My god. How can it be only Friday.
I am in a stage of nervousness so advanced that I am finding it difficult to eat. In fact, the last time I was this nervous I was approaching the final exams for my masters degree, which had cost me two years of my life and approximately $100,000. The Irongirl has cost me a few nights of sleep and socializing and approximately $100 in entry fees. It's totally unreasonable that I should be this nervous.
I think part of it is that I haven't been in a race with an actual start line since I did the half marathon in Vermont in 2002. I mean, there have been a couple of things since then, but they're more on the order of "ride 60 miles for charity and get free lunch along the way". Not exactly high pressure. This race isn't that high pressure either, it's just that I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing.
I'm also having all these phantom dramas. So far in the last hour I have decided that I'm one or all of the following: Sick, injured, over-tired, suffering an iron deficiency and sunburned. Right after I convinced myself that I was, I usually forgot about it as soon as something else came up.
Then there is the gear to think about. Running a tri is not for the faint of heart, or those who are incapable of making lists. I'm not that faint of heart, but I do suck at lists. So far I have three of them, all with different items on them. I've finally resorted to throwing all those out and using the one Alice very kindly wrote out for me. Everything I own is now piled in the middle of my living room because I'm not entirely sure what should be considered "crucial" and what should be considered "Elizabeth panicking". I probably don't need to bring the entire vat of Accelerade powder drink mix. Or more than three cliff bars. But I don't KNOW that I don't need them. So they - for the moment, remain the middle of the living room.
Finally, the thought that kept me up until 1am last night were fears about my new shoes. I finally got speedplay pedals which is, as my brother says, like standing on ice. They are fantastic for my knee because they have so much float and they're reletively painless to get in an out of. However there are three problems: One the clip in/out mechanism is different; two, I am used to riding with mt bike shoes which have recessed cleats; and three, I have now broken the cardinal rule of racing -- "do not ever ever ever do anything new on race day." Visions of myself tripping in the transition area or going face down on the race course, locked to my bike, rolled through my head for an hour last night before I finally wretched myself away to think about transitions instead.
Thank god tomorrow is T-1 to the gun going off. I don't think I can take any more of this. Tonight I'm going for a splash in the pool and then heading to dinner to say goodbye to some friends who are moving. I feel selfish and self-involved that I would rather be home, meticulously arranging gear and counting cliff bars, but I have to remember that people will be a good distraction. Besides, I need to eat a lot of pasta and a dinner party provides the perfect excuse. Tonight I'm trying to get in bed by 10:30 and get a solid ten or eleven hours of sleep. Then up and pack the car for the drive out to registration. Then all I have to do is rack my bike, look at the transition area and dedicate the rest of the day to finding my family and calming the f- down.
My god I hope this nervousness gets better soon. Hopefully it will - I just want to get all the stuff out of the way - racked, ID'd, safety-checked, stamped -- all the stuff that has to happen - I just want it to happen so I know it's done and my sole responsibility is to breathe and show up at 5:00 am.
Friday, August 22, 2008
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Knocking Back that Vitamin C
Why hello Tuesday (otherwise known as five-days-before-the-race)
So far, so good. My biking plan for the morning was aborted by a "Code Orange Air Day" in Washington, DC, which basically means, "don't go outside and breathe if you don't have to". Since part of my bike ride this morning involves trailing along I66 and then along three miles of brutal hills, I decided to swap the bike and the run plan for the cooler weather promised tomorrow. Tonight I hit the gym for my last run session.
In other unrelated news, I've decided that my body is falling into shock because I have refused to feed it anything but kale, blueberries and protein. The sudden steep drop-off from my usual diet of does-it-come-in-a-take-out-container is apparently sending my immune system into a tailspin. I went for a 45 minute swim last night (incidentally, the water was fricking cold in Marie Reed - which is an improvement over the foggy/lukewarm combo from two weeks ago - but still) and there was stuff in my lungs. I don't mean to gross people out - but there it is. Anyway, I've started throwing back Airbourne like it was my job. Pink Grapefruit. So not as delicious as it sounds.
This focused intensity is very weird for me. I was literally in bed at 9:40pm last night. That officially is the earliest I have gotten into bed to sleep in the last decade. I had ginger tea and an ice pack and a book and I turned off the lights at ten after ten. I'm sorry - WHAT?!!
My sister was great yesterday and talked me through a big chunk of nervousness about the transitions. I think I have it all laid out in my head - now I just need to practice it a few times so I can do it without thinking about it too hard. Because I realize when I climbed out of the pool last night and fumbled to get my sandals on - I'm going to need to rely on muscle memory to get me through stuff like that and I'm totally the person who would get disqualified by running out of the transition area forgetting something major - like a helmet. There are - incidentally - in case you haven't wondered before - a lot of ways to get disqualified in a triathlon. You can't be on your bike in the transition area. You have to have your number on all the time. You have to have your helmet on before you move your bike. You can't draft off any other riders. Etc etc etc. So many rules. Yawn.
Anyway, I'm off now for my final bike fit. Hopefully this will also involve new bike shoes (with velcro!). This is my favorite part of having races so far. It's like I get to spend whatever money I want because I'm nervous :) Here is what is on my shopping list today:
-- cliff shots
-- gummy power gel fish
-- sports drink powder mix
-- new bike shoes (yay!)
-- race belt (to avoid puttin safety pin holes in my pretty unisuit... or me)
Reports to follow.
So far, so good. My biking plan for the morning was aborted by a "Code Orange Air Day" in Washington, DC, which basically means, "don't go outside and breathe if you don't have to". Since part of my bike ride this morning involves trailing along I66 and then along three miles of brutal hills, I decided to swap the bike and the run plan for the cooler weather promised tomorrow. Tonight I hit the gym for my last run session.
In other unrelated news, I've decided that my body is falling into shock because I have refused to feed it anything but kale, blueberries and protein. The sudden steep drop-off from my usual diet of does-it-come-in-a-take-out-container is apparently sending my immune system into a tailspin. I went for a 45 minute swim last night (incidentally, the water was fricking cold in Marie Reed - which is an improvement over the foggy/lukewarm combo from two weeks ago - but still) and there was stuff in my lungs. I don't mean to gross people out - but there it is. Anyway, I've started throwing back Airbourne like it was my job. Pink Grapefruit. So not as delicious as it sounds.
This focused intensity is very weird for me. I was literally in bed at 9:40pm last night. That officially is the earliest I have gotten into bed to sleep in the last decade. I had ginger tea and an ice pack and a book and I turned off the lights at ten after ten. I'm sorry - WHAT?!!
My sister was great yesterday and talked me through a big chunk of nervousness about the transitions. I think I have it all laid out in my head - now I just need to practice it a few times so I can do it without thinking about it too hard. Because I realize when I climbed out of the pool last night and fumbled to get my sandals on - I'm going to need to rely on muscle memory to get me through stuff like that and I'm totally the person who would get disqualified by running out of the transition area forgetting something major - like a helmet. There are - incidentally - in case you haven't wondered before - a lot of ways to get disqualified in a triathlon. You can't be on your bike in the transition area. You have to have your number on all the time. You have to have your helmet on before you move your bike. You can't draft off any other riders. Etc etc etc. So many rules. Yawn.
Anyway, I'm off now for my final bike fit. Hopefully this will also involve new bike shoes (with velcro!). This is my favorite part of having races so far. It's like I get to spend whatever money I want because I'm nervous :) Here is what is on my shopping list today:
-- cliff shots
-- gummy power gel fish
-- sports drink powder mix
-- new bike shoes (yay!)
-- race belt (to avoid puttin safety pin holes in my pretty unisuit... or me)
Reports to follow.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Swim, Bike, Run, Eat, Sleep, Race.
So it's Sunday night. Exactly one week before the race. At this moment, halfway around the world, the Olympic triathletes are half way through the Beijing course. Here in Washington, DC - this is where we are. Swim, bike, run, eat, sleep. Repeat.
I can tell I'm nervous because I can't stop pacing in my house - compulsively making equipment lists while icing my knee and randomly watching Ironman video footage on YouTube.
I have to assume this is the first blush of insanity.
I'm not going to lie to you. I am a stress case.
But - here's the weird thing. I have this almost unsettling sense of clarity about having a goal. I have a race. My goal is to finish the race. And until I get to the race it's my priority. It's a weird feeling for me - having a set of priorities, which creates some kind of hierarchy of social organization. I am not an organized person. I don't have any routines that I cherish. I periodically forget appointments, I'm constantly late and I tend to run from one thing to another - always feeling about half an hour behind everyone else with this unsettling feeling that I'm wearing the wrong thing.
But this race seems to be calming me down - even as I spend hours working myself into a froth about whether or not I'll get kicked in the face during the swim and what if I have to walk? And what happens if I get the flu between now and sunday and oh my god, my mother is going to be there, I can't walk during the run. So I have all that playing on a loop in my head - but the rest of my everyday stress fades into background noise. I don't feel worried about things I can't get to. I don't feel constantly guilty about things that I'm not attending -- both of which ensure that I'm not constantly late to few things that I do decide to go to. swim, bike, run, eat, sleep. If it's not on that list - then it's white noise at this point.
I've been pushing hard in the last week - knowing it was my last chance to beat myself up before the race "taper" starts. I'm finally FINALLY able to run again. I've still been running with walking intervals. But I'm running real distances again (thank God, thank you thank you). For all those who have ever been on a treadmill and wanted to run five miles while only being able to do 1/10th will understand the frustration. Last week I tried the race distance in the pool and it was awesome. It felt so fantastic - I wasn't fast. It wasn't pretty. But now I know I can swim it. Ditto for the run. And then on Saturday I got up at 7:30am (I know - me up early on a Saturday - I'm as shocked as anyone else here) to go biking with a group an hour outside DC. We did 40 miles, clipping along at about 19 mph. I felt like a rockstar - was on a biking high long enough to get me home so I could eat everything I could get my hands on and fall dead asleep for 45 minutes.
So here we go: Race Week
Sunday: (today) ice knee, cook food. think about race. do nothing. resist urge to do things. complusively call people instead. stretch.
Monday: Swim. Depending on knee (right one is twingy this time - what's up with that??). Possibly light jog in afternoon if knee feels better.
Tuesday: Bike to work. Final Bike fit at Conte's - possibly going to be purchasing new shoes depending on what they tell me about my cleat position vs knee problems. Purchase race snacks (espresso power shots have a starring role at mile 10 of the bike ride). Bike home.
Wednesday: Back in the pool - light swim. Light run in the afternoon.
Thursday: Final bike ride - leisurely pace. Jess arrives from NYC (not on the train, as you may assume -- no no. she's just going to bike it... like you do).
Friday: baby swim, baby ride, baby jog. Load car. Check and double check equipment eight million times. Avoid caffiene past four pm in order to sleep as much as humanly possible.
Saturday: Drive out to Colombia for equipment safety check, registration - ID and wristband are strapped on at this point and have to stay on until the race is over. Rack bike and rest of equipment at the course. Go to Jess's friend's house. Eat pasta. Curl up and try to sleep.
Sunday: RACE DAY - gun goes off for the silver caps (me!!!) at 7:53am. With any luck, all the pain and suffering will be over by 10am.
Meanwhile, in other unrelated news, I put on my tri unisuit for the first time in six months this afternoon. It's been hanging on the back wall of my closet - on a seperate hanger so I see it everytime I open the door. It's sleeveless razor back white top with grey shorts - lightly padded with small hot pink stripes. On the hanger it looks fast and sleek and has that "I'm sponsored" vibe. When I finally fought my way into it I looked at myself in the mirror and I saw this girl who was tanned and looked strong -- like she knew what she was doing --and I thought, "well, damn. I look good in this."
Hey hey. I might be able to finish this damn thing after all :)
I can tell I'm nervous because I can't stop pacing in my house - compulsively making equipment lists while icing my knee and randomly watching Ironman video footage on YouTube.
I have to assume this is the first blush of insanity.
I'm not going to lie to you. I am a stress case.
But - here's the weird thing. I have this almost unsettling sense of clarity about having a goal. I have a race. My goal is to finish the race. And until I get to the race it's my priority. It's a weird feeling for me - having a set of priorities, which creates some kind of hierarchy of social organization. I am not an organized person. I don't have any routines that I cherish. I periodically forget appointments, I'm constantly late and I tend to run from one thing to another - always feeling about half an hour behind everyone else with this unsettling feeling that I'm wearing the wrong thing.
But this race seems to be calming me down - even as I spend hours working myself into a froth about whether or not I'll get kicked in the face during the swim and what if I have to walk? And what happens if I get the flu between now and sunday and oh my god, my mother is going to be there, I can't walk during the run. So I have all that playing on a loop in my head - but the rest of my everyday stress fades into background noise. I don't feel worried about things I can't get to. I don't feel constantly guilty about things that I'm not attending -- both of which ensure that I'm not constantly late to few things that I do decide to go to. swim, bike, run, eat, sleep. If it's not on that list - then it's white noise at this point.
I've been pushing hard in the last week - knowing it was my last chance to beat myself up before the race "taper" starts. I'm finally FINALLY able to run again. I've still been running with walking intervals. But I'm running real distances again (thank God, thank you thank you). For all those who have ever been on a treadmill and wanted to run five miles while only being able to do 1/10th will understand the frustration. Last week I tried the race distance in the pool and it was awesome. It felt so fantastic - I wasn't fast. It wasn't pretty. But now I know I can swim it. Ditto for the run. And then on Saturday I got up at 7:30am (I know - me up early on a Saturday - I'm as shocked as anyone else here) to go biking with a group an hour outside DC. We did 40 miles, clipping along at about 19 mph. I felt like a rockstar - was on a biking high long enough to get me home so I could eat everything I could get my hands on and fall dead asleep for 45 minutes.
So here we go: Race Week
Sunday: (today) ice knee, cook food. think about race. do nothing. resist urge to do things. complusively call people instead. stretch.
Monday: Swim. Depending on knee (right one is twingy this time - what's up with that??). Possibly light jog in afternoon if knee feels better.
Tuesday: Bike to work. Final Bike fit at Conte's - possibly going to be purchasing new shoes depending on what they tell me about my cleat position vs knee problems. Purchase race snacks (espresso power shots have a starring role at mile 10 of the bike ride). Bike home.
Wednesday: Back in the pool - light swim. Light run in the afternoon.
Thursday: Final bike ride - leisurely pace. Jess arrives from NYC (not on the train, as you may assume -- no no. she's just going to bike it... like you do).
Friday: baby swim, baby ride, baby jog. Load car. Check and double check equipment eight million times. Avoid caffiene past four pm in order to sleep as much as humanly possible.
Saturday: Drive out to Colombia for equipment safety check, registration - ID and wristband are strapped on at this point and have to stay on until the race is over. Rack bike and rest of equipment at the course. Go to Jess's friend's house. Eat pasta. Curl up and try to sleep.
Sunday: RACE DAY - gun goes off for the silver caps (me!!!) at 7:53am. With any luck, all the pain and suffering will be over by 10am.
Meanwhile, in other unrelated news, I put on my tri unisuit for the first time in six months this afternoon. It's been hanging on the back wall of my closet - on a seperate hanger so I see it everytime I open the door. It's sleeveless razor back white top with grey shorts - lightly padded with small hot pink stripes. On the hanger it looks fast and sleek and has that "I'm sponsored" vibe. When I finally fought my way into it I looked at myself in the mirror and I saw this girl who was tanned and looked strong -- like she knew what she was doing --and I thought, "well, damn. I look good in this."
Hey hey. I might be able to finish this damn thing after all :)
Friday, July 25, 2008
30 days and counting.
Thursday:
45 min bike to work. About eight miles - it's really hilly for thelast four miles. I ordered another bike computer so I can start breaking into splits (there are some slow parts b/c of traffic). But the good (or bad) part is that the ride to work is all up hill once Ihit Virginia, and on the way home, it's all uphill once I hit DC. So technically, I'm going to be getting my ass kicked no matter which wayI ride.
Run after work - I'm still building my run times. I'm at pyramids right now of 2 on, 4 off, 3 on, 4 off, 2 on. I'm not doing any speed work this week, just trying to up my distance. So far the knee feels good, but a little tender. I iced and stretched with my bands last night.
Friday:
Swim - 45 minutes. Ouch. Warmed up with 100, then 200 mixing it up plus kickboard. Did decents 300, 200, 100. Then four sprint 25M moderateX25M Sprint. 30 sec rest between. 30 seconds never felt so short. I still can't control my breathing for longer than 50 m at a time - I want to breathe every other stroke, but my body can't take it for longer than two laps.
Then I did 4 sets of 50 with the pull buoys and cooled down with 100.
By the end of it I was convinced I was going to drown in the race. But I'll get back in on Sunday and hopefully I'll feel stronger.
My plan for the weekend is to bike the course tomorrow with a short transition run and then spend Sunday in the pool. I'll report in howit goes. Also, I realized that I left my brand new snazzy water bottle in theshower at the pool. Damnit.
I have so much energy and am so cheerful right now, it's disguising. I *hate* it when the morning people are right. I'm sulking into my much-needed-well-earned latte.
45 min bike to work. About eight miles - it's really hilly for thelast four miles. I ordered another bike computer so I can start breaking into splits (there are some slow parts b/c of traffic). But the good (or bad) part is that the ride to work is all up hill once Ihit Virginia, and on the way home, it's all uphill once I hit DC. So technically, I'm going to be getting my ass kicked no matter which wayI ride.
Run after work - I'm still building my run times. I'm at pyramids right now of 2 on, 4 off, 3 on, 4 off, 2 on. I'm not doing any speed work this week, just trying to up my distance. So far the knee feels good, but a little tender. I iced and stretched with my bands last night.
Friday:
Swim - 45 minutes. Ouch. Warmed up with 100, then 200 mixing it up plus kickboard. Did decents 300, 200, 100. Then four sprint 25M moderateX25M Sprint. 30 sec rest between. 30 seconds never felt so short. I still can't control my breathing for longer than 50 m at a time - I want to breathe every other stroke, but my body can't take it for longer than two laps.
Then I did 4 sets of 50 with the pull buoys and cooled down with 100.
By the end of it I was convinced I was going to drown in the race. But I'll get back in on Sunday and hopefully I'll feel stronger.
My plan for the weekend is to bike the course tomorrow with a short transition run and then spend Sunday in the pool. I'll report in howit goes. Also, I realized that I left my brand new snazzy water bottle in theshower at the pool. Damnit.
I have so much energy and am so cheerful right now, it's disguising. I *hate* it when the morning people are right. I'm sulking into my much-needed-well-earned latte.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
32 days and counting
oh god. oh god. oh god.
32 days. Full on panic has been setting in. I'm desperately afraid to get hurt again, but I'm totally panicked to go in so unprepared. And you would think that the bike and the swim would make me sweat bullets. But no -- it's the fact that I am currently running only in 3 minute intervals that's waking me up at night.
I actually ran outside this weeekend - it was brutally hot in New York City. But I did my one minute, two minute, one minute builds. And I admit I pushed that two out to more like three. I felt great. So today I got on the treadmill and I started at two minutes, 3 min, two and my RIGHT knee started getting all this attitude. I can't tell if it's a injury twinge or just a man-you-haven't-been-running twinge. But I was injured on my left side, so who knows what's up with that.
This weekend I'm finally in town so my plan it to the throw the bike in the car and go out and take a look at this course in Maryland. I can't decide whether to bring my road bike or my mountain bike. Maybe my mountian bike since I'm planning to just tool around (for 17.5 miles) and then doing a baby baby run.
Here's my schedule up to Vacay-2008:
Tuesday: Mini run.
Wednesday: Bike home from work. Leave car at office.
Thursday: Bike to work (car transfer is getting increasingly difficult since I hate taking the metro to work with a burning passion). Pick up car. Mini run at lunch.
Friday: Pool time (might try morning swim - have this crazy idea that it might be helpful.)
Saturday: Ride course in Maryland/transition run
Sunday: Back in the pool - be sore and grouchy from saturday ride.
Monday: Ride to work/ride home from work.
Tuesday: Run
Wednesday: Go to Caribbean -- take day off.
Thursday, July 30th - August 5th: Run as much as possible. Eat lots of good food. Drink fun drinks. Swim swim swim.
August 6th: Face Reality. Panic. Realize that there are only 18 days left until race. Work self to death until August 20th. Then tell everyone i'm tapering until race day.
So far that's my plan.
32 days. Full on panic has been setting in. I'm desperately afraid to get hurt again, but I'm totally panicked to go in so unprepared. And you would think that the bike and the swim would make me sweat bullets. But no -- it's the fact that I am currently running only in 3 minute intervals that's waking me up at night.
I actually ran outside this weeekend - it was brutally hot in New York City. But I did my one minute, two minute, one minute builds. And I admit I pushed that two out to more like three. I felt great. So today I got on the treadmill and I started at two minutes, 3 min, two and my RIGHT knee started getting all this attitude. I can't tell if it's a injury twinge or just a man-you-haven't-been-running twinge. But I was injured on my left side, so who knows what's up with that.
This weekend I'm finally in town so my plan it to the throw the bike in the car and go out and take a look at this course in Maryland. I can't decide whether to bring my road bike or my mountain bike. Maybe my mountian bike since I'm planning to just tool around (for 17.5 miles) and then doing a baby baby run.
Here's my schedule up to Vacay-2008:
Tuesday: Mini run.
Wednesday: Bike home from work. Leave car at office.
Thursday: Bike to work (car transfer is getting increasingly difficult since I hate taking the metro to work with a burning passion). Pick up car. Mini run at lunch.
Friday: Pool time (might try morning swim - have this crazy idea that it might be helpful.)
Saturday: Ride course in Maryland/transition run
Sunday: Back in the pool - be sore and grouchy from saturday ride.
Monday: Ride to work/ride home from work.
Tuesday: Run
Wednesday: Go to Caribbean -- take day off.
Thursday, July 30th - August 5th: Run as much as possible. Eat lots of good food. Drink fun drinks. Swim swim swim.
August 6th: Face Reality. Panic. Realize that there are only 18 days left until race. Work self to death until August 20th. Then tell everyone i'm tapering until race day.
So far that's my plan.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
24 hours in - and it hurts
Tuesday: Rock-climbing, 2 hours
Wednesday: 8 miles, uphill - approximately 45 minutes
As I was explaining to a friend of mine this morning, why yes, I am in fact a rockstar.
So far the kickoff into Retraining-The-Tri-2008 is going very well. Last night I went climbing and that was tons of fun and I think I got a good work out. I didn't fall so I guess the arguement could be made that I wasn't pushing myself hard enough -- on the other hand - all my muscles were shaking when I got to the top, so it wasn't exactly a cakewalk. I ate a cliffbar for dinner (delicious), went home, inhaled toast and fell into bed for 8.5 hours.
Then this morning I woke up and hopped on my bike and rode to work - down rockcreek park and up the Curtis trail. It was *amazing*. And when I say "amazing" what I mean is brutal, hard and uphill in 80-degree weather. And I am really really out of shape. Not as bad as when I did it last fall after doing nothing for months and ended up having to sit down on the side of the trail and breathe so I didn't throw up. But in that same range of pain. I think I could whittle it down to a half an hour ride - I'm trying to find the best way to get to the trail without hitting stoplights or running over pedestrians. Oh, or being run over by trucks. If I could get a straight ride and was strong enough to push the whole way, I think it would be pretty fast.
Hitting the pool tonight with E. Hopefully it wouldn't be a total diaster. I am crossing my fingers because although I feel pretty confident that I can get through a 3 mile run and a 20 mile bike -- not gracefully, but through, without crawling, I don't feel that confident about my ability to swim 900 meters before doing all the rest of it. There are may flip turns in my future. I can feel it coming.
Reports to follow.
Wednesday: 8 miles, uphill - approximately 45 minutes
As I was explaining to a friend of mine this morning, why yes, I am in fact a rockstar.
So far the kickoff into Retraining-The-Tri-2008 is going very well. Last night I went climbing and that was tons of fun and I think I got a good work out. I didn't fall so I guess the arguement could be made that I wasn't pushing myself hard enough -- on the other hand - all my muscles were shaking when I got to the top, so it wasn't exactly a cakewalk. I ate a cliffbar for dinner (delicious), went home, inhaled toast and fell into bed for 8.5 hours.
Then this morning I woke up and hopped on my bike and rode to work - down rockcreek park and up the Curtis trail. It was *amazing*. And when I say "amazing" what I mean is brutal, hard and uphill in 80-degree weather. And I am really really out of shape. Not as bad as when I did it last fall after doing nothing for months and ended up having to sit down on the side of the trail and breathe so I didn't throw up. But in that same range of pain. I think I could whittle it down to a half an hour ride - I'm trying to find the best way to get to the trail without hitting stoplights or running over pedestrians. Oh, or being run over by trucks. If I could get a straight ride and was strong enough to push the whole way, I think it would be pretty fast.
Hitting the pool tonight with E. Hopefully it wouldn't be a total diaster. I am crossing my fingers because although I feel pretty confident that I can get through a 3 mile run and a 20 mile bike -- not gracefully, but through, without crawling, I don't feel that confident about my ability to swim 900 meters before doing all the rest of it. There are may flip turns in my future. I can feel it coming.
Reports to follow.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
The Guilt. The Panic.
Well, well. Hello July.
Last night I got "the talk" from a friend of mine. I didn't enjoy it, but I acknowledge that someone had to throw some ice water over this delusion I have that I can run a triathlon without embarassing myself... or training for it. Basically I've been hiding under the bed since I got hurt, hoping that by ignoring the summer I could make August go away. So far, no luck. So now July has showed up like annoying dinner guests, fifteen minutes early when you're still trying to lay crackers out on a plate and you haven't straightened up the house. But I just have suck it up and cope.
So this is me packing my bags from my vacation of not coping.
Today. July 8th, 2008: I went to the gym. And let me tell you, my friends, it was a whole lot more fun then I thought it would be. I'm still really sensitive to the knee, so I did a 10 minute warm-up on the bike and started my run pyramids, which my PT gave me back in - whatever - I don't want to talk about when it was.
So I built - 5 minutes walking; 1 minute run. 5 walk, 2 run; 5 walk, 1 run. Then I cooled down and stretched all the leg muscles and did my foam roller (can I just spare a minute to say, "I HATE THE FOAM ROLLER").
Among other things I'd like to report the following. A) I resent that I feel fabulous right now B) Back in the day when I was doing this, I was damn impressive. My gym bag is so well organized that I feel like I should photograph it - after I dusted it off, C) My heart rate monitor is dead. Go figure.
Here's my plan for the rest of the week:
Tuesday: baby run - rockclimbing
Wednesday: bike leisurely to work/swim workout
Thursday: baby run/yoga
Friday: Bike
Saturday: (In NYC w/ JJ) Swim/Rockclimb
Sunday: baby run
Monday: Bike home from work
Then we will reassess where we are with everything and see if I can turn the baby run into a toodler-like run. I have to stay uninjured. But I also seriously need to reorganize my priorities and get this race together. I feel like since the race is pretty small I might let rockclimbing stand in for my weight training. Between rockclimbing and yoga I feel like I'm probably going to get more tones then I would if I was chaining myself to the handweights anyway - and hey, it's more fun.
Last night I got "the talk" from a friend of mine. I didn't enjoy it, but I acknowledge that someone had to throw some ice water over this delusion I have that I can run a triathlon without embarassing myself... or training for it. Basically I've been hiding under the bed since I got hurt, hoping that by ignoring the summer I could make August go away. So far, no luck. So now July has showed up like annoying dinner guests, fifteen minutes early when you're still trying to lay crackers out on a plate and you haven't straightened up the house. But I just have suck it up and cope.
So this is me packing my bags from my vacation of not coping.
Today. July 8th, 2008: I went to the gym. And let me tell you, my friends, it was a whole lot more fun then I thought it would be. I'm still really sensitive to the knee, so I did a 10 minute warm-up on the bike and started my run pyramids, which my PT gave me back in - whatever - I don't want to talk about when it was.
So I built - 5 minutes walking; 1 minute run. 5 walk, 2 run; 5 walk, 1 run. Then I cooled down and stretched all the leg muscles and did my foam roller (can I just spare a minute to say, "I HATE THE FOAM ROLLER").
Among other things I'd like to report the following. A) I resent that I feel fabulous right now B) Back in the day when I was doing this, I was damn impressive. My gym bag is so well organized that I feel like I should photograph it - after I dusted it off, C) My heart rate monitor is dead. Go figure.
Here's my plan for the rest of the week:
Tuesday: baby run - rockclimbing
Wednesday: bike leisurely to work/swim workout
Thursday: baby run/yoga
Friday: Bike
Saturday: (In NYC w/ JJ) Swim/Rockclimb
Sunday: baby run
Monday: Bike home from work
Then we will reassess where we are with everything and see if I can turn the baby run into a toodler-like run. I have to stay uninjured. But I also seriously need to reorganize my priorities and get this race together. I feel like since the race is pretty small I might let rockclimbing stand in for my weight training. Between rockclimbing and yoga I feel like I'm probably going to get more tones then I would if I was chaining myself to the handweights anyway - and hey, it's more fun.
Friday, March 14, 2008
PT v1
Had my first physical therapy appt this morning. It was awesome - not exactly fun, but really great to know that whatever is going on with my knee is not serious. The woman thinks that I strained by ATL band - or the way she explained it is actually that I built a lot of muscle there and the band has gotten so strong that it's basically pulling my kneecap out of place. Which is, when you think about it, kind cool and kind of gross at the same time.
So here's what I have to do:
3 reps of 1min stretches of my iliotibial band using a towel or a dog leash to pull my leg across my body and down.
15 leg lifts (lying on my back, left knee raised, lift right leg out straight and hold for 5 secs); switch sides, repeat.
Lie sideways on a foam roller and basically massage the tissue in my outer thigh by rolling up and down. This part sucks because a) it demands that I go to the gym and b) it hurts.
Then I have to ice as much as humanally possible. Must invest in theraputic frozen foods and label appropriately.
My friend is now trying to talk me into doing a half marathon in June. I feel tempted, which is hilarious considering that I am basically bench warming at the moment. We'll see how this takes. Back in the pool tonight.
So here's what I have to do:
3 reps of 1min stretches of my iliotibial band using a towel or a dog leash to pull my leg across my body and down.
15 leg lifts (lying on my back, left knee raised, lift right leg out straight and hold for 5 secs); switch sides, repeat.
Lie sideways on a foam roller and basically massage the tissue in my outer thigh by rolling up and down. This part sucks because a) it demands that I go to the gym and b) it hurts.
Then I have to ice as much as humanally possible. Must invest in theraputic frozen foods and label appropriately.
My friend is now trying to talk me into doing a half marathon in June. I feel tempted, which is hilarious considering that I am basically bench warming at the moment. We'll see how this takes. Back in the pool tonight.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
boo-yay with the flip turns
Swim: 45 minutes, warm-up 100 meters; 50 pull; 5x100 w/ 1.5 m rest intervals; 6x50 working on breathing and form; 100 cool down
Oh my friends - spring is coming. I know because I wake up in the morning and think, "oh fantastic. it's so beautiful" a marked change from February where I usually woke up thinking, "f*&% off, world."
So I'm not going to lie to you - in all this spring fevor - I rocked the pool the last night. When I was there on Monday, I talked to the masters swim coach and he suggested that to join the team practices (a grueling 90 minutes of coached drill swimming), I should be able to swim about 10x100's -- basically back to back. This was good to know (in a scary way) because now I have a goal. Having found out on Monday that my first 100 wasn't all that scary, I was detirmined to try a couple of them. So I did.
Here's the best thing about swimming 100's: They much easier to count. In fact, I think you could say that I'm acutely aware of where I am as I come fighting down home stretch on my last 25 - trying to hold on to breathing every other stroke.
Right around 7:30 two other girls jumped in my lane (bring us to a total of 4) - I took one look at these people and was like, "oh for god's sake". One was wearing a bikini. The other one was wearing a bug-green neon bathsuit and had about four feet of hair and no swim cap. Well, that will teach me. Bikini swam breast stroke, but the neon green suit got in and just started ripping the lane apart. No breaks. No rests. Just flip turn after flip turn - and she was fast. So I thought about something I had read about on another triathlete's blog - it's about how you can draft on faster swimmers, which challenges you to keep up, but at the same time, makes it easier to try another pace because you get a pull by being in their wake. So she came through, flipping and pushing off in about 3 seconds, I dropped in behind her and went along for the ride. It was great. I kept my fingers in the bubble trail from her kick and we went zipping down to the other end of the pool and back again, then up and back. Then I dropped out for a lap to rest and when she came back through, hopped on again. It was a fantastic workout. It was also a lot of fun (for me anyway - I bet she never noticed). Before I even knew it the master's team was standing on the deck and it was 8:00pm.
I was so happy with my workout (and kind of sad it was over), so I thought I would walk down to the store and get a frozen yogurt to celebrate. I think I ended up with soft serve ice cream, but it was delicious and made me feel - wandering back to my car still wearing my swimming suit under my fleece - that it was really really spring.
Oh my friends - spring is coming. I know because I wake up in the morning and think, "oh fantastic. it's so beautiful" a marked change from February where I usually woke up thinking, "f*&% off, world."
So I'm not going to lie to you - in all this spring fevor - I rocked the pool the last night. When I was there on Monday, I talked to the masters swim coach and he suggested that to join the team practices (a grueling 90 minutes of coached drill swimming), I should be able to swim about 10x100's -- basically back to back. This was good to know (in a scary way) because now I have a goal. Having found out on Monday that my first 100 wasn't all that scary, I was detirmined to try a couple of them. So I did.
Here's the best thing about swimming 100's: They much easier to count. In fact, I think you could say that I'm acutely aware of where I am as I come fighting down home stretch on my last 25 - trying to hold on to breathing every other stroke.
Right around 7:30 two other girls jumped in my lane (bring us to a total of 4) - I took one look at these people and was like, "oh for god's sake". One was wearing a bikini. The other one was wearing a bug-green neon bathsuit and had about four feet of hair and no swim cap. Well, that will teach me. Bikini swam breast stroke, but the neon green suit got in and just started ripping the lane apart. No breaks. No rests. Just flip turn after flip turn - and she was fast. So I thought about something I had read about on another triathlete's blog - it's about how you can draft on faster swimmers, which challenges you to keep up, but at the same time, makes it easier to try another pace because you get a pull by being in their wake. So she came through, flipping and pushing off in about 3 seconds, I dropped in behind her and went along for the ride. It was great. I kept my fingers in the bubble trail from her kick and we went zipping down to the other end of the pool and back again, then up and back. Then I dropped out for a lap to rest and when she came back through, hopped on again. It was a fantastic workout. It was also a lot of fun (for me anyway - I bet she never noticed). Before I even knew it the master's team was standing on the deck and it was 8:00pm.
I was so happy with my workout (and kind of sad it was over), so I thought I would walk down to the store and get a frozen yogurt to celebrate. I think I ended up with soft serve ice cream, but it was delicious and made me feel - wandering back to my car still wearing my swimming suit under my fleece - that it was really really spring.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
DCAC menance
Monday: Swim 40 minutes
So I have backed off significantly on the training side. It's totally killing me, but my knee is *still* hurting and it's so early in the season that I know if I don't let it heal it will dog me until the fall. Besides, MD yelled at me for pushing myself too hard and I was all petulant about it, ("FINE. I WON'T train. So there. stomp stomp stomp.") But I had to admit she was right. I've got nothing to gain from ignoring it.
So it's been all about the pool lately. I honestly have no idea how far I went on Monday. It was a great great swim. But I got there late - around 7:20 - and the Master's swim team has practice from 8 to 9:30, so around 7:45 I'm working through my laps and I look up to see that there are all these people standing, fully dressed at the other end of the pool, watching everyone in the lanes. Every time I did a 50 and got back to the other side, there were more of them. As it ticked closer and closer to 8, the clothing started disappearing until there was this wall of 40 beautifully scultped, toned gorgeous people holding their googles and standing with their arms crossed, waiting. It was the most unnerving thing that has happened to me in weeks. In some ways I was grateful for it because it made me incredibly conscious of my form (and trying not to flail in the water), on the other hand it was bad because I was so busy concentrating on looking like I knew I was I was doing that I have absolutely no idea how many laps I swam. I think it was a lot. But the other really good thing is that I swam my first 100! I went slowly and methodically and it was actually pretty easy. I think I'm going to try to do a few sets of those on Wednesday - and when I work up to about ten sets then maybe I'll join the masters team so I can can be the one looking sculpted and bored at the other end of the pool, waiting for the novices to clear the lanes.
So I have backed off significantly on the training side. It's totally killing me, but my knee is *still* hurting and it's so early in the season that I know if I don't let it heal it will dog me until the fall. Besides, MD yelled at me for pushing myself too hard and I was all petulant about it, ("FINE. I WON'T train. So there. stomp stomp stomp.") But I had to admit she was right. I've got nothing to gain from ignoring it.
So it's been all about the pool lately. I honestly have no idea how far I went on Monday. It was a great great swim. But I got there late - around 7:20 - and the Master's swim team has practice from 8 to 9:30, so around 7:45 I'm working through my laps and I look up to see that there are all these people standing, fully dressed at the other end of the pool, watching everyone in the lanes. Every time I did a 50 and got back to the other side, there were more of them. As it ticked closer and closer to 8, the clothing started disappearing until there was this wall of 40 beautifully scultped, toned gorgeous people holding their googles and standing with their arms crossed, waiting. It was the most unnerving thing that has happened to me in weeks. In some ways I was grateful for it because it made me incredibly conscious of my form (and trying not to flail in the water), on the other hand it was bad because I was so busy concentrating on looking like I knew I was I was doing that I have absolutely no idea how many laps I swam. I think it was a lot. But the other really good thing is that I swam my first 100! I went slowly and methodically and it was actually pretty easy. I think I'm going to try to do a few sets of those on Wednesday - and when I work up to about ten sets then maybe I'll join the masters team so I can can be the one looking sculpted and bored at the other end of the pool, waiting for the novices to clear the lanes.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
1/2 way there!
Swim: 100 free warmup; 600 easy free (50 meter laps); 100 pull; 100 cool down
What a night in the pool!
I was so panicky about my knee all day that I decided that the best thing I could do for it was stay off it and do something low impact. So I hopped in the pool to splash around a little bit and keep up the appearance that I was working (note to self - the pool clears out after 7 on thursdays). Anyway, I wanted to try this out this theory that I could swim 50 meters if I worked on my breathing on the way down, did a flip turn and allowed myself to breath every stroke on the way back. And low and behold - I can! I'm not going to say that it was a stunning night, but I am so much stronger than I was before and tonight, almost accidentally, I swam over 1/2 of the distance of the Irongirl and I thought to myself, "hey - this might not kill me."
I also have this crazy idea that I should get a little folding bike and start commuting to work. I need to lay off the clipless petals until I figure this knee thing out and I would love to save 400 bucks a month on that damn car. Plus I think those little folding bikes are wicked cute. I could be a green earth hippie, while still working for the utility version of Exxon Mobile. Is there cosmic balance in this? I feel that's almost like a mini revolution right there.
What a night in the pool!
I was so panicky about my knee all day that I decided that the best thing I could do for it was stay off it and do something low impact. So I hopped in the pool to splash around a little bit and keep up the appearance that I was working (note to self - the pool clears out after 7 on thursdays). Anyway, I wanted to try this out this theory that I could swim 50 meters if I worked on my breathing on the way down, did a flip turn and allowed myself to breath every stroke on the way back. And low and behold - I can! I'm not going to say that it was a stunning night, but I am so much stronger than I was before and tonight, almost accidentally, I swam over 1/2 of the distance of the Irongirl and I thought to myself, "hey - this might not kill me."
I also have this crazy idea that I should get a little folding bike and start commuting to work. I need to lay off the clipless petals until I figure this knee thing out and I would love to save 400 bucks a month on that damn car. Plus I think those little folding bikes are wicked cute. I could be a green earth hippie, while still working for the utility version of Exxon Mobile. Is there cosmic balance in this? I feel that's almost like a mini revolution right there.
oh no
this is not good at all.
Have had a great week so far - went for a great run last night - 25 minutes at 5.3 pace. My first little adventure with a heart rate monitor confirmed what I have suspected, ie. what I've been considering as "endurance building" is way outside my target HR thresholds for real endurance training. To keep my HR under 155 I had to back off significantly - I started at 5.3, then slowly backed out the hill I usually set for myself, then around minute 21 I knocked 0.1 off my pace to get my rates back down. It was amazing how much I could control it - just by thinking about my form and breathing. Anyway, it was a great run. When I stopped and I noticed that my knee was hurting. So I stretched and then got up to go change. By that point my knee was in full lock down mode and I could barely walk. I limped back to the garage, went home and spent the rest of the night sitting in bed with frozon mango slices on it.
Right now I can feel it aching - it doesn't hurt exactly - it feels like inflamation or soreness. It's right on the outside of my left knee (my problem child). What's interesting is that my knee isn't swollen or hot to the touch. It just feels super tender and I'm favoring it when I walk. I don't know what to do. My officemate, Laura, said it sounded like her sister's running injury when she strained her ATL (?) band on the outside of her leg (upper thigh), which pulls on your knee and results in these symptoms. I don't know. I will put a call into Dr. Younger Sister and see what I should do. Maybe a physical therapist. I cannot get hurt. I refuse to get hurt.
Have had a great week so far - went for a great run last night - 25 minutes at 5.3 pace. My first little adventure with a heart rate monitor confirmed what I have suspected, ie. what I've been considering as "endurance building" is way outside my target HR thresholds for real endurance training. To keep my HR under 155 I had to back off significantly - I started at 5.3, then slowly backed out the hill I usually set for myself, then around minute 21 I knocked 0.1 off my pace to get my rates back down. It was amazing how much I could control it - just by thinking about my form and breathing. Anyway, it was a great run. When I stopped and I noticed that my knee was hurting. So I stretched and then got up to go change. By that point my knee was in full lock down mode and I could barely walk. I limped back to the garage, went home and spent the rest of the night sitting in bed with frozon mango slices on it.
Right now I can feel it aching - it doesn't hurt exactly - it feels like inflamation or soreness. It's right on the outside of my left knee (my problem child). What's interesting is that my knee isn't swollen or hot to the touch. It just feels super tender and I'm favoring it when I walk. I don't know what to do. My officemate, Laura, said it sounded like her sister's running injury when she strained her ATL (?) band on the outside of her leg (upper thigh), which pulls on your knee and results in these symptoms. I don't know. I will put a call into Dr. Younger Sister and see what I should do. Maybe a physical therapist. I cannot get hurt. I refuse to get hurt.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
sink or swim
Monday: Rest Day
Tuesday: Swim, 30-35 minutes - 10 X50 five sec RI; 100 meters with kickboard; 100 with pull buoys; 5 X50 free style trying to concentrate on form
Oh sigh. The swim was not good. Which is not to say it was bad, but it was one of those nights where I felt heavy and sluggish in the water. Maybe that had to do with eating late - or having coffee late - but I thought I was going to sink to the bottom of the pool and have to rescued by the extremely bored and inattentive life guard. The short rest intervals were brutal. I full confess to cheating after the first 15o meters.
I was actually looking at the clock and giving myself five second between sets and it was so hard. I just need to keep swimming it and work on my flip turns so I can work up my endurance. I wish I wish I wish I had a fifty meter pool to practice in. But - I did get it done and for some reason everyone was really friendly last night. I met a cool girl called Erin who was training for the DC tri as well, and another guy who had his swim cap from a race last year on. I have this feeling that practically everyone in that pool was training. I mean - who else really swims this early in March but the triathletes?
Incidentally - note to self: do not swim next to the wall. If you swim next to the wall you get knocked around a lot. Will be back in the pool on Thursday to try to kick a little more ass (or really, any at all).
But in the good news report -- My heart monitor is here! I wore it last night while I was making cookies and listening to the primary returns (exciting night). Apparenlty my resting heart rate is about 83. Next step - take it to spin class and see what we can do.
Tuesday: Swim, 30-35 minutes - 10 X50 five sec RI; 100 meters with kickboard; 100 with pull buoys; 5 X50 free style trying to concentrate on form
Oh sigh. The swim was not good. Which is not to say it was bad, but it was one of those nights where I felt heavy and sluggish in the water. Maybe that had to do with eating late - or having coffee late - but I thought I was going to sink to the bottom of the pool and have to rescued by the extremely bored and inattentive life guard. The short rest intervals were brutal. I full confess to cheating after the first 15o meters.
I was actually looking at the clock and giving myself five second between sets and it was so hard. I just need to keep swimming it and work on my flip turns so I can work up my endurance. I wish I wish I wish I had a fifty meter pool to practice in. But - I did get it done and for some reason everyone was really friendly last night. I met a cool girl called Erin who was training for the DC tri as well, and another guy who had his swim cap from a race last year on. I have this feeling that practically everyone in that pool was training. I mean - who else really swims this early in March but the triathletes?
Incidentally - note to self: do not swim next to the wall. If you swim next to the wall you get knocked around a lot. Will be back in the pool on Thursday to try to kick a little more ass (or really, any at all).
But in the good news report -- My heart monitor is here! I wore it last night while I was making cookies and listening to the primary returns (exciting night). Apparenlty my resting heart rate is about 83. Next step - take it to spin class and see what we can do.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Zoot suit
A quick seperate note to tell my gentle readers that my official race suit arrived in the mail on Friday. It's a special present to myself because it's bonus season, but also because I feel like if I nail it up in my closet, it will give me something to apire to. It is a hot little piece of aerodynamic engineering. It does not, despite its best efforts, look good on me at the moment. But I think that if I train well and I'm strong and ready to go on race day - it will look hot. Not to mention giving everyone around me the misleading impression that I know what I'm doing. Also, as a sidenote, I just want to say that it's nearly impossible to get on. Granted, I was definitively drunk the first time I tried to get into it - which was probably a mistake. But when I looked at it again later, I realized that it's a relatively complicated piece of clothing. It has this built in sports bra and a zipper that goes all the way from my belly buttom to my neck, so you have to step through the sports bra, without putting your foot on the zipper and then get your leg into the right part of the shorts and then shimmy into it - all without falling over or ripping anything. And trying to get out of it again gave me bruises. But - not the point. It's grey and had hot pink lines and once I get my camera back from the big C, I will post a hot picture of it.
I made it through February!
Friday: Running - sprint descents -6,4,2,1 at 5.6 pace with 90 seconds rests at 5.0
Saturday: Spin class 1.5 hours; 10 min transition run
Sunday: Bike, Hains Point, 30 minutes, 6.5 miles - easy pace.
What a weekend. Seriously - I need to back off or I'm going to make myself sick. After my swim on Thursday I was trying to figure out how I could fit everything in so I decided to try doing my faster run on Friday and then getting up early for spin class on Saturday morning. The run on friday went fantastically. I tried doing decending intervals - which I read about in my tri book. You do a ladder down - so you run 5 minutes hard, then rest for two, then run four minutes hard, rest for two and so on. If you want then you can build back up again. It works like a charm - I shot my heart rate right up and then got to test my recovery. It's actually pretty good. I was really pleased. The problem was that then I went home to have dinner with my cousins and because I was at the gym late, I was rushing and didn't have time to eat... and then we drank three bottles of wine. I spent all night having dream arguments with myself about why I couldn't get up to go to spin class. But, shockingly, when 8:00 am came, I woke up like a lamb and got in the car.
Spin class, however, was another beast all together. I accidently wandered in to Cycle Challenge, which not only is 45 minutes longer then my usual class (bring it to a whopping 90 minutes of pain and agony), but also happened to be a day when they were testing recovery... by not giving you any. Between the intensity and the better part of the bottle of wine I had drunk the night before, I thought I was going to throw up. I crawled out of there at 11:00 am and because I knew I had to work it in somewhere, managed to limp through a transition run. I was so foggy after class that I'm not totally sure how I got home. I was inhaling calories too - a banana, an apple, a muffin - and then, when I made it home, immediately made myself an enormous egg, cheese and avocado sandwich and fell asleep for an hour. Crazy tired.
Saturday night I went to a party and could barely even stand to be in the same room as alcohol. I drank seltzer water and went to bed by one in the morning - which is practically saint-like. I was trying to take today (Sunday) easy, so I went to the paint store, but on my way home, I had this idea that I should go check out the race course for the DC triathlon because I had been telling people about it in the bar the night before. So I drove downtown to try to figure out exactly how we were all going to get in the water by the Memorial Bridge (I still don't get it - and I still don't want to get in the Potomac River *at* all).
While I was down there I ended up driving down the river to Haines Point - which is this huge amazing park right in DC that I never knew about. It's totally owned by cyclists - there were tons of people down there on super swanky bikes doing laps. The roads aren't closed, but the traffic is so light that they might as well be. The loop I rode - which will eventually be about half of the running race course for the DC tri, circles the golf course with great views of DC, the river and Reagan Airport. The problem was that it was a beautiful day... and the roads were so pretty... and my bike was in the car... so I went for a little ride. My legs were exhausted, but it was so nice to be outside. I miss outside. I really long for spring - more this year then I can remember before. Maybe because it's so much more fun to train outside so I notice it more this year? I don't know. But I feel impatient with the weather and totally sick of being cold. Actually - no - it's not even the cold. It's the damn freezing wind that keeps happening. It makes me irrationally mad at everything and seems to cut right through whatever I'm wearing, which just seems unfair. I mean, I feel that the whole purpose of sythetic fiber is to prove that man has mastered the elements. But I still feel like they're bitch-slapping me through $250 of goose down when I go to take out the garbage. REI! What the hell are you doing?! Get on it!
In other unrelated news I think I now have (finally) picked colors for the living room. Thank god (and my cousins). The guy who lived here before was meticulous in his taste and design, but was either color blind or aspired to live in a monastic cell. He painted everything white - trim, walls, shelves. Everything. I just can't take it anymore. I just want to take the entire apartment and dip it in red paint - so it's good my cousins gently made some less radical suggestions before I got completely fed up. I also realized (indecently early on Saturday morning) that I have officially made it through my least favorite month - extra day and all. I have always reserved a special place of quiet dread for February - which is normally the month I spend alone in my house baking muffins and writing long dreary journal entries about how it's cold and dark. Strangely enough, I saw the ex-girl's car on Friday night - the last day of that dreaded month - and had this moment of pure anger about the entire thing. And I decided, after slamming around my house for a very satisfying fifteen minutes, that that was a very good, healthy and justified reaction. I never really got anger before - I was like "eh. circumstances. it happens. whatever" (and believe me if I told you the circumstances you would ask me why *I* hadn't left) - but here's what I just realized: I am pissed off. Not only did she break up with me for mostly incoherent and inexplicable reasons - not to mention almost completely without warning - but she did it (are you sitting down?) ON THE PHONE (who DOES that to someone they've been dating for seven months??!!!). And she did it - fully and completely aware of my feelings about February - at the very end of January. May I just say, (HCBB - cover your ears!) "fuck that."
Anyway, once the anger simmered down (ie, eight minutes later), I also realized that if I hadn't put so much energy and time into that person then I wouldn't have been so upset when she left, and if I hadn't been so upset, I wouldn't have resolved to do something about it - and long story short - I wouldn't have signed up to do these triathlons. Some people might say that that was all to the good - but I think, given that I always knew that relationship wasn't going to work out, all in all, getting the kick to actually start training for a triathlon, which I've wanted to do for years, is not such a raw deal. I also think, looking at it from the other side, if I put so much time and energy into someone when I *knew* it wasn't going to work out, then I definitely need a hobby :) So - there you go: Triathlons - the best medicine when you really want to kick someone's ass, but prefer the more non-violent forms of communication :)
Saturday: Spin class 1.5 hours; 10 min transition run
Sunday: Bike, Hains Point, 30 minutes, 6.5 miles - easy pace.
What a weekend. Seriously - I need to back off or I'm going to make myself sick. After my swim on Thursday I was trying to figure out how I could fit everything in so I decided to try doing my faster run on Friday and then getting up early for spin class on Saturday morning. The run on friday went fantastically. I tried doing decending intervals - which I read about in my tri book. You do a ladder down - so you run 5 minutes hard, then rest for two, then run four minutes hard, rest for two and so on. If you want then you can build back up again. It works like a charm - I shot my heart rate right up and then got to test my recovery. It's actually pretty good. I was really pleased. The problem was that then I went home to have dinner with my cousins and because I was at the gym late, I was rushing and didn't have time to eat... and then we drank three bottles of wine. I spent all night having dream arguments with myself about why I couldn't get up to go to spin class. But, shockingly, when 8:00 am came, I woke up like a lamb and got in the car.
Spin class, however, was another beast all together. I accidently wandered in to Cycle Challenge, which not only is 45 minutes longer then my usual class (bring it to a whopping 90 minutes of pain and agony), but also happened to be a day when they were testing recovery... by not giving you any. Between the intensity and the better part of the bottle of wine I had drunk the night before, I thought I was going to throw up. I crawled out of there at 11:00 am and because I knew I had to work it in somewhere, managed to limp through a transition run. I was so foggy after class that I'm not totally sure how I got home. I was inhaling calories too - a banana, an apple, a muffin - and then, when I made it home, immediately made myself an enormous egg, cheese and avocado sandwich and fell asleep for an hour. Crazy tired.
Saturday night I went to a party and could barely even stand to be in the same room as alcohol. I drank seltzer water and went to bed by one in the morning - which is practically saint-like. I was trying to take today (Sunday) easy, so I went to the paint store, but on my way home, I had this idea that I should go check out the race course for the DC triathlon because I had been telling people about it in the bar the night before. So I drove downtown to try to figure out exactly how we were all going to get in the water by the Memorial Bridge (I still don't get it - and I still don't want to get in the Potomac River *at* all).
While I was down there I ended up driving down the river to Haines Point - which is this huge amazing park right in DC that I never knew about. It's totally owned by cyclists - there were tons of people down there on super swanky bikes doing laps. The roads aren't closed, but the traffic is so light that they might as well be. The loop I rode - which will eventually be about half of the running race course for the DC tri, circles the golf course with great views of DC, the river and Reagan Airport. The problem was that it was a beautiful day... and the roads were so pretty... and my bike was in the car... so I went for a little ride. My legs were exhausted, but it was so nice to be outside. I miss outside. I really long for spring - more this year then I can remember before. Maybe because it's so much more fun to train outside so I notice it more this year? I don't know. But I feel impatient with the weather and totally sick of being cold. Actually - no - it's not even the cold. It's the damn freezing wind that keeps happening. It makes me irrationally mad at everything and seems to cut right through whatever I'm wearing, which just seems unfair. I mean, I feel that the whole purpose of sythetic fiber is to prove that man has mastered the elements. But I still feel like they're bitch-slapping me through $250 of goose down when I go to take out the garbage. REI! What the hell are you doing?! Get on it!
In other unrelated news I think I now have (finally) picked colors for the living room. Thank god (and my cousins). The guy who lived here before was meticulous in his taste and design, but was either color blind or aspired to live in a monastic cell. He painted everything white - trim, walls, shelves. Everything. I just can't take it anymore. I just want to take the entire apartment and dip it in red paint - so it's good my cousins gently made some less radical suggestions before I got completely fed up. I also realized (indecently early on Saturday morning) that I have officially made it through my least favorite month - extra day and all. I have always reserved a special place of quiet dread for February - which is normally the month I spend alone in my house baking muffins and writing long dreary journal entries about how it's cold and dark. Strangely enough, I saw the ex-girl's car on Friday night - the last day of that dreaded month - and had this moment of pure anger about the entire thing. And I decided, after slamming around my house for a very satisfying fifteen minutes, that that was a very good, healthy and justified reaction. I never really got anger before - I was like "eh. circumstances. it happens. whatever" (and believe me if I told you the circumstances you would ask me why *I* hadn't left) - but here's what I just realized: I am pissed off. Not only did she break up with me for mostly incoherent and inexplicable reasons - not to mention almost completely without warning - but she did it (are you sitting down?) ON THE PHONE (who DOES that to someone they've been dating for seven months??!!!). And she did it - fully and completely aware of my feelings about February - at the very end of January. May I just say, (HCBB - cover your ears!) "fuck that."
Anyway, once the anger simmered down (ie, eight minutes later), I also realized that if I hadn't put so much energy and time into that person then I wouldn't have been so upset when she left, and if I hadn't been so upset, I wouldn't have resolved to do something about it - and long story short - I wouldn't have signed up to do these triathlons. Some people might say that that was all to the good - but I think, given that I always knew that relationship wasn't going to work out, all in all, getting the kick to actually start training for a triathlon, which I've wanted to do for years, is not such a raw deal. I also think, looking at it from the other side, if I put so much time and energy into someone when I *knew* it wasn't going to work out, then I definitely need a hobby :) So - there you go: Triathlons - the best medicine when you really want to kick someone's ass, but prefer the more non-violent forms of communication :)
Thursday, February 28, 2008
FDA - you're totally stressing me out
Thursday: Swim 25 minutes (23x25 laps; rest ~10 secs between laps)
Had a great swim tonight - really strong and clean through the water. I wish I could figure out how to swim every other day. I can totally feel the difference. I even threw in some flip turns and went 50 metetrs with no break and felt pretty good. It's amazing how much swimming gets your blood pumping. Just 25 solid meters slicing through the water and I get to the other end and feel like I've been running for 15 minutes. I felt awesome about it until I did the math and realized that I have to figure out how to get through 1,500 meters with no breaks. Oh god. I'm so glad it's February (at least for another 26 hours).
Here's the other thing on my mind today: the FDA. I heard that the FDA was raising their daily fruit and vegetable intake guidelines from 5 to 9. This totally stressed me out. I don't even know if I eat nine servings of *anything* a day. I barely hit five. Today for instance - fairly typical weekday: I had a grapefruit and a slice of peanut butter toast with breakfast; an apple and popcorn (homepopped - take that partially hydrogenated oil you bastard you) as a snack; a turkey sandwich with half an avocado sliced onto it for lunch; a banana; more popcorn (I was hungry) in the afternoon; and then couldn't commit for dinner post-pool so had some cottage cheese with apple sauce, then some steamed spinach with a little olive oil and a bowl of chocolate ice cream. I even took my vitiamins. I mean - I read that and I think, hell, I feel like I'm reading one of those "after" food menus in Women's Health. I mean, fruit, vegetables, protein, whole wheat bread - I concede the ice cream wasn't great for me, but for the love of God, FDA -- WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME???!!! And here's the kicker -- that's only FIVE servings (I could stretch to six if we can count the applesauce, but I'm dubious). It's now 10:30 at night. I am not hungry and I'm not going to slam 3.5 glasses of juice to make the doctors happy. I just can't fricking fit more vegetables into my day. So sue me.
Nutrition is typically something I haven't paid that much attention to in the past, but considering that I'm starting to roundly beat up my body six days a week, I feel like I should develop an interest. And maybe even figure how what energy drinks are all about and whether or not I can eat goo and not get sick. I just wish I could see what althetes eat. All the menus are geared to losing weight - not to distain that goal - I'd be thrilled to have ten fewer pounds to drag through the IronGirl - but I want to make sure I'm not asking my body to do something that I'm not fueling it to do. But I feel strong and I feel like my energy level is good (or is that the coffee?) so what does the FDA know anyway. Maybe I could have another cup of peach and ginger tea - that's sort of like a compromise.
Had a great swim tonight - really strong and clean through the water. I wish I could figure out how to swim every other day. I can totally feel the difference. I even threw in some flip turns and went 50 metetrs with no break and felt pretty good. It's amazing how much swimming gets your blood pumping. Just 25 solid meters slicing through the water and I get to the other end and feel like I've been running for 15 minutes. I felt awesome about it until I did the math and realized that I have to figure out how to get through 1,500 meters with no breaks. Oh god. I'm so glad it's February (at least for another 26 hours).
Here's the other thing on my mind today: the FDA. I heard that the FDA was raising their daily fruit and vegetable intake guidelines from 5 to 9. This totally stressed me out. I don't even know if I eat nine servings of *anything* a day. I barely hit five. Today for instance - fairly typical weekday: I had a grapefruit and a slice of peanut butter toast with breakfast; an apple and popcorn (homepopped - take that partially hydrogenated oil you bastard you) as a snack; a turkey sandwich with half an avocado sliced onto it for lunch; a banana; more popcorn (I was hungry) in the afternoon; and then couldn't commit for dinner post-pool so had some cottage cheese with apple sauce, then some steamed spinach with a little olive oil and a bowl of chocolate ice cream. I even took my vitiamins. I mean - I read that and I think, hell, I feel like I'm reading one of those "after" food menus in Women's Health. I mean, fruit, vegetables, protein, whole wheat bread - I concede the ice cream wasn't great for me, but for the love of God, FDA -- WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME???!!! And here's the kicker -- that's only FIVE servings (I could stretch to six if we can count the applesauce, but I'm dubious). It's now 10:30 at night. I am not hungry and I'm not going to slam 3.5 glasses of juice to make the doctors happy. I just can't fricking fit more vegetables into my day. So sue me.
Nutrition is typically something I haven't paid that much attention to in the past, but considering that I'm starting to roundly beat up my body six days a week, I feel like I should develop an interest. And maybe even figure how what energy drinks are all about and whether or not I can eat goo and not get sick. I just wish I could see what althetes eat. All the menus are geared to losing weight - not to distain that goal - I'd be thrilled to have ten fewer pounds to drag through the IronGirl - but I want to make sure I'm not asking my body to do something that I'm not fueling it to do. But I feel strong and I feel like my energy level is good (or is that the coffee?) so what does the FDA know anyway. Maybe I could have another cup of peach and ginger tea - that's sort of like a compromise.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
fighting uphill to swim downhill
Tuesday: Swam 8x50m; 4 sets (25xkick, 25 breathing; 25 pull; 25 regular); 2x25 sprint; 25X4 cooldown.
Wednesday: Ran 25 min (5 min warmup at 5.0; 5.4 for 20 mins, HR 160ish; 10 minutes cooldown)
This week is a constant battle to get to the gym. And it's not even that I don't want to go. It's that I'm having priority clashes with work. I want to work out. I need to be at my desk. And so the struggle continues. It's so utterly boring that I can't even talk about it, but for example - I just worked for two hours. It's now 10 to midnight, I should be in bed, but I want to write before I fricking forget what exercise I managed to slip in while apparently holding up the entire future of the wind industry in the United States (it's this funny trick they pull on you to make you feel important - telling you your efforts are vital. You know how you know when you're really important? When you can go home at six pm and tell someone else to do it).
Anyway, in between working like a dog and neglecting my goals at balance and nirvana, I did manage to get in two fairly solid workouts and throw away some cold hard cash on the internet.
The swim workout was by far the hardest. I hadn't been in the pool in a week and I could tell immediately. I was trying out some new drills that I had read about and a technique or two I heard about from Ms. MD (merci beaucoup Coach Joe). I tried visualizing "swimming downhill" and that actually really made a huge difference. I could feel my feet popping up to the surface more and my chest getting down in the water (which strangely enough seems to free your arms more). I'm also working on breathing every other stroke - thinking of my arms like windmills - one, two, three, four and breathe. The problem is that I either have really small lungs or I'm just not in shape because it takes a huge amount of effort *not* to breathe when that right arm comes up. I had this moment in the pool where I got grumpy about it. I mean -- I like breathing. So sue me. I'm a mammal. I'm into breathing every thirty seconds. I get to breathe whenever I want when I run. And even - at the possible risk of inhaling insects - when I bike. Stupid water. Swimming is my crux at the moment. It's also the hardest one to schedule because the hours are so much more restricted than running or biking (which you can pretty much do anytime anywhere with gear and reflective tape). And as we are all learning the hard way, tight schedules and my work do not play well together.
On the other hand, the running is going well and I'm feeling stronger and stronger. I pushed myself a little today, bumping up a level from where I was running last week. I was going to throw in some 30-second sprints at 5.7 at the end, but my knees were feeling crunchy (I don't know how else to describe it. Like I can feel it pop very slightly when I put my leg out).
As for the cold hard cash, I am now going to be the proud owner of my very own trisuit.
http://brandscycle.com/itemdetails.cfm?catalogId=39&sort=pricedesc&id=8270
Thank you to my sister (the professional one) who told me about the website. I would post a picture of her here in her trisuit, kicking ass at her 1/2 ironman, but I think it would embarass her.
I also ponied up 40 bucks to get a basic, no frills heartrate monitor. It's good in water up to 50 meters, so I can drag it into my little thrash sessions at Marie Reed. It's made by Oregonian Scientific - who are the same people who made my amazing self-setting clock with weather forecasts on it.
http://www2.oregonscientific.com/shop/product.asp?cid=3&scid=9&pid=785
Here's why I really bought it: a) it's red. b) it's cheap c) the little alarm that beeps at you when you reach your target heart rate can be turned off.
BrandsCycle popped that baby in the mail the same day I bought it so I may even get it by Friday. HR monitor is TBD (which is kind of the way I picture the company. "Oregon Scientific will be happy to mail your package as soon as we return for our three-week company glacier climb in Alaska. Please leave a message after the beep."
Wednesday: Ran 25 min (5 min warmup at 5.0; 5.4 for 20 mins, HR 160ish; 10 minutes cooldown)
This week is a constant battle to get to the gym. And it's not even that I don't want to go. It's that I'm having priority clashes with work. I want to work out. I need to be at my desk. And so the struggle continues. It's so utterly boring that I can't even talk about it, but for example - I just worked for two hours. It's now 10 to midnight, I should be in bed, but I want to write before I fricking forget what exercise I managed to slip in while apparently holding up the entire future of the wind industry in the United States (it's this funny trick they pull on you to make you feel important - telling you your efforts are vital. You know how you know when you're really important? When you can go home at six pm and tell someone else to do it).
Anyway, in between working like a dog and neglecting my goals at balance and nirvana, I did manage to get in two fairly solid workouts and throw away some cold hard cash on the internet.
The swim workout was by far the hardest. I hadn't been in the pool in a week and I could tell immediately. I was trying out some new drills that I had read about and a technique or two I heard about from Ms. MD (merci beaucoup Coach Joe). I tried visualizing "swimming downhill" and that actually really made a huge difference. I could feel my feet popping up to the surface more and my chest getting down in the water (which strangely enough seems to free your arms more). I'm also working on breathing every other stroke - thinking of my arms like windmills - one, two, three, four and breathe. The problem is that I either have really small lungs or I'm just not in shape because it takes a huge amount of effort *not* to breathe when that right arm comes up. I had this moment in the pool where I got grumpy about it. I mean -- I like breathing. So sue me. I'm a mammal. I'm into breathing every thirty seconds. I get to breathe whenever I want when I run. And even - at the possible risk of inhaling insects - when I bike. Stupid water. Swimming is my crux at the moment. It's also the hardest one to schedule because the hours are so much more restricted than running or biking (which you can pretty much do anytime anywhere with gear and reflective tape). And as we are all learning the hard way, tight schedules and my work do not play well together.
On the other hand, the running is going well and I'm feeling stronger and stronger. I pushed myself a little today, bumping up a level from where I was running last week. I was going to throw in some 30-second sprints at 5.7 at the end, but my knees were feeling crunchy (I don't know how else to describe it. Like I can feel it pop very slightly when I put my leg out).
As for the cold hard cash, I am now going to be the proud owner of my very own trisuit.
http://brandscycle.com/itemdetails.cfm?catalogId=39&sort=pricedesc&id=8270
Thank you to my sister (the professional one) who told me about the website. I would post a picture of her here in her trisuit, kicking ass at her 1/2 ironman, but I think it would embarass her.
I also ponied up 40 bucks to get a basic, no frills heartrate monitor. It's good in water up to 50 meters, so I can drag it into my little thrash sessions at Marie Reed. It's made by Oregonian Scientific - who are the same people who made my amazing self-setting clock with weather forecasts on it.
http://www2.oregonscientific.com/shop/product.asp?cid=3&scid=9&pid=785
Here's why I really bought it: a) it's red. b) it's cheap c) the little alarm that beeps at you when you reach your target heart rate can be turned off.
BrandsCycle popped that baby in the mail the same day I bought it so I may even get it by Friday. HR monitor is TBD (which is kind of the way I picture the company. "Oregon Scientific will be happy to mail your package as soon as we return for our three-week company glacier climb in Alaska. Please leave a message after the beep."
Monday, February 25, 2008
west side east side
Running: 40 minutes
Am so proud of myself.
On friday night I worked until 3 am (lame lame lame). Then I got up at 6:30 to take the train to New York. I was exhausted. It was cold. I was in another city. AND I STILL WENT RUNNING!!!
Hot damn.
40 minutes up the West Side Highway (gorgeous) and then an urban trot back through the city to Soho. It was glorious - and I really owe Ms. JJ (who will comprehensively kick my ass in the Irongirl with 1/3 less training then I will do - these are just the facts I have to live with), who threw a very nice girl out of bed in order to go running with me :)
Sunday was not so good. Back on the transitions and balance idea - sometimes you just have to play. So I played on Saturday until five in the morning and crawled home yesterday to drink water and hide under a pillow. This weekend we go back into detox - home lunches, fruits and vegetables, 8.5 hours of sleep and a pledge to get into the pool at least twice.
Am so proud of myself.
On friday night I worked until 3 am (lame lame lame). Then I got up at 6:30 to take the train to New York. I was exhausted. It was cold. I was in another city. AND I STILL WENT RUNNING!!!
Hot damn.
40 minutes up the West Side Highway (gorgeous) and then an urban trot back through the city to Soho. It was glorious - and I really owe Ms. JJ (who will comprehensively kick my ass in the Irongirl with 1/3 less training then I will do - these are just the facts I have to live with), who threw a very nice girl out of bed in order to go running with me :)
Sunday was not so good. Back on the transitions and balance idea - sometimes you just have to play. So I played on Saturday until five in the morning and crawled home yesterday to drink water and hide under a pillow. This weekend we go back into detox - home lunches, fruits and vegetables, 8.5 hours of sleep and a pledge to get into the pool at least twice.
Friday, February 22, 2008
The Wish List
Triathlon Gear Wish List: (to be added, edited and sighed over in the months to come)
General Equipment
General Equipment
- Heartrate monitor (Polar FS1? - waterproof?)
- Laceless laces
- Sunglasses with swapable leases for cloudy days
- Tri suit?
- Wetsuit
- Racing swim suit that doesn't have hot pink on it
- Vaccinations to ward of typhoid from swimming in the Potomac
- Spare pair of goggles (tinted?)
- Aero bars
- New bike shoes (w/ velcro straps)
- A helmet that doesn't make me look like the stay-puff marshmallow man wearing a mushroom
- CO2 canisters for flat tires (no bike support in either race)
- Second water rack
- Second pair of running shoes (when do they wear out?)
Other things to figure out before the race:
What's the best snack to carry? Should you bring water and some kind of energy drink?
What kind of sunscreen is best to wear? Do you reapply it? When?
business time
Thursday: Spin Class (50 min); 4 X 8 min hill repeats w/ 8 adds -- 2 min in saddle; 6 standing.
Oh, how I love spin class. I think I am beginning to understand why my mother gets up at five am three days a week to go to aerobics class. Once you have a class you really like, and an instructor who challenges you, you start bonding with the regulars in the class, and that makes you look forward to it even more. It also provides a certain guilt-inducing edge - like, "but if I don't go, they'll ask me where I was... and I'll have to say I skipped because I was working... and that's lame."
I think yesterday should be a lesson for me though - I nearly didn't go because I was so stressed. (And you usually start thinking about skipping because there's a class later that you like, but "later" does not usually resolve the problem of "I have a lot to do". In fact, by the time you hit "later" you're probably going to have more to do *and* by then you'll be tired.) Anyway, I made myself get up and go. No one missed me. I got no emails. And then I ended up working until 11:30 (also lame), so "later" would definitely not have happened. Lessons learned (as I tell myself): The hour won't make a difference. Get up. Get it done.
Anyway, the class was terrific. The hill repeats are great for me to do in a group, because I push myself much harder surrounded by other people, but I also allow myself to back off because the instructor tells me too. The repeats were killers - to stand for six minutes and add consecutively every minute, hurts. Luckily Kim plays great music. One the hill, she played this song, "Business Time", which is hilarious -my brother sent it to me so I'd heard it before, but if you haven't, you have to look it up on Youtube. By that last hill , I had my wheel clamped down so tight that my quads were burning and I would have barely heard a F16 if it had been in the room with us, but it was still pretty funny.
We finished off with a flat sprint to classical music, increasing our cadence every time an instrument was added. Then I jumped off and hopped on the treadmill for a quick transition run - it felt good, but at that point I was getting stressed about work so I only ran for five minutes then cooled down, stretched briefly and ran back to work, only to find that no one had missed me at all. Go figure.
In other equipment news - I used a very old, very classy pair of shoes that I've had since 1999. I barely wear them because they're orange and brown with bright blue insides, which I object to on moral grounds. However, I wanted to test the theory that my clips were bothering my left knee. Low and behold the knee feels absolutely great this morning. I think new bike shoes may be in order (I'm sorry to be a wanton consumer of bike shoes, but I can't wear orange and brown ankle boot bike shoes to a race - I just can't). The expert (aka my sister) has recommended some with velcro straps to make the transitions easier. I'm already adding them to my wish list. Kim also raised my bike handle bars a notch and now my lower back feels so so much better.
In order to fund this new triathlon obsession of mine, I'm happy to report to my readers (all two of them), that I did not spent a single cent between last Saturday night and the following Friday morning. I feel that I have to share this with someone since I don't know that that has happened to me since I was approximately eleven.
Oh, how I love spin class. I think I am beginning to understand why my mother gets up at five am three days a week to go to aerobics class. Once you have a class you really like, and an instructor who challenges you, you start bonding with the regulars in the class, and that makes you look forward to it even more. It also provides a certain guilt-inducing edge - like, "but if I don't go, they'll ask me where I was... and I'll have to say I skipped because I was working... and that's lame."
I think yesterday should be a lesson for me though - I nearly didn't go because I was so stressed. (And you usually start thinking about skipping because there's a class later that you like, but "later" does not usually resolve the problem of "I have a lot to do". In fact, by the time you hit "later" you're probably going to have more to do *and* by then you'll be tired.) Anyway, I made myself get up and go. No one missed me. I got no emails. And then I ended up working until 11:30 (also lame), so "later" would definitely not have happened. Lessons learned (as I tell myself): The hour won't make a difference. Get up. Get it done.
Anyway, the class was terrific. The hill repeats are great for me to do in a group, because I push myself much harder surrounded by other people, but I also allow myself to back off because the instructor tells me too. The repeats were killers - to stand for six minutes and add consecutively every minute, hurts. Luckily Kim plays great music. One the hill, she played this song, "Business Time", which is hilarious -my brother sent it to me so I'd heard it before, but if you haven't, you have to look it up on Youtube. By that last hill , I had my wheel clamped down so tight that my quads were burning and I would have barely heard a F16 if it had been in the room with us, but it was still pretty funny.
We finished off with a flat sprint to classical music, increasing our cadence every time an instrument was added. Then I jumped off and hopped on the treadmill for a quick transition run - it felt good, but at that point I was getting stressed about work so I only ran for five minutes then cooled down, stretched briefly and ran back to work, only to find that no one had missed me at all. Go figure.
In other equipment news - I used a very old, very classy pair of shoes that I've had since 1999. I barely wear them because they're orange and brown with bright blue insides, which I object to on moral grounds. However, I wanted to test the theory that my clips were bothering my left knee. Low and behold the knee feels absolutely great this morning. I think new bike shoes may be in order (I'm sorry to be a wanton consumer of bike shoes, but I can't wear orange and brown ankle boot bike shoes to a race - I just can't). The expert (aka my sister) has recommended some with velcro straps to make the transitions easier. I'm already adding them to my wish list. Kim also raised my bike handle bars a notch and now my lower back feels so so much better.
In order to fund this new triathlon obsession of mine, I'm happy to report to my readers (all two of them), that I did not spent a single cent between last Saturday night and the following Friday morning. I feel that I have to share this with someone since I don't know that that has happened to me since I was approximately eleven.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
base training - block 1
Wednesday: Ran 25 minutes (5.3 pace; incline 1.0) approximately 2 miles (starting around 1:15pm); HR b/w 145-155 (endurance pace according to the treadmill)
Breakfast: 1 grapefruit, slice of wheat toast with peanut butter, two cups of coffee, one skim latte.
Today was one of those days when I had to exercise the willpower. But not in the way you think - I had to make myself *stop* running. I felt awesome. And part of this blog is try to figure out how to get to awesome as frequently as possible, so I thought I would add in all the side notes like what I ate etc.
So I got on the treadmill, warmed up for five minutes at 5.0, then bumped myself up to 5.3 and ran it out. And honestly, this is what I hate about base training - not that I hate it, but it's frustrating sometimes - is that no matter how good you feel, you know from all your reading and all your research the mantra is "never ever increase by more than 10% a week". So I was running 1.7 miles last week (don't laugh - when I got on the treadmill at the beginning of January I couldn't run five minutes. I am, as far as I am concerned, a rockstar), so to bump up 10% grazes right under 2.0 miles. Anymore than that I am going to stress my body, not allow it to rest and recover from the beating I'm giving it, put pressure on a genetically fragile set of hipflexors, blah blah, blah. Try telling that to someone who's flying high on the endorphins while glued to the CNN coverage of election returns from Hawaii and Wisconsin. But I stopped, grouchily, and stretched. Body count for the day - the left knee is still a little tender and my lower back feels sore (why?). Will lie on my office floor and stretch it out once everyone else goes home.
The search for the elusive "perfect" heart rate monitor continues. FS1 Polar. Is it worth the extra 20 bucks? TBD.
Breakfast: 1 grapefruit, slice of wheat toast with peanut butter, two cups of coffee, one skim latte.
Today was one of those days when I had to exercise the willpower. But not in the way you think - I had to make myself *stop* running. I felt awesome. And part of this blog is try to figure out how to get to awesome as frequently as possible, so I thought I would add in all the side notes like what I ate etc.
So I got on the treadmill, warmed up for five minutes at 5.0, then bumped myself up to 5.3 and ran it out. And honestly, this is what I hate about base training - not that I hate it, but it's frustrating sometimes - is that no matter how good you feel, you know from all your reading and all your research the mantra is "never ever increase by more than 10% a week". So I was running 1.7 miles last week (don't laugh - when I got on the treadmill at the beginning of January I couldn't run five minutes. I am, as far as I am concerned, a rockstar), so to bump up 10% grazes right under 2.0 miles. Anymore than that I am going to stress my body, not allow it to rest and recover from the beating I'm giving it, put pressure on a genetically fragile set of hipflexors, blah blah, blah. Try telling that to someone who's flying high on the endorphins while glued to the CNN coverage of election returns from Hawaii and Wisconsin. But I stopped, grouchily, and stretched. Body count for the day - the left knee is still a little tender and my lower back feels sore (why?). Will lie on my office floor and stretch it out once everyone else goes home.
The search for the elusive "perfect" heart rate monitor continues. FS1 Polar. Is it worth the extra 20 bucks? TBD.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
the grey zone
Monday: Ran 10 minutes outside
Tuesday: Spin class (45 min) - hill workout
So I read about this thing called the grey zone. Apparently it's what happens to a lot of beginner athletes when they first start training and don't know how to vary the intensity appropriately --and so as a consequence, they tend to train wrong: too hard to be relaxing, but not hard enough to actually make any improvments.
My run on Monday felt like that. It was partly my fault. I had a horrible, stress-laced meeting from 8:00am to 11:30 - and could see the project we were discussing teethering on the edge of ruining my much-needed, much-anticipated fun weekend in New York. I was already pissed off because I was at work on a day that the vast majority of America already had off - and I was equally pissed that I had an 8am meeting on a national holiday (I believe i've mentioned how I've accepted and made my peace with the fact that I am not a morning person). So when I stepped outside the building I was already in a bad space. Then the weather was being blustery and skittish - blowing galishly for 20 seconds and then dying abruptly, leaving the air hot and heavy and smelling like rain. Everything felt unsettled, which is probably why I couldn't find my stride. I pushed really hard in the beginning of the run - feeling like I wanted to leave everything behind me - but just ended up annoyed at the traffic and the weather and pretty much everything -- until I was out of breath and felt my legs burning and my ribs pinching -- completely skipping over that europhic running high when you hit your pace and feel like you could go run to the end of the world. I ended up sitting on a little observation deck overlooking a pond, methodically kicking the leg of the bench. Oddly enough, just the chance to sit down and *be* angry for a second was really what made it stop.
The moral of this story is that I think i need a heart rate monitor. I wasn't going to get one - feeling like it would be indicating a level of professionalism that I don't really feel - but also because I'm not a gadget junkie and don't really aspire to have one. But I think I need something to focus on when I get that distracted by stress, or weather, or traffic - all of which happen to me frequently. The run was horrible -- but it was mainly horrible because I didn't know how to fix it. Was I running too fast? Too slow? Too inconsistantly? Did I not warm up enough? I don't even think I could have been in the aerobic zone - on a normal day I can run for at least 30 minutes without feeling winded like that. But when I get stressed or upset, I fall out touch with how I feel and how my body is working. I think if I had a heartrate monitor that said, "Yeah, you're anaerobic. Slow down stupid", it would help to ground me. I tend to push myself too hard - one more sprint, a little faster - and I think from this book I read that it's only going to guarentee that I just end up hurt, or frustrated, or both.
But on the positive side, spin class today was great - I pushed myself pretty hard on the hills, trying to save a little for Kim's workout on Thursday, but still weighting the bike enough that I was feeling it. I'm beginning to get a sense of what spinning instructors I like the best. And I guess it's hardly surprising that I like the ones who actually seem like bikers. The woman today was great - good music, great workout. But she wasn't a biker. No biker would ever keep a cadence that slow - even if it is up a hill. Since I love spin classes and there's a real workout to be had there, I think I should try to follow the instructors that are good for my training and for my form.
Oh - that reminds me, an equipment update. After my Saturday ride, my left knee was twingy again. I can feel it now too after my spin class. It's not bad, but the consistency that this happens is making me wonder if my bike is set up wrong. Because the bike was made for me (entirely due to a very generous uncle) I have tended to think of it as this magic thing that can't possibly be wrong. But, since I got it (in - may I just add - 1999), I have had new petals put on it and a new seat and maybe I've got my angles wrong. Anyway, I'm going to take it in for a look. I'd really like to buy a new pair of bike shoes (real road bike ones), since I'm training in my moutain bike shoes (comfy, but not stiff). Maybe that will be a present to myself next mouth. "Piano, piano" they used to tell me when I was learning Italian. "Slowly, slowly." All in good time. Heart rate monitor first.
Tuesday: Spin class (45 min) - hill workout
So I read about this thing called the grey zone. Apparently it's what happens to a lot of beginner athletes when they first start training and don't know how to vary the intensity appropriately --and so as a consequence, they tend to train wrong: too hard to be relaxing, but not hard enough to actually make any improvments.
My run on Monday felt like that. It was partly my fault. I had a horrible, stress-laced meeting from 8:00am to 11:30 - and could see the project we were discussing teethering on the edge of ruining my much-needed, much-anticipated fun weekend in New York. I was already pissed off because I was at work on a day that the vast majority of America already had off - and I was equally pissed that I had an 8am meeting on a national holiday (I believe i've mentioned how I've accepted and made my peace with the fact that I am not a morning person). So when I stepped outside the building I was already in a bad space. Then the weather was being blustery and skittish - blowing galishly for 20 seconds and then dying abruptly, leaving the air hot and heavy and smelling like rain. Everything felt unsettled, which is probably why I couldn't find my stride. I pushed really hard in the beginning of the run - feeling like I wanted to leave everything behind me - but just ended up annoyed at the traffic and the weather and pretty much everything -- until I was out of breath and felt my legs burning and my ribs pinching -- completely skipping over that europhic running high when you hit your pace and feel like you could go run to the end of the world. I ended up sitting on a little observation deck overlooking a pond, methodically kicking the leg of the bench. Oddly enough, just the chance to sit down and *be* angry for a second was really what made it stop.
The moral of this story is that I think i need a heart rate monitor. I wasn't going to get one - feeling like it would be indicating a level of professionalism that I don't really feel - but also because I'm not a gadget junkie and don't really aspire to have one. But I think I need something to focus on when I get that distracted by stress, or weather, or traffic - all of which happen to me frequently. The run was horrible -- but it was mainly horrible because I didn't know how to fix it. Was I running too fast? Too slow? Too inconsistantly? Did I not warm up enough? I don't even think I could have been in the aerobic zone - on a normal day I can run for at least 30 minutes without feeling winded like that. But when I get stressed or upset, I fall out touch with how I feel and how my body is working. I think if I had a heartrate monitor that said, "Yeah, you're anaerobic. Slow down stupid", it would help to ground me. I tend to push myself too hard - one more sprint, a little faster - and I think from this book I read that it's only going to guarentee that I just end up hurt, or frustrated, or both.
But on the positive side, spin class today was great - I pushed myself pretty hard on the hills, trying to save a little for Kim's workout on Thursday, but still weighting the bike enough that I was feeling it. I'm beginning to get a sense of what spinning instructors I like the best. And I guess it's hardly surprising that I like the ones who actually seem like bikers. The woman today was great - good music, great workout. But she wasn't a biker. No biker would ever keep a cadence that slow - even if it is up a hill. Since I love spin classes and there's a real workout to be had there, I think I should try to follow the instructors that are good for my training and for my form.
Oh - that reminds me, an equipment update. After my Saturday ride, my left knee was twingy again. I can feel it now too after my spin class. It's not bad, but the consistency that this happens is making me wonder if my bike is set up wrong. Because the bike was made for me (entirely due to a very generous uncle) I have tended to think of it as this magic thing that can't possibly be wrong. But, since I got it (in - may I just add - 1999), I have had new petals put on it and a new seat and maybe I've got my angles wrong. Anyway, I'm going to take it in for a look. I'd really like to buy a new pair of bike shoes (real road bike ones), since I'm training in my moutain bike shoes (comfy, but not stiff). Maybe that will be a present to myself next mouth. "Piano, piano" they used to tell me when I was learning Italian. "Slowly, slowly." All in good time. Heart rate monitor first.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
transitions
Saturday: Biked 14.75 miles (total time - approx 1 hr); ran 15 minutes (transition time: approx 2 minutes)
I've been thinking a lot about transitions since Saturday. More even then the training, the transitions seem like the key to the whole race. The transition run I did this weekend was by far the most mentally challenging training session I've had since I started this wild ride over a month ago.
Maybe too on a more macro plan, I've been thinking about transitions - how to balance work and training, training and friends, friends and work. Saturday for example, I got up early so I could have brunch with friends - and ended up having a totally surreal experience eating eggs and toast in the middle of a some kind of yuppie goth convention. Try eating toast and having a regular conversation when there's a girl wearing red contacts, red eyeliner and a red lace corset in your line of vision. Then after brunch, I hopped over to the bike shop to get a cheap mileage meter (now on number three - I seem to be as successful with bike odometers as I am with sunglasses). Then I took my three duffle bags worth of stuff (and my bike) and shoved in all in the car and drove to the C&O Canal trail in Georgetown. For some reason - by this point - I was in a bad mood. I was irritable at everything - and the first two miles of the trail are paved, but the pavement is old and pitted. The roots growing right underneath the trail are pushing upwards and I could feel every jolt through my handlebars. Maybe I should experiment with tire pressure too - there are just no shocks on a road bike. I also felt strangely weak, like for every rotation of my tire I was pushing extra hard - like you feel when you're back break is clamped down over your tire and don't realize it until you've gone five miles and are totally exhausted. My mental state kept deteriorating until was until I was so irritated that I wanted to scream. Then I suddenly realized that I was mentally competing with every person on that trail. I was trying to pass everyone and everything - walkers, joggers, other bikers, people pushing baby carriages - everyone. It was exhausting because no matter how fast I went or how hard I pushed there was always someone else ahead of me. When I realized how totally pointless that was, I settled down a lot and started concentrating on my own performance -- which is when two things occurred to me. First, the trail was graded uphill at about 15%, which is why I was working so hard and second, I was rocking along (uphill!) at 14 mph. Both made me feel better. 14mph is not fast enough yet, but it's much faster than I thought I was going.
So by the time I biked back to the car, I was feeling a lot better about life. I threw the bike and my helmet in the car, pulled off my bike shoes and swapped them out for my running shoes, realized I was still wearing my gloves and took those off - nearly locked myself out of my car by leaving the keys under the bike, took a swig of water, grabbed by bike odometer as a timer and ran off. And on my GOD it hurt. My legs felt dead - heavy and unresponsive. I had to run up two flights of stairs to get to the gravel C&O path and I had the thought, "god, I hope I don't fall on my face because I'll probably knock all my teeth out and that would suck". Running after an hour of biking was grueling. And mentally it was torture - instead of feeling light and finding my stride, I felt like I was coaxing and coaching every motion - lift the foot, lift the knee, move the leg, put the foot down, repeat. I made myself run for 15 minutes - after about 12 I started to feel better. But better is not saying a whole lot. However, I have to say when I finally stopped I had this profound sense of satisfaction - like I had won some kind of inner toughness battle.
Other things I learned from this experience, plan plan plan everything. Apparently when I'm in the zone I just stop thinking clearly. Nearly locking myself out of the car is one such example. Another one would be that I was so intent on running out my 15 minutes that it didn't occur to me to run out 8 minutes and then turn around -- so instead I had to walk back a mile and half at the end of it.
Anyway, all that aside, the other part about transitions is that I think I can get so wrapped up in planning to train and how to train and what to do at the gym or on the bike or on the treadmill, that I forgot to feed the other parts of my life. Last night when I got home, for example, all I wanted to do was get in the bathtub and then go to bed. But I had said I would go to dinner at a friend's house. So I got up - reluctantly - and went. And I had an amazing night and finally fell into bed at three am, deliciously tipsy on good wine and excellent company. I have to remember that taking care of myself is not always just about eating protein and sleeping nine hours a night.
So today, in honor of that, I am not doing anything. I am going to sit in my house and drink coffee and read the papers. And I might even get back in bed and watch a movie. It's positively decadant.
I've been thinking a lot about transitions since Saturday. More even then the training, the transitions seem like the key to the whole race. The transition run I did this weekend was by far the most mentally challenging training session I've had since I started this wild ride over a month ago.
Maybe too on a more macro plan, I've been thinking about transitions - how to balance work and training, training and friends, friends and work. Saturday for example, I got up early so I could have brunch with friends - and ended up having a totally surreal experience eating eggs and toast in the middle of a some kind of yuppie goth convention. Try eating toast and having a regular conversation when there's a girl wearing red contacts, red eyeliner and a red lace corset in your line of vision. Then after brunch, I hopped over to the bike shop to get a cheap mileage meter (now on number three - I seem to be as successful with bike odometers as I am with sunglasses). Then I took my three duffle bags worth of stuff (and my bike) and shoved in all in the car and drove to the C&O Canal trail in Georgetown. For some reason - by this point - I was in a bad mood. I was irritable at everything - and the first two miles of the trail are paved, but the pavement is old and pitted. The roots growing right underneath the trail are pushing upwards and I could feel every jolt through my handlebars. Maybe I should experiment with tire pressure too - there are just no shocks on a road bike. I also felt strangely weak, like for every rotation of my tire I was pushing extra hard - like you feel when you're back break is clamped down over your tire and don't realize it until you've gone five miles and are totally exhausted. My mental state kept deteriorating until was until I was so irritated that I wanted to scream. Then I suddenly realized that I was mentally competing with every person on that trail. I was trying to pass everyone and everything - walkers, joggers, other bikers, people pushing baby carriages - everyone. It was exhausting because no matter how fast I went or how hard I pushed there was always someone else ahead of me. When I realized how totally pointless that was, I settled down a lot and started concentrating on my own performance -- which is when two things occurred to me. First, the trail was graded uphill at about 15%, which is why I was working so hard and second, I was rocking along (uphill!) at 14 mph. Both made me feel better. 14mph is not fast enough yet, but it's much faster than I thought I was going.
So by the time I biked back to the car, I was feeling a lot better about life. I threw the bike and my helmet in the car, pulled off my bike shoes and swapped them out for my running shoes, realized I was still wearing my gloves and took those off - nearly locked myself out of my car by leaving the keys under the bike, took a swig of water, grabbed by bike odometer as a timer and ran off. And on my GOD it hurt. My legs felt dead - heavy and unresponsive. I had to run up two flights of stairs to get to the gravel C&O path and I had the thought, "god, I hope I don't fall on my face because I'll probably knock all my teeth out and that would suck". Running after an hour of biking was grueling. And mentally it was torture - instead of feeling light and finding my stride, I felt like I was coaxing and coaching every motion - lift the foot, lift the knee, move the leg, put the foot down, repeat. I made myself run for 15 minutes - after about 12 I started to feel better. But better is not saying a whole lot. However, I have to say when I finally stopped I had this profound sense of satisfaction - like I had won some kind of inner toughness battle.
Other things I learned from this experience, plan plan plan everything. Apparently when I'm in the zone I just stop thinking clearly. Nearly locking myself out of the car is one such example. Another one would be that I was so intent on running out my 15 minutes that it didn't occur to me to run out 8 minutes and then turn around -- so instead I had to walk back a mile and half at the end of it.
Anyway, all that aside, the other part about transitions is that I think I can get so wrapped up in planning to train and how to train and what to do at the gym or on the bike or on the treadmill, that I forgot to feed the other parts of my life. Last night when I got home, for example, all I wanted to do was get in the bathtub and then go to bed. But I had said I would go to dinner at a friend's house. So I got up - reluctantly - and went. And I had an amazing night and finally fell into bed at three am, deliciously tipsy on good wine and excellent company. I have to remember that taking care of myself is not always just about eating protein and sleeping nine hours a night.
So today, in honor of that, I am not doing anything. I am going to sit in my house and drink coffee and read the papers. And I might even get back in bed and watch a movie. It's positively decadant.
Friday, February 15, 2008
latte day
Yoga: 1 hr.
happy friday to me.
I love fridays because I get to wear jeans. But I love fridays even more because I allow myself to hop over to my neighborhood coffee shop - where someone always flirts with me despite the fact it's 9 am - and get a big, hot, foamy latte alllllll for me.
So I rolled into work at a little before ten - then promptly headed right back out the door because I had yoga class at 11. Happy to report that my transition time in and out of gym clothes is getting shorter. It takes me approximately two minutes. And even more satisfying, I got waved through by the woman at the desk today with a, "I know who you are". Ha. It's all paying off. I wish I loved my gym as much as other people I know. Not that I don't love it - but it's a purely functional relationship. And it's pretty short on the amenities. It has a steam room and a sauna, not that you're really want to be naked in them - but still. But the towels are not fluffy and there is no cafe. In short - not a place to hang out. (Nor - to be fair 0 is it filled with the sort of people you'd want to hang out with - even if you were inclined to hang out, which i am not).
Unfortunately, when I stack up my priorities, I have to acknowledge that being able to get to the gym in under five minutes - walking - is more important to me than fluffy towels. This is sad because I'd like to think that if I hung out at the Hilton Gym I would work out just as much. But I wouldn't. Why? Because the Hilton is four blocks away and Sport and Health is only one. The less space between me and the gym, the better. However a friend of mine who I coaxed into doing the September race with me, sent me the link to her gym and I just about died. Indoor pool. Outdoor pool. Lap pool. Sauna. Deck. I mean really, Washington, get it together. And MD will probably kick my ass in this race, since I'm cobbling together this training schedule with community pools and a gym that costs 45 bucks a month. However, at the end of it, maybe I can sell my story to NPR "Tri on the Cheap".
Anyway, what was I talking about? Oh yes, yoga. Yoga was good. Yoga is always a good test for me. If I'm really tired, I shake and fall out of tree pose and everyone stares at me. Today I was rock solid all the way up into the very slow pushup section - then the shaking began. But all in all a good stretch session and my hip feels so much better. I probably need to arrange a day off at some point, but this weekend is all about the bike. Since it's my only change to get outside I feel like I want to take advantage of every hour of daylight.
happy friday to me.
I love fridays because I get to wear jeans. But I love fridays even more because I allow myself to hop over to my neighborhood coffee shop - where someone always flirts with me despite the fact it's 9 am - and get a big, hot, foamy latte alllllll for me.
So I rolled into work at a little before ten - then promptly headed right back out the door because I had yoga class at 11. Happy to report that my transition time in and out of gym clothes is getting shorter. It takes me approximately two minutes. And even more satisfying, I got waved through by the woman at the desk today with a, "I know who you are". Ha. It's all paying off. I wish I loved my gym as much as other people I know. Not that I don't love it - but it's a purely functional relationship. And it's pretty short on the amenities. It has a steam room and a sauna, not that you're really want to be naked in them - but still. But the towels are not fluffy and there is no cafe. In short - not a place to hang out. (Nor - to be fair 0 is it filled with the sort of people you'd want to hang out with - even if you were inclined to hang out, which i am not).
Unfortunately, when I stack up my priorities, I have to acknowledge that being able to get to the gym in under five minutes - walking - is more important to me than fluffy towels. This is sad because I'd like to think that if I hung out at the Hilton Gym I would work out just as much. But I wouldn't. Why? Because the Hilton is four blocks away and Sport and Health is only one. The less space between me and the gym, the better. However a friend of mine who I coaxed into doing the September race with me, sent me the link to her gym and I just about died. Indoor pool. Outdoor pool. Lap pool. Sauna. Deck. I mean really, Washington, get it together. And MD will probably kick my ass in this race, since I'm cobbling together this training schedule with community pools and a gym that costs 45 bucks a month. However, at the end of it, maybe I can sell my story to NPR "Tri on the Cheap".
Anyway, what was I talking about? Oh yes, yoga. Yoga was good. Yoga is always a good test for me. If I'm really tired, I shake and fall out of tree pose and everyone stares at me. Today I was rock solid all the way up into the very slow pushup section - then the shaking began. But all in all a good stretch session and my hip feels so much better. I probably need to arrange a day off at some point, but this weekend is all about the bike. Since it's my only change to get outside I feel like I want to take advantage of every hour of daylight.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
oh Marie Reed, you are sketchy.
And yet, oddly endearing.
I decided I couldn't handle the drive to the awesome pool tonight. And having my yoga plans run ripshod over by the unfeeling executive office and then watching my boss high-tail out of the office at 5:20 (which happens once every leap year), I decided that I was also leaving to go swim laps. At the sketchy pool. But you know - it was actually really cute. Yes, it is down a dark alley. And yes, it's marked with spray paint. But, on the plus side, it's free *and* once you get in there it has this wonderful atmosphere of community and welcomeness. Completely unlike the Arlington pool, which for the record, is not any nicer and certainly hurts in comparison in the locker room cateogry -- and tried to strip search me when I wanted to swim there as a DC resident. Whereas, at Marie Reed, I walked in, signed my name and jumped right in. It was great.
Does anyone else keep forgetting how many laps they've swum? I think I did about 600 meters tonight, but I kept losing track. On the advice of a friend of mine (shout-out to the triathlon veteran DS), I swam 25X regular;25X kickboard; 25Xpullbuoy; 25X concentrating on breathing (I always breathe every stroke and I'm trying to break the habit). Anyway, I repeated that four times, then swam 50 regular, then 50 breast stroke - and then finished (because I didn't want to and was tired and I thought it was good for my mental stamina), swam a long slow 100. I think I'm getting a lot stronger - my kick felt much better tonight. And the best part about swimming in a shallower pool is that I can really get a sense of how fast I'm moving by watching the floor zip by underneath me. I feel like I have such a long way to go though. And open water. How does *that* work?
I'm totally exhausted, it's 10:30, I know I'm lame, but I think I might go to bed and then get up and reclaim my dream of yoga tomorrow morning. The more I work out the more I seem to need to sleep.
I decided I couldn't handle the drive to the awesome pool tonight. And having my yoga plans run ripshod over by the unfeeling executive office and then watching my boss high-tail out of the office at 5:20 (which happens once every leap year), I decided that I was also leaving to go swim laps. At the sketchy pool. But you know - it was actually really cute. Yes, it is down a dark alley. And yes, it's marked with spray paint. But, on the plus side, it's free *and* once you get in there it has this wonderful atmosphere of community and welcomeness. Completely unlike the Arlington pool, which for the record, is not any nicer and certainly hurts in comparison in the locker room cateogry -- and tried to strip search me when I wanted to swim there as a DC resident. Whereas, at Marie Reed, I walked in, signed my name and jumped right in. It was great.
Does anyone else keep forgetting how many laps they've swum? I think I did about 600 meters tonight, but I kept losing track. On the advice of a friend of mine (shout-out to the triathlon veteran DS), I swam 25X regular;25X kickboard; 25Xpullbuoy; 25X concentrating on breathing (I always breathe every stroke and I'm trying to break the habit). Anyway, I repeated that four times, then swam 50 regular, then 50 breast stroke - and then finished (because I didn't want to and was tired and I thought it was good for my mental stamina), swam a long slow 100. I think I'm getting a lot stronger - my kick felt much better tonight. And the best part about swimming in a shallower pool is that I can really get a sense of how fast I'm moving by watching the floor zip by underneath me. I feel like I have such a long way to go though. And open water. How does *that* work?
I'm totally exhausted, it's 10:30, I know I'm lame, but I think I might go to bed and then get up and reclaim my dream of yoga tomorrow morning. The more I work out the more I seem to need to sleep.
Valentine's Day
Monday: Ran two miles - at 5.2 pace (24 minutes)
Tuesday: Spin Class (45 min)
Wedneday: Ran intervals - 2 miles @ 5.5 (two min); 5.0 (two minutes)
I hurt everywhere. Am also grouchy because I was supposed to go to yoga today and this board meeting came up and drove a cart and horses through my lovely plan. Now I don't know how to work around my own schedule. I can't run anymore - my right hip feels about 100 years older than the rest of me and a brief experiment with getting out of my Uggs and into a pair of work-appropriate heels this morning left me with a twisted ankle (twisted ankle-lite anyway - I think I can stretch it out). What I really need to do is get in the pool. Maybe I can drive out to the community pool this evening. There is one a block from my house, but it scares me. You have to enter through an alley and the sign for "pool" is spray-painted in red. That doesn't really make me want to put my head down and do laps. In fact in makes me want to find a solid wall and put my back against it. I think I'd rather stand the drive for thirty minutes in the nice pool.
At least I had a grapefruit for breakfast and I've put away an apple and a banana plus my vitamins and three bottles of water, so at least I know I'm eating well. Too bad my mom sent me an indecently large bar of orange chocolate for Valentine's Day. Obviously can't let that go to waste.
Tuesday: Spin Class (45 min)
Wedneday: Ran intervals - 2 miles @ 5.5 (two min); 5.0 (two minutes)
I hurt everywhere. Am also grouchy because I was supposed to go to yoga today and this board meeting came up and drove a cart and horses through my lovely plan. Now I don't know how to work around my own schedule. I can't run anymore - my right hip feels about 100 years older than the rest of me and a brief experiment with getting out of my Uggs and into a pair of work-appropriate heels this morning left me with a twisted ankle (twisted ankle-lite anyway - I think I can stretch it out). What I really need to do is get in the pool. Maybe I can drive out to the community pool this evening. There is one a block from my house, but it scares me. You have to enter through an alley and the sign for "pool" is spray-painted in red. That doesn't really make me want to put my head down and do laps. In fact in makes me want to find a solid wall and put my back against it. I think I'd rather stand the drive for thirty minutes in the nice pool.
At least I had a grapefruit for breakfast and I've put away an apple and a banana plus my vitamins and three bottles of water, so at least I know I'm eating well. Too bad my mom sent me an indecently large bar of orange chocolate for Valentine's Day. Obviously can't let that go to waste.
Triathlon - The First Explanation
So - let me explain this whole thing.
I decided to do a triathlon. Mostly I decided to do it because I was dating a girl who ruthlessly broke up with me and I needed some kind of distraction. But I also decided to do it because I was turning 30 (like when Harry met Sally - "and I'm going to be forty... someday!!!") in six months and I was worried about my ability to get through my birthday gracefully. It seemed to me that if I could finish a triathlon gracefully then 30 wouldn't present too many problems. So I signed up for the Irongirl in Maryland in August 2008. The problem was that once I signed up for the first one - and got through all the waffling and back-and-forths of ebbing and flowing courage - it seemed much easier to start thinking about doing another one. Which is - in hindsight - a little like the person who strikes it lucky at poker and then against all the advice of his friends, can't quite bring himself to cash in his chips and give it up. Before I knew it, I had wantonly signed up for another triathlon in September in Washington, DC.
I guess in some ways triathlons are like kittens. If you're going to go through all the drama of getting one and keeping it from chewing through all the electrical cords in your house - you might as well get two. The problem is that, unlike kittens, neither of these races confine themselves to your house and both of them grow up from a nice, furry idea into a huge, menancing triple-threat blend of run-bike-swim in 90 degree summer heat and humidity.
Luckily, aside from considerations of pride, I'm way too cheap to throw in the towel on $300 bucks worth of application fees - no matter how terrified I am. The fourth threat - public humilation - is probably enough on it's own to get me through the first three.
Also, there is some other deeper motivational prodding going on that has to be explained - once and earnestly - before we go on.
I will indulge briefly. Skip this section if you have a delicate constitution.
First of all there are two people my life, my younger sister and a very good friend of mine, who are both graced with the kind of inner strength and detirmination that allow them not only to get up much earlier than anyone else I know, but get more done in less time - with a quiet and and unquestioned strength of character and purpose - that is a personal inspiration to me even from my cushy arm chair. I really think that the world keeps moving because people like these two get up every day and never for a single second does it occur to them not to give their very best effort at everything that they do. Both of them are excellent athletes, not only because of their natural talent, but also because every morning they get up and they practice - rain, sun, snow and ice not withstanding.
Second of all, about three years ago, I was flipping channels and landed on the ESPN, which happened to be streaming live coverage of the Ironman - not just *an* Ironman, but *The* Ironman, in Kona, Hawaii. The announcer was talking about a particular racer - a woman - and the television briefly flipped back through the pictures - miles swimming in the ocean, 112 miles on the bike - you could see the heat waves glistening off the road, and finally 26.2 miles running back to the finish line. The woman had had a great race so far - poised to break records. I was captivated watching her run - so steady, so fast and you could feel that she could keep running like that forever. Then with less than a mile to go, something happened - the heat, or dehydration or just the intensity of the race - she broke her pace and slowed down, then slower still, then broke into a walk, weaving slightly. And then finally with the finish line in sight - she fell. The crowds at the edge of the road surged forward, but no one wanted to touch her - the announcer kept saying that if she received medical attention she would be disqualified. As I sat there, absolutely glued to the screen, the woman waved off the crowds poised to help - you could tell she was sick, dizzy and disorientated. But the finish line was right there - you could see the banners waving in the distance and everyone there watching her had this look on their face - this intensity - asif by concentrating they could will her the strength to finish. And she looked at all of them and she looked at the finish line and she pulled herself up and she started to crawl. Then slowly she pushed off her hands and got to her feet and stumbling, started to walk. Then she broke into a jog - and then a run. Fifteen seconds later she crossed the finish line. The crowd errupted. And I burst into tears.
For some reason that has been one of those moments that has stayed with me - something important that I unwittingly became a participant in. I had watched that race for 20 minutes. I had no idea who that woman was or what an Ironman was. I had no idea why it should matter so much - but I sat there in my living room thousands and thousands of miles away and I willed for her to get up and to finish that race. Everyone watching - on television or in person, could see that her body had stopped. It was only her mind that made her get up. And for that reason, being accidentally dragged into that woman's own defining moment - to give up or to go on - that I began to understand the kind of people who do triathlons and the kind of mental strength and detirmination it takes to finish them. Whether you're swimming 300 meters or two and half miles - whether you bike 12 miles or 112 - I think these races show you - and maybe teach you - how far you can be pushed and how strong you really are.
Of course, I say that having never run a triathlon. But this sense - this suspicion that maybe that's what it's about, is what drove me to sign up. That woman could have been anyone. If it comes to that test - in any situation - how would I do?
I've been knocking around this planet getting into trouble for almost thirty years and I think I want to know - having led a life of filled with good luck, narrow escapes and a gratefully short list of hard choices, what exactly I'm made of.
So - as I heard someone say once - triple threat this.
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