I guess I should change the title of my blog again. Turns out I am not slacking at all--I am just not formally training for an Ironman. But I like knowing that if I wanted to do one in 3 weeks, I could show up and do it! That is a little scary, but I guess why I am generally very calm. I may not be fast, but I know that I am very fit, and I intend to stay that way for at least a few more years.
I have been so sleepy this week, I mean just needing to sleep a lot. I am getting better about recovery time. I don't need but a few days of nothing or almost nothing and then I can pretty much return to the state of training I had been sustaining. I ran on Wednesday, and my legs felt like total crap, but getting a massage that evening must have flushed all the remaining race toxins out of my legs because I felt just fine yesterday morning.
When I started my bike workout yesterday, I was wondering if I could cut it--if I could hit FT watts after a pretty hard effort last Sunday. I lengthened my warmup a bit, which I think was a good idea, and then when it was time to turn it on, oh yeah baby, I had the watts. Empirically, I think my FT is up about 5 watts; at least it's good enough to make me work harder every session. I only did 3x8' (2') at FT, but I really worked it for those 8' intervals--189, 192 and 189 normalized watts (my most recently tested FT value was 177, but these are short intervals, but still I think my number is up). And then follow that by 7X30/30's (30 seconds at VO2Max pace; 30 seconds easy), and then finish up at HIM watts. Can you say calorie burn?
Yet my legs felt pretty good after all that yesterday. Today I swam, and the main set was 40x50 (10"), alternating hard 50 with easy 50. I tell you that is a lung-buster workout. You think you are getting rest on the easy ones, but as you keep adding them up, you have to work harder on the fast ones. What fun!
I was on the fence about doing any weights this week (and I'm undecided to what level I want to keep them up from here on out), but thought that doing some would help get me out of the funk that I'm in, and besides I consider strength training important as I move some muscles in planes that don't normally get used in the triathlon sports. So I did about an hour.
Then I had to run. Today's workout was: WU: 10' Easy, 6 x Strides, 5' Steady with excellent form MS: 4', 6', 10', 6', 4' @ 5k pace with 1' Steady between each. CD; 10' Steady. Oh great I get to run a 5K plus today! I was uncertain whether my legs would be up to this workout, but as always, I cranked it out, even though it was about 95.
Tomorrow I "only" have to run 1:30 and then Sunday I'm riding 100 miles and running :30 off the bike. A relatively easy week, but here comes the pain starting next week: I will be biking about 250 miles a week for the next 4-5 weeks. My self-imposed BIG FUCKING BIKING MONTH!
Included in there are a 300K and 200K ride. I suspect my running will take a back seat, but what the heck, I've been doing a lot of running this year. After that, a cheesy HIM and then a build for my last A race of the year--Miami Man, and then a short rest and train for Goofy Challenge.
OK, I said I was going to rant. I read on another blog a rant AGAINST skinny people. I guess I fall into that category now. But I was not always skinny, and I don't consider myself fast, well maybe as a cyclist I am now, but that has been due to extremely hard work. It has taken me years to change my body composition to where it is today, and that has also been hard work. It has involved becoming aware of nutrition and what I am putting in, what I am burning, and how they affect one another. I have made it my business to understand how my body uses energy. Along the way, I learned that if I eat pasta, I will tend to eat too much of it, and so I avoid it now. I have learned to be OK with being hungry, especially while I am training (you can't take in a lot of calories and do a hard workout--it just doesn't mix). I have done strength training consistently for 15 years, and I have trained hard and consistently in triathlon for 6 years running. So if anyone wants to call me naturally skinny and say whatever "speed" I have is because of what I weigh, I have 2 words for you.
Now in terms of my views on fat people doing triathlon (or any sport, for that matter): first, if you are fat, you know it. You don't need me to tell you that. And you don't need me to make you feel bad about it. You are perfectly capable of doing that all by your lonesome. And you also know that every extra pound you carry around is slowing you down. And that if you think that if you just train harder you will get faster, all the while you are shooting yourself in the foot if you are carrying around extra weight. So it is YOUR business to decide how much it means to you and your experience in the sport to make the sacrifices necessary to drop the weight to let your body absorb the training better and get faster, not just because you lost weight, but because all your metabolic processes (of which training is a huge constituent) will improve.
In my case, the motivation to drop weight was related to my desire to manage hard training and to lessen the impact on my one crappy knee (ACL free for 22 years now!), and then I followed that up with a couple of herniated disks, and the writing was on the wall, my friends--be small, or stop doing this sport, or suffer and accelerate damage to my knees and back! So I have some physical limitations working against me, but I never use those as reasons why my performance is not where I'd like it to be. "Oh, my race was off today because I have a herniated disk." To me it is no different if a person complains that they are not as fast as they could be because they have a few extra pounds. Shut up about it. Nobody wants to hear me complaining about my age-related disk degeneration and I don't want to hear about how you just can't seem to lose weight. Neither of us has the right to use those things as a basis for dissatisfaction in our performances. We are all doing what we can with what we've got. I've chosen to change what I was given in certain areas, and anyone can if they really want to.
I take offense at those with excess weight who feel they are being unduly criticized or punished or whatever. You are the way you are because of how you eat, and that is that. It is under your control to do something about it, and just as I cannot use my own limitations as excuses for my performance, neither should a person use their weight as an excuse for anything. Figure yourself out. Are you depressed? Are you afraid to see what you might do with your body? Are you afraid that if you drop weight and you are still slow then you will have considered your efforts wasted? I would never tell someone to drop weight strictly for vanity or to see how fast they could get. There is only one right reason to lose weight--health. Admittedly, I could weigh more than I do now and still be healthy, and I am happy that I have that "play" which will come in handy down the road, I'm sure. But for now, given the level that I enjoy training at, it is better for me to be on the light side--better to allow me to train at a high level, to recover from it, to put less stress on my digestive tract, and hopefully minimize further cartilage deterioration. And oh yeah, it can help somewhat with speed.
I am at a disadvantage in the pool, though--I have little fat for "natural" flotation, so I have to work extra hard to keep a good body position. And I'm short. Taller/fatter people naturally will swim faster than me. So should I start belittling tall people or ask for a race division for short Croatians? This is why I do not believe in Clyde/Athena race divisions. Hell we could make up a million other handicaps that people have, and one's size should not be considered a handicap PERIOD. Sure there are certain body types that are better suited for certain sports. If you don't like how your body type performs in triathlon, pick another sport. The Olympics don't give special medals to people who are doing sports with a less-than-optimal body type for that sport--I can see it now: "Gold medal in the sport triple jump for people who have no business even trying because they are too short." There are plenty of sports out there to choose from, and some that even favor a heavier physique. I have the photography book, "Athlete," and I find it interesting to see the different body types among the different sports. There are good reasons you don't see skinny people doing powerlifting and beefy people excelling at marathon running.
When I see someone who is overweight working out or in a race, I automatically assume that they are seeking health, and that they are probably trying to lose some of the weight. That is not always true, but I know it's true much of the time. I hope everyone doing sport is on a path to excellent health. But there are a few amongst the heavier set crowd that want special consideration or acceptance for their weight or they claim to have "given up" on their quest to slim down. I don't buy into that. Sometimes I think there can be a fear there that "what if I slim down and I still am not that fast?" Welcome to my world! Do it to be healthy, and if what you have been doing is not working, work harder at it. It will come. Unless you have a true metabolic disorder, well, you are exactly what you eat. Some bodies just handle it differently, and it can take work to find out how to cure a seemingly stubborn metabolism. Been there, done that!
I have to be happy with my triathlon performance given the height I was born with, but I can and will continue to manipulate the variables that I can change--my training, body composition and nutrition. I'm OK with how far I've come, and I will never have an excuse for my performance that is related to my weight, because I have taken that out of the mix.
Now I need to go eat some steak and have a beer!
Friday, July 28, 2006
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Do You Ever Have These Thoughts?
Just some ramblings in a recovery period...
- I suck.
- I REALLY suck.
- Why do I keep doing this if I suck so much?
- Well, some people actually suck more than I do. They seem to be OK with it, so why aren't I?
- I wonder how many people who know me are laughing at me behind my back thinking, "she has a big ego for someone who sucks so much."
- Rest feels good. Maybe I'll just stop working out.
- It doesn't even phase me anymore to sign up for an Ironman race. No sense of wonder, no fear, no nothing. Been there, done that. What's up with that?
- Sometimes I think I've learned to dig deeper, and then I think I haven't. Tough to say.
- When I'm on, I feel like I'm on top of the world. When I'm not, I feel like shit.
- I wish I had started these sports when I was much younger. I wonder how good I would be now? Coulda, woulda, shoulda. I didn't know any better. I will say that I totally enjoyed smoking, drinking and partying heavily, and the drugs weren't too bad, either. I think a lot of triathletes (myself included!) would continue in those ways if they didn't think it was wiser to be "responsible."
- I think it was silly to think I could qualify for Kona. I'm not sure I want to try again or that I even have the ability to get there, but then if I don't, what's the point? I think that's what keeps me coming back, is that I'm looking for "the point." It's all about the journey and not the destination, right?
- There's no getting around it. I have to keep working hard if I want to improve.
- I wish I had the time to spend doing a LOT more swim technique work. I swim OK in a pool, and I seem to swim well in "normal" lakes, but very choppy lakes or oceans, I suck.
- I'm a pretty good cyclist. Maybe I should just focus on that.
- Occasionally I think I'm an OK runner, and wonder if there will ever be a point that magically I am able to run a lot faster. I seriously doubt it.
- Oh yeah I guess one of the reasons I do this is for my health. My physical health seems pretty good; my mental health dubious.
- Racing is a crap shoot. Some days you get lucky and it all comes together. Other days not so much.
- Sometimes I wish I trained less, but then I remember how little I need to eat if I'm not working out a lot. Am I doing this for vanity?
- At least I am not injured, KNOCK WOOD! If I've learned one thing in the past 6 years, it's that injury sucks more than anything else. I suppose there's some reward in being able to say I trained a lot, raced a lot, and was not injured (for the last 1.5 years!).
- I really love steak, onions, tomatoes and beer. I could live on just that!
- Sometimes I think I like to burn calories more than I like to take them in. I really don't like having to eat or drink when I'm training or racing. Maybe I am turning into a camel or a vampire.
- String theory--yep, I'm made up of a bunch of vibrating strings. Now if they could just learn to play a decent melody, I'd be all set!
- I miss my mom.
- The only thing that sucks about being my age is being single. Men just do not automatically think that an almost 50-YO woman is worth getting to know. But when I was getting body marked on Sunday, the guy asked my age, and I told him 49. He thought he heard 41, and said, "41?" I said, "Nope, FOR-TY NINE." Some young girl said, "I bet you wish you were 41." To which I said, "Hell no." See, that is what a lot of people think about being this age. That you've somehow turned into a ball of ugly mush. I'm fighting it tooth and nail.
- I love sleeping.
- I love my body, even though it doesn't always perform the way I'd like it to.
- I guess I'll go run now. Maybe something else will come to me.
Monday, July 24, 2006
Weekly Totals 07/17/2006-07/23/2006 and Spirit of Racine ½ Ironman Race Report
First, the race report.
Did I taper? No.
Did I suffer? Not really. My definition of suffering has changed dramatically since Brazil.
Am I happy with how I raced? I’m OK with it, considering lack of taper.
I had a glimpse that my biking legs were back on Thursday. My watts were up, and it felt easy to generate them. So I figured on a decent bike split in the race. How about my run legs? I have been nailing some rather difficult workouts, but again, I’m not sure what I did Wednesday was appropriate for a taper workout:
WU: 10' Easy, 6 x Strides, 5' Steady with excellent form MS: 4', 6', 10', 6', 4' @ 5k pace with 1' Steady between each. CD; 10' Steady
Do that workout sometime. It will kick your ass and take names!
What about my swimming? I suck. Well, I suck in certain open water venues. In normal lakes I am fine.
So how did the race play out?
The weather was absolutely beautiful. Mid-70’s, perhaps low 80’s, it was hard to tell. Lake Michigan looked fairly calm, but as I am learning, looks can be deceiving. Swimming straight out against the waves, I just couldn’t get it together, so I did a lot of breaststroke. But once we turned to swim parallel to shore, I was fine, and passed a bunch of people. So I probably lost 5’ due to my inability to swim through the first set of waves. But the water temperature was perfect, about 68. I did swallow a little bit of it, but mostly I think I got a pretty good nose enema. I took my wetsuit off in the water, and took too long doing it. Oh well, this wasn’t an “A” race for me.
There’s a long run through the sand back to transition, and you really feel it in your calves. Part of you says, “RUN RUN RUN” because you are in a race, and other part says, “But I just can’t go that fast.” I’m pretty good at transition runs, and I don’t know where they started and stopped the timing, but I just kept going and got to my bike, got my stuff on and away I went.
I committed to my coach’s ½ Ironman wattage guidance for this ride, which meant for the first ½ hour I was to ride easy. As it turns out, I didn’t ride easy enough, but still I held back big time. Which really sucked as we sort of had a tailwind out of town and it was nice and cool. Oh, well, there will be plenty of time to ride fast. I didn’t drink anything until I was 10’ into the ride, either, which is always a good plan to let your stomach settle as you get back to using your legs.
After 30’, I was able to dial up the watts. There were plenty of riders around, so it was very motivating to keep up a good pace. There were numerous draft packs of men. Every time one would go by, I couldn’t help it but I would curse a blue streak at them. F’ing cheaters! I am sure none of these guys was going to win the entire race today, so I really don’t understand why they blatantly cheat. But there was one point where 2 guys went by me, and it was clear they were working together, and a draft marshall came up right behind them and I saw that numbers were being written down. So some justice was served! As the course was quite congested, I knew it was impossible to catch all the drafters, but at least a few of them hopefully learned a lesson.
I definitely felt like I was working on the bike, even with the good conditions. We did have some wind, but I’m not sure how much there was. I just pushed and pushed and periodically looked at the power meter to be sure I was in the right range. It looked good. When I got to transition, I saw the final number, 2:46. Not bad. THAT was a PR for a ½ Ironman, but then again, everyone was riding fast. Turns out my bike split was #2 in my age group.
And now, the run. I didn’t feel bad when I left T2, and felt like I had a decent pace going, but my legs felt heavy. Not “I rode the bike too fast” heavy, but “maybe I’ve been training a lot and my run legs really aren’t recovered from Ironman Brazil heavy.” Considering I had just witnessed the return of my bike legs on Thursday, it seemed reasonable to me that my running legs weren’t quite back. That’s OK. I didn’t walk except a little at aid stations, and I just kept continuously looping some song in my head and kept going. I didn’t really feel bad (except for the rock in my left shoe, but no way I was going to stop and take it out), I wasn’t suffering, I just didn’t have much “oomph” to my legs. There were a number of racers who recognized me and would call out my name before I saw them. I must have a distinctive physique. I joked to one guy I ran with for a few miles that they must recognize my butt! For the most part, I had a smile on my face the entire run.
I ended up 5th in my age group out of 18, at 5:48. There were some really fast ladies on the day! So no podium slot. That’s OK. It was a good workout, my 3rd triathlon in 6 weeks (or should I say 4th in 8 weeks?) on top of some serious training, so I really can’t complain. I see some younger athletes doing this sort of stuff and they are able to bang out good performances while racing frequently, but it’s just not in these old bones. Still, I am very fortunate to be healthy and able enough to do this stuff. I like knowing that I can show up at a ½ Ironman on no taper and put in my 2nd fastest time at the age of 49. I am not sure whether I can get faster at this point or how long I will keep this up. I grumble at every race, “Why do I keep doing this????”
My legs were quite sore when I finished the race and the entire way driving home (about 1.5 hours). I was rolling around in my head what I wanted to eat, and I was going to go home first and make the disaster area in my house after unloading my car, but I was going to pass up a restaurant I like very much on the way home, and I figured I had better go eat before going home. After the race, they had run out of the (probably bad) pasta and all that was left was potato chips, bananas and pretzels. I had a handful of chips, drank my Endurox R4 and hit the road rather than wait for bad food to show up.
I stopped at Country House with my blood sugar just about to plummet. My waitress could tell I was hungry probably from the wild eyes I had. She was smart and asked if I was ready to order right away, and I was. A big, tall Weiss beer, an ostrich burger medium rare with Cheddar cheese, and onion rings. The beer arrived pretty quickly, and that got some carbs down me (after I drank a full glass of water, of course). When the food arrived, I lovingly salted the hell out of the onion rings, made a nice pool of ketchup on the plate for them, put some ketchup and tomatoes on the burger, topped it off and cut if in half. That first bite of burger was nirvana! I absolutely love tomatoes or anything to do with tomatoes. Tomatoes and ketchup is like heaven to me! I took my time eating, as despite my appetite, I have a rather small stomach. In fact, a table next to me arrived after me, got their order and finished it before I was done eating! I removed the breading from most of the onion rings and just dipped them into the ketchup. I also LOVE onions. Not raw—but sautéed or grilled I can eat piles of them. Since I figured I wasn’t going to want to cook later on or eat another entire meal, I got 2 slices of lemon merinque pie to go for later. I polished them off about 2 hours after I got home. Not your best pie, but it hit the spot anyway.
I slept fitfully, as my core temperature remained high from the race, and my legs were sore. Today I feel like I am coming around and may go for a swim later just to loosen up my legs a bit.
Oh, and I just registered for Ironman Lake Placid 2007. For my occupation, I listed, “Idiot.”
Here’s what happened last week:
Weekly Totals 07/17/2006-07/23/2006
Swim: 11600 yards (6.58 miles) in 4.02 hours; 26% of weekly workout time; approx. 1455 calories burned
Bike: Approx. 112 miles in 5.9 hours; 39% of weekly workout time; approx. 3025 calories burned
Run: Approx. 30.63 miles in 4.8 hours; 32% of weekly workout time; approx. 2626 calories burned
Strength: 0.47 hours; 3% of weekly workout time; approx. 118 calories burned
All Sports: Approx. 149.21 miles in 15.19 hours; approx. 7224 calories burned
Sleep: 9.11 hours avg./night
Stretching: 1.57 hours
Season Totals 09/12/2005-07/23/2006
Swim: 379785 yards (215.54 miles) in 133.67 hours
Bike: Approx. 4166.69 miles in 238.6 hours
Run: Approx. 1266.04 miles in 199.09 hours
Strength: 63.77 hours
All Sports: Approx. 5648.27 miles in 635.13 hours; approx. 282521 calories burned
Stretching: 69.91 hours
Season Weekly Averages 09/12/2005-07/23/2006
Swim: 8440 yards (4.79 miles) in 2.97 hours
Bike: Approx. 92.59 miles in 5.3 hours
Run: Approx. 28.13 miles in 4.42 hours
Strength: 1.42 hours
All Sports: Approx. 125.52 miles in 14.11 hours
Sleep: 8.49 hours avg./night
Stretching: 2 hours avg./week
Goals from Last Week:
Get my head in the game for a long race on Sunday. Wow, am I really ready for a 1/2 Ironman? DONE. Well, my bike legs were ready, but apparently not my run legs. Other than today, since I'm catching up on calories from yesterday still, watch the eating as I am doing a little taper for Sunday's race. DONE.
Did I taper? No.
Did I suffer? Not really. My definition of suffering has changed dramatically since Brazil.
Am I happy with how I raced? I’m OK with it, considering lack of taper.
I had a glimpse that my biking legs were back on Thursday. My watts were up, and it felt easy to generate them. So I figured on a decent bike split in the race. How about my run legs? I have been nailing some rather difficult workouts, but again, I’m not sure what I did Wednesday was appropriate for a taper workout:
WU: 10' Easy, 6 x Strides, 5' Steady with excellent form MS: 4', 6', 10', 6', 4' @ 5k pace with 1' Steady between each. CD; 10' Steady
Do that workout sometime. It will kick your ass and take names!
What about my swimming? I suck. Well, I suck in certain open water venues. In normal lakes I am fine.
So how did the race play out?
The weather was absolutely beautiful. Mid-70’s, perhaps low 80’s, it was hard to tell. Lake Michigan looked fairly calm, but as I am learning, looks can be deceiving. Swimming straight out against the waves, I just couldn’t get it together, so I did a lot of breaststroke. But once we turned to swim parallel to shore, I was fine, and passed a bunch of people. So I probably lost 5’ due to my inability to swim through the first set of waves. But the water temperature was perfect, about 68. I did swallow a little bit of it, but mostly I think I got a pretty good nose enema. I took my wetsuit off in the water, and took too long doing it. Oh well, this wasn’t an “A” race for me.
There’s a long run through the sand back to transition, and you really feel it in your calves. Part of you says, “RUN RUN RUN” because you are in a race, and other part says, “But I just can’t go that fast.” I’m pretty good at transition runs, and I don’t know where they started and stopped the timing, but I just kept going and got to my bike, got my stuff on and away I went.
I committed to my coach’s ½ Ironman wattage guidance for this ride, which meant for the first ½ hour I was to ride easy. As it turns out, I didn’t ride easy enough, but still I held back big time. Which really sucked as we sort of had a tailwind out of town and it was nice and cool. Oh, well, there will be plenty of time to ride fast. I didn’t drink anything until I was 10’ into the ride, either, which is always a good plan to let your stomach settle as you get back to using your legs.
After 30’, I was able to dial up the watts. There were plenty of riders around, so it was very motivating to keep up a good pace. There were numerous draft packs of men. Every time one would go by, I couldn’t help it but I would curse a blue streak at them. F’ing cheaters! I am sure none of these guys was going to win the entire race today, so I really don’t understand why they blatantly cheat. But there was one point where 2 guys went by me, and it was clear they were working together, and a draft marshall came up right behind them and I saw that numbers were being written down. So some justice was served! As the course was quite congested, I knew it was impossible to catch all the drafters, but at least a few of them hopefully learned a lesson.
I definitely felt like I was working on the bike, even with the good conditions. We did have some wind, but I’m not sure how much there was. I just pushed and pushed and periodically looked at the power meter to be sure I was in the right range. It looked good. When I got to transition, I saw the final number, 2:46. Not bad. THAT was a PR for a ½ Ironman, but then again, everyone was riding fast. Turns out my bike split was #2 in my age group.
And now, the run. I didn’t feel bad when I left T2, and felt like I had a decent pace going, but my legs felt heavy. Not “I rode the bike too fast” heavy, but “maybe I’ve been training a lot and my run legs really aren’t recovered from Ironman Brazil heavy.” Considering I had just witnessed the return of my bike legs on Thursday, it seemed reasonable to me that my running legs weren’t quite back. That’s OK. I didn’t walk except a little at aid stations, and I just kept continuously looping some song in my head and kept going. I didn’t really feel bad (except for the rock in my left shoe, but no way I was going to stop and take it out), I wasn’t suffering, I just didn’t have much “oomph” to my legs. There were a number of racers who recognized me and would call out my name before I saw them. I must have a distinctive physique. I joked to one guy I ran with for a few miles that they must recognize my butt! For the most part, I had a smile on my face the entire run.
I ended up 5th in my age group out of 18, at 5:48. There were some really fast ladies on the day! So no podium slot. That’s OK. It was a good workout, my 3rd triathlon in 6 weeks (or should I say 4th in 8 weeks?) on top of some serious training, so I really can’t complain. I see some younger athletes doing this sort of stuff and they are able to bang out good performances while racing frequently, but it’s just not in these old bones. Still, I am very fortunate to be healthy and able enough to do this stuff. I like knowing that I can show up at a ½ Ironman on no taper and put in my 2nd fastest time at the age of 49. I am not sure whether I can get faster at this point or how long I will keep this up. I grumble at every race, “Why do I keep doing this????”
My legs were quite sore when I finished the race and the entire way driving home (about 1.5 hours). I was rolling around in my head what I wanted to eat, and I was going to go home first and make the disaster area in my house after unloading my car, but I was going to pass up a restaurant I like very much on the way home, and I figured I had better go eat before going home. After the race, they had run out of the (probably bad) pasta and all that was left was potato chips, bananas and pretzels. I had a handful of chips, drank my Endurox R4 and hit the road rather than wait for bad food to show up.
I stopped at Country House with my blood sugar just about to plummet. My waitress could tell I was hungry probably from the wild eyes I had. She was smart and asked if I was ready to order right away, and I was. A big, tall Weiss beer, an ostrich burger medium rare with Cheddar cheese, and onion rings. The beer arrived pretty quickly, and that got some carbs down me (after I drank a full glass of water, of course). When the food arrived, I lovingly salted the hell out of the onion rings, made a nice pool of ketchup on the plate for them, put some ketchup and tomatoes on the burger, topped it off and cut if in half. That first bite of burger was nirvana! I absolutely love tomatoes or anything to do with tomatoes. Tomatoes and ketchup is like heaven to me! I took my time eating, as despite my appetite, I have a rather small stomach. In fact, a table next to me arrived after me, got their order and finished it before I was done eating! I removed the breading from most of the onion rings and just dipped them into the ketchup. I also LOVE onions. Not raw—but sautéed or grilled I can eat piles of them. Since I figured I wasn’t going to want to cook later on or eat another entire meal, I got 2 slices of lemon merinque pie to go for later. I polished them off about 2 hours after I got home. Not your best pie, but it hit the spot anyway.
I slept fitfully, as my core temperature remained high from the race, and my legs were sore. Today I feel like I am coming around and may go for a swim later just to loosen up my legs a bit.
Oh, and I just registered for Ironman Lake Placid 2007. For my occupation, I listed, “Idiot.”
Here’s what happened last week:
Weekly Totals 07/17/2006-07/23/2006
Swim: 11600 yards (6.58 miles) in 4.02 hours; 26% of weekly workout time; approx. 1455 calories burned
Bike: Approx. 112 miles in 5.9 hours; 39% of weekly workout time; approx. 3025 calories burned
Run: Approx. 30.63 miles in 4.8 hours; 32% of weekly workout time; approx. 2626 calories burned
Strength: 0.47 hours; 3% of weekly workout time; approx. 118 calories burned
All Sports: Approx. 149.21 miles in 15.19 hours; approx. 7224 calories burned
Sleep: 9.11 hours avg./night
Stretching: 1.57 hours
Season Totals 09/12/2005-07/23/2006
Swim: 379785 yards (215.54 miles) in 133.67 hours
Bike: Approx. 4166.69 miles in 238.6 hours
Run: Approx. 1266.04 miles in 199.09 hours
Strength: 63.77 hours
All Sports: Approx. 5648.27 miles in 635.13 hours; approx. 282521 calories burned
Stretching: 69.91 hours
Season Weekly Averages 09/12/2005-07/23/2006
Swim: 8440 yards (4.79 miles) in 2.97 hours
Bike: Approx. 92.59 miles in 5.3 hours
Run: Approx. 28.13 miles in 4.42 hours
Strength: 1.42 hours
All Sports: Approx. 125.52 miles in 14.11 hours
Sleep: 8.49 hours avg./night
Stretching: 2 hours avg./week
Goals from Last Week:
Accomplishments This Week:
- Triathlon #53 is in the books. 2nd fastest ½ Ironman at the age of 49, almost 50. I’ll take it!
- Got a lot of sleep. I think I’ve been training a lot!
Goals for Next Week:
- Stretch more!
- Recover.
- Ride 100 miles on Sunday at a good clip.
- Sleep.
- Have fun.
Weekly Totals 07/17/2006-07/23/2006 and Spirit of Racine ½ Ironman Race Report
First, the race report.
Did I taper? No.
Did I suffer? Not really. My definition of suffering has changed dramatically since Brazil.
Am I happy with how I raced? I’m OK with it, considering lack of taper.
I had a glimpse that my biking legs were back on Thursday. My watts were up, and it felt easy to generate them. So I figured on a decent bike split in the race. How about my run legs? I have been nailing some rather difficult workouts, but again, I’m not sure what I did Wednesday was appropriate for a taper workout:
WU: 10' Easy, 6 x Strides, 5' Steady with excellent form MS: 4', 6', 10', 6', 4' @ 5k pace with 1' Steady between each. CD; 10' Steady
Do that workout sometime. It will kick your ass and take names!
What about my swimming? I suck. Well, I suck in certain open water venues. In normal lakes I am fine.
So how did the race play out?
The weather was absolutely beautiful. Mid-70’s, perhaps low 80’s, it was hard to tell. Lake Michigan looked fairly calm, but as I am learning, looks can be deceiving. Swimming straight out against the waves, I just couldn’t get it together, so I did a lot of breaststroke. But once we turned to swim parallel to shore, I was fine, and passed a bunch of people. So I probably lost 5’ due to my inability to swim through the first set of waves. But the water temperature was perfect, about 68. I did swallow a little bit of it, but mostly I think I got a pretty good nose enema. I took my wetsuit off in the water, and took too long doing it. Oh well, this wasn’t an “A” race for me.
There’s a long run through the sand back to transition, and you really feel it in your calves. Part of you says, “RUN RUN RUN” because you are in a race, and other part says, “But I just can’t go that fast.” I’m pretty good at transition runs, and I don’t know where they started and stopped the timing, but I just kept going and got to my bike, got my stuff on and away I went.
I committed to my coach’s ½ Ironman wattage guidance for this ride, which meant for the first ½ hour I was to ride easy. As it turns out, I didn’t ride easy enough, but still I held back big time. Which really sucked as we sort of had a tailwind out of town and it was nice and cool. Oh, well, there will be plenty of time to ride fast. I didn’t drink anything until I was 10’ into the ride, either, which is always a good plan to let your stomach settle as you get back to using your legs.
After 30’, I was able to dial up the watts. There were plenty of riders around, so it was very motivating to keep up a good pace. There were numerous draft packs of men. Every time one would go by, I couldn’t help it but I would curse a blue streak at them. F’ing cheaters! I am sure none of these guys was going to win the entire race today, so I really don’t understand why they blatantly cheat. But there was one point where 2 guys went by me, and it was clear they were working together, and a draft marshall came up right behind them and I saw that numbers were being written down. So some justice was served! As the course was quite congested, I knew it was impossible to catch all the drafters, but at least a few of them hopefully learned a lesson.
I definitely felt like I was working on the bike, even with the good conditions. We did have some wind, but I’m not sure how much there was. I just pushed and pushed and periodically looked at the power meter to be sure I was in the right range. It looked good. When I got to transition, I saw the final number, 2:46. Not bad. THAT was a PR for a ½ Ironman, but then again, everyone was riding fast. Turns out my bike split was #2 in my age group.
And now, the run. I didn’t feel bad when I left T2, and felt like I had a decent pace going, but my legs felt heavy. Not “I rode the bike too fast” heavy, but “maybe I’ve been training a lot and my run legs really aren’t recovered from Ironman Brazil heavy.” Considering I had just witnessed the return of my bike legs on Thursday, it seemed reasonable to me that my running legs weren’t quite back. That’s OK. I didn’t walk except a little at aid stations, and I just kept continuously looping some song in my head and kept going. I didn’t really feel bad (except for the rock in my left shoe, but no way I was going to stop and take it out), I wasn’t suffering, I just didn’t have much “oomph” to my legs. There were a number of racers who recognized me and would call out my name before I saw them. I must have a distinctive physique. I joked to one guy I ran with for a few miles that they must recognize my butt! For the most part, I had a smile on my face the entire run.
I ended up 5th in my age group out of 18, at 5:48. There were some really fast ladies on the day! So no podium slot. That’s OK. It was a good workout, my 3rd triathlon in 6 weeks (or should I say 4th in 8 weeks?) on top of some serious training, so I really can’t complain. I see some younger athletes doing this sort of stuff and they are able to bang out good performances while racing frequently, but it’s just not in these old bones. Still, I am very fortunate to be healthy and able enough to do this stuff. I like knowing that I can show up at a ½ Ironman on no taper and put in my 2nd fastest time at the age of 49. I am not sure whether I can get faster at this point or how long I will keep this up. I grumble at every race, “Why do I keep doing this????”
My legs were quite sore when I finished the race and the entire way driving home (about 1.5 hours). I was rolling around in my head what I wanted to eat, and I was going to go home first and make the disaster area in my house after unloading my car, but I was going to pass up a restaurant I like very much on the way home, and I figured I had better go eat before going home. After the race, they had run out of the (probably bad) pasta and all that was left was potato chips, bananas and pretzels. I had a handful of chips, drank my Endurox R4 and hit the road rather than wait for bad food to show up.
I stopped at Country House with my blood sugar just about to plummet. My waitress could tell I was hungry probably from the wild eyes I had. She was smart and asked if I was ready to order right away, and I was. A big, tall Weiss beer, an ostrich burger medium rare with Cheddar cheese, and onion rings. The beer arrived pretty quickly, and that got some carbs down me (after I drank a full glass of water, of course). When the food arrived, I lovingly salted the hell out of the onion rings, made a nice pool of ketchup on the plate for them, put some ketchup and tomatoes on the burger, topped it off and cut if in half. That first bite of burger was nirvana! I absolutely love tomatoes or anything to do with tomatoes. Tomatoes and ketchup is like heaven to me! I took my time eating, as despite my appetite, I have a rather small stomach. In fact, a table next to me arrived after me, got their order and finished it before I was done eating! I removed the breading from most of the onion rings and just dipped them into the ketchup. I also LOVE onions. Not raw—but sautéed or grilled I can eat piles of them. Since I figured I wasn’t going to want to cook later on or eat another entire meal, I got 2 slices of lemon merinque pie to go for later. I polished them off about 2 hours after I got home. Not your best pie, but it hit the spot anyway.
I slept fitfully, as my core temperature remained high from the race, and my legs were sore. Today I feel like I am coming around and may go for a swim later just to loosen up my legs a bit.
Oh, and I just registered for Ironman Lake Placid 2007. For my occupation, I listed, “Idiot.”
Here’s what happened last week:
Weekly Totals 07/17/2006-07/23/2006
Swim: 11600 yards (6.58 miles) in 4.02 hours; 26% of weekly workout time; approx. 1455 calories burned
Bike: Approx. 112 miles in 5.9 hours; 39% of weekly workout time; approx. 3025 calories burned
Run: Approx. 30.63 miles in 4.8 hours; 32% of weekly workout time; approx. 2626 calories burned
Strength: 0.47 hours; 3% of weekly workout time; approx. 118 calories burned
All Sports: Approx. 149.21 miles in 15.19 hours; approx. 7224 calories burned
Sleep: 9.11 hours avg./night
Stretching: 1.57 hours
Season Totals 09/12/2005-07/23/2006
Swim: 379785 yards (215.54 miles) in 133.67 hours
Bike: Approx. 4166.69 miles in 238.6 hours
Run: Approx. 1266.04 miles in 199.09 hours
Strength: 63.77 hours
All Sports: Approx. 5648.27 miles in 635.13 hours; approx. 282521 calories burned
Stretching: 69.91 hours
Season Weekly Averages 09/12/2005-07/23/2006
Swim: 8440 yards (4.79 miles) in 2.97 hours
Bike: Approx. 92.59 miles in 5.3 hours
Run: Approx. 28.13 miles in 4.42 hours
Strength: 1.42 hours
All Sports: Approx. 125.52 miles in 14.11 hours
Sleep: 8.49 hours avg./night
Stretching: 2 hours avg./week
Goals from Last Week:
Get my head in the game for a long race on Sunday. Wow, am I really ready for a 1/2 Ironman? DONE. Well, my bike legs were ready, but apparently not my run legs. Other than today, since I'm catching up on calories from yesterday still, watch the eating as I am doing a little taper for Sunday's race. DONE.
Did I taper? No.
Did I suffer? Not really. My definition of suffering has changed dramatically since Brazil.
Am I happy with how I raced? I’m OK with it, considering lack of taper.
I had a glimpse that my biking legs were back on Thursday. My watts were up, and it felt easy to generate them. So I figured on a decent bike split in the race. How about my run legs? I have been nailing some rather difficult workouts, but again, I’m not sure what I did Wednesday was appropriate for a taper workout:
WU: 10' Easy, 6 x Strides, 5' Steady with excellent form MS: 4', 6', 10', 6', 4' @ 5k pace with 1' Steady between each. CD; 10' Steady
Do that workout sometime. It will kick your ass and take names!
What about my swimming? I suck. Well, I suck in certain open water venues. In normal lakes I am fine.
So how did the race play out?
The weather was absolutely beautiful. Mid-70’s, perhaps low 80’s, it was hard to tell. Lake Michigan looked fairly calm, but as I am learning, looks can be deceiving. Swimming straight out against the waves, I just couldn’t get it together, so I did a lot of breaststroke. But once we turned to swim parallel to shore, I was fine, and passed a bunch of people. So I probably lost 5’ due to my inability to swim through the first set of waves. But the water temperature was perfect, about 68. I did swallow a little bit of it, but mostly I think I got a pretty good nose enema. I took my wetsuit off in the water, and took too long doing it. Oh well, this wasn’t an “A” race for me.
There’s a long run through the sand back to transition, and you really feel it in your calves. Part of you says, “RUN RUN RUN” because you are in a race, and other part says, “But I just can’t go that fast.” I’m pretty good at transition runs, and I don’t know where they started and stopped the timing, but I just kept going and got to my bike, got my stuff on and away I went.
I committed to my coach’s ½ Ironman wattage guidance for this ride, which meant for the first ½ hour I was to ride easy. As it turns out, I didn’t ride easy enough, but still I held back big time. Which really sucked as we sort of had a tailwind out of town and it was nice and cool. Oh, well, there will be plenty of time to ride fast. I didn’t drink anything until I was 10’ into the ride, either, which is always a good plan to let your stomach settle as you get back to using your legs.
After 30’, I was able to dial up the watts. There were plenty of riders around, so it was very motivating to keep up a good pace. There were numerous draft packs of men. Every time one would go by, I couldn’t help it but I would curse a blue streak at them. F’ing cheaters! I am sure none of these guys was going to win the entire race today, so I really don’t understand why they blatantly cheat. But there was one point where 2 guys went by me, and it was clear they were working together, and a draft marshall came up right behind them and I saw that numbers were being written down. So some justice was served! As the course was quite congested, I knew it was impossible to catch all the drafters, but at least a few of them hopefully learned a lesson.
I definitely felt like I was working on the bike, even with the good conditions. We did have some wind, but I’m not sure how much there was. I just pushed and pushed and periodically looked at the power meter to be sure I was in the right range. It looked good. When I got to transition, I saw the final number, 2:46. Not bad. THAT was a PR for a ½ Ironman, but then again, everyone was riding fast. Turns out my bike split was #2 in my age group.
And now, the run. I didn’t feel bad when I left T2, and felt like I had a decent pace going, but my legs felt heavy. Not “I rode the bike too fast” heavy, but “maybe I’ve been training a lot and my run legs really aren’t recovered from Ironman Brazil heavy.” Considering I had just witnessed the return of my bike legs on Thursday, it seemed reasonable to me that my running legs weren’t quite back. That’s OK. I didn’t walk except a little at aid stations, and I just kept continuously looping some song in my head and kept going. I didn’t really feel bad (except for the rock in my left shoe, but no way I was going to stop and take it out), I wasn’t suffering, I just didn’t have much “oomph” to my legs. There were a number of racers who recognized me and would call out my name before I saw them. I must have a distinctive physique. I joked to one guy I ran with for a few miles that they must recognize my butt! For the most part, I had a smile on my face the entire run.
I ended up 5th in my age group out of 18, at 5:48. There were some really fast ladies on the day! So no podium slot. That’s OK. It was a good workout, my 3rd triathlon in 6 weeks (or should I say 4th in 8 weeks?) on top of some serious training, so I really can’t complain. I see some younger athletes doing this sort of stuff and they are able to bang out good performances while racing frequently, but it’s just not in these old bones. Still, I am very fortunate to be healthy and able enough to do this stuff. I like knowing that I can show up at a ½ Ironman on no taper and put in my 2nd fastest time at the age of 49. I am not sure whether I can get faster at this point or how long I will keep this up. I grumble at every race, “Why do I keep doing this????”
My legs were quite sore when I finished the race and the entire way driving home (about 1.5 hours). I was rolling around in my head what I wanted to eat, and I was going to go home first and make the disaster area in my house after unloading my car, but I was going to pass up a restaurant I like very much on the way home, and I figured I had better go eat before going home. After the race, they had run out of the (probably bad) pasta and all that was left was potato chips, bananas and pretzels. I had a handful of chips, drank my Endurox R4 and hit the road rather than wait for bad food to show up.
I stopped at Country House with my blood sugar just about to plummet. My waitress could tell I was hungry probably from the wild eyes I had. She was smart and asked if I was ready to order right away, and I was. A big, tall Weiss beer, an ostrich burger medium rare with Cheddar cheese, and onion rings. The beer arrived pretty quickly, and that got some carbs down me (after I drank a full glass of water, of course). When the food arrived, I lovingly salted the hell out of the onion rings, made a nice pool of ketchup on the plate for them, put some ketchup and tomatoes on the burger, topped it off and cut if in half. That first bite of burger was nirvana! I absolutely love tomatoes or anything to do with tomatoes. Tomatoes and ketchup is like heaven to me! I took my time eating, as despite my appetite, I have a rather small stomach. In fact, a table next to me arrived after me, got their order and finished it before I was done eating! I removed the breading from most of the onion rings and just dipped them into the ketchup. I also LOVE onions. Not raw—but sautéed or grilled I can eat piles of them. Since I figured I wasn’t going to want to cook later on or eat another entire meal, I got 2 slices of lemon merinque pie to go for later. I polished them off about 2 hours after I got home. Not your best pie, but it hit the spot anyway.
I slept fitfully, as my core temperature remained high from the race, and my legs were sore. Today I feel like I am coming around and may go for a swim later just to loosen up my legs a bit.
Oh, and I just registered for Ironman Lake Placid 2007. For my occupation, I listed, “Idiot.”
Here’s what happened last week:
Weekly Totals 07/17/2006-07/23/2006
Swim: 11600 yards (6.58 miles) in 4.02 hours; 26% of weekly workout time; approx. 1455 calories burned
Bike: Approx. 112 miles in 5.9 hours; 39% of weekly workout time; approx. 3025 calories burned
Run: Approx. 30.63 miles in 4.8 hours; 32% of weekly workout time; approx. 2626 calories burned
Strength: 0.47 hours; 3% of weekly workout time; approx. 118 calories burned
All Sports: Approx. 149.21 miles in 15.19 hours; approx. 7224 calories burned
Sleep: 9.11 hours avg./night
Stretching: 1.57 hours
Season Totals 09/12/2005-07/23/2006
Swim: 379785 yards (215.54 miles) in 133.67 hours
Bike: Approx. 4166.69 miles in 238.6 hours
Run: Approx. 1266.04 miles in 199.09 hours
Strength: 63.77 hours
All Sports: Approx. 5648.27 miles in 635.13 hours; approx. 282521 calories burned
Stretching: 69.91 hours
Season Weekly Averages 09/12/2005-07/23/2006
Swim: 8440 yards (4.79 miles) in 2.97 hours
Bike: Approx. 92.59 miles in 5.3 hours
Run: Approx. 28.13 miles in 4.42 hours
Strength: 1.42 hours
All Sports: Approx. 125.52 miles in 14.11 hours
Sleep: 8.49 hours avg./night
Stretching: 2 hours avg./week
Goals from Last Week:
Accomplishments This Week:
- Triathlon #53 is in the books. 2nd fastest ½ Ironman at the age of 49, almost 50. I’ll take it!
- Got a lot of sleep. I think I’ve been training a lot!
Goals for Next Week:
- Stretch more!
- Recover.
- Ride 100 miles on Sunday at a good clip.
- Sleep.
- Have fun.
Weekly Totals 07/17/2006-07/23/2006 and Spirit of Racine ½ Ironman Race Report
First, the race report.
Did I taper? No.
Did I suffer? Not really. My definition of suffering has changed dramatically since Brazil.
Am I happy with how I raced? I’m OK with it, considering lack of taper.
I had a glimpse that my biking legs were back on Thursday. My watts were up, and it felt easy to generate them. So I figured on a decent bike split in the race. How about my run legs? I have been nailing some rather difficult workouts, but again, I’m not sure what I did Wednesday was appropriate for a taper workout:
WU: 10' Easy, 6 x Strides, 5' Steady with excellent form MS: 4', 6', 10', 6', 4' @ 5k pace with 1' Steady between each. CD; 10' Steady
Do that workout sometime. It will kick your ass and take names!
What about my swimming? I suck. Well, I suck in certain open water venues. In normal lakes I am fine.
So how did the race play out?
The weather was absolutely beautiful. Mid-70’s, perhaps low 80’s, it was hard to tell. Lake Michigan looked fairly calm, but as I am learning, looks can be deceiving. Swimming straight out against the waves, I just couldn’t get it together, so I did a lot of breaststroke. But once we turned to swim parallel to shore, I was fine, and passed a bunch of people. So I probably lost 5’ due to my inability to swim through the first set of waves. But the water temperature was perfect, about 68. I did swallow a little bit of it, but mostly I think I got a pretty good nose enema. I took my wetsuit off in the water, and took too long doing it. Oh well, this wasn’t an “A” race for me.
There’s a long run through the sand back to transition, and you really feel it in your calves. Part of you says, “RUN RUN RUN” because you are in a race, and other part says, “But I just can’t go that fast.” I’m pretty good at transition runs, and I don’t know where they started and stopped the timing, but I just kept going and got to my bike, got my stuff on and away I went.
I committed to my coach’s ½ Ironman wattage guidance for this ride, which meant for the first ½ hour I was to ride easy. As it turns out, I didn’t ride easy enough, but still I held back big time. Which really sucked as we sort of had a tailwind out of town and it was nice and cool. Oh, well, there will be plenty of time to ride fast. I didn’t drink anything until I was 10’ into the ride, either, which is always a good plan to let your stomach settle as you get back to using your legs.
After 30’, I was able to dial up the watts. There were plenty of riders around, so it was very motivating to keep up a good pace. There were numerous draft packs of men. Every time one would go by, I couldn’t help it but I would curse a blue streak at them. F’ing cheaters! I am sure none of these guys was going to win the entire race today, so I really don’t understand why they blatantly cheat. But there was one point where 2 guys went by me, and it was clear they were working together, and a draft marshall came up right behind them and I saw that numbers were being written down. So some justice was served! As the course was quite congested, I knew it was impossible to catch all the drafters, but at least a few of them hopefully learned a lesson.
I definitely felt like I was working on the bike, even with the good conditions. We did have some wind, but I’m not sure how much there was. I just pushed and pushed and periodically looked at the power meter to be sure I was in the right range. It looked good. When I got to transition, I saw the final number, 2:46. Not bad. THAT was a PR for a ½ Ironman, but then again, everyone was riding fast. Turns out my bike split was #2 in my age group.
And now, the run. I didn’t feel bad when I left T2, and felt like I had a decent pace going, but my legs felt heavy. Not “I rode the bike too fast” heavy, but “maybe I’ve been training a lot and my run legs really aren’t recovered from Ironman Brazil heavy.” Considering I had just witnessed the return of my bike legs on Thursday, it seemed reasonable to me that my running legs weren’t quite back. That’s OK. I didn’t walk except a little at aid stations, and I just kept continuously looping some song in my head and kept going. I didn’t really feel bad (except for the rock in my left shoe, but no way I was going to stop and take it out), I wasn’t suffering, I just didn’t have much “oomph” to my legs. There were a number of racers who recognized me and would call out my name before I saw them. I must have a distinctive physique. I joked to one guy I ran with for a few miles that they must recognize my butt! For the most part, I had a smile on my face the entire run.
I ended up 5th in my age group out of 18, at 5:48. There were some really fast ladies on the day! So no podium slot. That’s OK. It was a good workout, my 3rd triathlon in 6 weeks (or should I say 4th in 8 weeks?) on top of some serious training, so I really can’t complain. I see some younger athletes doing this sort of stuff and they are able to bang out good performances while racing frequently, but it’s just not in these old bones. Still, I am very fortunate to be healthy and able enough to do this stuff. I like knowing that I can show up at a ½ Ironman on no taper and put in my 2nd fastest time at the age of 49. I am not sure whether I can get faster at this point or how long I will keep this up. I grumble at every race, “Why do I keep doing this????”
My legs were quite sore when I finished the race and the entire way driving home (about 1.5 hours). I was rolling around in my head what I wanted to eat, and I was going to go home first and make the disaster area in my house after unloading my car, but I was going to pass up a restaurant I like very much on the way home, and I figured I had better go eat before going home. After the race, they had run out of the (probably bad) pasta and all that was left was potato chips, bananas and pretzels. I had a handful of chips, drank my Endurox R4 and hit the road rather than wait for bad food to show up.
I stopped at Country House with my blood sugar just about to plummet. My waitress could tell I was hungry probably from the wild eyes I had. She was smart and asked if I was ready to order right away, and I was. A big, tall Weiss beer, an ostrich burger medium rare with Cheddar cheese, and onion rings. The beer arrived pretty quickly, and that got some carbs down me (after I drank a full glass of water, of course). When the food arrived, I lovingly salted the hell out of the onion rings, made a nice pool of ketchup on the plate for them, put some ketchup and tomatoes on the burger, topped it off and cut if in half. That first bite of burger was nirvana! I absolutely love tomatoes or anything to do with tomatoes. Tomatoes and ketchup is like heaven to me! I took my time eating, as despite my appetite, I have a rather small stomach. In fact, a table next to me arrived after me, got their order and finished it before I was done eating! I removed the breading from most of the onion rings and just dipped them into the ketchup. I also LOVE onions. Not raw—but sautéed or grilled I can eat piles of them. Since I figured I wasn’t going to want to cook later on or eat another entire meal, I got 2 slices of lemon merinque pie to go for later. I polished them off about 2 hours after I got home. Not your best pie, but it hit the spot anyway.
I slept fitfully, as my core temperature remained high from the race, and my legs were sore. Today I feel like I am coming around and may go for a swim later just to loosen up my legs a bit.
Oh, and I just registered for Ironman Lake Placid 2007. For my occupation, I listed, “Idiot.”
Here’s what happened last week:
Weekly Totals 07/17/2006-07/23/2006
Swim: 11600 yards (6.58 miles) in 4.02 hours; 26% of weekly workout time; approx. 1455 calories burned
Bike: Approx. 112 miles in 5.9 hours; 39% of weekly workout time; approx. 3025 calories burned
Run: Approx. 30.63 miles in 4.8 hours; 32% of weekly workout time; approx. 2626 calories burned
Strength: 0.47 hours; 3% of weekly workout time; approx. 118 calories burned
All Sports: Approx. 149.21 miles in 15.19 hours; approx. 7224 calories burned
Sleep: 9.11 hours avg./night
Stretching: 1.57 hours
Season Totals 09/12/2005-07/23/2006
Swim: 379785 yards (215.54 miles) in 133.67 hours
Bike: Approx. 4166.69 miles in 238.6 hours
Run: Approx. 1266.04 miles in 199.09 hours
Strength: 63.77 hours
All Sports: Approx. 5648.27 miles in 635.13 hours; approx. 282521 calories burned
Stretching: 69.91 hours
Season Weekly Averages 09/12/2005-07/23/2006
Swim: 8440 yards (4.79 miles) in 2.97 hours
Bike: Approx. 92.59 miles in 5.3 hours
Run: Approx. 28.13 miles in 4.42 hours
Strength: 1.42 hours
All Sports: Approx. 125.52 miles in 14.11 hours
Sleep: 8.49 hours avg./night
Stretching: 2 hours avg./week
Goals from Last Week:
Get my head in the game for a long race on Sunday. Wow, am I really ready for a 1/2 Ironman? DONE. Well, my bike legs were ready, but apparently not my run legs. Other than today, since I'm catching up on calories from yesterday still, watch the eating as I am doing a little taper for Sunday's race. DONE.
Did I taper? No.
Did I suffer? Not really. My definition of suffering has changed dramatically since Brazil.
Am I happy with how I raced? I’m OK with it, considering lack of taper.
I had a glimpse that my biking legs were back on Thursday. My watts were up, and it felt easy to generate them. So I figured on a decent bike split in the race. How about my run legs? I have been nailing some rather difficult workouts, but again, I’m not sure what I did Wednesday was appropriate for a taper workout:
WU: 10' Easy, 6 x Strides, 5' Steady with excellent form MS: 4', 6', 10', 6', 4' @ 5k pace with 1' Steady between each. CD; 10' Steady
Do that workout sometime. It will kick your ass and take names!
What about my swimming? I suck. Well, I suck in certain open water venues. In normal lakes I am fine.
So how did the race play out?
The weather was absolutely beautiful. Mid-70’s, perhaps low 80’s, it was hard to tell. Lake Michigan looked fairly calm, but as I am learning, looks can be deceiving. Swimming straight out against the waves, I just couldn’t get it together, so I did a lot of breaststroke. But once we turned to swim parallel to shore, I was fine, and passed a bunch of people. So I probably lost 5’ due to my inability to swim through the first set of waves. But the water temperature was perfect, about 68. I did swallow a little bit of it, but mostly I think I got a pretty good nose enema. I took my wetsuit off in the water, and took too long doing it. Oh well, this wasn’t an “A” race for me.
There’s a long run through the sand back to transition, and you really feel it in your calves. Part of you says, “RUN RUN RUN” because you are in a race, and other part says, “But I just can’t go that fast.” I’m pretty good at transition runs, and I don’t know where they started and stopped the timing, but I just kept going and got to my bike, got my stuff on and away I went.
I committed to my coach’s ½ Ironman wattage guidance for this ride, which meant for the first ½ hour I was to ride easy. As it turns out, I didn’t ride easy enough, but still I held back big time. Which really sucked as we sort of had a tailwind out of town and it was nice and cool. Oh, well, there will be plenty of time to ride fast. I didn’t drink anything until I was 10’ into the ride, either, which is always a good plan to let your stomach settle as you get back to using your legs.
After 30’, I was able to dial up the watts. There were plenty of riders around, so it was very motivating to keep up a good pace. There were numerous draft packs of men. Every time one would go by, I couldn’t help it but I would curse a blue streak at them. F’ing cheaters! I am sure none of these guys was going to win the entire race today, so I really don’t understand why they blatantly cheat. But there was one point where 2 guys went by me, and it was clear they were working together, and a draft marshall came up right behind them and I saw that numbers were being written down. So some justice was served! As the course was quite congested, I knew it was impossible to catch all the drafters, but at least a few of them hopefully learned a lesson.
I definitely felt like I was working on the bike, even with the good conditions. We did have some wind, but I’m not sure how much there was. I just pushed and pushed and periodically looked at the power meter to be sure I was in the right range. It looked good. When I got to transition, I saw the final number, 2:46. Not bad. THAT was a PR for a ½ Ironman, but then again, everyone was riding fast. Turns out my bike split was #2 in my age group.
And now, the run. I didn’t feel bad when I left T2, and felt like I had a decent pace going, but my legs felt heavy. Not “I rode the bike too fast” heavy, but “maybe I’ve been training a lot and my run legs really aren’t recovered from Ironman Brazil heavy.” Considering I had just witnessed the return of my bike legs on Thursday, it seemed reasonable to me that my running legs weren’t quite back. That’s OK. I didn’t walk except a little at aid stations, and I just kept continuously looping some song in my head and kept going. I didn’t really feel bad (except for the rock in my left shoe, but no way I was going to stop and take it out), I wasn’t suffering, I just didn’t have much “oomph” to my legs. There were a number of racers who recognized me and would call out my name before I saw them. I must have a distinctive physique. I joked to one guy I ran with for a few miles that they must recognize my butt! For the most part, I had a smile on my face the entire run.
I ended up 5th in my age group out of 18, at 5:48. There were some really fast ladies on the day! So no podium slot. That’s OK. It was a good workout, my 3rd triathlon in 6 weeks (or should I say 4th in 8 weeks?) on top of some serious training, so I really can’t complain. I see some younger athletes doing this sort of stuff and they are able to bang out good performances while racing frequently, but it’s just not in these old bones. Still, I am very fortunate to be healthy and able enough to do this stuff. I like knowing that I can show up at a ½ Ironman on no taper and put in my 2nd fastest time at the age of 49. I am not sure whether I can get faster at this point or how long I will keep this up. I grumble at every race, “Why do I keep doing this????”
My legs were quite sore when I finished the race and the entire way driving home (about 1.5 hours). I was rolling around in my head what I wanted to eat, and I was going to go home first and make the disaster area in my house after unloading my car, but I was going to pass up a restaurant I like very much on the way home, and I figured I had better go eat before going home. After the race, they had run out of the (probably bad) pasta and all that was left was potato chips, bananas and pretzels. I had a handful of chips, drank my Endurox R4 and hit the road rather than wait for bad food to show up.
I stopped at Country House with my blood sugar just about to plummet. My waitress could tell I was hungry probably from the wild eyes I had. She was smart and asked if I was ready to order right away, and I was. A big, tall Weiss beer, an ostrich burger medium rare with Cheddar cheese, and onion rings. The beer arrived pretty quickly, and that got some carbs down me (after I drank a full glass of water, of course). When the food arrived, I lovingly salted the hell out of the onion rings, made a nice pool of ketchup on the plate for them, put some ketchup and tomatoes on the burger, topped it off and cut if in half. That first bite of burger was nirvana! I absolutely love tomatoes or anything to do with tomatoes. Tomatoes and ketchup is like heaven to me! I took my time eating, as despite my appetite, I have a rather small stomach. In fact, a table next to me arrived after me, got their order and finished it before I was done eating! I removed the breading from most of the onion rings and just dipped them into the ketchup. I also LOVE onions. Not raw—but sautéed or grilled I can eat piles of them. Since I figured I wasn’t going to want to cook later on or eat another entire meal, I got 2 slices of lemon merinque pie to go for later. I polished them off about 2 hours after I got home. Not your best pie, but it hit the spot anyway.
I slept fitfully, as my core temperature remained high from the race, and my legs were sore. Today I feel like I am coming around and may go for a swim later just to loosen up my legs a bit.
Oh, and I just registered for Ironman Lake Placid 2007. For my occupation, I listed, “Idiot.”
Here’s what happened last week:
Weekly Totals 07/17/2006-07/23/2006
Swim: 11600 yards (6.58 miles) in 4.02 hours; 26% of weekly workout time; approx. 1455 calories burned
Bike: Approx. 112 miles in 5.9 hours; 39% of weekly workout time; approx. 3025 calories burned
Run: Approx. 30.63 miles in 4.8 hours; 32% of weekly workout time; approx. 2626 calories burned
Strength: 0.47 hours; 3% of weekly workout time; approx. 118 calories burned
All Sports: Approx. 149.21 miles in 15.19 hours; approx. 7224 calories burned
Sleep: 9.11 hours avg./night
Stretching: 1.57 hours
Season Totals 09/12/2005-07/23/2006
Swim: 379785 yards (215.54 miles) in 133.67 hours
Bike: Approx. 4166.69 miles in 238.6 hours
Run: Approx. 1266.04 miles in 199.09 hours
Strength: 63.77 hours
All Sports: Approx. 5648.27 miles in 635.13 hours; approx. 282521 calories burned
Stretching: 69.91 hours
Season Weekly Averages 09/12/2005-07/23/2006
Swim: 8440 yards (4.79 miles) in 2.97 hours
Bike: Approx. 92.59 miles in 5.3 hours
Run: Approx. 28.13 miles in 4.42 hours
Strength: 1.42 hours
All Sports: Approx. 125.52 miles in 14.11 hours
Sleep: 8.49 hours avg./night
Stretching: 2 hours avg./week
Goals from Last Week:
Accomplishments This Week:
- Triathlon #53 is in the books. 2nd fastest ½ Ironman at the age of 49, almost 50. I’ll take it!
- Got a lot of sleep. I think I’ve been training a lot!
Goals for Next Week:
- Stretch more!
- Recover.
- Ride 100 miles on Sunday at a good clip.
- Sleep.
- Have fun.
Monday, July 17, 2006
Weekly Workout Totals 07/10/2006-07/16/2006: Countdown to #53!
This week was interesting. I realized that although I am still training quite a bit, that it just feels different. I figured out that just knowing I have an Ironman race in the pipeline gives me a completely different attitude towards things. Without that "monkey on my back," I have a much more relaxed attitude towards training, and life in general. I'm not worried about whether I miss or shorten a workout or whether I went as hard as I should have during a workout. I also am able to experience just how incredibly fit I am without the added mental stress of a HUGE race looming ahead. Plus, it's summer, and this is the first summer since 1998 that I am NOT training towards some huge milestone. Sure, I want to do well in the 3 1/2 Ironmans that I'm doing, beginning this Sunday, but if I just decide to slack through them and only come out in the MOP or even BOP I won't really much care. I will know that I am Iron-fit, and that I will be able to go into next year with my Iron-base well-preserved.
I rode 100 miles yesterday with 2 women who are almost 15 years younger than me--one was my friend Cindy (who blew into town or should I say my face on Saturday), and someone I "picked up" during the ride named Pattie. I had agreed to have Cindy suck my wheel all day, or at least try to. She is the sort of athlete that can do whatever she wants as long as she decides in her head she's going to do it. She's athletically gifted that way. Not me. I have to work hard for it! But I enjoy her company and know she won't hold me back. I was a little bit ahead of Cindy about 10-15 miles into the ride and I came upon Pattie. She looked to be holding a good pace, and I wasn't sure I could stay with her. I introduced myself, and my first question to her was, "Why are you riding alone when you are so fast?" Usually I don't see too many fast women out by themselves. She said a couple of others had bagged on the ride (probably due to the heat). I asked if she minded if we rode together for a bit. Cindy caught up, we exchanged pleasantries, and forged a group. I was the pacer for much of the way, but whenever I'd have an energy lull, Pattie was right there to pick us back up. I was motivated by these girls stick-to-itiveness. Not only did we ride fast, we were able to chat much of the way! We were all holding one another to a good performance. It was H-O-T--in the 90's, and windy. We saw one rider go down with heat stroke. But we were wise and would load up our tops (and me also my shorts) with ice at each rest stop. Unfortunately for Pattie, she got to witness me peeing on the side of a road while holding onto my bike. She didn't understand how I could do that. I told her it's an art. We had missed the first aid station and we were about 30 miles into leg #2 and I had to go. Luckily, I got my shorts back on just before a huge semi turned the corner onto the road we were on! I ran :25 afterwards on a pure black high school track. It was torturous. I was so hot, and it was still very windy, and while I was supposed to run for :40, I figured :25 in the heat was enough. Hey, I didn't need to ride 100 miles, but what the heck! Not like :15 more of running is going to make a difference in my race this week, right?
Saturday I did a 2-mile open water swim. I was just about to put my wetsuit on when who shows up but Cindy. I was so happy to see her, as always, and we made a big scene of hugging and talking. She was only going to swim 1 mile, and she told me she figured I might be there. Nice surprise! Shock of shocks, I swam faster than in any of my 2.4-mile time trials for Ironman Brazil. I really just enjoyed myself. The distance was short about 500 yards--I knew right away when I got out of the water that either I am a world-class contender or the course was short! But even so, I wasn't "racing" it. I just swam relaxed and totally enjoyed it. Afterwards, I ran 2 hours along the lake (relatively). I did a triple out-and-back so I could have (relatively) cold fluid with me. It was scorching hot, too. And I ran on asphalt and sidewalks. At one point, the song, "Footloose" was on the radio, so of course I had to do some fancy footwork. Man, did I get some strange looks, but I didn't care, and it was good to know I remember how to have this amount of fun even while I am baking in a long run.
This all made me remember why it's better to do my long run on Thursday when I am riding long on the weekend. It just makes for a very tired Monday morning! On the other hand, I overdistanced everything except the run for the 1/2 Ironman, so hopefully, an "only" 1.2-mile swim and "only" 56-mile ride won't feel too bad at all! Bonus if it's only in the 80's I might actually have a decent bike and run.
As you look at the totals for the week, remember, I AM NOT IN TRAINING FOR AN IRONMAN. Maybe I just don't know how to train less :) Hey, it's fun, though!
Weekly Totals 07/10/2006-07/16/2006
Swim: 12500 yards (7.09 miles) in 4.25 hours; 22% of weekly workout time; approx. 1487 calories burned
Bike: Approx. 152.94 miles in 8.5 hours; 44% of weekly workout time; approx. 3986 calories burned
Run: Approx. 32.09 miles in 4.87 hours; 25% of weekly workout time; approx. 2208 calories burned
Strength: 1.55 hours; 8% of weekly workout time; approx. 388 calories burned
All Sports: Approx. 192.12 miles in 19.17 hours; approx. 8069 calories burned
Sleep: 8.36 hours avg./night
Stretching: 1.72 hours
Season Totals 09/12/2005-07/16/2006
Swim: 368185 yards (208.96 miles) in 129.65 hours
Bike: Approx. 4054.69 miles in 232.7 hours
Run: Approx. 1235.41 miles in 194.29 hours
Strength: 63.3 hours
All Sports: Approx. 5499.06 miles in 619.94 hours; approx. 275297 calories burned
Stretching: 68.34 hours
Season Weekly Averages 09/12/2005-07/16/2006
Swim: 8368 yards (4.75 miles) in 2.95 hours
Bike: Approx. 92.15 miles in 5.29 hours
Run: Approx. 28.08 miles in 4.42 hours
Strength: 1.44 hours
All Sports: Approx. 124.98 miles in 14.09 hours
Sleep: 8.48 hours avg./night
Stretching: 2.01 hours avg./week
Goals from Last Week:
Work on my knee issue. It's all fixed up. All it needed was some target stretching of my rectus femoris and a little self-trigger point work. Do a decent swim at the 2-mile open water swim this coming Saturday. DONE. Surprised myself at just staying relaxed and putting in a good effort even though I hadn't swum much the previous few weeks.
Accomplishments this Week:
Goals for Next Week:
I rode 100 miles yesterday with 2 women who are almost 15 years younger than me--one was my friend Cindy (who blew into town or should I say my face on Saturday), and someone I "picked up" during the ride named Pattie. I had agreed to have Cindy suck my wheel all day, or at least try to. She is the sort of athlete that can do whatever she wants as long as she decides in her head she's going to do it. She's athletically gifted that way. Not me. I have to work hard for it! But I enjoy her company and know she won't hold me back. I was a little bit ahead of Cindy about 10-15 miles into the ride and I came upon Pattie. She looked to be holding a good pace, and I wasn't sure I could stay with her. I introduced myself, and my first question to her was, "Why are you riding alone when you are so fast?" Usually I don't see too many fast women out by themselves. She said a couple of others had bagged on the ride (probably due to the heat). I asked if she minded if we rode together for a bit. Cindy caught up, we exchanged pleasantries, and forged a group. I was the pacer for much of the way, but whenever I'd have an energy lull, Pattie was right there to pick us back up. I was motivated by these girls stick-to-itiveness. Not only did we ride fast, we were able to chat much of the way! We were all holding one another to a good performance. It was H-O-T--in the 90's, and windy. We saw one rider go down with heat stroke. But we were wise and would load up our tops (and me also my shorts) with ice at each rest stop. Unfortunately for Pattie, she got to witness me peeing on the side of a road while holding onto my bike. She didn't understand how I could do that. I told her it's an art. We had missed the first aid station and we were about 30 miles into leg #2 and I had to go. Luckily, I got my shorts back on just before a huge semi turned the corner onto the road we were on! I ran :25 afterwards on a pure black high school track. It was torturous. I was so hot, and it was still very windy, and while I was supposed to run for :40, I figured :25 in the heat was enough. Hey, I didn't need to ride 100 miles, but what the heck! Not like :15 more of running is going to make a difference in my race this week, right?
Saturday I did a 2-mile open water swim. I was just about to put my wetsuit on when who shows up but Cindy. I was so happy to see her, as always, and we made a big scene of hugging and talking. She was only going to swim 1 mile, and she told me she figured I might be there. Nice surprise! Shock of shocks, I swam faster than in any of my 2.4-mile time trials for Ironman Brazil. I really just enjoyed myself. The distance was short about 500 yards--I knew right away when I got out of the water that either I am a world-class contender or the course was short! But even so, I wasn't "racing" it. I just swam relaxed and totally enjoyed it. Afterwards, I ran 2 hours along the lake (relatively). I did a triple out-and-back so I could have (relatively) cold fluid with me. It was scorching hot, too. And I ran on asphalt and sidewalks. At one point, the song, "Footloose" was on the radio, so of course I had to do some fancy footwork. Man, did I get some strange looks, but I didn't care, and it was good to know I remember how to have this amount of fun even while I am baking in a long run.
This all made me remember why it's better to do my long run on Thursday when I am riding long on the weekend. It just makes for a very tired Monday morning! On the other hand, I overdistanced everything except the run for the 1/2 Ironman, so hopefully, an "only" 1.2-mile swim and "only" 56-mile ride won't feel too bad at all! Bonus if it's only in the 80's I might actually have a decent bike and run.
As you look at the totals for the week, remember, I AM NOT IN TRAINING FOR AN IRONMAN. Maybe I just don't know how to train less :) Hey, it's fun, though!
Weekly Totals 07/10/2006-07/16/2006
Swim: 12500 yards (7.09 miles) in 4.25 hours; 22% of weekly workout time; approx. 1487 calories burned
Bike: Approx. 152.94 miles in 8.5 hours; 44% of weekly workout time; approx. 3986 calories burned
Run: Approx. 32.09 miles in 4.87 hours; 25% of weekly workout time; approx. 2208 calories burned
Strength: 1.55 hours; 8% of weekly workout time; approx. 388 calories burned
All Sports: Approx. 192.12 miles in 19.17 hours; approx. 8069 calories burned
Sleep: 8.36 hours avg./night
Stretching: 1.72 hours
Season Totals 09/12/2005-07/16/2006
Swim: 368185 yards (208.96 miles) in 129.65 hours
Bike: Approx. 4054.69 miles in 232.7 hours
Run: Approx. 1235.41 miles in 194.29 hours
Strength: 63.3 hours
All Sports: Approx. 5499.06 miles in 619.94 hours; approx. 275297 calories burned
Stretching: 68.34 hours
Season Weekly Averages 09/12/2005-07/16/2006
Swim: 8368 yards (4.75 miles) in 2.95 hours
Bike: Approx. 92.15 miles in 5.29 hours
Run: Approx. 28.08 miles in 4.42 hours
Strength: 1.44 hours
All Sports: Approx. 124.98 miles in 14.09 hours
Sleep: 8.48 hours avg./night
Stretching: 2.01 hours avg./week
Goals from Last Week:
Accomplishments this Week:
- 19 hours. WOW. While not training for an Ironman. It's a little freaky, but I'm having a bunch of fun, so why not?
- Except for Friday and Saturday nights, got plenty of sleep. I had to be up at 4:30AM both weekend days, so that put a crimp in my average weekly hours.
- Did not succumb to heat stroke even though I put in a lot of hours during the hottest parts of the day from Friday through Sunday!
Goals for Next Week:
- Stretch a bit more.
- Get my head in the game for a long race on Sunday. Wow, am I really ready for a 1/2 Ironman? I think my bike and run legs are primed for some speed. We shall see!
- Other than today, since I'm catching up on calories from yesterday still, watch the eating as I am doing a little taper for Sunday's race.
- Go into race day relaxed and happy. Enjoy the day free from worries. Celebrate my fitness!
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Sunday, July 09, 2006
Weekly Workout Totals 07/03/2006-07/09/2006: Awesome Week!
I am not sure if this past week was the best week ever, but it was close. We have been having the most beautiful, delightful weather in Chicagoland--70's and low 80's, rain every few days (some now wouldn't hurt), had a day off work and a great ride to show for it, and raced a sprint today, with my dad in attendance!
The race today was 400m/15 mile/5K. I did this race 6 (!) years ago, and back then it was my second triathlon. I was 43 years old, and I came in 3rd in my age group at a time of 1:34.20. Today, it was my 52nd triathlon, I raced 49 years old, came in 2nd in my age group, and my time was 1:21.49. I'd say there has been some experience and improvement! I was hoping for 1st place today, but it was not to be. My run could have been better. Since they didn't quote our actual times when handing out the awards, I don't know by what margin I came in 2nd, but I'll report once I have the numbers.
My Dad came to watch me race today. This is the first time ever he's seen me race. Since the venue wasn't too far from his house, I thought I'd ask him to come and watch if he wanted to. He was a trooper, and got there at 6AM (we started time trial fashion at 6:30), and we had a few minutes to chat. He watched me set up my bike and tried to estimate how long it would take me to be on it once I had finished swimming. He estimated 5'. I told him, "It better not be more than 2'!" He also thought he could lollygag while I was riding, until I told him it shouldn't take me more than 45'.
The race has 2 transition areas that are about 2.3 miles apart. When I went to drop off my run shoes and hat, I just followed other cars with bikes. I saw people leaving running stuff in this parking lot, so that's where I left my stuff. I was laughing because for all I knew it could be some other race! But then I drove back to the start.
The swim is in a 50-meter outdoor pool. The water was unusually warm, which was odd considering it really hasn't been that hot here in weeks. The water temperature felt like about 82. One guy actually wore a wetsuit! Of course, at this race, anything goes. It is the most low-tech race I've ever done. There is no chip timing. They don't give you a swim cap. There are no "triathlon" bike racks. There is no goody bag. They give you a bib number and write your number on your arms and legs. That's it, although we did get a T-shirt at the end. There were plenty of bikes set up in the first transition (and also the second; there's a duathlon that runs concurrently with the triathlon) that were just laying on the ground. Luckily, I got a spot in the ACTUAL BIKE RACKS. Too bad I forgot my lock!
My Dad found me and we had a hug and a kiss. A guy I know from years ago flagged me down. Once, before a super sprint, he commented on how I had had a rotten swim the previous year. I would never comment to someone about a past race mishap right before they were about to start! For this reason, I have always thought the man was an asshole. But he isn't, and I have forgiven. He was doing the duathlon today and hoped to collect hardware by being in a sparse age group (50-54). Turns out he took 4th, and I think I would have beat him in the duathlon. I guess his karma has been restored.
We lined up for the swim and did the usual chatter about "Don't swim over me, please!" I ran into someone else I know, Jason. He was just 2 numbers ahead of me. I commented that he looked really good and had he lost weight? He had. I'm sure he appreciated that comment. I have pretty good "body memory" about people, and am always happy to tell someone that I've noticed improvements. Sometimes I wish it worked the other way, too, and I hope people who know me would do the same. If I ever show up at a race with a fat ass or you can't see my abs (OK, for the next 10 years), PLEASE GIVE ME SHIT!
The girl right behind me (I was #83 and she was #84) passed me after about 150 meters, and I thought good for her. But I didn't think she was swimming that smoothly, so as it turns out I repassed her at about 300 meters. Ah, the benefits of super endurance! I passed several people who were most likely incorrectly seeded, and there were some excellent fades, and my Dad confirmed this later on. He goes, "They take off like a bat out of hell and then they slow down and can't breathe!" Even my 80-year old Dad could teach some of these people a thing or two!
I just did my usual relaxed swim. Since we had to go under the lane ropes every 50 meters, it was a bit of a cluster fuck when 2 or more swimmers would hit the wall at the same time. So my swim time wasn't stellar, but I didn't care. Today was all about the bike!
I climbed out of the pool and ran to my bike, said "Hi" to Dad, put stuff on my head, my number belt and finally my socks and shoes. Mr. Former Asshole had commented to me earlier that he didn't think someone with my experience would wear socks. I told him, "It takes like 2 seconds to put them on is all." Which is about what it took, but I didn't time myself. I was off on my bike in 1:30, under the 2:00 that I had told my Dad.
The bike course has gazillions of turns on it, and I mostly didn't brake. There was some wind, too. I was passed by 1 woman and maybe 2 men was all. I felt like I was riding strong. I could feel a little residual Ironman fatigue, but I was a happy camper on my bike. I had my disk wheel on, and every so often I would sing "Disco Inferno" to myself. That always gets me going! The course was really well-marked, and there were volunteers at every single turn or police officers which made everything go smoothly. Surprisingly, I wasn't in the big chainring the entire time, but I can only remember one time when I let myself coast momentarily to collect myself and take a sip of Gatorade.
When I got to T2, there was my Dad! He says to me, "#83 has returned." I laughed, and said, "In fine form, I think." I'd had a good ride. I had told Dad to not be in the way in the transition area, and he did a great job. I racked my bike and took stuff off and was out of there in 46", so not too bad.
My legs felt fine when I began the run. I didn't want to immediately stop, so that was a good thing. My turnover felt fine. But when I hit Mile 1 my watch said 9:19. I thought I can't be running that slow. And Mile 2 said 10:38, and I was like WTF??? But Mile 3 was cut short, and so I guess all the mile markers were off. Some guy that had finished fast had run back out on the course and let me know when there was 1/4 mile to go. I was so happy, as I didn't really feel like I'd suffered at all on the run. Last mile 6:30. Yeah, right! At any rate, my total 5K time was 26:27. I can go faster than that, but it was fine for today.
My Dad wasn't at the finish, and I thought maybe he didn't know how fast I would be. But I wandered back to T2, and there he was. We spent a few minutes watching what I figured were duathletes riding back in to start their 2nd run. There were bikes everywhere on the ground! I helped a couple of guys with their transitions--again, this is a low-tech race, so that's not a problem (they weren't that fast, so it wasn't like someone else would be losing an award).
I was so proud that my Dad had made it over there. He said I had looked good all day, to which I said, "Imagine doing this for 14 hours." He couldn't fathom it. We went over to the finish area and watched people coming in. Of course, I had to scream for them. It is still always so cool to see people finishing these things in however long it takes them. They are way ahead of everyone who is sitting on their duffs at home!
I wanted to hang out for awards, so I let my Dad go, and thanked him profusely for coming to watch. I don't care if he ever sees me race again, I am happy he did it once. I think spectators should get awards, too. I mean we are out there having tons of fun.
Did I say the weather was gorgeous again? It was maybe 74. It was very humid when I first woke up this morning, but the humidity dissipated by race start, and I couldn't ask for better conditions. While waiting for the triathlon awards to start (they did the duathlon awards first), I got in some stretching, drank more water, and sat in the shade. I was bummed they didn't have all the times for the triathlon, and a tad bummed when I heard my name called for 2nd place. But then I thought, what the hell, it's not like I taper for these things (I ran :35 and biked 1:50 yesterday), and I am the oldest in my age group. Look out 50-54! I believe I'm racing 50-54 in 2 weeks at the Spirit of Racine 1/2 Ironman, and I hope I can have a good showing there, weather permitting.
Now I will retire with a beer and the Sunday newspaper and a little World Cup, and later I'm grilling a bunch of meat. Does a summer day get any better than this? I don't think so.
Here's the week that was. Notice I have added total mileage for all 3 sports. It makes me laugh! I put more total miles on myself in a year than I do on my car!
Weekly Totals 07/03/2006-07/09/2006
Swim: 8915 yards (5.06 miles) in 3.12 hours; 18% of weekly workout time; approx. 1091 calories burned
Bike: Approx. 141.52 miles in 7.53 hours; 43% of weekly workout time; approx. 3579 calories burned
Run: Approx. 34.09 miles in 5.23 hours; 30% of weekly workout time; approx. 2792 calories burned
Strength: 1.57 hours; 9% of weekly workout time; approx. 393 calories burned
All Sports: Approx. 180.67 miles in 17.45 hours; approx. 7855 calories burned
Sleep: 8.43 hours avg./night
Stretching: 2.37 hours
Season Totals 09/12/2005-07/09/2006
Swim: 355685 yards (201.86 miles) in 125.4 hours
Bike: Approx. 3901.75 miles in 224.2 hours
Run: Approx. 1203.32 miles in 189.42 hours
Strength: 61.75 hours
All Sports: Approx. 5306.93 miles in 600.77 hours; approx. 267228 calories burned
Stretching: 66.62 hours
Season Weekly Averages 09/12/2005-07/09/2006
Swim: 8272 yards (4.69 miles) in 2.92 hours
Bike: Approx. 90.74 miles in 5.21 hours
Run: Approx. 27.98 miles in 4.41 hours
Strength: 1.44 hours
All Sports: Approx. 123.42 miles in 13.97 hours
Sleep: 8.48 hours avg./night
Stretching: 2.02 hours avg./week
Goals from Last Week:
Accomplishments This Week:
- Completed a solid week of training with good volume.
- Had a decent showing at the sprint race.
Goals for Next Week:
- Do whatever my coach tells me to do. Yes, I am back on his training. I know I was doing pretty well at it myself, but now that I've laid out the rest of my season, I will defer to his expertise.
- Work on my knee issue. My right knee is hurting intermittently going down stairs, and I know why--from the road running. I need to work diligently on some trigger points to keep this a minor issue and get rid of it totally. I guess 3 marathons in 8 months can do that to an old lady!
- Do a decent swim at the 2-mile open water swim this coming Saturday. It's in a beautiful, clear lake, and if the weather is decent, I should have no excuses for swimming poorly.
Thursday, July 06, 2006
Ironman Brazil--The Race Report I Didn't Write
In the course of exchanging some email with a friend who, like me, trained his ass off for his Ironman race, but didn't have the day he expected, I thought back to my race day and the things I didn't include in my race report. So, get out a box of Kleenex and step inside my head that day.
Isn't it funny how a non-training event can totally derail us? Here I thought I was dealing with my mom's death--that I was somehow "above" falling apart. I didn't have time to fall apart. I planned her funeral. I comforted my dad, my brothers and sisters and other family members before, during and after the funeral. I had training to do, dammit, that would save me. I got it all done and then some. Hell, I didn't even want to take much time off from work, because I thought work would help me move along.
I never really felt like I was falling apart, but slowly I came to the realization that this was a very significant event in my life. Hell, I am still grieving. I am fortunate in that I was able to do an Ironman race during this process because it is definitely a venue for you to experience a full range of emotions, and while executing well in an Ironman is more about stuffing those emotions so you can get on with the business of moving forward, I was given a gift to get through my race carrying a full load of them.
On race morning, after I had methodically put my nutrition on my bike and pumped my tires, I was overcome by sadness. Even though I was surrounded by people who cared about me, the one person who wasn't there was my mom. I began walking around transition in a daze, crying my eyes out. Anyone who saw me probably thought it was normal race morning emotions. For a split second I thought I was crying over how sick I felt. But I knew that my physical sickness paled in comparison to the sensation of my heart breaking over and over. I felt completely lost, even though I knew exactly where I was going that day.
I hunted down Danny, who had lost a brother close to a race in the past. He knew exactly what I must be feeling. He held me close, let me cry, and told me that my mom would be with me all day long helping me get through things. Danny knew I was sick, too, but I bet he knew that that would be the least of my concerns.
When I started the swim, I had this sensation of having lost my will to go on. But all I could think was that I was in the water, so I may as well try to swim. I had to force myself to keep going. It was almost a relief from my grief to deal with being jostled and waves and jellyfish stings and being dizzy. When I got to the halfway point where we had to exit the water and run around a balloon on the beach, I wanted desperately to stop. But what would I be stopping? I wasn't going to be able to stop what I was feeling, so I might as well press on. It was shortly after getting back in the water and getting instructions about where to swim next that I got kicked in the face. My sense of physical pain was very moment to moment--the actual kick hurt, but my mind wasn't about physical pain yet. Again, I knew that stopping and swimming back to shore wasn't going to fix a damn thing, so let's just press on.
Somewhere in that second half of the swim, I actually felt like I had some energy, and swimming was almost pleasurable. What's not to like about gliding through water on a beautiful day? Again, I was thankful for a few moments of peace where I was able to just think about my day. But when I exited the water and noticed my contact lens in my goggles, I failed to recognize the event as my next "gift" to give me a few minutes to think only about that, and not the overwhelming grief that was inside me.
Time moved in slow motion in T1. I remember all these other women whizzing by me and all I am doing is trying to get this stupid contact lens out of my goggles. But it was a pleasant respite from all the activity, and since I knew I wasn't going to be going anywhere too quickly today, I focused on the one thing.
I don't even remember mounting my bike that day. I do remember how pleasant the temperature was and the lack of wind once I was out on the course. I forgot about my bruised nose, the jellyfish stings, the bug bites, the contact lens issue, and went into "ride the bike" mode. Here was something I had practiced so much and so well, that it was simply amazing at how I was able to put the revolutions of my legs, the intermittent glancing at the power meter, the regular drinking, all as background activities, except for paying attention to where I was supposed to turn. It all felt like clockwork. So I had plenty of "time" to think about my mom, and think I did. It was a constant struggle to not get choked up to the point where I'd fall off my bike. Thank God I was sick, and my head or face would start to hurt or I'd have to pee, so those little physical sensations kept intruding and taking me away from my grief. I was so totally blown away at how I could keep doing what I was doing. I have never been so fully relaxed while peeing on my bike. I have no idea who saw me and I surely didn't care. If you look closely at the photo, you can tell that I am probably pretty dehydrated. To me it looks like the skin of my face was being stretched like I was having a face lift.
I remember feeling dizzy a lot on the bike. It was like my face hurts, I'm dizzy, I have to pee over and over and over. And then insert oh by the way keep riding the bike, don't fall off, I am so sad. No wonder the next day when everyone was talking about all the things they had "seen" while riding the bike I couldn't recall a single one of them! My legs kept going, though, and I knew mom must have been riding right alongside me because otherwise how could I possibly be upright? She had always told me how she worried about me when I was out training on my bike alone--what with traffic and the possibility of being stranded. I thought about this several times during the race, and would think, "You don't have to worry about me anymore." The day she died and I had some time with her alone, I kept telling her over and over that it was OK to let go, that she didn't need to suffer any more or worry about me.
I remember noticing many athletes struggling with the headwinds. I didn't feel sorry for them or evaluate their strength or weakness. I did think, though, how nice it must be to have nothing more to be concerned with than the wind! I had this sense of separation from my physical body--that "it" was riding the bike, and didn't need my mind to do so (hey, that's what training is for, right?), and that my mind was just along for the ride trying to figure out what to do besides point out various physical sensations, stay on course, not quit, and think about mom. I didn't let myself think this during the race, but looking back I am truly blessed to have had this sort of experience. It wasn't totally "out of body," but it was pretty close. In true Ironman fashion, I didn't think about my swim or look forward to the run. I am grieving, and I just "happen" to be in the middle of an Ironman race.
When I got to T2, again I had some quiet moments in which to be methodical about getting rid of my pee-soaked socks, slip into fresh running shorts, and try and collect myself. What was I collecting? When I went into the porta-potty and sat down to pee (again!), I broke into major sobs. Once again I was being given the gift of fully experiencing my emotions, but during an Ironman race. I had to ask myself whether I could go on. So I took things one at a time, and first got out of the porta-potty. Next, I did a leg check. Yep, they are still there. Oh my God, though, my mom couldn't even walk the last few days of her life! Well, I can walk, I can even run a bit, so on I go. Thank goodness for sunglasses--without them I am sure people would have been grabbing me trying to find out what was wrong.
A few times during the marathon, I would think about the other athletes and know that some of them were probably experiencing stomach troubles, cramps or just general fatigue. I know how hard it is to do an Ironman, no matter who you are or how you've trained. It doesn't get easier. But then I would hope that none of them were going through the deep sadness that I was feeling. THAT was worse than any sort of physical suffering that day that I could think of. In a bizarre way, if I hadn't been sick, I think I would have given up. The physical sensations seemed to bring me back to reality, and that reality was that I was in an Ironman, I was strong--no matter what my body was doing that day--and I should go on because that's why I'm here! My mom was looking down on me and telling me to take care of myself, to do what I was doing. I also knew that no amount of suffering that I was experiencing could come remotely close to what I saw my mom go through in her last two days of life. I could breathe on my own--she could not. I could walk, swim or ride my bike. She could not. I could cry without my lungs filling up with fluid--she could not. I could eat disgusting sports nutrition for 14 hours--she could not.
All I had to deal with that day were minor annoyances. How could I possibly explain to someone else the depth of what I was feeling that day? And to top it all off, my ego decided to get in on the action post-race. What an incredible emotional ride! But I wouldn't trade it for anything. There are so many things that I have yet to learn from that experience, and just from every day that I am here. Thanks, Mom.
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
Impromptu Half Ironman (HIM) Race Rehearsal Report
There's a 4th of July ride every year in my area that I've done for probably the last 4 years. Typically, I do the 100k plus another loop because I'm training for some stupid Ironman race, but today I figured the 100k would be fine, and I planned to run :40 off the bike. For the riding, I figured on mostly JFR but then it's been awhile since I've ridden with so many tempting targets to motivate me to put in higher effort levels. I wasn't planning on a HIM rehearsal, but as it turns out, I pretty much got one in, which is good timing since I'm doing a HIM on 7/23.
I did a 4-hour ride/:40 run on Saturday, just 3 days ago. My IF for that ride was only .83 (for those of you without power meters, IF=Intensity Factor, which is the % of your Functional Threshold, or FT, watts you held for the ride), because I allowed myself a little extra noodling time although I got in 1 hour at HIM watts and :20 at FT watts, but the run off the bike felt like total crap, even though I was running at a good pace. Oh--I remember why the run felt like total crap--I hadn't run off a "longish" ride since Ironman Brazil. Sunday I ran 1:40 on my hilly trail course at a good clip and swam :30 afterwards. Yesterday I swam 3300 yds., lifted for 1:06 and ran :55 including strides, so I sort of expected to be tired today, but I guess not.
I did not sleep too well last night, as my metabolism felt so jacked up and I was hot no matter where I tried to sleep in my house, even downstairs where it's maybe 70. Nonetheless, I was excited when I woke up because the weather forecast called for low 80's and low humidity. The day started out with like 90% humidity because some crap storms passed through last night, although they failed to rain on my house, but the weather man insisted that the humidity would burn off in the morning.
My stomach was not doing too well. I actually ate some pasta for dinner last night (thanks peanut gallery for admonishing me to do so), and went to bed with a full stomach, and I still felt full when I woke up today! Normally I would shoot extra carbs before a 4-hour workout, but I just didn't feel like I wanted them. But my good sense got the better of me and I drank a can of Ultra Violence on the 23-mile drive to the ride start. 170 calories, just enough to put me at 400 calories in the tank, which I guess is enough what with my hyperefficient metabolism now (I used to down about 700 calories before events such as today, but luckily I can get away with far less now). Bonus, caffeine, which seemed like a good idea since I hadn't slept particularly well.
There were 10-15MPH north/east winds, no big deal, they don't bother me. As I always say from riding in my general area, "We don't have hills so we must have wind." There were 4 sections to the ride. For the first section I just took it out what felt like moderately hard, less than HIM effort. As it turned out, I was pretty much dead on for HIM watts, and they felt EASY! YEAH, BABY! For the 2nd-4th legs I caught up with and rode with roadies. They weren't even all "oh you're a triathlete" or anything (despite how I was dressed: swimsuit top and low-cut DSS bike shorts). I took some good pulls straight into the headwinds for fun. The roadies said I was good. This is the first time I've gone with the roadies (these were pretty good as roadies go) this season, and I just had a blast. I've tried in past years, but couldn't hold their wheels. And there were LEGIONS of roadies out on this ride. It was like it was a race.
Here I have to insert a HUGE PLUG for my coach--his bike training is DA BOMB. Hey, if a 49 (almost 50) year old tiny female triathlete can hang with the roadies, there must be something to it, don't you think? Especially 5 weeks post-Ironman. I'll take it. Maybe today was a fluke, but we'll see in 3 weeks when I do my first 1/2 Ironman of the year. I really enjoy shorter, harder rides. Well actually I just enjoy hard rides. I started out today intending to take it much easier, but I guess I no longer have that in me. That, I know, is part of my coach's objective. Get you used to riding hard so that it's second nature. And then when you need to dial it down in certain race situations (especially Ironman), you are still riding strongly. It's motivating to see the numbers on the SRM telling me how I'm doing, but it's even more motivating testing myself against others and observing them and seeing how hard they must be working. When I was hanging back in the pace line today (and we're going 22-24MPH), I was like "My God, this is EASY." So I would drop back just so I had to work to catch back up. Towards the end of today's ride, the roadies were slacking just a little (or more likely I was getting stronger--since I train every ride building my effort I am used to working progressively harder), so I just went out front and figured OK let's ride at FT or above, so I did, I dropped the roadies for at least 5', passed another huge pack where one guy commented, "Nice work" and after I thought I got in enough FT work, I dialed it down and let the roadies catch back up to me. Fun, fun, fun!
I ended up at NP of 153 for the entire ride which is IF of .86. My coach's HIM chart pegs me at IF of .88 for HIM, and that seems about right--the .86 didn't feel too bad at all (64 miles at 20MPH). Running off the bike didn't feel too bad either, not that I'd want to do a 1/2 mary today, but I felt fine. I was running about 9:00/mile, which is my target 1/2 Ironman pace. The ride started and ended at a high school, and the track was open, so I did my brick run on it. Of course, there were a couple of other triathletes running on the track, I mean, come on we only rode 64 miles!
I had to laugh at the feed bag some peeps were putting on at the rest stops. I am down to existing on 200-250 cal./hour biking or running. I did manage to eat 2 cookies today, though, and they tasted good. On my way home, I was thinking about what did I want to eat, and truthfully, I didn't feel very hungry. I ended up eating my usual Lean Cuisine for lunch, and hope that hunger will come later today and I'll try and eat more pasta. I have a pretty easy training day tomorrow (1 hour swim and :50 run), but I did burn up about 2100 calories today which is like needing to eat another day's worth of food. I did remember that I have Pringles in the house, and I had a few yesterday, but they just weren't that appetizing. I must just be in a food lull, but as long as my training feels good, I'm not going to worry too much about my calorie intake. Besides, a few beers seems to do the trick. I know, I know--empty calories, but they taste so GOOD in the summer time, don't they?
A chic asked me at one rest stop how I got my stomach tan. I looked at her quizzically and said, "Um....I run." I got a most excellent internal chuckle out of that. I suppose I could have said, "I lay out in the sun for hours at a time and just ride a little bit every now and then." Or, "I sit up on the bike as often as possible to let those rays hit my midsection." Or, "I do a lot of backstroke in the outdoor pool." Speaking of sitting up on the bike, it was 100% aero today, and the aero felt good. So what if only the sides of my stomach caught rays.
One summer when I was doing some swimming at an outdoor pool, I remember someone at work commenting on how could my armpits possibly be tan? And I told that woman it was from swimming in an outdoor pool. She didn't believe me. So I had to go all physics on her. Water. Light colored bottom. Full sunlight. Swimming front crawl with armpits towards bottom of pool. Sun reflects off bottom of pool onto armpits, tanning them. Or maybe I should have said, "I lay out in the sun with my arms over my head."
I get really tan in the summer due to my Croatian heritage. I also get women at the Y commenting on my beautiful tan. They ask where did I go to get it? I always reply, "Outside." They ask again, "No, I mean where did you go on vacation?" Again, I say, "Outside. Here. Illinois. On my bike and running." Like the sun is different in other places! Well, there is a different color of tan you end up with in other places--I can distinguish a Hawaiian tan from a southern California tan from a Midwest (aka "dirty") tan.
Tonight I expect to sleep sporadically while listening to the various fireworks (I may just walk on down to watch my town's) and other people blowing up various things in their yards.
As always, I've had a wonderful 4th of July. Hope everyone else in the U.S. did, too!
I did a 4-hour ride/:40 run on Saturday, just 3 days ago. My IF for that ride was only .83 (for those of you without power meters, IF=Intensity Factor, which is the % of your Functional Threshold, or FT, watts you held for the ride), because I allowed myself a little extra noodling time although I got in 1 hour at HIM watts and :20 at FT watts, but the run off the bike felt like total crap, even though I was running at a good pace. Oh--I remember why the run felt like total crap--I hadn't run off a "longish" ride since Ironman Brazil. Sunday I ran 1:40 on my hilly trail course at a good clip and swam :30 afterwards. Yesterday I swam 3300 yds., lifted for 1:06 and ran :55 including strides, so I sort of expected to be tired today, but I guess not.
I did not sleep too well last night, as my metabolism felt so jacked up and I was hot no matter where I tried to sleep in my house, even downstairs where it's maybe 70. Nonetheless, I was excited when I woke up because the weather forecast called for low 80's and low humidity. The day started out with like 90% humidity because some crap storms passed through last night, although they failed to rain on my house, but the weather man insisted that the humidity would burn off in the morning.
My stomach was not doing too well. I actually ate some pasta for dinner last night (thanks peanut gallery for admonishing me to do so), and went to bed with a full stomach, and I still felt full when I woke up today! Normally I would shoot extra carbs before a 4-hour workout, but I just didn't feel like I wanted them. But my good sense got the better of me and I drank a can of Ultra Violence on the 23-mile drive to the ride start. 170 calories, just enough to put me at 400 calories in the tank, which I guess is enough what with my hyperefficient metabolism now (I used to down about 700 calories before events such as today, but luckily I can get away with far less now). Bonus, caffeine, which seemed like a good idea since I hadn't slept particularly well.
There were 10-15MPH north/east winds, no big deal, they don't bother me. As I always say from riding in my general area, "We don't have hills so we must have wind." There were 4 sections to the ride. For the first section I just took it out what felt like moderately hard, less than HIM effort. As it turned out, I was pretty much dead on for HIM watts, and they felt EASY! YEAH, BABY! For the 2nd-4th legs I caught up with and rode with roadies. They weren't even all "oh you're a triathlete" or anything (despite how I was dressed: swimsuit top and low-cut DSS bike shorts). I took some good pulls straight into the headwinds for fun. The roadies said I was good. This is the first time I've gone with the roadies (these were pretty good as roadies go) this season, and I just had a blast. I've tried in past years, but couldn't hold their wheels. And there were LEGIONS of roadies out on this ride. It was like it was a race.
Here I have to insert a HUGE PLUG for my coach--his bike training is DA BOMB. Hey, if a 49 (almost 50) year old tiny female triathlete can hang with the roadies, there must be something to it, don't you think? Especially 5 weeks post-Ironman. I'll take it. Maybe today was a fluke, but we'll see in 3 weeks when I do my first 1/2 Ironman of the year. I really enjoy shorter, harder rides. Well actually I just enjoy hard rides. I started out today intending to take it much easier, but I guess I no longer have that in me. That, I know, is part of my coach's objective. Get you used to riding hard so that it's second nature. And then when you need to dial it down in certain race situations (especially Ironman), you are still riding strongly. It's motivating to see the numbers on the SRM telling me how I'm doing, but it's even more motivating testing myself against others and observing them and seeing how hard they must be working. When I was hanging back in the pace line today (and we're going 22-24MPH), I was like "My God, this is EASY." So I would drop back just so I had to work to catch back up. Towards the end of today's ride, the roadies were slacking just a little (or more likely I was getting stronger--since I train every ride building my effort I am used to working progressively harder), so I just went out front and figured OK let's ride at FT or above, so I did, I dropped the roadies for at least 5', passed another huge pack where one guy commented, "Nice work" and after I thought I got in enough FT work, I dialed it down and let the roadies catch back up to me. Fun, fun, fun!
I ended up at NP of 153 for the entire ride which is IF of .86. My coach's HIM chart pegs me at IF of .88 for HIM, and that seems about right--the .86 didn't feel too bad at all (64 miles at 20MPH). Running off the bike didn't feel too bad either, not that I'd want to do a 1/2 mary today, but I felt fine. I was running about 9:00/mile, which is my target 1/2 Ironman pace. The ride started and ended at a high school, and the track was open, so I did my brick run on it. Of course, there were a couple of other triathletes running on the track, I mean, come on we only rode 64 miles!
I had to laugh at the feed bag some peeps were putting on at the rest stops. I am down to existing on 200-250 cal./hour biking or running. I did manage to eat 2 cookies today, though, and they tasted good. On my way home, I was thinking about what did I want to eat, and truthfully, I didn't feel very hungry. I ended up eating my usual Lean Cuisine for lunch, and hope that hunger will come later today and I'll try and eat more pasta. I have a pretty easy training day tomorrow (1 hour swim and :50 run), but I did burn up about 2100 calories today which is like needing to eat another day's worth of food. I did remember that I have Pringles in the house, and I had a few yesterday, but they just weren't that appetizing. I must just be in a food lull, but as long as my training feels good, I'm not going to worry too much about my calorie intake. Besides, a few beers seems to do the trick. I know, I know--empty calories, but they taste so GOOD in the summer time, don't they?
A chic asked me at one rest stop how I got my stomach tan. I looked at her quizzically and said, "Um....I run." I got a most excellent internal chuckle out of that. I suppose I could have said, "I lay out in the sun for hours at a time and just ride a little bit every now and then." Or, "I sit up on the bike as often as possible to let those rays hit my midsection." Or, "I do a lot of backstroke in the outdoor pool." Speaking of sitting up on the bike, it was 100% aero today, and the aero felt good. So what if only the sides of my stomach caught rays.
One summer when I was doing some swimming at an outdoor pool, I remember someone at work commenting on how could my armpits possibly be tan? And I told that woman it was from swimming in an outdoor pool. She didn't believe me. So I had to go all physics on her. Water. Light colored bottom. Full sunlight. Swimming front crawl with armpits towards bottom of pool. Sun reflects off bottom of pool onto armpits, tanning them. Or maybe I should have said, "I lay out in the sun with my arms over my head."
I get really tan in the summer due to my Croatian heritage. I also get women at the Y commenting on my beautiful tan. They ask where did I go to get it? I always reply, "Outside." They ask again, "No, I mean where did you go on vacation?" Again, I say, "Outside. Here. Illinois. On my bike and running." Like the sun is different in other places! Well, there is a different color of tan you end up with in other places--I can distinguish a Hawaiian tan from a southern California tan from a Midwest (aka "dirty") tan.
Tonight I expect to sleep sporadically while listening to the various fireworks (I may just walk on down to watch my town's) and other people blowing up various things in their yards.
As always, I've had a wonderful 4th of July. Hope everyone else in the U.S. did, too!
Monday, July 03, 2006
Ch ch ch changes
It's official! I'm out of Ironman Florida (whoever made bets I'd still do it, sorry you lose) and in for Miami Man 1/2 Ironman:
Registration Date: 07/03/06 05:38:01 PM
Payment made by:
You are registered as:
Your racing category is: Female 50-54
You are registered for: Individual Registration for Miami Man 1/2 Iron
A friend I made in Brazil (Peter) lives in Miami and will provide me with a place to stay and no doubt a great time in Miami. I've never been there except to pass through the airport, so it should be fun!
Miami Man will substitute for my annual (last two years anyway) Indoor 1/2 Ironman which I usually do in November, and will close out my 2005-2006 triathlon season. A short break and then it's Goofy Challenge training for 1.5 months and then the ramp-up to Triple T begins.
I must say that as much as I enjoy biking, around 6 hours a week is plenty of time to have fun at it. When I'm doing Ironman volume riding, well, it tires me out as much as the running. Right now I'm running almost as much as in my Ironman builds, but I'm not riding every spare moment, and I feel good and powerful. The swim volume is down a little bit, but no worries there. It's not like I'm going to get much faster without some serious pool time.
Speaking of feeling good, today I noticed a change. I noticed this during my third workout of the day (I swam 3300 yards and lifted a little over an hour in the morning and then ran :55 this evening). I think I've finally caught back up to my pre-Brazil fitness, and it feels good. And my mind feels like it's in a good place. A little less training, a little less structure, a lot more time in the sun and a little more time to absorb my mom's death (I am close to being able to smile more often than cry when I think about her) have been good for me. If I race well on Sunday, that will just be icing on the cake! But it's not like I have this silly grin or anything going on. It is just this inner peace. Things feel right. I feel good about where I am right now. Is it happiness? If you read me often enough, you know I don't really "believe" in that--it's far too fleeting. It's a comfort level with my own emotions, a sense of balance (yes, even 15-16 hours a week of training enables balance in my life!) and a feeling that I belong in my own skin and that there is nothing else that I should be doing right now.
It was funny yesterday after I finished a 1:40 run in extreme humidity, I was talking with these two women. One was a fairly new runner (and a bit out of shape, but working on it), and the other was a 3-year breast cancer survivor who started training for her first marathon a week after her chemo ended, and is now training for her first 50-miler this fall (I tried to get her to remember my blog URL so that she could find Julie's). I told them I primarily trained for Ironman and I think I must have been babbling about what I think about when I'm running or swimming and that my favorite part of the Ironman is the marathon, because if you've set things up right, it is the most serene place your mind can be while your body runs on autopilot. The newer runner commented that I sounded just like her friend (the cancer survivor), and I told this lady we endurance people are all alike in that regard. We have all tapped into something that we are able to connect with simply by going out and running or riding our bike or swimming. But we need to do those things A LOT or else the magic slips away. I have never heard someone who runs 3 times a week for :30 speak of the same mental processes. It's not like we are these enlightened monks who live perpetually in that state; yet we (IMHO) are much further along than most of the population. Isn't that the greatest gift? Other people manage to achieve the same state by pursuing something with a passion. It could be art or community service or some other sport, but clearly endurance training unlocks the gate pretty easily.
Now, I finished reading Way of the Peaceful Warrior a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, I didn't think it was that great of a book. Why? Maybe because I've read so many books now about people and their paths to serenity/enlightenment that I am now more inclined to just DO IT rather than read about it. Besides, the protagonist was really, really messed up since he couldn't find a way to just "be" with his sport and grow from it.
If all you ever do is want to generate results, then sadly but certainly you will be disappointed in whatever you pursue with your alleged passion. Passion isn't about results--it's about process, it's about knowing that you have to suffer to bust through mental and physical performance plateaus, and it's about sticking with the process but having the good sense to put it aside every now and then, much like hitting the refresh button in your browser. You don't grow spiritually when you are holding all the chips--you grow when the chips are gone, when you're not sure what your next move should be--but you continue to have faith in the process. You use adversity as a tool to manage the process as much as you use success as a tool to evaluate the process. Adversity is real-time; success is hindsight. As endurance athletes, we need to embrace adversity in every workout or race situation that requires our full attention in order to execute to the best of our abilities. When there is no adversity, but yet we succeed, all we can do is look back and say, "my process was good." Not that that's a bad thing! But when there is adversity, not only can we look back and say, "thank God that my process was good enough to deal with this," but we can also transmute it into future success. Perfection and success are no guarantees of anything. Adversity guarantees that you will look at success in a different way. And that is where the rubber meets the road when you are talking about passion.
I feel different today. Maybe I thought I feel like I did before Brazil, but now that I think about it a little more, I must have lied. I feel better. I have learned the lesson. I am preparing for the next one.
Registration Date: 07/03/06 05:38:01 PM
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You are registered as:
Your racing category is: Female 50-54
You are registered for: Individual Registration for Miami Man 1/2 Iron
A friend I made in Brazil (Peter) lives in Miami and will provide me with a place to stay and no doubt a great time in Miami. I've never been there except to pass through the airport, so it should be fun!
Miami Man will substitute for my annual (last two years anyway) Indoor 1/2 Ironman which I usually do in November, and will close out my 2005-2006 triathlon season. A short break and then it's Goofy Challenge training for 1.5 months and then the ramp-up to Triple T begins.
I must say that as much as I enjoy biking, around 6 hours a week is plenty of time to have fun at it. When I'm doing Ironman volume riding, well, it tires me out as much as the running. Right now I'm running almost as much as in my Ironman builds, but I'm not riding every spare moment, and I feel good and powerful. The swim volume is down a little bit, but no worries there. It's not like I'm going to get much faster without some serious pool time.
Speaking of feeling good, today I noticed a change. I noticed this during my third workout of the day (I swam 3300 yards and lifted a little over an hour in the morning and then ran :55 this evening). I think I've finally caught back up to my pre-Brazil fitness, and it feels good. And my mind feels like it's in a good place. A little less training, a little less structure, a lot more time in the sun and a little more time to absorb my mom's death (I am close to being able to smile more often than cry when I think about her) have been good for me. If I race well on Sunday, that will just be icing on the cake! But it's not like I have this silly grin or anything going on. It is just this inner peace. Things feel right. I feel good about where I am right now. Is it happiness? If you read me often enough, you know I don't really "believe" in that--it's far too fleeting. It's a comfort level with my own emotions, a sense of balance (yes, even 15-16 hours a week of training enables balance in my life!) and a feeling that I belong in my own skin and that there is nothing else that I should be doing right now.
It was funny yesterday after I finished a 1:40 run in extreme humidity, I was talking with these two women. One was a fairly new runner (and a bit out of shape, but working on it), and the other was a 3-year breast cancer survivor who started training for her first marathon a week after her chemo ended, and is now training for her first 50-miler this fall (I tried to get her to remember my blog URL so that she could find Julie's). I told them I primarily trained for Ironman and I think I must have been babbling about what I think about when I'm running or swimming and that my favorite part of the Ironman is the marathon, because if you've set things up right, it is the most serene place your mind can be while your body runs on autopilot. The newer runner commented that I sounded just like her friend (the cancer survivor), and I told this lady we endurance people are all alike in that regard. We have all tapped into something that we are able to connect with simply by going out and running or riding our bike or swimming. But we need to do those things A LOT or else the magic slips away. I have never heard someone who runs 3 times a week for :30 speak of the same mental processes. It's not like we are these enlightened monks who live perpetually in that state; yet we (IMHO) are much further along than most of the population. Isn't that the greatest gift? Other people manage to achieve the same state by pursuing something with a passion. It could be art or community service or some other sport, but clearly endurance training unlocks the gate pretty easily.
Now, I finished reading Way of the Peaceful Warrior a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, I didn't think it was that great of a book. Why? Maybe because I've read so many books now about people and their paths to serenity/enlightenment that I am now more inclined to just DO IT rather than read about it. Besides, the protagonist was really, really messed up since he couldn't find a way to just "be" with his sport and grow from it.
If all you ever do is want to generate results, then sadly but certainly you will be disappointed in whatever you pursue with your alleged passion. Passion isn't about results--it's about process, it's about knowing that you have to suffer to bust through mental and physical performance plateaus, and it's about sticking with the process but having the good sense to put it aside every now and then, much like hitting the refresh button in your browser. You don't grow spiritually when you are holding all the chips--you grow when the chips are gone, when you're not sure what your next move should be--but you continue to have faith in the process. You use adversity as a tool to manage the process as much as you use success as a tool to evaluate the process. Adversity is real-time; success is hindsight. As endurance athletes, we need to embrace adversity in every workout or race situation that requires our full attention in order to execute to the best of our abilities. When there is no adversity, but yet we succeed, all we can do is look back and say, "my process was good." Not that that's a bad thing! But when there is adversity, not only can we look back and say, "thank God that my process was good enough to deal with this," but we can also transmute it into future success. Perfection and success are no guarantees of anything. Adversity guarantees that you will look at success in a different way. And that is where the rubber meets the road when you are talking about passion.
I feel different today. Maybe I thought I feel like I did before Brazil, but now that I think about it a little more, I must have lied. I feel better. I have learned the lesson. I am preparing for the next one.
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