Support

As I have stated before, I have been absolutely amazed and overwhelmed at the support that I have received in the past couple of months. Wow! Words cannot even begin to describe how great it feels to have so many cherished friends, dear family members, and even casual acquaintances cheering for you.

After a number of tries, I finally have a website up and running that will make the fundraising process a little easier. From this point forward, all monies raised will go directly to Doorways.

Please consider making a donation by clicking here. Any amount… $5, $10, $25, $50 or $200 is greatly appreciated. Not just by me, but also by the wonderful staff and clients of Doorways for Women & Families.

I recently remembered a moment in which I was reminded that what seems like an insignficant amount of money to us, to others can mean so much. Back in 2006 while I was training for my first marathon, I was volunteering with Jubilee Jobs and was mentoring a woman from Ethiopia who was working hard to advance herself in the workplace.

I remember sharing with her my excitement about my upcoming race. At some point, among her many questions for me, she inquired about how much it costs to run a marathon. I’m certain that her curiosity was only about the registration fee, and not to the many other miscellaneous expenses like running shoes, clothing, race nutrition, etc.

I realized immediately that while the $95 fee to enter the race was a drop in the bucket to me, to her that was a hefty sum. I admit that I was embarassed to say how much I had spent to do something as "frivolous" as run a race. At that moment I was so aware of how incredibly fortunate I am.

My mentee worked diligently at a job that required her to arrive in the wee hours of the morning. Since she didn’t own a car, she took the bus everywhere she went. Her small studio apartment, if you can call it that, lacked a kitchen and a bathroom. She shared a bathroom down the hall, and used a hot plate for cooking. This lovely woman was thriving and she was happy. She was supporting herself and she was looking ahead to the future and trying to improve her situation.

I don’t know about you, but I think that we sometimes lose our perspective and fail to appreciate our good fortune. Aside from all of my many, many other blessings, I know that I am so lucky to have the life I do. When called upon to donate my time or my money, I remember that there are so many people who are less fortunate than I, to whom a "small" donation means more than we can imagine.

I’ll just leave it at that….for now. Thank you again for your generous support. Click here for my fundraising page, or here for more information about Doorways for Women & Families.

Holiday Weekend

Ahhhh, it is almost the holiday weekend. Thank GOODNESS! If you haven't noticed, I've had some type of race each of the past four weekends. And before that was the Columbia Brick-nic. I'm beat. I mean, I am really in need of a weekend where I sleep late.

I am going to take it easy this weekend and take a stab at camping. Ms. Piggy is coming along. We'll see how it goes. Have a great Memorial Day weekend, everyone!

Here are some pics from Columbia in which I don't look like a character on SNL. [Thanks again, Jeanne!]

I love, love, love you guys!

Yes, I am still delighted over Sunday's triumph. But right now, the joy that I just have to share is my appreciation for having a wonderful network of friends, family, and teammates who are just so awesome.

Whether you're helping me celebrate good news, or giving me tips/encouragment, I can't tell you how much I appreciate your support. It means everything to me. I love the comments on my blog, the notes on my facebook page, the emails, the high-fives, and the donations to Doorways. THANK YOU!

I don't think I have ever felt so supported. It practically brings me to tears. It is the best feeling!

Thank you for being part of my life, and my journey to Ironman.

(So far no response to my email to the race director asking if I won most improved - if you know Robert Virorito, please give him a nudge.)

Vindication

Today was a day I have anticipated for one year. If you’ve read my blog, you know that I had a lot of expectations for Columbia ’09.  I am delighted to report that the day was a success beyond my imagination.

As most of you know, last year the Columbia Triathlon was my first ever tri. I vividly recall my trepidation. In fact, the week of the event I posted a request for advice on the DC Tri bulletin board. My question was whether I should withdraw from the event. Based on my swim times in the pool, and the practice bike/run I did on the course two weeks before the event, I was seriously concerned that I wouldn’t make the cutoff times and would be disqualified from the race.

I was not looking for assurances when I posted my question. I really just wanted to know if folks thought I should bother showing up. However, the supportive folks of the club convinced me to go for it, and told me not to worry about being prohibited from finishing. So I went for it. I finished, but with the medevac drama (resulting in a 10-15 minute holdup) my final time was 4:19:52.

After that, I decided last year that I would aim for Columbia’s “Most Improved” award. I have trained pretty solidly for a year. I am so happy to be able to say that all of the hard work and sacrifice seem to have paid off.

The Plan

Below I laid out my plan for the day. I wish I could say that I followed it to the letter, but it didn’t quite work out that way. Long story short, the one mile backup to get into the park put me way behind schedule. I thought I left enough time, but I didn’t. I got into transition 10 before minutes closing. Once it closed you were not allowed back in. I stayed calm, but it was stressful. I missed the opportunity to warm up in running shoes, and I was not permitted to swim because by the time I got to the swim start the race had already begun. Nevertheless, I set up my area and got out in time.

I was a little flustered, but I found a bench and sat to get into my wetsuit. I had heavily sprayed myself with  olive oil to avoid getting stuck in my wetsuit like I did at practice the other day. Weird, but it worked.

I saw a Team Z-er, and introduced myself. He helped me zip up, and we talked for a little while. I started to calm down.  I headed over to the DC Tri Club tent and saw a bunch of my friends. That was calming but I was still quite stressed. Then my friend Sandy appeared, and said she had read my post about my plan, and asked me to go though it with her. I am pretty sure she thought she was doing this for her own sake, but it was exactly what I needed at that time. Thanks, Sandy. It really calmed me down.

I hung out with the girls until my wave was ready to enter the water.  I don’t know if it was the higher water temperature, or just the benefit of experience, but getting into the lake wasn’t as traumatic as it was last year. Last year I actually stood there saying “I don’t want to get in the water…No, I’m not kidding, I really don’t want to get in there.” This year I just walked right in and treaded water until the start.

Swim

It wasn’t a fabulous swim, but it was heads and tails above last year. I swam straight (for the most part). The best comedic moment came when I decided to take a break and backstroke. After a few strokes I looked up and asked out loud “Where am I? Why is everyone swimming in the opposite direction?” Somehow I turned around 180 degrees. Glad I caught that quickly.

Overall, the swim was good. Although I did get somewhat trampled on by the subsequent wave (orange swim caps – I couldn’t come up with any good nicknames for them like I did for last year’s purple “people eaters” and “greenie meanies”), it was only one wave and it was okay because I expected it.

I made it out of the water in 41:13. Last year was 46:48. I shaved a full five and a half minutes of my time.  Still not fast, but I just don’t care. I improved. Yay.yay.yay me!

Time 41:13 (.9 mile swim)– 87/88 age group (what?) – 1477/1569 overall (Last year 46:48 – 1695/1730 overall)

T1

I walked into transition and was very conscious of keeping my heart rate down.

Times are not yet posted for transition 1, but I can pretty much guarantee that I obliterated last year’s time of 9:14. [I could calculate it based on the times for everything else, but I’m too tired.] I joke that I have no idea what the heck I was doing for over 9 minutes last year, but today I was reminded that not only did I do the whole clothes changing thing, I also put gloves on my wet hands and had to run back for my helmet which I had forgotten.( Fortunately that was pointed out to me before I reached the mounting line or I would have been automatically disqualified.)

Thank goodness my wetsuit came off easily. Laugh all you want, but I think I’m sticking with the Trader Joe’s spray olive oil.

Bike

My sheer and utter joy at my improved swim time lasted me all the way through the bike course. Seriously. I was so happy with myself. Tons of people passed me on the bike. There were a few swim waves after mine. I didn’t care a bit. I was out there for myself, and I was just doing my best.  I was so happy I couldn’t believe it. I did pass some folks, but not many.

Not much more to tell about the bike course. It was hilly and brutal. I was pretty good about pedal stroke, but I need to practice not mashing so it isn’t so challenging. My heart rate was stayed in zones 3-4.

I was aiming to break 2 hours. Really, I wanted to do the bike course in 1:55. Last year’s time was 2:10 with the medevac delay (around 10 minutes). I realized around mile 18 that I was going to make my goal. Around 21 I realized I had a shot at 1:50. I entered the park at 1:45. The chip time is 1:51:07. I don’t think that is right. [It has been pointed out to me since posting that the bike time listed probably includes the transition time - I'll do that math tomorrow.] Still, I am elated. I shaved around 20 minutes off my time. Yay yay yay again.

Bike (25 miles) 1:51:07 – 69/88 age group; 1348/1569 overall. (Last year: 2:10 – 1677/1730 overall).

T2

I’m not sure exactly what happened here. I ran in, I changed shoes, I grabbed my race number and I was out. Somehow this only took 2 minutes, which was 49/88 in my age group and 611/1569 overall. I am not questioning this.

Transition 2: 2:00 49/88 age group; 1477/1569 overall. (Lst year 4:37)

Run

If I was happy before, now I was downright elated. So much so that I couldn’t wait to tell someone. And I did. I told the first person I could find how excited I was about my improvement. I didn’t mean to brag, but I was just so thrilled. She was really nice about it and seemed to appreciate my enthusiasm.

My legs felt heavy, but I was on top of the world. I just kept shuffling along. I had nothing on me (Garmin, footpod) to tell me how fast I was going. I felt slow. I hit the 1 mile mark under 10 minutes. Wow. I was quite surprised.

Last year’s time was 1:09:13. I hoped to shave 2 minutes off that. I had been thinking about my 10k times, and they were both around 1 hour so I didn’t think I could do much better on a hilly course after having swam and biked.

 Only afterwards did I realize that I’ve only done two official 10k’s before– one when it was 90 degrees and once when it was cold and rainy. I didn’t think about the 10-miler I did where I hit the 10k marker in under 55 minutes.

I kept moving and was shocked every time I hit a mile marker and realized I was still running 10-minute miles on that brutally hilly course. I was hurting, but it was just not an issue. I simply ignored the pain. I was so focused. I was happy to see a bunch of familiar faces on the run – some Z-ers, some DC Tri Clubbers. I made some new friends, too.

I incorporated one-minute walk breaks roughly every 9-11 minutes depending on where I was as far as hills and how I felt. It worked for me and I hope to do the same at Ironman if I can.

Run time:  10k (6.2 miles) 1:02:18. 61/88 age group, 1161/1569 overall. (Last year 1:09:13 – 1474/1730 overall).

Final time: 3:36:36. 71/88 age group; 1355/1569 overall. (Last year: 4:19:52 – 1654/1730 overall) 43 minutes faster.

Next time:

Did anyone notice that there was nothing about nutrition in my well thought out race plan? Me neither. I didn’t really give it much thought. Traditional wisdom is that someone my weight should take in 200-300 calories per hour for an event like this. When I run, I know exactly what I need. I have a routine that works for me. I haven’t gotten there with tri’s.

Before and during the race I consumed:

·        

Half a bagel and a glass of juice pre-race

·        3 chomps (gummy things) and 1 gel and half a bottle of water on the bike

·       1 small cup of Gatorade and a cup of water on the run.

This is bad, bad, bad. It worked for me, but it will not work in the future as the distances increase. I didn’t even realize it until afterwards.

I am totally exhausted, but giddy. I feel ready to conquer to world, and more importantly, Ironman Florida. I am so incredibly satisfied that I have made such progress. My aforementioned training partner and friend kept telling me how improved I am, but I thought he was exaggerating. In fact, yesterday he said he couldn’t wait to see my face when I saw my times for Columbia because he said he knew I was going to be pleasantly surprised. I am glad he was right and appreciate his faith in me. (And by the way, he kicked butt himself today. It was his first Olympic distance tri. He beat me, just like I expected him to.)

I don't know if I won "Most Improved" but I will find out. 

Here a before race picture, the one picture I have so far (thanks, Casey.) I didn’t plan to match, but now I think I’ll have to have a wardrobe of wetsuits to match whatever color swim cap I’m assigned.

 

Packing List

The big race is in two short days. I’m as ready as I’m gonna be. I did an easy 25-minute swim this morning. It went very well and it made me realize how far I’ve come in a year. Who knows if I’ll be faster on Sunday. If nothing else, swimming seems easier now. I definitely feel like I’ve improved. Someone please remind me of this next week if my times aren’t what I hope for.

I’m in the process of putting together my packing list. Of course, this is done in my Excel spreadsheet aptly named “packinglist.xls.” Naturally, there is a new tab for each trip I’ve taken in the past few years. This is not shocking to those of you who know me. J

I decided to use last year’s “Columbia” sheet as a template, and copied it to the end and named it – you guessed it – Columbia ’09. (Will there be a “Columbia ’10”? Who knows…)

It is amazing to me how I am modifying my packing list. The changes are small, but to me they evince how much I’ve learned in a year. For example, I deleted “bike jersey” from the list. No wrestling on a dry shirt onto a wet body in transition this year. What I wear into the water (underneath my wetsuit) is what I will be wearing when I cross the finish line.

I have also decided to trust the course’s water stations and not wear my hydration belt on the course. My only concern there is that I’m not sure if my tri jersey has pockets (I am picking up my new DC Tri jersey tonight) so I haven’t figured out what to do with my gels. I might use my SPIbelt instead of a race belt, as I did for the recent 5ks. It has a cool little pocket that expands way bigger than you would imagine is possible. I can pin my race number to it.

I think I’m ready. Woot!

Plan

I sent race pictures and a link to my blog to my team’s listserv. Mellowblonde commented on my “I need a hug post” with a great suggestion about using diaper cream for chafing. Thanks, woman! I checked out her great blog and discovered links to blogs of other team members. Awesome! I love reading what everyone else is up to.

[BTW, folks, if you don’t already use Google Reader, I highly recommend it. You can subscribe to all your favorite blogs, and when you log in it lists all of the new posts. It is the bomb! Email me if you want more info.]

So, one of the wonderful blogs gave me the idea to write out my plan for Columbia. I kind of have some vague ideas about what I’d like to accomplish (like kicking butt and not dying) but I decided to take this opportunity to write out how I hope the day will go. It should help me visualize the race. I’ve been having a little trouble with that lately. Even though I got through it last year, when I think of Columbia, frankly, I think of pain.

My nervousness makes me think of zig-zagging through the swim, struggling on the extremely hilly bike course, and pushing hard to get through the insanely hilly run.

Honestly, I don’t think it was quite that bad last year (except the swim part – that was ridiculous). I don’t know why I am stressing so much.

I remember smiling and cheering for myself as I finished the bike course (really, there are pictures!). And I remember as sick as I was and as exhausted as I was, having some fun interactions with the volunteers and other triathletes on the run course. I finished strong.

Here we go. This year’s plan:

Goals:
1. Have a nice easy swim. Sight to swim straight.
2. Quick transitions in which I act like I am actually in a RACE. (Last year’s T1 was 9:14. Yes, really.)
3. Pace myself and take it easy enough on the bike course to save energy for the run (I am a tad nervous about this one).
4. Run strong and steady.
5. Try to stay in or below Zone 4 or below the entire race.

Plan:

* Get to race site early enough to leisurely set up my transition area and lay out all of my gear. As a newbie I really stressed about this. Now that I am an experienced veteran (I have done a grand total 2 Olympic tris, one sprint tri that turned into a spritn duathlon, one true duathlon (Olympic), and one relay), I love transitions.

Pre-race
* Do an easy 5-10 minute jog to get the blood flowing and work off some pre-race jitters.
* Put on wetsuit (way easier said than done) and apply lubricant (spray olive oil is what I have in the house and I know it works) to make removal easier.
* Get in the freezing cold water for an easy swim warmup.
* Stand around and wait for around an hour for my swim wave to start. Sip water and munch on a clif bar or other race nutrition while I wait.

Swim:
* Start towards the back to avoid being trampled on by the rest of my wave.
* Make the first 100 strokes the EASIEST of my life (I can hear Coach Ed’s voice in my head).
* Stay to the right to avoid being beaten down by the fast swimmers in subsequent waves.
* Sight often, and don’t add extra distance by swimming way off course.

T1:
* Transition smoothly and quickly.
* Get the wetsuit off while sitting on the ground.
* Put on socks, then cycling shoes. Stand up, put on sunglasses, then helmet. Grab piggy and run to the mounting line.

Bike:
* Have fun on the bike course.
* Good pedal stroke and no mashing.
* Keep the cadence high and the heart rate in zone.
* Eat and drink enough (still experimenting with what this means).

T2:
* Get in, get out, and get going.
* Remove helmet. Change shoes. Grab race number belt to put on while running. Grab some sport beans or Gu to take during the run.

Run:
* Nice and easy start to the run.
* Negative splits.
* Finish strong and smiling.

There you have it. It will be a good day. I know I can do this. I did it last year with a heck of lot less experience and knowledge under my belt, and with a really bad chest cold. Plus this year I have the beloved Miss Piggy with me. We’re gonna rock!

Kinetic Weekend

I’m still here. Training and doing my thing.

Last weekend was the Kinetic weekend. Kinetic is the name of the race – I don’t know where it came from. It was at Lake Anna, which is about 2 hours away. Being the week before Columbia, I considered not participating. But it sounded like fun to be part of a team race where everyone goes down, camps or stays in group houses, and has big cookouts for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

I decided that I would take it easy and participate in a relay. So I chose the bike leg of the sprint distance (there was also a half Ironman distance).

What a fun weekend! For some reason I volunteered to help with meal prep all day on Saturday since I wasn’t racing the half. Somehow I missed the part about needing to be at the race site at 5 am for that. It was pitch black as three of us bumbled around with flashlights making breakfast for the team.

The highlight of the day was cheering on the racers on the bike course. About 7 of us headed out to the course with our folding chairs, cowbells, and horns. We were all dressed in team colors (various shades of green). There we sat for almost 3 hours, hooting and hollering at all of the cyclists. My teammates were hilarious and made the experience a lot of fun.

Sunday rolled around and it was my day. I felt good and ready to go. I met my teammates with whom I’d be relaying and we picked up our race numbers. The volunteer apologized as she handed us numbers 666. Yup, that’s right. 666. Fortunately, I am not superstitious. My teammates seemed okay with it, too. You would think they could have taken that number out of circulation. We got bodymarked (666 on both arms, both legs, and ages on our calves – oy!). The reactions we got from folks walking around with 666 tattooed on us was pretty amusing.

Pre-race pics:

The race went well. I definitely liked not having to swim. I just waited in the transition area and when our swimmer arrived I removed the chip from her ankle (it was on a Velcro band) and put in on myself. I ran the bike out, mounted and started on my way.

As I left the transition area and headed up the hill I saw a bunch of Team Zers cheering. A couple of them recognized me and started cheering for me by name. That was so great!

Another teammate called out “mashing.” That is what you’re *not* supposed to do. It means putting pressure on the pedal in the downstroke instead of using your energy to pull the pedals up and forward. That was helpful and was a good reminder for the entire ride.

As I was leaving the park a 45-year old woman dressed in all black passed me. And then I passed her. And she passed me. I decided to try to get ahead of her. It was a fun game of chase on the hills of Lake Anna. I would fall back and lose sight of her, and then catch up. Finally, as we were getting close to the end, I was about to catch her and potentially pass her and…. kaplunk. I heard something hit the ground.

There was no one around me. I looked and I still had my water bottle. I looked back and saw I had lost my seat bag, which I had removed and replaced [apparently not well] when I attached my race number to my bike. Dagamit!

I carefully slowed down, came to a stop, laid my bike on the side of the road, and jogged in my stupid, freakin’ bike shoes back to my bag. When I say jog, I mean I awkwardly hobbled along making a racket. Bike shoes have big metal cleats on the bottom that make the front part higher than the back. Miss Dressed-in-Black rode off, never to be seen again. Oh well.

I had a good race. I wanted to be faster than I was, but I just wasn’t. I had to remind myself a few times of how far I’ve come. I remember just 14 months ago taking 55 minutes to ride from Clarendon to the Washington Monument. That’s about a 6 mile trip. Now I can do it in about 32 minutes with rush hour traffic.

I did everything I was supposed to do. I focused on keeping my cadence between 90-110 rpm, and most of the time I was over 100. Excellent! I tried to pedal in a circle and not mash. I kept my heart rate steadily in Zone 4. I felt pretty good out there and had fun.

My final time was 1:09, around 15 mph average. I was hoping for closer to an hour. [I guess I would have been closer if I hadn’t had to stop to retrieve my bag.] It was great coming back into the park to the cheers of the team. I made my way back into transition and the runner removed my chip and took off for the 5k. Our team placed 11 out of 22 relay teams. Not too shabby.

The rematch, Cat versus Columbia, is in just 5 short days. I am ready! My hands are still numb, but improving a little each day. I have seen Dr. Keith, and talked to my friend the ER doctor. I just need to wait this out. Grrrr. It appears I really did a number on my median nerves.

I am ready to conquer Columbia. By conquer I mean improve my time from last year, and not feel like an elephant is standing on my chest after crossing the finish line. Shouldn’t be too hard. Stay tuned for that race report next week.

Still numb and tingly

It is Tuesday. My hands are still numb. It feels like they’re getting better, but I am getting really tired of this. Boooo.

It is a recovery week (hooray!) and next weekend I am taking it easy. The Team is doing the Kinetic races at Lake Anna. I'm going down for the weekend. I might join a relay team for the Kinetic Half and jog – not run – the run leg on Saturday.

I am also scheduled to do the bike leg of the sprint distance on Sunday (18 miles, I think). I will probably race that, but it should not wear me out. I mean, I hope not. I have never just done part of a triathlon before.

My hope is that next Monday I will have nothing to complain about – other than being back at work. ;) No pain, no numbness. Just rested and ready for another training week. Oh yeah, and ready for the following weekend which is the long-awaited Columbia Triathlon. Ooooooh.

Random additional thoughts to share:

1) The race results are up from Saturday’s 5k. I am delighted to share [brag] that my 26:28 time had me finishing 4/45 in my age group (F 30-34), 80/313 overall, and 29/206 females. Yay, me! [I get to brag now since the rest of the time I lament how slow I swim and bike.]

2) My feelings about Sunday’s awful rain ride have been echoed repeatedly by teammates on our listserv. It turns out that it was a tough day for everyone. At least 10 people, including a friend of mine, went down at the scary, slick railroad tracks.

3) I swam a mile this morning in about 45 minutes. This is slow for most, but great for me. That means that if all goes according to plan I will be able to shave at least a few minutes off of my (.9 mile) swim time (was 46:48 last year). Yes! Stay tuned.

4) I really appreciate all of your support. Comments, emails, calls, donations, it all keeps me going. I thought about this a lot during my tough ride. Thank you!!!

Hangin' Tough

Weather.com and I are no longer friends. The forecast for Sunday, according to them, was for temps in the 50’s all day, a 5-10% chance of rain from 7-10, and a roughly 25% chance from 10-1. Do you know what that means? Let me explain.

Less than a 40% chance means it will NOT rain. 40-60% means it might rain. 60% and over means it probably will rain. Is that so complicated?

So weather.com, that means you were wrong! Because from the time I left my house around 6:30 am, until the time I returned roughly 8 hours later, it rained. Constantly.

I figured I would be fine with my new, sporty rain jacket. It didn’t occur to me until the 5 mile mark when I went through a puddle that saturated my entire lower body that I could have done better. The plastic bags in the shoes trick would have been smart. Hindsight.

At that point I looked at my odometer and thought, “Great – only 55 miles left.”

Being part of the team made such a difference yesterday. For starters, I found a buddy to ride with at the beginning - a nice change from the last few rides. In addition, all team rides are supported. That means that yesterday there were 5 “sag” drivers out with us. They basically drive around the course and make sure everyone is doing okay. Sometimes they stop at the turning points to direct us. Our cue sheets provide their phone numbers and we can call them if we need any type of assistance.

On a previous cold and rainy ride, a sag helped me out when I mentioned that my head hurt. It turned out my pony tail was digging into my head and she helped me fix it. She also provided me a new cue sheet since mine had gotten so wet it tore in half. (Lesson learned: keep the cue sheet inside a Ziploc.) It is so valuable to have support out there. Just knowing they are around helps you keep going.

Mike was the one sagging for those of us on the 60-mile ride. He was wonderful. At around mile 45, my buddy and I stopped for a potty break and he was there waiting. She decided she’d had enough and accepted a ride back to her car. When he offered me a ride I told him that I was going to finish this ride if it killed me. He said it just might.

At that point, I was so cold and exhausted I could barely pull up my pants after using the porta potty. My hands were completely numb and I could barely shift. I had already given up shifting with my left hand because it was too difficult. Braking was no fun either.

But I kept going. I reminded myself over and over again that I want to be an Ironwoman. I had to hang in there and tough it out. It is the same mental toughness I contemplated during the 5k.

I rode along and began making up songs. Buy me a drink one day and maybe I’ll share with you the Ironwoman Cat theme song. There’s a line about numb genitals. I crack myself up.

Some 5 hours and change later I made it back to my car. A miracle! I thought I’d be elated, but I was just cold, wet, and tired. I heated up the car and hoped that the feeling in my fingers would come back after a few minutes in front of the warm vents. I needed to rack my bike. I also needed to remove my helmet and change my clothes – neither of which is easy to do when you can’t feel your fingers.

I came this close to wearing my helmet for the drive home, but after struggling for a few minutes I got it off. I also removed my wet socks and shirt, and barely got on dry versions.

The fruit punch Endurox I purchased this week to try as post-workout nutrition did not go down easily. I got drank about half of it and couldn’t take anymore. Yuck. So I snacked on some trail mix on the drive back. It has protein, carbs and fat, right?

I got home, took a hot bath, and felt much better except for my still numb fingers. So nothing got done last night except for the consumption of whatever calories I could force myself to eat. Stouffer’s Mac and Cheese, a Cadbury crème egg – excellent nutrition for an athlete… It did the trick though and I slept through the night.

Unfortunately, I woke up still without any feeling in my hands and with a very sore neck. Grrrr… It is really hard to function like this. At least I can type. I just can’t really feel the keys.

But I got it done. And I am elated to report that I have no real injuries to report. My popliteus and my foot are fine. I’m a little sore, but nothing unusual. I am really proud of my efforts this weekend. I am on my way… 6 months until Ironman Florida.

Bright Beginnings 5k

I have done very few 5k's. They're very different than the longer races, and it was time for me to test myself. I had four goals for today:

* Set a PR (under 27:15)

* Don’t walk

* Negative splits (run the first miles slower than the last)

* Stay in Zone 4 for the first 2 miles, then zone 5a/b

 

Back in April 2006, I ran the Bright Beginnings 5k . It was my second 5k ever. I was soooo nervous. I had never been to Hains Point before.  I clearly remember how foreign it all was and how uneasy I felt.

Today, as I waited for the race to start, I realized I was having a full-circle moment, as Oprah likes to call it.  Quite a contrast from 3 years ago.

30 or so races later, I now have a routine.  I still get a little nervous for races, but it is no big deal.  Now Hains Point is a regular training location for me.

This morning I was set to go. Temps were in the 60s, humid with a light breeze.

The race start was delayed, but it didn’t phase me. I was ready!

Hit mile 1 at 8:10, feeling good.

Took a couple of turns and a volunteer announced we’d already gone 2 miles. My watch said around 15:something. I didn’t have a GPS or footpod on me, but I knew that wasn’t right. About a minute and a half later, I hit the mile 2 marker at 17:05. Oops, slowing down, but still within reach of the goal. I was paying close attention to my heart rate.

I was starting to hurt. My heart and lungs were tired. Fortunately, my legs felt good.

As I ran I was thinking of many stories I have heard recently about mental toughness. I knew I had it in me.

Kept moving those feet. I focused on keeping the turnover rate (cadence) high. Step, step, step, step, propelling the body forward…..

I can see the mile 3 marker up ahead. Looking at my watch, it is unclear if I can make it there quickly enough. I arrive and the clock says 25:something.

Am I really going to make it?

Keep going. Tough it out. Step, step, step, step. I cross the finish line. Whew.

So?

Goal:  Set a PR (under 27:15)

YES! 26:28. 47 seconds faster!

Goal:  Don’t walk

Yes! No Galloway method for Cat today.

Goal:  Negative splits (run the first miles slower than the last)

Not quite. Need to work on this.

Goal: Stay in Zone 4 for the first 2 miles, then zone 5

Yes! I’m beginning to think there is something to this heart rate training.

 

Tomorrow I ride 60 miles – 16 miles further than ever before. I made good use of the stick this after the race and hope that I am feeling good and ready tomorrow. 

 

 

I need a hug

I am not a happy camper today. I am cranky, tired, sore, and in pain. Trying to focus on the positives and snap out of it. The goal now is to get through the day.

After barely finishing the race yesterday, I tried to be smart about recovery. There was a pretty good spread of food available for racers: pizza, bagels, bananas, pretzels, cookies. Of course I had no appetite whatsoever. I forced myself to drink a powerade.

Before hitting the road I ate a banana. On the long drive home I made myself drink about 2 bottles of water and eat about a third of a bagel.

I think I need to be better about recovery nutrition, and am looking for advice on what to do.

When I got home I ate and drank what I could. I knew I needed to eat but my appetite just wasn’t there.

I think my system was in shock. I was so tired. But sleep just was not what on my body’s agenda. I tried to go to sleep several times. A couple hours later (around 10:30) I finally drifted off only to wake up two hours later with hunger pains.

Fortunately I thought ahead, knowing that middle-of-the-night hunger often strikes after a hard day. I had planned out what I would eat and went straight to the kitchen to eat my banana and peanut butter.

Back to bed for about 5 more semi-restful hours, and then I woke up about an hour before the alarm. I hate that.

I am sore today, but I am used to that. My foot hurts, but icing it seems to help and I am not really worried about it. What is really bothering me is chafing. Not so much chafing exactly, as we went beyond chafing to now having an open wound. Ummm, let’s just say the new black and hot pink tri shorts looked excellent, but were, umm, problematic.

You know when something hurts, and then you see how bad it looks and then it starts to hurt worse. Yeah. I started to cry when I saw how bad it is. I don’t even know how to treat it. The thought of Neosporin makes me want to scream.

I am at work (shhhh, no blogging at the office). I probably should have taken the day off. But what I am going to do? Take a day off after every race? My boss is not an athlete and doesn’t understand this craziness. He has made that clear. Maybe I should change sections and work for the guy who is a competitive cyclist. He would understand.

I will be okay. I need to hydrate and take care of myself today.

Duathlon Nationals (the Wet T-Shirt Contest)

[I know you’re curious about the title. I’ll explain later.]

It was a tough day today. Here’s an overview:

Positives:
I finished
No medical attention required
My popliteus (knee) didn’t hurt
Positive impact on the race
Time with great friends and fellow club members
Good training day
Race numbers did not require scrubbing to remove (they mixed with sunblock and sweated off)
Great leftover pasta waiting for me at home as a post-race meal
No sunburn
A rest day tomorrow is completely justified
I now have a good system for securing Miss Piggy for transport
I pretty much stayed in the appropriate HR zone
There are way more positives than negatives

Negatives:
It. Was. HOT! Really, really hot
I got nowhere near my goal time
Ouch! Foot pain

That’s a lot, huh? I had a really long drive back from Richmond to think about all of this. I am really enjoying this blogging thing. I don’t know if anyone other than Robyn is reading, but I am enjoying writing.

As you probably gathered, today I participated in the Duathlon Nationals in Richmond (10k run, 40k bike, 5k run).

Nationals – doesn’t that make you think championships? Yeah, me, too. Well, rumor has it that the duathlon folks weren’t receiving as much interest as they’d like, and long story short, the race director asked the DC Tri Club (of which I'm a member; not to be confused with my team: Team Z) to help increase participation.

There was no requirement/qualification for entry, and the Tri Club even offered an incentive for participation. (I need to look into that – I think there was a $10 reimbursement or something.) Oh, and did I mention the schwag (I did on Facebook). All entrants received transition backpacks, gender-specific performance shirts, baseball caps, and engraved pint glasses for finishers. (They had me at backpacks.) What the heck, I thought. It will be a good training event.


RUN 1
It was around 10:30 am and it was already in the 80’s and humid. I jogged around a little bit to “warm” up. Ha! At 10:50-ish, the 30-34 females gathered in the starting area. I looked around and knew. Just knew. The ladies looked like they should be at “Nationals.”

At most races, there are a variety of body types. However, this was one fit group. No matter, though. I wasn’t there to win. I compete against myself. The run started and I intentionally took it slow. I swear, I lost sight of most of the ladies within a couple of minutes. Seriously, I never saw them again.

There were 2 ladies in my age group who were about my speed at the beginning. I saw them a lot on that first 10k. I am happy to report that I paced myself, and consequently passed them later on in the 10k. There were another 2 who were slower and I didn’t see them again either.

The race course was crazy. Hilly with odd terrain. What is odd? Well, at one point we ran on gravel on the very the edge of the railroad tracks along a hill (very narrow and very easy to fall or twist and ankle) and then turned around at the end of the train that was parked there, crossed over the tracks, and ran on the other edge of the gravelly tracks. Ugh. My race was called the “On-Road Age Group Championps.” There was an off-road competition later this afternoon. I’d hate to see what they had to do.

I am not sure about my times. My wonderful Polar SD-200 heart rate monitor watch was stolen a few weeks ago. I am currently using an old Polar watch which has issues. Among these is the “quirk” that the watch spontaneously turns itself off and resets. Fun.

T1
Transition was difficult. I was hot and tired, even though I paced myself. I took my time. I was kind of shocked that I now needed to bike 25 miles.

BIKE
I don’t have much to say about the bike part. It stunk. I just kept pedaling (sometimes telling myself to do so out loud). I thought it was a two lap course until I saw a fellow club member on my second lap. He started before me, is fast, and I knew was ahead of me. I knew the mileage on my bike computer was off, but I just figured my bike computer wasn’t working. Wishful thinking. I still had another lap to go. Oops.

Probably the best part of the bike course was the ice water. Nope, not provided by the race. Courtesy of my knight in shining armor. The race was a very staggered race start. My long time training partner, and best friend, had started - and finished - his race before I even started. Lucky him for beating the worst of the heat. But he stuck around (for a looong time) to cheer me on and support me. And since we passed the transition area many times on the bike course (twice on each of the three laps), I got to see him and other cheering club members a lot.

During one of the earlier passes, I handed off one of my water bottles. The reason? I can’t really access the rear water bottle on my bike. I finished the first bottle, and couldn’t figure out how to switch them while I was moving. So I gave my knight the empty bottle. Yes, I need to work on this for future races.

During the next pass, he offered me my bottle – refilled. With ICE water. By now it was in the 90’s (my bike computer said 105 degrees. It felt like 105 degrees to me, but I am pretty sure that wasn’t correct.) Ice water was a welcome treat. Of course, getting anything not from the official aid stations is strictly prohibited. I didn’t care. I would have gladly taken a penalty (or disqualification). I received a couple of ice-water refills. Thank you!

Along the way I saw no less than 8 different people on the ground receiving medical attention. Heat issues seemed to be the culprit (no evidence of blood or damaged bikes). I focused on staying in my HR zone, keeping my cadence close to 90 rpm, and hydrating (with ICE water).

T2
I was so happy to get back to transition and be done with that ridiculous and very long ride. Except I still had another 5k to go. Sigh. The plan was simply to keep moving and keep my heart rate in zone 4.

Towards the end of the ride, however, my foot started to hurt. Kill, actually. A pain I had never felt before. It felt like there was a nail in middle of my foot, on the outer edge of my arch. Ouch!!! It is still there.

I tried to run my bike into transition. Then I tried to walk my bike into transition. Both hurt like hell. Standing still wasn't so great, either.

RUN 2
A few minutes into the run (I mean the shuffle for 30 seconds, walk for 30 seconds) I stopped, sat on a bench, took off my shoe and tried to massage my foot. Pointless. And painful. But the good news was that it hit me that I had thought about my popliteus once that day. Hooray!

Around the mile 2 marker I saw someone familiar walking along. I had almost caught him on the bike course. He was 21, which means that he started at least 30 minutes after me.

How did I know how old he was? Triathlon (and duathlon) has an interesting tradition. After writing your race number of all of your limbs in permanent black marker, they write your age on your calf.

I learned why at my last race. It is so you know who you’re competing against since for the sake of awards you are competitng against those in your age group. I guess this could motivate you to catch or pass people. Personally, I just like looking at people’s ages. Especially the those like the 83-year old woman at the Patriots Tri last year. Inspiring! (I want to be her.)

Anyhow, I caught up to Mr. 21-year-old and I told him that he couldn’t let me pass him. I suggested that we run 1 minute together, and walk 30 seconds. He was on board. And this is how we finished the last mile and half of the race. When I encouraged him to go on. He said, “No, I’m running with you.” I didn’t focus on how bad I hurt, and I’d like to think that I got him to the finish line quicker than he would have otherwise.

I don’t yet know my final time or where I placed. I know my time was way, way off from what I had hoped. (I wasn’t expecting the hills or the heat).

I just know that I finished and didn’t collapse on the ground.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to help out the new triathletes in the club with their training run. My job was “sweep” – aka run at the back and make sure no one gets left behind. I wound up running with a lovely new triathlete who said something I thought of all day today: it takes guts to show up and come in last. Well said!

I could have stayed home. I could have slept in. I could have gone to brunch. But I GOT IT DONE. Another race under my belt. Yay me!

Oh, and why was it a wet t-shirt contest? On the run course someone brilliant had the idea to equip the volunteers at the aid stations with hoses in addition to water and powerade. Here I was in my white top (and white sports bra) and I didn’t care. I relished the hose downs. It turns out that my top did not become transparent, but I had fun teasing the volunteers about the situation.

It was a hard day, but I am better for it. I can't think of anything I could have or should have done differently.

I thought a lot about Ironman today. Hopefully it will not be 95 degrees in Florida in November. I will get through the Ironman just like I got through today. Slow and steady. Racing smart.

A week in the life of an aspiring Ironwoman

Some of you might be wondering what I am doing during the 15-25 hours per week I am training. So let me tell you about my this week.

Monday
Training weeks start on Mondays. I had a run scheduled for the AM (before work) and a weight lifting session scheduled for the PM (usually my lunch break).

Well, I didn’t sleep well the night before. I believe sleep is ESSENTIAL and is the foundation of health. If you are sleep deprived, your immunity decreases, as does your body’s ability to repair itself. I could go on and on, but suffice it to say that sleep is one of my top priorities.

I decided not to get up at 5:30 and give myself a little more shuteye. I had plans that night so I couldn’t shift a workout to the evening. Therefore, I decided to combine workouts by run and weight workouts at my midday (lunchtime) workout.

I ran on the treadmill for 40 minutes in zone 2 (medium to light effort). Then a break, some stretching and ab work, followed by strength training (slightly shortened due to time constraints, but I got it done).

Tuesday
Up at 4:30 am for a swim workout. I swam. For almost an hour. That’s all I feel like saying about swimming.

The second workout of the day was cycling. This week was to be the first official Conte’s Tuesday Night Ride of the season. This ride is killer. Perhaps in a future post I will share with you the joy I experienced (not!) at my first Conte’s ride. (Would it surprise to hear that I got lost? Sensing a theme?)

I have a love-hate relationship with this ride. I know it is good for me, but it is so darn difficult because of the killer hills that I really dread it. But I go. Call me a glutton for punishment.

This would be my first Conte's ride as a team member and I was excited because Coach Ed promised me I would get some coaching. I got home and quickly got ready to go. I pedaled up the steep ramp of my parking garage, hit the street and whoosh, the wind hit me. It felt like a freakin’ tornado was coming. And it was drizzling. I turned right out of the garage, right around the building, right again, and then made a final right turn back into the parking garage. Ugh!

I was so frustrated. I needed a bike workout. Was I just being a wuss for not wanting to ride over to Conte’s? I flashbacked to the awful, grueling, ride I did in the freezing rain just a few weeks ago. I was NOT doing that again. No way.

So I rode around the garage for a few minutes as I mulled it over. And then about 10 minutes had passed and I thought, okay, I’ll just put in a good 20 minute ride and then go upstairs and cook dinner.

I rode up and down the garage ramps. I wove around the parked cars and poles. I got to 20 minutes and I was having a pretty good time. I was in a groove. I remembered how just a year ago those ramps *killed* me. Seriously. Sometimes I would take Ms. Piggy up the elevator to avoid the incredible effort that was required for me to make it up the ramp. I was began practicing pedal stroke, gearing, and I was flying. Woo-hoo.

I kept going until I got to 40 minutes. I spent the last 10 minutes zooming around the garage working on handling around the beams, and practicing getting into and out of the aero position. (I have aero bars (see below) on my bike which allow me to lean down on them and become more aerodynamic. In other words, I go faster. It takes a lot of practice to be comfortable here and I’m making progress.)

By the end, I had ridden around in circles for a total of about 10 miles. Not too shabby. If you had told me that I would have such a good workout in the garage I wouldn’t have believed you. And if you’d suggested it, I would have dreaded spending that much time in the dark garage riding nowhere. But it was fun. Yay for me for making the most of the situation.

[By the way, it turns out Conte’s cancelled the ride because of the thunderstorm. I learned this through various facebook status updates which indicated that the riders had instead gone out for fajitas and beers. Ha!]

Wednesday
Wednesday morning means track workouts. Yay! Or Boo. Okay, yay. These are a nice change of pace for me. [Thanks Coach Ed for succumbing to my plea to make the workout earlier.]

Team Z offers 16 different training plans – which one you choose is based on your goals and your base training level. This week’s workout for me read

10’ w/u, 4 x 20” sprints, Full R, 3 x 1 mile HZ3/LZ4, R/2’, W/D.

In English, that means warmup for 10 minutes, do 4 20-second sprints (recovering fully between each one), then run a mile in heart rate zones 3 and 4, then recover for 2 minutes, then do two more miles the same way.

It was a great workout. The sprints were fun, and are something I haven’t really done since HS track practice. [The secret is out: I was on the HS track team. I was best at the triple jump because of my background as a gymnast. I was also a sprinter. None of this prepared me for my six marathons or triathlons.]

Wednesday afternoon was supposed to be the second strength training session of the week. However, I was stuck at a conference and couldn’t get the gym for my usual lunchtime break. My plan to lift after work went out the window when I got home and decided that there would be a greater benefit to my well-being if I took the hour to clean and straighten up my condo. I "cooled down" by watching some Oprah on the DVR.

In any case, this weekend is a race weekend, and I didn’t want to risk having sore muscles for the race. [I am veering from the team's workout/race chedule for this one.]

Thursday
Thursday AM – another crack of dawn swim. This time I managed to get a coach to give me some helpful pointers. It was beneficial. Still, the 60 minutes dragged by. Slowly.

Thursday PM – The schedule called for an interval workout (10’ W/U, 5’ SLD, 2 x12’ Z4/5a R/2’, 10’ W/D) but since I am racing this weekend (Richmond Duathlon) I decided to take it easy and do 40 minutes (zone 2) on the spin bike.

Friday
Ah, the beloved rest day. Sleep in. Go out to lunch. Let those tired muscles recover. This week it is my quads and abs that are talking to me.

Saturday
Usually, Saturday is the long run day. The schedule calls for a 13 mile, zone 2 run. Since I am racing, I will do an easy brick (30 min bike/15 min ride) instead.

Sunday
Sunday’s schedule this week calls for a 50-mile bike ride in the morning, and a swim workout in the evening. I think I’d rather do the scheduled workouts, but I am already signed up for the Richmond National Duathlon (10k run, 25 mile ride, 5 k run), so that will be it for me.

Now you don’t have to wonder why: a) I’m tired; b) you haven’t seen/heard much from me lately.

Countdown

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Fundraising

The 7 days since I decided to officially register for Ironman Florida feel like forever. In some ways it just feels very natural. Like this is something I just need to do. That is, as long as I don’t think about how far the swim is, or how long I will be competing. When I do that, I am once again certain that I have completely lost my mind.

As I mentioned before, I registered for the race through the the Community Fund. That means that $775 of my $1300 registration fee is designated for the North American Sports Community Foundation. The Foundation helps those in the community who support Ironman events, with a heavy emphasis on providing sports opportunities for children.

I am asking you help me raise money for the part my entry fee that goes to the charity. However, it is my hope that we can go above and beyond this level and raise much more than $775.

As many of you know, I volunteer for a local charity called Doorways for Women and Families. Doorways' operates two shelters in Arlington for victims of domestic violence and homeless families. It is a remarkable organization and I have seen first hand the impact that they have on their clients and the community. Therefore, any money that I raise above $775 I will give directly to Doorways. My goal is to donate at least $1000 to them.


I am really thrilled to be embarking on this journey and truly appreciate the support of my wonderful family and friends. If you would like to donate to my cause, please click on the link below to use paypal. If you would prefer another method, please contact me. I will certainly not refuse cash, checks, food, hugs, etc.

Thank you so much!!!! You have no idea how much your support means to me.

For more info on Doorways for Women and Families: http://www.doorwaysva.org/ or the Ironman Community Fund: http://www.nasports.com/commfund/index.php

Quick Update

The brick-nic on Saturday was a success. I was not as speedy as I was hoping, but the bike course was less arduous than I remembered it being last year. I am still no speed demon, but I think it would not be unfair to say that I have improved. Progress!

The run was tougher than I remember, though. It was warmer, which may have been a factor. I shuffled along for much of it, but I couldn’t get my heart rate to stay down. Anytime I approached anything close to a jog my heart rate seriously shot up. That’s a problem. I have emailed my coach about that.

The popliteus is still an issue. Grrrr. I am learning to work through it, though I know that is not the right answer. I know, I know…I should ice it. But it doesn’t hurt right nowwwww.

Oh, and yes, hot dog attained. Ironically, I wasn’t really hungry and forced myself to eat it. I can think of worse things to eat when you don’t feel like eating.

Thanks for reading!

Great Response and Columbia Brick-Nic

It has been a few days and the decision to register for Ironman is beginning to sink in. I am overwhelmed by all of the support I have felt from everyone. Thank you! I get emotional just thinking about it. Please keep it coming.

While I have received almost all positive reactions, some of the negative reactions have taken me by surprise. No worries, though. I know that I want to do this. I know that I can accomplish anything I set my mind to. Sure, this will not be easy. It will be time consuming. It is way more swimming and biking than I have ever done before. But as a good friend often tells me, if it is not hard, why do it.

On Wednesday. my fabulous, wonderful, genius chiropractor (Dr. Keith Schreffler – http://www.schrefflerchiropractic.com/) worked me over. He identified the issue as my popliteus muscle. It was seriously on fire, and I think he fixed it. Yesterday’s spin session was fine. Fingers are crossed for this weekend.

Speaking of this weekend, tomorrow is the big day. No, not a race. The annual DC Tri Club Columbia Brick-nic. If you’re not familiar with the term brick, it means doing back-to-back workouts involving two disciplines, most commonly cycling and running. (I heard that it is called a brick because that is how your legs feel as you start running after getting off the bike.) Tomorrow’s event is called the brick-nic because after we bike and run we have a big cookout (picnic). Get it? Fun times!

Last year, the brick-nic was a tough day for me. Columbia is known for being an extremely difficult course. Thanks to my co-worker and friend Joe for convincing me way back when - late 2007 - to sign up for Columbia as my first tri ever. So last year, I showed up at the brick-nic, which is designed as a prep for the actual Columbia Triathlon, totally unprepared for what was about to occur.

It was a comedy of errors. Most who know me have heard about this day. So many mistakes:

• I didn’t know how to properly inflate my tires (in other words, I felt them, they weren’t flat, so I figured I was good to go). I was riding around with them half inflated, which makes pedaling much more difficult.
• I had my tire on incorrectly, and the brakes were rubbing against in the whole time. That’ll slow you down.
• I forgot my cue sheet (aka directions). I had no idea where I was going.
• I did not yet own a bike jersey, and wore clothes with no pockets. I had no place to store my phone, or more importantly, my gels. [Gels are liquid nutrition that athletes use while training/racing.] I stuck the gels in the leg of my shorts, and lost them in the first 15 minutes.
• I was not yet comfortable enough on the bike to reach for an use my water bottle.

I got lost. I struggled on each and every hill. I was hungry. I was tired.

Did I mention getting lost? That really hurt. I wound up doing 30 miles instead of 25. It was terrible and so frustrating. I just kept telling myself that when I got back to the park I would be rewarded with a hot dog. My favorite summertime junk food.

I finally made it back from the ride and my fellow club members were all hanging out having lunch (having already finished the bike AND the run). I longingly gazed at the grill, but a couple of folks convinced me I should do the brick and go for a short run.

I did about 2.5 miles, which took about 30 minutes. By the time I got back there was NO FOOD. Nothing. Everything was packed up. Grills were off. That is when I lost it. It had been about 3.5 hours of stress, hard work, and frustration. I was soooo hungry. I was overwhelmed. And I was upset because this day did not bode well for the upcoming triathlon. What had I gotten myself into. All I wanted was a hot dog!!

That said, my friends, tomorrow I am going to ROCK the Columbia course.

*Now I have Ms. Piggy (who is not only much prettier than my old borrowed bike, but is lighter, has much better components, and actually fits me properly).

*I have learned about proper pedal stroke and hill climbing.

*I have pockets in my shirt and shorts, AND I also have a bento box (it holds gels, tissues, keys, money…whatever I want). See left.

*I have binder clips which I will use to hold the cue sheet that I will remember to bring.

*Most notably, I have friends in the club now – unlike last year when I was a newbie and didn’t know anyone. I have these phone numbers programmed into my phone – and the phone will not be in the back of my pants sliding down to my crotch. Okay, TMI. Sorry.

*If need be, I will use said phone to call these nice friends and request that they save me a hot dog this time.

I am still slow. But I am a better cyclist. I am nervous, but excited. I have a debt to settle with Columbia. Tomorrow I will practice the course. In one month, I will conquer it.

It is official! I'm registered!

I am so absolutely excited (and a little queasy)! I just registered for Ironman Florida. (I’ve never had to submit my medical insurance in a race registration before.)

What have I done???

I registered for the Community Fund. Stay tuned as I hit you all up for donations. More about that later.

YAY!

PS - In case you're not familiar, I'll be swimming 2.4 miles (more than double the distance I have ever done before), biking 112 miles (roughly three times as far as I have ever gone) and running 26.2 (old hat).

Carbs

Pasta, bread, rice, cereal, CUPCAKES. Are they really so bad? According to Friel and the Paleo diet, carbs are okay, but only at certain times (and in certain amounts). These times are pretty much right before, during, and after workouts. The rest of time the Paleo diet recommends eating a combination of lean meats (including fish/seafood) and fruits and vegetables.

I had a really good swim this morning. I decided to forego (aka skip) the team workout at 5:30 am and sleep later and swim at the local HS pool (aka dirty, nasty, ghetto pool) since I had a doctor’s appointment that allowed me a later morning departure. Like I said, the swim went well. I swam longer and further than I ever have on my own before. The whole time I was feeling pretty impressed with myself.

When I was done, however, I calculated how far I went, and then that little nagging voice that chides “you’re a slowpoke” started creeping into my head. I know, I know, I’ve come so far. I am really proud of myself. Last year at this time I had never swam the .9 miles that is part of an Olympic distance tri. And this morning I did it, no problem. And I swam freestyle the entire time.

I started to ask myself what I have to do to get faster. Keep practicing. And practicing. I am. What else? Well, I can slim down a little. That would help me in all three parts of a tri. So what would that take? Thankfully, I am at a healthy weight. Admittedly, I could lose a few pounds. But the truth is, I love food.

So the question is whether it is worth whatever sacrifices would be necessary for me to lose a few pounds. I don’t know. In all likelihood, I am never going to get on the podium at a triathlon. There is no money or other tangible award as an incentive for me to finish a race faster? Why, then, do I work so hard to get better? Is it worth affecting my enjoyment of food?

I love, love, luuuuuuv carbs. Truth be told, I’d more easily become a vegetarian, even a vegan, than give up my carbs. [I’ve tried it and it ain’t pretty.] Yes, I love cupcakes, but really I don’t eat them that often. The problem is that whole grains are the backbone of my diet. Shredded wheat or oatmeal for breakfast, yogurt with low fat granola as a morning snack, stir-fry or something with brown rice/whole wheat pasta for lunch.

I will be giving this some thought as I continue to train. Thoughts welcome.

For more info on the Paleo diet, see http://www.trainingbible.com/pdf/Paleo_for_Athletes_Cliff_Notes.pdf

Another All-Triathlon Weekend

It is another Monday morning following an all triathlon weekend.

Saturday: Morning Run and Friel Clinic

The weekend began with a run with the team out at Pierce Mill. This is a nice little spot in Rock Creek Park. The DC Tri Club often has events here, but I have never known where it was or how to get there. It was time that I changed that. It turns out that I have run past here a few times. Unfortunately, the weather stunk despite the forecasts that indicated that the rain had a 90% chance of staying away at that hour. Not fair! It was in the low 40’s and raining. Put in 11 steady zone 2 miles with the ladies, averaging slightly sub-11/minute miles. Some very interesting conversation made the earlier part of the run flyyy by. Piercings and tattoos…enough said.

Next up was the 8-hour clinic hosted by triathlon gurus Joe Friel and Ken Mierke. I was really excited about this. I got home and took a (short) hot bath in order to stop myself from shivering. I put on a bathing suit and sweats, grabbed some nutrition, and headed back out the door in under 40 minutes. Ugh.

The clinic started with pool time. Drills and some individual coaching. The highlight of this was “Swim Golf.” Basically, you swim as fast as you can for 50 meters and count your strokes. You add your number of strokes to your time for your score. Then you swim at a nice, easy pace for 50 meters, again counting strokes. The idea is to compare the numbers. The lesson, of course, is that swimming hard and fast just wears you out and that it is more efficient for you to swim at a slower pace and take fewer strokes. I won’t share my actual numbers (mostly because I can’t remember) but suffice it to say I am still slow.

Other interesting notes from the day included a seminar on climbing from Mierke, which I had heard before. It was worth hearing again. The basic premise is that your pedal stroke should be a triangle – from 12 o’clock, to (around) 4 o’clock, to (around) 8 o’clock. The most important of these three sides is the third one – from 8 to 12, where your hip flexors should be doing the bulk of the work. Next, you want to focus on the 4 to 8 stroke straight back, instead of pushing down on the pedal. I began incorporating this approach in early March and it made a tremendous difference in my cycling.

There was also a very controversial presentation by Joe Friel on the Paleo diet. It included a discussion of race day nutrition. Friel believes that athletes are too concerned with hydration, and that we’ve been given a “bill of goods” when it comes to the whole electrolytes/sodium/potassium school of thought. He believes in nothing but water for the first 90 minutes of any workout/race. After that, water only when you’re thirsty, and approximately 200-300 calories of carbs per hour. I’ll leave it at that. If you want to hear more, let me know.

Sunday: Long ride and Team Z picnic

Departed Arlington at 7:30 am to reach Boyce, VA for a long, team ride. The ride coordinator said that the 80 minute drive would be worth it, and I would have to agree. 44 beautiful, rolling zone 2 miles took me around 4 hours with a number of stops (traffic, eating, adjusting my cue sheet umpteen million times).

Afterwards I was handsomely rewarded by a Team Z cookout. This flexitarian (definition: one who eats a mostly vegetarian diet) loves her hot dogs. Such a great treat after a tough workout. I enjoyed a hot dog, a grilled chicken sandwich, a bag of chips, and a cupcake (someone brought some delicious, Easter-colored, homemade cupcakes). Hey, I burned close to 1500 calories.

3 hours of driving, 4 hours of riding, 1 hour of hanging out, and there went the day and the weekend. Home for a shower and a short nap. I just barely had enough energy left to go get groceries for the week and then I was out of time and energy.

Today is the first day of recovery week. Hallelujah! This means the workouts are fewer, shorter, and easier. No strength training this week (hooray – 2 fewer workouts right there). No biking tomorrow (yes! Lunch plans, perhaps?). Still waking up at 4:30 on Tuesday and Thursday for the swims, but because I only have one workout per day on Monday and Wednesday, I can sleep a little longer and do my runs at lunch.

PS – For those paying attention, my leg issue (back of my knee) was better last week, but started acting up again this weekend. It wasn’t as excruciating as it was last weekend, but it hurts. I know I should ice it. I have emailed my PT/chiro guy and will see him on Wednesday. We’ll see how today’s lunchtime run goes.

Minor Setback

It was not a great weekend for this triathlete. The training plan called for a 40-mile bike ride on Saturday. Nothing too unusual about that. Except that the Cherry Blossom Ten Miler (for which I registered in December) was the following day. Hmmmm.

Usually, this runner would take it very easy the day before a race. Naturally, I wanted to set a PR. Although I’ve only done one other ten-mile race (Army Ten Miler 10/08) I spent a lot of time thinking about how I would approach this race and was excited to get it done.

Saturday morning I drove out to the Plains for the group ride. It was WINNNNdy! I must digress to tell you about how my beloved bike, Ms. Piggy (a 2009 Trek Madone 5.1 – with hot pink handlebar tape) narrowly escaped the jaws of death, and I barely avoided a fatal heart attack. As I drove out Route 66, I commented to my new teammate that my bike didn’t look quite right on my (spare tire-mounted) bike rack. I studied my rear view for a while I dismissed the thought as paranoia.

So now we’re flying down 66 to get to the ride on time. And holy &%*&^& - I glance behind me and see Piggy is dangling. I mean, hanging by - I don’t know - a thread!?! I can’t even remember what exactly I saw, but my heart stopped. We pulled over to the (very scary) shoulder, and jumped out without getting run over. BOTH of the rack straps had become detached and the poor girl was THIS close to death. Seriously. She had gradually twisted herself off the rack and was barely hanging on. It is a freakin miracle that I didn’t lose my precious bike that morning. I think that my new teammate didn’t engage the strap correctly, and that the other side detached because it couldn’t handle the weight of the bike and loosened the strap. Deep breath. Not a good start to the day. The good news is that I my bike didn’t meet her demise and I will triple check the straps from now on.

Somewhere in the first part of the ride, my leg started to hurt. The area behind my knee just started really bothering me. As I rode on, it kept getting worse and worse. And worse. And by the time I finished my 33 miles (it was supposed to be 40) I was so totally grateful to be finished. It hurt to walk.

I asked a few teammates and my coach, but no one had anything constructive to offer other than I should go to the doctor. Gee, thanks. I started becoming really concerned about whether I would be able to race the next day. I drove the hour home, quickly showered and changed, and turned it around to head to packet pickup and the race expo. By the time I got out of my car, my leg hurt to the point of causing me to limp. Ouch. Not a happy camper.

Fast forward to Sunday morning. When I woke up, the few steps to the bathroom were painful. Jogging in place also really hurt. I thought about Kerri Strug, and how she worked through a broken ankle to capture the gold. But I’m not an Olympic athlete. I gave it a lot of thought, and to make a long story short, there was no Cherry Blossom 10-miler for me this year. I always say that the goal is the race in 2050. I want to be healthy and strong when I am in my 70’s. That means making good decisions now. There’s always next year.

Roughly one month ago, my life as a triathlete changed. That is when I began my membership with a local triathlon training group - Team Z. The team consists of about 300 triathletes of all ability levels. I began my journey with around 50 other new-Z-ers, not knowing exactly what we were in for That is when I think I started losing my mind....

Here we are four weeks later, and my attempts to quell the notion that I can complete an Ironman triathlon are proving futile. I am not sure what is going on. Last fall I toyed with the notion of completing an Ironman in 2009. That was, until a very painful pre-marathon training run.

Through the pain and exhaustion of that run I asked myself how it would have been to have first swum 2.4 miles and biked 112. Yeah, right. I've never even done more than 40 miles on my bike.

And my swim? If you know me, you've heard about my relationship with the pool (and the open water). It is quite hilarious (well, to me). When I was a kid, my mom called me a fish because I loved the water and practically had to be dragged out of the pool. [Or was it because I am a Pisces?] As it turns out, I am great at floating and I do a beautiful underwater handstand. But freestyle (known as the crawl stroke during my childhood fishie days)? Not!

Lest you think I am exaggerating about my poor swimming ability, allow me to share with you my results from my first triathlon season. At Columbia last year I placed 1695 out of 1730 participants in the swim. That’s right. Only 35 people were slower than me. A few months later I actually swam about 3 minutes *slower* (albeit, minus the wetsuit I had the first time around) and was number 104 out of 112 for the swim.

The worst part about it? No, not the anxiety of swimming in the open water. I actually do alright with that. Not the actual swimming in the dirty, disgusting, mucky water while being trampled on by dozens of faster swimmers that start in the waves after me.

What stinks the most about my poor swimming ability is the fact that the swim exhausts me. By the time I make it out of the water I am ready for a nap.

So, I am working on that. And on my biking. My running is okay. There is room for improvement, but I feel like after 6 marathons, I know how to do it.

Yet somehow, after just a month of serious training, I am trying to wrap my mind around the idea of completing Ironman Florida in just 7 short months. So I am starting this blog, because I know what kind of training this will entail. I have already experienced the limitations on my social life. That happens when you go to bed at 8:30 to wakeup at 4:30 am. Yes, 4:30 in the freakin A.M. (It is dark when I get up, it is dark when I get to the pool, and it is still dark after I swim for an hour and drive home (eastbound) in rush hour traffic).

For those that are interested, I plan to write about my training and the inevitable ups and downs of this endeavor. Hopefully they’ll be more ups than downs. I feel confident that my coach knows what he is doing, and he seems pretty sure that I can do this.