Double my Running Pleasure

This morning I got to do my second long run for the week. Since I've been working with my coach for a few years and he knows I can tolerate it, during my Ironman build we schedule what are known as "bike weeks," "run weeks," and "race rehearsal weeks."

A bike week is a week where the focus is on biking volume, and running takes a back seat, although there will still be a long run during the week. A typical bike week for me will include 10-12 hours of biking and 4-5 hours of running.

A run week is a week where the focus is on running volume, and biking takes a back seat. A run week will typically include 2 long runs of 1:40-2:00 in duration, but only 2 rides (1 quality/intervals, 1 quality/long).

A race rehearsal week (I've got one in 3 weeks) is where on Friday I do a full IM swim TT and a short run on Friday; on Saturday I ride 112 miles at race pacing (power, in my case) and run about :45 off the bike. Everything is as per race day as much as possible--nutrition, clothing, gear, etc. Sunday is a day off. So I'll probably bust out the disk wheel and look like a dork (but a very fit dork) riding west of home pounding out the miles.

Due to my state of hyperfitness (there, I said it. I believe I'm extremely fit right now) and sheer desire, last week turned out to be sort of bike and run focused. I'm happy with that--almost 12 hours of biking and slightly over 6 hours of running. That's a lot, I don't care who you are. But the running only included 1 long run. I guess last Saturday was sort of a second one as I ended up around 9 miles for the day, although it was split across 2 runs. I planned ahead with my coach for this week to be a run week, since I was able to fit one in on Monday.

Also as part of my scheduling for the week, coach left it to me to insert other runs depending on my recovery from last week. So yesterday I did a 1 hour tempo run, because I don't like going into a long run without running the day before for about 1/2 the time. Tomorrow I may do a 50' run with strides in there, and on Sunday I will probably run 30' off the bike. Adding in today's 1:45 run, that will give me 5.83 hours of running for the week. Not bad for back-to-back weeks of running volume! I already did a quality/interval ride this week, and Sunday is my second ride of the week. I hope to get outdoors on the road bike (the Griffen is in the shop and the SRM will be repaired and back on by next Friday) and pound out 3-4 hours of quality riding.

Back to today's long run. It was dribbling this morning, so I opted for the treadmill. I headed to the gym with my last cup of coffee (why waste good Kona coffee, I always say), 32 oz. of Voodoo Mix (1/2 Ultra Violence and 1/2 Gatorade), and a spare 12-oz. bottle of Gatorade in case I needed it. I went heavy on the caffeine because it's tough to put in a full work day after a long run first thing in the morning. I'll still want to lay down later (and I will) for about 30 min., but I need to be semi-alert for most of the day!

The plan for today's run was 25' Easy, 30' Steady, 15' Upper-Steady, 20' Mod-Hard (tempo) and 15' Steady, for a total of 1:45. Actually I had the option to split the Mod-Hard effort into 2x10' with 3' rest, but typically I just say fuck it and do a straight 20' continuously. I wasn't really sure if I could manage the increasing intensity, as my legs felt a little tired and sore from yesterday's tempo run on the heels of Wednesday's crazy bike workout (OK, it wasn't really crazy, but that effort level after what I did last week through Monday made it a little crazy). But I figured that accompanied by my friends Kona coffee and Voodoo mix, I should be able to knock most of it out. It helped that I stretched for 20' before I went to the gym.

During the 25' of Easy, I finished my Kona coffee. YUM!!! The only down side was that it being still hot, it made me kick off even more sweat, but hey, that's a price I'm willing to pay. The Easy stuff felt way easy, and my heart rate reflected it, although I had the HR display covered up on the treadmill. But I looked after I finished that section of the run.

The Steady effort felt better. I am at the point where when I run Easy, it is almost hard to do. I just don't feel right. But that's good, because when you are at that pace in an Ironman, it doesn't feel so easy, and so I do it just because a warmup is important, and also holding my effort back for certain sections of my runs so I don't become injured or overtrained.

At the end of the Steady section, I was sweating real good, and it was flying off me. A pilot I know came up to me and said he'd get me some more sweat towels. Thank God he did! I was getting soaked to the bone, and whenever I'd stop to drink, of course the sweat would just be rolling off of me. But I'm a girl, so I guess I was "glistening." Ha ha. I think I look pretty hardcore most of the time. I was only wearing my usual skimpy bra top and fairly skimpy shorts. I get so hot running, and I always say that when I don't look good in that kind of outfit anymore I will stop dressing that way.

Upper-Steady felt even better, and it made me sweat even more. A brave man mounted the treadmill next to me and I could tell he was curious as to my effort level (he got on just before I finished the first hour and had to reset the machine to keep going), especially with the amount I was sweating. I could tell as others walked by me that they were observing my copious sweat output. A few times I was convinced a few guys watched some drops run right down the center of my abs--hmmm....I wonder why they'd be looking???

Since I was feeling good, I knew I had the rest of the advertised workout in the bag, so I started the tempo interval. Everything went just great, and I was sweating even more, but at this point it really didn't matter, I was feeling good and smiling thinking about last week and the fact that this was my second long run of the week and it's Friday and I'm looking forward to a relatively easy training weekend (although I'm doing my income taxes tomorrow, yuk).

It was nice to go back to Steady level for the last 15' of the workout, and I could tell my legs needed a break. When I headed to the locker room, I could feel how wet my clothes were. When I took off my top, it weighed a ton and was gross, so I went to the sink to wring it out. I kid you not, like 8 oz. of sweat came out of it--maybe more! One of the women who works there commented on what I was doing, and she admonished me to drink a lot (duh). Luckily, on the way out of the gym, they had bagel pieces for some promotion thing, and I took one, although part of me wanted to eat the entire tray!

It's this sort of training that gives me a sense of accomplishment and reconfirms my enjoyment of the process of training. That is very important to me, since if the only focus is racing, it's easy to be disappointed.

I am going to sleep well tonight!

Bitchin' Swim Workout This Morning

Here's the workout. Luckily, I didn't read the whole thing before I started!

WU: 200 swim, 200 pull, 200 kick, 4 x 50 (10") Swim Golf
MS: 6 x 200. Descend 1-3 with 20" rest after each. 4-6 are negative split with 30" rest and faster than #3.
100 easy swim.
5 x 100 (10"), descend 1-5.
100 Easy
6 x 50 (10"), descend 1-3, 4-6
100 Easy
4 x 25 sprint with 30 secs rest
CD: 100 easy swim
Total: 3300 yards

The great thing was that as the workout progressed, I got faster each "set," even though I was tired this morning. Since I got home so late on Monday night, I went to sleep late, and I repeated the same pattern Tuesday night. Yesterday, though, I began my bike workout late in the day because I had to finish putting the bike together and messing around with the SRM (which may need to go in for repairs, CRAP!). Here's what that workout was (also quite bitchin'):

WU: 15' warmup, 3 x SpinUps. Then 3 x 2' (1') Zone 3
MS: FT repeats. 2 x 10' (4'), 1x15' (6')@FT watts, then 4' @ 105%, 5'@ 80-85%.
CD: 5' Easy spinning.
Total Time: 1:30

I managed 185 watts for that last 4' festival, and I was grinning from ear to ear when it was over. I finished my bike workout about 7PM, felt great afterwards, jabbered with my mom for about 1/2 hour, ate dinner, and then I got pretty tired and put myself to bed at 9:30PM. I had set the coffee pot for 5:30AM so that I can get myself adjusted to this time zone and the time change. When I heard the coffee pot kick off this morning, I was not really ready to wake up, but I have to get used to it again (we sort of slept in while in South Carolina), and there are going to be some very early wake-up calls on the weekends coming up where I'm doing 2 long rides back-to-back. Anyway, I am going to do a tempo run later in the day, and combined with the intensity of this morning's swim workout, I think I'll be plenty ready to go to sleep around 8:30, which is when I should be going to sleep. Sleep is critical to my recovery, and my training is going to kick up a few notches next week (oh yeah I guess last week was something, huh?), so I need to continue my good habits which means getting my ass in bed.

I had a disturbing dream last night, too. I was in some sort of chair, and was rotated over some boiling cauldron of lava--first where the heat would be mostly at my back until I couldn't stand it, then they (not sure who "they" were in the dream) would rotate me so the heat would be on my legs. I remember feeling the intense heat in the dream and thinking I wasn't going to make it through this or the floor would collapse and I would be flung into the lava. I managed to survive a few bouts of exposure to the heat, and then my mom entered the dream, and she was talking about all the treatments and needles and drugs that she's dealing with. In the dream, I instantly sensed that no amount of exposure to lava heat could be as bad as what she is dealing with. And then I woke up.

So this morning, even though I was tired and the swim workout was hard, I kept thinking that this is NOTHING compared to what my mom is going through. And I was able to keep pushing during the workout, and was able to complete the whole thing virtually descending the entire way.

So remember, when you are out there training and feeling sorry for yourself that what you are doing is hard, remember, like I often do, that this stuff is NOTHING compared to the REAL SUFFERING that some people must endure. And we do this stuff voluntarily! So to me, as long as it's by choice, then it's not suffering. EVER. When I'm working hard during a workout or race, it's just that--I'm working HARD. I am not suffering, as long as I am not injured or puking my guts out. I am not suffering just because I am tired. I am not suffering just because the weather is not to my liking. I am not suffering as long as I am executing my race plan and it appears to be working. I am not suffering just because I can feel the lactic acid building up in my arms or legs. I am not suffering just because I can feel my hip flexors screaming, "MAMA!" I am not suffering!

I read on another blog an opinion stating that no athletes ever think they are training enough for an Ironman race. Well, NOT ME! I am confident in my coach, in my training program, in my ability to execute the training program, and feel everything is at a level that suits me well. How that will translate on race day we shall see, but no matter how I do, I will not say that I didn't train enough or well enough. I'm doing it. Daily. I'm 100% committed. And now is when the rubber starts to meet the road. Stay tuned!

New Challenge Ride Added in Midwest

http://www.dairylanddare.com/

Of course, you KNOW I just HAVE TO DO THE 300K. Why? Because it will be fucking hard. The weekend before I plan on riding 11-12 hours on the IMWI course, which should prepare me well for the 300K, and 2 weeks after the 300K I'll be doing another 200K ride, but that one is mostly flat.

Talk about getting strong as an ox on the bike!

Anyone else up for the dare?

I sort of told my coach of these "plans." This is right in line with his (my adopted) philosophy of "pick cool shit to do and then structure training around it."

This is how I have fun. It's the Crackhead way.

Weekly Workout Totals: 3/27/2006-4/2/2006 and Great Training Week

Thanks to some great weather in South Carolina and great hosts, Regina and Forrest Fowler, I got in a solid 22 hour week last week, and I got through it feeling just fine.

Shelley and I headed down to Travelers Rest, SC, to stay and train with Regina and Forrest. Shelley knew them from a previous trip; I had met Forrest 2 years ago at Ironman Canada. The plan was to bike, bike, bike, do some running and some recovery swimming.

As you may recall, I have not been seriously outdoors on my bike since last October, so I looked forward to some serious riding time and seeing how my bike strength was. Unfortunately, I had some glitches with the SRM, so I didn't ride with power, but hey, I JFR'ed, and it was great.

I arrived in SC on Thursday afternoon. Shelley McKee also came in from Canada. For some reason, there was some confusion with our names and home areas. I was accused of being Canadian several times, but no matter! Around 4:30PM I got in a nice run with Forrest, and then we had a nice swim at Furman University, where Regina works as a nurse.

On Friday morning, Forrest and I took off for a run from his house. The weather was beautiful, and we ended the run with some striders in a pasture. Then a bunch of us went riding up into the mountains, heading to Saluda and back. I really do enjoy climbing, and it sure was interesting doing it not having ridden outdoors in months.

On Saturday morning, I figured I'd run before the bike, since we were waiting on Brett to arrive from Raleigh. I went out by myself and found a nice route that wasn't too scary (scary as in number of loose dogs, assorted vermin and rednecks). There are rollers right out Forrest's door, and it seemed my legs were beginning to get used to them. Also, it is interesting that I really haven't run outdoors much since the Goofy Challenge, but the hills didn't bother me too much. Once all the parties arrived (there was me, Shelley, Brett, Forrest, Regina, Christina, Lee, Rose, Susan), we took off and again rode to Saluda, but Forrest took me and Brett the "back" way up Saluda Grade. First we got to enjoy a nice, curvy downhill, but I knew that meant some serious climbing, which we did, and it was great. Hard-ish, but great. We met up with the rest of the gang in Saluda and did the remainder of the same ride we did on Friday. Afterwards, Brett was supposed to do a brick run, and he had convinced me while riding to go with him. I mean, how can I say no to someone I'm coaching and just met in person? So we ran the same route I did in the morning, and we nailed it in about the same time plus or minus 10 seconds, which was awesome! Brett rode really well (even Forrest, one of the strongest riders, commented on that), and he ran well with me, too. Brett's going to have a fantastic first 1/2 Ironman race in about a month. Me--I got in like 9 miles of running and 3:45 of riding in Saturday!

On Sunday, it was just girls riding--Shelley, me, Rose and Susan. Forrest had to go back to work in Florida, and Regina didn't need to ride again. The girls went after rollers rather than mountains, and we had a great day to ride in. Shelley got a flat on the road next to Table Rock, but we pressed on and got in about 4:40 of riding. There were several breakaways during the ride (that Shelley does like to hammer!). Of course, I ran off the bike (I was supposed to run before, but didn't have time because I wanted my sleep), and felt pretty good doing it, too, so I got in about :35. I got my bike apart and then we headed to the pool (the first photo is Shelley and me in our matching skeleton suits), and I got in 2,000 yards. So Sunday was a big day. A big group of us went to have sushi for dinner, and nobody could believe how much food I ordered for myself. Well, I ate it all (second photo above; plus I had miso soup, a bowl of seaweed salad, a bunch of edamame (soy beans) and 2 large beers), and my bill was $68.44. Just for me! And then we went to a coffee shop and had dessert. I had carrot cake. What the heck, I hadn't eaten lunch, so I knew I needed to pack it in.

Yesterday it was raining in the morning, and I needed to do a long run, so we went to Furman University again. I got in a 1:45 run on the treadmill. During the last :25, I was admonished by Dr. Scott Murr (someone the Fowler's know--he runs the FIRST run training program which I read about and it's great--look here) that there was a :30 limit, and I told him that I was watching to see if there were people waiting, and there weren't. For shits and grins, I mentioned I was from Chicago. You know--just to let him know that HE was not going to intimidate ME! After the run, I jumped in the pool for a quick 1500 pull, and then had lunch with Regina and Shelley, and off to the airport.

My plane was delayed about 2.5 hours, so I didn't get home until about 10:30PM last night. Oh well, I slept like a baby and tallied everything up for the week:

Swim: 8,400 yards in 2.9 hours (not as much as I wanted to do, but enough); 13% of weekly workout time
Bike: 11.87 hours (not sure of mileage, but it really doesn't matter especially with all the climbing); 54% of weekly workout time
Run: 6.02 hours (about 38 miles); 27% of weekly workout time
Strength: 1.23 hours (missed out on my second core workout, oh well); 6% of weekly workout time Total: 22.02 hours
Approx. Calories Burned by Exercise: 9,775
Average Sleep: 8.82 hours/night
Stretching: 2.4 hours

Goals from Last Week:

• Average 8+ hours of sleep per night. DONE.
• Stretch 15' per day. DONE.
• Monitor training stress to make it through the heavy week. DONE.

Accomplishments This Week:

• Hit highest weekly training hours so far this season.
• I ran 7 days in a row--from last Tuesday through yesterday, in the midst of all the biking. My running legs feel fairly strong at this point.
• Got my legs, butt, aero position and everything else used to some solid time on the bike.

Goals for Next Week:

• Average 8+ hours of sleep per night.
• Stretch 15' per day.
• Recover, recover, recover!
  
  

Today is a rest day, but I think I'm going to swim and lift weights, and I have a massage this evening.

HUGE thanks to Forrest and Regina for hosting me and what a great way for me to kick off the final build to Ironman Brazil!