The alarm lied this morning. It sure feels like 4am, not 6:30. But the Ironman does not forgive. It does not care how far you rode yesterday. Race day, I'll have to do this all in one day. It does not care about rides you've cut short because you stayed out late or swims you missed because the water was cold..
Get out of bed, lazy butt. You're the super genius who decided to ride 100 miles yesterday instead of 4.5 hours like the schedule said. Decided to walk the first 5 minutes to give my legs a chance to wake up. As a value added warm up, I got to wash egg off our car. The only car on the block to get egged. Nice. Then it was time to slog out 2 hours on the road. Pace was no object. The goal was to put 2 hours of running on tired legs. Run 5, walk 30 seconds, repeat for 2 hours. Not glamorous and there wasn't a lot to see along the water this morning. One dolphin. That's it.
But I made it. Only 10.25 miles but that pace would give me a 30 minute marathon PR at Beach to Battleship. Not too shabby.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Spontaneous century
Last night I told my coach:
"Might do something crazy on the ride tomorrow. Or not if it's windy.
Just so you know."
And as my ever supportive coach she says:
>Ok :>) (I have a feeling I know what it will be, but will remain silent).
Am I that predictable?
100 miles on the bike 5:58:45 (roll time for solo ride, no drafting, I had to stop at the car twice for water and to text/Twitter Joe to tell him all was well)
The most amazing parts of the day:
Faster than any of my centuries during IMFL training in 2007
No chafing of my girlie parts. (almost unbelievable)
No GI distress or gas. Maybe my nutrition plan will work this time.
And I don't _need_ a nap.
WOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOO! I'm not saying that there were no tough
times but overall, a good training ride.
"Might do something crazy on the ride tomorrow. Or not if it's windy.
Just so you know."
And as my ever supportive coach she says:
>Ok :>) (I have a feeling I know what it will be, but will remain silent).
Am I that predictable?
100 miles on the bike 5:58:45 (roll time for solo ride, no drafting, I had to stop at the car twice for water and to text/Twitter Joe to tell him all was well)
The most amazing parts of the day:
Faster than any of my centuries during IMFL training in 2007
No chafing of my girlie parts. (almost unbelievable)
No GI distress or gas. Maybe my nutrition plan will work this time.
And I don't _need_ a nap.
WOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOO! I'm not saying that there were no tough
times but overall, a good training ride.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Crosstraining
So I had a moment today....at Crossfit. My regular readers are shocked I'm sure. :)
Between a 1 week taper for the star-crossed Publix Tri and starting a new job this week (adjunct faculty thankyouverymuch) I have, GASP, not been to Crossfit it 2 weeks. Not that I don't ever do 100 burpies on my own but I don't need a gym for that.
So today I was talking with a regular who said it was good to see me back. We started the usual chit chat and I mentioned it had been hard to fit in Crossfit between the new job and ironman training.
There was a pause. A pause that gave me pause. Then the question that caught me unguarded.
"Which is harder, Crossfit or Ironman training"
Without thinking I replied "Ironman training."
This person was dumbfounded. "Really? It's harder?"
Yes, Ironman training makes Crossfit look like a day in the park. As physically challenging as Crossfit workouts may be, most of them last 15-20 minutes. That's it. No matter how hard it is, you'll be done in 20 minutes. Compare that with a 15 mile run or 80 mile ride or 2 mile swim. When the joy of the workout is gone and suddenly it's you, the sun, and about 2 more hours on the road, alone, with no company, wondering why the hell you got out of bed for this.
Or, you can workout for 20 minutes. 60 minutes, tops, if they make you run a 10K. Doesn't really compare, does it?
Standard Disclaimer:
Crossfit is not the devil or I wouldn't pay a bunch to attend each month. Parts of it I adore. It's short. And even with the misogynistic "the fat girl is slow" attitude, I have finally found a strength workout that fits me personality. And I look super cute in my jeans. And my swim is so much more comfortable now that I have some upper body strength. I love that aspect of it.
But if you want to be an ironman, you must train like an ironman. 20-30 minutes a day, 5 days a week isn't going to cut it no matter how cute those jeans are.
Between a 1 week taper for the star-crossed Publix Tri and starting a new job this week (adjunct faculty thankyouverymuch) I have, GASP, not been to Crossfit it 2 weeks. Not that I don't ever do 100 burpies on my own but I don't need a gym for that.
So today I was talking with a regular who said it was good to see me back. We started the usual chit chat and I mentioned it had been hard to fit in Crossfit between the new job and ironman training.
There was a pause. A pause that gave me pause. Then the question that caught me unguarded.
"Which is harder, Crossfit or Ironman training"
Without thinking I replied "Ironman training."
This person was dumbfounded. "Really? It's harder?"
Yes, Ironman training makes Crossfit look like a day in the park. As physically challenging as Crossfit workouts may be, most of them last 15-20 minutes. That's it. No matter how hard it is, you'll be done in 20 minutes. Compare that with a 15 mile run or 80 mile ride or 2 mile swim. When the joy of the workout is gone and suddenly it's you, the sun, and about 2 more hours on the road, alone, with no company, wondering why the hell you got out of bed for this.
Or, you can workout for 20 minutes. 60 minutes, tops, if they make you run a 10K. Doesn't really compare, does it?
Standard Disclaimer:
Crossfit is not the devil or I wouldn't pay a bunch to attend each month. Parts of it I adore. It's short. And even with the misogynistic "the fat girl is slow" attitude, I have finally found a strength workout that fits me personality. And I look super cute in my jeans. And my swim is so much more comfortable now that I have some upper body strength. I love that aspect of it.
But if you want to be an ironman, you must train like an ironman. 20-30 minutes a day, 5 days a week isn't going to cut it no matter how cute those jeans are.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
RR: Publix Family Fitness Tri (take 2)
Warning: this is long and self serving. Way too long for a sprint triathlon. It's written more as a training record than entertainment. You already know the basics (1:23, 3rd placed Athena) so you continue on at your own risk.
The time has come to stop sulking. The Publix Family Fun Triathlon did not turn out the way I planned. Given that this race is put on by the largest grocery store chain in the state and this is the third year for this event, there were way way too many "oops". Maybe if I had gone overboard to make sure I had planned for every little possibility my race would have ended 4 minutes faster but I didn't want to appear paranoid. I paid for my vanity.
The biggest change for this race was my pre-race nutrition. We all know GI distress haunts me. I decided to eat very few starches in the 2 days before the race and stick to my normal menu of lean protein, veggies, and beans (mostly chickpeas or black beans) for food. This part worked well. I did not have to stand in line for the porto potties at all.
The bike rack almost fell when I added my bike. I grabbed the top bar just in time. Another athlete grabbed the fallen end piece. Somehow we saved the rack from total collapse. Should have guessed that this could be a problem later but it was SUPER dark. At this point I realize there is only one running shoe in my make-shift transition bag. This led to a half panicked walk back to the car. Woohoo! A matching running shoe! Back in transition, my goggle strap fell off. Normally no big deal but since it was pitch dark unless you were 50ft from the lone set of lights, it took a while to fix. My planned pre-race Hammergel tasted really old, almost grainy. Ew! Threw that out. But I did remember to take some Lava Salts.
Fortunately, my warm up went very well. The water temp was perfect. The waves were negligible. Almost no current whether you swam north or south along the shore. The course was as long as you could fit on that stretch of beach so there was every reason to believe it was the full 600yds. Without any of "my athletes" in the race, I was able to spend my time getting ready mentally. I don't think about anything too deep but rather allowed my mind to drift over happy visions of the course with several breaks to make new friends in the swim corral.
The race started very abruptly. A bad PA system meant the crowd had to shout down to the athletes when the wave started. My advice? Invest in a cheap air horn. Seems to work at all the other races.
The Swim:
Much to my dismay, the Athena wave was lumped in with all the first timers. There were lots of them. Men and women. So when the swim started, sure enough, a huge line of 6ft guys waded into the water up to their necks making it impossible to get by. One day I'll believe that I'm a faster swimmer and get in front of these guys but not just yet. The swim was amazing. I felt very strong. My arms never tired. My stroke never floundered, and with the crowd, heart rate never became an issue. Usually my HR freaks out and I look more like a duck taking a bath than a swimmer. Not so today. If I could have found clear water, I would have plowed through like a real swimmer. This was probably my best swim to date. I even used all my open water entry/exit skills. Out of the water in 10:47-ish. Only there were no timing mats closeby. This company decided to put the mat all the way up the beach, over the boardwalk, directly next to the transition. Whatever. The official time is closer to 11:57.
T1:
Debi and I had discussed rearranging my transition a little and I was completely excited how quickly T1 passed. Even taking a moment to watch one of the racks completely collapse, I was ready to run to the bike start in less than 1 minute. But wait, if you were racked on the right side of the transition, you had to run all the way back to the swim finish timing mat, then back to the bike start down the left side. It was not marked this way before the race, was not described in the non-existent race instructions, and doesn't appear to be a safety thing (none of the other tris set up this traffic pattern). When your bike is 50ft from the bike start, this is heart breaking. The only thing left to do was shout a very bad word brought to you by the letter F. 2:30ish instead of 1:20.
The bike:
Very crowded course. Lots of newbies to pass. At one point there were 3 of us trying to pass about 30 feet of new, unsure riders who weren't aware of the rules. The first guy says "on your left". No response. After 3 tries, I lost my temper and yelled "people on your LEFT ALREADY. MOVE OVER". The blocking issues continued until I had moved through most of my wave. The wind was pretty strong that day with only one short section of true tailwind. But I had taped my trusty Forerunner 305 to the handlebars so at least I could tell myself "you're not going fast enough". About 5 miles into the bike I realized there was no more water in the aerobottle. Almost crashed trying to shake it around to get more water. Crap. The bike is my best event. I'm not going to make up time on the run. I can't slow down. Played tag with a cute 33 year old guy as a way to pass the time. I'm always more motivated when I have a bunny to chase. In the end, I finished 30 seconds shy of 20mph but given the crowded conditions (and the guy who _attempted_ the flying dismount in front of me), I'll take it.
Ride time for 10.5 miles: 32 minutes. The official time combines T1 and T2 into the bike time.
T2:
Tough to get the bike on the rack with the aerobottle but even with the newly migrated sock addition, outta there in 1:30. Lost a little time looking for water coming out of transition. Not to beat a dead horse but the other summer tris out here have water as you start the run because it's so hot.
The Run:
And, as I have previously mentioned, there was no water until after mile 1. My HR was through the roof and I could not find a groove. I tried to say "just don't walk" but no matter how slow I ran, it wasn't slow enough. Ended up walking 30 seconds or so of each mile. Mile 1: Got passed by cute bike boy. He touch my shoulder and said "tag, you're it" for the last time. Bye-bye cute bike boy. I had nothing in the tank to push the pace. Near the end of mile one they awarded me one cup of water. Not even half full. Damn it. The runners on the way back were taking water from the only water station as well so they just did not have enough water for everyone. It's now been 30 minutes since my last sip of water on a hot, shadeless August day. At the turn around I realized it couldn't get much worse so I might as well try to take the Gu I forgot on the bike. It was kinda nasty but mentally comforting. Mile 2: I saw an old crappy water fountain off the course and ran over for a quick drink. Warm and metallic. Ew! Saw two friends who were doing their first tri. They were heading out on mile 1 so I did my best to look perky and encouraging even though my mental battleship was taking on water. So I looked around for a runner suffering like me and made conversation. It helped a lot, forcing me to focus on their race and not my headache. One was a marathoner who was in deep suffering so we joked about the weird aspects of triathlon. When I explained the "vanity sprint" at the finish line, he started to laugh. We jogged in together making the last 1.1 miles the fastest of the day.
The finish was rather uneventful. 1:23-ish on my watch. They finally gave me a whole bottle of water and I headed out to find a friend who was cheering near the final turn. My ears were pounding just talking to him so I escaped to one of the beach showers to cool off. After about 10 minutes in the shade (and a few more doses of the shower), I felt normal. I did not have an official finish time in the race results which required a trip to the timing company. Well I'll be a monkey's uncle. I had pulled off 3rd in the 39&under Athena group.
Then it was time to see my friends finish their first tri. Always so very awesome to see. She finished 15 minutes ahead of her husband. Way to go! Apparently my reputation proceeds me because the newly minted triathletes wanted to head back to car for a toast! When I race solo, I rarely bring champagne but my friend remembered so we kept the tradition alive! The new duo are hooked and we made plans to meet back at Ft De Soto in October for another tri produced by a better company.
With a little more work, this will be my last Athena race for a while. I wanted first but, oh well. If I had packed extra water for transition, brought a light to make sure no water had spilled out of my aerobotttle, if, if if....no time for ifs. If I'm meant to earn more hard ware it will come from the 35-39 age group. Still don't know how my bike became scratched but since I did not see my rack fall, I have no proof of anything. It's a good story, anyway.
Things I would change:
Maybe a small flashlight
Put a sports drink in my bike bottle
Bring extra water in bottles, at least one extra for the run
Bring extra gels in case one is bad
Buy a new transition bag (or find my original bag)
And now it's time to start the next phase of my life. Well, it's already underway. This week started my new job as science faculty at a small local college. It's just an adjunct position for now but with a little luck it could be more. My time is now taken up with teaching and Beach to Battleship training.
The time has come to stop sulking. The Publix Family Fun Triathlon did not turn out the way I planned. Given that this race is put on by the largest grocery store chain in the state and this is the third year for this event, there were way way too many "oops". Maybe if I had gone overboard to make sure I had planned for every little possibility my race would have ended 4 minutes faster but I didn't want to appear paranoid. I paid for my vanity.
The biggest change for this race was my pre-race nutrition. We all know GI distress haunts me. I decided to eat very few starches in the 2 days before the race and stick to my normal menu of lean protein, veggies, and beans (mostly chickpeas or black beans) for food. This part worked well. I did not have to stand in line for the porto potties at all.
The bike rack almost fell when I added my bike. I grabbed the top bar just in time. Another athlete grabbed the fallen end piece. Somehow we saved the rack from total collapse. Should have guessed that this could be a problem later but it was SUPER dark. At this point I realize there is only one running shoe in my make-shift transition bag. This led to a half panicked walk back to the car. Woohoo! A matching running shoe! Back in transition, my goggle strap fell off. Normally no big deal but since it was pitch dark unless you were 50ft from the lone set of lights, it took a while to fix. My planned pre-race Hammergel tasted really old, almost grainy. Ew! Threw that out. But I did remember to take some Lava Salts.
Fortunately, my warm up went very well. The water temp was perfect. The waves were negligible. Almost no current whether you swam north or south along the shore. The course was as long as you could fit on that stretch of beach so there was every reason to believe it was the full 600yds. Without any of "my athletes" in the race, I was able to spend my time getting ready mentally. I don't think about anything too deep but rather allowed my mind to drift over happy visions of the course with several breaks to make new friends in the swim corral.
The race started very abruptly. A bad PA system meant the crowd had to shout down to the athletes when the wave started. My advice? Invest in a cheap air horn. Seems to work at all the other races.
The Swim:
Much to my dismay, the Athena wave was lumped in with all the first timers. There were lots of them. Men and women. So when the swim started, sure enough, a huge line of 6ft guys waded into the water up to their necks making it impossible to get by. One day I'll believe that I'm a faster swimmer and get in front of these guys but not just yet. The swim was amazing. I felt very strong. My arms never tired. My stroke never floundered, and with the crowd, heart rate never became an issue. Usually my HR freaks out and I look more like a duck taking a bath than a swimmer. Not so today. If I could have found clear water, I would have plowed through like a real swimmer. This was probably my best swim to date. I even used all my open water entry/exit skills. Out of the water in 10:47-ish. Only there were no timing mats closeby. This company decided to put the mat all the way up the beach, over the boardwalk, directly next to the transition. Whatever. The official time is closer to 11:57.
T1:
Debi and I had discussed rearranging my transition a little and I was completely excited how quickly T1 passed. Even taking a moment to watch one of the racks completely collapse, I was ready to run to the bike start in less than 1 minute. But wait, if you were racked on the right side of the transition, you had to run all the way back to the swim finish timing mat, then back to the bike start down the left side. It was not marked this way before the race, was not described in the non-existent race instructions, and doesn't appear to be a safety thing (none of the other tris set up this traffic pattern). When your bike is 50ft from the bike start, this is heart breaking. The only thing left to do was shout a very bad word brought to you by the letter F. 2:30ish instead of 1:20.
The bike:
Very crowded course. Lots of newbies to pass. At one point there were 3 of us trying to pass about 30 feet of new, unsure riders who weren't aware of the rules. The first guy says "on your left". No response. After 3 tries, I lost my temper and yelled "people on your LEFT ALREADY. MOVE OVER". The blocking issues continued until I had moved through most of my wave. The wind was pretty strong that day with only one short section of true tailwind. But I had taped my trusty Forerunner 305 to the handlebars so at least I could tell myself "you're not going fast enough". About 5 miles into the bike I realized there was no more water in the aerobottle. Almost crashed trying to shake it around to get more water. Crap. The bike is my best event. I'm not going to make up time on the run. I can't slow down. Played tag with a cute 33 year old guy as a way to pass the time. I'm always more motivated when I have a bunny to chase. In the end, I finished 30 seconds shy of 20mph but given the crowded conditions (and the guy who _attempted_ the flying dismount in front of me), I'll take it.
Ride time for 10.5 miles: 32 minutes. The official time combines T1 and T2 into the bike time.
T2:
Tough to get the bike on the rack with the aerobottle but even with the newly migrated sock addition, outta there in 1:30. Lost a little time looking for water coming out of transition. Not to beat a dead horse but the other summer tris out here have water as you start the run because it's so hot.
The Run:
And, as I have previously mentioned, there was no water until after mile 1. My HR was through the roof and I could not find a groove. I tried to say "just don't walk" but no matter how slow I ran, it wasn't slow enough. Ended up walking 30 seconds or so of each mile. Mile 1: Got passed by cute bike boy. He touch my shoulder and said "tag, you're it" for the last time. Bye-bye cute bike boy. I had nothing in the tank to push the pace. Near the end of mile one they awarded me one cup of water. Not even half full. Damn it. The runners on the way back were taking water from the only water station as well so they just did not have enough water for everyone. It's now been 30 minutes since my last sip of water on a hot, shadeless August day. At the turn around I realized it couldn't get much worse so I might as well try to take the Gu I forgot on the bike. It was kinda nasty but mentally comforting. Mile 2: I saw an old crappy water fountain off the course and ran over for a quick drink. Warm and metallic. Ew! Saw two friends who were doing their first tri. They were heading out on mile 1 so I did my best to look perky and encouraging even though my mental battleship was taking on water. So I looked around for a runner suffering like me and made conversation. It helped a lot, forcing me to focus on their race and not my headache. One was a marathoner who was in deep suffering so we joked about the weird aspects of triathlon. When I explained the "vanity sprint" at the finish line, he started to laugh. We jogged in together making the last 1.1 miles the fastest of the day.
The finish was rather uneventful. 1:23-ish on my watch. They finally gave me a whole bottle of water and I headed out to find a friend who was cheering near the final turn. My ears were pounding just talking to him so I escaped to one of the beach showers to cool off. After about 10 minutes in the shade (and a few more doses of the shower), I felt normal. I did not have an official finish time in the race results which required a trip to the timing company. Well I'll be a monkey's uncle. I had pulled off 3rd in the 39&under Athena group.
Then it was time to see my friends finish their first tri. Always so very awesome to see. She finished 15 minutes ahead of her husband. Way to go! Apparently my reputation proceeds me because the newly minted triathletes wanted to head back to car for a toast! When I race solo, I rarely bring champagne but my friend remembered so we kept the tradition alive! The new duo are hooked and we made plans to meet back at Ft De Soto in October for another tri produced by a better company.
With a little more work, this will be my last Athena race for a while. I wanted first but, oh well. If I had packed extra water for transition, brought a light to make sure no water had spilled out of my aerobotttle, if, if if....no time for ifs. If I'm meant to earn more hard ware it will come from the 35-39 age group. Still don't know how my bike became scratched but since I did not see my rack fall, I have no proof of anything. It's a good story, anyway.
Things I would change:
Maybe a small flashlight
Put a sports drink in my bike bottle
Bring extra water in bottles, at least one extra for the run
Bring extra gels in case one is bad
Buy a new transition bag (or find my original bag)
And now it's time to start the next phase of my life. Well, it's already underway. This week started my new job as science faculty at a small local college. It's just an adjunct position for now but with a little luck it could be more. My time is now taken up with teaching and Beach to Battleship training.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
RR: Publix Family Fun Weekend Ft. Desoto 2009
Before I rant, let me say that one family who had done this particular race before said it is usually a wonderful event.
And I will say that I had a tough run so I was not in the best mood after the race. Which is why I waited to write this report.
I have several complaints. Pre-race, they never asked for ID. Never asked for my USAT card. Never asked for anyone to pay the one day fee. I saw them allow a woman to pick up packets for 3 other athletes who were not present. This may be fine for running races but not in triathlon. They did not have enough qualified staff around. Everything seemed to fall on 3 overworked volunteers who did the best they could.
The traffic pattern in transition was ridiculous. It doesn't matter than you are 30 feet from the bike exit. Run your bike 200 feet to the end, then run back? Really? Even though the other triathlons that are staged from this same parking lot let you use the closest exit?
The racks in transition where unstable. I watched them fall, with bikes on them, more than once. In fact, my rack fell when I put my bike on it but I was able to hold up the bar and re-set it into the groove.
Transition security was a joke. Family members were all over the place before the race and no one watched athletes after the race to make sure they left with their own bike.
They did not have nearly enough water for the conditions. No water available in transition after the swim or the before the run. So much so that the sole water stop on the run was rationing water. When I asked for water, my glass had less than 3 oz and they wouldn't give me another glass. Just to be fair, I don't care if you have water or if you don't but TELL ME. Don't spend a bajillion dollars to advertise the race as a family friendly first timer weekend and don't provide water.
And I say all this first because, other than the water issue, I had a fab swim and a great bike time. It all fell apart because of the water issue. I could have easily brought water with me but I didn't want to look like a paranoid freak. Now I know better.
Third placed Athena in what will, hopefully, be my last Athena race in a long time.
And I will say that I had a tough run so I was not in the best mood after the race. Which is why I waited to write this report.
I have several complaints. Pre-race, they never asked for ID. Never asked for my USAT card. Never asked for anyone to pay the one day fee. I saw them allow a woman to pick up packets for 3 other athletes who were not present. This may be fine for running races but not in triathlon. They did not have enough qualified staff around. Everything seemed to fall on 3 overworked volunteers who did the best they could.
The traffic pattern in transition was ridiculous. It doesn't matter than you are 30 feet from the bike exit. Run your bike 200 feet to the end, then run back? Really? Even though the other triathlons that are staged from this same parking lot let you use the closest exit?
The racks in transition where unstable. I watched them fall, with bikes on them, more than once. In fact, my rack fell when I put my bike on it but I was able to hold up the bar and re-set it into the groove.
Transition security was a joke. Family members were all over the place before the race and no one watched athletes after the race to make sure they left with their own bike.
They did not have nearly enough water for the conditions. No water available in transition after the swim or the before the run. So much so that the sole water stop on the run was rationing water. When I asked for water, my glass had less than 3 oz and they wouldn't give me another glass. Just to be fair, I don't care if you have water or if you don't but TELL ME. Don't spend a bajillion dollars to advertise the race as a family friendly first timer weekend and don't provide water.
And I say all this first because, other than the water issue, I had a fab swim and a great bike time. It all fell apart because of the water issue. I could have easily brought water with me but I didn't want to look like a paranoid freak. Now I know better.
Third placed Athena in what will, hopefully, be my last Athena race in a long time.
Gotcha
My dad told me this afternoon, at my favorite pub.........
He said I promised not to do another ironman. That one would be
enough. He said "promise" the same way most people would ask "please
don't". In a way that even Joe could not say it. I am a daddy's
girl.....
But then it wouldn't be me, would it.
He said I promised not to do another ironman. That one would be
enough. He said "promise" the same way most people would ask "please
don't". In a way that even Joe could not say it. I am a daddy's
girl.....
But then it wouldn't be me, would it.
Friday, August 21, 2009
And now for something completely different
Publix Family Fun Weekend Triathlon
Leeroy Jenkins!!!
It's a sprint. Sometimes it's best not to think too much.
Leeroy Jenkins!!!
It's a sprint. Sometimes it's best not to think too much.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Vaguely good news can't scare this monkey off my back
This morning, I couldn't stand it any longer. Will my 2 piece De Soto wetsuit fit for Beach to Battleship. Yes, we need to buy a long sleeved top for the chilly water in November but what about the bottom half? If I need a larger size, it will be a huge pre-race expense. Money we may not have.
Happily, after 10 minutes of jumping, squeezing, and breath holding.....the bib john fits. Just barely.
YEAH! All the hard work is paying off. Ironman training, eating more healthy food, adding in some serious strength training....but it's not enough.
There is still a monkey on my back.
I have to be honest. I'm not feeling very ready for an ironman and I've only got 2 months of real training left. My swim will be fine provided I start hitting the long workouts instead of cutting them short but my bike and run are so short compared to 2007s schedule. During the dreaded night shift back in May-June, I missed or shortened several workouts. Didn't lose any weight. And I'm slower, really not pushing hard at the speed intervals. I know my focus needs to be on what I can do between now and taper time, not the past. But poor choices still pick away at my confidence.
I'm not worried about finishing, it just won't be the race I wanted it to be. I just wanted to be a training genius this time around!!!!! Superwoman! Was that too much to ask? :)
There are 2 months left before the taper begins and every.day.counts.
Happily, after 10 minutes of jumping, squeezing, and breath holding.....the bib john fits. Just barely.
YEAH! All the hard work is paying off. Ironman training, eating more healthy food, adding in some serious strength training....but it's not enough.
There is still a monkey on my back.
I have to be honest. I'm not feeling very ready for an ironman and I've only got 2 months of real training left. My swim will be fine provided I start hitting the long workouts instead of cutting them short but my bike and run are so short compared to 2007s schedule. During the dreaded night shift back in May-June, I missed or shortened several workouts. Didn't lose any weight. And I'm slower, really not pushing hard at the speed intervals. I know my focus needs to be on what I can do between now and taper time, not the past. But poor choices still pick away at my confidence.
I'm not worried about finishing, it just won't be the race I wanted it to be. I just wanted to be a training genius this time around!!!!! Superwoman! Was that too much to ask? :)
There are 2 months left before the taper begins and every.day.counts.
Wednesday, August 05, 2009
Back at the pool
Today was my first day back at the 7am swim in....a while. The pool isn't open to the public until 9am. They make you pay extra for 7am and even more for 5:30am masters swim. Given that I'm still unemployed, that extra money has been very hard to come by.
But this month I lucked out. And, as much as my motivation for swimming wanes, it was good to be home. Swimming laps as the sun rises over Tampa Bay is a wonderful place to be. Today called for 1900 yards. 700 warm up, 1000yds of timed swim, then 200 cool down. The 1000 only took 21:06 which makes me pretty happy.
And the membership paid for itself. The thunderstorms rolled in around 9am and it's _still_ raining at 2pm.
p.s. thanks for all the comments over my CrossFit rant. The strength I've earned is startling. It makes me much leaner, much faster in the pool and motivates me more than any strength program I've tried. Gotta take the good with the bad.
But this month I lucked out. And, as much as my motivation for swimming wanes, it was good to be home. Swimming laps as the sun rises over Tampa Bay is a wonderful place to be. Today called for 1900 yards. 700 warm up, 1000yds of timed swim, then 200 cool down. The 1000 only took 21:06 which makes me pretty happy.
And the membership paid for itself. The thunderstorms rolled in around 9am and it's _still_ raining at 2pm.
p.s. thanks for all the comments over my CrossFit rant. The strength I've earned is startling. It makes me much leaner, much faster in the pool and motivates me more than any strength program I've tried. Gotta take the good with the bad.
Tuesday, August 04, 2009
July in review
So, those of you who follow my ironman training on this blog will notice that there haven't been any workout entries for a while. Part of it is facebook. And part of it is, I'm logging my workouts in 3-4 different places which makes the Buckeye Outdoors site a low priority. Overall, July has been a good month. I'm not nearly as strong as I was going into IMFL but I should finish B2B. There's no way to catch up. I'm under trained for a 14 hour finish. Just have to take it for what it is.
For July my totals are:
Swim: 7527.87 yd
Bike: 441.96 miles
Run: 44.04 mi
For a total of 42 hours. My running is coming along quite nicely. It's a slow but steady comeback filled with strength training. I don't want to go back down the injury road. And yes, I know there is a swim at B2B. I'm working on my motivation. We were able to buy a pool card this month which means I can get into the pool at 7am before the thunderstorms and swim meets.
You can add an extra 8 hours of CrossFit training for a total of 52 hours. It's not sport specific so I don't include it in my training totals, however, it is a significant dedication of time. And it's paying off in terms of increased core strength, no recurring hip problems, and fitting back into my size 10 jeans.
On the other hand....
there are only 2 things I despise about CrossFit: #1) extra laundry. I already workout over 8 times a week, 4 more sports bras are a big deal. #2) the idea that only CrossFit is real fitness. They are the fittest people on the planet. If you can't clean&jerk 135lbs 8 times in one minute, you're not really fit. Guess those 12 other hours of workouts I do each week don't count.
And these are serious issues. The CrossFit workout of the day is not scheduled in advance. You only know the workout that morning. Ladies, you know what I'm saying. A bra for, say, pull-ups can be much less supportive than running 5x400m with box jumps in between. It drives me crazy having to wash workout clothes 3 times a week.
As for the elitist thing, it pisses me off but it goes back to the day I started. They look at me and see a fat housewife. Ironman means nothing to them if I don't fit into size 6 jeans. They are wrong.
For July my totals are:
Swim: 7527.87 yd
Bike: 441.96 miles
Run: 44.04 mi
For a total of 42 hours. My running is coming along quite nicely. It's a slow but steady comeback filled with strength training. I don't want to go back down the injury road. And yes, I know there is a swim at B2B. I'm working on my motivation. We were able to buy a pool card this month which means I can get into the pool at 7am before the thunderstorms and swim meets.
You can add an extra 8 hours of CrossFit training for a total of 52 hours. It's not sport specific so I don't include it in my training totals, however, it is a significant dedication of time. And it's paying off in terms of increased core strength, no recurring hip problems, and fitting back into my size 10 jeans.
On the other hand....
there are only 2 things I despise about CrossFit: #1) extra laundry. I already workout over 8 times a week, 4 more sports bras are a big deal. #2) the idea that only CrossFit is real fitness. They are the fittest people on the planet. If you can't clean&jerk 135lbs 8 times in one minute, you're not really fit. Guess those 12 other hours of workouts I do each week don't count.
And these are serious issues. The CrossFit workout of the day is not scheduled in advance. You only know the workout that morning. Ladies, you know what I'm saying. A bra for, say, pull-ups can be much less supportive than running 5x400m with box jumps in between. It drives me crazy having to wash workout clothes 3 times a week.
As for the elitist thing, it pisses me off but it goes back to the day I started. They look at me and see a fat housewife. Ironman means nothing to them if I don't fit into size 6 jeans. They are wrong.
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