Weekly Training Report: 1/30/2006-2/5/2006

It was another good week, pretty much a repeat of last week, except for more intensity running, more reps in my strength workout, an FT watts test workout, and I negotiated with my coach to add a brick run on Saturday. I had a slight scare feeling like I was coming down with a cold, but I think it was glycogen depletion (imagine that???).

Today after I finished my workouts, one of the trainers at the Y asked me how I was doing as we were both headed out the door. I said, "HUNGRY!" He said, "I hear you!" And so we chatted for a few minutes about our respective target calorie intakes and body fat. It was nice to converse with someone else who is so conscientous about his health. For comparison sake, he weighs 175 at 6% body fat, and I am 112 at 11% body fat. I am needing about 3,500 calories a day, and he is about the same. There is the power of the cardio workouts! But we were both talking about how we have to work to get adequate calories to prevent further weight loss. Marty said, "Other people hate us, I know." I agreed, but pointed out that we work damn hard for those calories, and that we don't eat much junk, and hey, we look fantastic! And we both shared that we enjoyed being functionally strong, so that we could DO stuff, and that we don't just want to sit around looking pretty. While we both appreciate a stricly muscular physique, we agreed that unless you do something with it, it's pretty pointless.

Here are the details of the week that was:

Swim: 10,300 yards in 3.68 hours; 25% of weekly workout time
Bike: 4.63 hours; approx. 81 miles; 31% of weekly workout time
Run: 4.75 hours; approx. 30 miles; 32% of weekly workout time
Strength: 1.67 hours; 11% of weekly workout time
Total Hours: 14.73
Approx. Calories Burned by Exercise: 6,530
Average Sleep: 8.93 hours/night
Stretching: 2.15 hours
Goals from Last Week:

• Meet or beat my previous high FT watts (162) on my Tuesday test. Did not achieve this on Tuesday, but did on Thursday. New FT watts=165. Coach says he "wants to push me up over 175 watts by Ironman Brazil." Also, my new mantra on the bike is "ALWAYS BE PUSHING." I did that on Thursday, and also during my Saturday intervals. In 4 weeks my strength routines goes to maintenance mode--at that point, LOOK OUT! I will be one hugely strong cyclist!
• Meet or beat the speeds I hit this week on my Monday and Wednesday swims for 100’s and 200’s. DONE! I think the increase in volume is helping me to just push harder in every workout.
• Average at least 8 hours of sleep per night. DONE!
• Stretch at least 15’ per day. DONE!

Accomplishments This Week:

• Achieved higher FT watts on the bike.
• Regained some swim speed (more of that to come)
• Recovered from a slight crash on Tuesday, that I think was a glycogen depletion crash combined with fighting off some sort of cold. I felt the cold again yesterday, but stuck with my hydration and increased carb intake and felt fine during today's workouts.

Goals for Next Week:

• Average 8+ hours of sleep per night.
• Stretch 15' per day.
• Meet or beat 165 watts during all FT intervals.
• Meet or beat 100 and 200 speeds in all swim workouts.

Workouts Completed this Week
Monday: Swim 3,100 yards in 1:07; Strength :48; Run :50 including strides.
Tuesday: Strength :22; Bike 1:10 including 20' and 16' at "best" watts. I was unable to hit my previous FT watts--I just felt like I didn't have any power to give. But I didn't let it get me down.
Wednesday: Swim 3,300 yards in 1:11; Run 1:05 including :20 tempo
Thursday: Strength :30; Bike 1:13 including 2x20’ (2’) FT, watts=165, 165 (new FT established)
Friday: Swim 2,900 yards in 1:03; Run :40 including strides.
Saturday: Bike 2:15 including 20’ FT at watts=166. HIM watts were also up to 149 from 142 the week before; brick run 30' where I felt absofuckinglutely fantastic! I hadn't done a brick run in 5 weeks, and I wondered how this one would feel given I did FT time on the bike, but it went well.
Sunday: Run 1:40, including 20’ Upper-Steady and 15’ Tempo; Swim 1,000 yards in :20

Book Review: Training and Racing with a Power Meter by Hunter Allen and Andrew Coggan, PhD

I just received my (autographed!) copy yesterday, and have already read the first few chapters, and scanned the rest of the book. Pretty good! While you can, if you are diligent, get a lot of this information by cruising various forums, the book gets all the basics together so that you can make effective use of the tool.

Lots of power files were submitted for use as examples and of course, the research, that went into this book. It's not all geared to pure cyclists, either. There's a decent section on triathlon racing.

If you're thinking of getting one of these, it's $20 well spent before you drop $1500+ on the PM. That being said, you still will want a copy of Cycling Peaks Software (about $70) to supplement what comes with the device that you choose.

As you get familiar with using the tool, there are nuances that you will observe about the hardware and your results, and this is where the online forums really shine (especially, for example, as individuals submit their power data from actual racing situations!).

I've had my PM for 2 years now, and I am just now getting geeked-out with it in an effort to achieve a much higher level of cyling fitness than I ever dreamed possible. A quote from the book that really struck home for me is this:

"Combining both [coaching and power] made my training super focused and my racing the perfect test to see if what we were training created results. Several times during my pre-season training, I would see my workouts on my email and think, 'I can't finish that. I would start the workout saying to myself, 'When I blow up, I'll just email my coach the power file and let him know I tried but just couldn't pull it off.' However, most of the time the opposite would happen."

Yep. A PM and its output files make me 100% accountable for the work level I achieve on the bike. I can't lie about what I did when my coach sees the results. And then he can use that information to target my workouts.

Redemption!

Last week, 3 weeks post-Goofy, I was back up to "normal" training volume, and for the most part, intensity. Except for one thing. I hadn't done an FT watts test. Trying to do that last week would have been a joke, since I needed to settle back in with some amount of FT time on Tuesday, Thursday, and newly added, my Saturday long ride.

Two days ago was supposed to be the test day--the usual 2x20' @FT watts with 2' rest in between, trap normalized watts for the entire 42'. My SRM's Powercontrol was acting squirrely, but I got it going on Tuesday, and began my ride. Well, after my warmup and some time in HR zone 3, I hit it. I could tell I just didn't have anything in my legs. They weren't sore, they didn't feel tired, I just couldn't push any watts. Other than my swimming sucking due to low volume (fixed that!), I really haven't had any "bad" workouts in a long, long time. So I just accepted what was on Tuesday, did the best I could, and figured I could try again today.

This morning the Powercontrol was still acting weird, but I finally found the place in the manual that told me that what it was doing was configurable--so I guess somewhere along the way some setting got messed up. My experience is that the thing can be a little touchy, and actually I thought I might have received erroneous readings on Tuesday...isn't it funny how a little gadget can affect your mood? I don't have a problem stepping on a scale, although I suppose if I was up 5 lbs. it would cause alarms to go off. But I was really worried about what the silly Powercontrol told me!

Anyway, I fixed the darn thing and charged it up and got on the bike a few hours ago. I don't really notice what my watts are while I'm doing my warmup, but for some reason I didn't think they were very good today. Oh well, if this was just an "off" week for me, so what. I told myself that I would hit it for 5', see what watts I was holding, and if they were in the right range, I would keep going and go for the 2x20' interval; otherwise, I would slack and just do 3x10'.

At 5' things looked just fine. I'm not saying holding the watts didn't suck, but for the first interval things looked great--up 3 watts from my previous FT measured 6 weeks ago, or 3 weeks pre-Goofy, which was about when I started tapering my bike and swim. The question was, could I hold the watts for my second interval? I didn't feel bad (OK, but I didn't feel "good" either), and for a split second I was going to give myself a 3' rest instead of just 2'. But then I thought, NO, that will just prolong the agony. So with a 2' easy effort, I was off again.

The 2nd interval didn't feel that bad, not any worse than the first one. Right away, though, I told myself that if my legs bailed on me that I could just shorten it to 15', and that would still give me a good workout. So I just focused on one minute at a time (that's how it goes for me during these efforts on the trainer). 5', good, I'm holding 162 watts, but would like more. 10', good, I'm holding 163 watts, can I pick up 2 more during the last 10'?

YES!!! I almost hate to say it, but man, I'm a VERY happy camper right about now. I hit 165 (and normalized watts for the 42' are 165) watts, after about a 6-week layoff, a big training week last week (more intensity than ever so far), a killer week this week, and the watts are even UP! WOOHOO!!!

I had some good dry heaves after I cooled down, some Endurox R4, and actually I feel great. I know it's partly psychological, but after Tuesday's travesty and feeling like crap yesterday, I am back with a vengeance. I may yet see those 170 watts this spring!

Oh yeah, and I'm running faster since Goofy, too!!!

The Collective continues to improve!!!

January, 2006 Training Totals

Swim: 34,300 yards in 12.2 hours
Bike: 13.32 hours
Run: 17.36 hours
Strength: 7.77 hours
Total: 50.65 hours
Also, stretching 7.2 hours for the month

Swimming and biking got derailed by Goofy recovery, but I'm back up to 10,000+ yards/week. I feel like that Nike commercial (which I LOVE): http://www.nike.com/nikeair/us/ keep clicking on the shoe until you see the icon for "watch commercial."

Horribly Hilly Hundreds (6/17/2006) Ride Registration is Now Open!

Go here or here. If you're thinking about doing the ride, register NOW, because there's a limit of 1,000 riders, and they WILL shut down registration. It's a very well-run ride, and it's very difficult!

If you're training for Ironman Wisconsin, this is a must-do event if you can possibly make it. Why? Because completing this will make the Ironman course feel like a piece of cake! Well, not quite, but the HHH 200K has over 10,000 feet of climbing; whereas the Ironman Wisconsin course is more like 4,000 feet.

If you're training for another Ironman after CDA, this is a great endurance ride. Part of my philosophy of Ironman training is to do really hard shit so that the race itself isn't that much of a stretch.

If you don't have too many years of cycling under your belt, you might be better off doing only the 100K, which while technically not that many miles, is harder than most full 100-mile century rides you would ever do (it takes many people 5+ hours just to cover the 100K). If you think you're really tough, and are willing to cry, scream and suffer, go for the 200K, and I would advise that you ride at least 200 miles the week before.

I'm registered for my third execution of the 200K route, which falls 3 weeks after Ironman Brazil, so that should make it even more interesting for me.

I'm Not Average

Below is a table I lifted from Wilmore & Costill, "Physiology of Exercise and Sport." So you can see that I currently fall into the "Elite Triathletes" category. I considered myself "fat" at 23%. Is that really fat? Depends on your perspective. It's considered "average" for American females. What the table doesn't show is what's considered "healthy." I got my personal notion of healthy from the book "Fit or Fat" by Covert Bailey. He said for a woman that 18-22% is healthy. You can believe that or not. But most women will look pretty good, with curves and all, in that range. But for me, I didn't like that extra layer of flab on my thighs, midsection or arms, and as I get older, it becomes even more difficult to keep it off. If you are a person interested in seeing your abs, you need to be at the bottom of the "healthy" range for bodyfat. For women, you might see them at 18% bodyfat; you might not. For men, it's more around 12%. But this will vary with genetics and where your body likes to store fat. It is true, though, that if you can see that six-pack, you are pretty darn lean.

Is 11-12% (my current bodyfat) "unhealthy?" I don't think so. Apparently, I have all my "essential fat." All 43,000 kcal of it! I can go a loooooong way on that many calories!

Let's do some math. When I weighed 128 at 23% bodyfat, I had 98.6 lbs. of lean mass. Now I weigh 112 at 11% bodyfat and I have 99.7 lbs. of lean mass. I doubt my bones or bodily organs gained much weight there, so guess what? I'm more muscular and yet leaner. I like it this way better.

What bodyfat is right for YOU? That's for you to decide, based on your health and performance goals. I've been called skinny to my face so many times, it's become a big joke to me. But do I turn around and call others fat to their faces? No. Not cool. But the other day, the first comment I received from another woman was, "You lift weights, don't you? You're so muscular." He he. I like that, too.

I'm fit AND healthy. By choice.
_______________________________
Bodyfat Percentage Ranges
___________________________________
Men Women
Essential fat 3-5 11-13
Elite distance runners 5-8 13-17
Elite triathletes 5-12 8-15
Average American 15-20 23-26
Overweight 20-25 26-35
Overfat (obese) Over 25 Over 35

The Other Part of the Metamorphosis Story, or My Health

Lest anyone think that the only reasons I have sought to reduce my weight and body fat were vanity and to move towards a possible goal of a Kona slot, let me give the rest of the story.

I should have included in my Metamorphosis post that in 2003, while I was doing GFT, I ran across Bill Taylor, Cathy Taylor's husband. I had met Bill in 2001 at Ironman USA, as well as Shelley, about whom I remember thinking "Man she's in much better shape than I am!" So I run into Bill during the marathon at GFT, and we ran together for a bit, and he remarked at how great I looked and said, "Not that you looked bad before--you were just a bit chubby." For a split second, I thought that was a mean thing to say, but then I snapped out of it and realized that I was so glad he was so honest. After all, it was my self-assessment that had spurred me to make changes.

I realize that my athletic and body composition objectives may be more aggressive than most, but I look at it this way: All this hauling around my sorry ass is hard enough on my body without making it even harder by eating poorly or weighing a lot. I want to be able to run well into my 70's and 80's! I want to be one of those old ladies that people talk about like, "Can you believe she is still doing THAT?" I guess to a certain extent, I AM that lady already. I certainly don't feel 49 years old (I'll be 50 at Ironman Florida!). And I am pretty sure that my next profession, or "hobby," will be to become a personal trainer and coach. And I definitely think it's important to look the part, and "walk the walk and talk the talk."

I have a number of things working against me being that old lady who's still running when she's 70. I have no ACL in my left knee, and part of my left medial meniscus is gone. I knew this before I even began running in 1998. I have a herniated disk that was confirmed in April, 2005, that may be all gone, but insurance won't pay for a "let's see" MRI. I'm perimenopausal and need to maintain my bone density and minimize the intensity of hot flashes, night sweats, and all those other interesting things that happen to women my age. Obesity, heart disease, diabetes, stroke and joint degeneration all run in my family. I have watched too many of my aunts and uncles die after horrible, degenerative changes to their bodies that might have been prevented by lifestyle changes. I have 2 brothers and 2 sisters and they are all fat to obese, every one of them has "back problems," is tired, inflexible and suffers many more common colds in a year than I ever do. I can't control my genetics, but I can control how I live my life.

In early 2004, I asked my GP to run a full blood panel on me. She asked me why. I told her because I wanted to be sure my health was good, considering all the extra stress I place on my body, and secretly I wanted to see the impact of the changes I had been making to my diet. She thought it was a good idea, especially since she knows my family's history. I had had a full panel run in 1997 (this was before I took up endurance exercise, but I was in decent shape from years of bodybuilding) to compare the results to. The 1997 results showed me to be in fine health, at least from the perspective of all the measurements taken from my blood. Everything came back fine (actually pointing to outstanding health) from the 2004 workup except for my cholesterol. I was told it was "borderline high." WHAT???? How could that be, when I've done everything possible to eat right? I called the nurse and insisted that I needed to be retested, after reading up on testing protocol, and thinking we hadn't done everything right. Due to insurance restrictions, they didn't want to retest me for 3 months. So I waited and worried, but I went back gladly, and guess what? Everything was in line. Crisis averted!

Last fall, I had an "incident" at a pool that pointed out to me that something was not right. My blood pressure skyrocketed to 196/100 right afterwards, and stayed there for hours even once I had calmed down. Over the next few weeks, it came down some, but not to my usual borderline low reading of 110/70. So I knew that something else in my life needed to change. While we can't fully control our blood pressure, and it does tend to go up as we age, we can do our best to minimize lifestyle impact to it. It was around that time that I had a serious talk with myself about how I was leading my life, how did the triathlon training fit in and what is my purpose in life? Not to mention I needed to get that BP down! So again, I was presented with an opportunity to make some life changes, and I did, and the net net is that here I am writing all this crap for everyone to see. Why? So you understand that for me, this is all as much about my pure health (physical and mental) as it is about triathlon. The amount of exercise I do is excessive for general health. So it's doubly important to me that I do my very best to maintain superior health, given that I enjoy what I'm doing, plan to keep it up for awhile, and have so many things working against me.

My GP, who is overweight herself, comments every time I see her on what great condition I'm in and how pleased she is that I am doing everything possible to stay healthy, despite my penchant for extreme amounts of exercise! My orthopaedic guy commented to me that while all this running may not be so good for my knees, that it's way better than the alternative--being a couch potato--and that at least I have the good sense to minimize the amount of force being put on my joints by maintaining a low, but healthy, weight.

I want to live VIGOROUSLY. So it's important to me, not just for my triathlon performance, but for my LIFE performance, to take the best care of myself that I can. If in the process I can set a good example to others, and let's face it, look damn good doing it, then, well I guess that's part of the reason that I'm here in the first place.

Metamorphosis

The first picture is me in 2001 at my first Ironman race. I was 128 lbs., 22-23% body fat. FAT!!! I actually gained weight while training for my first Ironman! Why? Because I figured I could eat "as much as I want." Stupid me. I had been smaller and leaner about 5 years before that when I was watching what I ate and knew how many calories I was taking in.

When I saw that picture of myself, I was disgusted. How did I go from 118 lbs., 18% body fat to THAT?? I ate mindlessly, that's how. The next spring I began keeping track of how many calories I was burning and how much I needed to eat and began making changes to my diet. I lost maybe 5 lbs. over 8 months of time, and it was probably mostly fat, because it was quite noticeable, and I did it slowly. At least I was getting my problem under control.

The next spring (2003), I was training for the 1/2 Ironman in Kona when I became injured--bilateral bursitis of the ischial tuberosities. In layman's terms, my ass hurt like hell when I ran. The pain was right at the top of the femur where the hamstrings originate. I knew I would need to stop running completely for a few weeks. I also was advised to stop biking for awhile too, to let the bursae calm down.

I was devastated. I wanted so badly to go to Kona in the springtime (it would have been my 3rd time in that race) and race and have fun, but the race was not to be. I stopped running and biking. I let myself cry uncontrollably for a few days. Then it hit me. Here is an opportunity to focus on nothing except swimming and eating right. So I swam. A LOT (about 25-30,000 yards per week). And I watched what I ate like a hawk. After 2 weeks, I began getting on my MTB, since its cushy saddle didn't seem to aggravate my butt. I stretched. I walked. I did as much as I could to retain my aerobic fitness without running. And in the process, I established some really good eating habits. I returned to running very slowly and conservatively, and 3 months after my injury, I did a 1/2 Ironman and PR'ed. I knew a big part of it was that I was lighter (by about 5 more lbs.) and healthier from my nutrition focus. I felt great! I ended up DNF'ing at Ironman Wisconsin that fall (I, and 2 other nurses, stupidly misdiagnosed hyponatremia as dehydration), but turned around and finished Great Floridian 8 weeks later.

I remember weighing in at Great Floridian at 116 lbs. I was feeling pretty good. As it turned out, I didn't have that great of a race there because the camber of the road around the lake did a number on my hips and left ankle. But I still finished.

My weight was down, but I still felt like I could do better on my body fat percentage. Fat is dead weight to a triathlete. Might as well carry around a few sacks of rocks and go for a run. I figured I was around 18% again, but I wanted to get to 15%--it was just a "thing" of mine. So I looked for places where I could cut a few calories here and there out of my diet. I switched from eating a 350 calorie MetRx bar in the morning to a different bar with about 250 calories. I switched from Healthy Choice meals at lunchtime to Lean Cuisine. I think those 2 changes saved me 250-300 calories per day, a reasonable reduction. I was on my way.

In March, 2004, I decided I wanted to see how I was doing, so I had my body fat measured. 13%. THIRTEEN PERCENT???? I figured I might be near 15 but certainly not lower. Wow. I guess I had done well. And the second photo is of me in Kona in October, 2004, and that's pretty much how I look today, but my legs are a little leaner and I'm a little more cut.

And guess what else happened between 2001 and 2004? Mysteriously, I got faster. Running became easier. I could ride hills faster than all my friends. All along I knew that I was trying to figure out if I had the "goods" to someday qualify for Hawaii, and I knew that an element of that is training, and another element is to be able to train to my potential which is most certainly affected by my weight and body fat percentage.

Being able to finish 2 Ironman races in 2004 7 weeks apart (and they were my 2 fastest Ironman races) I think is a testament to what REALLY being in shape means. No WAY I could have done that if I was still a 128-lb. fatty.

And now I'm at the point where I have to try and make sure I'm eating enough! It's a nice problem to have! But really, I DO watch what I eat, and I DO notice how great I feel being small. I was at one time a skinny 107 lbs. (post-divorce, the EASIEST diet you can go on!), but I had little muscle. Now at 112 lbs. I have more muscle and less fat than I did then, and I feel 100 times better.

Sure getting from A to B has been work--HARD work. But it has ABSOLUTELY been worth it for the feeling of being able to train somewhere close to my potential, given that I still have a full-time job. This is why when people act all amazed at the amount of training that I do, my response is usually, "The workouts are the EASY part. It's all the other stuff--nutrition, rest, stretching, massage, mindfulness--that is hard to master and find time for. But it's well worth it!"

My message to anyone who is training semi-seriously is to think like an Olympian--you don't see fat Olympians, do you? Well maybe some powerlifters and wrestlers, but the rest of them are all lean, mean machines. Most of us will never be Olympians, but that shouldn't stop us from doing whatever we can to achieve our potential in sport.

Weekly Training Report: 1/23/2006-1/29/2006

It was a great week! It's the end of 3 weeks post-Goofy Challenge, and everything is working as it should. I am fairly tired today after a fairly hard long run and short swim, but nothing that a good night's sleep can't fix, since I need to hit it early tomorrow morning. Here are the details:

Swim: 10,100 yards in 3.58 hours; 25% of weekly workout time
Bike: 4.53 hours; approx. 79 miles; 32% of weekly workout time
Run: 4.56 hours; approx. 29 miles; 32% of weekly workout time
Strength: 1.68 hours; 12% of weekly workout time
Total Hours: 14.34
Approx. Calories Burned by Exercise: 6,562
Average Sleep: 8.54 hours/night
Stretching: 2.63 hours (a new high)

Accomplishments:

Swim:
Regained some of my speed in the water. Could be due to the decreased strength work time, or it could just be that I decided I’d had enough and was ready to work harder.
Completed over 10,000 yards swimming. I hope to stay over 10,000 yards except during an actual “rest week.”

Bike:
Regained my bike FT watts, although the real test comes on Tuesday, when I do a 2x20’ interval ride.
Nailed 3 bike workouts that included FT intervals!

Run:
Returned to my “normal” run volume (about 30 miles per week), pain-free.
Completed 2 runs including tempo intervals, felt great doing it, and BONUS, I’m running faster!

Other:
Kept up my stretching commitment. My massage therapist concurred that I am more flexible than ever, and my muscles feel really great.
Began regular visualization of positive, successful race outcomes for Ralphs and Ironman Brazil.

Goals for Next Week:
Meet or beat my previous high FT watts (162) on my Tuesday test.
Meet or beat the speeds I hit this week on my Monday and Wednesday swims for 100’s and 200’s.
Average at least 8 hours of sleep per night.
Stretch at least 15’ per day.

Workouts Completed this Week
Monday: Swim 3,000 yards in 1:05; Strength :59; Run :50 including strides.
Tuesday: Strength :12; Bike 1:10 including 4x8’ (2’) FT, watts=161, 163, 162, 166.
Wednesday: Swim 3,300 yards in 1:11; Run 1:05 including :24 tempo
Thursday: Strength :30; Bike 1:05 including 2x15’ (2’) FT, watts=164, 164
Friday: Swim 2,600 yards in :54; Run 1:00 Upper-Steady
Saturday: Bike 2:15 including 20’ FT at watts=165
Sunday: Run 1:40, including 20’ Upper-Steady and 10’ Tempo; Swim 1,200 yards in :24

Don't Be Afraid

Jen should know what this is. She's been recently assimilated. Come on now, you all know it's just a matter of time before you become part of the collective. I forgot I had this--a gift from the geekiest of my brothers. I have never had it made into a pin like I wanted--guess if I actually wore the thing it might scare people away.

I Am Weak, but I'm Still a Featherweight

I went to the grocery store last night. I loaded up on Gatorade (the 32-oz. bottles of regular and the 30-oz. bottles of Endurance were just $1 each), fruit, string cheese, a couple of porterhouse steaks, Lean Cuisines for my lunches, Ultra Violence and some ingredients for pasta sauce I'll be making tonight.

I was feeling depleted and had salt cravings. My intention was to lay off the Pringles, Swedish Fish and beer for the next 6 weeks, but I caved. I grabbed a couple of bags of pretzel rods (which I consider an "ok" snack), but also 2 cans of Pringles. The "movie box" of Swedish Fish was on sale, so I grabbed 4 of those. And a 12-pack of Beck's, my staple. And a huge bag of beef jerky. I NEEDED SALT!

For dinner, I ate the entire bag of beef jerky, 6 pieces of pre-packaged sushi, 4 pretzel rods, 2 Beck's and 1/4 of a box of Swedish Fish. I woke up at 1:30AM feeling pretty hungry, but in deference to sleep, I opted to not get up and eat oatmeal, which is what I felt like having. I ran a calorie calculation in my head and I had eaten only about 2,500 for the day when I should have had 3,400. So no wonder I was awake and hungry! But I fell back asleep.

So lest you think that I eat perfectly, there you go. But I still weigh in at 112 lbs., and I still am finding it difficult to meet my daily calorie requirements which are running at about 3,500+. Why? I am used to being a little hungry, I don't eat a lot of any one snack item, and I don't eat big meals most of the time. But I will make up for a few days' of calorie deficit tonight, when all bets are off and I lay into a huge plate of pasta with sausage, onion and tomato sauce. Mmmmm...lots of salt, fat and carbs in there. And probably a few glasses of a good Cabernet Sauvignon.

Yesterday while running, it was pretty windy (sustained 10-20 with gusts to 30MPH), and I was about 3/4 mile from home, and I was running with a stiff southerly cross wind. Well at one point there was a gust, and both of my feet must have been in the air because I got blown off the road and onto the curb! Luckily, I didn't fall or anything, and I had such a good laugh over it! You KNOW you are light when the wind can pick you up!

So as long as I keep feeling good, holding my weight and nailing my workouts (read about that tomorrow), I'm not going to obsess about a daily beer, occasional Pringles or Swedish Fish. I'm still eating a fairly healthy baseline diet, but I just need to go with what my body wants. Tonight it's going to want salt, fat, carbs and some processed fruit :)

Goofy Toes--Surprise!

Check out the little guy next to my big toe :) I failed to mention in my Goofy Race Report that, of course, I had my toenails painted *PINK*. What else would a Crackhead do when she was planning on dressing in total pinkness for 2 consecutive races?

So last night I'm noticing my nail polish is a little worn and I'm looking at that toe (which has funky nail growth most of the time anyway, since that toe is longer than my big one on both feet), and I'm seeing a little darkness, so I pick away at the polish and then remove it totally and look what I found! YES!!! A black toenail! I haven't had one of these since my first and second open marathons in 1999.

So I forget how long it takes for these to go away, and if the nail falls off, great! I have a daily reminder of having done something big. My foot pain and knee pain have both been fixed, thank you very much, as a result of my diligent self-applied trigger point work (with a special thanks to Shelley for reminding me to work on my own frickin' quads!), and I'm back at it FULL STRENGTH ESPRESSO MODE.

GO BIG AND HARD OR GO HOME!!!

Today's topic is my next block of training. I've written in the past how I get excited when I am able to look ahead at what my coach has planned for me. Although only the next 5 weeks are 100% filled in on my schedule, I am well aware of the significant training "events" that are going onto my training calendar in the lead-up to Ironman Brazil.

If you've followed along with me the last 2 months, you will know that I had a serious run focus going to get me ready for Goofy Challenge. No huge long runs (my biggest was 14 miles) in there--just consistent, high quality running. Well my friends, the running fun continues and things are going to get even HARDER! Can I say I'm excited? My run volume will go down a bit (as I predicted), but we are increasing the duration of tempo work being done on Wednesday and during my long run. Can I do it? Well, this past Sunday was my first long run post-Goofy, and I went for 1:30, and I also decided to see if I could throw in tempo at the end and guess what? SUCCESSFUL! It felt a little harder than normal, but my legs were certainly primed for it.

My bike training has been fairly high-level intensity and consistent over the last 12 weeks (up to 40' of FT intervals twice a week plus HIM intervals during long ride), but the big gift I get to give myself for the next 5 weeks is putting FT TIME INTO MY LONG RIDE!!! How awesome is that? So I will be hitting the bike hard three times a week.

Finally, I commented to my coach that my swimming has sucked. I think there are a few logical reasons:

• I have been lifting pretty heavily (currently in my maximum strength phase), and that usually puts a damper on my swim speed. Remember, I'm not a lifelong swimmer--just 6 years running--so I always feel my swimming is the most vulnerable sport.
• My swim volume has been rather low for me. Historically, I seem to do better on higher-volume swimming--10,000+ yards per week. I am just over that beginning this week.
• My pool has been friggin' HOT. I learned the other day that they actually pour warm water in there on some days to heat it up for the very old/young. Oh well.

Coach to the rescue! I can see the next few weeks of swim workouts are designed to help me get my head back in the swimming game, and since I'm actually getting a break in the weight room (I'm not pushing maximum strength for EVERYTHING ALL AT ONCE--it's staggered), I am hoping that I will start to see glimpses of that speed that I know I have.

For the next 5 weeks, though, I have to be confident (which I AM) in my coach in that my overall volume won't be that high (only about 14 hours per week), but with the high intensity, I will be as ready as I can be for that 1/2 Ironman in 6.5 weeks, and then begins the big volume push for Ironman Brazil.

I know when my race rehearsal weekends will be, I know when my big bike or run volume weeks (where I get to do 2 long runs) will be, and I'm excited about it. Sure, there always comes a time during those last 8 weeks of Ironman training where I'm saying "WTF am I doing this for AGAIN?" to myself and walking around like a zombie for a few days during the week, but mostly I am so happy that I get another opportunity to train at yet a higher level and see where that can take me in the races. I know all too well that if you don't get excited about the training, it's a long haul to that start line. I have been sleeping plenty, stretching more than ever, and while I have my low spots, generally every day has been an opportunity to "get it done."

So it is with great commitment and optimism that I begin this next block of training--and I can't wait to see what's on the other side of the horizon!

Like This is a Big Surprise?

You Are an Espresso

At your best, you are: straight shooting, ambitious, and energetic At your worst, you are: anxious and high strung You drink coffee when: anytime you're not sleeping Your caffeine addiction level: high

What'>http://www.blogthings.com/whatkindofcoffeeareyouquiz/">What Kind of Coffee Are You?

Weekly Workout Totals 1/16/2006-1/22/2006

Swim: 9,650 yards in 3.47 hours; 27% of weekly workout time
Bike: 4.38 hours; 34% of weekly workout time
Run: 3.03 hours; 23% of weekly workout time
Strength: 2.18 hours; 17% of weekly workout time
Total Hours: 13.06
Average Sleep: 9.29 hours/night
Stretching: 2.07 hours
Accomplishments:

• Got back to running! Did a 1:30 run today ending in tempo!
• Did a long ride (2:17) that included strong HIM intervals; feel ready to return to FT work next week
• Did a decent amount of swimming. I am going to try and get in 4+ swims per week as a rule now
• Completed a strength workout of 3x20, which a few weeks ago I thought wasn't necessary. As it turned out, this was a perfect week to get that in as I approach my Maximum Strength period
• Got lots of sleep, which is very helpful for marathon recovery
• Have mostly recovered from my foot issue, and the knee isn't far behind
• Got my stretching back up to where I want it. Found a new position in which to hit some QL (quadratus lumborum) trigger points, and am working them daily. My QL's are one of my nemeses, as they tend to be in many runners and cyclists.

Goals for Next Week:

• Keep up the stretching. I feel like I was able to bounce back pretty quickly from Goofy Challenge due to my overall fitness, continued strength work and especially stretching
• Regain my bike FT watts. While I was easily able to hold/exceed HIM watts this week, I know that my first bout of FT intervals will really suck, yet I think I can get back to where I was in two weeks.
• Begin visualization for Ralph's 1/2 IM. While I would like to be able to predict an overall time, I realize this is folly since I won't have done any outdoor riding prior to the race (unless Global Warming really takes off in Chicago), and my bike fitness will be one of the deciding factors. Instead, I will use that race to focus primarily on my running toughness, and hope to PR my 1/2 marathon time (including open 1/2 mary!) there. The swim is dicey, since it's a cold ocean swim, so I'm not worried about that except to get through it strongly.
• Get my head on straight for the next 5 weeks of Maximum Strength work.

How Fast Can I Go in an Ironman?

This is the dirty little secret that nobody wants to write about, much less talk about.

Ironman is a 2.4 mile swim followed by a 112-mile bike and then a marathon (yes, Virginia, ALL marathons are 26.2 miles).

We can, without hurting ourselves (but still needing recovery), complete one or more 2.4 mile swims, and one or more 112-mile rides in training. We could, but IMHO, should not, run an open marathon during Ironman training. Why? The recovery cost is too high. To fully recover from a marathon that was run at your best marathon pace requires at least 2 weeks of recovery, meaning little to no running, reduced swimming and biking. Plus, the way you run in that open marathon, while it is technically the same distance that happens at the end of an Ironman, is much different than that Ironman thing. So really, what have you accomplished by racing a marathon during Ironman training? Well, you found out how fast you could go running 26.2 miles by itself, you just cost yourself at least 2 weeks of solid training time that probably could be better spent working on your cycling endurance, and you might have even picked up a URI or musculoskeletal injury in the process. Like it or not, your immune system takes quite a hit in the post-marathon weeks, and you sustain well-documented muscular damage.

OK, now, back to figuring out how fast I can go. I can swim that 2.4 mile open water swim in practice, I can even "race" it. Should I go as fast in the Ironman swim as I did in the swim race? Only to the extent you are able to hold good form and stay aerobic (in terms of heart rate). Believe it or not, even those really fast Ironman swimmers (less than 1 hour) are holding something back during the Ironman swim. Why? Think about it this way. Based on your fitness going into the race, each of us has so many heartbeats or "matches" that we can use up. If we blow too many during the swim, we are left with less to work with for the bike and the run.

In my personal experience, when I do a 2.4 mile swim time trial in training, I am pretty much dead-on for what I can expect in the Ironman race, plus or minus 2-5 minutes for jostling, gaining position, getting hit, congestion, etc. Why? Because when I swim 2.4 miles during training, I have a pretty hefty level of fatigue I'm working on, and if I am going to ride or run long the very next day, this is a good simulation of the speed I should swim during the Ironman.

When you get to that start line on race day, you are all rested and rarin' to go. So it's not unusual for someone to think, "Hey, I'm rested, I should be able to go faster than during that practice swim." WRONG! You are going to ride 112 miles and then run 26.2 after this, dumbass! This is a general statement about Ironman racing. You will not be going faster than you did in training sessions. Ironman is an aerobic day of 140.6 miles, not a fun, fast 100-mile ride at 21MPH (I've done those, btw--lots of fun, but no indication of how fast I ride in an Ironman race), where all you've got to do afterwards is go get something to eat and probably a few beers (if you are like me), and then get home and lay around.

What does it mean if I go a lot slower on race day than in my race rehearsal swim? You could be too nervous, you went out too hard (and slowed significantly), you picked the wrong place to seed yourself and had to fight through more athletes to find your pace, you didn't relax enough, you weren't rested enough. Use the result as an opportunity to think about what happened, and consider if it requires adjustments to your training for the next time.

What does it mean if I go faster on race day than in my race rehearsal swim? Good on you! Please check your heart rate, though, because if you punched it too hard you might want to ease back a little more than normal for part of the bike ride. Remember those matches! It's also possible you were just motivated to swim up to your training/fitness level by the race than during training.

OK, so that takes care of the swim. How fast can I go on the bike? Again, you can and should do some practice rides, that include some running afterwards, of 100+ miles. Ideally, you ride 112 miles on an actual Ironman course. If you live anywhere within 5 hours of Madison, Wisconsin, use that Ironman course for your race rehearsal ride. Same for other Ironman courses, provided they are safe enough. Can I just ride and forget the run afterwards? Not really. See if you know you don't have to run, you ride faster, right? Come on, just admit it. Plus, riding fast at times is what helps you to build your cycling endurance. How do I know how fast to ride these "test" rides? There are 2 options: by heart rate, or by power (watts). Hopefully, you've been training the bike with one or the other and know where your heart rate or watts should be based on your fitness and other tests done along the way. Suffice it to say that you will be riding very aerobically. Again, consider all those heart beats or matches you have to spend over your 140.6 miles. If you spend too many on the bike, guess what happens when you get to the run? Out of gas, bonking, tremendous fatigue, lots of walking.

How much should I run afterwards? Well, you don't have to run as much as you think. 40-60 minutes is all. When in doubt, err on the lesser side. The point is to understand how your legs feel after riding 112 miles; not push into territory where you are risking injury or significant recovery time. The ride itself is plenty taxing and will require some recovery, so if you stack on too much running afterwards, you are asking for trouble. Besides, it takes most people only 20-30 minutes to resume their "normal" running stride. You will know right away that it sucks to run after riding 112-miles--how long do you need to keep running to get that through your thick skull? By the way, you can expect that when you get off the bike, your hip flexors will feel very tired, and your stride will automatically shorten. Here is where it pays off to have practiced that shorter, quicker stride in training.

What does it mean if my race time is slower than what I practiced during training? You might have brought the wrong cassette to the race (always select your cassette based on the course profile and your climbing ability), you might have swum too fast, your stomach might have decided not to cooperate, weather could be affecting you (in which case most athletes will experience the same thing), or you could have executed your race rehearsal improperly. Whatever the reason, you have burned less matches, and instead of fretting over it, consider now you might be able to go faster on the run.

What does it mean if my race time is faster than what I practiced during training? Again, you should be checking your heart rate/powermeter here to see what's gone on. If you were able to maintain your practiced heart rate or power and go faster, EXCELLENT! But if these things are out of whack, assess your condition and use that as a basis to set up your run expectations.

How fast am I going to be able to run that marathon? Here is where it gets dicey. IF you paced your swim correctly for your fitness, AND you paced your bike correctly and stayed aerobic/controlled your watts appropriately, THEN you will be able to run as fast as your current overall endurance, and particularly your cycling endurance, permits you to go. The one true statement you can make is that you won't go as fast as your open marathon time! Other things that will limit your speed on the run include, but are not limited to:

• how well you executed your nutrition and hydration on the bike.
• your mental state--you need to have a pretty good reason to keep going for 26.2 miles when you are already tired to begin with.
• starting the run too fast. You can always get the time back, but like those matches, once they are burned, they are gone.
• humility. If you convince yourself that you are not going to walk, and run let's say the first 9-13 miles, you might be surprised to find out that you need to walk and that perhaps you should have eased into things.

There are other things, too, but if you've paced your swim and bike properly, and executed your nutrition and hydration properly, and you have superior cycling endurance, then with some mental toughness you should be able to get within 20% of your open marathon time. Ironman marathon times are not "fast" by running standards (2:45???). So once you start running, you will be doing the best you can based on your fitness, mental and race execution skills.

What if your run performance was significantly slower than you thought you could do? It could be weather, you biked too fast, your nutrition was off, you lost mental focus, or you just plain don't have the cycling endurance yet to go as fast as you think.

What if your run performance was faster than you thought you could do? I don't need to tell YOU anything--you are probably ecstatic!

For guidance on race rehearsal weekends, which include a swim TT and 112-mile ride followed by a run, go here: http://cruciblefitness.com/etips/rehearsal-week.htm

One more thing--many people want to know how indicative a 1/2 Ironman race performance is to one's Ironman time. Things to consider:

• there is far less time during a HIM for big problems to express themselves. You might get away with some nutrition and pacing mistakes in a HIM, but not a full.
• you can go harder during all 3 sports, if you are a highly-trained athlete, in a HIM. The speed factor is much different.
• the cumulative fatigue you have as you begin the next sport in the progression is significantly less in a HIM than a full.
• if you "blow up" partway through a HIM, you can recover from it and still finish in a decent time. If you blow up in an Ironman, though, most likely it's game over and a death shuffle, if that's even possible, to the finish.

A rule of thumb is take your HIM time, double it and add 2 hours for a first Ironman. Another rule of thumb is that predicting your first Ironman finish time is a crap shoot. I think that if you can do one or two race rehearsals you have a much better shot at predicting a finish time than someone who doesn't do these simulations. Ultimately, it will come down to your overall fitness level, execution skills and mental toughness. As you will see if you read the Crucible Fitness guidance, when you finish the ride in an Ironman, that's the first time during the day when you will really have some idea of what you might be able to do on the run and have a good chance of meeting your goal.

How do you train so that you can swim at an "all day pace" at a decent speed and then bike strongly for 112 miles followed by running a marathon? That is something I defer to coaches and such (even though I know quite a bit about this--and I have coached a few athletes). If you are doing an Ironman for the first time or are looking to improve your time in another Ironman, I highly recommend you get a coach. And then while you are coached, ask questions, pay attention, and learn something about how it's done.

The other thing I suggest for first-timers is to get an Iron Mentor. No, it's not good enough to cruise around on the blogs reading and commenting. I mean latch onto someone that you know is successful at this game (and can even train with, if possible), and ask them to help you along. In addition to the training, there are lots of little details that can make your day more fun and rewarding. I am in the process of compiling a list of tips (everything that I can think of shy of how to train), and when it's finished, I will post it here, but in the meantime, get thee an Iron Mentor. Formally ask that person to mentor you. Be nice to them. Ask them stupid questions. Tell them how you're doing. Tell your coach you have one (trust me, they will be HAPPY you are doing it).

Have a great day and great training!

Iron Camp

If you are an Iron Virgin, these camps, sponsored by my coach, are for you. Check it out:

Iron Camp Midwest
Iron Camp West
Iron Camp East

While you can get a lot of good information about tips for this and that from the Internet, there is no substitute for several days of expert discussion and advice. Plus, you may get to meet me if you attend Iron Camp Midwest! And if you're really lucky, you might get to ride and/or run with me! I'll be up in Madison that weekend biking my brains out in preparation for my next Ironman race.

I originally met my coach at one of these camps in 2003. At the time, I was self-coached, and I was so impressed by Rich and his solid training and execution knowledge that I decided that the next time I was considering utilizing a coach that he would be "the man." And that time came the following spring when I found out (from Rich, actually) that I had secured a lottery entry into Ironman Hawaii.

I would recommend this camp even for those of you who have an internet-based coach, i.e., you do not meet with this person regularly and the bulk of your exchange is conducted via email. I have mentored several other athletes who had such coaches, and while they had solid training plans, there is a lot more to successfully completing an Iron-distance event than the training itself. And even though I have mentored other Iron Virgins, I still send them to camp so that they know what I am telling them is the real deal!

Now you might be thinking, "isn't this too close to the race to be of benefit to me?" The answer is NO. Again, one of the key takeaways I got from that camp I attended was execution techniques. And I was able to utilize them in my very next Ironman race with success!

Sure there's more money involved in attending this camp, but if you look at what you are getting, it's actually a great deal. If you think you might do more than one Ironman race in your lifetime, it's money well spent.

1/17-1/18/2006 Workouts, Blast from the Past and Some Ruminations

The photo at left is the blast from the past. That's me running in August, 2004 in a sprint triathlon where I won my age group and had the fastest overall women's bike split. That was one week before Ironman Canada, where I did my fastest Ironman to date. And followed it up by my 2nd fastest Ironman in Hawaii. Man, I wish I was tan now. I am pasty white right about now (but just as lean if not leaner than in the photo).

1/17 Workout
3:35PM Bike 1:00, 445 kcal, average HR 111, average watts 119. The objective of this workout was just to be on the bike, easy spinning. Well, I did 2 HOURS of that on Saturday, and it was boring as hell (even though I watched Running on the Sun and the first 15' of A Clockwork Orange), but it was necessary I try to not go too hard my first ride back. So yesterday, I thought I would just run through my cogs in the SCR (Small Chain Ring) and then move into the BCR and see how it felt. I only really upped the intensity for the last 20', and it felt good! I didn't feel like I was ready to crank out FT watts yet, but considering I averaged 119 watts for the entire ride (which is in my "steady" or Ironman watts range), I did well. And I just noticed that I was hitting my Ironman watts at a lower than normal HR. YEAH, BABY!

1/18 Workouts:
7:15AM Swim 2700 yards in 57:47. This workout included 4x400 negative split with 20" rest as the main set. I had no endurance issues; the pool was FLIPPIN' HOT--85 degrees! It was SO hard to push myself at all, and when I started the workout I felt like I was in a bad mood (more on that later), so the temperature of the water wasn't helping. But, at some point I decided to focus on one thing during the swim, which was my head position. My head position isn't bad, but I do notice that it isn't neutral enough when I'm breathing to my left side. So when I spent time to focus on it today, I noticed that my position isn't all that neutral to the RIGHT, either. So I worked on that, and even though my speed was non-existent, a good thing came out of the workout. All right! This is a technique anyone can use. There is always SOMETHING you can manage to do of value during a workout even if you feel like crap, are in a bad mood, are tired, anything (except bonking!).

1:20PM Run :45, 373 kcal, average heart rate 116. Can I say how good it felt to run again? IT FELT FUCKING GOOD, THAT'S HOW IT FELT! I felt light as a feather on my feet, nothing untoward in the way of pain (the top of my right foot is still a little sensitive, and it let me know that today), didn't lose any speed, and my HR didn't go nuts! I had an ostensibly easy workout to do, and it went like this: 25' warmup from easy to steady, 10' of strides on the track, and then 10' on the track. The strides felt great, and when I started the last 10', I was curious as to how fast I could go. I wasn't going to look at my HR; just run. I tried not to go out too fast, and when all was said and done, I ended up running 7:52/mile! That is unheard of for me! Actually after I finished 1 mile I looked at my watch and saw 7:55, and I just wanted to hold that, but I guess I picked it up just a tad! It felt GOOD to run fast, and even though I was at (maybe over?) my 5K pace, what the hell, welcome back to running, Crackhead!

Now on to some ruminations. This morning while swimming and feeling in a bad mood, I had this sense of restlessness, because I am not sure what I want to do in 2007. Reality check--it just turned 2006, OK? But still, up until this year, I could pretty much tell you what might be on tap the following year. Not so much right now. Sure, I entered that Western States 100 raffle, and if I win, I guess that's what I'll be doing--but today I was thinking what if I just did one 1/2 Ironman per month from May through September? That would be pretty cool. My training would be something like the following 4-week cycle:
Week 1: Bike and run like hell
Week 2: Bike and run like hell
Week 3: Taper down just a little bit (2 days)
Week 4: Taper up just a little bit with full return to biking by the weekend

How much fucking fun would THAT be? Plus I'm sure I'd come out of it a speed demon. But then back to trying to swim. I realized I was focusing so much on the future, I had better stop and do what I needed to do RIGHT NOW. And as soon as I got my head back to swimming, despite the pool temperature, I felt at peace and all was good with the world.

It IS possible to plan too much, but what I was trying to do today was not so much plan, but force myself to make a decision before I'm ready. I have plenty of time to think about next year, and what it is is somewhat dependent on this year. But I think the point of todays thoughts were that I AM becoming a little burned out with Ironman--other than going to new places and spending lots more money, what is left for me to do there? This is how it gets when I feel I've mastered something--I need some time away for it so that it can become just part of my repetoire to draw on for future free time. Again, I'm not saying I've reached the pinnacle of my fitness or speed by any means, but at some point this old lady is going to hit that final PR and then it is all downhill from there. So I guess I'd rather go out on a high note and switch the engines to the pursuit of something different. Or maybe not. It's too soon to tell.

I think a little of what I'm experiencing, too, is post-big event letdown. I don't feel let down so much as well, my life is still messed up because I'm still not in my regular training pattern/volume. Which is why TWO WORKOUTS today felt better. I may kick myself in the pants in a few weeks if I come back and read this post, but so be it. Part of why I do this stuff is it helps me to feel sane by not giving my overly-active mind too much time to be idle. Not that my mind is ever really "idle," just that I've developed this ability to calm it through training, and while I've gotten MUCH better at doing that outside of training, hey, I'm still human and far from perfect and I haven't achieved nirvana, and so I still get thrown out of whack.

In summary, I am coming to a crossroads in my life. Oh, my fucking craziness! Writing this just now I realize that this happens to me about every 5 years LIKE CLOCKWORK! I've done Ironmans for 5 years, DUH! The 5 years before that I basically got my post-divorce crazy on (if you know what I mean). The 5 years before that I spent figuring out why my marriage was not working for me. It's time for me to do some serious thinking, so I guess it's good that I am working on getting my mental house in order. These watershed events require careful and deep thought, and whereas in the past, I sort of just "rolled" or "defaulted" into the next phase, this time I have complete and utter power to decide where I want to be. What a wonderful problem to have!

1/16/2006 Workouts: Transition Time and Reality Check

7:17AM Swim 2750 yards in 1:02. Easy technique workout. I was surprised that after not having spent too much time in the water in the past few weeks that my swim golf score was way low. Part of the reason is that sometimes I have a tendency to "think too much" when I swim, and that takes away from the natural flow and gracefulness that I've cultivated. But as the workout wore on, I could feel a little upper body fatigue, but not too much. I am actually looking forward to Wednesday's swim workout, so I can see where I stand on speed.

3PM Strength, 3x20 in 1:40. This is the longest strength workout I will do all season! I wasn't sure if I was up to 3 sets of 20 (for the last 2 weeks I did 2 sets of 20 reps), but I figured since I didn't have to run today, I might as well go for it. I can tell you I will be tired from this later on today and tomorrow, but I'm glad I got right back on the strength wagon, as it will help me tolerate higher intensity workouts to come.

Mentally today I felt rather blah--coming down from the high of Goofy Challenge and not working out much last week can do that. So I'm in a transitional period, where I can still feel good inside about what I just accomplished, but it's time to switch the beacon to point at the next objective. I am really looking forward to my first run back on Wednesday, and I even feel like I'll be able to knock out 9 miles this weekend! Wouldn't that be something? Well, not really, I think I've done that before, but I have short-term memory. My biggest concern is how will my legs feel during my first bike interval workout? That may not be until next week. I dabbled a little bit at 1/2 Ironman watts on Saturday, and it felt fine. I have to say, though, those bike FT sessions are NEVER easy, but I know how strong they make me. Shit, I felt like I had almost tireless legs at Disney!

Ralph's is going to be fun. My swim volume is already there (1/2 IM swim is nothing to me), and my run volume is way over where it needs to be, so my guess is it will be time to pick up some more biking. Maybe just add 30-60' onto the long ride with some more quality work. I just can't stand "just spinning" anymore. How boring! I would rather be focusing on something really hard than just going la-di-da.

I think this feeling of "ease" about 1/2 and full Ironman distance racing is what is driving me to begin thinking about my next big challenge. Don't get me wrong--going fast at these distances takes a lot of discipline, training and execution skills--it's just that I have most of it down, at least for the level where I'm competing now.

We will have to see just how well I do at Ironman Brazil. I think that is going to be a real telling event for me. Whether or not I qualify for Kona there, it will be important for me to have a good run off the bike. 4:30 would be a good run off the bike! If I can pull that off, I'll have accomplished my next "phase" of Ironman ability.

I think I pointed to this in a previous post, but for reference sake, here is my coach's take on the development of a triathlete: http://www.cruciblefitness.com/etips/athletetable.htm Yikes I just looked at this again and believe I've reached "expert" level. What does that mean? It doesn't mean I'm the fastest person out there, but it means I am very cognizant of my limits, know that they are mostly mental, have confidence in my fitness level and ability to execute based on it, and am not afraid to bite off interesting challenges.

But I still think that 4:30 Ironman run needs to be done! And logically, I have wanted to qualify for Kona, but I know that isn't doable without that run! Or else suffering through Ironman New Zealand. Someone a little younger than me got a Kona slot there by going like 15:30!!! Sheesh, that would be loafing for me--of course I'm happy for anyone who earns a slot, but I am looking at 12-something to do it in.

If I can hit 12:15 in Brazil, then whether or not it gets me a Kona slot, I will have to think about what's next. Obviously, if I get the Kona slot, I go and race in Kona, and then I think it's time for a year away from Ironman (but not long distance!). If I don't get the Kona slot, but I still make my time goal, well, then I need to decide if getting that Kona slot is really what I want to continue to pursue. I can't answer that question right now.

I've known for several years now that my path has been to find out if I have what it takes to qualify for Kona, and knowing that if I can achieve that goal, Ultraman becomes a reality. I think I just about have it, but we need to do a test! If I fail the test this year, then I will need to look deep inside and figure out my next move.

I realize there are plenty of people (most of them, actually!) who do Ironman without any notion of every qualifying for Kona, yet they keep doing it. I don't know if I'm that sort of person. I have a feeling I would rather try something different, accomplish something new. That's why the idea of a 100-mile foot race is already actually sounding appealing to me. Again, it's one of those things I NEVER thought I would do, or really would WANT to do, but here I am begging people to enter the Western States 100 raffle for me!

I still think I'm on the path to Ultraman, though. One way or the other, I am going to do another BIG race in Kona. It's my destiny. Always has been. Hell, if I actually qualify for Kona, I may just have to finally pull off something I've been toying with for over 5 years--MOVING to Kona! I absolutely love it there, and up until 2005, had been there at least once a year since 1994. So I've figured the way for me to get back there is to qualify for Ironman Hawaii, and then I may finally take stock of my life and get my ass on the island permanently. At any rate, if I do qualify, it is going to make me think about a lot of things, and that is a problem I would DEARLY love to have!

Weekly Workout Totals 1/9/2006-1/15/2006

Swim: 6,100 yards in 2.17 hours
Bike: 2.00 hours
Run: 0 hours
Strength: .85 hours
Total Hours: 5.02
Average Sleep: 9.43 hours/night
Stretching: .75 hours (oops! should have done more, but better than nothing)
Accomplishments:

• Listened to my coach and did not run a single step
• Got lots of sleep to aid recovery from Goofy Challenge
• Did not go harder during my single bike workout than I was supposed to
• Did not do any leg work during my strength session to aid recovery from Goofy Challenge
• Stopped eating (cravings stopped) junk food by mid-week
• Got a mammogram
• Went out with friends on several evenings!
• Entered the Western States 100 Raffle (remember: you can enter and then if you win give me the entry, and the donation is tax-deductible!)

This is the least amount of training I've done during a week with the exception of the week after each Ironman race. I could tell my body needed some serious rest and recovery. It only took 3 days post-Goofy for my quads to come around and enable me to walk down stairs almost normally. I had a rew random aches and pains throughout the rest of the week as muscles, tendons, ligaments and cartilage rejuvenated and readjusted themselves. The top of my right foot is still not right--I am hoping it's just the fascia band that's upset. My right knee is still not right, either--it feels like PFS, but I'm hoping that since I'm not running until Wednesday that it will come around. It doesn't hurt at all going up or down stairs, and it doesn't hurt on the bike or if I jog. I don't have that much training to do this week, so I'm hoping everything will come right by the weekend.