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!
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
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!
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