Cat's Angels

Fun weekend so far, and it is only noon on Saturday.

Last night I had a great time hanging out with my neighbor-girls and their moms. We planned this mother-daughter event a while back and while my mom had to go home earlier this month, the other moms adopted me for the night. It was such a blast. Everyone's moms are so great. We just hung out and had drinks/apps at Erin's place, and then they all headed out to dinner in Clarendon. I came home since I am an early bird with training at the crack of dawn every day of my life (or so it seems).

After a good night's sleep I was off to meet my teammates for a run. Much of the team is actually out in Luray today, swimming in the lake, running the hills, and camping out for the weekend. I decided to stay local this time. Those of us that stuck around met up for a run at TR island. (Note to readers: don't try to park there on summer weekend mornings. What a mess! I wound up driving back to Rosslyn, parking on the street, and walking down to TR.)

For whatever reason, my workout schedule only calls for 6 miles this weekend. Fine with me. Oddly, it seemed like everyone there was running longer - which is odd since at this point I would think the IMFL crew would be going longest. As it turns out, either they are on the advanced track for Florida or they are training for a fall marathon.

I wound up running with Kat and Sarah (yes, there's another Kat/Cat on the team - fellow z-ers can ask Tracey to tell the funny story about when Kat and I first met). It was actually a nice run. I finally got my new 310xt up and running, so I was able to track speed, distance, time and HR all on one handy-dandy screen.

On our way back we noticed a cyclist who was stopped and seemed to be having trouble with his bike. He was a bit off the trail, and Kat called out to him to see if he was okay. He was too engrossed in his repair to hear us. I noticed that he was messing with his chain, and suggested we go over to help. We noticed that not only had he dropped his chain, but he had somehow managed to drop it to the outside instead of the inside - (dropping on the inside is far more common and much easier to fix).

We told him we were triathletes and he moved away from the bike, since clearly we knew exactly what we were doing (not!). In any case, Kat held up the rear wheel, I fiddled with the chain a little, played with the gears, then moved the pedals while pulling the chain around, and ta-da, we fixed it. I was quite impressed with our quick work if I do say so myself. The guy was pretty much speechless. He fist bumped us, said thanks, and we ran off on our merry way (me with very greasy fingers).

That felt good! Cat's/Kat's Angels making the trail a better place. :) Good deed done for the weekend.

We finished off the run and as I ran back to my car I noticed that the bunch of cars that were all parked illegally along the sidewalk were all ticketed. Boo! Sorry teammates. I wish there was something I could have done. I headed back to my car back in Rossyln where thankfully, there was no ticket for me. I had parked at a one-hour meter and crossed my fingers.

What to do next? Well, it was still plenty early to hit the Courthouse farmers market. I have been seriously obsessed (yes, seriously) with summer produce for the past few weeks. I didn't think I liked blackberries until I tried delicious freshly-picked berries recently. Now I cannot get enough. My fingers are perpetually purple.

Blueberries, raspberries, tomatoes, corn, peaches, plums, nectarines, melon, squash, chard, broccoli, lettuce. I. Can. Not. Get. Enough. I am going to go broke if I keep this up. But it is all so good, and so healthy, that I am not trying to stop.

The six pints of berries I picked up from the Westmoreland folks this morning.

Those blackberries are as big as my fist.

Okay, not really, But some of them are as big as my thumb.

I think it also has something to do with knowing that my enjoyment of these delicacies is limited. I am trying to focus on the positive and look forward to apple and pumpkin season....but really, I would likethe summer season to last just a little longer. Oh well. I pledge to make the most of it while I can.

Right now I am off to the salon for some hair care. The coif is looking pretty sorry these days. Between the chlorine, the helmet, the pony-tail holders, and perhaps the large quantities of sweat, my hair is looking the unhealthiest is ever has. My hairdresser is going to freak out, I am sure. Hopefully she'll have some suggestions.

Tomorrow morning is the 80-miler and I cant wait. I made up a recipe which Lindsay gave me. She calls it her bike breakfast. She said it is what the Garmin Chipotle team eats. It sounds great and I am looking forward to testing it tomorrow...yes, while I'm riding.

Here's the recipe:

Cook 3 cups of sushi rice in a rice cooker.

Scramble 6 eggs (I only use 3-4), add in a handful of chopped ham (or bacon, proscuitto, etc). Toss the eggs/meat into the rice, and our a small amount of soy and balsamic vinegar on top. Add salt to taste. Mix the stuff up, and then with a silicon spatula, mash it into bars (takes up about half of an 8x8 pan if you want them about an inch thick).

Cut into squares, put them in the fridge, and then wrap in aluminum foil when you take them on a ride. They keep in the fridge for about 4-5 days. You can also add parmesan cheese.

I used bacon...it is what I had in the house, and added scallions (from the farmers market, of course) to the eggs. The bacon was salty so I didn't use any soy sauce. I'll let you know how it is.

Think good, cooling thoughts for me tomorrow. It is going to be in the mid-90's and humid. Why did we have to waste the 70-degree day on Thursday being in the office all day??? I need flex-time.

Another weekend...Done!

I suppose I should write a post about this weekend’s training. This weekend was pretty much all about triathlon – my training and my sherpa duties at the Culpeper sprint.

Pedals
Friday I went to Revolution to get a replacement pedal. Long story short, I wound up buying Look Keo pedals instead of replacement Speedplays.

I was never really happy with the speedplays (aka lollipops). When I had SPD pedals, I was able to clip out at any position in the pedal stroke. For whatever reason, I could only clip out at the bottom with the lollipops. [So, in order for me to stop with speedplays, I needed to get my left foot to 6 o’clock, clip out, then get my right foot to 6 o’clock so I could step down. An unnecessary extra step that I didn’t have to do with the SPDs.] I also never really liked the ease of clipping in/out.

So since the shop wasn’t able to help me with replacement parts, nor were they able to sell me one pedal, I figured I might as well buy a different pedal. Why not add a little excitement to the longest ride of my life by completely changing one aspect of my bike?

To wrap up this pedal story, I will just say I am thrilled that I made the switch. I feel way more comfortable with the Keo’s. Clipping in, once I get the pedal flipped over and my foot in the right position (which is taking some practice), is nice and easy. Once I get out of the habit of clipping out at the bottom, clipping out will be a lot smoother, too.

While there was a fair amount of struggling with the pedals, I know I will get used to them pretty quickly. It was a good call to switch pedals and while I could have done without spending the extra $100+ on more bike stuff, I think this was money well spent.

The 70-mile Ride
I received no responses to the requests I sent to the team for a ride partner for the 70-mile ride. So I was on my own. It was kind of nice.

As a matter of background, my last long rides haven’t been as good as you would hope. Remember the 60-miler in the cold, nasty rain? In case you’re wondering, yes, my hands are STILL numb. They’ve improved considerably, but I still have little feeling in my finger tips. It is probably time to seek additional medical care…I know. It has been 3 months.

That was the last and only 60-miler. Then there was the 50-miler a couple of weeks later where I took a bad fall.

After that I did a 40-miler in the rain at Rehoboth. That went pretty well, considering the headwind.

Oh, there was the 55-miler I did (it was supposed to be 50, but – oh yeah, I got lost). That was okay.

The 56-miles of the half Ironman actually went pretty well, but that was a race.

My plan for this past Saturday was simple. Head out west on the W&OD. Turn around when I hit 35 miles. For nutrition I brought 2 bottles of pre-mixed infinit, with a bunch of goodies (gels, peanut butter pretzels, 2 strawberry oreos, fig newmans), and a bag of infinit powder to mix up a third bottle.

If I’d written this sooner I’d have lots of thrilling details to share. Now, 2 days later, I will just say that the ride went great. Yes, great! Hooray!

The highlights: I was only about 10-15 miles out when I saw someone who looked familiar running towards me. What do you know, it was my good friend, Jenn, looking strong. Such a nice surprise. I would have liked to stop and chat but we were both on a mission.

Just a few minutes later I heard my name and it was my wonderful teammate Maggie (who is solely responsible for the existence of strawberry oreos in my house and hence my bento) calling out my name. What a nice surprise!

Not even 2 minutes later I spotted my friend Patty running along. I definitely surprised her when I said hello.

The thing that was so crazy was that none of theses three friends know each other. They weren’t out together. It was just such a coincidence. It made me smile for a while and realize that I have a lot of fit friends!

Before I knew it, I was at the 35 mile marker. It was much, much faster than I anticipated. And I felt so good. So I turned around and headed back on my merry way.

It was not long before I realized that I would be so far ahead of schedule that I would be able to make the team’s nutrition clinic. Yay!

Anyhow, before I get to the nutrition clinic, I am happy to report that I finished up the ride tired, but injury free. No major issues to report. Tired legs. Sweaty and exhausted. But fine. No real saddle issues. Nothing hurt. It was awesome! Just what I needed heading into 3 very tough training months.

Although I missed having company, as I have said before, it is really nice going at my own pace and not worrying about keeping up or slowing down for anyone. I guess this is why I enjoyed solo marathon training so much. I am excited that I have some good momentum heading into next week’s 80-mile ride.

Nutrition Clinic
I was only a little late to the clinic. I heard Becky Mohring (sp?) give her presentation once before when I was just a little baby triathlete. Like, last year. In any case, I took a lot more away this time.

For starters, I need to be drinking a bit more (24-36 oz per hour), and I need to be taking in a ton more electrolytes/sodium than I do when I run. She recommends about 400 mg per hour. I thought I was getting plenty of electrolytes in my Gu’s. I checked when I got home and then only have around 40 mg each. That tip was the highlight for me.

The 14-mile run
Fast forward to 2 pm Sunday. It is hard enough for me to get up and run on a weekend morning. But it was even harder for me to get going for an afternoon run, especially when the temps were so much higher than the early morning. I considering skipping the run, but I knew I’d be really pissed at myself if I did that.

I was heading into this run with tired legs, and just overall tiredness. But I got myself together and headed out, planning to run 7 miles up the Capital Crescent trail towards Bethesda and then back the way I came.

Due my desire to keep running instead of waiting for the light to change, I wound up crossing the key bridge on the opposite side of where I usually cross. When I got over the bridge, I was not on the side where I needed to be to get over to the trail, so I just kept running.

Eventually, I saw an access path to the trail, but at this point I decided I would be more fun to continue running up Foxhall. It was extremely hilly (how come I never noticed this in the car?!). I focused on keeping my heart rate in zone 2 and on taking in the right nutrition (one gel every 30 minutes, a full bottle of water per hour, and an s-cap [electrolytes] on the 45-minute mark of each hour).

I had a fabulous run. With the hills, the way out was pretty slow and involved a lot of walk breaks to keep the HR down. No worries, though. I was doing what I needed to do.

The way back was a different story. I took a detour to run down Wisconsin and through Georgetown. I was *flying* down the hills. FAST. At times I felt like I needed to sprint to get my HR up in the right zone. It was pretty fun.

By the time I made it back to my building, I had another mile left [how’d that happen?]. So I ran around some more. I got back to my building at 13.97 miles. Of course, I ran around the corner so I could see the Garmin register a clean 14. I’m just telling you this so you can laugh at my compulsive nature. I am fully aware of how type-A that is, and I choose to embrace my idiosyncrasies. I hope you still love me.

I finished the 14, zone 2 miles in 2:40, with 3 water stops and a lot of pedestrian traffic in G-town. I am happy with this.

And that was the weekend…. I am thrilled with how my training went. Tiring, yes. But successful. I say, bring on IMFL. I am READY!

Musselman Photos

Mom's camera worked. Yay! Here are a select few photos that tell the story of the day.

Getting ready to race.

Time to put on the wetsuit

Not as easy as it looks

Grrrrrrr.

Really, Mom, can stop taking pictures now.

Al...most....there.

Ta-da! Another yellow swim cap. At least I match.

The swim start

I made it out of the water and am headed for transition.

Made it onto the bike. That's my tush.

And there's my tush again.

I was actually out on the bike course.

Finally time to run. Yes!

When I finished I got one of those. The medal looks like two bike gears. Unique!

Bike Karma?

What the heck is going on with my bike these days? Did Ms. Piggy do something bad in a past life?

Last night was the team ride at McKinley (named for the elementary school at which we park). This ride alternates Tuesdays with the Conte’s ride on the team schedule. Somehow last night was my first McKinley ride in the five months since I joined the team.

The ride starts at the school and goes down a hill to get on the W&OD trail. From there we go west and it is a simple out and back. At the end you have the pleasure of riding up (and down) the very steep hill on McKinley Road.

Yesterdays workout was: Bike 45' w/u (Z2), 1 x 3' hill repeats Z5a/b, W/D. If you’ve been paying attention, you may know that this means That the first 45 minutes were in HR zone 2, followed by one three minute session on a hill (when you get your HR into the very high zones – 5a & b – almost at your maximum effort).

I got out on the trail with a small cluster of teammates who were slightly faster than I. I have had some issues with my HR monitor lately (long story/saga) so I went without any gadgets last night. Thus, I didn’t really know what zones I was working in. It didn’t really matter and it was kind of nice not paying attention to that.

I felt great out there. I was having such a good time just flying down the trail. Not hammering, just cycling. Efficiently. I was really excited that I was keeping up without too much effort. I was probably outside Z2, but oh well. And then…..

About a mile or so after the turnaround I heard a clink, and then my foot came loose from the pedal. What the…..?

I wondered if I lost a cleat. Nope.

I stopped and looked down and was shocked to see my left pedal was completely gone. (Yes, it is pink. Surprised?)






Right: the speedplay pedal.
Left: the pedal with a shoe "clipped in."
Below: the cleat which attaches to your cycling shoe.

I got off and started searching and found half of my pedal. A couple of kind teammates stopped to help and we all searched for the rest. (Thanks, guys!) Eventually I found the other half of the pedal but the hardware was no where to be seen. Who knows how far back it had fallen off.

So there you go. Another thing to buy. And I'd be willing to bet that they don't sell individual pedals so I need to pruchase a new pair. I’m getting kind of tired of this. Plus I need to buy new goggles (see my last post).

It is not just the cost – though I am just tired of spending all of my income on triathlon. It is also the time cost. Ugh.

Tonight I was supposed to spend some time with Mom (who is in town until my sister decides to take her home) but now I guess she’ll get to experience another aspect of triathlon with me – the endless draining of the bank account known as shopping.

Ordinarily I love shopping, but not when I am re-spending money on something I already owned that I shouldn’t need to be replace.

Okay, I am done complaining now.

I find the whole thing pretty funny actually. I rode the last few miles with only one foot clipped in (aka Single Leg Drills – SLD – this will come up in a later post for sure). It was uh, interesting. [Maybe that's why my right hamstring is tight this morning.] I did have to stop and walk when it was time to climb that hill. Just wasn’t happening one-legged.

So that’s my latest misadventure.

If you’re interested, here’s what is coming up on the schedule. Already did the track workout this morning (20' W/U, 3 pickups, 2 x 800 Z4 R/2', W/D), weights this afternoon. Swim tomorrow morning and bike tomorrow afternoon. “Rest day Friday” can’t come soon enough. (I’m exaggerating a little. I’m actually doing well this week. Still… who doesn’t love Friday rest days?).

This weekend has a 14 mile run and 70 mile ride on the schedule. Obviously I’ve run 14 miles before. Not too big a deal. The ride, however, will be my farthest yet (I’ll be saying this a bunch in the next few months). But here’s the deal….

This weekend I’m a going to be a sherpa. I’m supporting the knight at the Culpeper sprint triathlon. Soooo, the schedule has gotten a little messy.

I’m planning to get the ride in on Saturday, which means I don’t get to go with the team. If anyone wants to join me for a long slow ride, I’d love the company.

As for the run, I’ll try to get it done Sunday. I’m not really thrilled to have to run in the late afternoon, but such is the life of a Sherpa. :) I’d love some company for this, too, but I will probably just crank of up the iPod and make the best of it.

One more thing. No, not a fundraising plea. Anyone notice the countdown timer there on the left? See what it says? As of today, 100 days until IM Florida. Yikes!

I’m happy to say I am not freaked. I am pumped UP after reading all of my teammates Ironman Lake Placid reports from Sunday – the good, the bad, and the ugly. I am SO PROUD of everyone. Great job teammates! I can’t wait to feel the joy myself.

Musselman Race Report

Wow, thanks everyone. Who knew there was such interest in my race report. I’m flattered. Here it is. [I am currently picture-less. My camera died recently. If Mom’s camera worked, which is unclear right now, I will update this post with pictures when I get them.]

I also want to thank everyone who expressed support or sent good luck wishes this weekend. That was so awesome!!! :) All weekend long messages kept popping up on facebook and via email and it made me feel like a superstar. Of course, the gift of chocolate turtles was especially appreciated. (Boy were they delicious!)

Oh, and one more thing before I get to the report. HUGE thanks to everyone who has donated to Doorways through my website. We're more than a third of the way there thanks to you. Please help me meet my goal by donating $5, $10, $20 or whatever you can.

Without further ado, here it goes.

Musselman was my first ever half Ironman. I chose the race because of its location – it the beautiful Finger Lakes of upstate New York. My mom and stepdad, and step-grandparents live near Ithaca, so this was a great choice for some familial support. Mom has never seen me race, so I was really excited for her to see what it is all about.

Saturday Mom and I arrived in Geneva for packet pickup and the pre-race briefing. The briefing was excellent, though Mom thought the race director’s (RD) attempts at humor were lame, But I appreciated it. At one point he displayed a slide with the bike course map and said “For those of you going for speed these are the spots to look out for.” As he displayed the next slide he said, “For those of you going for a scenic trip….these are the wineries along the course.” (There were 18 wineries.) It was cute.

It was good for her to observe the briefing because it gave her a good idea of what to expect. That worked well for both of us.

Anyhow, here’s the nitty gritty of the day:

Pre-race
Arrived at the race site bright and early. The bike rack spots were assigned. I love it when they do that. So much less stressful. At my bike spot was a label with my name and number. It also said “Catharine, you’ve got 70 more miles in you.” And then at the bottom it said “Make Earl Grey and Pepper proud.” Those are my furbabies. I remember that the registration form asked for some unsual details. Now I know why. It was so cute. After the race I peeled the label off and took it with me.

The funny of the morning happened when Mom apparently tried to break into transition. Mom doesn’t exactly look like an athlete and she has some difficulty getting around. She was dressed in a button up cotton blouse, ballet flats, etc. As she tried to enter, the volunteer was calling to her, “Are you marked? Are you marked?” She was confused. Then he asked, “Ma’am, are you racing?” She just looked at him and said, “Are you kidding?” I wasn’t there, but I am told this elicted quite a bit of laughter from everyone around her. Way to go, Mom. :)

I once again planned to set up transition and then do a warmup. Lesson learned: Get there even earlier next time. I was just entering the water and was knee deep when they announced that the water was closed and that everyone must exit. Oops.

Swim
If you know anything about me and triathlons, you know that swimming is, shall we say, not my strong sport. I haven’t had much time to post lately, but if I had I would have reported that much to my delight I am seeing some big progress on that front. I'll write more about this soon. I promise.

The water in Seneca Lake was 69 degrees, so it was wetsuit legal. It was a nice beach entry, and we walked into the water to await our start. And then we went. I calmly swam along.

There were goggle issues. I won’t go through the details, but I need to fix this. Leaky goggles are no fun (the ones I opted to wear). Neither are goggles that are too tight (the ones I wore for a recent open water swim which made me think my head would explode. Any attempt at loosening just made them leaky). I can’t seem to get either pair to fit right.

So the swim got done. Around 53 minutes. Slow, but I’m not complaining. I did it. I swam 1.2 miles without hanging onto anything…or drowning, for that matter.

T1
Nothing really to report. I took my time here. Hey, I just swam 1.2 miles. I was tired. Plus my shorts were all bunched up around the legs and who wants to ride 56 miles with bunchy shorts.

Bike
The ride was a good one. The course was as beautiful as promised. Hilly and very breezy, but nice. Many miles riding along farms and the Finger Lakes. My plan was to stay in zone 2 and to take in sufficient nutrition. I succeeded at both.

The course wasn’t easy, but I was in a good place mentally and physically. I felt good on the ride. My biggest concern heading into this race was what I’ll refer to as saddle issues. [TMI warning!] You may recall from previous posts that I don’t have a good relationship with tri shorts. It is bad enough riding 56 miles in bike shorts – with the cushy thick pad. However, tri shorts offer virtually no protection and I was frankly terrified of what would happen when I would ride so far with the equivalent of a flour sack between me and my seat.

Well, my tricks worked. A little shaving action (thanks for the tip, Jacquie). Lots of bodyglide and lots of chamois cream (Chamois But-r). It worked. Next time I need to remember to get my butt, though. So that’s what true saddle sores feel like. Ouch.

My time wasn’t what I hoped it to be, but I am pleased. I was happy and cheerful along the way. I drank a bottle of infinit over the first third of the ride, a bottle of water and some fig newmans and a gu on the second third, and another bottle of infinit on the final third of the ride. It worked out very well and I am really satisfied.

I biked in and saw my wonderful Mom waiting patiently for me to arrive. That was so neat.

T2
Go figure, I rocked T2. I’m doing something right here. My time was in the top third. I’ll take it. Maybe I was just excited to go run. Or maybe I was just happy to be off the bike.

Run
Normally, running is my strength. I would say it was true here, comparatively speaking. I got no where near my expected time for the half marathon, but I did it. More importantly, as I pushed through the final two miles I asked myself if I could do a full marathon. I determined that if I had to, I could have. Of course, I was quite happy to be finished at just 13.1 miles and there was no need to go further at that point.

The course was really nice. Through neighborhoods and downtown Geneva. It was lovely. It was nutty hilly. And there was a 1.5-mile stretch of road that was gravel - all uphill. I'm telling the truth.

There were a few musicians along the way as well as lots of aid stations with everything from Heed to animal crackers and cold, wet sponges. And wonderful, friendly, cheerful volunteers.

Like I said, I am not thrilled with my time, which was about 20 minutes off my best half marathon time. It just doesn’t matter, though. I finished this race with a huge boost in confidence for IMFL. I know I can do it.

My nutrition for the run was good but needs a little tweaking. I aimed for water at each walk break (at each mile marker) and a gel every 30 minutes. I think I missed one at the end. I was so hungry as I approached the finished line. I will work on improving this at the next half.

Post-race
The post race festivities and spread were top notch. There was tons of fresh fruit (cherries, apricots, watermelon, etc.), pizza, cookies, and ice cream. Of course, I didn’t have much of an appetite at that point but I did force myself to ingest a little of this and that and a lot of water. There were also free massages…my favorite.

After the race we headed back to the hotel and then out for Chinese food. I forced myself to eat as much pork lo mein as I could manage, knowing I had lots of calories to replace and that I have a history of sleeplessness due to hunger following races and hard workouts. Oh, and I definitely think the egg roll was beneficial.

An hour or so later I was pooped and decided to head to bed. Except I just laid there, exhausted as the hunger set in. Ugh. Even though I had a cooler and a bag full of food (fruit, granola bars, trail mix, peanut butter, hummus and pita chips), I was queasy and nothing appealed to me. Nothing!

It was really tough. I forced myself to eat a fig newman, which just made me even more sick to my stomach. So I took a sleeping pill and fell asleep. I woke up 2 hours later - very hungry. I ate a granola bar. Three hours later, another snack break. It was not fun.

Needless to say, I wasn’t feeling too great the next day. The queasiness persisted, which was even less enjoyable since I was driving home that day, along with my Mom who was coming back with me for the week.

The good news is that physically I felt pretty good. No injuries. Some soreness in my quads and hip flexors (Coach Ed would be so pleased to know that I obviuosly engaged the hip flexors pretty well.) Toes on the verge of blistery, but okay. Pretty cool!

So my next project is figuring out what to do about the post-race nutrition. I know I've talked about this before and Ihave incorporated some of the tips you've shared. But I fell down on this a bit after the race.

Issues to work on: A) I thought I got enough protein/carbs post race, but I know I can improve on this. I probably should have had the chocolate milk (or a recovery drink) sooner that I did. B) What do I eat when I don’t feel like eating anything? I made a list the next morning, but after getting home and the same malaise set in, nothing on my list (shredded wheat, string cheese, Doritos, broth etc.) was appealing.

In any case, the race was a huge success and I think I made Earl and Pepper proud. This was an excellent training experience for me as I head into IM Florida in only 3.5 short months.

Next up: the Luray International Tri on August 15. Following that is the next half: Bassman on October 4. The big day is November 7: Ironman Florida. Dare I say I am looking forward to the upcoming races? Stay tuned.

Ready to Go

Up super early this morning because I am READY to conquer it. It being my first half ironman triathlon - the Musselman tri. I am in upstate NY (Geneva/Seneca Falls) with my mom who lives up here. I'm currently eating a bagel and drinking some OJ as I wrap my head around today's task.

Strangely, I am pretty calm about it all. I am most nervous about the logistics of getting there and even more concerened about the impact on the day on my mom, who doesn't get around as easily as I do. She's a trooper though. The situation does serve as a good reminder that at a minimum I should be incredibly grateful that I CAN even endeavor to do a triathlon.

So here it goes. There is no written race plan. It is all in my head. Stay calm in the water, stay in zone 2 throughout (at least to the extent that I can given I can't seem to find a working HRM), have fun, practice nutrition, and get it done.

I am READY!

IM Nutrition Plan

This isn't so much an update as a question for my fellow triathletes...

For those of you who are training/have trained for Ironman, can you please share your race nutrition plan? I'm still figuring out what to eat and when and would love some ideas.

Please post in comments or send me an email. I know everyone is different, but I just need ideas on where to start.

Thanks!

New look

Does something seem different to you? I hope so. Announcing my new blog look...thanks to Krystyn. I hope you like it.

I know it has been a while since I posted. I've been crazy busy lately. But don't worry, all is well.

Some quick notes:

** Piggy is back in working order. (Thanks again to J.R.!)

** Next Sunday is my first half ironman. I'm headed up to the Fingers Lakes in upstate New York. My lovely mom and stepfamily live up there. After visiting them in Ithaca I will head to Geneva to compete in the Musselman Tri. I am really relaxed about the whole thing...except when I am feeling panicked about it. Craziness.

** Need a tire changed? I can help. I became a pro in a matter of a few hours. Before leaving for the Conte's ride, my tube went south and it needed to be replaced. I was pretty impressed with myself for changing the tire lickety split. When I finally got to the ride, the woman riding next to me got a flat, and while we were trying to deal with that another woman walked up with a flat. It was something else.

** Work is nuts right now. I have two cases proceeding quickly through litigation at the same time.

** More posts soon. I promise. It is just crazy right now.

** Shout out to Es, Robin and Jason who rocked IM Switzerland yesterday. I am impressed and inspired.

Til later,

Cat

PS - I am really thrilled about the progress on the Doorways fundraising drive. We're almost a third of the way there. Will you please help out? Click here.

What is Ironman?

Ironman Triathlon is the ultimate endurance event. I won’t bore you with the history but if you’re interested, you can read all about it on Wikipedia.

To give my non-triathlete friends and idea of what this race means, I came up with a description that I think paints a picture of how far and how long we’ll be going:

Imagine that you go to the pool and swim 160 laps (i.e., 2.4 miles).

Then you get on your bike and bike from DC to Baltimore and back (112 miles).

Afterwards you run a marathon, or the equivalent of running from DC to Herndon (26.2 miles).

Sound like a long day?

(Next time you see a 140.6 sticker, you'll know what it means.)

Obviously some people will finish faster than others. Imagine that you get up one morning, and go for a walk at 7 am. And you walk, and walk, and walk, and you don’t stop walking until 10:30 p.m.

Yes, that is how long I will be racing.

And I won’t just be walking.

Okay, now I am freaking myself out again…

Finally, it occurred to me over the weekend that if I were to drive to the race in Panama City, Florida, I could possibly do so in less time than it would take me to actually complete the Ironman. [The 993-mile car trip, according to Google Maps, would take around 15 hours. I expect/hope to finish IM between 15 and 16 hours.]

Scary.

Now I have to go to bed. I need my sleep.

New day (and race report)

Acceptance

It is a new day and the shock of yesterday has settled. I knew it wasn't good when I got the call which began "Hey Catharine, did your bike have wheels on it?"

Thanks to my wonderful Team Z teammates, it looks like this is all going to work out okay and cost me a lot less than it could have.

Special thanks to J.R., whom I had never met before yesterday. He drove over to my building last night with perfect wheels for me to borrow until I get a new wheelset. He even helped me put them on.

Unfortunately we didn’t have all of the necessary parts, and somehow managed to blow the tube when inflating it. Surprisingly it didn't seem to startle the cats (Earl and Pepper). I’m hoping that after a trip to the bike shop tonight I'll be all set. It is a shame that this happens to be the week that my gym is closed for renovations. I have a good excuse not to bike or spin today :)

I really appreciate all of the sympathy and empathy. I am definitely keeping this all in perspective. Even though it could be a lot worse, I think I was entitled to a little pity party. I’m done with that now.

Race report

This will be a short one. Sunday I raced the Montclair Triathlon. Strange distances. A 1k (.6 mile) swim, 30k (18.6 mile) bike, and 8k (4.8 mile) run. For whatever reason I was super laid back going into this race. No plan, no expectations. I was really thinking of it as a training day.

It was a nice race with odd logistics. Because it took place in a neighborhood, the only official parking was at a school 2 miles away. Fortunately I have the cool USAT backpack I got for my efforts back at the Richmond Duathlon. I threw all of my gear in there and biked from the lot to the transition area. It was quite strange riding like that when it was just barely sunrise.

Before the race

My transition setup

Ms. Piggy before she was pillaged

The swim was in the 80-degree lake, so wetsuits were not legal. I actually enjoyed the water. My form for the swim stunk, but I did okay. I wasn't fast, but I wasn't last.

Thanks to Ben for this great shot of me coming out of the water

Although I hadn’t really set goals for myself, I did write down my expectations beforehand (and then promptly forgot what I wrote). When I got to work Monday I saw that I had gotten within 30 seconds of what I predicted. Ha!

The bike course was three moderately hilly loops. I got passed quite a bit, but towards the end I actually passed a few people myself. I was very unfocused on the ride. I am not sure what the issue was. Part of the problem is that my HR monitor wasn’t registering for the first half. I think I could have gone faster. Oh well.

The last ever picture of Miss Piggy with her wheels

The run is usually my strength and it is nice to always have that part last. I know how to run. It is so much simpler than swimming or biking. Yes, there is some technique involved and I am working on my form. I usually enjoy the run because I do a lot more passing than being passed. Sunday was no exception. The course was a bit on the hilly side. It was a two loop course, with a strange jaunt through the woods as the second loop began. Weird. Anyhow, it went well and I left it all out on the course.

Happy Runner Cat

Results:
I don’t feel like sharing them so I’m not gonna.

Thanks again to all of my generous friends who have supported me by donating to Doorways. I am just shy of 20 percent of my goal. I know we can do better. Would you please make a small contribution? Click here to help out. Thanks.

Thieves suck!

Just a quick vent to express my sadness/anger/frustration. Many of you know about the bike theft in my building two weeks ago. Well, they struck again. This time I had a U-lock on my frame and a cable lock on my frame and front wheel.

He cut the cable, took my wheels, put them on another frame and ran away. Someone in the building tried to catch him, but was unsuccessful.

Booo! I guess I'm not going to ride tomorrow.

More about yesterday's race when I'm feeling better.

Pretty, pretty please!

Hello, my friends…

I truly appreciate all of the generous donations I have received on behalf of the Ironman Community Fund and Doorways for Women and Families. I am delighted to report that I met my goal of raising $775 for the Ironman Community Fund and have begun raising money for Doorways. I am so touched by your generosity.

It has been a few weeks since I set up my new fundraising site, and I am asking for your help. Yes, YOU, right there in front of the computer screen.

I have set the modest goal of raising $1000 for Doorways (of course, it would be awesome if I could exceed this). Suffice it say that in addition to feeling personally connected to this organization because of the time I spent volunteering with them, the cause is one that is near and dear to my heart.

Please help me if you can. Yes, YOU. $5, $10, $20, or even $100. If you can spare it, I know that Doorways will put it to good use.

Please take a moment to visit my donation site. It is quick and easy, and you will get a receipt for tax deduction purposes. So don’t just sit there. Click away. Please! Pretty please with ice cream on top. And a cherry. [When I was a kid, my sister and I would add endless "toppings" and additions to this phrase to try to convince mom of whatever we wanted. I will spare you from this...for now.]

Thank you!

My favorite sundae - do they have Friendly's in Panama City, Florida? This would be an awesome post-race treat. :)

Parental Concern

Parents worry. Yes, I get that. It is their job. But Mom, I promise you, I am taking good care of myself.

If you’re my friend on Facebook, you’ve seen my status message asking you to email my mom and tell her I’m fine. It is partially in jest, but partially serious. She has a great sense of humor and I think she be amused if she received dozens of messages from friends saying they’re looking out for me and making sure I am well taken care of.

If you’re not a facebook friend, then either I don’t personally know you or you are resisting the facebook craze. I understand. I resisted, too. But trust me, you don’t want to fight it. Facebook is fabulous. It is a great way of keeping up with everyone, sharing pictures and it is just all around good fun. Join now. Okay?

So, go check my facebook page and get my mom’s email address. Send her a note and tell her that regardless of whether you think I am crazy or not, I am training smart and that I have lots of wonderful people looking out for me.

(If you’ve been in this boat before, trying to convince your far-away family that you really are okay despite the insane commitment you’ve made, drop me a line.)

Beach Weekend Report

Yes, I did go to the beach. No, I didn’t actually GO to the beach. I will explain.

Early Saturday morning Beth and made the trip to Sarah’s family’s beach house in Rehoboth. Nice easy trip, with one pit stop for gas during which I noticed that Erin’s bike (which I was transporting so she could ride with me Sunday) was trying to escape. Darn bike rack. I had tightly bound it in, bungeed it, locked it with my chain lock, and still it came loose. Some nice hillbillies, I mean gentlemen, helped me secure it again.

We arrived at the house around 11 am just as the rain started. Boo! We hung out with the girls and Sarah’s awesome parents for a little while and then decided to get out in the rain for our 8-miler. It was actually pretty great. The rain kept us cool and we got to explore the town. Rehoboth is such a different place than it was when I was last there about 10 years ago.

As we approached the house during the last 10 minutes of the run the sun appeared. Boy was it hot and muggy! I am actually glad we had the weather we did. Of course, the sunshine didn't last long. Maybe 30 minutes at the most.

Fast forward to the evening. We had a wonderful dinner at the Cultured Pearl – a contemporary Japanese restaurant where we enjoyed tons of yummy sushi. I highly recommend it. The girls headed out on the town afterwards and I went back to the house to go to bed. An Ironwoman-in-training needs her sleep! I felt like a party pooper, but everyone understood. Such is my life.

Sunday morning Erin accompanied me on my 40-mile ride. Another crappy weather day, though I think this time around I would have preferred the heat. We rode south from Rehoboth to Fenwick Island.

For the first half we were cruising along at around 20-22 mph. I was pretty impressed with myself, since this is much faster than my typical average. Actually, first I was convinced that my bike computer was off. I thought maybe the settings got reprogrammed. Then as we turned onto a side street to make the turnaround to head back I posited that perhaps my increased speed was due to the bike fit. I knew that being properly fitted can impact your speed. Before my fit I was saying I didn’t care so much about speed – I just wanted to stop hurting on the bike. I had a little moment of celebration with myself and started calculating how quickly I could get 112 miles (the IM bike leg distance) accomplished at that rate. And then……

Wooosh! Holy cr*p! As we turned back onto Route 1 to head north it felt like a hurricane. I am only slightly exaggerating. Not only was it windy, but the precipitation might have actually been hail. It was hitting us hard and stinging. Geez. We pushed through…at an average pace of speedy 11 mph. Good training but not fun. Not fun at all. Erin was such a trooper!

We arrived home, got cleaned up, and then hit the road to come home. And that was the beach weekend. I did get to see the sand, as part of my trip up Route 1 had a view of the beach. Sigh.

In the end, though, it was a great weekend. Lots of fun time with the girls, training accomplished, and a nice weekend away. I can’t explain how much it meant to me that Beth and Erin joined me for my workouts. It went from being a source of anxiety to something really fun.

One of the many lessons here is that we (those of us in training) should give those around us a chance to become involved. My friends are very supportive of my endeavor, and this weekend they showed that in a new way.

Another lesson is that it is fun to work out with people who are not your usual training partners. So what that my ride was all in zone 1? It was a nice change of pace for me and I think that my girlfriends may have a little more appreciation for what this whole training thing is all about now. For one thing, Erin pointed out at the end of our ride that it was only one-third of the distance I will do for IM. Good point.

Finally, I am glad that I didn’t let training and team activities prevent me from having a life outside of the sport. I can’t say I’ll be able to do this much over the next 4+ months, but I am so glad I did it now.

Feed me!

Tough but good week so far. So far I’ve done all of the scheduled workouts. Not unusual for me, but still. The Conte’s ride went well Tuesday. I was SO tempted to ride easy and skip the crit all together and just ride Military with the “C” group. But I didn’t. Partly because I blogged that I would do it, partly because I knew it was good for me.

I did it 4 times. It hurt, but I would have to admit that it might have hurt just a little less than last time. I think my heart rate was a tad lower this week, too.

Wednesday morning I opted for a solo, 60-min, zone 2 run and I really enjoyed it. Grooved to my music, took a new, different route, and appreciated the absolutely gorgeous weather. Funny thing – riding the elevator back to my condo I saw a neighbor and commented what a great day it was for a run. I told him the weather was about 62 and breezy. When I turned on the TV I was impressed that I guessed the temperature exactly right. How ‘bout that?

Wednesday afternoon I lifted. For a couple of months I’ve been following the “ME” (Muscual Endurance) workout. It basically called for lighter weights, 12-25 reps. I never before did such high reps (25!), but I trusted the plan and did it. It was a nice change of pace.

Yesterday’s workout was “AA” (Anatomical Adaptation – no, I don’t really know what that means). Same exercises as ME (squats/leg press, lat pull, seated leg curl, chest press, calf raise, seated row) but higher weights and 3 sets of 10 reps.

I went back up to my old weight for squats (what I lifted when I regularly did 10-12 reps). Ummm, yeah. Not too smart. I was hurting by the end of the first set. For whatever reason, I decided that since I was already hurting, I would just go for it and keep going hard. Pretty sure that was not what the plan intended. In fact, I am pretty certain that somewhere in there it talks about amount of effort, and I recall something about it not being 100%. Oops. Oh well.

I had a great workout. Needless to say, I felt it afterwards. I could barely bend down to pick up my water bottle. It must have been a sight to see. I hurt today - but I hurt so good. I love this kind of pain. The kind that says, “yeah, I worked hard, I’m building muscles.” [Don’t worry Mom, I’m just sore – I didn’t injure myself.]

If you’re keeping track, you see that there’s been a lot of exercise this week. A little more than usual thanks to the 90-minute swim on Tuesday. My nutrition apparently needs a little work. I thought I was eating enough, but my body declared loudly yesterday and last night that I am not. Ugh.

Basic rundown of yesterday’s nutrition:

--Pre-run: Bowl of shredded wheat with soy milk
--Post-run: Glass of OJ, and bowl of steel-cut oatmeal with honey [yes, I see that there was no protein here]
--Mid-morning: Cup of chocolate soy milk with scoop of protein powder
--Lunch: Whole wheat spaghetti with kale and roasted potatoes; Banana with peanut butter; Hershey miniature (special dark – yummm)
--Post-workout: Cup of skim milk with protein powder; Salad with kidney beans, feta, kalamata olives and flaxseed oil; Pineapple
--Dinner: Chicken/tofu/broccoli stir fry with brown rice
--Dessert: Snackwell cookie (1) (random find in the pantry), 2 Hershey miniatures

Sounds good, huh? Well, I thought so. That is, until I woke up -- only an hour after going to bed -- hungry. I drank some water. Just an hour later I woke up again -- starving. I got out of bed, ate, and spent the next hour trying to fall back asleep.

I guess I just need to eat more. I wasn’t hungry when I went to bed, but I pretty much felt hungry the entire day. So does this mean I am officially training for Ironman?

Someone please send me a pizza! Or if anyone wants to cook for me or take me out for a meal, please…. * I feel like I can’t keep up with my nutritional needs these days. Maybe I’ll just start eating lots of chocolate. And cupcakes.

Anyhow, this morning I made it to swim practice. I told Holly I would be there, and I didn’t want to be a liar. Swam well for 45 minutes and then my boo-boo happened. I hit my leg on the rough bricks on the swim ladder and cut my foot. It is really minor, but for fear of bleeding up the pool, I called it quits. Such a wuss!

Just one more workout to squeeze in before it is *finally* a rest day. Since I have dinner plans with the girls tonight at Brabo, I will spin at lunch time instead of going to the team workout at Hains Point. The training plan calls for 60’ zone 2 on the bike. Boring! I can do it, though. I am sooo ready for the break.

* Note that all meals must be carefully scheduled around sleeping hours, workouts, and this little thing called a JOB.

Build

I haven’t quite figured out the deal with exactly how Coach Ed puts together the training schedule. I guess I could read the Traithlete’s Training Bible, where I know it is explained. [Yes, I have a copy, and yes, one day, I promise I will return it to you, Joe, along with the two swimming books you loaned me when you first talked me into this. One day I might actually read them.]

Anyhow, it seems that there are generally 2-3 “build” weeks followed by a “recovery” week. During the build you – um – build. You gradually increase your volume. There’s a lot more to it, but that’s the basic idea.

I am in the first build week (the schedule says calls it “Base 1”) of my 140.6 plan. Woo-hoo. And building, I am. Monday morning boot camp kicked my butt. Literally. Dare I call it fun.

Monday afternoon I did a nice zone 2 run around the tidal basin. I took the long way around so I could get in 40 minutes.

This morning was my first “long” swim. Instead of the usual 60 minutes, in the weeks leading up to an Ironman (IM) race, the team rents the pool for longer periods so that the IMers can swim longer. Although my IM is not until November, now is as good a time as any to work on my endurance. Plus, with my first half-IM coming up in less than 5 weeks, I figure I should start actually swimming the distance of the race.

I did it. I swam for 90 minutes. It was great! I felt so good in the water. There was a little bit of clock watching, but not much. Mostly I was just trying to follow the workout (Coach Ed writes a plan for us that includes different length sets with drills, speedwork, etc.) and keep track of my laps.

When all was said and done, I estimate I swam about 2600 yards. Google tells me that is 1.61 miles. Way further than I ever swam before. The distance for the half is 1.2 miles, and the full is – you guessed it – 2.4 miles. I am well on my way, and am full of a lot more confidence going into the half.

A few other notes about the swim. I felt slow. Not unusual. I was comfortably swimming along at an easy pace. At one point I had a couple of teammates on my toes and I decided to speed up and get out of their way. Surprisingly, it didn’t make me feel exhausted. I tried going faster for a few more laps and I was fine. How funny would it be if the reason I am so slow was simply because I am just not trying to go faster? I need to work on this and see if I can truly sustain the faster pace.

The other point I’d like to note is that I felt really good coming out of the water. Maybe I should stick to my slow, leisurely pace. I could have kept swimming. Or, more importantly, I could have gone for a nice bike ride…and, I don’t know, then maybe a little run.

I feel like such a swimmer today. Like all of my work on form, and concentrating on the million different tweaks to my stroke might be paying off. It feels great!

Tonight is the famed Conte’s ride. Last time at the ride I did the crit a record 4 times (versus the 3 times I had done it at most previous rides).

What’s the crit? Well, you might call it hell, pain, or torture. Some really like it. I dread it. It is a .8 loop through a neighborhood in North Arlington. At the end of the loop is a quarter-mile stretch that is straight up hill. Really. UP HILL. 18% grade incline to be exact.

Ouch. The strong guys fly up it. The rest of us grind our way up. I usually get my heart rate near my lactate threshold (max) by the end. It hurts. But I know it makes me a stronger cyclist in the long run.

My friend T inspired me a few weeks ago when she told me that she had done the crit 5 times. So impressed! I decided to work towards that. Perhaps by the end of the season…

The plan is to do 4 loops tonight. By the way, after we do the crit, we head out Military Road for a couple of hilly miles (aka Military Misery). All told, the workout is 11-12 miles and is one of the hardest parts of my training regimen.

Tomorrow morning is a 40-60 minute zone 2 run. I am debating showing up at track practice since I could save a little time by doing this one on my own (since I won’t have to drive to the track) and I don’t really need the track for this. It is fun to be with the group, but then again, if I am on my own I can listen to music and when I go to the track I sometimes wind up running alone anyhow. Choices, choices, choices.

Balance

If you’re a triathlete, or an athlete of any kind, you can probably relate to what is on my mind. Heck, if you have any hobby or activity about which you’re passionate, you will understand.

I train.

A lot.

If you’ve been reading, you know that a typical week has me doing 9-10 workouts, getting up before the crack of dawn most mornings, and spending most of my weekend days doing something triathlon-related.

And I love it.

I really do.

Well, I have bad days sometimes, but overall, I really enjoy it.

I love the challenge, I love the feeling of accomplishment, and I love being part of the sport of triathlon.

I also LOVE my team.

When I stepped onto the track yesterday morning at 6 am and jogged among my teammates as we warmed up for boot camp, I smiled. They’re my family.

Believe it or not, I do have friends who are not triathletes. And I love them, too. But as I expected when I signed up for Ironman, my time with them over the past few months has been limited, at best.

For some reason, not everyone goes to bed between 8 and 9 on weeknights. I guess they aren’t waking up at 4 or 5 o’clock in the morning. Slackers :)

Lately I’ve just been feeling all kinds of bad about not being able to participate in social activities. The fact is that if everyone is getting together at 8, I’m just not going to make it. Sometimes my friends have been able to meet me for an early for dinner, or I have been able to stay out later because it was a recovery week. Generally, though, I am rushing home to try to get to bed in time to get a full night’s sleep.

About a month ago my neighborfriends (the awesome gals that live in my building) proposed a beach weekend for June 20-21. Awesome! I looked at the calendar. All clear. …Of course that’s because the June schedule for the team hadn’t come out yet.

Soooo… as June gets closer Coach Ed sounds out a message talking about the “all hands” workout weekend planned for – guess what – June 20-21. It invovles a HUGE barbecue and FIESTA. Great.

Some excerpts from Coach’s message:

Hey folks – for many of you the weekend of June 21 is after your big races… It is also the weekend of the 120 mile ride (last long ride) for our IM USA [Lake Placid] people. Susan and I have planned for another “All Hands” ride that weekend and would really like to see a “sick” turnout… We have reserved a pavilion which can hold up to 250 people, obtained county permits to leverage the facility and ABC permits for those who’d like to enjoy some beer or wine. I’ll have bocci ball and horseshoes there, there are also volleyball courts and things like that. We’ll try to spice up our menu for the day a little bit.
***
Plan to hang out in the country for the afternoon and cheer for/support our Ironman USA people who will be finishing one hell of a hard weekend of training.
***
…We’ve gone an extra distance with the shelter to ensure that we have a fun day regardless of rain or shine. If you come out you can ride as far or short as you like, enjoy some grub and fun and then if the mood hits maybe run out and set up a Team Z aid station somewhere on the lonely roads of the 120 milers. You have no idea what a piece of chocolate can do for a person at mile 84 of a 120 mile day.

So, I’m a little torn now. Doesn’t that sound like fun? Go for a ride in the country, have an awesome lunch, then go out and support our teammates who are doing their final big training weekend before Ironman USA.

But wait, that’s not all.

This weekend is also the weekend of DC’s first ITU race. Many professional triathletes will be in town competing in this race, and there is also an amateur division in which some of my DC Tri Club friends will be participating. There are opportunities to watch or volunteer.

Plus, earlier this week I got an invite to attend the VIP party the night before the race. I. Want. To. Go.

But I also want to spend time with the girls at the beach. It is like, dare I say, a vacation. And a great chance to spend time with friends I haven’t gotten to see much lately.

I know I need to make time for friends and maintain those relationships. But I feel totally left out of all of the team events and tri stuff happening while I’m away.

Add to that the fact that I still need to do my training and it makes me a little grumpy. Fortunately my training schedule is kind of light this weekend. Saturday morning when I arrive at the beach I will head out for an 8-mile run. I’ve tried to convince the girls to join me, but while they are all very fit, I guess doing 8-miles seems a little excessive to them. Maybe they’ll do part of it with me.

Then on Sunday morning I will do 40 miles on the bike. I’m excited that E is planning to join me for this. I will drive her bike up with me on Saturday.

I want to do it all. But I can’t.

Monday morning is boot camp (at 6 am). It rocks. And I want to be there.

So do I drive home Sunday afternoon and battle beach traffic to get home in time? Do I drive home late Sunday and avoid traffic, but then shorten my sleep? Or do I just skip it and know that there will be plenty of boot camps in my future?

I AM truly excited for the beach weekend. Really. I know I’ll have fun, as I always do when I get together with these awesome ladies. I am just having a hard time preventing triathlon from taking over my life completely.

Race for the Cure

Saturday morning I woke up bright and early (like most weekend days, I’m afraid) to participate in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. What a morning!

I ran this race as a show of support for the cause, but more significantly, to support my friend and fellow Junior Leaguer, K. She has been working hard this year to get herself in better shape, and I am so impressed by her efforts.

Over lunch recently I tried to convince her to join me for the Bright Beginnings 5k. I didn’t exactly succeed, but I was thrilled when she contacted me and said that she’d like to try the Race for the Cure.

It was so fun helping her get ready for her first ever race. I told her that any question she might have been thinking probably bounced around my brain at some point or another, so she should ask away.

And yes, I remember wondering whether there would be water and bathrooms at the start, and whether I should wear my race number in front or in the back.

We arrived at the start with time to spare, and then some. After waiting around and listening to speeches for 30 minutes after the stated start time, we were off. It was a fun day! We loved that the course was marked with kilometer markers, which meant we broke it down into fifths.

As with most races, towards the end things got even more challenging. That’s when you start to hurt and wonder if you’re going to make it. But K held strong, and at my urging (okay, insistence) even jogged across the finish line. Woo-hoo!

I will never forget the look of joy on her face as she completed her first 5k. I am honored to have been part of this race, and this day. Way to go, my friend!

The Latest

Hi readers! Just checking in. I am excited to report that as of Monday, June 1st I am officially following Team Z’s 140.6 Training Schedule. (140.6 is the Ironman training plan – it is the number of miles of the race). Up ‘til now I was on the 70.3 plan (half Ironman – get it?).

As of this weekend, I will be 5 months away from race day. That is way too soon and way too far away. Wow.

Rested
The bod is feeling a bit rested after having two whole weekends that didn’t involve racing in some way or another. This is a good thing. I had started to notice how difficult is was becoming to walk up the metro escalators. Fortunately, backing off just a little from training/racing was helpful and I feel like I am ready to build volume again.

This weekend I went for a long, easy 50-mile ride on the W&OD. It was really nice. I went solo because I spent the morning watching my friend Erin kick butt in her first ever sprint tri. [She rocked and I was so proud!]

I enjoyed being out on the trail for the first time in a while. While I did miss the company a little, I really liked that I wasn’t trying to catch up with anyone and no one was waiting for me. That was, until the water stop… [Insert foreboding music here]

The Fall
Around mile 42, I saw a sign for a trailside park with water fountains. It was time for a refill so I veered off the trail and into the park.

BOOM!

Next thing I know, Piggy is off to the right of the path, and I’m off to the left. It scared the bejeezers out of me.

I fell. Hard! I hit a small patch of mud, but that shouldn’t have derailed me. I still have no idea what happened.

My legs were really banged up….cut and bloody. My hand wasn’t doing too great either.

Mostly, I was freaked out. It all happened so fast. I had these sort of waves of crying/panic as I laid on the ground for several minutes. Much to my surprise, none of the picnickers in the park came over to see if I was okay. Maybe they were scared, too.

After calming myself down, I returned to the path to ride back to my car. It was pretty uncomfortable, but I made it. I told myself that if it were a race, I would have to push through. Thanks to a sympathetic biker on the trail who offered me some sympathy (and his phone) when he saw my bloody leg. Just a little compassion goes a long way.

I am really pleased that after only three days I am healing nicely. My whole left calf is black and blue (and green, yellow and purple) along with some nasty cuts. My right shin got banged up, but the bruising is minimal. My hand was initially pretty swollen with a hematoma right above my wrist, but it is almost totally back to normal now. My left arm, which I didn’t even realize was hurt until Monday morning, is sore but much better.

I am just so glad that the damage wasn’t worse. I’d be really upset if this affected my training. Piggy is doing okay, except for the torn saddle. I frankly despise the saddle, so this is probably a good excuse for a new one.

Bike Fit
Monday night I went for a bike fit at Spokes in Alexandria. I put out a request to the team for bike fitters and got a ton of recommendations. Mark at Spokes came highly recommended, and his price was right.

The whole process took about an hour and a half. He started off by taking measurements (of me and Miss Piggy) and then he tweaked my bike. He lowered the seat a bit, tilted the handlebars up, and adjusted the aero bars.

Last night I hit the Conte’s ride, and from the moment I got on the bike I knew there was a huge improvement. I didn’t realize how uncomfortable I had been until I wasn’t. Wow! Money well spent!

If you’re a cyclist and you haven’t had a bike fit, DO IT! Now.

I have read that it is the best investment you can make as a triathlete. I am actually looking forward to getting back on the bike now. I can’t wait to see how I feel after a long ride. I’ll keep you posted.