So I absolutely hate to be writing this but... I got sick again!!!! From Thursday night til… well actually… I’m still not 100% better but maybe 90% better…. So from all those days, I was basically (sorry this is gross) peeing out my butt with stomach cramps. Ughhhhhhh. Friday night around 4am I was up for a good half hour straight on the toilet, sweating, achy and then cold. I knew my long ride Saturday was not going to happen with the way I felt. My friends went biking... I slept in and went to the bathroom some more. I tried and tried to replace fluids and ate bland things to not upset my stomach again. I was upset and disappointed but with Monday being a full rest day, I figured I could make up the 4 ½ ride then. I did what you normally do on sick Saturdays…. Felt sorry for myself, caught up on Real Housewives (NY & NJ versions), ran to the bathroom, tried to drink ginger ale, coconut water, plain water, tried to eat, ran to the bathroom. Yeah, it was not the Saturday I was hoping for! AND – I had a super early Sunday morning wakeup call….
Sunday the alarm went off at 5am. Why would I get up at 5am after 2 days of crappiness?!? For a 2.4 mile open water swim of course! I think I went to the bathroom about 3 times, still runny, popped some Pepto and prayed that I wouldn’t have to stop during the hour plus drive down the shore. Or worse… have to go in my wetsuit! I picked up my tri friend and off we went. Surprisingly, I felt really great swimming! My stomach didn’t hurt even after unleashing more liquid in the porta potty before the race. I made sure to drink lots of water because I knew I was dehydrated. The race was well organized and with a 1.2 & 2.4 mile swims going on I wound up in the last wave. It was two loops in the Navesink River. So my wave went off and I felt fine, no stomach cramping, I didn’t do my normal open water panic, I just swam. I cruised through the first lap in 35:45, I was psyched! This is a good 4 minutes faster than any 1.2 mile open water swim I've done in the past.
I wanted to negative split the 2nd loop since I felt so great. The course was an odd shape. I don’t even think it is a shape. You basically had to swim out from shore, hook a left around a dock, keep heading left then hook a right around a buoy, keep heading right then loop around the far buoy. The swim back from there is much easier to navigate. Got all that?? So I was cruising on the second loop, hooked the left after the dock and I felt my body going up and down in a wave. I literally got pushed off course from a boat wave! So I had to get back on my straight sighting line and my 2nd loop was a tad slower because of this. Despite that, I crossed the mat in 1:13:55 - I'm really happy about that. I didn't feel too taxed and I knew I could have hopped on my bike right away for a little 112 bike. I wound up coming 5 out of 10 in my age group, which isn’t so bad considering I was dehydrated and sick the day before.
We drove home and by the time I got back to my apartment it was around 1pm. Hot, hot, hot. I still had adrenaline from the swim, so I geared up for my 3 hour run with my fuel belt filled with gaterade and water. I ate some toast because I was hungry but didn't want to eat anything crazy before a 3 hour run. Off I went. The first step I took, I knew it was gonna be a tough run. But I was still in good spirits. As the run went on, I got slower, and slower and hotter and hotter to the point where I got a headache and had to stop and walk. I sprayed my cold water on my head but that didn't help. I just felt like I couldn't keep anything inside... all my precious water was being sweated out. After 1 loop on Central park (about 6.2 miles), with 2 walk breaks, I called it a day. My body and my will were battling it out for those painfully slow 6 miles. I really, really wanted to finish my run, but my body said no way! I knew being dehydrated was going to make me slower but I didn’t think I would have to cut the run short by 2 hours! Ugh. The heat on Sunday didn’t help either. I finished all 4 of my fuel belt bottles before I finished 6 miles… I never do that. Even though I was extremely disappointed, I knew I made the right decision. I knew that if I felt this way out on the IM course, I would do anything in my power to finish. Sunday was not race day. If I pushed it and got even worse it would have been bad news. I can live with that. (even though I’m still angry!)
So Monday rolls around and I get all my biking stuff prepped for a 4 ½ hour ride. I set my alarm for 645 to get an early-ish start without losing too much sleep. My alarm goes off and my stomach is rumbling. I went to the bathroom 4 times in 30 minutes!!! This is just not normal. I knew my ride was gonna have to be scrapped. I was too dehydrated to put in a solid long ride. I immediately started crying and crawled back into bed and woke Simon up to show him how pitiful I was. My Coach wound up texting me right when I was in the middle of my meltdown. I felt like I lost a HUGE weekend of training. But she told me to keep my eyes on the big picture… it’s one weekend of many. Very true – this is why I have a coach.
So my body won for the second day in a row and I was just so upset. After crying it out, I felt a little better. I was going back and forth on whether or not to head to Central Park for a couple of loops before the tourists took over. But I decided to make Monday a complete non-triathlon day (sorta). I got my hair cut and highlighted, I went shopping, I may have bought a new pair of tri shorts and a HR strap, but that was the only tri related things I did. I didn’t even stalk people’s blogs! Well… until last night, but by then, I was ok enough to re-enter my tri world.
This weekend was frustrating to say the least. I’m feeling better today and even knocked out my fasted 36 miles on a bike ever! Take THAT BODY! I guess when you don’t run or bike for 3 days, your legs feel like they have superpowers! Hopefully I’m on the mend. I feel about 90% better. My tummy still rumbles and I’m still eating bland food, but the bathroom stops have been cut down dramatically. This weekend I have my Rev3 half iron race… and after swimming so well on Sunday, I’m really looking forward to it! Happy Training!
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Friday, May 27, 2011
Fireman Ironman May Camp
I don't want to be in the real world right now, I want my tri camp world back!
This week has been busy with work, working out… and *gasp* a semi-social life! So here’s a little recap of the Fireman Ironman Training Camp weekend... (or kinda a long recap)
Friday night I drove up with two Asphalt Green Tri Club dudes. They were super great and I was so happy to have someone to carpool with. Due to typical NYC traffic, we didn’t get up there til after midnight. Our ride was at 730am… yikes. I got to my motel unpacked a bit and hit the hay. Of course, I did not sleep at all. My stomach was acting funny (I had a terrible, terrible stomach flu from Onday night into Tuesday and hadn’t been eating much all week), and all the things I had to do in the morning were racing through my mind.
My alarm goes off at 6am, I get up, eat, dress and set up my bike. As I’m about to leave I noticed my rear brake is rubbing on my tire and I can’t fix it. UGH. This was mechanical problem #1 of the day. Luckily the local bike shop had a 630am bike class so they were open! I brought Roo there and the awesome dudes figited with her rear brake and fixed her up.
We met at the famous Olympic Oval and split up into pace groups. I went with the 16mph group which was a good fit. Once we started riding I noticed Mechanical Fail #2 and #3. The hear rate monitor wasn’t working. I just changed the battery the night before… UGH. Then my cadence sensor wasn’t working! It might have gotten knocked around a bit on the car rack but by the time I realized I was already riding and didn't want to stop. So I basically rode and ran by feel the whole weekend.
112 BIKE:
I felt really really good on the bike. The hills of the Zof definitely helped my confidence riding the Placid course. There's basically two sections I need to worry about. The first one is the climb out of town. One the first loop it's no problem, I felt good and strong. On the second loop, you really start to feel the hills there. Everyone said at the camp to take the 1st loop verrrrry easy, since the second loop you really start to feel all the climbing. After the hills out of town there's a 10k descent which is awesome! I hit a record high of 40 mph! The second part, I have to worry about is at the end of the course... there's about 15-17 miles of climbing to get back into town. There's one section that I absolutely hate! It’s just a long very gradual climb that’s hard enough you have to be in small ring and it lasts literally for over 3 miles. I would rather have a shorter steeper hill than that! So on my first loop right when I hit the gradual climb, I grabbed my bottle to drink some calories and I hit a bump as I was putting it back on my frame (the roads were crap up there!). Of course it fell and as I slowed down to go back to pick it up, I tried to unclip, struggled and fell hard on my right side. I was going pretty slow but I definitely fell harder than I would have liked! I scraped up my arm, shin and butt but my bike seemed fine. The rear derailleur was making a funny noise in certain small gears but it was rideable so I pressed on.
The second loop was harder than the first! The climbs out of town felt much tougher and then on the nice long descent there was a headwind - doh! So I still had to pedal a bit to get down it. There is a nice long flat(ish) section between the two climbs where you can stay in aero most of the time... I got tired on this section and was actually craving a hill just to sit up! I got my wishes and started the long climb back into town. I was definitely slower on the hills but I just focused on spinning up them. I got through the long gradual climb without falling over - hooray. BUT.... when I was less than 10 miles from finishing, I was climbing a steeper hill and I shifted to my easiest gear and my chain fell off in the back. I got off, fixed it then it fell off in the front. I was like WTF? I fixed that, got back on and I couldn't pedal AT ALL! My rear derailler was literally against the spokes of my wheel. Ughhhhh.... I had no idea how to fix it. I tried pulling, which is probably bad, I tried shifting... it wasn't moving. My riding day was over :( I was so angry that I couldn't finish the measly 10 miles left!! So I called the camp organizer, thank goodness I had cell service, and he sent someone to pick me up. The two dudes I was riding with then dropped (heh) found me and I was cursing up a storm! I could not believe I was less than 10 miles from finishing my first 112 mile ride!! I’m still angry about it.
So, me and my busted Roo got a ride back to town and I brought her right to the same bike shop to get fixed. The bike shop up there was super, super great and they said she'd be done by noon on Sunday- perfect!
As far as my nutrition went... I think I did pretty well. I had 3 Mojo bars with me, gu chomps and gu's. I ate all 3 bars (1 1/2 per loop), almost the whole package of chomps and about 4 gu's. I also had 2 bottles of perform, plus a bottle or two of hammer drink that the camp provided at rest stops. I think I could have drank more the 1st loop but it was cold and rainy so I wasn't feeling it. But when the sun came out of the 2nd loop, I drank more and more. That was another positive about this ride, we rode through every piece of weather you could think of. At the start it was cold, wet and foggy. Then it got humid. Then it rained again. Then the sun came out. Then the wind started…. Good practice for race day!
After I dropped Roo off, I did my transition run... so it wasn't exactly a brick run but I was angry and needed to run it off. By then, it was about 415pm, sunny and HOT. I pushed my pace a little harder and ran 3 miles on the run course, including the biggest hill on the course. That hill slowed me down and I power walked part of it. My legs felt ok, I was just fatigued a bit and my nutrition was off since I waited a while to run.
Saturday night we had a camp dinner at the Crowne Plaza. There were guest speakers, tons of food and prizes. It was great to sit down and chat with people who have done Placid before. I learned lots of invaluable tips! Plus, you should see what over 100 triathletes eat after a 112 bike/run session… the piles upon piles of food was incredible! This was actually my biggest meal of the week and I was happy my stomach flu was finally gone!
Sunday was the long run at a leisurely 9am. I did over 16 miles in 2 and half hours and I felt really, really good. I also got to run with my blogger buddy Jon!
He has a great blog going, you should check it out. It was so awesome to meet him in person and we got to know each other by the best way… running 16 miles together! We wound up being the same “easy” pace since we both wanted to take it easy on our legs after the long bike/run the day before. The first 6 miles of the run it was sunny and hot again. We were both feeling it and took our time at the aid stations to drink water, Gatorade and gels. Then it got cloudy and that felt soooo much better. My body isn't used to hot conditions yet so that was challenging. This run course isn't easy as pie either. There are two major hills coming back into town and a couple of rollers on one out and back section. We did one full loop of the course then looped back down one of the hills just so we could run up it again :) I was happy that I ran up the hills both times without stopping. I was amazed at how great my legs felt despite the long ride and run the day before!
Mirror Lake was still pretty cold... around 50 degrees so they canceled the swim on Sunday afternoon. My carpool buddy, Jerome, was one of two people to actually swim it! I opted not to... and I don't feel bad about it :) I hung out on the grass and talked with the other athletes including pro Logan Franks. He just happens to be on the cover of Lava Magazine right now and he was super, super cool! Down to earth, friendly and answered all of our amateur questions.
It was a kick ass training weekend and I loved every minute of it. I could seriously spend the rest of my life doing that day in and day out, maybe an occasional rest day, but I haven’t figured out quite how to fund it yet. Lottery anyone?? I’ll be heading up for the June Fireman Ironman Camp as well and I’m so excited!
This weekend is a doozy…. 4 ½ hour ride on Saturday, 2.4 open water swim race down the shore Sunday morning, then a 3 hour run Sunday afternoon. Monday is a complete rest day. No work. No training. What am I going to do with myself??
This week has been busy with work, working out… and *gasp* a semi-social life! So here’s a little recap of the Fireman Ironman Training Camp weekend... (or kinda a long recap)
Friday night I drove up with two Asphalt Green Tri Club dudes. They were super great and I was so happy to have someone to carpool with. Due to typical NYC traffic, we didn’t get up there til after midnight. Our ride was at 730am… yikes. I got to my motel unpacked a bit and hit the hay. Of course, I did not sleep at all. My stomach was acting funny (I had a terrible, terrible stomach flu from Onday night into Tuesday and hadn’t been eating much all week), and all the things I had to do in the morning were racing through my mind.
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| View from my motel - awesome! |
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| Olympic Ski Jumps |
We met at the famous Olympic Oval and split up into pace groups. I went with the 16mph group which was a good fit. Once we started riding I noticed Mechanical Fail #2 and #3. The hear rate monitor wasn’t working. I just changed the battery the night before… UGH. Then my cadence sensor wasn’t working! It might have gotten knocked around a bit on the car rack but by the time I realized I was already riding and didn't want to stop. So I basically rode and ran by feel the whole weekend.
112 BIKE:
I felt really really good on the bike. The hills of the Zof definitely helped my confidence riding the Placid course. There's basically two sections I need to worry about. The first one is the climb out of town. One the first loop it's no problem, I felt good and strong. On the second loop, you really start to feel the hills there. Everyone said at the camp to take the 1st loop verrrrry easy, since the second loop you really start to feel all the climbing. After the hills out of town there's a 10k descent which is awesome! I hit a record high of 40 mph! The second part, I have to worry about is at the end of the course... there's about 15-17 miles of climbing to get back into town. There's one section that I absolutely hate! It’s just a long very gradual climb that’s hard enough you have to be in small ring and it lasts literally for over 3 miles. I would rather have a shorter steeper hill than that! So on my first loop right when I hit the gradual climb, I grabbed my bottle to drink some calories and I hit a bump as I was putting it back on my frame (the roads were crap up there!). Of course it fell and as I slowed down to go back to pick it up, I tried to unclip, struggled and fell hard on my right side. I was going pretty slow but I definitely fell harder than I would have liked! I scraped up my arm, shin and butt but my bike seemed fine. The rear derailleur was making a funny noise in certain small gears but it was rideable so I pressed on.
The second loop was harder than the first! The climbs out of town felt much tougher and then on the nice long descent there was a headwind - doh! So I still had to pedal a bit to get down it. There is a nice long flat(ish) section between the two climbs where you can stay in aero most of the time... I got tired on this section and was actually craving a hill just to sit up! I got my wishes and started the long climb back into town. I was definitely slower on the hills but I just focused on spinning up them. I got through the long gradual climb without falling over - hooray. BUT.... when I was less than 10 miles from finishing, I was climbing a steeper hill and I shifted to my easiest gear and my chain fell off in the back. I got off, fixed it then it fell off in the front. I was like WTF? I fixed that, got back on and I couldn't pedal AT ALL! My rear derailler was literally against the spokes of my wheel. Ughhhhh.... I had no idea how to fix it. I tried pulling, which is probably bad, I tried shifting... it wasn't moving. My riding day was over :( I was so angry that I couldn't finish the measly 10 miles left!! So I called the camp organizer, thank goodness I had cell service, and he sent someone to pick me up. The two dudes I was riding with then dropped (heh) found me and I was cursing up a storm! I could not believe I was less than 10 miles from finishing my first 112 mile ride!! I’m still angry about it.
So, me and my busted Roo got a ride back to town and I brought her right to the same bike shop to get fixed. The bike shop up there was super, super great and they said she'd be done by noon on Sunday- perfect!
As far as my nutrition went... I think I did pretty well. I had 3 Mojo bars with me, gu chomps and gu's. I ate all 3 bars (1 1/2 per loop), almost the whole package of chomps and about 4 gu's. I also had 2 bottles of perform, plus a bottle or two of hammer drink that the camp provided at rest stops. I think I could have drank more the 1st loop but it was cold and rainy so I wasn't feeling it. But when the sun came out of the 2nd loop, I drank more and more. That was another positive about this ride, we rode through every piece of weather you could think of. At the start it was cold, wet and foggy. Then it got humid. Then it rained again. Then the sun came out. Then the wind started…. Good practice for race day!
After I dropped Roo off, I did my transition run... so it wasn't exactly a brick run but I was angry and needed to run it off. By then, it was about 415pm, sunny and HOT. I pushed my pace a little harder and ran 3 miles on the run course, including the biggest hill on the course. That hill slowed me down and I power walked part of it. My legs felt ok, I was just fatigued a bit and my nutrition was off since I waited a while to run.
Saturday night we had a camp dinner at the Crowne Plaza. There were guest speakers, tons of food and prizes. It was great to sit down and chat with people who have done Placid before. I learned lots of invaluable tips! Plus, you should see what over 100 triathletes eat after a 112 bike/run session… the piles upon piles of food was incredible! This was actually my biggest meal of the week and I was happy my stomach flu was finally gone!
Sunday was the long run at a leisurely 9am. I did over 16 miles in 2 and half hours and I felt really, really good. I also got to run with my blogger buddy Jon!
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| me and Jon post run! He took a Mirror Lake ice bath... I took a shower! |
Mirror Lake was still pretty cold... around 50 degrees so they canceled the swim on Sunday afternoon. My carpool buddy, Jerome, was one of two people to actually swim it! I opted not to... and I don't feel bad about it :) I hung out on the grass and talked with the other athletes including pro Logan Franks. He just happens to be on the cover of Lava Magazine right now and he was super, super cool! Down to earth, friendly and answered all of our amateur questions.
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| the gorgeous Mirror Lake |
This weekend is a doozy…. 4 ½ hour ride on Saturday, 2.4 open water swim race down the shore Sunday morning, then a 3 hour run Sunday afternoon. Monday is a complete rest day. No work. No training. What am I going to do with myself??
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Zofingen Race Report
The American Zofingen Long Course was the absolute hardest race I have ever put my body through! Ever, ever, ever! Way back in the fall when I was formulating my Placid training I added this as a long training day. I heard it was hard, there were mountains to climb and I thought "perfect!" I had a good idea how hard the bike course was but I was happy about that. I need to work on my climbing and this was a perfect opportunity. But I never expected what I encountered on Sunday with the run.
Warning - this is long!
SATURDAY - DAY BEFORE THE RACE
Simon, James and I drove up to New Paltz and did the regular pre-race stuff. Checked in, got a bib number, checked in the hotel, ate and ate some more. The weather forecast was not looking great for Sunday but we expected that. James was tackling the 112 Iron TT bike while I was attempting the long course. We were in bed by about 930 and since we opted for a cheap motel, the bed wasn't very comfortable and we could see the outside light even with the blinds closed. So needless to say, I didn't sleep very well but I expected that.
SUNDAY PRE-RACE
I got up ate a plain bagel and started to hydrate. When I looked outside it was pouring rain. I'm not gonna lie, I was freakin' nervous. "What the heck did I get myself into??" Simon was nice enough to drop me off at transition and as we were driving there I teared up about two times. I wasn't sure if I could do this. I really wasn't. I wanted to turn the car around and go back to the terribly uncomfortable bed. Simon was the absolute best, reassuring me that I was going to be ok and reminding me that this is just a long training day. "Just a long training day." Ok, I can do this. If I can do this, I can do Lake Placid. This was my test and this was going to be a long distance learning day. That's it.
The American Zofingen is only in it's 7th year and it's such a low key race. Transition was in a grassy field and the finish line ended up 3 steps inside a gazebo. The only bad thing about this was that the bike out was down a dirt road, literally. With all the rain we were getting this was now all muddy. I was not looking forward to riding on that. After I set up my bike, I went to go grab my chip. For some reason about 10 racers did not have a chip that corresponded to their bib number. I was one of them. My bib number was 109, my chip number? Lucky 13. A-Rod, Dan Marino and many other famous athletes wear the number 13 so I thought, well heck, I'm in good company!
TRAIL RUN 1
5 Miles 54:50
802 feet elevation gain
After the national anthem someone yelled go and we were off on the first trail run. Since I knew nothing about the course I stayed near the back and followed two chicks that looked like they knew what they were doing. We ran through a muddy field, across some wooden planks and then up into the woods. I came to the realization that this was a hardcore trail race. The climbing went up and up on a wet, muddy, slippery, rocky trail that had tree roots sticking out all over the place. It was a very technical run and was about a 12% grade. Being that I've run on trails like never, I was excited and nervous. I just followed the 2 girls in front of me and started talking to them. They said they were using it as a long training day as well. When we got to the top of the first climb the trail widened and I wound up getting ahead of them. When my garmin hit 1 mile and I saw 11:28 I thought, no way! The garmin MUST be wrong. And then I realized it wasn't. It did take me 11 minutes and 28 seconds on the FIRST mile!! uh oh. This is gonna be tough. Looking at last year's results I figured I would finish the first run around 45 minutes. Right now, in Central Park I can run 5 miles comfortably in 42 minutes and mile one here was 11:28?!? Yikes.
When I hit the second climb I was forced to walk. I dropped the group behind me and I felt like I was running on my own in the woods. A little freeing, but also a little scary! Finally, I saw the aid station and a wide path again. Phew - I can motor on here for a bit and just keep my HR in check. There was one technical descent that had me using gravity to my advantage. I just kept thinking fast feet and hopped over roots, branches and rocks. At the bottom I had to cross a small stream then run along wooden planks. It was pretty fun and at this point I felt decent. Oh, I should add that during the entire run it was pouring. I wound up wearing my Odwalla tri top, arm warmers, Zoot tri shorts and a pair of Nike capris over the shorts since it was chilly. After passing the aid station for the last time the rest of the run was fairly easy except for one last steep ascent that I walked up. The kicker in this run is that when you get to the end, it's a long uphill grassy field. All you want to do is gun it but you can't!
TRANSITION 1
3:01
It was pouring rain when I got into transition and it was chilly. I decided to throw on my bike jersey to stay warm on the bike and kept my capris on. This was a smart move.
BIKE 84 MILES
6:09:48
8,603 elevation gain
Oh the bike... where do I even begin? I estimated it would take me just under 2 hours per loop to finish so about 6 hours total. Obviously it took me a bit longer than that, but I'm ok with it.
LOOP 1
around 2:01:00
First when I got on the bike, my poor Roo was soaked from head to toe. She started making funny noises and remember that gravel dirt road I mentioned earlier? It was muddy and slippery and I just took my time getting out of the little park. After that, you have to climb uphill for about two miles on the hardest hill of the course. Hello Climbing Legs!! I was going so slow, I thought my rear brake was rubbing on my tire. I stopped to check and nope, it was fine, I was just going THAT slow. This was the very first time I was really tested. I wanted to give up right then and there and I was 2 miles into the bike. It was that hard and I was huffing and puffing in my easiest gear trying to just get up to the top. Finally I made it and of course when I got to the top, the rain lightened up and so did my mood.
What goes up must come down so there was a nice descent except it's hard to enjoy it when the roads are windy and wet. Then the course gets a little flat where I stayed in aero and started my nutrition. They throw in a couple of rollers that keep you honest and in the small chain ring, then comes the second mountain climb.
That's me before the long second mountain climb! Now this 2nd climb isn't as steep as the first but it sure is tough. I was in my easiest gear again and just spun my way up the hills. A lot of the Iron TT folks passed me and the middle distance bikers but I shouted encouragement and I got lots of compliments on my pink camo bike :) Again a nice long descent with normally beautiful views came next. But it was foggy so you could barely see in front of you. That's a little scary when you're going over 35 mph on your bike!
The road turns into some nice flats where I cruised in aero getting up over 20 mph. I was happy with the way my legs were recovering from the climbs. They burned but not bad and once I got to a flat section they felt great. After more rolling hills, it was to the base of Mohonk Mountain where I would have to climb back up to the start line and up the killer of a hill. Even though I got out of the saddle to stretch my legs and back there were really only 2 hills on the course that forced you to do it. One was a short windy hill before the Mohonk Climb around mile 26 then the top of Mohonk around mile 29/30.
LOOP 2
around 2:04:00
So the fun began again on the second loop. Mentally I was in a good place, hurting a bit on the climbs and not trying to think about the 15 mile run I still had to do. The climbs felt harder, but not undoable and I just kept trucking.
I'm still smiling on loop two and this is a good example of one of the hairpin turns that I climbed not once, not twice but three times. **I'm still flabbergasted that I actually did this race So as I'm chugging along I really had to pee. Very badly. That was a good sign that I was keeping hydrated. I hadn't seen any porta potties so I figured I would try the another thing I never thought I would do. Pee while riding the bike, as in on my beautiful pink camo bike and on myself (obviously I'm more concerned about the bike). I was heading down the big descent and I knew an aid station wasn't too far away. I figured I'd pee, grab a water bottle and wash myself off. It was raining so it's not like you could notice. It was a lot harder to pee on my bike than I thought it would be! I kept telling myself, "it's ok, it's ok, just let her rip" Finally the pee started to flow. I don't mean to be gross but, it actually felt kinda nice since it was warm. Ah, I felt SO much better after that. Once I got to the aid station I grabbed a water bottle and hosed myself and the Roo down. The rest of loop two was pretty uneventful... the silly hard climb was coming up and I. was. dreading. it.
LOOP 3
around 2:04:00
The Mohonk Mountain climb almost left me in tears it was so hard the third time. I wound up passing a girl in the long course climbing and we chatted for a little bit. It was weird, the people I started off with on the run, I never saw again and the girl I saw on the bike I never saw again either. I don't know if people dropped out or what. The race organizers still haven't posted the results so I have no clue where I placed or how many people wound up dropping out. After the silly Mohonk Climb, all of a sudden, my adrenaline hit me. "I am going to do it! I am going to finish an 84 mile torturous bike course!! holy sh&t!!" I was so excited that I cruised on the flats and felt great again until I started the second long climb. Then my mood soured. I was tired. My legs were burning from all the climbing. I still had 15 miles to run after this. Every complaint you can think of went through my head. But I just kept pedaling. Keep Moving Forward.
My super fans were at the hairpin turn again but this time I had to force myself to smile. I was hurting here. I peed again on the descent (hehehe) and washed myself off again at the aid station. Boy it felt good to empty my bladder! The other thing about the third loop is that I was cold! My fingers were turning blue and the thought of not even starting the run because of this crossed my mind. As I was approaching the last climb back to transition my super biker friend James, caught up to me. We chatted a bit. He was on his fourth and final loop on the iron TT and I was on my final 3rd loop. We were both happy to be almost done with this course!
After the short but steep climb, I made the left hand turn into the park where transition was and I had to go super slow cause the road was almost all mud. It was uphill (of course) and skinny road tires don't really mix with muddy rocks. I was so freakin' happy to get off the bike!
TRANSITION 2
3:22
I ripped off my bike jersey, helmet and gloves. Then sat down to change into my sneakers. I brought a fresh pair of socks to wear on the run and even though I know they were about to get soaked it felt great for those first few minutes to wear dry socks.
RUN 2 - 15 MILE TRAIL RUN
2:59:10
2,365 elevation gain
Since this race report is long enough I'll just give you the highlights of the 3 loop run. The first loop was actually my slowest of the three. I walked up every major incline and there were about 3 of them. I was basically running by myself the entire run except for seeing 4 other racers and some hikers. Near the end of the first mile of the first loop my garmin beeped and as I looked down at my watch, I rolled my ankle on a rock. I got such a sharp pain and had to stop. "oh crap. Did I just sprain my ankle??" I stopped and bent over in pain and then started to walk. The more I walked the more it loosened up so I began jogging. "Ok, ok, this feels ok" Phew - that was a close one. I kinda thought my race was gonna be over at mile 1, or should I say mile 90?!?!
When you finish each loop there's a major tease.... you run up the grassy hill, up 3 stairs into the gazebo, through the finish line and everyone who has finished already is drinking beer, eating, partying it up and here I am, with two more loops to do! Bastards! :)
Coming through on the first loop. Yes, very foggy and despite the look on my face, I felt good!
All the low lying grassy areas were now mud pits. You literally could not run through them or else you'd slip and fall. I tried to look for the hardest piece of ground to run on but to no avail my shoes and myself were covered in squishy mud.
The climbs were still tough the second and third loop but my legs recovered quick again and I was able to hold an 845 pace on the flats and even faster on the downhills. I was surprised how good my legs felt on these sections. "holy sh&t... I'm actually gonna do this!!! I'm gonna finish!" and this time when I told myself that, I believed it. What's one more 5 mile loop in the woods? Absolutely nothing after all the work I did that day to get to that final loop.
A little less fog and more smiles after the second loop. One more loop to go!
I decided to push my pace on the 3rd loop and it was my fastest one of the 15 miles. Finally, after the last downhill I saw the grassy hill. The small demon I had left to slay loomed in front of me. I got this one. I pushed, swung my arms and climbed my way to the finish line. I was done! I just finished the hardest race of my life in ten hour and ten minutes! I was so happy to be done with that course!!!
Yes, I was hurting a bit in that last portion. My face says it all. The dude in green was my new friend Bruce. We met with about 2 miles left in the last loop and we ran it in together til he pulled away on the last bit and finished ahead of me! Nice guy... but typical! :)
Every person I met that day said that the Zof long course is harder than any ironman, including Placid. I am so, so proud of myself for completing this monster of a course. I learned so much in that ten hour sufferfest. I learned patience, nutrition, pacing, how to deal with despair, wanting to quit. I don't think I would have learned all of this through a regular training day. I do have a lot more hard training days to come, but on a course like this? I don't think I'll be tested like this again until July 24th.
It was a pretty well organized grass roots race. But it was hard, if you couldn't tell. This race is not for the fainthearted or for people that haven't done hill training. Would I do it again? Nope. Hah - it was just such a hard day from start to finish, I don't know if I would subject myself to that again. But please don't let that dissuade anyone from signing for 2012's race. It was an epic day. I will always remember it and all the wonderful things I learned about myself. Nothing will compare to that!
A long, tough training day is now in the books for Placid. Race day, any time I get negative or my mind starts to wander, I'll think of the Zof and how I freakin' conquered it!
66 DAYS TIL PLACID!!
Warning - this is long!
SATURDAY - DAY BEFORE THE RACE
Simon, James and I drove up to New Paltz and did the regular pre-race stuff. Checked in, got a bib number, checked in the hotel, ate and ate some more. The weather forecast was not looking great for Sunday but we expected that. James was tackling the 112 Iron TT bike while I was attempting the long course. We were in bed by about 930 and since we opted for a cheap motel, the bed wasn't very comfortable and we could see the outside light even with the blinds closed. So needless to say, I didn't sleep very well but I expected that.
SUNDAY PRE-RACE
I got up ate a plain bagel and started to hydrate. When I looked outside it was pouring rain. I'm not gonna lie, I was freakin' nervous. "What the heck did I get myself into??" Simon was nice enough to drop me off at transition and as we were driving there I teared up about two times. I wasn't sure if I could do this. I really wasn't. I wanted to turn the car around and go back to the terribly uncomfortable bed. Simon was the absolute best, reassuring me that I was going to be ok and reminding me that this is just a long training day. "Just a long training day." Ok, I can do this. If I can do this, I can do Lake Placid. This was my test and this was going to be a long distance learning day. That's it.
The American Zofingen is only in it's 7th year and it's such a low key race. Transition was in a grassy field and the finish line ended up 3 steps inside a gazebo. The only bad thing about this was that the bike out was down a dirt road, literally. With all the rain we were getting this was now all muddy. I was not looking forward to riding on that. After I set up my bike, I went to go grab my chip. For some reason about 10 racers did not have a chip that corresponded to their bib number. I was one of them. My bib number was 109, my chip number? Lucky 13. A-Rod, Dan Marino and many other famous athletes wear the number 13 so I thought, well heck, I'm in good company!
TRAIL RUN 1
5 Miles 54:50
802 feet elevation gain
After the national anthem someone yelled go and we were off on the first trail run. Since I knew nothing about the course I stayed near the back and followed two chicks that looked like they knew what they were doing. We ran through a muddy field, across some wooden planks and then up into the woods. I came to the realization that this was a hardcore trail race. The climbing went up and up on a wet, muddy, slippery, rocky trail that had tree roots sticking out all over the place. It was a very technical run and was about a 12% grade. Being that I've run on trails like never, I was excited and nervous. I just followed the 2 girls in front of me and started talking to them. They said they were using it as a long training day as well. When we got to the top of the first climb the trail widened and I wound up getting ahead of them. When my garmin hit 1 mile and I saw 11:28 I thought, no way! The garmin MUST be wrong. And then I realized it wasn't. It did take me 11 minutes and 28 seconds on the FIRST mile!! uh oh. This is gonna be tough. Looking at last year's results I figured I would finish the first run around 45 minutes. Right now, in Central Park I can run 5 miles comfortably in 42 minutes and mile one here was 11:28?!? Yikes.
When I hit the second climb I was forced to walk. I dropped the group behind me and I felt like I was running on my own in the woods. A little freeing, but also a little scary! Finally, I saw the aid station and a wide path again. Phew - I can motor on here for a bit and just keep my HR in check. There was one technical descent that had me using gravity to my advantage. I just kept thinking fast feet and hopped over roots, branches and rocks. At the bottom I had to cross a small stream then run along wooden planks. It was pretty fun and at this point I felt decent. Oh, I should add that during the entire run it was pouring. I wound up wearing my Odwalla tri top, arm warmers, Zoot tri shorts and a pair of Nike capris over the shorts since it was chilly. After passing the aid station for the last time the rest of the run was fairly easy except for one last steep ascent that I walked up. The kicker in this run is that when you get to the end, it's a long uphill grassy field. All you want to do is gun it but you can't!
TRANSITION 1
3:01
It was pouring rain when I got into transition and it was chilly. I decided to throw on my bike jersey to stay warm on the bike and kept my capris on. This was a smart move.
BIKE 84 MILES
6:09:48
8,603 elevation gain
Oh the bike... where do I even begin? I estimated it would take me just under 2 hours per loop to finish so about 6 hours total. Obviously it took me a bit longer than that, but I'm ok with it.
LOOP 1
around 2:01:00
First when I got on the bike, my poor Roo was soaked from head to toe. She started making funny noises and remember that gravel dirt road I mentioned earlier? It was muddy and slippery and I just took my time getting out of the little park. After that, you have to climb uphill for about two miles on the hardest hill of the course. Hello Climbing Legs!! I was going so slow, I thought my rear brake was rubbing on my tire. I stopped to check and nope, it was fine, I was just going THAT slow. This was the very first time I was really tested. I wanted to give up right then and there and I was 2 miles into the bike. It was that hard and I was huffing and puffing in my easiest gear trying to just get up to the top. Finally I made it and of course when I got to the top, the rain lightened up and so did my mood.
What goes up must come down so there was a nice descent except it's hard to enjoy it when the roads are windy and wet. Then the course gets a little flat where I stayed in aero and started my nutrition. They throw in a couple of rollers that keep you honest and in the small chain ring, then comes the second mountain climb.
That's me before the long second mountain climb! Now this 2nd climb isn't as steep as the first but it sure is tough. I was in my easiest gear again and just spun my way up the hills. A lot of the Iron TT folks passed me and the middle distance bikers but I shouted encouragement and I got lots of compliments on my pink camo bike :) Again a nice long descent with normally beautiful views came next. But it was foggy so you could barely see in front of you. That's a little scary when you're going over 35 mph on your bike!
The road turns into some nice flats where I cruised in aero getting up over 20 mph. I was happy with the way my legs were recovering from the climbs. They burned but not bad and once I got to a flat section they felt great. After more rolling hills, it was to the base of Mohonk Mountain where I would have to climb back up to the start line and up the killer of a hill. Even though I got out of the saddle to stretch my legs and back there were really only 2 hills on the course that forced you to do it. One was a short windy hill before the Mohonk Climb around mile 26 then the top of Mohonk around mile 29/30.
LOOP 2
around 2:04:00
So the fun began again on the second loop. Mentally I was in a good place, hurting a bit on the climbs and not trying to think about the 15 mile run I still had to do. The climbs felt harder, but not undoable and I just kept trucking.
LOOP 3
around 2:04:00
The Mohonk Mountain climb almost left me in tears it was so hard the third time. I wound up passing a girl in the long course climbing and we chatted for a little bit. It was weird, the people I started off with on the run, I never saw again and the girl I saw on the bike I never saw again either. I don't know if people dropped out or what. The race organizers still haven't posted the results so I have no clue where I placed or how many people wound up dropping out. After the silly Mohonk Climb, all of a sudden, my adrenaline hit me. "I am going to do it! I am going to finish an 84 mile torturous bike course!! holy sh&t!!" I was so excited that I cruised on the flats and felt great again until I started the second long climb. Then my mood soured. I was tired. My legs were burning from all the climbing. I still had 15 miles to run after this. Every complaint you can think of went through my head. But I just kept pedaling. Keep Moving Forward.
My super fans were at the hairpin turn again but this time I had to force myself to smile. I was hurting here. I peed again on the descent (hehehe) and washed myself off again at the aid station. Boy it felt good to empty my bladder! The other thing about the third loop is that I was cold! My fingers were turning blue and the thought of not even starting the run because of this crossed my mind. As I was approaching the last climb back to transition my super biker friend James, caught up to me. We chatted a bit. He was on his fourth and final loop on the iron TT and I was on my final 3rd loop. We were both happy to be almost done with this course!
After the short but steep climb, I made the left hand turn into the park where transition was and I had to go super slow cause the road was almost all mud. It was uphill (of course) and skinny road tires don't really mix with muddy rocks. I was so freakin' happy to get off the bike!
TRANSITION 2
3:22
I ripped off my bike jersey, helmet and gloves. Then sat down to change into my sneakers. I brought a fresh pair of socks to wear on the run and even though I know they were about to get soaked it felt great for those first few minutes to wear dry socks.
RUN 2 - 15 MILE TRAIL RUN
2:59:10
2,365 elevation gain
Since this race report is long enough I'll just give you the highlights of the 3 loop run. The first loop was actually my slowest of the three. I walked up every major incline and there were about 3 of them. I was basically running by myself the entire run except for seeing 4 other racers and some hikers. Near the end of the first mile of the first loop my garmin beeped and as I looked down at my watch, I rolled my ankle on a rock. I got such a sharp pain and had to stop. "oh crap. Did I just sprain my ankle??" I stopped and bent over in pain and then started to walk. The more I walked the more it loosened up so I began jogging. "Ok, ok, this feels ok" Phew - that was a close one. I kinda thought my race was gonna be over at mile 1, or should I say mile 90?!?!
When you finish each loop there's a major tease.... you run up the grassy hill, up 3 stairs into the gazebo, through the finish line and everyone who has finished already is drinking beer, eating, partying it up and here I am, with two more loops to do! Bastards! :)
All the low lying grassy areas were now mud pits. You literally could not run through them or else you'd slip and fall. I tried to look for the hardest piece of ground to run on but to no avail my shoes and myself were covered in squishy mud.
The climbs were still tough the second and third loop but my legs recovered quick again and I was able to hold an 845 pace on the flats and even faster on the downhills. I was surprised how good my legs felt on these sections. "holy sh&t... I'm actually gonna do this!!! I'm gonna finish!" and this time when I told myself that, I believed it. What's one more 5 mile loop in the woods? Absolutely nothing after all the work I did that day to get to that final loop.
I decided to push my pace on the 3rd loop and it was my fastest one of the 15 miles. Finally, after the last downhill I saw the grassy hill. The small demon I had left to slay loomed in front of me. I got this one. I pushed, swung my arms and climbed my way to the finish line. I was done! I just finished the hardest race of my life in ten hour and ten minutes! I was so happy to be done with that course!!!
Every person I met that day said that the Zof long course is harder than any ironman, including Placid. I am so, so proud of myself for completing this monster of a course. I learned so much in that ten hour sufferfest. I learned patience, nutrition, pacing, how to deal with despair, wanting to quit. I don't think I would have learned all of this through a regular training day. I do have a lot more hard training days to come, but on a course like this? I don't think I'll be tested like this again until July 24th.
It was a pretty well organized grass roots race. But it was hard, if you couldn't tell. This race is not for the fainthearted or for people that haven't done hill training. Would I do it again? Nope. Hah - it was just such a hard day from start to finish, I don't know if I would subject myself to that again. But please don't let that dissuade anyone from signing for 2012's race. It was an epic day. I will always remember it and all the wonderful things I learned about myself. Nothing will compare to that!
A long, tough training day is now in the books for Placid. Race day, any time I get negative or my mind starts to wander, I'll think of the Zof and how I freakin' conquered it!
66 DAYS TIL PLACID!!
Sunday, May 15, 2011
I Conquered The Zof!
Just a quick update.... I am an official American Zofingen Duathlon Long Course Finisher!
Total Time: 10:10 (yes, as in 10 hours!!)
Run 5 miles, Bike 84, Run 15 miles
This was the hardest race I've ever done. I climbed over a combined 11,000 feet on the bike and run... got extremely muddy... got rained on.... I wanted to quit about 5 times.... BUT - I finished! I'll post a full report once I can move my body again. Getting to work tomorrow should be fun....
Total Time: 10:10 (yes, as in 10 hours!!)
Run 5 miles, Bike 84, Run 15 miles
This was the hardest race I've ever done. I climbed over a combined 11,000 feet on the bike and run... got extremely muddy... got rained on.... I wanted to quit about 5 times.... BUT - I finished! I'll post a full report once I can move my body again. Getting to work tomorrow should be fun....
Friday, May 13, 2011
Pre-ZOF
So here it is… the weekend where I’m gonna put it on the line… where I’ll see how my Ironman training is coming together…. This is the race that has me shivering in my big girl pants… even more than Lake Placid!
AMERICAN ZOFINGEN DUATHLON - LONG COURSE
Run 5 miles
Bike 84 miles
Run 15 miles
Here’s a little screen grab of the bike elevation
And the run elevation has some major climbing as well but for some reason I can't seem to capture that elevation. Trust me - it's not gonna be easy.
And oh yes, I get to run that course not once, not twice... but four times! And the bike? I get to do that 3 times – wooooooo! Talk about preparing myself for Lake Placid!
I’ve been super, super nervous about this race. So nervous that I had to call my Coach last night for a pep talk. I was like, “um, what do I do on Sunday besides run, bike and run again???” It sounds so simple, but is it ever really that simple? Apparently yes.
Here’s my plan for Sunday.
- For the first 5 mile run, use it as a warm up. Jog it if I have to. Let the other crazies go out fast.
- Bike 84 miles: Take this time to really dial in to my body. How are my legs feeling? Heart rate? Nutrition? Focus on eating, drinking and maintaining a pace where I won’t be wiped out on the run. Let the other racers pass, give them a shoutout of encouragement and don’t focus on being passed.
- Run 15 miles: Hang on and let ‘er rip! I know I’m gonna feel tired and it’s going to be hard to run 15 miles after that insane bike course. I just need to stay within myself and finish.
In no way am I entertaining any idea of actually having a decent time in this race, but I do have a few goals.
- Remind myself that is a long training day. If I can tackle the mountains of Mohonk, the Lake Placid mountains will seem easy!
- Don’t come in last. No, really, I’m gonna try my hardest not to. There are literally only 15 women doing this race so I’ll be happy to be the 14th female finisher :)
- Embrace the pain! This is not going to be easy. There is nothing in my mind that says I am going to feel great during and after.
After my talk with Coach, I am starting to get excited about this weekend. The weather isn’t supposed to be spectacular but it might not be great on Ironman day so I just have to deal. Since there are only 15 women in the long course race, I do feel kinda bad ass for even signing up for it. Maybe even a little hardcore. ok, fine... I. AM. OFFICIALLY. FREAKIN. EXCITED!!!!
Have a great weekend and I’ll fill you in on all the gory details early next week!
AMERICAN ZOFINGEN DUATHLON - LONG COURSE
Run 5 miles
Bike 84 miles
Run 15 miles
Here’s a little screen grab of the bike elevation
And the run elevation has some major climbing as well but for some reason I can't seem to capture that elevation. Trust me - it's not gonna be easy.
And oh yes, I get to run that course not once, not twice... but four times! And the bike? I get to do that 3 times – wooooooo! Talk about preparing myself for Lake Placid!
I’ve been super, super nervous about this race. So nervous that I had to call my Coach last night for a pep talk. I was like, “um, what do I do on Sunday besides run, bike and run again???” It sounds so simple, but is it ever really that simple? Apparently yes.
Here’s my plan for Sunday.
- For the first 5 mile run, use it as a warm up. Jog it if I have to. Let the other crazies go out fast.
- Bike 84 miles: Take this time to really dial in to my body. How are my legs feeling? Heart rate? Nutrition? Focus on eating, drinking and maintaining a pace where I won’t be wiped out on the run. Let the other racers pass, give them a shoutout of encouragement and don’t focus on being passed.
- Run 15 miles: Hang on and let ‘er rip! I know I’m gonna feel tired and it’s going to be hard to run 15 miles after that insane bike course. I just need to stay within myself and finish.
In no way am I entertaining any idea of actually having a decent time in this race, but I do have a few goals.
- Remind myself that is a long training day. If I can tackle the mountains of Mohonk, the Lake Placid mountains will seem easy!
- Don’t come in last. No, really, I’m gonna try my hardest not to. There are literally only 15 women doing this race so I’ll be happy to be the 14th female finisher :)
- Embrace the pain! This is not going to be easy. There is nothing in my mind that says I am going to feel great during and after.
After my talk with Coach, I am starting to get excited about this weekend. The weather isn’t supposed to be spectacular but it might not be great on Ironman day so I just have to deal. Since there are only 15 women in the long course race, I do feel kinda bad ass for even signing up for it. Maybe even a little hardcore. ok, fine... I. AM. OFFICIALLY. FREAKIN. EXCITED!!!!
Have a great weekend and I’ll fill you in on all the gory details early next week!
Monday, May 9, 2011
How Do You Eat An Elephant?
One. Bite. At. A. Time.
Phew! There is SO much to catch up on how do I even begin? I guess let's start where I left off... which will be my post indoor bike mini-meltdown last Saturday (it's been so long that I've posted that I have to put the date... saturday April 23rd!). After suffering on the trainer for three and a half hours Negative Nelly crept into my head. 'If you can't ride your bike for 3 and half hours... what makes you think you can do an Ironman?' All you athletes know Negative Nelly... she pops up at the most inconvenient times and tries to persuade you to FAIL. Ms. Nelly herself popped up post ride and my head only went downhill, tumbling towards the feeling of failure, heading into the dark, depths of Negative Nelly.... Sunday (April 24th) I had a 1:45 progression run where each mile had to be faster than the last. I hit my goals and got in over 12 miles. I should have been happy about that workout. But I wasn't.
You know when you do long run and you think about stuff going on around you? Some people find running cathartic and can tune out. Not me. It's the few minutes (or hours) of my day where I can plan my next move. I like to stay one step ahead.
So I realized that the very next weekend (April 30th-May 1st), I would be missing not one, not two but FOUR social events due to training. Then, on Mother's Day, I have a 4:30 bike plus a 45 minute run.... and my parents live almost 2 hours away.... and I'll be coming back from DC late Saturday night.... so yes, Mother's Day is now IM training day. AND - I'll be in lake placid for Father's Day. Basically, I've become a bad friend and daughter.
I felt so guilty missing important outings for my friends & family (bridal shower, birthdays, baby shower) and now, my parents? Great.... Lucky for me I have the most understanding and loving parents in the world so they keep telling me not to worry. But of course I do.
So let's recap because I know I'm rambling... I had an uber crappy workout that killed my confidence, I missed four things in one weekend, I'm missing two important family days... oh yeah... add in about 60 hour stress filled work weeks... this had left me in tears and hopeless. I was so extremly overwhelmed and the last week of work has been insane.
So let's fast forward to present day. I kicked Negative Nelly to the curb and she is banned from my brain. I had some really amazingly solid workouts, including a super long ride up to Bear Mountain which I climbed not once, but twice! That was Saturday April 30th.
Work was still pretty terrible last week but Thursday was our last day of taping til August! woohooo!!! I still have a ton to produce and write but with taping out of the picture it takes away a huge layer of stress.
And I got a super great email from my Dad that I wanted to share with you. He heard how frustrated I was and how Hard it is for me to say "no" to things I want to be a part of. He also told me about the "eat an elephant" quote... and I actually practiced what my Dad preached for once.
Hello Bean, (yes, that's his nickname for me)
Mom told me you might be getting a little down because you are saying "no" to things. You are not saying no you are saying YES to a goal, to a dream and to a vision. The pain is temporary the pride is forever. Stay focused, so that no matter what happens you leave with I am glad I did rather than I wish I had. That is the pillow test. When you put your head on the pillow at night you have to ask yourself those two statements. Only you can give a true answer.
Love
DAD
Of course, I cried after I read it (hey, give me some credit I was in a fragile state!) but it's very true and I need to remind myself of this because even though there's only 76 days left... the journey is far from over.
This past weekend was a whirlwind but I did my longest bike/brick workout yet. Saturday I was in DC so I ran 14 miles in 2 hours along Connecticut Ave, to the National Mall and back. It was HOT down there but I had a solid run. Then it was bridal shower time for my friend Steffy! This was the ginormous salmon I had to carry on my lap in the car.... hahah it was so funny!
After all the festivities I took a bus back to NYC that night and finally got home around midnight. I was exhausted!
Yesterday when I woke up my legs were a bit sore from the run and I was nervous about my long solo bike then run. But I put my big girl panties on and got going. The ride was beautiful... sunny skies... I wore my race kit I'll be wearing next Sunday at the Zof and focused on my nutrition. I got in almost 71 miles with over 3500 ft of climbing. The only weird and painful thing that happened was a bee stung me in the neck on my bike! I was coasting down a short but steep hill and I felt something hit my neck, I heard a buzzzzzz, and then pain. Ugh - thank goodness I'm not allergic cause it was seriously right by my jugular.
I made it back home and then took off on my 45 minute run. I was surprised with the pace I was holding. I averaged an 8:35 mile for 45 minutes and I was on a hilly course too! I definitely felt tired and my legs were heavy but I just kept going til my watch hit 45 minutes. The second I stopped the day's adventure hit me and I got a bit light headed and really, really tired. My lungs burned a bit and I started to cough. I was proud of what I got done and then it was off to a Brazilian steakhouse for an early dinner with my family. You can bet I ate a ton of food there!
oh, I also got my first awkward "tri-burn" of the season... can you tell what bike position I was in most?
This morning, my legs are pretty thrashed and I'm still tired. I have a pool workout to do but I'm gonna get it done after work tonight.
I'm really proud of what I have accomplished so far in training. My 3x a week bike plan is really paying off... I feel really strong on my Roo and even though I'm not the fastest I could be, I'm definitely in a better biking place than last year. And I'm staying on top of my running and swimming, while making gains.
76 DAYS TIL PLACID!!!
Phew! There is SO much to catch up on how do I even begin? I guess let's start where I left off... which will be my post indoor bike mini-meltdown last Saturday (it's been so long that I've posted that I have to put the date... saturday April 23rd!). After suffering on the trainer for three and a half hours Negative Nelly crept into my head. 'If you can't ride your bike for 3 and half hours... what makes you think you can do an Ironman?' All you athletes know Negative Nelly... she pops up at the most inconvenient times and tries to persuade you to FAIL. Ms. Nelly herself popped up post ride and my head only went downhill, tumbling towards the feeling of failure, heading into the dark, depths of Negative Nelly.... Sunday (April 24th) I had a 1:45 progression run where each mile had to be faster than the last. I hit my goals and got in over 12 miles. I should have been happy about that workout. But I wasn't.
You know when you do long run and you think about stuff going on around you? Some people find running cathartic and can tune out. Not me. It's the few minutes (or hours) of my day where I can plan my next move. I like to stay one step ahead.
So I realized that the very next weekend (April 30th-May 1st), I would be missing not one, not two but FOUR social events due to training. Then, on Mother's Day, I have a 4:30 bike plus a 45 minute run.... and my parents live almost 2 hours away.... and I'll be coming back from DC late Saturday night.... so yes, Mother's Day is now IM training day. AND - I'll be in lake placid for Father's Day. Basically, I've become a bad friend and daughter.
I felt so guilty missing important outings for my friends & family (bridal shower, birthdays, baby shower) and now, my parents? Great.... Lucky for me I have the most understanding and loving parents in the world so they keep telling me not to worry. But of course I do.
So let's recap because I know I'm rambling... I had an uber crappy workout that killed my confidence, I missed four things in one weekend, I'm missing two important family days... oh yeah... add in about 60 hour stress filled work weeks... this had left me in tears and hopeless. I was so extremly overwhelmed and the last week of work has been insane.
So let's fast forward to present day. I kicked Negative Nelly to the curb and she is banned from my brain. I had some really amazingly solid workouts, including a super long ride up to Bear Mountain which I climbed not once, but twice! That was Saturday April 30th.
 |
| Top of Bear Mountain |
Work was still pretty terrible last week but Thursday was our last day of taping til August! woohooo!!! I still have a ton to produce and write but with taping out of the picture it takes away a huge layer of stress.
And I got a super great email from my Dad that I wanted to share with you. He heard how frustrated I was and how Hard it is for me to say "no" to things I want to be a part of. He also told me about the "eat an elephant" quote... and I actually practiced what my Dad preached for once.
Hello Bean, (yes, that's his nickname for me)
Mom told me you might be getting a little down because you are saying "no" to things. You are not saying no you are saying YES to a goal, to a dream and to a vision. The pain is temporary the pride is forever. Stay focused, so that no matter what happens you leave with I am glad I did rather than I wish I had. That is the pillow test. When you put your head on the pillow at night you have to ask yourself those two statements. Only you can give a true answer.
Love
DAD
Of course, I cried after I read it (hey, give me some credit I was in a fragile state!) but it's very true and I need to remind myself of this because even though there's only 76 days left... the journey is far from over.
This past weekend was a whirlwind but I did my longest bike/brick workout yet. Saturday I was in DC so I ran 14 miles in 2 hours along Connecticut Ave, to the National Mall and back. It was HOT down there but I had a solid run. Then it was bridal shower time for my friend Steffy! This was the ginormous salmon I had to carry on my lap in the car.... hahah it was so funny!
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| The picture doesn't do it justice... this sucka was huge! |
Yesterday when I woke up my legs were a bit sore from the run and I was nervous about my long solo bike then run. But I put my big girl panties on and got going. The ride was beautiful... sunny skies... I wore my race kit I'll be wearing next Sunday at the Zof and focused on my nutrition. I got in almost 71 miles with over 3500 ft of climbing. The only weird and painful thing that happened was a bee stung me in the neck on my bike! I was coasting down a short but steep hill and I felt something hit my neck, I heard a buzzzzzz, and then pain. Ugh - thank goodness I'm not allergic cause it was seriously right by my jugular.
I made it back home and then took off on my 45 minute run. I was surprised with the pace I was holding. I averaged an 8:35 mile for 45 minutes and I was on a hilly course too! I definitely felt tired and my legs were heavy but I just kept going til my watch hit 45 minutes. The second I stopped the day's adventure hit me and I got a bit light headed and really, really tired. My lungs burned a bit and I started to cough. I was proud of what I got done and then it was off to a Brazilian steakhouse for an early dinner with my family. You can bet I ate a ton of food there!
oh, I also got my first awkward "tri-burn" of the season... can you tell what bike position I was in most?
This morning, my legs are pretty thrashed and I'm still tired. I have a pool workout to do but I'm gonna get it done after work tonight.
I'm really proud of what I have accomplished so far in training. My 3x a week bike plan is really paying off... I feel really strong on my Roo and even though I'm not the fastest I could be, I'm definitely in a better biking place than last year. And I'm staying on top of my running and swimming, while making gains.
76 DAYS TIL PLACID!!!
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