anyone want to join me on this one?). Then I plan on doing an April half marathon and then open my tri season with Devilman in May, but other than those I don't have a solid plan yet. I am open to any suggestions! I am hoping to have a plan by December and just continue to try to lose these honeymoon pounds by then.
This week again is just a lot of the same with less cooking. But I will keep you posted if anything exciting happens.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
My How the Time Flies...
This week has been a full one! I will start with Saturday, which consisted of a 2:21 Z1 ride followed by 30 min T run. The ride, not bad at all, the run, well it felt more like a crawl. I didn't feel tired, but the heart was not in the mood to cooperate with me, putting me at a pace that was 1 minute slower than normal. Encouraging? I think not! After my workouts we headed into the city to return some gifts and pick up some new home decor. Then it was back to the house to hang up the new purchases and to cook some sauce. Nick has this recipe in his family for tomato sauce that on it's own, can be a meal. Every year we make a big batch and freeze it for the winter. So we spent the night cooking and eating and headed to bed nice and early.
Sunday I started with a 1:15 ZR ride with 15 min at Z3. Now, I have been doing this one for 3 weeks and I can't quite master it. I can't get myself up to Z3 that quickly, I usually hit it right near the end of the 15, but hey, at least I try! I mean I could just stay in bed and get some sleep like a normal person right? But normal, I am not!
After the ride, I headed out for a 1:36 Z1 run and contrary to my results the day before, it was great. I averaged 9:23 miles and felt fantastic. I wish I understood what the deal was with the day before but oh well. Then it was time to sit on the couch and watch my team lose miserably. Well, you can't win them all (or the last three).
As always the week has been filled with spinning classes, working and working out. I was supposed to do a 5k this weekend but the one I was going to sign up for was full, so instead I have 1 mile repeats on the brain. With a race planned for this week, my training is a bit light, which is a nice change.
More importantly, it is time to get ready for Thanksgiving! We host every year and it is just too much fun. I have begun my shopping and already have a very full freezer, so I am not sure where the rest of it will go, but I just can't wait to cook it all. The funny thing is I don't even like the food served at Thanksgiving, but I do love to cook, so it works out well for me.
For now, it is time to get back to work. I have two 30 min Z1 rides to get in today, which sound like a perfect lunch break and something to do after work. Have a great hump day!
Sunday I started with a 1:15 ZR ride with 15 min at Z3. Now, I have been doing this one for 3 weeks and I can't quite master it. I can't get myself up to Z3 that quickly, I usually hit it right near the end of the 15, but hey, at least I try! I mean I could just stay in bed and get some sleep like a normal person right? But normal, I am not!
After the ride, I headed out for a 1:36 Z1 run and contrary to my results the day before, it was great. I averaged 9:23 miles and felt fantastic. I wish I understood what the deal was with the day before but oh well. Then it was time to sit on the couch and watch my team lose miserably. Well, you can't win them all (or the last three).
As always the week has been filled with spinning classes, working and working out. I was supposed to do a 5k this weekend but the one I was going to sign up for was full, so instead I have 1 mile repeats on the brain. With a race planned for this week, my training is a bit light, which is a nice change.
More importantly, it is time to get ready for Thanksgiving! We host every year and it is just too much fun. I have begun my shopping and already have a very full freezer, so I am not sure where the rest of it will go, but I just can't wait to cook it all. The funny thing is I don't even like the food served at Thanksgiving, but I do love to cook, so it works out well for me.
For now, it is time to get back to work. I have two 30 min Z1 rides to get in today, which sound like a perfect lunch break and something to do after work. Have a great hump day!
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Annnnnd I'm Back, for Real this time! Not like my Last Post!
So I am back and so many things have happened. First I will start will saying sorry for disappearing on you, but life got in the way, in a good way. So here is a quick breakdown. I got married! WOOOO HOOOOOOOO!! Yup, October 8th was the most amazing night of our lives, surrounded by all of our friends and dancing our butts off. And you would think nothing would change by getting married, since we have lived together for years and all that. But something has. Somehow we have gotten closer and happier. How it happens, I am not sure, but I am liking it. Here is a quick shot of the wedding day:
So after getting married we headed to Hawaii for 2 weeks and for the first time in 3 years I decided to just relax. And by that I mean I decided that exercise shouldn't be the focal point of those 2 weeks, like it is every other week of my life. I decided to kick back, eat and drink whatever I wanted and forget about training for a bit. And man, was it worth it. I may have gained a few pounds and lost a bit of fitness, but it was great. And it isn't like we didn't do anything active. We went on 11 mile hikes in Waimea Canyon, we kayaked up the Wailua River and then hiked until we found some hidden water falls and hey, we even swam in the falls when we got there. But I didn't record any of it, I didn't have to add it to my exercise log when I was done, it was all for fun. And fun it was!
After being in Kauai for 3 days I also made another decision. I was pulling out of the NY Marathon. I figured if was going to let myself relax and enjoy this trip I couldn't be focusing on big training. And it didn't hurt that I didn't have a bike to complete half my training anyway. I contacted Coach P and let him know that I felt like I wouldn't be ready with missing half my training while I was there and we decided it would be best to pull out. So I will run NY next year and instead I will run a marathon in March this year to make up for the missed one.
So now here I am back in New Jersey, getting back into training and trying to focus on what I want for next year. And I mean really, who knows? Half of me wants to try my luck at an Ironman (Nick would probably not speak to me for the time leading up to it!) and the other half wants to do nothing. So I am working on the the halfway point where I will feel perfect. I know I want to do two marathons and I have a few triathlons that I want to revisit this year, but other than that, I've got nothing! I hope to have a plan laid out by the end of this month, so we shall see! I will let you know when I come up with it!
But for now, I am going to focus on making breakfast and getting on my bike for a few hours. I promise to not be a stranger anymore! Have a great weekend!
So after getting married we headed to Hawaii for 2 weeks and for the first time in 3 years I decided to just relax. And by that I mean I decided that exercise shouldn't be the focal point of those 2 weeks, like it is every other week of my life. I decided to kick back, eat and drink whatever I wanted and forget about training for a bit. And man, was it worth it. I may have gained a few pounds and lost a bit of fitness, but it was great. And it isn't like we didn't do anything active. We went on 11 mile hikes in Waimea Canyon, we kayaked up the Wailua River and then hiked until we found some hidden water falls and hey, we even swam in the falls when we got there. But I didn't record any of it, I didn't have to add it to my exercise log when I was done, it was all for fun. And fun it was!
After being in Kauai for 3 days I also made another decision. I was pulling out of the NY Marathon. I figured if was going to let myself relax and enjoy this trip I couldn't be focusing on big training. And it didn't hurt that I didn't have a bike to complete half my training anyway. I contacted Coach P and let him know that I felt like I wouldn't be ready with missing half my training while I was there and we decided it would be best to pull out. So I will run NY next year and instead I will run a marathon in March this year to make up for the missed one.
So now here I am back in New Jersey, getting back into training and trying to focus on what I want for next year. And I mean really, who knows? Half of me wants to try my luck at an Ironman (Nick would probably not speak to me for the time leading up to it!) and the other half wants to do nothing. So I am working on the the halfway point where I will feel perfect. I know I want to do two marathons and I have a few triathlons that I want to revisit this year, but other than that, I've got nothing! I hope to have a plan laid out by the end of this month, so we shall see! I will let you know when I come up with it!
But for now, I am going to focus on making breakfast and getting on my bike for a few hours. I promise to not be a stranger anymore! Have a great weekend!
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
I'm Baaaaack
Ok so I disappeared for a bit there. Now mind you the training didn't stop, just the writing did! Ok so brief recrap of the stuff you all missed:
- Two weekends ago-Bachelorette Party- Fantastic time, too much wine, fell asleep, woke back up, too much beer, beer pong, went back to sleep, rinse and repeat
-Last week- Full week of training, dance lessons, training, wedding talk, dance lessons
-Last weekend- training, final dress fitting, got bit by a dog, rabies shots
-This week so far- rehab for vertigo, no longer dizzy, training and more rabies shots
So there you go, in a nut shell that has been the past week and half in my life. This week is full of a ton of training and the last bit of my wedding planning. I am starting to wonder if I am going to be able to reach my goals for the NY Marathon with a honeymoon taking place in the middle of training, but here's to hoping!
And there you have it my two second update that gave you 1.5 weeks in under 1000 words! Now off to teach and run!
- Two weekends ago-Bachelorette Party- Fantastic time, too much wine, fell asleep, woke back up, too much beer, beer pong, went back to sleep, rinse and repeat
-Last week- Full week of training, dance lessons, training, wedding talk, dance lessons
-Last weekend- training, final dress fitting, got bit by a dog, rabies shots
-This week so far- rehab for vertigo, no longer dizzy, training and more rabies shots
So there you go, in a nut shell that has been the past week and half in my life. This week is full of a ton of training and the last bit of my wedding planning. I am starting to wonder if I am going to be able to reach my goals for the NY Marathon with a honeymoon taking place in the middle of training, but here's to hoping!
And there you have it my two second update that gave you 1.5 weeks in under 1000 words! Now off to teach and run!
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
More Sinking Than Swimming
So I don't think I have really been doing enough swimming. Ok so let me rephrase that, I haven't been doing all of the swims my coach has set up for me. Now I could come up with a million excuses of why I haven't done the swims, but the reality is, because I didn't feel like it. Oh, and two days the pool was closed. So I got that one excuse going for me. So this morning, I forced myself out of bed for the Mini Monster set. It looked a little something like this:
800 pull
7 x 100
3x 200 with paddles
5 x 100
400 pull
3 x 100
1x 200 with paddles
What a great day to chose to adhere to my training plan! After the first 800 then 7 x 100, I felt like my body was made of lead. My 100's felt incredibly slow, but I knew I just had to keep going in hopes that I would loosen up and feel a little better. Needless to say by the time I hit the last 200 even my wrists hurt. Ok, so I learned my lesson, there is a reason that these swims are in my training plan still!
Other than training all the time, in life outside of training, our wedding is sneaking up on us. We are getting ready to put together our seating chart and place cards and then we are pretty much done and ready to go! It is crazy how much time goes into planning a wedding. I think I am going to suffer some postpartum after it is over!
But I have some fun to look forward to this weekend. My dad and I are starting our dance lessons together (Hey! Having a slight idea on what your doing isn't such a bad thing!), then on Saturday I head out for my 2nd bachelorette party. We are heading out for a full day of Hudson Valley wine tours followed by dinner and drinks at my place. It should be a fantastic time. I just hope my arms are recovered by then from today's swim, so I can lift up a wine glass!
800 pull
7 x 100
3x 200 with paddles
5 x 100
400 pull
3 x 100
1x 200 with paddles
What a great day to chose to adhere to my training plan! After the first 800 then 7 x 100, I felt like my body was made of lead. My 100's felt incredibly slow, but I knew I just had to keep going in hopes that I would loosen up and feel a little better. Needless to say by the time I hit the last 200 even my wrists hurt. Ok, so I learned my lesson, there is a reason that these swims are in my training plan still!
Other than training all the time, in life outside of training, our wedding is sneaking up on us. We are getting ready to put together our seating chart and place cards and then we are pretty much done and ready to go! It is crazy how much time goes into planning a wedding. I think I am going to suffer some postpartum after it is over!
But I have some fun to look forward to this weekend. My dad and I are starting our dance lessons together (Hey! Having a slight idea on what your doing isn't such a bad thing!), then on Saturday I head out for my 2nd bachelorette party. We are heading out for a full day of Hudson Valley wine tours followed by dinner and drinks at my place. It should be a fantastic time. I just hope my arms are recovered by then from today's swim, so I can lift up a wine glass!
Thursday, September 1, 2011
A Decision Has Been Made
I will not be doing any more triathlons this year. While I am a little sad about that decision I am ready to start focusing on the marathon ahead of me. Now granted, the whole honeymoon thing may hamper my training a bit, but I am ready anyway! After making this decision and letting Coach P know, he has changed up my training a bit. I am now doing over 1 hour of running 5 days a week, only recovery swims and everything in Z1 on the bike. And man are my legs getting tired! You are probably thinking, how can she be complaining, this is only week one? Well I am complaining because I can, and I will! (she stomps her feet like a child).
This week I only subbed two extra classes and today made the colossal mistake of lifting with the class, knowing full and well, I would end up sore and disregarding that I need to stand, in heels, for a 3 hour dress fitting today. Well I never said I was smart when it comes to these types of things! Today I have a 1:15 hill bounding session, and a 1:28 Z1 ride, I will be conquering these both after my dress fitting and then falling asleep wherever I land!
I am looking forward to a nice long weekend of relaxing and bbqing the last weekend of the summer away. Although we are lacking our pool, since Irene took a dump in it, literally there is sewage in it, we will still fire up the grill and hang on the patio for some fun.
I hope everyone has a nice holiday weekend! Eats lots of burgers and dogs for me!
This week I only subbed two extra classes and today made the colossal mistake of lifting with the class, knowing full and well, I would end up sore and disregarding that I need to stand, in heels, for a 3 hour dress fitting today. Well I never said I was smart when it comes to these types of things! Today I have a 1:15 hill bounding session, and a 1:28 Z1 ride, I will be conquering these both after my dress fitting and then falling asleep wherever I land!
I am looking forward to a nice long weekend of relaxing and bbqing the last weekend of the summer away. Although we are lacking our pool, since Irene took a dump in it, literally there is sewage in it, we will still fire up the grill and hang on the patio for some fun.
I hope everyone has a nice holiday weekend! Eats lots of burgers and dogs for me!
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Hello, Hello..I am at a place called Vertigo
WOW what a week!! So last week I was diagnosed with positional vertigo. It is exactly what it sounds like, I feel like I am spinning when in certain positions. The good part is they can fix it, the bad part is when the earthquake happened, I was the most confused person in the world. I was thinking to myself, "Holy shit is this some part of vertigo they didn't tell me about?" then I noticed my water glass shaking, a la Jurassic Park, and the lights swaying and, well then I really didn't know what to think, since New York isn't really known for their quakes!
Then by Saturday after a nice long week of subbing more classes and working my ass off, we are told we need to evacuate for the hurricane. Well not for nothing, there was no way we were going to do that. We decided we would just stay awake and fight the water as it approached. And it worked! Then after a full 30 hours of no sleep and all work and panic, the remaining people in our building headed out to the bars to reward ourselves. I mean at that point, we had no plumbing since our system is below the water table so the toilets didn't flush (yep I peed in the bathtub, I had running water so that was the best option), no sleep, no power and no human interaction outside of the 6 of us. So what's a girl to do? Drink is the answer!
With water up to 3 feet in front of our building, Monday was spent putting the house back together and getting ready for the week. Everything was closed so I had no classes to teach so I went about cleaning. I am subbing again this week for a bunch of classes and today I make up the 3hr Z1/Z2 ride I couldn't do on Saturday followed by a 50 min Z1/Z2 T run. And now I am getting ready for class.
Hopefully this week won't be quite as eventful as last week. No more natural disasters please!!
Then by Saturday after a nice long week of subbing more classes and working my ass off, we are told we need to evacuate for the hurricane. Well not for nothing, there was no way we were going to do that. We decided we would just stay awake and fight the water as it approached. And it worked! Then after a full 30 hours of no sleep and all work and panic, the remaining people in our building headed out to the bars to reward ourselves. I mean at that point, we had no plumbing since our system is below the water table so the toilets didn't flush (yep I peed in the bathtub, I had running water so that was the best option), no sleep, no power and no human interaction outside of the 6 of us. So what's a girl to do? Drink is the answer!
With water up to 3 feet in front of our building, Monday was spent putting the house back together and getting ready for the week. Everything was closed so I had no classes to teach so I went about cleaning. I am subbing again this week for a bunch of classes and today I make up the 3hr Z1/Z2 ride I couldn't do on Saturday followed by a 50 min Z1/Z2 T run. And now I am getting ready for class.
Hopefully this week won't be quite as eventful as last week. No more natural disasters please!!
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
It's Gonna Be a Long One Folks
Day two of the 5am wake up, it's currently 9am and I am ready to crash! As I mentioned I am subbing a few extra classes the next few weeks for a friend who is away on vacation. Now, there is an up side to this:
1) I am making a little extra cash and that never hurt anyone.
2) When I get up and get moving early in the morning, I get my blood pressure up and it keeps the dizziness from settling in for a few hours.
There is also a downside:
1) I am exhausted and fall asleep around 8pm every night.
2) When my blood pressure returns to it's normal sleepy state, I get way more dizzy than normal.
3)Did I mention, I am freakin tired!!
Ok I will stop complaining now and start psyching myself up. Today should be a my most challenging day. I taught a 6am sculpt class, I have work and I need to get in 2 hours of speed work on the bike, followed by a 40 min T run, and then it is back to the gym to teach my Tuesday night spin. Then I envision my night ending with some dinner and passing out on the couch. I hope Nick is up for another night of carrying me to bed!
Then it is just back to standard training until I teach again on Friday. I mean if wanted to lose those last few pounds this is the way to do it! Other than that it is life proceeding as normal. I am hoping to get a hold of the spinning state of mind this week with a trip to the neurologist and maybe some blood work. It has been happening since the middle of July so hopefully we can figure it out in the next few weeks, so I can go back to being a "normal" person. (I laugh to myself at the thought of normal!)
On that note, onto the next workout!
1) I am making a little extra cash and that never hurt anyone.
2) When I get up and get moving early in the morning, I get my blood pressure up and it keeps the dizziness from settling in for a few hours.
There is also a downside:
1) I am exhausted and fall asleep around 8pm every night.
2) When my blood pressure returns to it's normal sleepy state, I get way more dizzy than normal.
3)Did I mention, I am freakin tired!!
Ok I will stop complaining now and start psyching myself up. Today should be a my most challenging day. I taught a 6am sculpt class, I have work and I need to get in 2 hours of speed work on the bike, followed by a 40 min T run, and then it is back to the gym to teach my Tuesday night spin. Then I envision my night ending with some dinner and passing out on the couch. I hope Nick is up for another night of carrying me to bed!
Then it is just back to standard training until I teach again on Friday. I mean if wanted to lose those last few pounds this is the way to do it! Other than that it is life proceeding as normal. I am hoping to get a hold of the spinning state of mind this week with a trip to the neurologist and maybe some blood work. It has been happening since the middle of July so hopefully we can figure it out in the next few weeks, so I can go back to being a "normal" person. (I laugh to myself at the thought of normal!)
On that note, onto the next workout!
Friday, August 12, 2011
Can Someone Please Make the Room Stop Spinning?
While I am still contemplating my race plan for September I am now dealing with something else that is kinda fancy. I have perpetual spins. Yup, it is kind of like I drank too much 24 hours a day. I recently went to the doctor for another ailment and he informed me that my blood pressure is super low. Nothing to be concerned about, but is low. He referred to it as "athlete low" so it can't be too bad. I then started to put two and two together. I have been super dizzy for about a month. Usually when I first wake up in the morning and then about 2 hours into the day I am fine. It seems to happen the worst when I am laying down and move quickly. I mentioning this to the doctor and he confirmed that this is a direct result of low blood pressure. Hoooray!!
The funny thing though is that I am not dizzy when I run or bike. Swimming I can feel a little off, but it does not seem to be affecting my training in any way. On the subject of training this week has been pretty bike heavy since I missed out on biking last weekend due to the Cancun trip. Each day I have logged about 1.5 hours on the bike and I am looking at a 5 hour ride tomorrow. Here's to having an achy butt for the rest of the weekend.
Outside of the spins and training this week has been just a lot of the usual. Working, training and counting response cards. On that note, I need to go check my mailbox! Have a great weekend everyone!
The funny thing though is that I am not dizzy when I run or bike. Swimming I can feel a little off, but it does not seem to be affecting my training in any way. On the subject of training this week has been pretty bike heavy since I missed out on biking last weekend due to the Cancun trip. Each day I have logged about 1.5 hours on the bike and I am looking at a 5 hour ride tomorrow. Here's to having an achy butt for the rest of the weekend.
Outside of the spins and training this week has been just a lot of the usual. Working, training and counting response cards. On that note, I need to go check my mailbox! Have a great weekend everyone!
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
To Race or Not to Race....
I have been throwing around the thought of getting in one more half this year before my wedding and I found one. I was then given free entry to it, if I wanted it, from the race directors because they are the same group that hosted the race I hurt myself in. I mean could there be any more signs that I should do it?
Then there are the signs that point to the contrary. I am finding that my Z1 run pace has been slipping lately. I have lost about 10 seconds/mile in the last two weeks. Now mind you, I did just spend a weekend in Cancun for my bachelorette party, which consisted of little to no working out, but I have been keeping up with all of my workouts. And then there is the whole I am getting married in two months and the weekend of the race is literally my only free weekend until then. Lastly, and most importantly, the goal this year was to go for a sub 4 marathon, and I am worried, with my honeymoon in the middle of October if I don't start focusing more on running, can I do reach my goal?
So to race or not to race, that is the question (of this week at least!).
As for the rest of life and training, I have been busting my ass for the past two weeks, and have just realized I haven't had a rest week this year! Odd? Yes! But, I am over it. I spent last weekend in Cancun with 3 good friends for my first bachelorette party and had a blast, I returned tanned and relaxed, but it was back to the grindstone at 5:30am the next morning to teach some classes. And now I am looking forward to my 2nd one!
The next two weeks I am taking on 3 extra classes a week to cover for a friend and to bring in some extra $. So let's see how bad I am complaining by then! But for now, I am content. Another 5:30am wake up and I will be on the bike in about 15 min to start my day with a 1:30 Z1 ride.
Happy Hump Day everyone!!
Then there are the signs that point to the contrary. I am finding that my Z1 run pace has been slipping lately. I have lost about 10 seconds/mile in the last two weeks. Now mind you, I did just spend a weekend in Cancun for my bachelorette party, which consisted of little to no working out, but I have been keeping up with all of my workouts. And then there is the whole I am getting married in two months and the weekend of the race is literally my only free weekend until then. Lastly, and most importantly, the goal this year was to go for a sub 4 marathon, and I am worried, with my honeymoon in the middle of October if I don't start focusing more on running, can I do reach my goal?
So to race or not to race, that is the question (of this week at least!).
As for the rest of life and training, I have been busting my ass for the past two weeks, and have just realized I haven't had a rest week this year! Odd? Yes! But, I am over it. I spent last weekend in Cancun with 3 good friends for my first bachelorette party and had a blast, I returned tanned and relaxed, but it was back to the grindstone at 5:30am the next morning to teach some classes. And now I am looking forward to my 2nd one!
The next two weeks I am taking on 3 extra classes a week to cover for a friend and to bring in some extra $. So let's see how bad I am complaining by then! But for now, I am content. Another 5:30am wake up and I will be on the bike in about 15 min to start my day with a 1:30 Z1 ride.
Happy Hump Day everyone!!
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
New Jersey State Tri Race Report
This past weekend was the NJ State Olympic Triathlon with the current heatwave, I was not sure how to feel about this one. I took it easy on Friday night and then woke up nice and early on Saturday to begin eating and to set out on 5 hours worth of errands. Once I was done running around, I continued to eat and get all of my gear ready. As I mentioned this was the first race I was going to have to go to alone, well it turns out I have one of the best support systems out there. As soon as my best friend heard I would be going alone, she decided she had a hankering to drive down to Princeton, sleep in a hotel and get up an an ungodly hour to hang out. She would be my athletic supporter for the day and I couldn't have been more grateful.
We headed down to Princeton, ate at the hotel restaurant and then got to bed nice and early. And that was when I realized I had no race plan. Nothing to go by tomorrow when I got out of the water. Well after thinking about it and receiving some positive reinforcement for another fantastic friend and triathlete, I just said fuck it and went to bed. I mean with the 95 degree weather to worry about, who really cares about a race plan? Right?
We got up nice and early and drove over to the course, only to get lost 3 times and almost take down Bambi along the way. Once there, I got my race packet and headed to transition. So here is where the game changers came into play. As I was setting up my neighbor let me know not to unpack my wetsuit, the lake was 88 degrees, so we wouldn't be using them. I mean 88 degrees, that is actually disgusting! Oh well, nothing I could do about that one, so I continued to get ready. After my transition area was set, I put on my Garmin and even though it was at 100% battery life this morning, it was now dead. Ok, so no Garmin another thing I could do nothing about. So there it was, I was racing, no wetsuit for the first time, no Garmin for the first time and no race plan for the first time. And that is when it hit me, no restrictions meant I could just have fun! And so it was off to the start.
We got in the water and it was definitely 88 degrees, no lying there. It was so hot it made wearing a bathing cap uncomfy. As we swam you would hit incredibly cold spots and then really hot spots in the water. So it made for an interesting swim. Once out of the water, I started to think it might have been better to stay in, the humidity was out of control, it was like you ran up the dock and hit a wall of heat. Oh well, into T1 and get on that bike before it gets too hot!
The bike course was nice and flat. It had a few tiny climbs but nothing too bad. With no Garmin I just kept an eye on my speed the entire time and made sure to keep a high cadence and went by how I felt. By the time I hit the end of our second lap, I felt like I could ride forever. I headed back into the park with what looked like a negative split and was happy about my ride.
I got off the bike and my legs felt fantastic. I ran into T2 switched shoes and then it was off to run. By this time the temp had risen about 10 degrees and humidity was noticeably worse. I just told myself I would run based on how I felt, no walking, but I could slow down if need be. I started out at a decent pace, but by mile one the stomach cramps were back, oh well, I thought, just deal it is only 6.2 miles. By mile 3 I was feeling better, both physically and mentally, but also ready to get going because the sun was coming out and it wasn't being shy. I hit the 4 mile turn around and I felt great, then it was just a quick 2 miles to the finish. Around 5.5 miles I passed a guy and he muttered "take me home" as I ran by, so I said sure let's go and now I had a running buddy. Once we hit the finishing chute this guy seemed to be on fire, and then he pulled me the last .2 and there it was, we were done. Just as the temperature began to climb through the 90's I could change and get into the air conditioning!
Once changed, I checked my time, it certainly wasn't my best, but it was good enough for me:
Swim 30:36 (only 2 min off my last Olympic with a wet suit, so not so bad)
T1: 2:26 (not bad considering it included a decent run)
Bike: 1:20:56 average speed of 18.9 (I'll take it!)
T2: 1:52
Run: 55:25 8:56 pace (this is where I lost it a little, but hey it was hot, so I dealt)
2:51:15
Like I said not my best time, but with all the things going against me I am very happy with it. And I had a great time.
Now I have a few things I need to sit down and think about in terms of triathlon, along with finding another race or two for this year, I mean it can't be over yet!!
We headed down to Princeton, ate at the hotel restaurant and then got to bed nice and early. And that was when I realized I had no race plan. Nothing to go by tomorrow when I got out of the water. Well after thinking about it and receiving some positive reinforcement for another fantastic friend and triathlete, I just said fuck it and went to bed. I mean with the 95 degree weather to worry about, who really cares about a race plan? Right?
We got up nice and early and drove over to the course, only to get lost 3 times and almost take down Bambi along the way. Once there, I got my race packet and headed to transition. So here is where the game changers came into play. As I was setting up my neighbor let me know not to unpack my wetsuit, the lake was 88 degrees, so we wouldn't be using them. I mean 88 degrees, that is actually disgusting! Oh well, nothing I could do about that one, so I continued to get ready. After my transition area was set, I put on my Garmin and even though it was at 100% battery life this morning, it was now dead. Ok, so no Garmin another thing I could do nothing about. So there it was, I was racing, no wetsuit for the first time, no Garmin for the first time and no race plan for the first time. And that is when it hit me, no restrictions meant I could just have fun! And so it was off to the start.
We got in the water and it was definitely 88 degrees, no lying there. It was so hot it made wearing a bathing cap uncomfy. As we swam you would hit incredibly cold spots and then really hot spots in the water. So it made for an interesting swim. Once out of the water, I started to think it might have been better to stay in, the humidity was out of control, it was like you ran up the dock and hit a wall of heat. Oh well, into T1 and get on that bike before it gets too hot!
The bike course was nice and flat. It had a few tiny climbs but nothing too bad. With no Garmin I just kept an eye on my speed the entire time and made sure to keep a high cadence and went by how I felt. By the time I hit the end of our second lap, I felt like I could ride forever. I headed back into the park with what looked like a negative split and was happy about my ride.
I got off the bike and my legs felt fantastic. I ran into T2 switched shoes and then it was off to run. By this time the temp had risen about 10 degrees and humidity was noticeably worse. I just told myself I would run based on how I felt, no walking, but I could slow down if need be. I started out at a decent pace, but by mile one the stomach cramps were back, oh well, I thought, just deal it is only 6.2 miles. By mile 3 I was feeling better, both physically and mentally, but also ready to get going because the sun was coming out and it wasn't being shy. I hit the 4 mile turn around and I felt great, then it was just a quick 2 miles to the finish. Around 5.5 miles I passed a guy and he muttered "take me home" as I ran by, so I said sure let's go and now I had a running buddy. Once we hit the finishing chute this guy seemed to be on fire, and then he pulled me the last .2 and there it was, we were done. Just as the temperature began to climb through the 90's I could change and get into the air conditioning!
Once changed, I checked my time, it certainly wasn't my best, but it was good enough for me:
Swim 30:36 (only 2 min off my last Olympic with a wet suit, so not so bad)
T1: 2:26 (not bad considering it included a decent run)
Bike: 1:20:56 average speed of 18.9 (I'll take it!)
T2: 1:52
Run: 55:25 8:56 pace (this is where I lost it a little, but hey it was hot, so I dealt)
2:51:15
Like I said not my best time, but with all the things going against me I am very happy with it. And I had a great time.
Now I have a few things I need to sit down and think about in terms of triathlon, along with finding another race or two for this year, I mean it can't be over yet!!
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Holy Heat Wave!
Seriously how hot and humid can it get? Ok maybe that was a bad question to ask, since I think it is only going to get worse. But jesus cristo! I am not a huge fan of working out in the heat and with my race only a few days away it needs to cool down a bit. And by a bit I mean preferably like 20 degrees, although that most likely will not happen, so maybe 10 or so I could deal with.
For example, I just got back from a 20 min ZR T run, and you would think that should have been easy. Holy crap it was not. I am soaked with sweat, and for the first time this season I brought the walk/run back. My heart rate was soaring and all I could was walk to get it down. So that is just what I did. Only to return to find out I average 11:10 min/miles. Easy there speedy!!
I am mentally preparing for my race this weekend. It should be a fun time, but it is the first race this season I am going to by myself. And we all know what happened the last time I went to a race by myself! Ok I won't go there, but I can't say it isn't in the back of my mind. (I hope I didn't just jinx myself!) I think I am going to go head down on Saturday night and stay at a local hotel. I just really like not having to travel in the morning and the race is about 1:20 away from home. It is only an Olympic tri so while it will be challenging it shouldn't be too hard. And get this, for the first time I think I actually may have picked a flat course! Unheard of for me, I know, but I think I did it. But I did pick, what people say is the one of the hottest tri's around here. Oh well, can't win them all.
So this week has so far been filled with spin classes and some recovery rides and runs. I am interested to see with over a month from my last race, how I do at this one. Tonight I am going to head to the pool for my Mini Monster set and then hide in the house away from the heat.
Other than that, life is just the same old shit! Well stay cool and I will be back again tomorrow hopefully with faster run times and lower temperatures to report.
For example, I just got back from a 20 min ZR T run, and you would think that should have been easy. Holy crap it was not. I am soaked with sweat, and for the first time this season I brought the walk/run back. My heart rate was soaring and all I could was walk to get it down. So that is just what I did. Only to return to find out I average 11:10 min/miles. Easy there speedy!!
I am mentally preparing for my race this weekend. It should be a fun time, but it is the first race this season I am going to by myself. And we all know what happened the last time I went to a race by myself! Ok I won't go there, but I can't say it isn't in the back of my mind. (I hope I didn't just jinx myself!) I think I am going to go head down on Saturday night and stay at a local hotel. I just really like not having to travel in the morning and the race is about 1:20 away from home. It is only an Olympic tri so while it will be challenging it shouldn't be too hard. And get this, for the first time I think I actually may have picked a flat course! Unheard of for me, I know, but I think I did it. But I did pick, what people say is the one of the hottest tri's around here. Oh well, can't win them all.
So this week has so far been filled with spin classes and some recovery rides and runs. I am interested to see with over a month from my last race, how I do at this one. Tonight I am going to head to the pool for my Mini Monster set and then hide in the house away from the heat.
Other than that, life is just the same old shit! Well stay cool and I will be back again tomorrow hopefully with faster run times and lower temperatures to report.
Friday, July 15, 2011
Are We There Yet?
That seems to have been all that has been running through my head this week. Just trying to get to Friday. Then I remembered that I had committed to subbing a 6am Spin class this morning, doh! Oh well, it got me up and doing things nice and early.
I got in a 45 spin, some swimming and grocery shopping all before 9am. I just finished breakfast and I am about to head back to the gym for a 1 hour Z1 run. I seem to be at a bit of a plateau with my Z1 pace. I am hovering in between 9:15 and 9:27 min miles and I am not sure why I can't get any faster. I feel like in the beginning of my training my pace got a lot faster in a short period of time, and now I am at a bit of a standstill. We will see what today will bring.
As for the weekend, I have a long ride and T run tomorrow followed by a bridal shower for a friend of mine. Then on Sunday a quick ride and then 1:15 Z1 run, engagement photos and then the final World Cup game! This weekend is all about athletics. Next week I head out for my last scheduled tri of the season. I still want to attempt to squeeze in one more sprint and one my half ironman, but with all of the weddings and wedding planning we have, I am starting to think I may not be able to do it. I would really like to do the half in September in Atlantic City, so that is my goal.
Now I just need to get in this last run for the week so I can relax a bit. Have a great weekend everyone!
I got in a 45 spin, some swimming and grocery shopping all before 9am. I just finished breakfast and I am about to head back to the gym for a 1 hour Z1 run. I seem to be at a bit of a plateau with my Z1 pace. I am hovering in between 9:15 and 9:27 min miles and I am not sure why I can't get any faster. I feel like in the beginning of my training my pace got a lot faster in a short period of time, and now I am at a bit of a standstill. We will see what today will bring.
As for the weekend, I have a long ride and T run tomorrow followed by a bridal shower for a friend of mine. Then on Sunday a quick ride and then 1:15 Z1 run, engagement photos and then the final World Cup game! This weekend is all about athletics. Next week I head out for my last scheduled tri of the season. I still want to attempt to squeeze in one more sprint and one my half ironman, but with all of the weddings and wedding planning we have, I am starting to think I may not be able to do it. I would really like to do the half in September in Atlantic City, so that is my goal.
Now I just need to get in this last run for the week so I can relax a bit. Have a great weekend everyone!
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
I Feel Refreshed, Although Not Totally Refocused
After a weekend of hanging out with 3 amazing women and acting more like men than women, I am feeling totally refreshed. Sometimes you just need a little time around those who remind you of who you are and make you feel at home. I am not saying that I don't have wonderful friends in my current city but sometimes it is nice to hang out with old friends, people that have known you for longer than your tenure in your current town. Now, in looking at how we entertained ourselves all weekend it maybe wasn't the best thing for my body, while feeling refreshed, I now need to refocus.
Sunday after everyone left I took the day to relax and watch some TV. When it came to Sunday night I figured I would just pass out, but in came the insomnia I usually face on Sunday night. I woke up on Monday at 5:20am to teach class and felt anything but refreshed. I taught class and managed to get in a decent ride on Monday, only to be faced with the same insomnia on Monday night. It seems the stress of not being able to focus on my fitness, my job and my upcoming wedding may be effecting my sleep patterns.
Today I decided to let myself sleep in and to push the morning workout until later in the day. Sleeping in was great, but as I got on my bike for my 2 hour Z1 ride, I again lacked all motivation. But I forced myself to finish coming in at the top of Z1 as prescribed. But really I hate those kind of workouts, because all I seem to be able to focus on is getting off the bike and being done. But I did it, so at least it is done!
Tonight I have to teach and then I am hoping to finally get a good night's sleep. Tomorrow I have a 45 min swim and a 1 hour Zone 1 run so I will need to feel at least a little rested.
So now that I had my dose of fun for the month it is time to start focusing on the New Jersey Tri I will be racing in 2 weeks. Off to rest before class!
Sunday after everyone left I took the day to relax and watch some TV. When it came to Sunday night I figured I would just pass out, but in came the insomnia I usually face on Sunday night. I woke up on Monday at 5:20am to teach class and felt anything but refreshed. I taught class and managed to get in a decent ride on Monday, only to be faced with the same insomnia on Monday night. It seems the stress of not being able to focus on my fitness, my job and my upcoming wedding may be effecting my sleep patterns.
Today I decided to let myself sleep in and to push the morning workout until later in the day. Sleeping in was great, but as I got on my bike for my 2 hour Z1 ride, I again lacked all motivation. But I forced myself to finish coming in at the top of Z1 as prescribed. But really I hate those kind of workouts, because all I seem to be able to focus on is getting off the bike and being done. But I did it, so at least it is done!
Tonight I have to teach and then I am hoping to finally get a good night's sleep. Tomorrow I have a 45 min swim and a 1 hour Zone 1 run so I will need to feel at least a little rested.
So now that I had my dose of fun for the month it is time to start focusing on the New Jersey Tri I will be racing in 2 weeks. Off to rest before class!
Friday, July 8, 2011
I Made It!
And by that I mean I made it to Friday and managed to also finish up all my workouts! After I went into the office on Thursday I came home for a 55 min Z1 run. Now I was supposed to do this on Wednesday, but my stomach did not agree with my plans. I was so sick all day on Wednesday that I managed to spend the entire second half of the day in bed with my lap top. I got to bed early and slept through my normal morning work out time and figured I would play catch up when I felt better.
After a day at the office on Thursday, I figured I would give it a try. Well having been sick on Wednesday, I was very dehydrated and you could see it in my pace. I was averaging 9:40 min/miles and feeling overheated and tired. When I got home I refueled and then forced myself to get on my bike for a 1:45 Z1 trainer ride. Now I am not sure if it was better because I was sitting down but this half of the work out was bearable. After the bike, I sat down for a fresh tomato and cucumber salad and some chicken sausage then passed out.
When I got up this morning I was a little skeptical about my 55 min Z1 run since yesterdays was a bit of a fluke. But I was back today. I ran 55 min at 9:15 min/miles and I felt great. I then came home and got to work and then hit the pool for an 800 TT on my lunch break. I swam a 15:13 800 and then headed back to the house to get back to work.
Now I am just finishing up my work day and anticipating my night. I am heading to the train station to pick up Kim tonight and then heading to our friend Beth's for some cocktails before we head out to Grand Central Oyster Bar for some seafood and drinks! This weekend couldn't have come at a better time for everyone! We are all ready to get out and have some fun. Oh, and also work out in the mornings before the fun, of course!
I hope everyone has a great weekend! And if you are located in or around New York City, look out for us!!
After a day at the office on Thursday, I figured I would give it a try. Well having been sick on Wednesday, I was very dehydrated and you could see it in my pace. I was averaging 9:40 min/miles and feeling overheated and tired. When I got home I refueled and then forced myself to get on my bike for a 1:45 Z1 trainer ride. Now I am not sure if it was better because I was sitting down but this half of the work out was bearable. After the bike, I sat down for a fresh tomato and cucumber salad and some chicken sausage then passed out.
When I got up this morning I was a little skeptical about my 55 min Z1 run since yesterdays was a bit of a fluke. But I was back today. I ran 55 min at 9:15 min/miles and I felt great. I then came home and got to work and then hit the pool for an 800 TT on my lunch break. I swam a 15:13 800 and then headed back to the house to get back to work.
Now I am just finishing up my work day and anticipating my night. I am heading to the train station to pick up Kim tonight and then heading to our friend Beth's for some cocktails before we head out to Grand Central Oyster Bar for some seafood and drinks! This weekend couldn't have come at a better time for everyone! We are all ready to get out and have some fun. Oh, and also work out in the mornings before the fun, of course!
I hope everyone has a great weekend! And if you are located in or around New York City, look out for us!!
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
All Worked Out
That is exactly how I feel, just all worked out. Man I have hit my workout slump and it is hitting me hard! I mean I can still get myself to get on on my bike on my trainer and ride my prescribed times, but when it comes to things like T runs and swimming, I am just lacking the motivation. Not saying that they don't happen, it just takes a ton of effort. And then when I start things like runs, my brain starts to negotiate the amount of time I actually have to do in order to feel like I completed the work out. Uh, maybe the entire time? Yes, that is obvious once I do it, but when I start my brain starts looking for my body's way out!
Does this ever happen to anyone else? I fell like it is usually right around 7 months into training that it starts and I need to find a way out of my funk before it takes over! Maybe my race in two weeks will do it? Who knows!
In terms of work outs, this week I have done a 1:40 ZR/Z1 ride, which I think ended up mostly in Z1 because my heart rate was off most likely due to dehydration from this weekend's activities (hey you gotta have a little fun with this stuff!). Then I got in the pool before class for 2 x 800s on TT+10 pace, and those, while doable, did end up hurting a bit. Then I did a quick 45 min class and came home and crashed. Today I believe calls for another Z1 bike ride and a Z1 55min run which I think I have Nick convinced to do with me, so that should keep me going.
One thing I am looking forward to is this weekend. This weekend we have a fun-filled girl's weekend planned. I will be hanging with 3 fantastic people with whom I always end up having a great time. Now I just need to work my way to the weekend and get these workouts done! I CAN DOOOOO IIIIIT!
Does this ever happen to anyone else? I fell like it is usually right around 7 months into training that it starts and I need to find a way out of my funk before it takes over! Maybe my race in two weeks will do it? Who knows!
In terms of work outs, this week I have done a 1:40 ZR/Z1 ride, which I think ended up mostly in Z1 because my heart rate was off most likely due to dehydration from this weekend's activities (hey you gotta have a little fun with this stuff!). Then I got in the pool before class for 2 x 800s on TT+10 pace, and those, while doable, did end up hurting a bit. Then I did a quick 45 min class and came home and crashed. Today I believe calls for another Z1 bike ride and a Z1 55min run which I think I have Nick convinced to do with me, so that should keep me going.
One thing I am looking forward to is this weekend. This weekend we have a fun-filled girl's weekend planned. I will be hanging with 3 fantastic people with whom I always end up having a great time. Now I just need to work my way to the weekend and get these workouts done! I CAN DOOOOO IIIIIT!
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
A Bakers Dozen
So here goes, in the past week I have sucessfully turned 32 (I know a big accomplishment, it took a lot out of me), celebreated by birthday (now that did actually take a lot out of me) and I have finally sucessfully lost 13 pounds! And I must say even though I am happy with the weight loss at this point, I am still going to push it and try to get rid of the last 4. I've got my eye on the prize and I am not going to stop until I get there.
Outside of that, I have been again working insane hours but I do see the light at the end of the tunnel. Today is my last 12 hour day and I am ready for a break. And I should get one for the next 20 days or so. The good thing though is when I work these crazy hours, I only have time to focus on work and my workouts. This week is a bit of a rest week and I am supposed to race a sprint this weekend if I can find one, but I am not sure that there are any around here. So it may just end up being a typical training day.
Other than that I have been teaching and working and the week already feels like I have lived through it twice. I have a quick balance drill set in the pool today along with a short ride and T Run, which I am happy with because this day already feels incredibly long and I still have 6 hours left of events. Back to work!
Outside of that, I have been again working insane hours but I do see the light at the end of the tunnel. Today is my last 12 hour day and I am ready for a break. And I should get one for the next 20 days or so. The good thing though is when I work these crazy hours, I only have time to focus on work and my workouts. This week is a bit of a rest week and I am supposed to race a sprint this weekend if I can find one, but I am not sure that there are any around here. So it may just end up being a typical training day.
Other than that I have been teaching and working and the week already feels like I have lived through it twice. I have a quick balance drill set in the pool today along with a short ride and T Run, which I am happy with because this day already feels incredibly long and I still have 6 hours left of events. Back to work!
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
It's That Time of Year Again
It seems to be that time of year. I am hitting my training lull, where I would rather sit by my pool on a Saturday rather than sit on my bike and I am getting another year older.
This Saturday is my birthday and I am turning 32. I am excited to get up early and head out for my long ride so I can sit by the pool and do nothing but have some cocktails and celebrate. Work has slowed down a bit this weekend but after two weeks of working strange hours my body has not gone back to it's original schedule so easily!
I did have an interesting start to the week at least. I woke up on Monday to teach my 6am spin, got to the gym and it turned out the sound system was broken. So how do you tell a group of people who got up at 5:30am with the purpose of spinning that class is cancelled and they just wasted their morning? You don't! I put 9 eager (insane) attendees through every cycling drill I know for 45 minutes. Thank god I have a coach who tortures me on a daily basis or I would have had to deal with some angry people! And it turns out they loved it. They pedaled as hard as they could with only my iphone humming the background and ended class saying it was one of the hardest ones they have ever taken. Crisis averted!
Now this morning started off with a nice 1:24 Z1 ride. I thought I was doing ok, I was pushing it and dripping with sweat only to get off the bike and check my garmin to see I was on average 2 beats into Z1. This seems to be a trend here, but when I am pushing myself that hard there is only so much more effort I can put into it! I will have to reassess on Thursday when I try again.
Other than that the week/weekend was pretty much the same. Outside of the news that my wedding dress is in and we picked out our wedding bands which was a lot of fun. We are getting closer and closer and quite excited! But I have a lot of other things I need to do before then so it can't go that quickly!
Off to down another coffee and head to teach spin, hopefully this time with music!
This Saturday is my birthday and I am turning 32. I am excited to get up early and head out for my long ride so I can sit by the pool and do nothing but have some cocktails and celebrate. Work has slowed down a bit this weekend but after two weeks of working strange hours my body has not gone back to it's original schedule so easily!
I did have an interesting start to the week at least. I woke up on Monday to teach my 6am spin, got to the gym and it turned out the sound system was broken. So how do you tell a group of people who got up at 5:30am with the purpose of spinning that class is cancelled and they just wasted their morning? You don't! I put 9 eager (insane) attendees through every cycling drill I know for 45 minutes. Thank god I have a coach who tortures me on a daily basis or I would have had to deal with some angry people! And it turns out they loved it. They pedaled as hard as they could with only my iphone humming the background and ended class saying it was one of the hardest ones they have ever taken. Crisis averted!
Now this morning started off with a nice 1:24 Z1 ride. I thought I was doing ok, I was pushing it and dripping with sweat only to get off the bike and check my garmin to see I was on average 2 beats into Z1. This seems to be a trend here, but when I am pushing myself that hard there is only so much more effort I can put into it! I will have to reassess on Thursday when I try again.
Other than that the week/weekend was pretty much the same. Outside of the news that my wedding dress is in and we picked out our wedding bands which was a lot of fun. We are getting closer and closer and quite excited! But I have a lot of other things I need to do before then so it can't go that quickly!
Off to down another coffee and head to teach spin, hopefully this time with music!
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Falling Apart at the Seams
I haven't been able to update that much this week becuase between work and training I have no time to do anything but sleep. Seriously! I have been working the night shift to deal with some European clients, so may days for the past week and half have looked like this:
3am- wake up and get on calls
3:30am-7:00am- Monitor Event
7:00am- get in first work out
9:00am-11:00am- Nap
11:00am-5:00pm Work with my US Clients
5:30pm- fit in 2nd work out
7:00pm-eat
8:00pm-Back to bed
Lather, rinse, repeat....
Now don't get me wrong here, I haven't had enough time to shower! I mean come on, where they hell would I fit that in?
So with all of this working out and sleeping, I am finding one weird thing and I am not sure if it has to do with sleep deprivation, but I am having so much trouble getting into the right HR Zones. I mean, I ran 55 min in Z1 the oher day and I was running 9:01 miles and my HR was just getting into Zone 1. Now normally I would have taken the opportunity to use this as a faster run, but I honestly was too tired to go any faster! Pathetic, I know. Maybe next week!
Today calls for a Mini Monster Set Swim, after my event ends at 7:00am and then there is no mid morning nap because I have another event. I hate to see what I look like by the end of today! But only one more day to go!
Have a great weekend everyone, and good luck to all those who are racing! I, on the other hand, will be sleeping!
3am- wake up and get on calls
3:30am-7:00am- Monitor Event
7:00am- get in first work out
9:00am-11:00am- Nap
11:00am-5:00pm Work with my US Clients
5:30pm- fit in 2nd work out
7:00pm-eat
8:00pm-Back to bed
Lather, rinse, repeat....
Now don't get me wrong here, I haven't had enough time to shower! I mean come on, where they hell would I fit that in?
So with all of this working out and sleeping, I am finding one weird thing and I am not sure if it has to do with sleep deprivation, but I am having so much trouble getting into the right HR Zones. I mean, I ran 55 min in Z1 the oher day and I was running 9:01 miles and my HR was just getting into Zone 1. Now normally I would have taken the opportunity to use this as a faster run, but I honestly was too tired to go any faster! Pathetic, I know. Maybe next week!
Today calls for a Mini Monster Set Swim, after my event ends at 7:00am and then there is no mid morning nap because I have another event. I hate to see what I look like by the end of today! But only one more day to go!
Have a great weekend everyone, and good luck to all those who are racing! I, on the other hand, will be sleeping!
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Rev3 Race Report- My Journey Uphill
This past Sunday I took on the Rev3 Quassy Half. As I mentioned I didn't think that this was going to be a race where Coach P thought I should push it and I was right. But I didn't have the reasoning behind this plan figured out as much as I thought I had! On Friday I taught my spin class and got on the phone with Coach P to determine my plan. He said the plan was to stay right above the top of Zone 1 for the bike and then 10 beats above my bike average for the run.
I knew the course was hilly and so I wanted to pick his brain for a strategy for the hills, so I didn't feel wasted after the bike. We discussed why I was feeling so inefficient on the bike and then I got my orders. I was to drop to my lowest gear and push the highest cadence I could get to 90 on all large hills. And that was when he informed me he was looking at the elevation charts and basically the whole ride was hilly, with the major climb begin from miles 20-30. Yup you read that right 10 miles of climbing! Seriously!!!???
So then I started thinking. if I was going to climb that much on the bike how was I not going to bonk on the run. And then he hit me with some more information. The run was actually just a hard if not harder than the bike! The run had a nice 1.5 mile hill at mile 4 and from then on would be just rolling hills all the way to 13.2. I got off the phone basically shitting my pants and headed home to check out the elevation charts. Turns out he wasn't lying.
On Saturday we got up and started carbo loading. We made a quick stop at the wedding invite store and then hit the road to Quassy, me, Nick and the pooch. We got there and headed to check-in and dropped off my bike. At this point I was starting to get nervous so we decided to drive the bike course. Well it was no joke, but I was here, nothing I could do besides suck it up!
Sunday we got to the start and I was feeling ok. I figured I would just follow Coach P's plan and hope all worked out for the best. At 7:30 we hit the water. It was a lake swim, they yelled go and it was on! The swim really wasn't that bad, it was the sighting that was hard. I came in at 36:37, 19th out of 77. I took off out of the water trying to ignore the feeling of impending doom.
Again T1 was a little slow 3:20, now it included a run up the beach but I think the main thing is my new gloves, they are not stretched out enough and it takes time to put them on. But I digress, I got dressed grabbed my bike and headed out.
Now the funny thing about the ride was that I followed my prescribed HR the entire time, which is new for me, and it worked! In the beginning I was getting a little upset, I kept getting passed by people. But once I hit that 10 mile hill, I manged to catch up with most of them and I was fresh for the climb, so at that moment I was then able to pass them. All in all it was a hilly bike course. I feel like were were climbing over 75% of the time, but I didn't feel too awful so I started looking forward to the run. I came into T2 at 3:38:31. For sure, not my fastest but way better than I could have imagined I would have done on this course.
T2 went a little quicker (1:56) and before I knew it, it was back on the road. And I felt great! I took off on the run and pulled a 7:57 for the first mile. I noticed my HR climb a bit and I had to tame myself and make sure I continued to follow the rules. The first 4 miles were great. I was moving quick and I felt good. Then I turned onto a dirt/gravel road and saw the huge climb ahead of me. All I could think was HOLY SHIT!! I started the climb and was watching my HR. Once I hit 20 beats above where I was supposed to be I made the executive decision to walk. I knew I couldn't keep that kind of HR up for another 9 miles. And that would be the theme for the next 9 miles.
It was crazy, all these hills!! Every time you thought you were going to get a break, you would turn the corner and see another one. By mile 6 or 7 I began to feel like I was going to puke, I would start a climb, my HR would soar and then I would want to vomit. So I knew I needed to watch out. Luckily everyone was walking so I didn't feel so bad. I managed to buddy up with a guy who was my pace and feeling the same way. And thank god for him! We pushed each other through a walk/run for the next 6 miles. When we turned the last corner and saw the last huge climb all we could do was laugh and say "this may be the only half where most people end up having to walk across the finish line". Thankfully it flattened out when we hit the final half mile. We headed to the finish celebrated the game we had just won against our brains and bodies and called it a day. (2:07:17 not good but again not bad for the course)
I can honestly say that was one of the hardest races I have ever done. After the bike I knew I wasn't going to PR, then it became all about finishing. A lot of people dropped out after the bike and then more dropped during the run. I watched people flag down the sweeper bus and just give up in the middle of the run. So for me it was about finishing. And I did it! I can't say that I will ever go back to that race again, but you never know.
But now it has made me want to fit in 1 more Half this year. I feel like I need a normal course. I keep selected courses that are super challenging (without realizing it) and I end up not even getting the chance to "race", I just try to survive. So now I am looking for 1 more and a few sprints to add to the season. So much for only 4 races this season!
Now I am off to soak my legs! I am falling apart here!
I knew the course was hilly and so I wanted to pick his brain for a strategy for the hills, so I didn't feel wasted after the bike. We discussed why I was feeling so inefficient on the bike and then I got my orders. I was to drop to my lowest gear and push the highest cadence I could get to 90 on all large hills. And that was when he informed me he was looking at the elevation charts and basically the whole ride was hilly, with the major climb begin from miles 20-30. Yup you read that right 10 miles of climbing! Seriously!!!???
So then I started thinking. if I was going to climb that much on the bike how was I not going to bonk on the run. And then he hit me with some more information. The run was actually just a hard if not harder than the bike! The run had a nice 1.5 mile hill at mile 4 and from then on would be just rolling hills all the way to 13.2. I got off the phone basically shitting my pants and headed home to check out the elevation charts. Turns out he wasn't lying.
On Saturday we got up and started carbo loading. We made a quick stop at the wedding invite store and then hit the road to Quassy, me, Nick and the pooch. We got there and headed to check-in and dropped off my bike. At this point I was starting to get nervous so we decided to drive the bike course. Well it was no joke, but I was here, nothing I could do besides suck it up!
Sunday we got to the start and I was feeling ok. I figured I would just follow Coach P's plan and hope all worked out for the best. At 7:30 we hit the water. It was a lake swim, they yelled go and it was on! The swim really wasn't that bad, it was the sighting that was hard. I came in at 36:37, 19th out of 77. I took off out of the water trying to ignore the feeling of impending doom.
Again T1 was a little slow 3:20, now it included a run up the beach but I think the main thing is my new gloves, they are not stretched out enough and it takes time to put them on. But I digress, I got dressed grabbed my bike and headed out.
Now the funny thing about the ride was that I followed my prescribed HR the entire time, which is new for me, and it worked! In the beginning I was getting a little upset, I kept getting passed by people. But once I hit that 10 mile hill, I manged to catch up with most of them and I was fresh for the climb, so at that moment I was then able to pass them. All in all it was a hilly bike course. I feel like were were climbing over 75% of the time, but I didn't feel too awful so I started looking forward to the run. I came into T2 at 3:38:31. For sure, not my fastest but way better than I could have imagined I would have done on this course.
T2 went a little quicker (1:56) and before I knew it, it was back on the road. And I felt great! I took off on the run and pulled a 7:57 for the first mile. I noticed my HR climb a bit and I had to tame myself and make sure I continued to follow the rules. The first 4 miles were great. I was moving quick and I felt good. Then I turned onto a dirt/gravel road and saw the huge climb ahead of me. All I could think was HOLY SHIT!! I started the climb and was watching my HR. Once I hit 20 beats above where I was supposed to be I made the executive decision to walk. I knew I couldn't keep that kind of HR up for another 9 miles. And that would be the theme for the next 9 miles.
It was crazy, all these hills!! Every time you thought you were going to get a break, you would turn the corner and see another one. By mile 6 or 7 I began to feel like I was going to puke, I would start a climb, my HR would soar and then I would want to vomit. So I knew I needed to watch out. Luckily everyone was walking so I didn't feel so bad. I managed to buddy up with a guy who was my pace and feeling the same way. And thank god for him! We pushed each other through a walk/run for the next 6 miles. When we turned the last corner and saw the last huge climb all we could do was laugh and say "this may be the only half where most people end up having to walk across the finish line". Thankfully it flattened out when we hit the final half mile. We headed to the finish celebrated the game we had just won against our brains and bodies and called it a day. (2:07:17 not good but again not bad for the course)
I can honestly say that was one of the hardest races I have ever done. After the bike I knew I wasn't going to PR, then it became all about finishing. A lot of people dropped out after the bike and then more dropped during the run. I watched people flag down the sweeper bus and just give up in the middle of the run. So for me it was about finishing. And I did it! I can't say that I will ever go back to that race again, but you never know.
But now it has made me want to fit in 1 more Half this year. I feel like I need a normal course. I keep selected courses that are super challenging (without realizing it) and I end up not even getting the chance to "race", I just try to survive. So now I am looking for 1 more and a few sprints to add to the season. So much for only 4 races this season!
Now I am off to soak my legs! I am falling apart here!
Thursday, June 2, 2011
I'm baaaaack....Well Not Really
Sorry for having been MIA for a while. Work has been taking over my life and it looks like it is only going to get worse. For the next two weeks I basically switch to European time. Meaning I will be working from around 3am-12pm every day. So that should be fun. And that has been what I have been prepping for since last week. On top of that I have also been prepping for the Rev3 Quassy Half Iron. I can honestly say with all of the stress at work I haven't been thinking much about the race, and I also am not sure if I am ready, but hey, I paid so I will play!
With the race this Sunday, this week has been a bit of a taper. I am talking to Coach P about my race plan tonight and from the way we talked about it after Red Bank, I don't think this is going to be one we push at, which is fine with me! And honestly it is also fine if we do push it. It might be just what I need to get focused for the 2 work weeks from hell!
So far this week has consisted of some rides with very lethargic T runs. It is hot! And after pedaling away in my guest room, heading out into the heat is just not ideal. I also got to do my favorite (no sarcasm) swim this week, the tabata swim. Here is the recipe:
800 warm up
10 x 25 of all out pull (1 min break half way)
8 x 25 of all out kick (1 min break half way)
10 x 25 all out free (1 min break half way)
800 cool down
I really enjoy this swim because it is a nice mixture of stuff so when I get to that last 800 I really don't feel like I have done all that much when I have.
Tonight calls for a 1:00 ZR ride followed by a 20 Zone R run. Which is perfect because I am meeting a friend out for our monthly date at a restaurant right across from the gym. So I may even be able to enjoy a glass of wine after my workout.
Well that is all for me right now. I need to get back to work and get my head in the game for this weekend!
With the race this Sunday, this week has been a bit of a taper. I am talking to Coach P about my race plan tonight and from the way we talked about it after Red Bank, I don't think this is going to be one we push at, which is fine with me! And honestly it is also fine if we do push it. It might be just what I need to get focused for the 2 work weeks from hell!
So far this week has consisted of some rides with very lethargic T runs. It is hot! And after pedaling away in my guest room, heading out into the heat is just not ideal. I also got to do my favorite (no sarcasm) swim this week, the tabata swim. Here is the recipe:
800 warm up
10 x 25 of all out pull (1 min break half way)
8 x 25 of all out kick (1 min break half way)
10 x 25 all out free (1 min break half way)
800 cool down
I really enjoy this swim because it is a nice mixture of stuff so when I get to that last 800 I really don't feel like I have done all that much when I have.
Tonight calls for a 1:00 ZR ride followed by a 20 Zone R run. Which is perfect because I am meeting a friend out for our monthly date at a restaurant right across from the gym. So I may even be able to enjoy a glass of wine after my workout.
Well that is all for me right now. I need to get back to work and get my head in the game for this weekend!
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Welcome to Hell
I think I may have been taking this over/under training week a little too lightly. I got up nice and early again this morning to force down a power bar (I am out of Newtons), have a huge cup of coffee and head to the pool for the second day of my over/under work out. Here was my workout:
1000 warm up (ok now seriously that is a really long warm up)
5 x (300 (at 800 TT +5), 300 (at 800 TT + 10))
I got in the pool and halfway through my warm up I was already tired! Then it was into the main set. Much like the run during the first two sets my confidence was pretty high. I thought this doesn't hurt too much. And as I have mentioned a million times before, being under water, let's me think in peace and quiet. And it let's me deal with all the things I try to avoid dealing with normally. So I pushed through the first two sets, having arguments in my head and bringing my brain a little peace. Third set, well the faster portion, not so bad. The slower one, slowed a bit more than it should. Fourth set, this time the faster one I pushed too hard on, and so the slower one was slower by a decent amount. Fifth set, good lord, I thought I was going to die. My shoulders were burning, I was breathing so hard, I think I was distracting others in the pool, and there was nothing in brain to sort out, so I just swam with a bunch of tired angst.
When I was done, I was happy to be done that is for sure! I got out of the pool and felt a feeling reminiscent of getting off the treadmill yesterday. My world was spinning. I had to sit down for a few minutes to get my bearings and I continued to have little spinning moments all the way to the locker room.
I got back to the house to shower and get ready for work and it was actually challenging to get my hands up to my head to shampoo my hair! And now I have a full day of work ahead of me.
So here I go! Until tomorrow my friends, when I attempt to do it all over again, this time on the bike.
1000 warm up (ok now seriously that is a really long warm up)
5 x (300 (at 800 TT +5), 300 (at 800 TT + 10))
I got in the pool and halfway through my warm up I was already tired! Then it was into the main set. Much like the run during the first two sets my confidence was pretty high. I thought this doesn't hurt too much. And as I have mentioned a million times before, being under water, let's me think in peace and quiet. And it let's me deal with all the things I try to avoid dealing with normally. So I pushed through the first two sets, having arguments in my head and bringing my brain a little peace. Third set, well the faster portion, not so bad. The slower one, slowed a bit more than it should. Fourth set, this time the faster one I pushed too hard on, and so the slower one was slower by a decent amount. Fifth set, good lord, I thought I was going to die. My shoulders were burning, I was breathing so hard, I think I was distracting others in the pool, and there was nothing in brain to sort out, so I just swam with a bunch of tired angst.
When I was done, I was happy to be done that is for sure! I got out of the pool and felt a feeling reminiscent of getting off the treadmill yesterday. My world was spinning. I had to sit down for a few minutes to get my bearings and I continued to have little spinning moments all the way to the locker room.
I got back to the house to shower and get ready for work and it was actually challenging to get my hands up to my head to shampoo my hair! And now I have a full day of work ahead of me.
So here I go! Until tomorrow my friends, when I attempt to do it all over again, this time on the bike.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Death by Over/Under
This weekend I did not race which was nice, but even better, I was surprised by my mother with my bridal shower on Saturday. It was a fantastic time and a nice break from focusing on racing and instead focusing on time with friends and family. I came home with tons of gifts (thank you everyone!) and it took us 5 hours on Sunday to open all of the boxes and find places for it all. But with the bridal shower surprise, since I thought I was just going out for a bit and would have time to come home and ride, I ended up missing my Saturday long ride. Again, I really can't say I minded that much. I kind of needed a break and this one came as a nice surprise.
This week, on the other hand, will be the exact opposite of a break. I have over/under sets everyday. And after this mornings, set I am not looking forward to any more! This morning I did a 1:00 over/under run with a quick Z1 warm up, followed by .5 miles at 9:30 pace, .5 at 8:30pace, and I did this 4 times. Now the first two I was thinking, this is nothing, I should have gotten faster paces to work with. The third time through I started to feel it and by the fourth time, that 8:30 .5 mile never felt so long in my life. When I was done, I actually thought that there was a good chance that the over/under was going to take me down, and I was going to pass out on the carpet next to the treadmill.
After the almost passing out debacle I headed home for a quick 1:30 ZR ride, because, well because why not right? I mean, I had already almost passed out 1 time today, let's push the envelope! But as always, the early morning workouts have made my day incredibly productive with lots of work and cleaning. But I am looking forward to sitting on the couch tonight and relaxing, oh wait, that is after I teach spin. Booooo Hissssss!
Tomorrow is my over/under swim set, let's see if we can avoid drowning!
This week, on the other hand, will be the exact opposite of a break. I have over/under sets everyday. And after this mornings, set I am not looking forward to any more! This morning I did a 1:00 over/under run with a quick Z1 warm up, followed by .5 miles at 9:30 pace, .5 at 8:30pace, and I did this 4 times. Now the first two I was thinking, this is nothing, I should have gotten faster paces to work with. The third time through I started to feel it and by the fourth time, that 8:30 .5 mile never felt so long in my life. When I was done, I actually thought that there was a good chance that the over/under was going to take me down, and I was going to pass out on the carpet next to the treadmill.
After the almost passing out debacle I headed home for a quick 1:30 ZR ride, because, well because why not right? I mean, I had already almost passed out 1 time today, let's push the envelope! But as always, the early morning workouts have made my day incredibly productive with lots of work and cleaning. But I am looking forward to sitting on the couch tonight and relaxing, oh wait, that is after I teach spin. Booooo Hissssss!
Tomorrow is my over/under swim set, let's see if we can avoid drowning!
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Red Bank Olympic Tri Race Report
This past weekend was the inaugural Red Bank Olympic Triathlon and I was one of the 400 to try out this new event. I went to bed on Saturday night at around 10pm, thinking if I feel asleep quickly I would get enough sleep to be wide awake by 4am. Well needless to say, my body decided that I would not sleep, but I still popped out of bed at 4:15am. But it was to the sound of a torrential downpour outside of my window. Now I am all about attending every race I sign up for, but really, would they even have the race in this kind of weather? All I could do was drive the hour to find out.
I arrived at Marine Park as check in was opening, which was great, because I avoided all of the lines and it gave me about 2 hours to eat, poop, set up, poop, walk around, poop, etc. before my wave went off at 8am. I got everything set up, used the port-o-john and that is when I realized the first and really only amateur planning issue, four toilets for 400 people. Really? How the hell was that going to work? We would later find out, not so well.
Either way I headed back to the car, woke up nick who was sleeping in the back seat and got my breakfast. On the way back I noticed a very familiar sign that read "Riverview Medical" and I thought, I know that name for some reason. Well yeah, because that is who I have been paying back for the past few months for my last hospital stay. Well with that I realized the emergency room was right down the street and emergency room and hospital = clean bathrooms. So I got my money's worth and decided I would use opt for the emergency room bathroom over the 400 person line for the rest of my morning.
At 7:55, they started getting us into the water. We were to do a quick loop around the Navesink River. We were the 2nd wave and when we got in I was pleasantly surprised that the water was not that cold. Two minutes of treading water and we were swimming. I felt the first half of the swim was good and I was consistently passing people in my wave and wave before us. The 2nd half was a bit choppy and I drank a bit of water, but all in all it was a good swim. I got back to the dock and was feeling good. Swim time 28:08, I was ok with it.
Then it was into T1 for a quick costume change (1:33, getting better) and off on the bike. Now the bike course was interesting. I knew from checking that morning, that the highest point was between miles 11 and 13 so I was prepared to hurt for those two miles. And hurt I did! It sucked, I feel like I kicked my own ass for 2 miles and when the climb was over, I had a lot of trouble getting back up to speed, my legs would just not get back into it. It took about 3 minutes to get back to a steady pace with my legs feeling ok. One thing I will say though was that the bike course was beautiful. As beautiful as it was, I was glad when it was over. I made it into T2 with a bike time of 1:25, averaging approximately 17.5 mph.
I ran into T2 happy to off the bike, but not happy about the hill I had to climb out of the park to start the run. But hey, at least I knew the end was near! I was out of T2 in 0:51 (nice!) and began my run. Now just to back up a bit, the night before when Coach P gave me my goals, I was quite surprised. I was supposed to ride the bike 2 heart beats over the top of Z2, which I had no problem doing. But I was also supposed to run at a 7:41 pace. Now to recap, last weekend I ran my fastest ever at 8:14, a week later I was supposed to drop :33? I was not sure how I was going to do it, but I said I would try.
I headed up the hill and into the run and here is where the first feelings of doubt creeped in. I had massive cramps. My right side and my chest felt like they were filled with air pockets. I pushed out a 7:58 on my first mile, but I was dying. I felt like I couldn't breathe and the uphill climb was not helping. Then came the next cluster-fuck. As we passed mile 2 I noticed everyone veering off into a field, now we were trail running? I didn't hear anything about trail running! Yup, .5 miles of a gradually climb on trails. This is when I thought I might just give up. But of course I didn't.
I made it to the turn around point and the only thing that kept me going and sped me up a bit was that we now were running down hill, all the way back! Thank god! I picked up the pace and before I knew it I was back at the park. I finished my run in 51:48 with a pace, per my Garmin of 8:17.
The full race looked like this:
Swim: 28:08
T1: 1:33.9
Bike: 1:25 approx 17.5 mph HR 169
T2: 0:51
Run: 51:48 8:17 min/mile HR 181
With a final finish time of 2:47:50, which actually placed me 4th in my AG. I looked and I was only 1:20 off from the 3rd place girl! Damn trail running! I could have had it, if it weren't for that!
I have to say it was a great race and a fun time. I walked away having learned a few lessons:
1) I need to perfect my climb
2) I need to be prepared for any terrain in a run or bike
3) I must keep believing in myself and get out of my head when things get hard.
4) It might be best to put at least a week in between races, because I could still feel last weeks race when I started.
Till next year Red Bank!
I arrived at Marine Park as check in was opening, which was great, because I avoided all of the lines and it gave me about 2 hours to eat, poop, set up, poop, walk around, poop, etc. before my wave went off at 8am. I got everything set up, used the port-o-john and that is when I realized the first and really only amateur planning issue, four toilets for 400 people. Really? How the hell was that going to work? We would later find out, not so well.
Either way I headed back to the car, woke up nick who was sleeping in the back seat and got my breakfast. On the way back I noticed a very familiar sign that read "Riverview Medical" and I thought, I know that name for some reason. Well yeah, because that is who I have been paying back for the past few months for my last hospital stay. Well with that I realized the emergency room was right down the street and emergency room and hospital = clean bathrooms. So I got my money's worth and decided I would use opt for the emergency room bathroom over the 400 person line for the rest of my morning.
At 7:55, they started getting us into the water. We were to do a quick loop around the Navesink River. We were the 2nd wave and when we got in I was pleasantly surprised that the water was not that cold. Two minutes of treading water and we were swimming. I felt the first half of the swim was good and I was consistently passing people in my wave and wave before us. The 2nd half was a bit choppy and I drank a bit of water, but all in all it was a good swim. I got back to the dock and was feeling good. Swim time 28:08, I was ok with it.
Then it was into T1 for a quick costume change (1:33, getting better) and off on the bike. Now the bike course was interesting. I knew from checking that morning, that the highest point was between miles 11 and 13 so I was prepared to hurt for those two miles. And hurt I did! It sucked, I feel like I kicked my own ass for 2 miles and when the climb was over, I had a lot of trouble getting back up to speed, my legs would just not get back into it. It took about 3 minutes to get back to a steady pace with my legs feeling ok. One thing I will say though was that the bike course was beautiful. As beautiful as it was, I was glad when it was over. I made it into T2 with a bike time of 1:25, averaging approximately 17.5 mph.
I ran into T2 happy to off the bike, but not happy about the hill I had to climb out of the park to start the run. But hey, at least I knew the end was near! I was out of T2 in 0:51 (nice!) and began my run. Now just to back up a bit, the night before when Coach P gave me my goals, I was quite surprised. I was supposed to ride the bike 2 heart beats over the top of Z2, which I had no problem doing. But I was also supposed to run at a 7:41 pace. Now to recap, last weekend I ran my fastest ever at 8:14, a week later I was supposed to drop :33? I was not sure how I was going to do it, but I said I would try.
I headed up the hill and into the run and here is where the first feelings of doubt creeped in. I had massive cramps. My right side and my chest felt like they were filled with air pockets. I pushed out a 7:58 on my first mile, but I was dying. I felt like I couldn't breathe and the uphill climb was not helping. Then came the next cluster-fuck. As we passed mile 2 I noticed everyone veering off into a field, now we were trail running? I didn't hear anything about trail running! Yup, .5 miles of a gradually climb on trails. This is when I thought I might just give up. But of course I didn't.
I made it to the turn around point and the only thing that kept me going and sped me up a bit was that we now were running down hill, all the way back! Thank god! I picked up the pace and before I knew it I was back at the park. I finished my run in 51:48 with a pace, per my Garmin of 8:17.
The full race looked like this:
Swim: 28:08
T1: 1:33.9
Bike: 1:25 approx 17.5 mph HR 169
T2: 0:51
Run: 51:48 8:17 min/mile HR 181
With a final finish time of 2:47:50, which actually placed me 4th in my AG. I looked and I was only 1:20 off from the 3rd place girl! Damn trail running! I could have had it, if it weren't for that!
I have to say it was a great race and a fun time. I walked away having learned a few lessons:
1) I need to perfect my climb
2) I need to be prepared for any terrain in a run or bike
3) I must keep believing in myself and get out of my head when things get hard.
4) It might be best to put at least a week in between races, because I could still feel last weeks race when I started.
Till next year Red Bank!
Friday, May 13, 2011
Productivity
Productivity in my house is at an all time high. This week started out a bit sluggish but for the past few days I have been kicking some ass. Today I got up at 6am for a quick 6 mile run. Then made it home in enough time to clean my racing kit and get in a quick breakfast before my calls started for the day. I took a quick break to run some errands and pick up my tomato and basil plants so I can plant my garden this weekend on my fun Saturday off. Well it isn't totally off, I have a 40 min ZR ride, which in all honestly might as well be a day off.
Then it was back to work and then off to the pool for a quick 30 min swim during my lunch break. I have been totally over worked this week and I am looking forward to this weekend. I plan on doing nothing on Saturday and then getting up at around 4am to get ready to head down to Red Bank for my Olympic tri. I was thinking today, I don't think I have done an Olympic distance event in forever! I am glad that I started out with a decently long race so maybe Sunday won't feel too bad.
Other than racing, this weekend will thankfully be pretty uneventful, which is fine by me. I will be sure to check in with a race report on Sunday or Monday. Good luck to all those who are racing this weekend!
Then it was back to work and then off to the pool for a quick 30 min swim during my lunch break. I have been totally over worked this week and I am looking forward to this weekend. I plan on doing nothing on Saturday and then getting up at around 4am to get ready to head down to Red Bank for my Olympic tri. I was thinking today, I don't think I have done an Olympic distance event in forever! I am glad that I started out with a decently long race so maybe Sunday won't feel too bad.
Other than racing, this weekend will thankfully be pretty uneventful, which is fine by me. I will be sure to check in with a race report on Sunday or Monday. Good luck to all those who are racing this weekend!
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Devilman Half Lite Race Report
First things first, I am writing this report, so I survived! Now onto the report. On Friday night I taught my spin class, well I stood in front of the room and told people what to do, then we ate some pasta and chicken and hit the road. Nick and Hailey came to keep me company and supply me with some confidence when I needed a little boost. We made it down to Vineland, to our lovely hotel (sarcasm at it's best) at around 10:30pm and I was out like a light by around 11pm. I then proceeded to wake up every hour or so to check my phone to make sure I hadn't overslept.
At 5am it was time to get up and get ready. So I got up, fed the dog, and put on my kit. Then it was off to register. Last year we showed up with what we thought was ample time to register and set up transition and we were sorely mistaken so this year I decided we would just show up early and then I would take care of my nutrition and all that good stuff after I had my transition area set. Good choice on my part. Before I knew it, I was sitting in the car eating my applesauce, then sitting in the port-o-john getting rid of my applesauce.
The water was 66 degrees so we were wet suit legal. After another 20 trips to the bathroom I was ready to suit up and head to the water. The one complaint I had with the swim, was that they because they were trying so hard to stay on time and have the entire women's wave of the half lite start at 8:30, they shot the starting gun, while some of us where still on the dock. So we had to walk the doc, go down the stairs and swim to the start, after half of our wave had already begun the swim. Either way, it was into the water and swimming we went.
The swim was pretty uneventful. I got bitch slapped once, considered retaliating and then decided why bother and got shoved a few times by stragglers from the last two laps as I passed them. All in all it was a good swim and I came out at .80 Swim: 21:23. The only awful thing about the swim is that it was dirty! Begin the last wave all the dirt had gotten kicked up and we got out of the water with faces covered in dirt to the point that in T1 people were yelling at us to wipe our faces.
T1, was again uneventful, but kind of slow for me. I think it was due to my new gloves, it was the first time I wore them and they were hard to get on with my wet hands. I was in and out of T1 in 2:19 and off to the bike course.
Here is where I thought the challenge would be. But thankfully after giving myself a quick pep talk on my way out of T1 of "You can do this, let's go!", I got on the bike, clipped in and off I went. I remembered from when I did this ride last year the out portion of the two loops you could fly on. So I got into the big ring and took off. My cateye was averaging about 21 mph, before it stopped working (fantastic little mishap) and I was feeling great. On the way back, the wind picked up a bit, but I just forced myself to keep pushing. I made through the first 20 in a little over an hour and headed back out for Lap #2. It was a little more of the same, fast on the way out and windy on the way back.
As I was pushing it on the bike, I started to think to myself, "Is pushing it this hard a good idea? Would I be able to maintain the 8:12 pace on the run if I killed my legs on the bike?" But I said fuck it! I mean this was the part I was the most worried about all along. I was afraid to start and now that I was in it, I really wanted to attack it with all the frustration I felt for the past few months. So I did the best my body would let me do. I can in at 2:11:51, approx 18.5 mph, and about 13 minutes faster than last year.
As I got off my bike I saw Nick and Hailey hanging at the dismount area taking pictures and cheering me on. I ran into T2 and again got slowed down a bit. The girl next to me had taken my spot, and thrown her shit everywhere, so I had to push her bike out of the way in order to rack mine. Then I had to find all of my stuff that she knocked out of the way. I was in and out of T2 in 2:03. A little slow for my liking.
Then came the challenge of finding my legs and getting up to speed. I ran out of T2 and saw Nick an Hailey cheering me on again. He said, "I will see you in an hour! Keep smiling!" and that was all I needed, I was off. Again the run was quite flat, with only a little bit of wind, and as soon as I got on the course I began to remember all of the turns and landmarks from last year. I was on pace, well around pace, until about mile 7 and then I started to get really strange stomach pains. And the best part is, for the whole entire race, there is not 1 bathroom. So you are either going in your pants or pulling over in plain view and going in a field, which probably contains vegetables you may very well purchase and eat in the near future! So I decided I would slow it down a tiny bit until the pains figured themselves out.
Luckily they disappeared in about a half of a mile and I was back in business. I rounded the last corner and headed towards the finish line. My run clocked in at 1:14:45, 8:14 min miles, approx 13 min faster than last year. Only two seconds off per mile, but hey it beat pooping in my pants!
Here are what my laps looked like:
Lap 1 8:20
Lap 2 8:13
Lap 3 8:11
Lap 4 8:15
Lap 5 8:11
Lap 6 8:07
Lap 7 8:13
Lap 8 8:23 (gotta go to the bathroom)
Lap 9 8:18 (still thinking about it)
Lap 10 7:22
So it is safe to say the race was a total success. I had a 26 minute PR and I felt great. I smiled the whole drive home and have been on Cloud 9 since. And the great part is, I am not sore and ready for my next race this weekend. This weekend is the Red Bank Olympic Tri and Coach P has warned we are pacing the bike this time! BRING IT!
At 5am it was time to get up and get ready. So I got up, fed the dog, and put on my kit. Then it was off to register. Last year we showed up with what we thought was ample time to register and set up transition and we were sorely mistaken so this year I decided we would just show up early and then I would take care of my nutrition and all that good stuff after I had my transition area set. Good choice on my part. Before I knew it, I was sitting in the car eating my applesauce, then sitting in the port-o-john getting rid of my applesauce.
The water was 66 degrees so we were wet suit legal. After another 20 trips to the bathroom I was ready to suit up and head to the water. The one complaint I had with the swim, was that they because they were trying so hard to stay on time and have the entire women's wave of the half lite start at 8:30, they shot the starting gun, while some of us where still on the dock. So we had to walk the doc, go down the stairs and swim to the start, after half of our wave had already begun the swim. Either way, it was into the water and swimming we went.
The swim was pretty uneventful. I got bitch slapped once, considered retaliating and then decided why bother and got shoved a few times by stragglers from the last two laps as I passed them. All in all it was a good swim and I came out at .80 Swim: 21:23. The only awful thing about the swim is that it was dirty! Begin the last wave all the dirt had gotten kicked up and we got out of the water with faces covered in dirt to the point that in T1 people were yelling at us to wipe our faces.
T1, was again uneventful, but kind of slow for me. I think it was due to my new gloves, it was the first time I wore them and they were hard to get on with my wet hands. I was in and out of T1 in 2:19 and off to the bike course.
Here is where I thought the challenge would be. But thankfully after giving myself a quick pep talk on my way out of T1 of "You can do this, let's go!", I got on the bike, clipped in and off I went. I remembered from when I did this ride last year the out portion of the two loops you could fly on. So I got into the big ring and took off. My cateye was averaging about 21 mph, before it stopped working (fantastic little mishap) and I was feeling great. On the way back, the wind picked up a bit, but I just forced myself to keep pushing. I made through the first 20 in a little over an hour and headed back out for Lap #2. It was a little more of the same, fast on the way out and windy on the way back.
As I was pushing it on the bike, I started to think to myself, "Is pushing it this hard a good idea? Would I be able to maintain the 8:12 pace on the run if I killed my legs on the bike?" But I said fuck it! I mean this was the part I was the most worried about all along. I was afraid to start and now that I was in it, I really wanted to attack it with all the frustration I felt for the past few months. So I did the best my body would let me do. I can in at 2:11:51, approx 18.5 mph, and about 13 minutes faster than last year.
As I got off my bike I saw Nick and Hailey hanging at the dismount area taking pictures and cheering me on. I ran into T2 and again got slowed down a bit. The girl next to me had taken my spot, and thrown her shit everywhere, so I had to push her bike out of the way in order to rack mine. Then I had to find all of my stuff that she knocked out of the way. I was in and out of T2 in 2:03. A little slow for my liking.
Then came the challenge of finding my legs and getting up to speed. I ran out of T2 and saw Nick an Hailey cheering me on again. He said, "I will see you in an hour! Keep smiling!" and that was all I needed, I was off. Again the run was quite flat, with only a little bit of wind, and as soon as I got on the course I began to remember all of the turns and landmarks from last year. I was on pace, well around pace, until about mile 7 and then I started to get really strange stomach pains. And the best part is, for the whole entire race, there is not 1 bathroom. So you are either going in your pants or pulling over in plain view and going in a field, which probably contains vegetables you may very well purchase and eat in the near future! So I decided I would slow it down a tiny bit until the pains figured themselves out.
Luckily they disappeared in about a half of a mile and I was back in business. I rounded the last corner and headed towards the finish line. My run clocked in at 1:14:45, 8:14 min miles, approx 13 min faster than last year. Only two seconds off per mile, but hey it beat pooping in my pants!
Here are what my laps looked like:
Lap 1 8:20
Lap 2 8:13
Lap 3 8:11
Lap 4 8:15
Lap 5 8:11
Lap 6 8:07
Lap 7 8:13
Lap 8 8:23 (gotta go to the bathroom)
Lap 9 8:18 (still thinking about it)
Lap 10 7:22
So it is safe to say the race was a total success. I had a 26 minute PR and I felt great. I smiled the whole drive home and have been on Cloud 9 since. And the great part is, I am not sore and ready for my next race this weekend. This weekend is the Red Bank Olympic Tri and Coach P has warned we are pacing the bike this time! BRING IT!
Friday, May 6, 2011
It's Full Speed Ahead!
Tomorrow I race and I think I am ready. Coach P sent over my goals and they are good, I think. He is leaving my bike pace up to me. So I can do whatever I feel comfortable with. So that was good. But I think since he was being nice to me with the bike he is trying to kill me with the run. I am to try to maintain 8:12 min/miles for the 9 mile run. Let' see how that goes! Hopefully the same girl that ran the 7:46 repeats will show up tomorrow.
So far I have spent my day carb loading and getting my ass kicked at work, and then it is home to finish up the carb load and get my shit together for the race. Then it tomorrow it is time for me to strap on a pair and go for it. I have been there before, I know how to race, I just have to stay out of my head and have a good time.
I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and I will be back on Monday with a race report.
So far I have spent my day carb loading and getting my ass kicked at work, and then it is home to finish up the carb load and get my shit together for the race. Then it tomorrow it is time for me to strap on a pair and go for it. I have been there before, I know how to race, I just have to stay out of my head and have a good time.
I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and I will be back on Monday with a race report.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
I Think Mother Nature Has It Out For Me
I woke up today to clear skies, which by midday had turned nice and sunny. I decided to let myself sleep in this morning and that I would do an afternoon ride followed by an outdoor run. Well I rode in my house and while I rode, I stared out the window thinking about how gorgeous it looked outside. My ride was a 1:30 Z1 Ride and I used the time to read my Lava magazine that had been living on my coffee table for months.
About halfway through I came to the conclusion that my turkey sandwich, although low-salt turkey was just too salty for me to eat before I tried to tackle a 2.5 hour workout. I was so thirsty I was drinking about a half of a water bottle of Gatorade at a time and my HR was way too high. So switched to a lower gear and kept on pedaling, reading and drinking.
After my ride was done, I got changed and got ready for my run. I decided since I was so thirsty and I had a 1 hour Z1 run ahead of me that I would wear a fuel belt. Bad idea!! I haven't worn one in so long, that within 1 minute of my run, with the bottles bouncing around and the belt pushing into my stomach, I turned around and abandoned my hydration.
This is where mother nature attacked. It was so windy it was crazy. I was running across a street and the wind was so bad that I managed to trip myself. Have you ever done that? When you lift the foot off the ground and the wind blows and you basically kick your other foot out from under yourself! Yeah that was a site to see. And that was in the first 3 minutes of the run. I did an out and back and it seemed like on both the way out and the way back the wind was at my face. How is that possible? Shouldn't I get it pushing me at least in one direction!? Mother nature had no remorse today!
I finished my out and back covered in salt and incredibly thirsty. I then took my bike into the bike shop for a quick once over before my race. I actually rode it there. And that was my first time riding outside this season. Yup Saturday should be interesting for this girl!
I also received my racing kit in the mail today. I tried it on and it fit, but I gotta say it added to the nerves. I made it very real. I think I am ready though. My confidence is up and I feel physically good. So let's hope that can get me through it!
About halfway through I came to the conclusion that my turkey sandwich, although low-salt turkey was just too salty for me to eat before I tried to tackle a 2.5 hour workout. I was so thirsty I was drinking about a half of a water bottle of Gatorade at a time and my HR was way too high. So switched to a lower gear and kept on pedaling, reading and drinking.
After my ride was done, I got changed and got ready for my run. I decided since I was so thirsty and I had a 1 hour Z1 run ahead of me that I would wear a fuel belt. Bad idea!! I haven't worn one in so long, that within 1 minute of my run, with the bottles bouncing around and the belt pushing into my stomach, I turned around and abandoned my hydration.
This is where mother nature attacked. It was so windy it was crazy. I was running across a street and the wind was so bad that I managed to trip myself. Have you ever done that? When you lift the foot off the ground and the wind blows and you basically kick your other foot out from under yourself! Yeah that was a site to see. And that was in the first 3 minutes of the run. I did an out and back and it seemed like on both the way out and the way back the wind was at my face. How is that possible? Shouldn't I get it pushing me at least in one direction!? Mother nature had no remorse today!
I finished my out and back covered in salt and incredibly thirsty. I then took my bike into the bike shop for a quick once over before my race. I actually rode it there. And that was my first time riding outside this season. Yup Saturday should be interesting for this girl!
I also received my racing kit in the mail today. I tried it on and it fit, but I gotta say it added to the nerves. I made it very real. I think I am ready though. My confidence is up and I feel physically good. So let's hope that can get me through it!
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
T Minus 3 Days
Yup, that's right, 3 days until race day! How do I feel you ask? I honestly don't know. I have been thinking about it a lot and I am hoping I just go right back into it naturally, no thinking involved. I am glad that I get to swim first because that will get me focused on my goal, the finish line, so we will see how it goes.
Last weekend away in Sarasota with my girlfriends was fantastic and just what I needed. They are such an amazing group of women. We are all in different places in our lives right now, but when we get together it is like everything stops, and we go right back to where we left off.
My flight on Thursday got cancelled I ended up arriving on Friday morning. We all hung out poolside and that night I was surprised with an small bachelorette party. It was very sweet and I was totally surprised. Then we went out for our one night out. We hit up a Tapas Bar and filled up with food and then went in search of a bar to hang out at. Well we soon found out that Sarasota's hot spots are very likely located within the retirement communities, so we headed back to our home base. The rest of the weekend was spent on the beach and relaxing. I got home early enough on Sunday night head out to dinner with Nick and get up bright and early to get back to training.
This week so far has been a mixture of recovery workouts with some Z1 rides and runs interspersed. I have a 1:30 ZR bike followed by a 35 ZR run on the agenda for tonight followed by my best friend's birthday drinks.
I can honestly say I am looking forward to this weekend's event. At least for right now! Let's see how I feel tomorrow.
Last weekend away in Sarasota with my girlfriends was fantastic and just what I needed. They are such an amazing group of women. We are all in different places in our lives right now, but when we get together it is like everything stops, and we go right back to where we left off.
My flight on Thursday got cancelled I ended up arriving on Friday morning. We all hung out poolside and that night I was surprised with an small bachelorette party. It was very sweet and I was totally surprised. Then we went out for our one night out. We hit up a Tapas Bar and filled up with food and then went in search of a bar to hang out at. Well we soon found out that Sarasota's hot spots are very likely located within the retirement communities, so we headed back to our home base. The rest of the weekend was spent on the beach and relaxing. I got home early enough on Sunday night head out to dinner with Nick and get up bright and early to get back to training.
This week so far has been a mixture of recovery workouts with some Z1 rides and runs interspersed. I have a 1:30 ZR bike followed by a 35 ZR run on the agenda for tonight followed by my best friend's birthday drinks.
I can honestly say I am looking forward to this weekend's event. At least for right now! Let's see how I feel tomorrow.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Missing Legs....If Found, Please Contact....
Well I made it through yesterday's workouts, although at the end it got a bit messy when I thought my legs were going to just stop working during teaching, but I did it! By the time I got home I was so hyper from all of the exercising I thought Nick was going to try to put me on the back porch like we do to the dog when she needs to calm down. Luckily I was kept inside instead!
I got up this morning for a 1:30 Zone R ride followed by a 45 min Z1/Z2 run. When I got up to do this ride, I had a nice discovery, while I my body was wide awake last night apparently my brain was dead asleep. My coffee pot tried to make coffee, but it is kinda hard to do with only coffee grounds and no water! So now I had to add water and actually make the coffee. So that bought me some more time before I had to start working out.
I made it through what I thought was about 3 hours of the 1:30 ride, when I checked the time and it had only been 50 minutes. That is when I knew I might be in a little bit of trouble. I still had 40 min left on the bike and a run and I was really feeling it. I made it through the ride and had a minor mishap when my legs almost gave out during my dismount, changed my clothes and headed out for my run. The first 25 min weren't too bad. It was around 30 minutes, that I felt like my run had been reduced to walking with only my heart rate buying into the running thing.
Oddly, I still came in at 9:15 min/miles, so I am thinking maybe I wasn't running as slow as I thought I was? Who knows, but man was I happy to be done. Now only one more day of work and 2 workouts to go before I head to Sarasota to tear up the town for the weekend. Please make this day go fast!!!!
I got up this morning for a 1:30 Zone R ride followed by a 45 min Z1/Z2 run. When I got up to do this ride, I had a nice discovery, while I my body was wide awake last night apparently my brain was dead asleep. My coffee pot tried to make coffee, but it is kinda hard to do with only coffee grounds and no water! So now I had to add water and actually make the coffee. So that bought me some more time before I had to start working out.
I made it through what I thought was about 3 hours of the 1:30 ride, when I checked the time and it had only been 50 minutes. That is when I knew I might be in a little bit of trouble. I still had 40 min left on the bike and a run and I was really feeling it. I made it through the ride and had a minor mishap when my legs almost gave out during my dismount, changed my clothes and headed out for my run. The first 25 min weren't too bad. It was around 30 minutes, that I felt like my run had been reduced to walking with only my heart rate buying into the running thing.
Oddly, I still came in at 9:15 min/miles, so I am thinking maybe I wasn't running as slow as I thought I was? Who knows, but man was I happy to be done. Now only one more day of work and 2 workouts to go before I head to Sarasota to tear up the town for the weekend. Please make this day go fast!!!!
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Day Off? Whatever do you mean?
Today is supposed to be a workout free day. Well as luck has it my day off always seems to fall on a day where I have to teach and then to add insult to injury, I can't afford a day off quite yet this week, because I will be heading out of town, sans bike, so I need to get in all of my rides before I leave. So instead, I let myself sleep in past the usual 5am workout and will do the workouts tonight. (Why do I do this to myself again?)
I am still feeling pretty positive about my zones and I am down to all time low in terms of my weight. My goal weight for October is now only 4.5 pounds away and I think for the first time in a while, it is realistic! So all in all, this week is moving in a positive direction.
Now let's see how the workouts go tonight....
I am still feeling pretty positive about my zones and I am down to all time low in terms of my weight. My goal weight for October is now only 4.5 pounds away and I think for the first time in a while, it is realistic! So all in all, this week is moving in a positive direction.
Now let's see how the workouts go tonight....
Monday, April 25, 2011
The Nightmares Have Begun
I am now 1 week closer to my first race and the pre-race nightmares have begun. I am now having a nice reoccurring dream that I get on my bike and I am too afraid to go fast, so I ride the 46 miles at 10mph and the race basically never ends! Now let's hope that is not the case!
The good thing is that I am going away for a girls weekend this weekend in Sarasota, Florida, and it may be just what I need to calm my nerves a bit before race weekend. Things are starting to get a bit intense around here as I begin to react to my fears. I honestly feel bad for Nick for having the endure the roller coaster of emotions, but he is doing ok with it all, for now at least. After I get through the first one I should be ok and ready to go.
I am trying to keep my mind occupied with work, working out and cooking and it seems to be working out ok. This morning I taught my spin class and then did a make up run. It is crazy, my Z1 pace is now between 8:50 and 9:10. That to me is INSANE! I mean for two years my Z1 pace was 9:50 to 10:20 and now it just keeps dropping. Hey, I will take it, I got a marathon goal for this year, and I feel like at this rate, I could very well be on track!
So this week is all training, working and packing. I honestly can't wait to just sit by the pool all day and soak in some sun this weekend. The girls I am going with are the best, they make me feel like I am home with them, no matter where we are. It is nice to have those kind of people in your life, the ones that ground you. And it may be just what I need with my jitters at an all time high! Let's see if it does the trick!
The good thing is that I am going away for a girls weekend this weekend in Sarasota, Florida, and it may be just what I need to calm my nerves a bit before race weekend. Things are starting to get a bit intense around here as I begin to react to my fears. I honestly feel bad for Nick for having the endure the roller coaster of emotions, but he is doing ok with it all, for now at least. After I get through the first one I should be ok and ready to go.
I am trying to keep my mind occupied with work, working out and cooking and it seems to be working out ok. This morning I taught my spin class and then did a make up run. It is crazy, my Z1 pace is now between 8:50 and 9:10. That to me is INSANE! I mean for two years my Z1 pace was 9:50 to 10:20 and now it just keeps dropping. Hey, I will take it, I got a marathon goal for this year, and I feel like at this rate, I could very well be on track!
So this week is all training, working and packing. I honestly can't wait to just sit by the pool all day and soak in some sun this weekend. The girls I am going with are the best, they make me feel like I am home with them, no matter where we are. It is nice to have those kind of people in your life, the ones that ground you. And it may be just what I need with my jitters at an all time high! Let's see if it does the trick!
Monday, April 18, 2011
Self Destruction to Reconstruction
So I needed to take a few days off last week and now I am back. And by take some days off, I mean take a mental and physical break. This is something that happens every once in a while with me. I need to take a break from trying all the time. Trying to be the best athlete, trying to be the best fiance, trying to be the best worker on my team. Sometimes all that trying leads to self destruction. I guess it all goes back to my thoughts a few months ago on how I need to relax and let go a bit, but I never seem to have the time (hello irony), so instead I let myself fall apart a little. By fall apart, I mean I skip a workout and sit on the couch. Or I eat what I want to eat one night and forget about my diet and optimal time to eat things. I just let me be Jessica, and sometimes Jessica does not always do what is best in terms of the rules, but instead does exactly what is needed.
So needless to say, I slacked last week. In every sense of the word, I took two days and just slacked! Work was crazy, so when I had a free moment, I spent it in bed, cuddled up with my dog, watching the Real Housewives, of some unreal location. I went out to dinner and ate pasta, and it was more than an hour after my last workout, and I just didn't care.
The funniest part was, on Friday, while I was still in the self loathing period, I decided to do my hill bounding workout before I taught. I really didn't want to but I figured it would get me to the gym earlier and why not. And about 45 minutes into the run, I had a realization. Why do I doubt myself and let myself self destruct when training is when I feel best? It is the only time when I feel relaxed, like I am doing what I am supposed to be doing. And my answer to that is, who the hell knows?!?! Maybe I need to fall apart to remind myself of that every once in a while.
So I spent the rest of the weekend reconstructing my positive mindset. And it worked. We went down to DC to see some friends on Saturday and on Sunday morning, I made it to the hotel gym right as it was opening. I needed to get in 45 min Tabata drills on the bike, following by a Z1/Z2 1:11 T run. After the bike I was feeling a little sluggish but shrugged it off and got on the treadmill. Now this is where it got strange. I could not get my HR into Z1 forever, and when I finally did, I was at a 8:50 min/mile pace and I was at the bottom of Z1. So after 48 min I had to bring my HR up to Z2. I bumped the pace up to 8:20 min/miles and was able to break into the bottom of Z2 and I stayed there for 23 min. I came out of it with an 8:49 min/mile pace and an average HR of 155, which is 2 beats above the bottom on Z1. I have no idea what happened, but me being me, I figured by Garmin was broken, although it wasn't during the bike ride!
I am not sure if that kind of drop in HR is physically possible, but I am going to just go with it and see what happens this week. As for the next 2 weeks I am gearing up mentally for my first Tri of the season, I will be racing Devilman and I can honestly say I am scared. But there is no turning back, I paid for the event and I am registered and per my dad's advice when I fist started running races, you never sign up and not show up. Once committed you go for it. So that is what I will do!
Now back to my reconstruction.
So needless to say, I slacked last week. In every sense of the word, I took two days and just slacked! Work was crazy, so when I had a free moment, I spent it in bed, cuddled up with my dog, watching the Real Housewives, of some unreal location. I went out to dinner and ate pasta, and it was more than an hour after my last workout, and I just didn't care.
The funniest part was, on Friday, while I was still in the self loathing period, I decided to do my hill bounding workout before I taught. I really didn't want to but I figured it would get me to the gym earlier and why not. And about 45 minutes into the run, I had a realization. Why do I doubt myself and let myself self destruct when training is when I feel best? It is the only time when I feel relaxed, like I am doing what I am supposed to be doing. And my answer to that is, who the hell knows?!?! Maybe I need to fall apart to remind myself of that every once in a while.
So I spent the rest of the weekend reconstructing my positive mindset. And it worked. We went down to DC to see some friends on Saturday and on Sunday morning, I made it to the hotel gym right as it was opening. I needed to get in 45 min Tabata drills on the bike, following by a Z1/Z2 1:11 T run. After the bike I was feeling a little sluggish but shrugged it off and got on the treadmill. Now this is where it got strange. I could not get my HR into Z1 forever, and when I finally did, I was at a 8:50 min/mile pace and I was at the bottom of Z1. So after 48 min I had to bring my HR up to Z2. I bumped the pace up to 8:20 min/miles and was able to break into the bottom of Z2 and I stayed there for 23 min. I came out of it with an 8:49 min/mile pace and an average HR of 155, which is 2 beats above the bottom on Z1. I have no idea what happened, but me being me, I figured by Garmin was broken, although it wasn't during the bike ride!
I am not sure if that kind of drop in HR is physically possible, but I am going to just go with it and see what happens this week. As for the next 2 weeks I am gearing up mentally for my first Tri of the season, I will be racing Devilman and I can honestly say I am scared. But there is no turning back, I paid for the event and I am registered and per my dad's advice when I fist started running races, you never sign up and not show up. Once committed you go for it. So that is what I will do!
Now back to my reconstruction.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Who's got the cure for night sweats? I am willing to pay!!
Last night for the second night in a row, I managed to sweat through my nightshirt soaking the pillow and sheets! What the hell? I remember this happening 2 years ago during training but somehow I missed out on it last year. So how do I stop this? I mean I am literally waking up dripping sweat. I thought maybe at first it had to do with drinking a protein shake before bed, so I stopped doing that. It worked for a while, but now I am back to sweating. And I mean nothing says sexy more than waking up next to your fiance every night thinking that she wet the bed and then finding out, phew, thank god she didn't pee, oh but she did sweat through everything on her side of the bed, here's to the years to come! Maybe I should just get those rubber sheets that kids have. Do they make them for full size beds?
Well now that you definitely know too much about me, let's move onto training. Yesterday was easy with a recovery swim and class. So today I got up early again for a BST ride. It was 1:30 with 15 min warm up in ZR, then a set of drills, which last about 45-50 minutes, followed by a 15 min cool down. Then I was supposed to head out for a quick T run, but with my currently work schedule, I decided I would take on the T run tonight after I teach spin. Also, I was so hungry when I was done riding I wouldn't have had the energy to go out and even try to run.
So today will be the same old stuff, just another day. But the good thing is it looks we are finally past all the freezing cold weather. I mean we are still getting rain but I will take rain at 65 degrees over rain at 40 any day. Here's to hoping the rain stops soon and I can get outside on my bike!
Well now that you definitely know too much about me, let's move onto training. Yesterday was easy with a recovery swim and class. So today I got up early again for a BST ride. It was 1:30 with 15 min warm up in ZR, then a set of drills, which last about 45-50 minutes, followed by a 15 min cool down. Then I was supposed to head out for a quick T run, but with my currently work schedule, I decided I would take on the T run tonight after I teach spin. Also, I was so hungry when I was done riding I wouldn't have had the energy to go out and even try to run.
So today will be the same old stuff, just another day. But the good thing is it looks we are finally past all the freezing cold weather. I mean we are still getting rain but I will take rain at 65 degrees over rain at 40 any day. Here's to hoping the rain stops soon and I can get outside on my bike!
Monday, April 11, 2011
Recovery? In More Ways Than One
So Nick had yet another bachelor party this past weekend, this time up in Canada, so I was left to my own devices for the second weekend in a row. I had a plan to spend Friday night in eating sushi after my spin class and then run some errands and play with my dog on Saturday, since it is recovery week and I had Saturday off.
Friday before my spin class I decided to clean the house before leaving so I would literally come back to the house with nothing to do but eat and watch tv. As I was putting away the dishes, a Pyrex casserole dish fell out of one of the lower cabinets turned sideways and landed on the top of my foot. I sat down on the ground without saying a word, and just held onto my foot. I felt like a little kid, when they are in that moment right before they start screaming crying just standing there with their mouth open. Yeah that was me, on the floor holding my foot with my mouth open. Then I remembered I was an adult and so I started screaming and cursing to try and remedy the situation. Once I realized I could still move most of my toes, I hobbled over to the couch with an ice pack and starting icing away. Here is my foot right after it happened:
With a sore foot I managed to get in my 45 minute class and then I nursed the injury with tons of sushi and some crap tv.
Saturday morning I was up nice and early and it was nice out. I started thinking about riding outside and what was stopping me from doing it. I came up with the two main reasons. One, I did not have a helmet, since my head destroyed the last one and two, I was scared. So I decided to fix the first problem since it was the easiest to deal with and I headed out to the bike shop to pick up a new helmet. With the trip a success I figure I am going to leave the helmet around the house for the next week and maybe seeing it all the time will help me deal with the courage issue. When I brought it home, Hailey decided to test it out for me, and per her testing, she thinks I should be all set to ride.
The rest of the weekend Hailey (sans helmet) and I sat around watched bad girly flicks and went on some walks. I finished up the weekend with a 1:55 Z1/Z2 ride followed by a 40min Z1/Z2 run. Then I cooked a fantastic vegetarian meal for dinner and waited for Nick to get home.
This week it is back to the grindstone. And I must admit, as much as I love me some recovery, I am glad to be back to working hard again this week.
Friday before my spin class I decided to clean the house before leaving so I would literally come back to the house with nothing to do but eat and watch tv. As I was putting away the dishes, a Pyrex casserole dish fell out of one of the lower cabinets turned sideways and landed on the top of my foot. I sat down on the ground without saying a word, and just held onto my foot. I felt like a little kid, when they are in that moment right before they start screaming crying just standing there with their mouth open. Yeah that was me, on the floor holding my foot with my mouth open. Then I remembered I was an adult and so I started screaming and cursing to try and remedy the situation. Once I realized I could still move most of my toes, I hobbled over to the couch with an ice pack and starting icing away. Here is my foot right after it happened:
With a sore foot I managed to get in my 45 minute class and then I nursed the injury with tons of sushi and some crap tv.
Saturday morning I was up nice and early and it was nice out. I started thinking about riding outside and what was stopping me from doing it. I came up with the two main reasons. One, I did not have a helmet, since my head destroyed the last one and two, I was scared. So I decided to fix the first problem since it was the easiest to deal with and I headed out to the bike shop to pick up a new helmet. With the trip a success I figure I am going to leave the helmet around the house for the next week and maybe seeing it all the time will help me deal with the courage issue. When I brought it home, Hailey decided to test it out for me, and per her testing, she thinks I should be all set to ride.
The rest of the weekend Hailey (sans helmet) and I sat around watched bad girly flicks and went on some walks. I finished up the weekend with a 1:55 Z1/Z2 ride followed by a 40min Z1/Z2 run. Then I cooked a fantastic vegetarian meal for dinner and waited for Nick to get home.
This week it is back to the grindstone. And I must admit, as much as I love me some recovery, I am glad to be back to working hard again this week.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Ahhh Recovery Week
There is something about recovery week that makes me feel really productive. It might be that I can get up the same time I would during a normal week and get all of my workouts in before work, or that I can use these weeks to go out to dinner and catch up with friends. But I like it!
Last night I met a friend out and we stuffed ourselves full of mussels. We sat had a good glass of Shiraz and ate and talked for a few hours before I headed back to Hoboken full and happy. I got up this morning, feeling great, and settled in for a 1:00 Z1/Z2 ride, spending the first 30 min in Z1 and the 2nd half in Z2. Then I headed out for quick ZR T run and I can say, maybe it is because my Z1 pace is so much faster this year, so I know I am accomplishing something, I didn't mind the slowness of Zone R. I did have to walk a few times after running up a few hills, but only to bring myself back to the zone to start running again.
After my run I hit the showers and started my work day. Tonight, since I am done working out already, I am going to meet up with another good friend, and old coworker. We are meeting up for a cocktail before I head home. The funny thing for me is that going out after work used to be such a normal thing, but since I have completely cut back on my alcohol consumption to maybe 1 glass of wine a week, I feel like a party animal this week! Look at me all wild! Ha!
I will be back again tomorrow with another day of Recovery work outs. Gotta enjoy it while I can, race season is right around the corner!
Last night I met a friend out and we stuffed ourselves full of mussels. We sat had a good glass of Shiraz and ate and talked for a few hours before I headed back to Hoboken full and happy. I got up this morning, feeling great, and settled in for a 1:00 Z1/Z2 ride, spending the first 30 min in Z1 and the 2nd half in Z2. Then I headed out for quick ZR T run and I can say, maybe it is because my Z1 pace is so much faster this year, so I know I am accomplishing something, I didn't mind the slowness of Zone R. I did have to walk a few times after running up a few hills, but only to bring myself back to the zone to start running again.
After my run I hit the showers and started my work day. Tonight, since I am done working out already, I am going to meet up with another good friend, and old coworker. We are meeting up for a cocktail before I head home. The funny thing for me is that going out after work used to be such a normal thing, but since I have completely cut back on my alcohol consumption to maybe 1 glass of wine a week, I feel like a party animal this week! Look at me all wild! Ha!
I will be back again tomorrow with another day of Recovery work outs. Gotta enjoy it while I can, race season is right around the corner!
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Wednesday Morning Sprint Tri
So now that my post race bliss is beginning to fade, it is back to training so I can revisit that feeling again after my first tri in May. Tonight I am heading out for a delicious dinner of mussels and other fantastic seafood and so I had to get all of my workouts done this morning.
I got up around 5:30am to begin my Wednesday morning triathlon. I hit the pool for a 30 min steady swim, then walked home (we will call this T1), to get on my bike for a quick 45 min ZR ride. After already burning through my 2 Newton morning snack, I ate a granola bar while reading and pedaling away in my living room. After my ride, it was off to change for my 35 min Z1/Z2 run (this can be T2 for arguments sake). I was to start in Z1 and push to Z2 depending on how I was feeling. I ran about 10 min at the top of Z1 then headed into Z2. I averaged a HR 1 beat over Z1 along with 9:02 miles.
Now in terms of how I was feeling, I felt ok. I mean the swim and bike were fine and the run had it's moments but all in all I was ok. My hamstrings are still a little sore and I can feel them mostly when I climb, but other than that, I am pretty much recovered from Saturday.
With my morning triathlon complete, I hit the showers and headed into work. I am looking forward to some delicious food tonight and great company, along with some pre-dinner shopping. I am on the hunt for some shorter running spandex. I find that now that I have lost a bit of weight, my shorts ride up and essentially become shorter shorts, which seem to be more comfortable for me to run in. So I figure, why not just buy the new ones? Justifying purchases again! Ok fine, fuck it, I just want to go shopping!
I got up around 5:30am to begin my Wednesday morning triathlon. I hit the pool for a 30 min steady swim, then walked home (we will call this T1), to get on my bike for a quick 45 min ZR ride. After already burning through my 2 Newton morning snack, I ate a granola bar while reading and pedaling away in my living room. After my ride, it was off to change for my 35 min Z1/Z2 run (this can be T2 for arguments sake). I was to start in Z1 and push to Z2 depending on how I was feeling. I ran about 10 min at the top of Z1 then headed into Z2. I averaged a HR 1 beat over Z1 along with 9:02 miles.
Now in terms of how I was feeling, I felt ok. I mean the swim and bike were fine and the run had it's moments but all in all I was ok. My hamstrings are still a little sore and I can feel them mostly when I climb, but other than that, I am pretty much recovered from Saturday.
With my morning triathlon complete, I hit the showers and headed into work. I am looking forward to some delicious food tonight and great company, along with some pre-dinner shopping. I am on the hunt for some shorter running spandex. I find that now that I have lost a bit of weight, my shorts ride up and essentially become shorter shorts, which seem to be more comfortable for me to run in. So I figure, why not just buy the new ones? Justifying purchases again! Ok fine, fuck it, I just want to go shopping!
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Queens 13.1 Race Report
My weekend started off pretty low key with Nick out of town for a bachelor party. On Friday, I got someone to cover my night spin class so I would feel fresh on Saturday for my race, I continued to load up on carbs, but not as much as I would normally have done last year. I did this only because when I would carb load last year, I was left feeling extremely uncomfortable at the end of the night and my sleep usually suffered due to me waking up with stomach cramps and bloating. So I did my own modified version of carb loading. Then I got into bed with a movie around 8pm. I figured that would give me enough time to think through the race and then be passed out by 9. And it worked!
At 6am my alarm went off. I didn't have to leave the apartment until around 7:30, but since I wasn't allowed to have any coffee, due to the intestinal explosion it could have caused, I had to get up and get functional sans my lover, cafe con leche. At 6:45, I pounded my protein shake, 2.5 cups of apple sauce and a banana and got my bag together. Well I am not sure if it was due to the fact that I didn't eat as many carbs the day before but "super breakfast" didn't have its "usual" effect. Now for those of you out there that have eaten this type of breakfast you know what I am talking about, and those who have not, try it some time, then get back to me.
So with no reaction to breakfast I got in the car and headed to Queens. Now I have run in Queens before, but I wasn't the one driving. By the time I got there on Saturday I felt like I deserved to get my passport stamped. I parked right near Citi Field (the new Shea Stadium), and headed to the race start to meet my friend. By the time I got there I thought my bladder was going to explode and lucky the first thing I saw was my old friend port-o-john. So I camped out near there, going to the bathroom about every 10 minutes (the breakfast had kicked in by then, better late than never) and then headed to the bag drop.
The race seemed very well organized up until this point. We got to the bag drop 15 min before the start and there was a HUGE line. Thankfully my friend dropped my bag while I made my last pit stop and then it was off to the starting line. At that point I realized I did not know the course at all. I hadn't studied a map, and I definitely didn't know the area. I decided to use that to my advantage. The gun went off and here we go.
I wanted to try to stay as close to what Coach P had asked (8:35-8:38)as possible in the beginning but I just felt good. So I made it my goal to never go over what he asked. I also told myself that I would not let this be an "I told you so!" moment where I push myself too hard in the beginning and I can't finish where I need to be. So here is how it went:
Lap 1 8:18
Lap 2: 8:22
Lap 3 8:25
Lap 4 8:22
Lap 5 8:18
Lap 6 8:33
Lap 7 8:22
Lap 8 8:36
Lap 9 8:28
Lap 10 8:30
Lap 11 8:31
Lap 12 8:24
Lap 13 8:01
I came in at 1:50:32 (would have been below that by about 30 seconds but there was a sharp turn about .3 from the finish), that is a 6 minute PR for me. 6 whole minutes!!!! And honestly I never felt bad during the race. I actually felt like maybe next time I can go a little faster. And maybe I can, or maybe I can't, but Saturday was my day. Now let's hope I can have those kinds of Saturdays from here on out!
At 6am my alarm went off. I didn't have to leave the apartment until around 7:30, but since I wasn't allowed to have any coffee, due to the intestinal explosion it could have caused, I had to get up and get functional sans my lover, cafe con leche. At 6:45, I pounded my protein shake, 2.5 cups of apple sauce and a banana and got my bag together. Well I am not sure if it was due to the fact that I didn't eat as many carbs the day before but "super breakfast" didn't have its "usual" effect. Now for those of you out there that have eaten this type of breakfast you know what I am talking about, and those who have not, try it some time, then get back to me.
So with no reaction to breakfast I got in the car and headed to Queens. Now I have run in Queens before, but I wasn't the one driving. By the time I got there on Saturday I felt like I deserved to get my passport stamped. I parked right near Citi Field (the new Shea Stadium), and headed to the race start to meet my friend. By the time I got there I thought my bladder was going to explode and lucky the first thing I saw was my old friend port-o-john. So I camped out near there, going to the bathroom about every 10 minutes (the breakfast had kicked in by then, better late than never) and then headed to the bag drop.
The race seemed very well organized up until this point. We got to the bag drop 15 min before the start and there was a HUGE line. Thankfully my friend dropped my bag while I made my last pit stop and then it was off to the starting line. At that point I realized I did not know the course at all. I hadn't studied a map, and I definitely didn't know the area. I decided to use that to my advantage. The gun went off and here we go.
I wanted to try to stay as close to what Coach P had asked (8:35-8:38)as possible in the beginning but I just felt good. So I made it my goal to never go over what he asked. I also told myself that I would not let this be an "I told you so!" moment where I push myself too hard in the beginning and I can't finish where I need to be. So here is how it went:
Lap 1 8:18
Lap 2: 8:22
Lap 3 8:25
Lap 4 8:22
Lap 5 8:18
Lap 6 8:33
Lap 7 8:22
Lap 8 8:36
Lap 9 8:28
Lap 10 8:30
Lap 11 8:31
Lap 12 8:24
Lap 13 8:01
I came in at 1:50:32 (would have been below that by about 30 seconds but there was a sharp turn about .3 from the finish), that is a 6 minute PR for me. 6 whole minutes!!!! And honestly I never felt bad during the race. I actually felt like maybe next time I can go a little faster. And maybe I can, or maybe I can't, but Saturday was my day. Now let's hope I can have those kinds of Saturdays from here on out!
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