My Journey to Become an Ironman

Getting back on the horse

2011-02-02T22:32:00.001-08:00

Aug 29, 2010 was one of the most amazing days of my life. It was the day I completed Ironman Canada and blew away all expectations I may have had for that race.

The weather was perfect, my family and friends were there to cheer me on, and I just felt calm and ready for the day ahead. The swim went far better than I expected; there really is something to the draft and the feeling of swimming downhill. Even getting kicked in the head a few times as I swam crookedly across the pack didn't quell my enthusiasm. :)

I came out of the water relieved and exhilarated and ready for the rest of the race to come. I quickly made my way out on the bike and spent the next 7 hours playing leapfrog with my teammate and my family. Even though I had mapped out a couple of locations for them to stop and see me go by, they ignored my advice and decided to follow me all around the course. I'm so glad they did! I saw them multiple times along the way and every time was a huge boost to my morale. In general, I had a great ride. The hills were not as bad as I expected thanks to many training days up OLH and Tunitas Creek and I somehow managed to avoid the rain and hail storms that pelted my friends ahead and behind me. The only real tough spot was on the out and back where the "back" was uphill and into a headwind. It felt like it was never going to end but fortunately my family was there again waiting for me!

The last few miles into transition are downhill or flat so it was a great way to get ready for the run to come. I saw more friends in and around transition as I ran out onto the course. I was flying! Obviously that didn't last too long but I did settle into a good pace and was feeling great for the first 10 miles, maintaining a sub 10min/mile. It was fun to see my faster teammates coming back the other way and to try to keep up with the guy with the clown hair... By mile 11 I was starting to slow down but still enjoying myself. I hit the turnaround at mile 13 and started the long slog up the hill. It was difficult but I was determined not to walk and I somehow made it to the top. Soon after, I saw my family again and picked it up a little bit for the brief time I was in their sights. Coming back into town around mile 22, there is a long straight uphill that never seems to end. I was really suffering at that point but finally came over the top and could start to see the lights and the people. I went down the last hill at mile 23 and turned onto the short out and back before the finish line. There were people everywhere and I started to run. Well, running is a relative term at that point... My calf started screaming at the sudden burst of energy but I told it to shut up and just keep going. We are not stopping now! I kept running faster and faster until I crossed the finish line and became an Ironman. And who were there at the finish but my friends and family? They are the best and I love them.

My motto for last year was "It is what it is" and it quickly changed to "It is was it is... and it is awesome!" during the race.

Finally, a race report! I have tried to write it many times but was never able to complete it. While I have probably forgotten many of the small details by this point, the key themes of family and friends, fun and excitement, and a feeling of amazing accomplishment persist.

Now, back to the subject of the post. After Ironman, I was completely drained - emotionally, physically, and mentally exhausted. I spent the next 4-5 months trying to recover, not only from the race but from all of the other turmoil that went on in my life in 2010. It was an extremely difficult time for me and I struggled with many things but I feel like I am finally starting to turn the corner. Next season is coming up quickly and I am getting back into training. Having a routine and regular workouts with friends is helping to motivate me to get ready for Oceanside which is 2 months away today. Yikes! I finally got back in the pool a couple of weeks ago, I am starting to increase the mileage on my bike, and my injured foot seems to be doing well with the new insert from my podiatrist so next step is to start building up the run.

Here we go again! Wish me luck...

I am an IRONMAN!

2010-09-04T10:36:00.000-07:00

It's been almost a week and those words still seem surreal. My brain and body are still trying to process what happened last Sunday. Here's what I do know...

Ironman Canada 2010 was one of the best days of my life. The entire experience was so much fun and so exhilarating that I just couldn't stop smiling all day long. My family and many of my teammates were out on the course cheering me on and giving me that extra boost to keep going strong. I finished in 13:07:53, a time that exceeded all my expectations and that I am absolutely delighted with. It was so good, that I was seriously tempted to sign up again for next year. Fortunately clearer heads prevailed and I decided to come back next year, not to race but to volunteer, spectate, and sign up for 2012. :)

It's going to take me some time to collect all my thoughts and put a race report together so I think I'll have to do it piecemeal or it will never get done. Stay tuned...

1 week to IMC: So close!

2010-08-22T21:51:00.000-07:00

Wow! One week to go. Time to start counting in days...

I hit another milestone in my journey yesterday; I dropped off my bike at CBS (my LBS :)) to be shipped to Canada. A local company called TriBike Transport provides a great service where you can drop off your bike a few days in advance and they will truck it to the race, unload it, and have it waiting for you when you arrive. It's definitely not cheap but you don't have to take your bike apart, struggle with a bike box, or deal with the airlines. Sounds like a good deal to me!
My fellow IMCers and I did a short, flat, 40 mile ride in the morning and made it back to CBS in plenty of time to drop off our bikes before the noon deadline and then go for brunch. It was very strange to leave the shop without my bike and definitely left me with some uneasiness as the race became just a little more real.

Taper has been an interesting beast to say the least.
1. I'm hungry ALL THE TIME. You would think that with the decreased exercise that I would be eating less but it has been the exact opposite. I guess my body is going into overdrive trying to repair itself. It has been disappointing to see that I am gaining weight again but at this stage I am declaring that it is what it is and I can make weight loss my next goal after Canada.
2. I can't sleep. Normally I have no problems sleeping; I am usually out within seconds of my head hitting the pillow. These days, despite being completely exhausted, I lie in bed wide awake, unable to stop my brain from going a million miles an hour. I'm sure some of it is the decreased exercise and some of it is the stress and excitement but it's really frustrating! I am hopeful that once I get to Penticton I'll be able to slow down a little and rest even if I don't sleep well.
3. I've got weird twinges everywhere. Fortunately, my injuries seem to have healed and a have no major pain but I get some really strange feelings. For example, on my brick run the other day, my right knee didn't feel like it was properly attached to my lower leg. It was totally bizarre. My teammates are also complaining of new "interesting" ailments and it has been pretty widely documented that this will happen as your body adjusts but it's still disconcerting.
4. I am enjoying the downtime. With our shorter workouts, I am finding that I suddenly have a little more time to myself. It has been really nice to be able to do the chores that I have been putting off for months or watch a movie or just hang out with some friends. I am remembering some of the things that I have been missing while training 20+ hours a week and I am appreciating them again. One of my biggest fears for the end of Ironman is that I will be lonely. Without a preplanned reason to see my friends 4-5 days a week, I am afraid that we will drift apart and that I will miss that companionship. The fact that we got together several times over the last few days for reasons other than working out encourages me that it won't be so bad and that we can have a really fun off season. It's going to require effort but I can do it. Yet another after-Canada challenge. :)

Only three more days until I leave. Time to start packing! I have started making piles of things that I need to take and I can already see that my bag is going to be very, very full. It's amazing how much stuff you need for one day...

Bib numbers are posted!

2010-08-18T01:14:00.000-07:00

Another milestone in the run up to Canada...
Over the last day or so, I've made the final arrangements for getting my bike and gear to Penticton, the athlete guide has been posted online, and now the bib numbers have been released.

What is my bib number? 2323! How awesome is that? My favorite number is 23 and I get it twice! I definitely won't have any problems forgetting that one.

Why 23?
-Well, for one, it's my birth date. Can't go wrong there.
-I also really like the numbers 2 and 3 and have never really liked 4.
-It's a prime number and, as I just learned this evening, the smallest odd non-twin prime.
-It was Michael Jordan and David Beckham's number.
-Plenty of tough cookies on the Edmonton Oilers have worn this number. Though, that may be a chicken/egg thing and I just liked them because they wore "my" number. :)
-We have 23 pairs of chromosomes. I've always been curious about 23andme but too scared to actually get the testing done. I'm not sure if I want to know what potentially lies in store for me...

Every day the race becomes more real and I get less sleep! I went to bed hours ago but just tossed and turned so decided to get up and put down a few thoughts.

2 weeks to IMC: Taper Time!

2010-08-15T15:46:00.000-07:00

Holy ! Ironman Canada is only 2 weeks away! What happened to 52 weeks away? Or even 2 months away?

This is my first real taper. I've definitely taken it easy before 70.3s before but that was typically only for a week and didn't involve the drastic changes that this one has.

Earlier this week, I experienced some pretty serious burnout from our epic training weekend. I took a couple of rest days which is extremely uncommon for me but was seriously needed. By the end of the week, I was starting to feel a little more like myself but was still having difficulty getting motivated. It was almost like "if I'm only going to work out for an hour, why bother"? Weird, hunh? I thought I would be excited for the shorter workouts but I guess I underestimated how much I need and appreciate the warmup miles that I usually do on my own ahead of the group workouts.

The one highlight of the week was my brick run on Thursday night after the group ride. My friend JF, a great athlete, was on his cooldown and offered to run with me. It was really nice to have someone to run with and he pushed me to go much faster than I normally would. We finished the 2.4mi loop in 18:28, that's 7:38/mi - my 10k PR pace! Just what I needed after a disappointing ride.

This weekend, we did another open water swim followed by a 60mi ride on Saturday and then I ran 10 miles on Sunday.

The open water swim went well. We did 1.2mi and I was pleased to see that I was able to do it in under 50 minutes. It seems that my foot injury from a few weeks ago has had a positive side effect; all that time in the infinity pool and doing OW swims seems to have made me a little faster. Let's hope that translates to race day!

The ride was a different story... After riding 112 miles last weekend, the girls and I got it into our heads that we were "only" doing 60 miles and that it should be a piece of cake. Not! 60 miles is still a long ride! Because we rode after swimming, we started at a different time and from a different location and we totally messed up our routine. I think I made almost every mistake in the book...
1. I forgot to pump up my tires. I rode on Thursday so they probably weren't too flat, but really, what was I thinking?
2. I didn't bring any warm clothes and it was cold! OK, cold for California in August but still.... When I packed my things in the morning, I was worrying about what I might wear on race day and didn't think to look out the window. All I had was my paper-thin sleeveless tri top which is not at all appropriate for a cool, overcast, windy day. Thank goodness my friend had a spare set of arm warmers for me to borrow. I looked like a total tool with my shoulders exposed but I didn't care. Though, we did see a cute guy rocking the same look so maybe it wasn't so bad... :)
3. And by far the biggest mistake of the day, I forgot to put on sunscreen! For those that don't know me, I have extremely fair skin, I burn very easily, and I normally wear 100+ sunscreen. Having no protection at all is a very big deal. Whether is was due to the change in routine or the cold conditions at the start, it completely slipped my mind and I didn't realize it until it was too late. Boy, am I paying for it now. The tan line on my legs that I had avoided all season is now glaringly obvious, the left side of my face is rather rosy, and my shoulders look like tomatoes! Thanks to the sexy combination of the tri tank and arm warmers, I have huge red squares on my shoulders, upper arms, and back. Not my best look and very painful! Ugh. Live and learn...

Continued after my run Sunday evening...

I love running! I had a great run this evening. For some reason, I got it in my head that if I was "only" going to run 10 miles that I was going to run them pretty quickly and I did! I averaged 8:18 over the entire distance; that's pretty darn close to my PR race pace for a half marathon. Not only that, but I was pretty consistent the whole way and still felt strong at the end; what a great feeling. For once, I didn't feel like I was just plodding along for my long run but was actually running. There was one woman that passed me like I was standing still but I think she's superhuman! I am so relieved that the run is my strongest event and that it comes at the end of the race. It really makes up for the tough time I've been having on the bike and ends the weekend on a positive note.

And now onto another relatively low key week. Let's see if I can continue to keep from going crazy... :)

What a difference a day off makes

2010-08-11T23:07:00.001-07:00

After this past weekend's epic training days, I was completely exhausted and burnt out.

I played hockey again on Monday and my legs felt like lead. They were tired and achy and I couldn't skate to save my life. It was worse than when I played immediately after our 112mi ride. I guess my body was trying to recover and I was interrupting...

Tuesday is our regular track day and this week we were out at Rancho San Antonio. The coach had set up a fairly flat course for us this time but it was long! We were supposed to do 2 loops, one at T pace and one at I pace. There was no way that was happening. So, I met up with a friend and fellow IMCer and we had a nice chat as we ran along at an easy pace. That was perfect as it was about all I could handle and even though I was running much slower than usual, I got the full workout in. Over 8 miles! After that, I was exhausted!

Today, I was planning to go for my regular sports massage and then go for a swim. However, Cindy beat the hell out of me! I had to grab the table when she worked on my quads and IT band but that wasn't the worst of it; I was actually reduced to a whimper and near tears as she drove her knuckles into my back and shoulders. Ouch! So much for swimming. Instead, I came home, laid down on the bed and watched TV for an hour with a 10lb bag of ice on my back. It must have been quite the sight. Then, I went to a friend's house and just hung out. I haven't had a break like that in a long time. What a nice evening! I look forward to more of those nights in the fall.

Now, I'm going to go and get a good night's sleep and look forward to feeling refreshed and ready for the day tomorrow.

3 weeks to IMC: Epic Training Weekend.

2010-08-09T11:10:00.000-07:00

Wow, what a crazy few days it has been.Thursday night I made the classic mistake of driving my car into the garage with my bike still on the roof rack. Ouch!Thank goodness for the fact that I have a short bike and a low car which meant that the only damage to my bike was the seat being destroyed. I would have been devastated if anything had happened to the frame.Nevertheless, Friday was spent getting a new saddle, taking the bike into the shop to check it out and install the saddle, ordering the replacement parts for the rack, and getting my car washed and waxed to take care of the scratches which were fortunately very minor. Phew! Not exactly how I planned to spend my day but I was extremely relieved that it all worked out.
This weekend was the last big training weekend. And, when I say big, I mean EPIC! We spent Saturday biking 112 miles with 8000 feet of climbing. A friend had put together an Ironman Canada simulation ride and so we were riding all over the place to get the right climbs at the right mileage. It took just over 8 hours to finish the ride but the hills were more difficult than the ones at Canada so I am hoping that I will be able to complete the ride in under 7:30 during the race. And that wasn't the end! We followed up the ride with a 2 mile brick run and then I went straight to hockey. Man, was I tired...
Sunday wasn't much easier, either. I met some friends for a 2.65 mile open water swim. The good news is that I finished in under 2 hours so I am less nervous about the 2:20 cutoff time. I have been doing most of my swimming in an infinity pool or out in the open water and I definitely think it has helped to make me stronger. With the swim done, I headed home to change into my running gear. My new shoes finally arrived on Thursday so I have 3 weeks to break them in. I did 15 miles at a nice easy pace and felt better at the end of the run than at the beginning so I am taking that as a good sign.
And now, it's TAPER TIME! I will still be doing a lot of training but no where near the mileage I have been putting in over the last couple of months. I am looking forward to having a bit of a break and being fully recovered and well rested for race day. Woo hoo! Less than 3 weeks to go!
As my friend Christine would say, "Just the stats":
Bike: 112.8 mi (8024ft), 8:15:49
Swim: 2.65 mi, 1:49:47
Run: 15.0mi, 2:41:06

4 weeks to IMC: No loops!

2010-07-31T17:00:00.000-07:00

Ironman Canada is getting really close now. We are in the final big build phase before taper starts about a week from now.

Saturday's ride was the first major workout of the weekend. The girls and I were getting a little tired of the usual hills so we planned a new route that would tackle a couple of climbs that we'd only attempted once or twice this year. We started with Mt. Eden and Pierce. While these might have been hard climbs a couple of years ago, they were just the warmup for the day. Next stop, Hwy 9. This is a great climb because the road is good and the grade isn't too steep but it does go on for over 5 miles. It took me almost an hour to get to the top and we weren't done there! After racing along the rollers on Skyline and down the gradual descent off of 84, we tackled W Alpine. Based on the comparison charts, it looks very similar to Tunitas Creek but it felt much worse. There were some really steep pitches and it doesn't let up until right before the end unlike Tunitas where the last couple of miles are much easier. When we finally made it to the top around mile 45, we had already climbed over 5500ft and were done with the climbing for the day! We redid the rollers on Skyline and then flew down the other side of 84 to Roberts Market, one of our favorite watering holes. After that, we were in for a long slog on the flats. A couple of hours and over 30 miles later, we finally made it back to the cars. And the best part? Right as we were rolling up to the last stop light, my GPS watch clicked over 90 miles. We had finished the ride without having to do any loops! Thank you Debbie for your perfect planning! Thank you Suzi for riding with me!

The next morning, I woke up early to meet a couple of friends and head back to Redwood Shores to do another OW swim. As much as I hate swimming, I really think these open water swims are helping. I felt much better than the week before and sighting seemed to come a little easier. And again, no loops! One simple out and back is way better than 170 laps in the pool!

After the swim and a quick stop at Jamba Juice, I made my way straight to the trail to go for a run. My goal was to do 15 miles but I had a limited amount of time to do it in because I needed to make it to my hockey game! (Yes, I am insane.) Fortunately, I got there in plenty of time that as long as I maintained a reasonable pace, I wouldn't have to kill myself to finish. I start my run in the middle of the trail and so in order to do the whole mileage, I was going to have to do 2 separate out and backs; one longer one to the South and then a shorter one to the North. I headed South figuring that I would do the longest loop first and then figure out how much time I had on the 2nd loop. However, when I got to the gate at the far end, it was open! They had finished the construction and I could keep going! I was thrilled. I really enjoy that section of the trail and I knew that this meant I wouldn't have to do a second loop. Don't get me wrong, the last 7+ miles on the way back were tough and I even bonked a little around mile 11 but it was so much easier to not have to run past the car and keep going.

Here's to a weekend of NO LOOPS!

1 Month to go!

2010-07-29T00:03:00.000-07:00

As I sit here with my foot in a bucket of ice, catching up on work and my online life, I realize that I just hit another milestone on my Ironman journey. The clock rolled past midnight and it is now July 29th, exactly 1 month to Ironman Canada. Holy s#%t! That's only 31 days away! The good news is that I only have two more intense weeks before taper time. The bad news is that I only have two more intense weeks before taper time. :)

I went for a short ride with a friend this evening and I felt pretty good. It's been a while since I wasn't sore or tired on the bike and it was nice to feel a little bit of a jump in the legs. Small moments like that are what help my confidence and keep me moving toward my goal.

Not only that but another friend helped me find a new pair of my favorite running shoes! They've been discontinued and I've been really struggling to find a pair that I like and that don't hurt my feet or knees or back or hips... They'll be here next week, just in time to break them in for Canada. Phew!

On the agenda for tomorrow: hill ride with the club and then a short brick. The scary part is that that's starting to look like one of my easier days for the week. The scarier part is that I'm really enjoying it! I'll take it as a good sign.

Swim, bike, run, roll, stretch, ice, eat, sleep, repeat.

2010-07-28T00:23:00.000-07:00

It's amazing how much time Ironman training takes out of your day.
Even on "easy" recovery days where you "only" train for an hour or two, there is still the matter of making sure that your muscles and joints are loose and limber and ready to go the next day.
After a relatively easy trail run this evening and a nice dinner with friends to wish the IMUKers luck, I was home early and looking forward to getting a good night's sleep. However, now that I have finally finished rolling, using "The Stick", and stretching, I am sitting on my couch with my foot in a bucket of ice several hours later. Where did the time go?! The good news is that I get to do it all again tomorrow. :) Goodnight!

5 weeks to IMC: Random Thoughts

2010-07-25T22:34:00.000-07:00

Holy cow! Canada is getting very close now. Only 2 more long training weeks and then it is time to taper. I can't believe how quickly the time has passed and am both terrified and excited for the day to come. Here are a couple of thoughts from the last couple of days of training...

Thursday night ride: I hammered this one. I was determined not to get left behind and managed to stay with my friends most of the time. I got dropped on the small climbs of the day but fortunately was able to catch back up on the way down. Thank goodness for descents!
Avg pace: 17.6mph.
Usual avg pace: 16.5-16.9mph.
That's a difference of about 1mph. We were flying...

Friday afternoon swim: With my injury to my foot, my massage therapist strongly recommends that I don't push off the wall when I swim. Have you ever tried that? It sucks! By the time I turned around, did a couple of breast strokes to get going, and finally got back up to speed, I was 2/3 the way across the pool. The last time I did it, I was miserable the whole time and barely got 1000yds in. So, I decided to go back to the infinity pool at the gym at work. It was great! Better than I remembered from trying it about a year ago. My foot didn't hurt and I got a fantastic workout in. I set it to a difficult but reasonable level and forced myself to stay there for the full 45min swim. It was tough at the end but I quickly learned when I was getting lazy or when my form changed, for worse or better. I will definitely do this again in the next few days and weeks.

Saturday long ride: Another 100 miler! My third of the season. We went back to the Pescadero route and it is an absolutely beautiful ride. You go out through the redwoods and out to the coast and back. Unfortunately, I didn't get to spend much time enjoying the view and I was so focused on the ride. I've been dealing with a lot of frustration and demotivation on the group rides lately as I am always the slowest and killing myself to try to keep up only to see the gang roll away from me once again. But, today I'm going to focus on the positive...
1. The descents were awesome! We raced down the backside of 84 and were absolutely drilling it as we passed back and forth. I love a challenge! The descent down Pescadero is great because it has a couple of good twisty turnys to keep you honest but you can really build up a lot of speed. And then, the final descent of the day: Kings Mountain! I love it! When we did it a few weeks ago, the road conditions were terrible but they have significantly improved since then. I passed several bikers and a car on the way down and had clear sailing for the S curves at the bottom. It was some of the best fun I'd had all day.
2. Paceline on Pescadero. I caught up with Suzi on flatter section of Pescadero and we were joined by a Webcor rider who helped pull in the wind. It was nice to have some company and some help on that section of the road. Though, apparently I don't provide much draft when I'm in my aerobars... Go figure. :)
3. Chatting with George on Tunitas Creek. Tunitas Creek is by far the toughest climb of the day and when it comes 55 miles into the ride, it's even less fun. Like last time, George was kind enough to ride up the hill with me and keep me entertained with stories of his family. The conversation definitely helped pass the time and made the climb a little less painful. Thank you George!
4. Chocolate milk and chicken in the parking lot afterwards. Best recovery food ever! Yum!

Sunday morning OW swim: The girls and I went out to Redwood Shores for a long open water swim. This is a great spot to swim because the water is warm, there is no boat traffic, it is easy to sight, and there are large structures at all of the important turnaround points. This time we wanted to go the distance: 2.4 miles! I put my Garmin in my cap which apparently made me look like even more of a conehead than usual; but, it was great to see my data at the end of the swim and funny to see how not straight I am! I did 2.17 miles in 1:38. While that is pretty darn slow, it gives me good confidence that I will be able to do 2.4 miles in under 2 hours, well below the Ironman cutoff of 2:20.

Sunday afternoon long run: Way back when, my original training plan said that I was supposed to do 17 miles today. I revised that to "no more than 15" with my sore foot. I revised that again to 10-11 when I realized that I had 2 hours to finish the run and make it to hockey. It was another hot day and my legs were extremely tired from the bike and swim that preceded it so I think that shortening the run was probably the smartest thing I've done in a while. I ran slowly and finished the run with only a minute or two to spare but I was proud of myself for getting it done. Now, my foot is a little sore but manageable.

Stretch, roll, ice: This has been my mantra for the last few days and I believe it is helping. It's difficult to find the time to do it and painful when I do but I'm hoping that it is another key factor in getting me to Canada relatively pain free. I bought a new foam roller this week, "The Grid" from triggerpoint and it has me screaming! Can I go back to my nice, gentle white one now!? Please?!

Losing weight: Probably the easiest way to improve my power/weight ratio in the time I have left. Unfortunately, this is really hard to do when you are hungry all the time! I've cut out desserts, chocolate, and pop (aka soda) for the last 4 weeks and it has definitely been tough but my mental resolve is getting tougher every day. When I started this 4 weeks ago, I weighed 134.4lbs and while my weight fluctuates quite a bit, I was 131.6lbs this morning. My new goal is to be below 130lbs by race day. I've tried and failed to lose "the last 5-10" pounds several times this year but I am going to try again. To help encourage me in this endeavor, my good friend at hockey has dubbed me "chunky". It was definitely an ironic name given the company but it made me laugh. It take it. For now.

Quotes from training this week:
1. Powered by gas!
[It's a long story. A long day of riding with a lot of sugary drinks leads to a restless stomach, a little delirium and conversation that seems extremely funny at the time. Enough said.]
2. Him: You're the autobus! Me: Thanks for making me feel so much better.
3. Her: I'd like to finish in 16 hours. Him: I think we're going to need the whole runway for you.
["Him" in 2 & 3 is the same person. Dude needs to work on his motivational speaking...]

6 weeks to IMC: Vineman

2010-07-19T11:23:00.001-07:00

10 second recap:
-Finished the race and just barely PRed overall.
-PR swim: The Russian River was shallow and warm and the current made for a fast return.
-PR bike: Easier course than some of my other 70.3s but I was definitely pushing it.
-PW run: Planned to take it easy to save my foot but also had a really tough day in the heat and the hills.
-The good: Fun times with friends.
-The bad: Nasty sunburn.
-The ugly: Guy racing in a tutu complete with pink compression socks.

Doing the "right" thing.

2010-07-15T18:14:00.000-07:00

My next triathlon is this Sunday. Vineman 70.3 is supposed to be my last big training race before IMC. After missing Barb's Race last year, I have been looking forward to doing this course for such a long time. The only problem is that my feet still hurt. I was so proud of my achievement at the 10K on Sunday but now I'm seriously questioning myself. Did I go too hard? Did I make things worse? Should I have skipped it? What did I do in that 21 miler to put myself in this situation?

I did extremely light workouts on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week and now I'm on complete rest to hopefully be better by the weekend. But what if I'm not? Should I still race? Should I skip the run? And the bike? I am not a quitter and the thought of having to miss some or all of the race is killing me. People keep reminding me that Vineman is not my main goal for this year, Canada is. They're right. Now if only the logical side of me could tell the emotional side...

7 weeks to IMC: Welcome to the Jungle

2010-07-12T02:06:00.000-07:00

I entered the Jungle Run, a 10k running race for my long run this weekend. I figured it would be a great way to force myself to go short for taper week while still pushing myself. And, it would be a good gauge on my running fitness.

When I signed up a couple of weeks ago, I had aspirations of a new PR but after hurting my feet on my long run on Tuesday, I had concerns at how I would be able to perform. I haven't run since then and have been icing/rolling constantly but it still bothers me. I am terrified that it might be the early onset of PF and I need to do everything I can to avoid it!

Fortunately, I was able to ignore any pain during the race this morning and I had the run of my life! I ran faster than I ever have before and knocked over 2 minutes off my best time. Not only that but I made it on the podium; 2nd place in the F30-39 AG!

It was a great day and a perfect way to forget about the misery of my bike rides lately. Now, to take care of those feet...

7 weeks to IMC: Left For Dead

2010-07-10T22:55:00.000-07:00

Well, it was certainly a tough couple of days on the bike!

Every Thursday, I meet up with the club for our usual evening ride. This week was the fast route and I was looking forward to lighting it up with the gang. Unfortunately I missed a light and got separated from my usual riding partners. I then looked around and the remaining group immediately instilled a feeling of dread. I was surrounded by the best cyclists in the club and I knew I would not be able to hang with them for long. As predicted, the moment the light turned green they took off and I was on my own. I've done this route a million times before so I had no concerns about finding my way but it still sucks to have to ride it on your own. I think I may have to go back to my old trick of cutting off the corner in an attempt to jump back on with the group. DFL is getting old...

The Saturday ride was not much better. We all started together but, again, I missed a light along with another friend of mine. Usually the group takes it fairly easy in the first few miles but my friend and I absolutely hammered at over 22mph and it still took us over 10 miles to catch them. Apparently everyone was feeling their oats on this day. As soon as we caught up, the group took off and I was on my own again. Ugh. Not only that, but no one stopped at the usual regroup locations. WTH? This weekend was pre-race for most of us and we all had slightly different goals in terms of climbing and distance so I guess they just assumed we were doing our own thing and kept going. Thank goodness a couple others decided to do the same route as me and I had some people to ride with the rest of the way. I still got horribly dropped on all the hills but we came back together on flats. Good thing too. The friend that had helped pull me back to the group several hours earlier had a double flat and would have been stranded without an extra tube and CO2. Turns out, fixing flats on the side of the road can lead to pretty entertaining conversations when you're worn out from a hard ride in the heat...

Oh well. It was definitely a demoralizing week on the bike but I can at least take solace in the fact that I am slowly getting faster and that I wasn't completely left for dead. Just mostly...

8 weeks to IMC: Loooong weekend

2010-07-08T00:39:00.001-07:00

Happy Canada Day (July 1)! Happy Independence Day (July 4)!

The July 4th long weekend was a very long weekend as my company had actually given us both the Monday and Tuesday off as vacation days. Nice!

Saturday was a very long day as it was time for our second 100+mi ride of the season. We started at 7:45am and made our way out to the coast. Of course, just before the first climb of the day and only 20 miles in, I had a flat. I quickly changed the tube and pumped the tire back up but was already starting to feel bad as my friends are all better climbers than me and now they were going to have to wait even longer for me. The first major climb of the day was Old La Honda and I definitely struggled a bit. I thought I was doing ok based on how my legs felt but I knew that I was in trouble when I didn't see anyone after the first few turns. I finally made it to the top about 3 minutes off of my PR time but fortunately there were still a couple of people there waiting for me. After that, we started the descent down to the coast and I really enjoyed racing against the boys. Downhill is definitely my favorite part of the day. A couple more climbs, one pastry, and several hours later we were at the base of Tunitas Creek. Sadly, I forgot to restart my watch after the water stop at the Bike Hut and I "lost" 3 miles of the climb. Fortunately, one of my friends took pity on me and came back to ride with me. It was nice having someone to talk to on the way up. Next was the descent down Kings Mountain. Normally I love this but they had just patched the road and my front tire was definitely a little low from the flat earlier in the day so it was quite a challenge. I just didn't have the grip or the confidence that I normally do going down but still made it fairy quickly. :) After that, we just needed to roll along for, oh, another 30 miles or so to finish the ride...
When we made it back to the start, my watch said 97 miles. There was no way I was going to stop that close to 100! So, we did what we always do and did a couple of loops around the block until I reached the goal. If only I had left my watch running, we wouldn't have had to do that. D'oh! And the, we went straight into the Lucky's bought chocolate milk and chicken tenders and sat in the parking lot devouring the food. Sounds nasty but it was delicious. Yum!

I decided in advance that I was not going to do my long run on Sunday. I figured with a 4 day weekend it was silly to try to do a ridiculously long run immediately after a ridiculously long ride. So, I went for another ride instead! This time, my goal was to do only 35 miles, mostly flat. I was expecting my butt to hurt more on day 2 but it wasn't too bad. Thank goodness for my favorite shorts... For the most part it was an uneventful ride. However, it one point I was going back and forth with another guy where I would get ahead after a light and then he would catch me at the next one. Eventually, he came up to pass and did so on my right side. What happened next really surprised me. I politely told him that it was very dangerous to pass on the right and he replied by saying "You're right, I'm sorry." Why did this surprise me? 1. I'm normally not that polite. 2. People don't normally respond that well to criticism. I was suitably impressed with both of us... After that, it was time to relax! A couple of fun bbqs and a great fireworks display to end the day.

Monday was supposed to be the long run day but then I got an offer I couldn't refuse: to go on a different kind of ride, one with and engine! My friend took me out to the coast and back on his motorcycle and I had so much fun. He was very well behaved but we still had some fun on long straightaways and into some of the technical corners. Unbelievable. I loved every minute of it. And then, I spent the afternoon sitting my the pool with my girlfriends and the evening watching the first season of The Big Bang Theory (one of the greatest tv shows ever). No training whatsoever for the first time in weeks. It was great! I really needed a day to rest and recharge and this did the trick.

Tuesday therefore became long run day. It took me a few hours to psych myself up to do it but finally made it out on the trail at 1pm. This time, I ate in advance and armed myself with more than enough gus to avoid the bonking of the week before. The first few miles were slow but I started to get into a rhythm and felt great up until mile 16 where I was starting to get a little tired. I kept going, eating and drinking lots of water, probably a little too much. At mile 19, I started to feel a little ill and my stomach was literally sloshing around. Fortunately, I only had 2 miles left and soldiered on to the finish. 21 miles! My second longest run ever and longest training run. I was proud of myself for getting it done but concerned that I wasn't feeling well. I quickly got into my car and made my way to Jamba Juice. Fortunately it wasn't far away because as soon as I got into the store I started to feel very dizzy. By the time it was my turn to order I just needed to sit down and crashed onto a bench. One of the employees was fantastic and immediately came over to help me. He brought me a huge glass of orange juice and kept an eye on me until I was feeling better. It was a very scary moment and I really appreciate what he did for me. Looking back, I think it was a combination of things including poor pre-run meal choices, too much water, not enough electrolytes, and just a very long run. Things to do before my next long run 4 weeks from now: figure out my meal plan and get an updated Road ID!

Today was back to work day. But, it was also massage day! I used to love massages. Now I dread them because they hurt so much. But, they are part of what has kept me healthy and injury-free so far. I was surprised that my legs didn't hurt too badly but I did have some trouble spots. My left foot was hurting and I'm afraid it might be the beginning of the evil pf. My massage therapist worked on my foot for a long time and now I need to rest and ice it for a few days to hopefully stave off any further damage. I do not want to go through what some of my friends are dealing with right now. My shoulders were also sore from the long ride on the motorcycle but that was worth the pain!

After such a hectic few days, what's next? Recovery week! Taking it easy for the next few days to let my body recover and get ready for my next race in a week and a half. Wish me luck!

ps. My original title for this blog entry was going to be DFL & LFD (dead f*ing last and left for dead) but it just wasn't true. People circled back for me when I was left behind and checked on me when I was training on my own. How awesome it that? I'm just starting to appreciate how really great my friends are and how glad I am to be a part of the triathlon community.

9 weeks to IMC: Feeling the Heat

2010-06-30T10:12:00.000-07:00

Summer has definitely arrived in California and I'm feeling the heat both literally and figuratively. The temperatures are rising quickly and I'm feeling the pressure of my races getting closer and closer.

3 weeks from now I will be participating in my 3rd half of the season: Vineman 70.3. This race is known for having a reasonably easy course but absolutely brutal conditions where it can get over 100F and there is very little relief in terms of shade or breeze.

A whole group of us went up the Guerneville to check out the swim and bike course on Saturday. As a non-swimmer, I was pleasantly surprised with the Russian River. It was shallow, the water was fairly clean, the current wasn't too bad, and the temperature was cool but nice. I was far more comfortable doing this swim than I have been in others.
After a leisurely T1, we made our way out to the bike course and we were flying! My friend was leading the pack and she pulled us at 18+mph for over 40 miles! Unbelievable. I don't know how she did it. Again, I was at the back trying desperately to hang on and it was very hard work. We were lucky that the conditions were fairly mild but I was still sweating profusely and got through at least 5 bottles of water and cytomax/carbopro.
T2 is not located at T1 for this race so once we finished the 56 mi trip, we still had 15 miles to go to get back to the cars. I expected this to be a leisurely ride back but I was wrong! The group continued to push the pace and I finally got dropped for good. Fortunately, I knew my way back and my friends eventually circled back for me. The only scary moment was when a car pulled out in front of me as I was descending a hill at over 30mph. Good thing I took that bike handling course where they taught us emergency stopping procedures...
We finally made it back to the cars and spent the next half hour standing in the cold water and eating frozen Snickers bars. What a great way to end the day!

Sunday was another long run in the heat. I did 19 miles but it was a very difficult day. I took 5 gus with me and pretty quickly learned that that was not enough. I had to ration them right from the start and only allow myself to have one every 3-3.5 miles. Every time I was about half a mile from the next one, I would start to bonk. It was horrible to have to go through that every time. But, I finished even though my average pace was a painfully slow 10:50/mi. After talking to several of my teammates, it seems like I was not the only one who had a tough run. Apparently we were all feeling the workout from the day before and suffering in the heat.

Overall, a good training weekend with friends and more lessons learned.
ps. Base Amino Acid is nasty! I tried cutting it with cytomax but it still tastes terrible...

10 weeks to IMC: Snot Rockets

2010-06-19T15:28:00.000-07:00

To all those of you out there who have never seen a triathlon in person and who want to keep the eutopic, Wide World of Sports Ironman World Championships, view of the sport where the weather is amazing, the battles are epic, and everyone finishes under the cutoff, this post is not for you.

There is a nasty side to every sport that you learn about only once you're entrenched enough that you won't be so grossed out as to quit before you even begin. For triathlons, that includes peeing in your wetsuit, swimming in nasty skunky water, losing toenails, drinking sugary sludge. and snot rockets, the topic of today's post.

Generally, I am a reserved person so I'm still a little shocked that I am writing about this but it really was the only thing that I thought about on my ride today...

I haven't been feeling well for the last couple of days and it moved up to my sinuses over the last 24hrs or so. I really wanted to do my planned 100mi ride so I dragged myself out of bed, drugged myself up with Tylenol, and made it to the start.

Less than 5 minutes into the ride, my nose started running like a tap. The usual attempts to sniffle or wipe my nose were not sufficient and so I took another step in my cycling career and learned the art of the snot rocket. I've been too afraid to attempt it before today for fear of getting bodily fluids all over myself but there really was no other option...

Step 1: Snot. You need lots of it and it needs to be the right consistency. Having a sinus cold is perfect for this.
Step 2: Space. You can't have someone riding beside or immediately behind you. Being the slowest one in the group who's always struggling to keep from getting dropped makes it very easy to separate oneself.
Step 3: Position. Know which way the wind is blowing and lean over to get your shoulder out of the way.
Step4: Force. There's no half way on this one. You have to commit. Plug one side and BLOW!

Phew! Much better! Now, if only my legs would work...

11 weeks to IMC: Summer in California

2010-06-15T23:18:00.000-07:00

Weather wise, we had a pretty crummy spring and start to summer. It was chilly and rainy and overall not the 70 and sunny we have all come to love and appreciate about Northern California.

However, summer hit with a vengeance this weekend! It was 91 on Saturday and 89 on Sunday. While that would normally not be too bad, it was a shock to the system after the cooler temperatures we have been experiencing and I was not prepared.

For our Saturday ride, we did a nice easy flat 50 mile loop to start but then decided to tack on Moody/Page Mill at the end. That is a tough climb on a normal day but with the added heat of the noon hour sun, it was a real challenge. Not only that, but I had planned to fill up my water bottles at the park right after we turned off of Moody onto Page Mill. The only problem was that that stop was actually below Moody, not above... I unfortunately realized this too late to turn around and quickly ran out of water. What a rookie mistake! We tried to stop at a house to fill up but no one was home so we eventually gave up and kept going. With about 2 miles to go, I was really starting to suffer. My mind was completely focused on figuring out how long it would take to get to water. I have a friend that lives nearby, there's a fire station just down the road... And then I spotted a fountain! At first I thought it was a mirage but I quickly turned around and headed back to where I thought I spotted it and it was real! Thank goodness! I drank and drank and drank and then finally filled up my bottles. Next time, I will refill at every opportunity, just in case.

Sunday was another busy training day with swimming, running and hockey back to back. I was already feeling a little sluggish in the water and by the time I started my run, I had no legs. Even so, I pushed through and stuck to the original plan of running out 8.5 miles and then turning around. This time, the problem was that I had not calculated how much the tiredness and heat would affect me and I was running about 2min/mile slower than usual. I had plenty of time so the added duration was no big deal. The problem was that it took me forever to get between water stops! There is no water for the last 3 miles on the out and back. Lately, I have been able to run 6 miles on one bottle no problem but that was when I was feeling good and it was 60 degrees out. This weekend was HOT and so I ran out of water two miles from the next fountain. Ouch! That hurt! I finally made it to the fountain and drank and drank and drank. (Sound familiar?) Of course, then my stomach was full of water sloshing around. Not conducive to a good end to the run... Another rookie mistake! Two in one weekend. You would think I would have learned from the day before but sadly, no.

Anyway, chalk this weekend up to another learning experience. Let's see what I "learn" next weekend.

12 weeks to IMC: Rest and Recover

2010-06-11T22:48:00.001-07:00

As I write this, it is almost 11 weeks to IMC but I wanted to document my experience from last week so that I don't make the same mistake again. Last week was scheduled to be a recovery week but with needing to catch up on work and my dad coming to visit, I decided to make it a rest week. That meant no workouts other than hockey.
All I can say is that that was a BAD IDEA! I went CRAZY in the first few days. Not just a little restless from wanting to work out but all of the stress of the week with no physical outlet and too much time to sit and think made me a complete basket case. I couldn't focus or control my emotions. I was exhausted but couldn't sleep. I was a mess. In general, I take pride in being a pretty strong person so to be in that situation was very foreign and scary to me. Once my dad arrived, we had a great visit and took the time to go on some nice long walks which helped a lot but couldn't completely repair the damage of the days before. Only now, after several days of hard exercise am I starting to feel more like myself.
I have learned my lesson. I am a person that needs to exercise. Not only is it good for my physical health but it helps to keep me busy, allow me to clear my head, or just focus on the scenery and forget about everything else for a while. From now on, a recovery week will be just that. I will cut back on the frequency and duration but still keep moving. And, I will remember this when it comes time to taper and make sure that I have a plan.
Live and learn...

13 weeks to IMC: A Weekend to Remember

2010-06-02T18:54:00.000-07:00

Memorial Day is a time to remember and appreciate all those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. It is also a great opportunity to do some hard core training and suffering of my own.

Last Saturday, my friend Isa and I decided to do an epic ride. I really wanted to do Mt. Hamilton and he really wanted to do 100 miles so we compromised and did both! We basically retraced the steps of the Mt. Hamilton Challenge; the only difference was that we were completely unsupported! We met near the base of the climb, loaded up our pockets with clothing, food, and little baggies of white powder (more on that later), and made our way to Mt. Hamilton Rd. From there, we rode 19 miles up to the top in almost perfect conditions. It was warm but not too hot with a bit of a breeze but no real headwind which made it a very enjoyable 2:06 trip. A new PR - a mere 25 seconds faster than the Low Key race in 2008! The thing I was most pleased about was that I was able to keep rolling almost the whole way there without having to mash on the pedals. We took a quick break at the top to take pictures, eat, refill our water bottles, and snort some cocaine. Not really! We were actually mixing up more Cytomax and Carbopro but got some interesting looks as we pulled out several baggies of white powder (even more on that later).

As we were leaving the top of Hamilton to continue on our ride, Isa made the comment "19 miles down, only 81 to go." Now, if that doesn't put things into perspective... However, the next 19 miles were much faster than the first! I absolutely flew down the first 5 miles which are the steepest and only slowed down once (and nearly wiped out) as I tried to avoid a suicidal squirrel. What is with those guys?! They get 90% of the way across the road, see something that scares them, and go back the way they came. Where's the sense in that?! Anyway, I digress...

The next 40 miles or so were fairly uneventful as we wound our way through the valleys of the East Bay and out to Livermore. There were rolling hills and some unpleasant headwinds but it was net downhill and a good way to spend a couple of hours. We did stop once to refill with water and ran into a group of people that were also training for IMC. They were doing the exact same route as us, just the other way around. We wished them well and figured we'd see them in a few hours.

We finally reached Livermore and it was a little strange to reenter urban life after spending almost the entire morning completely isolated, surrounded only by fields, cows, and the occasional bird of prey overhead waiting to see if we keeled over. We stopped at Safeway to replenish our supplies and have some lunch. You have no idea how fantastic a Snickers bar tastes at mile 70! One of those is definitely going in the special needs bag! Isa also took the opportunity to add some more Carbopro to his water bottles but unfortunately spilled some on the ground. Imagine the surprise of the teenagers walking up to the grocery store when they saw a guy sitting on the sidewalk trying to scoop up a pile of white powder. Priceless!

We continued on our way and passed through several more towns before making the final turn for home. I was relieved to finally make it to Calaveras even though I knew it would be a long slog to make it up and over the hill. But, I eventually did and was rewarded with the sight of a bald eagle hanging out above his nest. Side note: I went back the next weekend with my dad and took a few pictures with my big camera. When we zoomed in on the photos back at home, we realized that there were actually 3 bald eagles! Two juveniles were hanging out in and around the nest as well. Amazing!

After Calaveras, all that was left was one last descent and a short jog back to the cars. We hit 100 miles at the bottom of the hill and I declared that to be the end of the training portion of the ride. We took the last few miles at a leisurely pace and my muscles and joints thanked me for it. Moving more slowly also allowed me to spot the Dairy Belle. At that moment, I knew exactly where my first stop would be on the way home! It was delicious and I believe well deserved.

What a day! And, what an accomplishment. Another one for the books. Oh, yeah... that night I played 2 hockey games. Yes, I am nuts!

After my epic day on Saturday, I decided to take advantage of the long weekend and save my long run for Monday. I went for a nice easy swim on Sunday morning and then just enjoyed the rest of the day. What a concept!

Monday was interesting to say the least. I expected it to be a regular day with a good long run followed by a few errands. It certainly did not turn out that way. It was about 1pm by the time I finally walked out the door for my run. I grabbed my water, my gus, my sunglasses... everything except my keys! Damn! For the first time since I was a kid, I was locked out of my house and had no way to get back in. Fortunately I had my phone with me. Unfortunately, it was a holiday so my real estate agent, landlord, and property manager were all unavailable so I had to call a locksmith. 2.5 hours, $150, and a lot of stress later, I finally had my keys and was back to square one. I actually had a pretty bad experience with the locksmith as he was quite rude to me and made me feel very uncomfortable about leaving my house unattended. I started driving out to the reservoir where I was planning to run but couldn't get the paranoia about the locksmith out of my head so I turned around and went home. Instead, I decided to run around the small park right next to my apartment where I could keep an eye on the place. The only problem was that I had to run 17 miles and the track around the perimeter of the park was only 0.3 miles! But, I was determined to get my run in so off I went. My watch beeped every mile and I would change direction to keep things "interesting". I also took advantage of my location and rested every 4.5miles to change the laundry! Like I said, it was a bizarre day. The funniest part was the look on the faces of the people picnicing and hanging out who just watched me go round and around and around, 55 times! One woman even came up to me and said, "girl, you really need to take a break" to which I said "no way." I'm sure she thinks I'm completely crazy... which to some extent, I guess I am. What I am proud of is that I did run all 17 miles despite my paranoia and I ran extremely fast! I'm sure it was partially due to the rest day the day before and partially due to the stress but I'll take it.

Now, I'm exhausted and completely burned out. Next week: rest week!

14 weeks to IMC: Chocolate Croissants

2010-05-22T21:34:00.000-07:00

Several years ago now, my first organized ride ever was a 100km trip out to the coast in the Tour de Cure. I was completely unprepared for the ride and, looking back, I can only imagine what the other people out there were thinking when they saw me. I was on my relatively new Trek1000 with sneakers and clip in pedals, wearing MTB style shorts because I was too embarrassed to wear spandex, and only carrying a couple of bottles of water, blissfully unaware that I should be carrying food and warm clothes. Before that day, the longest ride I had ever done was at most 30 miles and climbing hills was not something I was familiar with. So, when the route took us up 84 and along Skyline into the fog and down to the freezing cold coast where the rest stop was almost out of food, I started to realize that I was in big trouble. The only thing that stopped me from getting into the SAG vehicle half way through the ride was when another woman pulled up behind me and said that she was determined to finish the whole thing. She had done it the year before and even started an hour before the start in order to be able to make it back. I figured if she could do it, well, I could too. Stage Rd seemed impossible with the headwinds and I had to loop around on Tunitas a couple of times in order to get enough speed to keep going but I finally made it to the top of the hill. By the time I got there, there was nothing left of the rest stop but a guy with a radio saying that the event was over and that I should get a ride back. Forget that! I had done the hard part and all that was left was the descent back to the finish. So, I continued on my way and finally made it an hour after everything had wrapped up with only that one woman behind me. Thank goodness for my amazing friends who waited around for hours for me and even saved me some food!
Fast forward 5 years or so to today. Some friends and I decided to head out to the coast for this weekend's training ride. There were no rest stops and no SAG vehicles, just us. Fortunately, I have learned a few things and packed a jacket, gloves, arm warmers, bars, gels, Cytomax, money, ID, and my phone. The pockets of my IM70.3 jersey were stuffed! The first climb of the day was OLH. This hill is pretty much a mainstay for us these days and while I didn't PR, I did manage to climb it in under 30 mins. A decent start... And then it was time to don all the extra clothing for the decent down W 84. Man was I glad to have it with me as we cruised down the hill at ~25mph. The next hill was Pescadero which I haven't done in years. It was a nice climb and a really fun descent! It starts out steep with some good twisty turnys and then it's just a long hammer down to the town where we stopped at the bakery for chocolate croissants! Normally, I don't stop for long breaks on a ride but this was worth it! That pastry was delicious! Stage was basically as I remembered with some significant rollers and a brutal headwind. While I'm sure I did it much faster than I did all those years ago, it certainly didn't feel like it. After a very brief glimpse of the ocean on Hwy 1, we turned inland to head back home. Tunitas was the final climb of the day and is a pretty significant challenge. It is about 7 miles long, with the first 5 being the worst. Fortunately, my friend George stayed with me the whole way to keep me company and push me up the hill. By the time the road flattened out for the last couple of miles, we were moving pretty well. The others had only just started to think about turning back for us when we rounded the final corner and made it to the top. And then it was time for the absolute best part of the ride, the descent down Kings Mountain! It is long, fast, and has some tight switchbacks at the top. I took off first and quickly had to slow down when I realized I had forgotten to reengage my front brake after loosening it on the way up Tunitas. Fortunately, I was able to fix it quickly and was back on my way. The 2nd switchback is probably the tightest on the way down and I really had to lean into the turn to make the corner. Another rider that I didn't know well wasn't far behind and I was afraid he would try to follow, overcook it and go off the road. Fortunately, there was no nasty crunch behind me; common sense had kicked in and he'd backed off. After that, I went as fast as I could down the hill and really enjoyed diving into the corners. When I hadn't been caught at the bottom, I kept pushing to the meeting place and it was only there that the rest of the group was able to catch me. It felt really, really good to hear one of our top athletes, who can do the IM bike in under 4:30 (!), say "I'm impressed." Downhill may be the only time that I can compete but I certainly take advantage of it when I can. :) After that, all that was left was the long slog to the parking lot. People took turns having flat tires, bonking, and looping back for those who were slowing down but we finally made it. Wow, that was a long day! After that epic ride, I had no energy to do anything but eat and sleep before my hockey game.
My run the next day was just as difficult. I had planned to run 9:15 like the week before, or maybe a little slower but there was no way! I struggled just to be able to finish with an average pace of 10:30. Ouch! Just goes to show how much one workout can affect the other.
Next week, we are planning to climb Mt. Hamilton! I love that ride. Though, I've never done an 80 mile loop after the climb so we'll see how I feel in the afternoon. I bet my run time is going to suck again on Sunday! Oh well... Next time.

15 weeks to IMC: Training needs to be fun.

2010-05-16T11:51:00.000-07:00

This weekend was another typical training weekend: bike on Saturday, run on Sunday and play hockey somewhere in there.

My usual group and I decided to switch up the route a bit and we had a few takers to join us. After a long and miserable climb up Hwy 9, we regrouped at the fire station to discuss where we were going to go from there. I had suggested doing an extra loop with a long, steep descent and a nice gradual climb back up. One of the visiting members of the group said that it was a terrible idea because it wasn't good training. "You don't pedal on the descent and the climb isn't hard; if you're going to do that loop, you should do it the other way in order to pedal all the way down and have a significant climb on the way back." I tried to explain that I wanted to do that loop because I *like* descending, that that is the fun part of the ride for me, but he just didn't get it. He's a little intense...

In the end, I was outvoted and we continued with the original plan. The ride was ok but I was feeling tired and my back was hurting on the climbs and there weren't any good descents for me to really let it fly. I was in a pretty bad mood by the time we started the return trip and so I hammered all the way back. That helped a little. :)

We've already mapped out next week's route and I'm looking forward to the couple of decent downhills we have planned. The week after, I think I'm going to suggest a route and go for it whether anyone wants to join me or not. I want to have some fun!

I continued my attempts to follow the "Run Less, Run Faster" book in my long run today. The goal was to run 14 miles at marathon pace + 30s which translates to about 9:15. I was a little slow on the way out because it takes me a while to warm up and it was slightly uphill. However, I made up for it on the way back when I ran quite a bit faster. It felt great to be able to do a negative split and beat the goal time. Running is fun! (And hard! And painful!)

I had a hockey game almost immediately after my run. It started off as a really strange game and we weren't playing well at all. The lines were a little screwed up and people were focusing on themselves rather than passing and short shifts, and being part of a team. We finally started to get it together about halfway through the game. Personally (see a theme?), I had a pretty good game. I jumped over the boards on a delayed penalty, made a mad dash to the slot, yelled at my teammate for the puck, and drilled it in the back of the net. Yay! I *never* score and definitely not on a play like that. Hockey is fun! At the end of the game, I made the mistake of blocking a slapshot from the point with my foot/ankle/shin. SOB that hurt! I'm sitting here with ice on my leg and will hopefully feel better in a day or two. Hockey is fun? Yeah, it really is. :)

16 weeks to IMC: Run less, run faster!

2010-05-11T16:35:00.000-07:00

Several weeks ago, a friend loaned me her book "Run Less, Run Faster". The general premise of the book is that you only run 3 times a week but you do a track workout, a tempo workout, and a long run. However, the runs are fast! I used my 1/2 marathon PR to calculate my estimated 5k time which I used to figure out what my paces should be. According to this, my marathon pace (MP) is 8:46. Holy cow! That translates to roughly a 3:45 marathon time, nearly 20 minutes faster than my actual result from CIM. It is also about a minute and a half faster than my typical long run pace. Apparently I'm a slacker... Anyway, I decided to give it a try and see how I do.

Tuesday is track day. I followed the club workout rather than the book and it was fast! We did 4x200 @ R, 3x1k @ I, and 2x400 @ R. We use the VDOT calculations for the pacing and my times were just about right for a VDOT of 42. The only problem is my VDOT is 40! I ran waay too fast but I was having so much fun chasing down my friends that I didn't want to slow down. It felt great to be able to run that fast but I definitely paid for in on Wednesday and Thursday. My legs were like jello!

Friday is tempo run day. Typically I just do a medium distance run at a fairly slow pace, but not today! Based on the book, I needed to do 6 miles: 2 miles at 9:29, 2 miles at 7:54, 2 miles at 9:29. OK, I thought, the 9:29s are definitely doable to 7:54? No way! It took me about three hours to build up enough courage to go and change and get ready to run. And that was with my friend encouraging me to get out there (while worrying that I should slow down). Fortunately, I had the times from Tuesday's crazy run to make me feel better that this wouldn't be as fast as that workout. I finally sucked it up and headed out the door. I warmed up on the path at a whopping 11:00 pace. How was I ever going to go 3:00 per mile faster? Anyway, I hit the lap counter and started to run the first 2 mile interval. The first few hundred meters are always difficult to gauge and I started out too fast, then slowed down too much, then sped up again... I finally settled in to about the right pace after 3/4 of a mile. It was not easy but not too horrible either. As I was running along, I spent the whole time worrying about how I was going to go sub 8:00 for 2 miles. And then my watch beeped for the mile and it was time to go. I took off like a shot and again it took a while to figure out the right pace. It was really fast! My quads were burning and my lungs were working really hard to keep up. Anytime my mind started to wander, I slowed down and my pace went up. Focus! Just under 16 minutes later, I had survived. The final 2 mile interval went fairly smoothly. It's funny how 9:29 seems so hard after warming up at 11:00 but so easy after running 7:54. Finally, I was done!

As I was slowly jogging back to the start, I saw the most amazing thing. There was a young hawk attacking a 4 foot long snake. It was quite the battle! The hawk would jump up and down until it got a good grip on the snake and then the snake would start wrapping its body around the hawk's legs. The hawk would eventually have to let go to free itself and then the snake would hiss and slither as far away as it could before the whole process started over again. Finally the hawk prevailed. Nature at its best...

17 weeks to IMC: Wildflower!!

2010-05-02T18:09:00.001-07:00

Almost exactly three years ago, I participated in my first triathlon ever: Wildflower Olympic. I signed up because I went to the SVTC open house and everyone told me it was so much fun and that I would have a great time. However, when I got to the race and told people that this would be my first tri ever, they told me I was crazy. Not exactly the best confidence builder... Despite my fears and a lot of newbie mistakes, I completed the race in a respectable time and was so proud of myself for finishing. From that day on I was hooked and Wildflower has been one of my favorite races ever since. The thing about Wildflower is that it is nothing like any other race I have ever been to. It is out in the middle of nowhere and everyone camps right there at the lake. We hang out, we sit and chat by the fire, we look at the stars, and then we climb into our tents and are passed out by 10pm. It's great!
Up until this weekend, I have always participated in the olympic distance and have been slowly working on improving my time. But, this is an Ironman year and an olympic race isn't going to cut it. So, I joined the "big kids" and signed up for long course. Fortunately, there were a ton of us in the same boat and a bunch more that got fomo (fear of missing out) and signed up too so we had a huge contingent representing the club.
I caravaned with a group of friends on Friday morning and made it just in time to head down to the expo for packet pickup. The other thing about Wildflower is that the campsite is at the top of a big hill and the expo is at the bottom next to transition and the lake. Suddenly packet pickup becomes more of a pre-race workout than just logistics. Fortunately, I've done it a few times now and knew to wear good sneakers! Unfortunately, by the time we made it back up the hill, my back was killing me and so there was no actual pre-race workout, just stretching and rest.
Race morning was the usual combination of hurry up and wait. Get up early and hurry to the bathrooms to wait 20 minutes for a stall. Hurry out of the campsite to get down Lynch Hill and into transition before it closes and then wait two hours for your wave. You get the idea. As I was wandering around and taking pictures to kill time, I saw one of my teammates in an empty row madly trying to get his wetsuit on. Uh oh! Not a good sign. I dashed over there to help him get ready and he made it just in time for the start of his wave. No waiting for him!
My start was much more uneventful and the swim went pretty much as expected; very slow but still well within the cutoff. I did try to get into the draft a little more this time and managed to get the occasional pull but I still need to do a lot of work to really take advantage of it.
The bike went surprisingly well. The first couple of miles were bedlam as we were intermingled with the mountain bike race and then we headed straight up Beach Hill. By the time we got out of the park around mile 5 things had started to sort themselves out. Though, I was surprised by the number of people that were cheating, whether intentionally or not. I saw drafting, blocking, passing on the right, crossing the yellow line, you name it. Where's a marshall when you need one? I tried to tell people the right thing to do but it didn't seem to make any difference. Fortunately, by the time we got to Jolon Road, things had spread out a lot more and the craziness died down. Not only that, but I was making great time! Nothing like a good time split to cheer me up! We were really lucky to have really favorable conditions - it can be really windy there - and I was taking full advantage of the race wheels I had borrowed from a friend. I made it to the bottom of Nasty Grade at mile 41 in 2:24. At this rate, I was going to break 3:30! Based on my training ride, I was afraid it was going to take over 4 hours to finish the bike. Nasty was not so nasty this time. I think this was partially due to having done the climb already and knowing what to expect and partially due to the adrenalin of the race and excitement of how good I felt. And then, we got to my favorite part, the descent! I'm sad that I wasn't wearing my Garmin to know my max speed but I was definitely faster than training weekend where I was held up by other cyclists and cars and still hit over 50mph. I must have gone at least 53 or 54 yesterday. Woohoo! Once that was done, it was just a few more rollers and then back into the park and straight down Lynch to transition. I quickly switched in to my sneakers and was out on the run. By this point, it was about 1:30 in the afternoon and it was getting hot! The first 3 miles are relatively flat and somewhat in the shade but I could already feel the temperature rising. I took extra water at every aid station to drink and dump on my head. That little blast of cold water felt fantastic! Mile 4 and 5 are by far the hardest on the course as you are heading straight uphill on the trails. I was determined to keep running but my steps were small and progress was slow. The 5 mile marker seemed to take forever to appear and then, like a mirage, it was suddenly there. One insanely steep descent later and I was on my way. I felt really good at that point and was definitely pushing it to put on a good show for all my teammates cheering me on at mile 7.5. That excitement lasted all the way through the campsite and down into the pit where I saw many of my friends coming back up the hill and even about a mile into the climb after the turnaround. At this rate, I was thinking that I might actually be able to go sub 6:30 for the race! Then I passed the 11 mile marker and it all fell apart. My lower back and glutes went numb, my hips started to hurt, and my legs didn't want to move anymore. I just kep telling myself that it was only one more mile and I forced myself to keep moving. Though, I didn't know it was possible to run that slowly! I finally made it to the top of the hill (Thank Goodness!) and just let my legs go the last mile down the hill. Normally, I like to really charge the downhills but I was afraid that I would lose control and fall so close to the finish. I still passed a few people on the way down, though! I just don't have it in me to hit the brakes... And then all that was left was the finishing chute. I used up the last ounce of energy I had left to sprint to the finish line, heard my name over the loudspeaker, and then I was done! I got my medal and towel, had my chip removed, and then there was Isa to give me a big hug and congratulations! What a way to finish the day. I didn't quite break 6:30 but I did come very close and beat my expected time by about 45mins. Not only that but I PRed the bike! I'm ecstatic with how it turned out and am looking forward to seeing what I can do in the next race.
Thanks to everyone who texted, emailed, Facebooked, called, and even showed up in person to wish me luck, cheer me on, and congratulate me when I finished. You made my day!

18 weeks to IMC: Recovery Week

2010-04-25T20:46:00.000-07:00

After 3 huge training weeks, this was my recovery week. Ironically, this was the first week all year that I managed to do all of the workouts that I had planned. I did 4 swims, 2 medium distance bike rides, and 3 runs + 2 brick runs of less than a mile. Not only that, but I attended three training sessions. Phew, now that I look at it, no wonder I'm exhausted!

A friend loaned me his race wheels and he helped me put them on my bike on Friday night in time for our Saturday morning ride. They are Flash-Point FP60s and they are awesome! Whether it's physical or mental, I don't know but I was able to keep up with people that I never keep up with and I averaged 17.4mph on the ride. Woo hoo! It was fun. I'm really looking forward to using them in my race next weekend. Seeing as this was a recovery week, we "only" rode 40 miles and it was strange to finish the workout so early. We were finished before noon and had time to go for brunch and enjoy the rest of the day. I'm not used to doing anything on a Saturday other than ride! It's interesting how quickly I got sucked in to Ironman training...

Sunday was "just another training day". :) I went to a swim clinic in the morning where I learned that my timing is completely off and I'm being a wimp... Once I started doing a proper pull, my arms tired out really quickly! Though, it should be a good thing once I start doing it regularly and get stronger. I went for a run with a friend in the afternoon and it was hot! Well, compared to the rain and cold we've had lately anyway. We did a nice easy 7 miler on the trail and were sweating like crazy at the end of it.

Now, I need to recover from my recovery week! Time to take it easy for a few days and really taper for Wildflower next weekend. It's going to be a tough day.

Mmmmm...Coffee

2010-04-23T10:09:00.000-07:00

Anyone who knows me is probably a little surprised to see this subject header. In general, I am not a coffee person and when I do drink it, it is more of a milk, chocolate, and sugar delivery device.

However, this week I forced myself to become an early bird and get up at 6am M/W/F for a new training class that I was trying out. By the time I completed the class, made it to work, had breakfast #2, and showered, it was only 9am. I don't normally get out of bed before 9am! With all that done, I was hitting a lull before my work day even started and needed a bit of a pick-me-up. I tried a cup of coffee and it never tasted so good! Who knew? I guess I'm starting to understand why it's such an addiction...

Thursday night ride: Yee haw!

2010-04-23T00:39:00.001-07:00

Yee haw is what I hear from my friend Suzi every time she passes me on a climb when we ride. Fortunately, she only passed me 2 or 3 times this time around (I catch her on the descents) and so I felt like I accomplished something.
However, lately my yee haw moments have come on the return trip down Foothill. Last week, I was able to jump on JF's wheel at Arastradero and hang on all the way back to the cars. This week, Alex was the kind soul who pulled me back. While, I'm still not strong enough to take my turn on the front, I am finally able to jump on the train and stay there for a little while. It is unbelievably fun to be going that fast on a flat road in a group of people all hammering themselves to death. My heart rate hit 187 last week and was consistently above 180 the whole way. It's amazing I didn't pass out... I really hope to be able to experience this feeling more often this year. Yee haw!

19 weeks to IMC: Questioning My Sanity

2010-04-19T10:03:00.000-07:00

When did a 90 mile hilly bike ride, followed by a 14 mile run, followed by a hockey game become a typical weekend? And that was just Saturday and Sunday! Friday, I "tapered" by doing a long swim and running intervals. Monday, I "recovered" by working out and swimming again. Am I nuts?! This just seems wrong. And, apparently my body thinks so too because I have been pretty sore for the last couple of days.

Saturday's 90 miler involved a ton of climbing. It started out as "let's do OLH and then a timed interval up Kings" and quickly progressed to "why don't we go all the way up Kings" to "let's add Mt. Eden for a little extra distance". Sadly, all those with common sense (?) were down in Gilroy doing the Tierra Bella so there was no one to rein us in. In the end, it turned out to be a beautiful day and a great ride. I thoroughly enjoyed racing Alex down 84 despite getting stuck behind cars and really appreciated Debbie and Suzi towing me back down Foothill. Thank goodness for good friends on long rides! At least I'm not the only crazy one...

When I decided to run 14 miles on Sunday, I quickly chose to forgo the hills of RSA in favour of the "flatter" LGCT. Good thing I did, too, because I started out running 11min miles! I was trying to run faster but my legs just wouldn't go. But, I had plenty of time and it was another beautiful day so I just kept plodding along. Fortunately, I had planned the distances perfectly and my watched beeped to indicate 7 miles right at the base of the climb up to the reservoir. Sweet! I got to skip the hill. The return trip went much better as I was going downhill and my legs were finally starting to loosen up. I actually enjoyed the last couple of miles and negative split the run. Still, 14 miles for fun? There's definitely a screw loose somewhere.

Finally, Sunday afternoon was the final game of the season for my Destroyers. We played the Cisco Rockets in the semifinal game and unfortunately lost 3-1 with an empty netter right at the end. It was a good game even through it did get pretty rough. I found my blood starting to boil and my elbows getting higher and higher as the game went on. For some reason, as soon as they get rough, it brings out the competitive side in me even more. Who knew? Fortunately, the ref liked my "spunk" for taking on the biggest guy on their team so I didn't get any penalties. Sometimes it pays to be one of the smaller girls on the team... Overall, I had a good game and kept the shifts short so my legs didn't give out on me. However, I was exhausted afterward! Thank goodness for a great dinner and brownies with friends to keep me going.

What a weekend! And now, I have a recovery/taper week before Wildflower. I'm "only" going to bike 45 miles and run 8 miles this weekend. Nuts I tell you...

20 weeks to IMC: Birthday Ride and Wildflower Weekend

2010-04-12T00:29:00.000-07:00

I've spent the last two weeks getting back into Ironman training. It hasn't been easy; I've had some tough workouts and even missed a few but am pleased to be making progress again, finally.

Last weekend was my friend Erica's 40th birthday. To celebrate, she decided that she wanted us all to go out with her on a group ride. Erica is an amazing athlete so this was no social ride! We started with a serious climb up Old La Honda. I started out slowly but as I warmed up and got moving, I started to catch up to my friends which gave me the motivation to push myself even harder to PR the climb! 28:02! I was huffing and puffing at the top to the point where I think people were concerned I might keel over. :) And that was just the beginning. After a slightly hairy descent down W OLH, the boys and I absolutely screamed down 84 to Pescadero. We hit a max of 38.1mph and it wasn't even that steep... Next, the big climb up W Alpine. After my huge effort on OLH, I was definitely struggling. Fortunately a few people waited for me at the stop sign half way up and that gave me the incentive I needed for the push to the top. After that, it was all for fun. Rollers on Skyline, another great descent down 84 albeit slightly hampered by the cars, and then the long slog back along Alpine and Foothill for a total of 70 miles. It was a long 4hr ride in cold weather but riding with my friends made it all worth it.

This weekend was Wildflower training weekend. I'd never been able to go in the past and was really looking forward to it this year. However, when the forecast was for rain, wind, and cold, I nearly bailed. "Lucky" for me the forecast took a turn for the better and I decided to go. Unlucky for me, it was still rainy and windy and cold. Oh well, by that point I was committed. Saturday, 50 of my closest friends and I embarked on the long course bike route. By the time I finally made it up the first big climb, I was much warmer. Imagine that... Once we left the park, we spent the next 35 miles looking at all of the wildflowers in bloom and trying to ignore the fact that we were heading straight into the wind no matter which way we went. I'm still not sure how that works; one friend figured that we must have been in a cyclone. We hit Nasty Grade at mile 40 and I was fortunate to have a friend to chat with on the way up the climb. It definitely helped pass the time and keep my mind off the hill. It really wasn't that bad but was a challenge at that time of the day. But, I will say it was totally worth every second of suffering for the descent on the other side. I passed a few riders and a couple of cars and then just tucked the rest of the way down. I hit 50.6mph and it didn't even feel that fast. Woohoo! After that, we had a decent tailwind and I was able to get up the next few rollers with relative ease. It was a nice reprieve after the rest of the ride. At mile 51 I should have turned back in to the park to finish the ride, have a hot shower and eat a bunc hof food but I decided to keep going and do the short course as well. This was the second of three build weeks and I really wanted to hit 80 miles. 5 and a half hours later, I finally made it back to the campsite. After seeing an average of 14mph, I new that it was a challenging day...

Sunday morning, I awoke to huge winds and the threat of rain. I took one look at the water and decided I was going to pass on the swim. Originally, most people agreed with me but peer pressure took over and most of them made their way down to the water. I decided to stick to my goal of completing the long run course. I started from the campsite at mile 2 and made my way onto the trail. The scenery was beautiful though I didn't take enough time to enjoy it as I was looking 10 feet in front of my face for the most part. There were some serious hills on this course! I new it was hilly, but I wasn't expecting it to be quite so steep. Fortunately, I got the worst of it over with in the first 4 miles and then was able to handle the rest of the ups and downs. I was definitely feeling my legs from the ride the previous day and was only able to maintain 11min miles. Ouch! That hurt my pride. However, there was a big descent at mile 10 and I really enjoyed the run down the hill. After that, I decided that there were only a couple of miles left and I was going to try harder. I took off and ran as hard as I could for those last few miles. My heart rate spiked up to 181bpm but I was able to power up the climbs and restore a little confidence. Not only that, but I brought my average pace down to 10:30. Not bad for the end of a half marathon. :)

After the run, we quickly showered and packed up to try to beat the rain. We made it... just barely. I thoroughly enjoyed the weekend and really appreciated hanging out with my friends and having time away from the real world.

Now, back to regular training and some big build workouts this weekend. IMC, I'm coming for you!

5 months to IMC. Success at Oceanside.

2010-03-30T16:39:00.000-07:00

Yesterday marked exactly 5 months to Ironman Canada. What a scary thought! It seems like only yesterday that I was in Penticton and signing my life away to participate in this amazing event. Now, it seems like it is coming up so fast. If you had asked me a week ago, I would have told you that I was in very big trouble. However, Oceanside did wonders for my confidence and will hopefully boost me back into full on training.

Saturday was a pretty special day. I was nervous and excited and a little out of sorts all at once. Oceanside was my first race of the year and my last one was way back in July of 2009. I kept checking my gear over and over, trying to figure out what I had forgotten. Fortunately, I managed to pack everything I needed and was on autopilot by the time I reached transition at 5:30am. I found a good spot, set out my gear, put on more sunscreen, made it through all the standard lineups and then spent the next hour chatting with the other women and protecting my rack from the latecomers who figured they could push their way in to a prime location. The nerve...
At 7:33, it was finally my turn to get in the water. The pros were already well out on the bike course by this time. I had a particularly brutal swim. I couldn't seem to go in a straight line, I was run over by several waves, and was kicked in the goggles so hard that the guy who hit me actually stopped to see what happened. Finally, 52 minutes later, I was out of the water and in transition on my way to the bike. Thank goodness that was over!
I really enjoyed the bike this year. The weather was warm and the winds were uncharacteristically offshore which meant that I was able to really hammer in aero the first 20 miles and the last 11. The wind and the big hills in the middle were definitely a challenge but I made it through thanks to my granny gear and a little climbing out of the saddle. The only real disappointing part was that I got caught in traffic on the "no passing" descent and was stuck behind this person going so painfully slow down the hill that I felt like I could have gone up faster. I screamed at her to "Go!" but to no avail. It was a relief to finally be able to pass and get back to the race. Next year, I will try to pass as many people as possible before I hit the "no passing" zone.
They changed the run course slightly this year to take out the sand. In some ways, I was a little disappointed that they took out this "character" piece of the race but it definitely made for an easier day. I felt great for the first couple of miles but my lack of training kicked in about mile 6 and I started to get tired. My pace fell off a little but I kept pushing myself because I wanted to keep it under 2hrs and hopefully better my time from last year which I remembered to be 1:57. I "sprinted" the last mile and finished in 1:57:21. I was pleased with my time but a little disappointed that I didn't beat last year. Well, until I double checked and found out that I went 1:59 last year and was actually 2 minutes faster. Woo!
Overall, I finished the race in 6:23:49, a PR by about 3 and a half minutes. I am definitely pleased with what I managed to accomplish and the beautiful weather really lifted my spirits. I owe a huge ebt of gratitute to my friends for taking good care of me and cheering me on all weekend. Surprisingly, I'm not as sore as I thought I was going to be. Maybe I could or should have gone faster?! I'll find out in 5 weeks at my next race. :)

Starting Over

2010-03-23T01:06:00.001-07:00

Wow. What a month it has been.
Immediately before heading to the Olympics, I felt like I was in great shape. I was doing all three sports consistently and was increasing my mileage and speed. I was healthy, injury free, and excited for the triathlon season to start.
Since then, I went on vacation for a week, came home and immediately got sick, recovered and went skiing with work, came home and immediately left for a night in Vegas, came home and then... my boyfriend of nearly five years and I broke up and my whole world changed. I was suddenly sad, and alone, and scared, and miserable. I couldn't eat or sleep, or train for that matter. I attempted the track workouts and bike rides and swim sessions but my heart and body just weren't in it. Now, I am slowly making progress towards starting my new life. I've been staying at a friend's house, I just found a nice condo to rent, and the gang helped me move last night. Thank goodness for my triathlon friends. They have gone over and above to take care of me and see me through this difficult time. I am forever greatful to them and to the triathlon community that brought them to me.
Next step, Oceanside... It is only 5 days away. I feel completely unprepared but am determined to race anyway to keep my sanity and kick me back into training. I will need to count on my winter workouts and mental fortitude to get me through and then just hope I won't be too sore the next day. Wish me luck...

Olympic Fever!

2010-03-02T15:31:00.000-08:00

My name is Tammy and I am an Olympicsaholic. I love the Olympics! I just can't get enough of it. The immense feeling of pride in one's country, the adrenalin rush of cheering for Canada's athletes to reach the podium, the joy of victory, the sadness after a loss, the inspirational stories... I love it all.
I spent the last week in Vancouver living and breathing the Olympics. I indulged in curling, hockey, aerials, speedskating, and the bedlam that is Robson Street for 7 full days. Maybe even a little too much because now I have a nasty cold to bring me back to the real world.
I have a very busy few days coming up but hope to get back to training and fit in as much as I can. Oceanside is only 4 weeks away...

Bike, Run, Swim...

2010-02-15T22:06:00.000-08:00

Gotta love long weekends. While most Americans were celebrating the birthdays of various US presidents and Canadians enjoyed a day with the family, I took advantage of the extra time off work to do a little extra training.

Saturday was the usual group ride. The only problem was that all of the slower people like me weren't there and I spent the entire time drilling it to try to keep up. There were times when we were cruising along above 20mph. I got my second wind at the very end of the ride and was able to hang onto the wheel of the fastest guy to really fly back to the car. It was a the most fun I'd had all day! Overall, it was a very tough day but I was proud to be able to ride with this group and only have to have them wait for me 3 or 4 times. Though, I paid for it the rest of the weekend! My quads are still sore 2 days later.

I was very tired and sore on Sunday morning and thoroughly enjoyed sleeping in. I finally dragged myself out the door around 2:30pm and went out for a slow, easy 9 miler. It was slow but not so easy... Everything hurt by the time I made it back to the house but I survived and will hopefully be a tiny bit stronger and faster next time.

Today was the bonus day. Mondays are normally rest/hockey days but hockey was canceled and I decided to take advantage of my day off work and the beautiful weather. I headed to the pool around 11:30 and did a 3000 yard workout. One of my longest ever. Good thing, too! My boyfriend made the most amazing chocolate chip rice crispie squares and I can't keep away from them.

29 weeks to IMC: Superbowl Sunday!

2010-02-10T23:45:00.000-08:00

To most people in America, the first Sunday in February means one thing: the Superbowl! I'm no different except for the fact that there's the small matter of finishing a half marathon first. :)
To SVTCers, the first Sunday in February means the Kaiser Permanente Half Marathon and Fun Run. We wake up at the crack of dawn, make our way to the Running Revolution in Los Gatos by 5:45am, hop on the bus, and head back to sleep. Well, almost. I wish I could have gone back to sleep but instead had to settle for closing my eyes and pretending to get a little extra rest. We arrived in San Francisco by 7:00 and got busy with our pre-race routines: choosing what to wear, eating Gu, and joining the line for the porta-potties... you know, the usual.
The gun went off about 5 minutes after 8:00 - we had to wait for the police escort for the leaders - and we were off. I kept a few friends in my sights for the first quarter mile or so but then was on my own. This was probably a good thing because last year I made the mistake of trying to keep up with a teammate at the beginning and completely cooked myself. By the time I made it to the Great Western Hwy at mile 7, I was feeling good and still on a pretty fast pace. For the next 3 miles, I felt like I was flying. I was running 8 minute miles (I *never* run 8 minute miles) and was feeling strong. I started to see the race leaders and the fast runners from the club heading back in the opposite direction and was cheering them on as I ran. And then I hit the turnaround point just before mile 10 and turned into what felt like a wall of wind. Damn! A headwind! No wonder I'd been running so fast... Fortunately, I saw my friend Rachel just before the turnaround and she was my incentive to try to keep up the pace. I pushed myself to try to catch her and even through I never did, it was enough to get me to the finish line in 1:47:27, a new PR by a minute! It was a beautiful day, a great result, and a lot of fun with my friends. First race of 2010 complete! Next stop, Oceanside.

Money in the Bank

2010-02-01T14:26:00.000-08:00

Apparently I'm into goofy metaphors these days. Must be the delirium of ramping up my training in January knowing that I have 7 months to go...
Fortunately, the weather decided to cooperate last weekend so some friends and I decided to add a little distance and climbing to our Saturday ride. Instead of joining the club for the easy pre-lunch group ride, we left an hour earlier and made our way to Hwy 9. This road is extremely popular with cyclists in the Bay Area as it is a good climb with a decent shoulder. And, the best part is that there are mile markers on the side of the road that count down to 0.0 as you reach the summit.
We joined the climb at the intersection of Pierce Rd with "only" 5.5mi to go. My ride mates quickly disappeared up the road and I settled in for the long slog up the hill. I was moving slowly but the mile markers kept telling me that I was getting closer to the top. And then I saw the 0.84 mile marker and a switch flipped in my head and my legs. I'm almost there! And so I pushed myself a little harder to the top and made it up the last couple of switchbacks in record time. Phew! Most of the climbing for the day was done and now we were moving on to my favorite parts of the ride.
First, there was the fifteen mile dash up and down the rollers of Skyline. I love that road because I can build up a ton of speed on the descents and carry it most of the way up the small climbs. I was also chasing down one of my friends and so was pushing myself to keep it in the big chainring the whole time. The wind was whipping past my ears and I occasionally looked behind me just to make sure it wasn't a car right behind me waiting to pass... It wasn't. :) And then we made it to the real descent: Hwy84. The road was still wet so I couldn't go full out but I still thoroughly enjoyed myself on the way down. It even took the motorcycle behind me most of the way through the switchbacks to get enough speed and space to go by. :) By the time we finally completed the long slog along Foothill and made it back to the parking lot, we'd ridden 53 miles in about 4 hours and were exhausted. One of my friends said "Money in the bank, baby" and that's what I hope it is. Hopefully my next long ride will be a little easier or a little faster or both.

Sunday, was another character building day. I was planning to do a shortish run because it was the week before my half marathon and so when my friend emailed and suggested we did an 8mi trail run at a location I'd never tried before, I thought it was a great idea. I clearly was not thinking straight. Run 8mi in a place called "Windy Hill" after weeks of rain... Anyway, I met up with my friend and her gang and we proceeded to run uphill, in the mud, for 3 miles straight. Talk about a calf workout. Fortunately, we finally dragged our butts up to the top of the hill without any major incidents and then got to enjoy the long descent back down the the bottom. It was a tougher run than I had originally planned but I thoroughly enjoyed the loop and the chance to catch up with my friend. And, as a side benefit, I definitely worked my calves and the stabilizer muscles around my ankles. Money in the bank, baby!

Packing my Suitcase of Courage

2010-01-25T19:37:00.000-08:00

Paul Sherwen is a very colourful bike racing commentator and one of his most famous expressions is "He's really having to dig deeply into the suitcase of courage." It's been raining for over a week in California and I spent most of last week cooped up indoors for a variety of reasons. However, this weekend it was time to suck it up and start packing that suitcase.

I awoke on Saturday morning to damp roads and a few clouds but nothing compared to the torrential rains we experienced all week so I decided to go for it and join the gang for a ride. Unfortunately, our meeting spot was right under a big black cloud that decided to empty itself on us the second we left the parking lot. Great... We spent an hour in misery as our shoes filled with water, our front and back sides became covered with mud, and our glasses fogged up at every stop light. Finally the rain stopped and we continued our ride. We avoided the steep hills with scary descents and stuck to a long out and back. We returned to our starting point 3 hours and 50 miles later, freezing, hungry and wondering why we do this to ourselves but with a little more confidence that when race day comes we can handle whatever mother nature decides to throw our way.

Getting up early two days in a row is not my idea of fun, especially on the weekend. However, I had signed up for a swim clinic so when the alarm went off at 7:30am on Sunday morning, I dragged myself out of bed, put my swimsuit and some warm clothes on, and headed out the door. Sadly, the delicious hot chocolate that I made for the drive over was still sitting on the counter. Anyway, I made it to the clinic and it was definitely worth the effort. We were videotaped from 5 angles and I was able to see every bad habit in gory detail. I knew I had things to work on but I didn't realize they were *that* bad. Nothing like seeing yourself on screen to put it all into perspective. The good news is that I now know what to work on and I have some good drills that I can try to help me improve.

Finally, after the swim clinic and a short break at home to drink my hot chocolate, I went out for a run. The rain had stopped but it was still cold and very windy. 2 years ago I would have looked outside and made my way back to the couch, wrapped myself in a blanket and watched a cheesy chick flick on TV. Not anymore. I have a half marathon in 2 weeks, a half Ironman in 2 months and an Ironman later this year so I put on another layer and soldiered on. Despite being slower that usual and worn down from the rest of the weekend, I made myself go the full 11 miles and I'm glad I did. It was a break from reality and another experience to add to that suitcase. I hope I can fill it completely before August and be able to draw on all of it when I need it most.

This week... more rain. Yay...
(In case anyone from back in Canada is reading this in a -30C snowstorm, yes, I am officially a wimpy Californian now.)

32 weeks to IMC: Flexibility is Key

2010-01-19T10:38:00.000-08:00

Last week I learned a couple of lessons the hard way.

First, I injured my hip and looking back, I'm not sure when it happened. I ran with friends two Sundays ago and played hockey that night. Nothing hurt until I tried to get up off the couch a couple of hours later and could barely move. I figured I was just stiff from sitting down so long an didn't feel too bad the next day. However, when I tried to play hockey last Monday, I was a little sore in the warmup and had to give up completely after the third shift. I was so disappointed that I had to leave the game (I've never done that!) and even more that I'd potentially screwed up my Ironman training the 2nd week in. The good news is that I felt much better after a couple of rest days and was able to continue with my training. The bad news was that I missed 2 days of training and would not meet my goal for the week.

This is where the flexibility comes in. First, things happen. Injuries happen. Meetings happen. Life happens. Putting together a strict schedule to adhere to just doesn't make sense. I lost 2 days to injury last week and ended up only doing 2 workouts in each sport. While it's not great, it's not the end of the world and I'm going to try very hard not to beat myself up about it. Not to mention the fact that it is chucking it down outside, I'm in training this week so morning and lunchtime workouts are not going to happen. It's going to be difficult to fit it all in but I'll need to be FLEXIBLE.

And there's the other side of flexibility. The physical flexibility. I'll be the first to admit that I am not good about stretching, rolling, getting massages or going to yoga. I need to be better about this if I'm going to make it through this very long season without getting major injuries. Easier said than done...

IMC Training Week 1 Complete

2010-01-11T09:52:00.000-08:00

January 4th was the start of my new life as an Ironman-in-training. I set up a schedule for the week with 3 workouts of each sport. Pretty aggressive given the exercise I've had for the last few weeks but I wanted to get a jumpstart on the training.
Overall, I was pretty pleased with how I did. I managed to swim 3 times last week which is something I haven't done in a very long time. I found a new pool very close to work that has hot showers which made the whole experience much more tolerable. I also rode 3 times even though twice was on the trainer. One of the workouts was pretty short but looking back on how tired I was at the end of the week, that was probably a good thing. I did my long ride on Saturday and managed to get in almost 44 miles before my legs said enough. The only event where I missed a workout was running. I was supposed to go after work on Friday but got caught up in some IT craziness and didn't make it. I paid for it on Sunday by going for a 6 mile hilly trail run. It was fun to get out with friends but my hips are definitely sore today.
Lesson learned #1: I can definitely exercise 9x a week; I just need to schedule it early.
Lesson learned #2: I am not in the same shape I was 3 months ago. Short workouts are good!

January 4th is the new January 1st

2010-01-04T16:28:00.000-08:00

This year, I decided that it was a little harsh to start New Year's resolutions when there were still 3 days of vacation left. So, Jan 4th is my new year.

Today...
...I start to eat healthier. That means cutting back on Coke and chocolate again. I've fallen off the wagon so many times but I need to try again.
...I start to lose the 8 pounds I was determined to lose last year. This time I want to do it by Aug 29th.
...I start my Ironman Canada training plan. Believe it or not, I went swimming at lunch today. I hate swimming but I made it.
...I start focusing on being more organized and less of a procrastinator. I need to be efficient to get everything done this year.

34 weeks to IMC. Happy New Year!

2010-01-03T22:16:00.000-08:00

Well, 2009 is in the books and in general it was a pretty good year for racing. I completed my first Ironman 70.3 at Oceanside, I escaped from Alcatraz, I set a pr at several events including a sub 1:50 in the half marathon, and I completed a marathon. I'm pretty pleased with myself for that.

In terms of training, I feel like I did a lot but a couple of extended breaks brought down the mileage. Here are my approximate totals:
Swim (pool & ow): 70mi
Bike (road, spin & mtb): 1700mi
Run: 700mi
I seem to like 7s...

Of course, the biggest moment of 2009 was when I signed up for Ironman Canada 2010. And now, that day is getting closer; 34 weeks, 238 days, 5712 hours, or 342720 seconds to be exact. It seems like a long way off but it's sneaking up on me quickly.

This year, I will be doing half ironman distance races at Oceanside, Wildflower, and Vineman as warm ups to the big day and I'm looking forward to seeing how I'll do and how well I'll be able to maintain my fitness throughout the year...

3 days into the year and I've done a 6 mile run and a 40 mile bike ride and I'm hurting. It's amazing how quickly one can get out of shape. Time to get back at it.

I finished my first marathon!

2009-12-06T18:23:00.001-08:00

Today was the day. Today was the day I dragged myself out of bed at 4:20am, laced up my new sneakers, and stepped out into the cold just before 7:00am to run 26.2 miles from Folsom Lake to downtown Sacramento. Today was the day that I completed my first marathon in 4:05:22 with the help and support of Dave and all my SVTC friends!

It all started 4 months ago with me wanting to take on a new challenge and to complete a marathon as part of my IMC training. But, you all know all about that. Fast forward to this weekend... After a nice sleep in on Saturday morning, Dave and I headed up to Sacramento around 11am. We arrived just after 1pm, checked in, and made our way over to the race expo. I picked up my packet and long sleeved t-shirt and smartly spent $1.50 on some gloves. After that it was just a matter of having a great pasta dinner with the gang, playing games, and watching tv all while keeping my feet up before going to bed.

The alarm went off painfully early at 4:15am. Dave kindly got up and turned on the coffee maker to heat up the water for my oatmeal. I dragged myself out of bed 5 minutes later, ate breakfast, debated what to wear and ended up packing several options in my gear bag. By 4:55am I was downstairs and in the line for the bus to the start. Fortunately my friends had saved me a spot and we managed to get on. I had a nice chat with a lady from Vancouver on the way there and tried to ignore the nerves that were starting to form in my stomach. Fortunately we were one of the first buses to arrive so we had plenty of time to get ourselves sorted out.

With 10 minutes to go, I finally gave up my sweater and long sleeved shirt. It was freezing! Fortunately, I had 7000 of my closest friends to cuddle up to and try to keep warm. The $1.50 gloves were one of the best investments I have ever made! The gun went off at 7:01am and I crossed the start line around 7:03am. I kept Fred and Debbie's advice in my head not to go out too fast and kept it to about a 9:20 pace. I felt great for the first few miles. It probably didn't hurt that it was mostly downhill and we had some shelter from the wind. Around mile 6, we turned the corner and headed straight into the wind. Ouch! All the warmth that I had built up was gone in an instant. But, I kept moving and was actually enjoying myself. The miles were going by relatively quickly and I wasn't hurting too badly. At mile 10 I let out a little cheer for double digits and was excited to get a quick hello from Rachel as she flew by me as part of the relay. I passed the half way mark about half an hour later and there was Dave to cheer me on and and take pictures. At this point I was so excited that I actually started to pick up my speed and was running closer to a 9:10 pace. This worked out great until I got to mile 19 and really started to hurt. But, I was only 7 miles away. I could do this! So, I sucked it up and kept going. I saw Dave again at mile 21 and it was fun to smile and wave and pretend that my legs didn't feel like they were going to fall off for a few seconds. The last 3 miles seemed to last forever and the last 2 were some of the most painful I've ever experienced. Fortunately I could just grit it out from there. I saw Dave one more time with about half a mile to go and then made one final push to the finish line. Woohoo! I am a marathon finisher! Then it was time to hobble over to get my medal, mylar blanket, and water. I ran into Isa and Carin at the finish so I got my picture taken with them and then went to find Dave. He was waiting for me with a warm jacket and a strong arm to help me make my way back to the hotel. Thanks goodness he was there! I never realized how big a street curb was until today! :)

Overall, a difficult but exhilarating day. Thanks to all my friends for the support and especially to Dave for taking care of me the whole way through. Congratulations to all the other finishers!

2 weeks to CIM. Running through the pain.

2009-11-22T15:22:00.000-08:00

Last weekend was a difficult training weekend. I couldn't do my long run and I was really disappointed and afraid that I might not be able to do CIM.

This weekend, I tried everything Dave and I could think of to resolve my shin splints and the pain in the bottom of my foot. I ordered new shoes to try, I swapped out the footbeds in my old shoes, and I tried taping. The experiments seemed to help with the shin splints but the pain in the bottom of my foot would not go away. The good news is that I was able to complete an 11 mile run. The pain was still there and my heel still went numb on the uphills but it didn't get worse and I was able to push through it. I'll take that as a small victory as it gives me a little more confidence that I'll be able to do the marathon in two weeks.

I also went for another bike ride with some friends on Saturday. It was a chilly morning but once we got moving, I warmed up nicely. We did a flat 30 mile loop and even though I was struggling to keep up with the girls, I was relieved that I was able to finish the whole thing without too much trouble. I had my first flat on the Rocket and it took far too long to change the tire: almost 15 minutes! I'll definitely need to practice that a few more times before race season.

Back on my Bike

2009-11-14T21:02:00.000-08:00

Today was my first real bike ride since Sept 10th. Over 2 months! Amazing. It was so nice to get back out there. I realized how much I love the freedom, the fresh air, and the feeling of being out on the open road. It won't be 2 months before I do it again! Especially because the little climbs that I flew up in my big chain ring only a couple of months ago felt difficult in my granny gear today... There's no way I could have participated in the LKHC race up Diablo that my other friends were doing today. It's unbelievable how quickly I lost fitness that took months to build.

My shin splints are still really bothering me and my marathon training is taking a serious hit. I ran 4 miles on Friday and even though I felt ok while I was out there, I was extremely sore afterward. I was originally planning to run 20+ miles this weekend and cut it back to 14 after talking to my doctor. Now, I'm revising again: just do as much as I can without it hurting too much. I'm hoping that lots of little runs over the next 3 weeks will be enough to get me through to the marathon.

Goal #1: Coke: Oct 22nd: 24 days

Goal #2: Chocolate: Start again tomorrow, Nov 15th (14 days)

Goal #3: Candy: Nov 13th: 1 day (5 days)

I will eat frozen yogourt today

2009-11-11T15:45:00.000-08:00

I am finally getting back on track with eating healthy.

I've managed to cut out Coke, the chocolate cravings are slowly subsiding, and Halloween candy is less prevalent in the office. I'm even passing on dessert at work most days. The only exception is frozen yogourt. This is my little treat to myself as I wean myself off of everything else. I have not lost any weight yet; that will be the next step as I will need to cut back on the amount I am eating. But, I am feeling much better about myself and that is the most important thing today.

For the record:

Goal #1: Coke: Oct 22nd: 21 days (3 weeks!)

Goal #2: Chocolate: Oct 31st: 12 days

Goal #3: Candy: Nov 7th: 5 days

3.5 weeks to CIM. Shin splints suck

2009-11-11T15:09:00.000-08:00

After my 20+ mile run 2 weekends ago, I was exhausted. The run itself felt good and I was pleased with how I was able to function the next day. However, the "easy" track practice 2 days later was not easy at all and the Thursday 8 mile run after that was possibly the longest 8 mile run I'd ever done. I took Friday and Saturday off thinking that I was probably getting a cold and then went out for my 16 mile long run on Sunday. It was a beautiful day and I found a really nice extension to my normal trail. However, my legs started to hurt on the way back. It wasn't the normal tiredness but I didn't think too much of it. I should have. I should have turned around sooner. I should have iced them and rested rather than continuing with my normal exercise schedule. I should have done a lot of things... But, who knows if it would have helped.

By Monday, I was in a lot of pain. I climbed onto the counter to lift down a lid from the pan rack and got such a sharp pain that my eyes immediately welled up with tears. It took a long time to calm down and get back to making dinner.

I was feeling a little better on Tuesday so I decided to go to track and see how I fared. Other than skipping in the warm up, I didn't feel too bad so I kept going. I felt great right up until I got home and sat down to dinner and then the pain came back in force. I started to panic that something was really wrong. I freaked out even more when I saw that several of my friends have stress fractures due to overuse and are out of commission for months.

This morning I called my doctor and got an appointment right away. The good news is that he doesn't think I have a stress fracture. The bad news is that I have pretty severe shin splints. The good news is that with some ice, ibuprofen and a modification to my training plan, I can still race. (If I hadn't got this race on the agenda, he would have had me shut down the training now.) The bad news is that I'll have to take a month off from running after that. I guess I'll be changing my focus to swimming and biking in December...

Lesson learned: slow and steady. I need to be smarter about my training and put my determination to finish to better use by making it my determination to stay healthy and injury free.

I will not eat candy today

2009-11-07T00:41:00.000-08:00

It's funny how my goals come out of addictions or binges that I have. Yesterday, goal #3 become incredibly clear. I passed by our admin's cube on my way to a meeting when I spotted the candy bowl on her desk. Only days before it had been the bane of my existence when it was filled with snickers bars. I figured I was safe this time because I had already given up chocolate. No way! My unbelievably generous coworkers had donated their leftover Halloween candy which included non-chocolate treats. Oh no! Before I knew it, I had picked out Goodies, Mike & Ike, and a Tootsie Roll. I *love* Tootsie Rolls. I told myself I would save some for later; but, of course I didn't. And then, later that night, I continued the trend. When I needed a late night snack, I gravitated toward the Sunkist fruit candies. It's amazing how I can have such great self control until I give in to a small temptation and then it spirals out of control. So, starting today (it is 1:00am so tomorrow is today), I will not eat candy. Hopefully my boyfriend will finish off those maple candies soon or I'm not going to make it...

For the record:

Goal #1: Coke: Oct 22nd: 16 days

Goal #2: Chocolate: Oct 31st: 7 days

Goal #3: Candy: will start Nov 7th

I will not eat chocolate today

2009-11-04T17:06:00.000-08:00

Goal #1 was to stop drinking Coke. So far, I have done pretty well. Day 1 was Thurs, Oct 22nd and now I'm up to day 14. Two weeks sans Coke! Not bad. I've definitely had a few temptations and I'm using diet Snapple as my crutch to help me get over it but I'm getting there.

Goal #2 is to stop eating chocolate. Not to say that I won't have any chocolate, but I'm not going to touch the Halloween candy or the little squares in the micro kitchen that are calling my name. I recognize that a little bit is not bad but the problem is I can't stop at one. 1 becomes 2 which quickly becomes 7 or 8. So, if I cut those out, I might have a chance at getting this addiction under control. I went nuts with the chocolate on Friday, the night before Halloween and so made the commitment not to have any the next day. Not exactly the best day to choose to try to avoid chocolate but a good test nonetheless. Somehow I've been able to avoid the big bowl on the kitchen counter and I am 5 days in to my goal. I'm impressed if I do say so myself. I don't remember the last day I went without chocolate before this.

I'm interested to see what the next goal is that will pop up.

5 weeks to CIM. 20 miles down, 26 to go

2009-11-04T16:35:00.001-08:00

This past weekend was my longest run ever. I did 20 miles straight in about 3 and a half hours.

I'll admit, I was extremely intimidated by this run. My two previous long runs were actually half marathons plus additional distance afterward. The thing about those cases is that I got a massage, some food, and about a 2hr break before going beyond 13.1 miles. 13+3 or 13+6 does not equal 16 or 19! So, the point is that before this weekend, I have only ever run 14 miles at one time and this was significantly more than that. I was supposed to go Saturday but wasn't feeling great and used that as an excuse to chicken out. I slept in again on Sunday but forced myself to get up and get going or it was going to be dark by the time I finished and I didn't need any more excuses.

At 10:30am I arrived at the school in Willow Glen, retied my shoes, filled my pockets with Gu and ShotBloks and started down the trail. The first 10 miles went reasonably well and I was able to maintain a 10min/mile pace. And then I reached the portion of the trail I'd never ventured down before and saw the huge hill up to the reservoir. Yikes! I refused to quit and pushed myself to go to the top. By the time I finally made it, my average pace had increased to 10:20 and my legs were feeling the effects of the climb. But, I still had 10 miles to go and "it was all downhill from here" so I continued on. Despite the fact that it was literally downhill from there, my average pace would not budge from 10:20. As I went back through the park, around the casting ponds, and past the dog park, I noticed every half mile marker and was amazed at how the numbers kept going up. This wasn't so bad.

At mile 16 or so, I started to get a little tired and sore. It was definitely a slog and even worse when I had to go past my car at mile 19.3 because I hadn't timed it quite right. Ugh! Though, it was probably a good thing because I made myself go all the way to the other end of the trail and went a total of 20.4 miles. Apparently there is no wall at mile 20. :) And then, 3.5 hours later, I was back at my car. What a relief to have made it through such a long run.

I went straight home and climbed into an ice bath. Or, should I say dropped myself in after suspending myself above the frigid water trying not to touch it... I'm not sure if it helped but I was definitely less sore than I expected to be that night. Not only that but I passed the major test the next morning; I was able to walk down the stairs!

This weekend will be a shorter recovery run and then one more 20 miler before tapering for the big race.

6 weeks to CIM. I broke 1:50 in a half marathon!

2009-10-26T11:24:00.000-07:00

Started Oct 25th...

This weekend was absolutely non-stop. We had dinner with friends on Friday. Saturday included packet pickup, lunch with fellow racers, a quick bike ride (my first in a month!), and a fantastic 7 course tasting meal. And then...

I woke up at 5:30am on Sunday to get ready for the Silicon Valley Half Marathon. My friend Rachel spent the night and after a quick breakfast and some serious clothing deliberation we headed out the door to walk down the street to the start. You could definitely see the impact of the economy in this race. There wasn't the typical arch over the start to let you know where to go and they only had 13 porta-potties for everyone which was no where near enough despite the smaller field. Fortunately we got there early and had plenty of time to get organized and join the mass of people behind the timing mats.

Continued Nov 4th...

The gun went off at 7:00am and 2000 of my closest friends and I started the usual battle for position in the first few miles. I zigged and zagged and finally found an open spot along the way. The first few miles went fairly smoothly and I was working hard to keep up with and pass some of the people around me. By the time I got to the creek trail at mile 5, the crowd had thinned out and I was moving at a pretty good pace. If I kept this up, I was going to break 1:50! This is a goal I have been working toward for the last couple of years and it looked like it might be possible. This gave me that little extra incentive to keep pushing and I ran that little bit harder. The last couple of miles of the race are slightly uphill and I usually tend to fade. However, at mile 11 I saw that I had 18 minutes to finish the last 2.1 miles. It was going to be close! Even though I was starting to hurt, I ran harder. At mile 12, I saw a friend coming the other way and he cheered me on saying "one more mile!" And then, I made it to the aid station manned by SVTC. My friends handed me water, gave me one last cheer, and sent me on my way. I ran over the bridge and up the last hill to the school where I hit the track (and extra loop on the grass) running. My final time: 1:48:49. Woohoo!!!! Oh, and I got third in my age group. Double woohoo!

Rachel was less than a minute behind me and we headed directly for the massage table. After we had been rubbed down, fed, and watered, we joined the line to hop on the big yellow school bus and head back downtown. And then, what did I do? Went out for another 6 mile run! Though, this time I was running 10:20 rather than 8:20. Gotta love marathon training. :)

I will not have a Coke today

2009-10-22T09:36:00.000-07:00

When I started this blog almost exactly a year ago, I was determined to take back control of my weight and my eating habits. I did really well for a few months and was extremely proud of the weight I lost through January. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to maintain it and the wheels really fell off when I went on vacation in April. I am now over 130lbs which may not sound like a lot but is heavier than when I started this journey and is no where close to my goal of 124lbs. I'm not proud of it but I let the pop and chocolate and snacks at work get to me using stress and being tired as an excuse. So, it's time to start again...

Goal #1 - Do not drink Coke today. Sounds simple but right now it is one of my worst habits. I will make it through today and go from there.

9:47am: The cravings have already started. Driving to work this morning, all I could think about was getting a can of Coke as soon as I got to the office. Fortunately, I had to run straight to a meeting and didn't have time to be tempted. Now, I have a break and the little devil is there on my shoulder. So far, I've been able to ignore him. I'll let you know how it goes.

12:26pm: Well, just finished lunch and there's that craving again. Apparently, I have a tendency to drink Coke right after I eat... I managed to stem it for a while this morning with a hot chocolate but now it's back. For now, I'm drinking water and hoping that will be enough until I have my next meeting and can be distracted for a while.

4:39pm: It's been a very tough afternoon but I've held out so far. My energy is low but I'm going to drag myself out for a run and see if that helps. Fingers crossed!

10:21pm: Looks like I made it! I didn't eat that well today but I made goal #1; that can be goal #2. Time to try again tomorrow. Good night!

7 weeks to CIM. Fall in Ottawa, the Nike Women's Half & Many More Miles

2009-10-18T17:31:00.000-07:00

I love fall!

2 weeks ago, I was back in Ottawa for a wedding and family visit. It was raining off an on the day of the wedding and we had a crazy schedule so I sucked it up and ran on the treadmill. I hate the treadmill! I somehow managed to force myself to run for an hour but it was possibly one of the longest hours of my life and I swore it would not happen again. The next morning, I got up, got dressed, grabbed the camera, and headed out the hotel door. I did one of my favorite runs in the world along the Rideau Canal, stopping occasionally to take pictures of the amazing fall colours. Even though I ran almost as far and as long as the day before, the time flew by and I remembered why I love to run and be outdoors. I credit that day with getting me back on track with my training.

Since then, I've done several long runs and have drastically increased my mileage. Every long run is the longest run I've ever done and it feels pretty good for the most part.

Today, I changed up my training routine. I raced the Nike Women's Half Marathon in San Francisco. It is a tough run with plenty of hills but has fantastic support and a lot of interesting stations on the course. I was entertained by a church choir, a bagpipe band, a drum troupe, and several DJs along the way. The cheerleaders and spectators were amazing, too; it was non stop yelling, clapping, and cowbelling. Not only that, but what other race would give out Ghirardelli chocolate at mile 12 and Tiffany necklaces at the finish line?! I finished in a respectable 1:53:49 and thoroughly enjoyed the massage and chocolate milk. However, I couldn't hang around too long because I still had more running to do! I was scheduled to do 16 miles today and still had 3 to go. As I sat on the bus freezing and stiffening up, I was seriously tempted to skip those last 3 miles and head home to a hot shower. Fortunately, by the time I made it back to the parking lot and changed my clothes, the sun made an appearance which warmed me up and made me feel much better. So much better in fact that I was able to really enjoy the second run of the day and even went slightly further than needed. 16.5 miles total! It felt good to be able to do that kind of mileage without suffering too badly.

I have a similar plan for next weekend: the Silicon Valley Half Marathon followed by an extra 5. Wish me luck!

10 weeks to CIM. What have I gotten myself into?

2009-09-29T14:39:00.000-07:00

The days until CIM are flying by far too quickly. When I decided to enter over 4 months ago, 16 weeks seemed like an eternity. Since then, I've sustained a few minor injuries and been caught up in life and work and 6 weeks have disappeared. I knew that these few weeks would be my toughest with all of my other commitments but I didn't expect to be as far behind as I am. My longest run so far has been 14 miles and that was 2 and a half weeks ago. Since then, I've barely run 14 miles total. I have a couple more weeks of craziness but I can't postpone the training anymore; I need to get back on track. I'm going to attempt a short run at Rancho tonight and then do something a little longer on Thursday before I go away for the weekend. I am also determined to get a run in in Ottawa on Saturday. I'm excited to see the foliage and visit the streets I used to rollerblade down when I lived there many years ago. We'll see how it goes...

Yet another challenge

2009-09-15T13:49:00.000-07:00

The running gods have clearly decided that no matter what my personal training plan says, this will be a recovery week and nothing more.
After I hurt my foot on Friday, I forced myself to refrain from running all weekend and had to physically restrain myself from lacing up the sneakers yesterday. Good thing I did or I may have ended up like my old friend Sue with a severely twisted ankle. Ouch! Here's to a speedy recovery.
However, I did allow myself to play my two hockey games last night. It's just hockey, it's for fun, it will be good cross training... Riiiight. It was. Right up until I took a slapshot directly to the inside of my thigh where there's no padding. I instantly dropped to the ground and started crying uncontrollably. Anyone who knows me knows that I like to consider myself a pretty tough chicky and I don't like to cry, especially in front of 15 testosterone filled guys and one other tough chicky. So, it was a shock to me as much as anyone else when the tears started to flow. A minute later, I was finally able to pull myself together but it hurt like a bitch! I made it through that game and the next one but once the adrenalin went away, the pain and swelling really started to set in. I iced it in bed last night but it's still one heck of a bruise.
I'm hoping to run at Rancho tonight but I will definitely be taking it easy...

12 weeks to CIM. My first injury.

2009-09-14T11:07:00.000-07:00

I am currently in the middle of my 6 of 7 week craziness where my weekends are filled with weddings, family visits, races, and courses. This past weekend was my one "free" weekend and so my plan was to have a really great training session. My goal was to run 14 miles on Friday, cross train (aka bike) on Saturday, and then do another medium length run on Sunday. However, it was not to be.
I did manage to get my run in on Friday. I started at work, ran all the way to the end of Stevens Creek Trail and then turned around and ran back. I attempted to do the same run the previous week but had some major stomach issues and had to cut the run short so I was determined to finish this time. I felt a little twinge in my right leg and had to stop again for more stomach issues but still managed to gut it out in 2:20. That is a really slow time but I was extremely proud of myself for finishing my longest run ever.
I went to a hockey team party Friday night and spent a lot of time standing up while hanging around and talking with my friends. Probably not the best recovery. Needless to say, by the time I went to bed, my legs were killing me. I had horrible shin splints and had this strange throbbing sensation in the bottom of my foot. Not conducive to a good night's sleep... By the next morning the shin splints were gone but the throbbing in my arch was a now a persistent pain. I completely freaked out thinking it might be plantar fasciitis and immediately got online to learn more about it. At this point, I'm pretty sure I just strained the ligaments in the bottom of my foot but I'm not going to take any chances. I've iced and rolled my foot at least 2-3 times per day and tried to keep off of it as much as possible. I took Saturday completely off and did a short MTB ride on Sunday.
So much for a hard core training weekend. Oh well. I'm feeling a little better today and am hoping to be able to run at Rancho again tomorrow. I can only hope that I've learned my lesson and won't get hurt again before CIM. Maybe the next few weeks of weddings and family visits are a blessing in disguise...

I'm In!

2009-09-01T12:23:00.001-07:00

I spent this past weekend at Ironman Canada in Penticton, BC.

Saturday morning, two friends and I got up well before the sun came up and hopped on a plane to Seattle. We then drove 5+ hours to the Canadian border where we crossed with little trouble and I was suddenly back in my homeland. 3 miles later, we reached Osoyoos and the southern point of the IMC bike course. We took a little detour to drive up Richter Pass and check out one of the two major climbs of the ride. It was steep! A little freaked out, we headed back down the hill and continued our journey. We drove the start of the course in reverse until we reached the junction that would take us to the run course. We drove the last 3 miles before the turnaround, stopping several times to chaulk up the road with encouragement for our friends. The course was hillier than I expected and it was steep too! We finally headed to our hotel where we met up with the athletes and supporters and got our volunteer gear, ready for the next day. The team looked loose, relaxed, excited and ready to go.

The alarm went off at 3:45am Sunday morning. Ouch! We wolfed down some breakfast, got dressed, put on our official wristbands and Iron Crew t-shirts, and headed out the door. By 4:30am we were ready for our bodymarking shift to begin. The first athlete came through around 4:45am and by 5:30am the area was filled with people getting their numbers for the day. It was a fun experience to mark an experienced pro with 34 followed by a very nervous first-timer with a number like 2739. At 6:15am, I was shocked to see that some people were still coming through. "Shouldn't they be down near the water by now?" Usually, it was people that had been there done that but there were one or two who were in over there heads and I hope they made it to the start in time. I thoroughly enjoyed helping the racers get ready to go and wishing them a good day.

Now that everyone was marked and ready to go, we weren't needed for a couple of hours so we took the opportunity to go into transition, wish our friends all the best, and watch the swim start. It was bedlam! The gun went off and 2607 people charged across the line. I've never seen a mass start in person and it was completely nuts; people were crawling all over each other. I will definitely be one of those hanging out at the back next year. After a few minutes, the majority of the pack was out past the first couple of buoys and on their way. It was at that moment that I realized just how far 2.4 miles is! IMC is a single triangle shaped loop and you go all the way across the the other side of the beach before making the first turn. It was a very long way! It was so far, that after a while, you couldn't even see the splashes or caps from the racers anymore; you just had to assume they were still out there.

46 minutes after the pros left the shore, the lead male was back in transition. It is still amazing to me that someone can swim that far that fast. As a wetsuit stripper, I had a front row view of him coming through. And, now that people were coming back, it was time for my second job to start. As racers dashed in a little delirious from spending an hour or more in the water, we helped them unzip and sit down and then yanked off their suits. It was a wet and crazy job, especially when the bige pack of age-groupers came through, but we managed to get everyone out of their wetsuits, up, and on to get ready for the bike.

Our job done, we headed out to watch the last few swimmers come in to shore. It was great to see how people rallied around them. The announcer, the kayakers, the volunteers, the spectators... Everyone was screaming for them to "Swim!", "Stand Up!", and "Run!". In one of the many feel-good stories of the day, the race director allowed the two final men who were stumbling to shore as the clock rolled over 2:20 to continue with the race. In all 2600 racers made the cutoff and were somewhere along the bike course. It was heartbreaking to watch the few people who didn't make it but I can only hope that they are alright and will come back next year to try again.

After that, it was time for a quick shower, change, and snack before heading out the door again. The crazy part was that even after all of this, it was only 11:00am! Our next stop was the top of Yellow Lake, the other crazy hill on course. We made it there a little ahead of schedule which gave us a chance to stake out a good shady spot and chalk up another section of the road for the gang. Suddenly there were police vehicles, team officials, and a helicopter overhead. The leaders were on their way! And then, there came the lead car with a huge clock displaying the running time followed closely by the lead male. He was flying! I don't think I go that fast on the flats at the start of a ride, never mind on a climb and mile 99. The next couple of guys came through soon after and then it was a constant stream of athletes of all levels for the next few hours. The lead woman was ahead by at least 10 minutes at this point and there was no way anyone was going to catch her. Suzi, Debbie, Stan and I managed to see, high five, and take pictures of almost everyone in the club and it was great to see how happy they all looked. Maybe it had to do with the fact that by the time they saw us, they were almost at the top of the hill. :)

As soon as the last SVTCer went by, we made a mad dash to get down the hill and over to the run course. By the time we got through traffic and grabbed some lunch, it had been almost an hour so we missed the fastest guys altogether. But, we did have good timing as Alan was just coming over the crest of the hill. We gave him a big cheer and got settled in to our roles as cheerleaders. We had a great spot at mile 10 and 16 and so were able to see most people twice. Some were looking fresh at mile 10 but tired by 16. Others were feeling the pain at mile 10 but excited to be almost finished at 16. We jumped up and down, cheered, clapped and took pictures until we could barely stand or speak anymore. But, based on the reaction we got from the runners, it was worth all of it. Our last teammate came through mile 16 just as the sun was about to set and that was our cue to head to the finish line.

The finish line is one of the most inspirational things I have ever seen, heard, and experienced in my life. We got there around the 13 hour mark and stayed all the way through to midnight. We saw our friends finish for the nth time and for the first time. We saw husbands, wives, mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, grandmothers and grandfathers. We saw people that had overcome illnesses and tragedies. We saw people skipping, sprinting and hurdling across the line while others had to be caught as they collapsed on the other side. We saw people of all shapes and sizes. It didn't matter, we cheered for them all. Every time they called out the name of someone from the Edmonton area, my eyes teared up and I had to take a deep breath to keep from losing it. As it got close to an hour mark, the spectators went absolutely nuts. We screamed and clapped and pounded on the signs to give the racers that last little bit of oomph to beat 14, 15, 16 hours... But the most unbelievable time was the last 5 minutes before midnight. The sound was deafening. Everyone was standing, screaming, and doing what they could to bring the last few racers across the line. Sister Madona made a new world record for the oldest woman ever to complete an Ironman by breaking the tape at 11:55. Two minutes later, our friend Conrad continued his streak of taking it down to the wire but always finishing, even with his fractured foot. Then, with only seconds to spare, the race organizers, volunteers and directors helped push, pull and drag a determined competitor across the line to be the last official finisher. I'm getting chills again, just writing about it. And suddenly, the clock ticked over to 17:00:00 and the race was over as quickly as it began. The crown quickly dispersed, I found my friends, and we made our way back to the hotel. We were staying right on the last mile of the run course and it was heartbreaking to see the last couple of athletes slowly making their way to the finish line despite knowing that they would not get a medal or an official time. I felt terrible for them but also extremely proud that they wanted to complete what they started so many hours ago. The finish line was a huge boost to my confidence for next year and the walk back was an equally huge reality check. Ironman is not meant to be taken lightly. Congratulations to everyone who persevered and completed the race this year.

Monday morning, we got up early despite the lack of sleep the day before. I'm not sure if it was the complete disruption to our sleeping schedules or the adrenalin from knowing what we were about to do; it was probably a bit of both. By 8:20, we were out the door and on our way. It was amazing to walk down the street and see no evidence of the epic race that took place the day before. The organizers did a fantastic job of cleaning up and returning Penticton to the beautiful sleepy town that it is 364 days a year. By 8:30, we made it to the race venue. The lineups to buy this year's finisher gear and register for next year were already around the block. Apparently, some people had been there since 6am. Decked out in our volunteer t-shirts and wristbands, we walked past everyone and straight to the back door of the registration tent. By 8:40, I had given my name, email, birthday and credit card number to the girl behind the computer and she had handed me a single piece of paper with a confirmation number. I was in. Given how much I had put into getting there and worrying about what I was getting myself into, it all seemed a little anticlimactic. But, as the day went by and we saw more and more people with finisher t-shirts, I got more and more excited. I wanted so desperately to be one of them and this piece of paper was my first step to doing so. I was in!!!

Update 9/9/09.

Since that unbelievable weekend almost two weeks ago, several more of my friends in the tri club have managed to register for the race. Whether it was the economy or the fact that the race organizers forced you to put the money down on the spot, I'm not sure, but online registration was actually open for about 12 hours after the in-person registration was complete. This meant that many people who weren't able to make the trek up to Canada with us were still able to get a spot. Several teammates jumped at the chance and we should have the biggest SVTC contingent ever next year.

In the last couple of days, I also received my confirmation email, found my name on the list, entered all kinds of personal information, and officially registered for the race. Now, all that's left is the training. I can't wait! Bring on the next 354 days!

15 weeks to CIM, 53 weeks to IMC

2009-08-23T19:42:00.000-07:00

Last week, I finally bit the bullet and signed up for a marathon, a major step in my goal of completing an Ironman. I am going to "race" (aka participate in) the California International Marathon from Fulsom to Sacramento on Sunday, December 6th. This race is known to be relatively runner friendly and good for first-timers as it is point-to-point, net 340ft downhill with just a few rollers, and with typically nice weather. Phew. Let's hope so. I signed up almost exactly 16 weeks from the start of the race and immediately went online to try to find a good beginner marathon training plan to follow. I found some good suggestions and diligently entered them into my spreadsheet. And then what did I do? Ran 5 separate times this week for a total of 30 miles including my "long" run of 9 miles. Not really the best way to get back into training shape... Needless to say, I'm exhausted, my feet hurt, my knees hurt, my back hurts, you get the idea... Chalk it up to yet another time I jumped in the deep end head first and bonked my head on the bottom. I promise to take tomorrow off and be better about the plan next week.

Speaking of next week... Next weekend is Ironman Canada 2009. I am all set to go up to Penticton on Saturday; body mark, strip, cheer, photograph and be inspired on Sunday, and then do the unthinkable on Monday: line up, pay $500 of heard earned money, and sign up for 2010. I'm excited and terrified at the same time. It will be a difficult but ultimately rewarding year and I am looking forward to the challenge.

And now, off to my hockey playoff game... I guess I'm not as tired or sore as I thought. :)

Hamilton in a Heat Wave

2009-06-29T10:47:00.000-07:00

It seems like I always pick the hottest days of the year to climb Mt. Hamilton and yesterday was no exception. Shanna, Meaghan and I started the 19 mile ascent at 10:30am and it was already well into the 80s or even 90s Fahrenheit. Because of the heat and the fact that Meaghan had already done the climb once (she's training for the Death Ride), we went slowly and took lots of breaks in the shade. Near the top of the first climb, Meaghan decided that she'd had enough for the day but Shanna and I continued on, determined not to let the heat get the best of us. It's been several months since we've had a chance to catch up so fortunately we had lots to talk about to keep us distracted while we plodded along. It would have been a much harder and less pleasant ride if she hadn't been there with me. The last 7 miles from the top are slightly steeper and definitely the hardest part of the climb. At one point, Shanna started thinking about turning around and heading back. I panicked! There was no way I wanted to do the rest of the ride without her. With a little cajoling and a promise of cold water and air conditioning at the top, she soldiered on with me. Gotta love a girl who hates climbing but is willing to do it for me... I promised we'd do Canada Rd next time. :) About 3 hours and 15 minutes later, we made it to the top! Not a record time but a major accomplishment when you consider that it was 101F at the observatory! We took full advantage of the cold water, a place to sit, and air conditioning in the building. And then, all that was left was the descent. We thoroughly enjoyed the high speed turns on the way down and appreciated the car that pulled over to let us pass. We also narrowly missed a couple of suicidal squirrels, marveled at those doing multiple repeats heading back up for a second or third time, and expressed shock at the mountain biker dressed head to toe in black. He must have been melting!
We finished the ride around 3:00pm and headed home looking forward to a shower, real food, and a nice easy evening on the couch. All in all, a pretty epic day. Thanks Shanna!

World's Longest Olympic Triathlon

2009-06-23T23:51:00.000-07:00

This weekend, I participated in the Silicon Valley Olympic Distance Triathlon (SVODT), formerly known as the San Jose International Triathlon (SJIT). I think they should have kept the old name; there was very little that was Olympic about this race... The swim was short, the run was long...

SJIT was my second tri ever in 2007 and I loved it. I had PRed by 15 minutes and had another fantastic experience in 2008 so I decided to sign up again this year despite having raced the Escape from Alcatraz only one week earlier. It's fast and flat, the weather is always hot, it's the club's home race, and it's only 10 minutes from my house. How could I not?!

Saturday afternoon, Dave and I rode our bikes down to the race site for packet pickup. I presented my USAT card and got to jump to the front of the line to get my numbers. Score! But, unfortunately they hadn't yet received the light blue cap I was supposed to wear so I'd have to come in even earlier to get it in the morning. Oh well. At least the FRS girls were awesome and gave us extras to take with us.

I woke up at 5am Sunday morning and quickly made my way out the door. I arrived early enough to be able to park in the close lot and get a good spot in the racks. I walked into transition and took a quick look for the dedicated SVTC racks but I couldn't find them and so quickly put my bike in a good spot based on previous years. Then I saw Nina and figured I must be in the right place. A few minutes later we realized that the team racks were at the far end and I started to worry that they had changed the transition layout. I looked around for an official but couldn't find one so I decided to live with where I was already set up.

The confusion continued as we got closer to the race start; there were no signs, no announcer, and no body markers. What the hell? Finally, one woman showed up to start body marking and a massive line formed immediately. Fortunately, I had some friends at the front of the line who let me jump in with them. After that, the racers started taking it upon themselves to mark each other... Who knew that Isa, our awesome photographer and cheering squad, was also an expert body marker? After several more trips around the transition and down to the lake, I finally found an official about 10 minutes before the race was supposed to start. He confirmed that the transition was going to be similar to the previous year (Woohoo! Good spot for me!) and that the race was going to start late. He said it had been pushed back to 7:15 but also gave me a look that said "7:30 if we're lucky." I relayed the message to as many people as I could find and then went about starting to slowly get ready. Sunscreen. Check! Body glide. Check! (Or so I thought.) Tri slide. Check!

Just after 7am I pulled on my wetsuit, grabbed my cap and goggles, and made my way down to the lake. A couple of minutes later my good friend Diane showed up to cheer me on. Awesome! It's always great to see people you know during the race. And suddenly, we had an announcer. Yay! I couldn't hear very well but I saw people lining up for the start and made my way over there. Despite some confusion about which group was up next - it was really confusing with everyone in the same colour cap due to the other ones never making it - I found the 30-34 women and swam over to the start buoys. It was great to see so many people that I knew out there.

5-4-3-2-1-Go! And we were off. I wasn't able to see the first buoy for a while so I just followed the group in front of me. But, suddenly, there was no one around. It may have had something to do with me heading waaay off to the right... For some reason, I just couldn't keep myself straight this time. The rest of the swim was fairly uneventful. I went a little off course a few more times and got run over by a couple of waves but nothing major. I made my way out of the water and my wetsuit came off very easily again. Love the new Tri Slide! It works better than Body Glide and doesn't give me a nasty sunburn like Pam. As I was running up to the transition area, I saw Diane, Isa, and Carin cheering me on and taking pictures. Awesome! I ran to my rack, quickly put on my cycling gear and headed around the loop and mounted my bike. There was Diane again! I love this race!

After a couple of quick right turns, I settled in to the long slog down Santa Teresa. It looks like it should be easy but there is always a nasty headwind and I felt like I was creeping along. And, obviously I was because I was passed by a ton of really good athletes. The good news was that several of them were my friends and they smiled and said hello as they blew by. The other good news was there were a few people on course on mountain bikes that I was able to catch. :)

I finally made it to the turnaround and suddenly I was MOVING! Love that tailwind! And then the infamous left hand turn onto Bailey. I actually really like this climb. Triathletes aren't normally known for their ability to go up hills so this gives me a great opportunity to make up some ground. Not only that but what goes up, must come down! The descent down Bailey and the return route along McKean and Almaden is unbelieveably fast. It's downhill and has a tailwind and I just hammer all the way back to the lake. Unfortunately, the last couple of miles is where I normally catch up with the macho guys who don't like being passed by a girl. I go past them and they don't take very well to this so they kill themselves to pass me back and then don't have anything left so they slow down and get in my way again. Argh! The only thing that keeps me sane is that I'm pretty sure I'm going to leave them behind for good on the run. :P

I cruised in to T2, quickly changed shoes - I'm learning to do it without having to sit down - and ran out... the bike out. I thought "Where am I going? This isn't right!" I finally clued in and took of the other direction to the run out. Too bad; I would have probably had a good transition if it weren't for my little detour. The run out was actually really fun with a bunch of SVTCers giving high fives all over the place.

The run itself was interesting to say the least. They changed the course a bit and the first out and back was just over 3 miles instead of the usual mile and a half. I knew something was up when I saw Nina, Debbie, and MikeA coming the other way on the trail. I'm not normally this close to them at that stage of the race! It all made sense when I saw the mile markers a few minutes later...

Miles 1 through 3 were pretty normal and I was keeping up about an 8:30 pace; not too bad given the fact that I raced the week before. However, the craziness started at mile marker 4. A five minute mile? No way! There was something seriously wrong there but I figured they just placed the marker on the wrong spot. I kept going on the second out and back waiting for the 5th mile marker and the turnaround but they never seemed to come. At one point, I thought I saw people turning and heading back this direction but they were actually turning right and continuing down the trail. The turnaround point was in almost exactly the same location where it normally is. Huh? That made didn't seem right. I reached the 6 mile marker 19 minutes after passing mile 4 which made reasonable sense based on a short mile 4 plus 2 more miles. The thing that wasn't reasonable was that this was only supposed to be .2miles from the finish and I still had to run under 2 bridges and around the lake. When I passed Melissa going the other way, she said "So much for only running a 10k today!" No kidding. I finally made it to the finishing chute and sprinted down the line. Apparently the run was 7.4 miles! Oh well, at least now I have a good excuse for not making a PR this year. :)

After the race, I got a chance to hang out and chat with my friends and fellow SVTCers. Obviously the talk of the day was the run but I enjoyed the sun and the pizza as well. In general, it was a bit of a gong show but it was the first year USA Productions was running the race so I'll give them a pass this time. Also, the new owner did send out an apology to all participants and all tri clubs so at least he acknowledged his mistakes. Hopefully they're a little more organized next year.

And, now a short break from tris while I train for the 24hrs of Adrenalin. Not too long, though, because I'd really like to do Barb's Race in August if I don't break a leg offroading.

One step closer to Ironman Canada

2009-06-23T23:43:00.000-07:00

Debbie, Suzi and I just received our official confirmation from the Ironman Canada 2009 volunteer committee: we are in! We are getting up at some ungodly hour to be in transition by 4:30am to help with body marking and wetsuit stripping. Should be fun! I'm looking forward to being able to see the start of the race and T1 firsthand. Our tasks should be finished by about 10am and then we'll be off to check out the bike course and cheer on our fellow SVTCers. It's becoming more real every day...

I Escaped (Part 3 - T2, the run, and the finish)

2009-06-23T16:15:00.000-07:00

I thoroughly enjoyed the bike despite a few crazy moments and so was really looking forward to the run and finishing the race.

T2 was fairly uneventful other than doing a double take when I saw Dave with his bike helmet on. I was in and out in just over 2 minutes and back on Marina Green. The first mile and a half is the same as the bike and is nice and flat. Just as I was starting the run, I saw the pro women sprinting toward the finish; you can't miss Becky Lavelle's hot pink hair... These women were finishing a 1.5mi swim, 18mi bike, and 8mi run in 2:30; I still had over 1/3 of the race to do!

Anyway, back to the run. After the first mile and a half, you meet your first set of stairs, a "warm-up" for the sand ladder later on. Ha! This was brutal. I was determined to keep running as the spacing on the steps worked better with my stride and it gave me an opportunity to pass a lot of people. My heart rate was probably close to 200bpm but that's beside the point. :)

At the top of the stairs, you run up a hill and onto the dirt path before entering a low tunnel. There's a fairly steep drop to the entrance of the tunnel and I tripped and fell forward really hard. I managed to save myself from total disaster by grabbing the ass of the guy in front of me to stop from hitting the ground. [Insert red face here.] I think he was a little (ok a lot) shocked and I was terribly embarrassed. I must have said "Oh my God. I'm so sorry." at least 3 times. Fortunately, he was really nice about it and said that he was glad to be able to help avoid a fall. Though, I'm not sure he felt the same way when I passed him a few minutes later...

I made it through the tunnel without bonking my head on the far side. It was one of the very rare times in a triathlon that being short was an advantage! After the tunnel, I went under the Golden Gate Bridge and looped around to the next set of stairs; this time going down. These stairs were pretty steep and had one big drop so they forced us to go single file. I hate waiting! Fortunately, it was only a few seconds and I was able to pass again once we hit the trail near the Coastal Defence Batteries. The course then took us onto Lincoln Blvd where I could see the last few cyclists on their way back on the left and the faster runners on the trail on the right. After a fast downhill on the road, I turned onto the steep trail down to Baker Beach. It felt really good at the time to be able to charge down the hill but it probably contributed to my sore knees at the end of the day. I reached Baker Beach and followed the crowd onto the harder sand. It was kind of funny in a pathetic kind of way to see people trudging along through the sand and then having to jump out of the way of the waves as the tide started to come in. I finally made it all the way down the beach, up through the soft sand to the turnaround point, and back the other way. However, this time, I didn't get to go back up the hill but kept going to the sand stairs.

The sand stairs are an infamous part of the Escape from Alcatraz. It is basically an extremely steep sand hill where they have laid roughly 400 wooden posts horizontally as "stairs" with cables to help pull yourself up. To make it even more of a challenge, they have a timing mat at the top and bottom for a "race within the race". By the time I got there, pretty much everyone was walking and pulling themselves up along the sides. I refused to go that slowly so I went straight up through the middle. The spacing of the logs made it easier to walk rather than run but I still powered through it and passed dozens of people on the way up. My overall rank on the sand stairs was 415th as compared to 895th on the run and 1241st overall so I'm pretty proud of myself for that. In my mind, I won the race within the race.

After the sand stairs, I went back up Lincoln (hardly anyone on the bike or coming the other way on the run this time), back through the Batteries, back up the stairs, back under the bridge, back through the tunnel (no incidents this time) and back down the stairs. I made it down the stairs reasonably well but then I was pretty much done. The last flat mile and a half was really hard. Fortunately, I could see the tents in the distance and there were still people on the course cheering me on. They really helped with that last 15 minutes or so! Finally I turned toward the finishing chute where Glenn yelled again and Dave was there to cheer and take pictures. My coworker Li also spotted me as he was heading home after a great race for one last boost and I was across the line!

Phew! Finished! Woohoo! It felt great to be done but I was definitely more tired and uncomfortable than I normally am after a race. And then there was Dave! I love that guy! I loaded up on rice crispy squares and pasta in the food tent but wasn't able to eat more than a couple of bites so I handed it off to Dave and went in search of some Muscle Milk to see if I could
get some calories back in my system. And then it was time to get my stuff, pack up, and head home...

Not a bad way to spend a weekend and another thing to check off my list of things to do in my lifetime. Ironman, here I come!

I Escaped (Part 2 - T0, T1, and the bike)

2009-06-22T16:55:00.000-07:00

Finishing the crossing was such a major accomplishment that in some ways I felt like I had already finished. Wrong! The rest of the race is not a walk in the park.

Coming out of the water, I was happy to see that there were still quite a few people heading to shore and I wasn't last! I made the dash to the mini transition but really don't remember pulling off my wetsuit along the way which is probably a testament to the new bottle of Tri Slide that helped it come off easily. I do remember quickly finding the bag with my sneakers thanks to the neon dots I stuck all over it (thanks to a tip from another blogger) and being amazed to see that it had been untied and I could just dump out the shoes. This saved me at least a minute in my cold and somewhat delirious state. I love volunteers! I had replaced my laces with yanks a couple of days earlier which meant that I didn't need to loosen and tie my shoes. I hadn't practiced putting them on with wet feet so it was a little more difficult than I expected but I was still on my way in a very reasonable amount of time. The half mile run to T1 was uneventful other than the 6 gallons of water sloshing around in my stomach. Ugh!

I located my spot in trantision thanks to the various country flags on the side and put on my helmet, sunglasses, shoes and number. As usual, Dave was there to cheer me on and take pictures. Support crew extraordinaire! Then I grabbed my food and bike and was off to the bike exit. Apparently I ran down the wrong side and a somewhat annoyed volunteer quickly made me cut across the nearest aisle to go down the other lane. Too bad! It was much easier to get through when there weren't a bunch of other people in my way. :)

The bike course is absolutely beautiful and while it is shorter than a typical Olympic distance, it makes up for it with the climbing. The first couple of miles were a nice flat warm up along Marina Green where there were tons of family and friends lined up three deep to cheer on their loved ones. Glenn and Cloe Schiavo were there to cheer on Summer but somehow managed to pick me out of the crowd and yell my name. What a nice boost! Just before I was about the make the turn and start climbing up to Lincoln, I saw the lead rider come flying down the hill. "Are you serious?!" I knew I was about 30 minutes behind coming out of the water but I didn't think it was possible to finish the entire 18 miles in that amount of time. I guess that's why he's a pro and I have a real job and do this for fun...

The first steep climb up Long Ave was a good wakeup call and was also the first of many times in the day that I remembered why I Love The Rocket! I put it in my granny gear and just starting spinning up the hill. I passed at least one guy who was struggling but as soon as he saw that he was being passed by a girl, stood up and cranked as hard as he could to get 10 feet in front of me. Whatever...

I cruised up the hill on Lincoln Blvd even though it seemed a little tougher than the pre-ride I did a few weeks before. The first decent was a lot of fun and another opportunity to pass some slower riders. The next big climb was up to the first water station at the Palace of the Legion of Honor. The climb was ok but the water station provided plenty of stress. I always carry water and Cytomax with me so I really didn't need anything but figured it was there so I should grab some water just in case. Wrong! As I grabbed the water and tried to get moving again, the guy in front of me slowed down and was having trouble staying straight. I tossed my bottle and dodged to the left to get around him. At that very same moment, a motorcycle came up behind me and had to slow down to get around me. And then, I saw that the motorcycle had an official sitting on the back holding up a pad of paper and writing something down. Oh no! Did I get a penalty? What was a supposed to do? I can't believe it! What does this mean? It's not fair! I try to follow all the rules and I see a ton of people cheating and I'm going to get in trouble. Etc. Etc. This went through my head for the rest of the race. I like to think it propelled me to go faster to make up the two minutes but the additional stress was not worth it. Post-race note: No penalty! Phew! I should have known that it wasn't a problem and even if it was, they wouldn't worry about a back-of-the-packer like me. And I will definitely skip the water stop on the next race unless I really need it.

After my mini heart attack, there was a short decent to Clement for the next climb. This climb wasn't bad at all but the descent at the end was unbelievable! It was short but extremely steep (~17%). Not to self: Look out for that on the way back! A couple of tight turns and screams of "On your left!" later, I arrived at the Great Western Highway where I had another fun descent and a great view of the ocean until I turned inland and cruised around Golden Gate Park for a few miles. This is the turnaround point and the rest of the time is spent retracing your steps.

It's amazing how different the ride back seems with all of the different hills along the way. The climb up the GWH seemed a lot steeper than the descent and I didn't remember there being that much of it after the corner! The super steep climb was, well, super steep. But, again, I realized how awesome my bike is. I stood up on the pedals and it just jumped up the hill and past at least 20 people along the way. After a quick reprieve, I was climbing again up to the other side of the Palace of the Legion of Honor and the site of my stressful water stop. This time, I blew straight through and kept going down through the Presidio and past the 13 mile marker. One more climb up Lincoln and I was home free! Back along Marina Green to the cheers of Glenn, into T2 to the cheers of Dave, and on to the run...

To be continued...

I Escaped from Alcatraz!

2009-06-14T20:39:00.000-07:00

Today was a very big day for me. I finished the Escape from Alcatraz triathlon!
Escape from Alcatraz is an unbelievably challenging event to get into never mind complete. It's such a popular event that the only way to get in is through qualification or lottery and there are all kinds of rules associated with it. So, when registration for the lottery opened in December of last year, I figured I'd put my name in the hat for a second attempt, assuming it would be 2011 before I ever got in. But, low and behold, in the February draw I got in! It may have something to do with the fact that they jacked up the entry fee to over $400 this year...
Anyway, after the initial panic I sucked it up, filled in my personal information, entered my credit card number, and was suddenly an official participant. I think I went straight to the pool after that! Knowing that I would somehow need to be able to swim 1.5miles by the middle of June, I participated in as many open water swims as I could including Coyote Point, Redwood Shores, Aquatic Park. In fact, was so terrified of jumping off that ferry and trying to make it to the Yacht Club without drowning that I did it 2 weeks before the event! That's right, I paid an additional $100 for the right to jump off the back of a fishing boat at Alcatraz and do the crossing in advance. I am so glad that I did! After that day, I knew that I could do it and started looking forward to the event instead of dreading it.

And now back to this weekend...
Dave and I arrived at our hotel on Fisherman's Wharf around 3:00pm yesterday, checked in, unloaded an unreasonable amount of gear for one night, and headed straight to Marina Green. We got there just in time for the mandatory meeting where we heard all about how we'd be crossing a river on the swim, trying not to crash on four steep descents on the bike, and watching our heads and our step on the run. What had I gotten myself into?! Too late to back out now! I proceeded over to registration, picked up my really nice race bag with lots of good schwag, bought my awesome new hoodie (not to be worn until after the race) and headed back to the hotel. After a nice pasta dinner and a little TV to relax, it was time for bed... at 10:30pm! Seems early, right? Wrong!
At 4:00am, I awoke to the clanging of the alarm and Dave's phone going off simultaneously. By 4:30am I was on my bike and on my way to transition. Half an hour later, I had racked my bike, laid out my gear, packed my pre and post swim bags, and was heading to the bus. Oops, I forgot to take off my iron ring. Once the ring was safely in my bag, I made my way to the bus and sat down in my seat. Oops, I forgot my water bottle. Time to head back to transition for the second time... I made it back to the bus just in time and we were off to Pier 3. Oops, I forgot to take off my glasses. No going back this time! I would have to pack them up in my pre-race swim bag and hope they make it back in one piece. I guess this is what happens to someone who's not a morning person at 5:00am...
We arrived at the Pier and hung out for what seemed like hours - oh wait, it was - getting body marked eveywhere including on our hands, slathering on suncreen and body glide, and taking one last trip to the porta-potty line. Sometime after 6:00am we were finally allowed to board and I managed to get a good spot against a post. I tried to pass the time by slowly getting organized; have a drink, find my cap, put my shoes away, eat a PowerBar... You get the idea. But unfortunately I still had plenty of time to get really nervous. The San Francisco Belle was packed to the gills by 7:00am and we were on our way! Less than half an hour later we arrived at Alcatraz and it was time to get ready to go. The last order of business before the start was an interesting rendition of the American anthem and then we were off! The Elite's jumped first and about 2 minutes later it was my turn to cross the timing mat and take the plunge.
The first 15 minutes of the swim were absolute bedlam! I was trying to head toward the big battleship but everyone else seemed to have other ideas. We were crossing back and forth, kicking and elbowing each other in the head every time. It may have had something to do with the fact that I can't swim straight to save my life but I'm not taking all the blame! Eventually, I shifted my sights to the twin tower hotels just behind Aquatic Park and that seemed to help. By the time I sifted my sights again toward Fort Mason, I realized that I could see Sutro Tower. Yippee! I've never been able to see Sutro Tower before! This made sighting much easier, especially because the water was much rougher than my practice swim and the currents were all over the place making it very difficult to stay straight. I finally spotted the red roof of the Yacht Club and realized that I was still pretty far away from shore. Here's where I panicked and headed straight toward shore but my own personal kayaker didn't think that was a very good idea and pointed me back toward the swim exit. He may have had to do this a couple more times. :) And then I was at the beach! 1 hour and 1 minute after jumping of the ferry, I had swum over 1.5miles and completed the hardest part of the race. And on to the warm up run!

To be continued...

Another small step to my goal...

2009-06-02T21:16:00.001-07:00

This afternoon I signed up to be a volunteer at Ironman Canada 2009. The intention is to go there, help in the morning, cheer on SVTC in the afternoon, and be first in line the next day to get a slot for 2010. The ball has started rolling and there's no stopping it now! Yikes!

Alcatraz isn't so scary anymore!

2009-05-26T11:36:00.000-07:00

This morning I did something crazy. I got up at 4:30am, drove to San Francisco, boarded a fishing boat that took me to Alcatraz, and jumped off! And, that's not even the crazy part... After that, I swam to shore! That's right, I joined about 20 other swimmers and a few kayakers and we did what all those prisoners on Alcatraz Island wish they could have done; we escaped! I went with a group called swim-art and Leslie Thomas coached us on sighting and tactics to remain comfortable in the water. I was terrified to do this swim and she really helped boost my confidence. Fortunately, it wasn't so bad once I jumped in. I swam with the slowest group and we were flanked by the Lovely Martha on one side and Taylor on the other side in his kayak. The first sighting point was the huge battleship, the Jeremiah O'Brien. I felt like I headed towards it forever but eventually the current carried me West and I moved my sights to the twin tower hotels behind Aquatic Park. The current must have really been flowing at this point and land was getting closer so I quickly had to move on to Fort Mason and the Marina. My line was slightly too conservative so I made it to shore at the entrance to the Yacht Harbour. After that, I just followed the shoreline to the red roofed Yacht Club. This part felt like it was never going to end and it didn't help that I kept getting washed up on the beach. I think it would have been faster to run the rest of the way! Anyway, I finally made it about an hour after I took that initial plunge. Woohoo! What an amazing and exhilarating morning. And now I'm not quite so afraid of the Escape to Alcatraz Triathlon that I'm going to tackle in 2.5 weeks. I'm actually looking forward to it. Who knew?

It's been a while

2009-05-11T10:54:00.000-07:00

Well, I have several overdue race reports sitting in draft format that I need to get out. I will try to do that this week. In the meantime, I am trying to get my life back on track.
After Oceanside, I completely lost control of my good eating habits and fell into the trap of snacking on all the chocolate we have here at work. And then, I went on vacation for 2.5 weeks and barely exercised at all. Not a good combination! Anyway, I weighed myself on Saturday and I am 130.0lbs. Ouch! I've gained more than 6 pounds since January. It's time to turn things around. My goal for work today is to not have any Coke or chocolate. Sounds easy but it's not. Let's see what happens...

Oceanside 70.3 Race Report

2009-04-05T08:03:00.000-07:00

I AM (half) AN IRONMAN!

[Started 4/5/2009]
Yesterday, I finished my first half ironman distance race and it was amazing.
The entire week before, I'd been so nervous that I was feeling sick to my stomach and completely unable to focus on anything including work. It was a relief to finally leave San Jose and head down to warm and sunny So Cal. We drove down to Santa Barbara on Thursday afternoon, had a great dinner at the Palace Grill, and then went for a walk before crashing for the night.
The plan was to get up at 6:00am on Friday morning to start getting used to being up so early. Well, I finally dragged myself out of bed at 7. We had a quick continental breakfast at the hotel and then were on our way. When we arrived in Oceanside around 10:30am, we ran into the SVTC gang and went for a second breakfast. (I love carb loading the 2 days before the race... pasta and waffles, yum!)
After that, it was off to registration. I showed my id, filled out the forms, and then suddenly it was official. I had my wristband on, picked up my red cap, and my chip was working just fine. Yikes! It was really here.
That afternoon, I went for a quick ride/run, had an early dinner, and then went to bed early filled with anticipation for the next day.
Saturday morning, the alarm went off at 5:00am. I jumped out of bed and made my oatmeal with warm tapwater in a Starbucks mug I bought the day before. Maybe, I wasn't as organized as I thought I was... After that, I got dressed, Dave helped lather me up with Body Glide, and then I was out the door. By 5:50, I was in transition and trying to keep calm while I unpacked, set up, made one last trip to the porta-potties (the line was ridiculous but managed to kill 20mins) and then put my wetsuit on.
I was one of the last waves to go so as I got in line, we could see the Pro men coming out of the water. Last year's winner, Andy Potts, was duking it out with one other guy. They were only seconds apart and it was great to watch.
Finally, it was my turn. As we headed toward the edge of the water, I saw Dave smiling, cheering me on, and taking pictures. He's the best support crew EVER! Then they blew the horn for the wave in front of me and it was time to jump in and head to the start buoy. Wait a minute! This water was warm! They claim it was 58.6 degrees but it felt much warmer than that. Thank goodness! I could put my head in and breathe on the first try.

[Updated 5/11/2009]
The start buoys were about 30yds from the ramp and I got myself to the front of the pack to make sure that I made it there in the few minutes we had before the gun went off. Bad idea! I am not a strong swimmer but still had plenty of time to get to the start. I could have stayed at the back and avoided the chaos that is triathlon swimming and not been kicked in the head or run over.
Finally, the gun went off and it was time to start. The fast swimmers quickly took off as I tried to settle in to a comfortable stroke. Within a minute or two, I was moving along and following the rest of the red caps. The first half of the swim was nice and comfortable and fortunately the waves that everyone warned me about never materialized. In the short time out of the harbor, there were a few little rolls but nothing to worry about. Once I hit the turn around, I struggled a little to sight and figure out where I was going with the sun in my eyes. Finally, I was able to see the big hotel in the distance and just went on faith that that was the right way to go. Many minutes later, I made the final turn back towards the ramp and was looking forward to getting out of the water and probably not paying enough attention to my surroundings. Bang! I get kicked in the head. Ouch. That was probably the hardest I've ever been hit and actually had to stop and get my bearings. But, I was able to continue and made it to the ramp about 50 minutes after I started. Here, the volunteers were amazing! They grabbed your hand, helped you out of the water and even unzipped your wetsuit. Nice...
I quickly ran the entire way down the ramp pulling my arms out of the wetsuit at the same time so that I could have a really good transition. One of my best T1s ever thanks to PAM and a good setup.
And then, the bike... For this race, I borrowed a waterbottle that fits on your aerobars and broke all rules by setting it up for the first time the day before. So, within the first 5 miles of the race, I was THAT girl whos yellow stopper flew out when I hit the first bump and then spent the rest of the rde with water splashing over me. Fortunately, I was nice and warm so the bit of spray felt nice. The start of the ride went through the base and was quite nice. My favorite part was seeing the tank crossing warnings at the bridge. After that, you spend many miles heading up the coast before turning inland to the biggest challenges of the course. The first big hill is pretty steep and not really what you would expect for a triathlon. Thanks to the rocket and my granny gear, I was able to spin up the climb, passing several people who were tacking across the road or even walking. Yes, walking! It blew my mind but everyone has their own race to ride. After that, you go through the center of the base and I saw several troups in formation and in training. It was interesting to see and maybe the distraction that caused several riders to crash on this otherwise straightforward road. I saw at least 2 people on the ground getting serious medical attention. I hoped they would be ok and continued with my ride. Once you get through the town, you hit the last couple of major climbs. These weren't as bad as the first but I frustratingly dropped my chain at the base of the last one and was passed by several people I had just gone to a lot of trouble to get by. Fortunately, I was able to catch back up to them and one guy gave me some good advice as I went past. If you drop your chain, gear up to the big ring, pedal slowly, and it will probably catch. I've tried it since and it works! then, all that was left was a long slog back to the final water station and the transition. It was at this point that I realized another side effect of the aero water bottle. Because it was comfortable and easy and there, I had been drinking a lot of water. And now I had to pee! I was annoyed with myself that I was going to have to stop in the middle of the race and also that I hadn't stopped at the previous station. I pushed myself really hard to the final stop and took a very quick break which was such a relief that I was able to go even faster to the transition.

[Finished 5/15/2009]
In transition, I yanked off my helmet and my shoes, put my sneakers on, and was out on the run. I really, really enjoyed the run. I felt strong and made it through the first pass in the sand fairly easily; the rest of the course was hillier than I expected with a few ups and downs along the streets but that didn't slow me down too much either. Trudging through the sand the second and third time through was a little harder but I was still feeling good at that point so I managed to push through. By the time I hit the 10mile marker, I was getting really tired. My pace slowed dramatically but I was so close and so determined to finish strong that I kept moving. The final trip through the sand was tough but by that point I was so close to the finish line I didn't care.
A couple of thoughts about the run:
1. I was surprised that I liked the double out and back. I have always been a fan of loops but knowing that I was 1/4 or 1/2 or 3/4 the way there was nice. And, being able to see Dave 4 times on the run was great! He really is the best support crew ever.
2. The water stations really were fantastic. At one point a volunteer offered to "sell" me a cup of Gatorade claiming that it was fat free. Hilarious!

Finally, I crossed the line and become a half ironman. I was exhausted and exhilarated at the same time. They put the medal around my neck, gave me my finisher's hat and tshirt and sent me to the food tent for Coke and pizza. It was the most delicious pizza I have ever had! I brought it out with me to transition where Dave was waiting for me again. Gotta love him! I packed up, handed him my pack, checked out of transition with my bike and we headed back to the hotel. It was a long, hard, wonderful day and I can't wait to do it again next year. Thanks to my teammates, friends, and family for cheering me on from near and far.

10 days away

2009-03-26T22:50:00.000-07:00

Today was my last spin class with the SVTC gang. The workout itself was mediocre but the pizza party afterward was great fun. I've really enjoyed getting to know people better. And the advice and support for Oceanside has been fantastic. Hopefully I remember all of it next weekend!

Food wise, I've done really well with the sodas, chocolate, and dessert. I've had a couple of small tastes but that's about it. I'm still struggling with the mochas and snacks in the breakroom. That's the next step...

week 1 (Mar 7-13) - check!
week 2 (Mar 14-20) - check!
day 15 - Sat, Mar 21 - no check but not bad. a small bowl of ice cream for Dave's bday.
day 16 - Sun, Mar 22 - check
day 17 - Mon, Mar 23 - check
day 18 - Tues, Mar 24 - check
day 19 - Wed, Mar 25 - check
day 20 - Thurs, Mar 26 - no check but not bad. part of a piece of cake from Alex.

Big training weekend? Maybe big training week...

2009-03-16T11:32:00.000-07:00

This weekend was supposed to be my last big training weekend. I did do a fun brick on Saturday by driving to a park, riding home, and running back. Though, I was surprised that is was only 9.2mi each direction and I finished in under 2 hours which left me wanting more. I have to saw a big thanks to Blogland for getting me out because my motivation waned when I saw the clouds and realized how cold it was outside.
Sunday, I met with some friends for a ride. As soon as we hit the road it started to rain. We continued on our route and climbed Kings Mountain to Skyline. By this time, we were cold and miserable and so stopped for hot chocolate and cut the ride short. It was nice to catch up with my friends but I was disappointed to only go 30mi. Lessons learned: if you want a good training ride, go by yourself! Or, at least find people who want to go harder and farther than you.

week 1 - Food (check!)
day 8 - Sat, Mar 14 - Food (check!), Exercise (check! brick from Vasona Park and back)
day 9 - Sun, Mar 15 - Food (check!), Exercise (check! short ride with friends)
day 10 - Mon, Mar 16 - Food (check so far), Exercise (tri rest day - hockey tonight)

Week1 (check! sort of)

2009-03-13T18:39:00.000-07:00

Well, I made it through the first week without soda, chocolate, and dessert. I'm really impressed with how I was able to avoid the desserts at the office. They havd some good ones this week! That's the good news. The bad news is that I still gained weight because of all the other snacks I ate. Next week, I'll have to add monitoring my food to the list.

This weekend, I'm going to try the brick I mentioned the other day and try to get another good ride in. 3 weeks to go!

Day 1 - Sat, Mar 7 - Food (check!), Exercise (check! OW swim at Coyote Pt and 6mi run)
Day 2 - Sun, Mar 8 - Food (check!), Exercise (check! OW swim at Redwood Shores and 66mi bike)
Day 3 - Mon, Mar 9 - Food (check!), Exercise (rest day - hockey only)
Day 4 - Tues, Mar 10 - Food (check!), Exercise (check! training and track practice)
Day 5 - Wed, Mar 11 - Food (check!), Exercise (check! swim & hockey)
Day 6 - Thur, Mar 12 - Food (check!), Exercise (check! spin class)
day 7 - Fri, Mar 13 - Food (check!), Exercise (check! swim & do the du)

Last BIG week

2009-03-11T10:25:00.000-07:00

Oceanside is getting closer and closer by the day. My boyfriend is out of town again this week so I'm going to take advantage of it and get a big training week in. I took it a little easy on Monday but got back into it on Tuesday. I even went to track practice for the first time in over a year! My idea for this weekend is to drive to the end of a roughly 10 mile running trail, ride my bike home, and then run back to the car. That should give me a decent brick with my long run. Good idea? Bad idea? We'll find out!

Day 1 - Sat, Mar 7 - Food (check!), Exercise (check! OW swim at Coyote Pt and 6mi run)
Day 2 - Sun, Mar 8 - Food (check!), Exercise (check! OW swim at Redwood Shores and 66mi bike)
Day 3 - Mon, Mar 9 - Food (check!), Exercise (rest day - hockey only)
Day 4 - Tues, Mar 10 - Food (check!), Exercise (check! training and track practice)
Day 5 - Wed, Mar 11 - Food (check so far, it's still early in the day), Exercise (check! swim & hockey later tonight)

I'm really proud of myself for keeping up with the food so far. I am still snacking often but am choosing healthier, fruitier options. My one allowance has been hot chocolate and that has really helped to keep me going.

28 days to success

2009-03-09T13:06:00.000-07:00

Saturday marked exactly 4 weeks until Oceanside. I'm feeling pretty ok about my training but I'll be the first to admit that I've been terrible about my eating habits. So, I've declared the next 28 days as my non-religious equivalent of lent. I'm going to give up soda, chocolate, desserts, and junk food. Yikes! Realistically, I know that I probably won't be able to achieve it in all categories but I'm going to give it my best attempt. I did well on the weekend because it was only me and I didn't have the temptations from work and others. Today will be a major challenge.

Day 1 - Sat, Mar 7 - Food (check!), Exercise (check! OW swim at Coyote Pt and 6mi run)
Day 2 - Sun, Mar 8 - Food (check!), Exercise (check! OW swim at Redwood Shores and 66mi bike)
Day 3 - Mon, Mar 9 - Food (check so far - it's only 1pm), Exercise (rest day)

Serious training weekend

2009-02-23T13:54:00.000-08:00

The boy was out of town this weekend so I took advantage of the spare time and got in some good training.
Saturday I went for a 46mi ride with plenty of climbing and then went for a longer than expected run. I parked at the school on St.Joseph and then headed out Stevens Canyon, up Mt. Eden, up Pierce, and up Hwy 9 (see a trend?) before a long rolling trip along Skyline to 84. I enjoyed a screaming descent and then scared the heck out of myself when I locked up the wheels at the stop sign at the bottom. After that, it was a nice cruise back along Portola, Arastradero, and Purrissima to Foothill. After that, my plan was do to a quick brick at Rancho San Antonio. Unfortunately, I haven't been there in a long time and got completely lost. The small loop suddenly turned into 7 miles up and down the hills in about an hour and a half. Man, was I hungry after that!
It was raining again on Sunday so I decided to go for a nice long, slow run. My plan was to do the 9.5mi loop from my house and take it easy. Unfortunately, I didn't leave early enough and ended up having to power through it to make it to my hockey game on time. I made it with 5 minutes to spare but my calves are paying for it this afternoon.
Yay for good training weekends!

Who would have thought?

2009-02-18T12:51:00.000-08:00

Lately, sunny California hasn't been very sunny, in fact it's been downright miserable. It's socked in, rainy, and cold. Just take one look at the video from the Tour of California and you'll know what I mean.
Anyway, Oceanside is only 6 and a half weeks away and that means that I don't get to take a day off when it's crummy outside. So, Sunday night I bit the bullet and put my bike on the trainer. I've always hated the idea like I hate treadmills; it's such a waste when there's a whole world out there. Well, I did it anyway and it wasn't so bad. Thanks to hulu, I put on a couple of romantic comedy movies and the time flew by. By the time my boyfriend got home, I'd been riding for 2.5hrs and felt great. This morning, I got up early, watched another movie, and rode another 1:45. Who knows? Maybe I'll be ready for this race after all...

Back in Black

2009-02-13T10:57:00.001-08:00

Yes, I know, I haven't posted anything about my eating or training habits in a few weeks. And, not surprisingly, I've been eating terribly and my exercise has been more sporadic. Who would have thought that having imaginary people online to be accountable to would have such an impact?!

I have a spreadsheet that I use to track my weight on a daily basis and if my weight is 2lbs over my recent low, it gets coloured red. It's been red for several weeks. :( But, yesterday I went back in the black and stayed there today. :) Now, I just need to keep it up and keep up with the blog and hopefully I'll be more consistent.

Today:
Weight: 124.4lbs
Body Fat: 23.8%
Water: 53.8%

Exercise:
Today:
Swim, Do the Du
Tomorrow:
Bike ride

Food:
Pop: 1 day - none yesterday
Chocolate: 0 days - chocolate
Sweets: 0 days - banana cream pie

Race Report: KP San Fran 1/2 Marathon - Feb 1

2009-02-08T20:31:00.000-08:00

The KP San Francisco half marathon was my first race of the year and it was a great day.
The Running Revolution chartered a bus and a bunch of the SVTC gang and I rode up with them. We spent the ride debating what the wear and how we thought we would do. Seeing as I haven't run that much lately, I knew I wouldn't PR but still wanted to go under 2:00. The race starts in Golden Gate Park amongst the trees. It was a slight downhill and at the 1 mile marker, I saw one of my teammates go by. We normally finish about the same time so I tried to pace with her. Bad idea! She was having a great race and I just couldn't keep up. I paid for that fast 2nd mile with sore legs and a nasty stitch in my side. But, I pushed through it and around mile 6 I finally started to feel better. By the time I made it out the the ocean at mile 7, I felt great. The last 6 miles are an out and back on the Great Western Highway and it was awesome. The sun was out, there was no wind, and my legs were finally working! I really enjoyed the last few miles and even managed to push through the final uphill to finish in 1:52:24. Not bad for February!

Mile/Lap time
1/8:41
2/8:15 - Too fast!
3/8:48
4/8:54
5/8:50
6/8:27 - Feeling better.
7/8:34
8/8:33
9/8:43
10/8:29
11/8:17 - Woohoo!
12/8:26
13.1/9:22 - I never saw the 13 mile marker.

Swim! Swim! Swim!

2009-01-21T10:05:00.000-08:00

My new goal for this year is to swim 3 times a week until my half in April (at least). Today was my first time back in the pool after the long weekend and it went ok. My injured hip didn't hurt too badly and I was able to get through the whole workout even though I was a little tired. Things that I really need to work on are improving my stroke efficiency and my power. My plan is to go back tomorrow and Friday to get my 3 days in this week.

Weight/body fat:
125.8lbs/24.2% -> Pretty high relative to my recent weighings but not totally surprising. I ate ice cream late at night and then weighed myself early this morning before I went to the pool.

Eating:
Chocolate: 3 days!
Sweets: 2 days
Dessert: 0 days -> Ice cream again. I seem to have replaced chocolate with ice cream. Time to get this aspect under control.
Pop: 11 days

Exercise:
Completed:
Wednesday: Swim 6:30am
Up next:
Wednesday: Hockey 8:15pm
Thursday: Swim 6:30am

Ouch!

2009-01-20T15:16:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was supposed to be a fun cross training day: Go for a nice MTB ride with my boyfriend and then get in a good short but hard run afterwards. Unfortunately it didn't quite turn out that way. We tried out a new MTB location at Santa Teresa County Park; it was really nice and had some good technical single track riding over rocks. The only problem was that I hadn't been out in a couple of months so I had a lot of trouble clipping which was frustrating as hell and I didn't have the skills to negotiate the tough switchbacks which was even worse. Eventually the inevitable happened and I crashed. It was an extremely low speed fall but my hip landed directly on a pointy rock and it was incredibly painful... still is. I managed to make it back to the start completing a whopping 4.4 miles (so sad) and then tried to run but my leg was having nothing to do with that. It was time to accept defeat, go home, load up on ice packs, curl up on the couch and fall asleep with the hockey game in the background.
Today is another day. I decided to sleep in and skip swimming but still went to my weekly training session. I was sore but managed to push through it. Tomorrow, I will try to get back on the horse and go for a run or ride.

Weight/body fat:
124.0lbs/23.4% -> Not bad. 4lbs from my goal of being 120lbs by the time of the race.

Eating:
Chocolate: 2 days! -> What's come over me?
Sweets: 1 day
Dessert: 0 days -> Ice cream last night. Chocolate chip cookies this afternoon. Ugh. Sooo good but sooo bad!
Pop: 10 days

Exercise:
Completed:
Monday: MTB ride 1:00 4.4mi
Monday: run 0:10 0.5mi -> Too painful to continue.
Tuesday: train + 20min elliptical
Up next:
Wednesday: Swim 6:30am
Wednesday: Hockey 8:15pm

Can I ride some more? Please!

2009-01-18T21:29:00.000-08:00

The weather is unbelievable again this weekend. I went out for a ride with my friend this morning and I kept going for another hour and a quarter after she left. Every time I got to my turn around point, I needed to keep going. It was so beautiful and I felt so amazing that I never wanted to stop. But, alas, my knee has been bothering me and so I forced myself to turn around as soon as the twinges started. There's nothing that says I can't go out again tomorrow!

Weight/body fat:
124.6lbs/23.0% -> Staying pretty steady here lately. We have family visiting at the moment so it's easy to eat chocolate, sweets, and dessert.

Eating:
Chocolate: 1 days -> Woohoo! A record! Yes, it's pathetic, I know.
Sweets: 0 days (record: 7 days) -> Licorice from Switzerland. I think all the vacation treats are almost gone now.
Dessert: 0 days (record: 7 days) -> Ice cream on Sat, Sesame balls on Sun
Pop: 8 days

Exercise:
Completed:
Sunday: bike 2:45 38.5mi
Up next:
Monday: holiday! run and maybe MTB

Taking it easy today

2009-01-14T09:16:00.000-08:00

I like to think that I'm slowly learning my lesson. When I packed my clothes for today, I purposely did not put any running or cycling gear in the bag. While I'm painfully far behind in my training for both of those sports, getting injured is not going to help. I did go swimming this morning and it was hard work. My shoulders were especially tired from my training session yesterday. The most interesting drill we did today was a 50 yard freestyle with building intensity. Start slow and finish off in a sprint. The only problem was that I didn't get any faster as I built! Even though I was working so much harder, my form fell to pieces and my stroke became choppy and inefficient. It just goes to show that working smarter really is more important than working harder. :)

Weight/Body far:
125.4lbs/22.9% -> Another big disappointment. After yesterday's result, I tried really hard to eat healthier and avoid the junk food. The only chocolate I ate all day was a couple of pieces that my boyfriend brought me at the hockey game and I managed to avoid everything else. Today is another day I guess.

Eating:
Chocolate: 0 days -> 2 pcs Toblerone (105cal)
Sweets: 4 days
Dessert: 5 days
Pop: 4 days

Exercise:
Completed:
Wednesday: swim 6:30am, ~1250yds
Next up:
Wednesday: hockey 8:15pm
Thursday: swim 6:30am
Thursday: spin class 6:00pm

Overtrained already?

2009-01-13T13:58:00.000-08:00

If any seasoned athlete or trainer had looked at my blog posts over the weekend, they could have probably told me I had way overdone it. In the last week, I drastically increased my time and distance in all three events at once. Not a good idea! And I paid for it this morning in my session with my trainer. Everything hurt. I was sore and creaky and weak; it was not a good situation and I felt really stupid. Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of time to take a break so I'm going to take it easy today (I had planned to go for a long run after my session but cut it back to 20mins on the elliptical) and try to be reasonable tomorrow. I have a hockey game in the evening and am planning to swim in the morning. That should be enough! I do need to fit some running in so maybe a light jog after the pool but that's it! It doesn't sound like I'm learning my lesson, does it? I don't think so either. But, I'm going to really try and do it the right way.

Weight/Body fat:
125.2lbs/22.4% -> I was really disappointed with this weight after hitting a low yesterday (123.6lbs). But, I'm not surprised. I didn't have a proper breakfast after swimming so I overate at lunch and dinner and couldn't stay away from the chocolate. It was my own fault. I'll need to work really hard to get back to the great feeling from yesterday.

Eating:
Chocolate: 0 days -> Everything :(
Sweets: 3 days
Dessert: 4 days
Pop: 3 days

Exercise:
Completed:
Monday: swim 6:30am
Monday: hockey 9:15pm
Tuesday: train 10:00am, elliptical 25mins
Next up:
Wednesday: swim 6:30am
Wednesday: hockey 8:15pm

What season is it?!

2009-01-11T19:14:00.000-08:00

Well, if Friday felt like a beautiful fall day and then spring suddenly hit this weekend. It was nice and warm during the day and perfect for being outdoors.
I went for a run on Saturday afternoon telling myself that I would turn around at 45mins no matter what. I felt great and it was amazing how far I went! I made it past the usual turnaround point on my typical run from home and then allowed myself to go an extra couple of minutes to get to the next bridge. By the time I got home, I'd been out almost 2 hours and I was exhausted! I probably overdid it a little but felt so good on the way out that I had a hard time turning around at a more reasonable point.
Sunday, Rocket (my new Cervelo) and I went for our second ride together. It was hard work but such a pleasure! I went out to a location that my spin coach recommended and it was beautiful but more climbing than I expected. I did about 30mi and that was definitely enough. Obviously, this is something I need to work on...

Weight/Body fat:
123.8lbs/22.0% -> I've maintained the weight loss from vacation so far. The extra training is making a big difference. Now if I could only cut back on the chocolate!

Eating:
Chocolate: 0 days -> Sprungli truffles
Sweets: 1 (1) days -> 1 giant gummi bear - not much but enough to count
Dessert: 2 (3) days -> Taro pie
Pop: 1 (4) days -> a sip of ginger beer - again, not much but if you can't be honest with youself, who can you be?

Exercise:
Completed:
Saturday: run, 1:42, 9.5mi
Sunday: ride, 2:30, 29.9mi
Next up:
Monday: swim 6:30am
Monday: hockey 9:15pm
YTD:
Swim: 3 days, 3hr, 3950m
Spin: 2 days, 1.5hr
Bike: 1 day, 2.5hr, 29.9mi
Run: 2 day, 2.2hr, 11.5mi
Hockey: 1 day
Weights: 1 day

A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood

2009-01-09T13:18:00.000-08:00

Well, this morning I actually had to use the alarm so it looks like the end of jetlag is here. Yay! Though, it was nice to be able to wake up without the blaring noise for a couple of days.
Today has been a pretty good day. The swim went well this morning even though we did backstroke. Ew! We also spent some time looking at how pathetic my right side is (I'm left handed) and how to start making it stronger. Do the Du was on again today too and I almost made it in time. We were working on hard sprints today... Just what I needed. Not! It did give me an extra push, though, I will admit. The funnier thing is that fall seems to have arrived to California in January. The trees have changed colour and there are plenty of leaves for me to kick around on my walk across campus. Fun! I love the changing seasons; it's one of the things I miss most about Canada. Then again, I am able to train outside in the middle of winter so there are tradeoffs. :)

Weight/Body fat:
124.0lbs/23.8% -> Not bad. I was asleep by 8pm again so the lack of dinner and late night snacking definitely makes a difference.

Eating:
Chocolate: 0 days -> There was this crazy fudge bar thing in the breakroom.
Sweets: 0 (1) days -> Taffy in the breakroom. That damn breakroom is going to kill me!
Dessert: 3 days
Pop: 3 days -> The diet Snapple in the cafeteria was exactly what I needed instead.

Exercise:
Completed:
Thursday: spin class 6:00pm
Friday: swimming 6:30am ~1300yds
Friday: Do the Du class 8:00am spin, run ~2mi
Next up:
Saturday/Sunday: run, road ride, maybe mtb ride
YTD:
Swim: 3 days, 3hr, 3950m
Spin: 2 days, 1.5hr
Run: 1 day, .5hr, 2mi
Hockey: 1 day
Weights: 1 day

Swimming: A Good Side Effect of Jetlag

2009-01-08T10:03:00.000-08:00

Once again this morning I was awake at the crack of dawn, 4:00am, even though I'd only gone to bed 4 hours earlier. I tried to go back to sleep for a while but then figured I might as well get up and go to the pool. They had reset the lanes to short course so the set was a little easier than yesterday with more push off. And, there were only 3 of us so we got some good one-on-one attention. I can already feel myself improving so hopefully I'll be at least proficient by April.

Weight/Body fat:
124.6lbs/23.7% -> Shocking that I didn't gain weight based on the amount of chocolate I ate. I guess napping in the evening keeps me from snacking more. :)

Eating:
Chocolate: 0 days -> Dark chocolate snack in the morning and a few pieces of Swiss chocolate before hockey.
Sweets: 1 day -> I ate all the wine gums so hopefully reducing the temptation will help.
Dessert: 2 days -> The chocolate was enough!
Pop: 2 days -> Sparkling water seems to be a good substitute when I'm craving something a little different. But it does make me a little hungry so I need to be careful.

Exercise:
Completed:
Wednesday: hockey 9:45pm
Thursday: swimming 6:30am ~1600yds
Next up:
Thursday: spin class 6:00pm
YTD:
Swim: 2 days, 2hr, 2760m
Hockey: 1 day
Weights: 1 day

A New Year and a Fresh Start

2009-01-07T13:51:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!
I just returned from a 2 week vacation and am ready, really ready, to start training for the Oceanside Ironman 70.3. The race is exactly 86 days away and I need to get going!
My first goal for this week is to put together a training plan for the next 12 weeks. I've found some 16-20 week ones online so I'll need to use them to put together an abridged version.
So far, I went to my trainer yesterday and we did all around strength training. I was pretty sore this morning but jetlag got me up early and I managed to drag myself to the pool for my first Pre-Masters session in probably a year. It was tough but exactly what I needed. My goal is to go again tomorrow and then try to keep it up at least 2-3 times a week.

Keeping track...

Weight/Body fat:
Yesterday: 124.0lbs/24.0% -> Measured at 8:30am after breakfast. A new record for me! Not sure if it was the weird eating schedule due to traveling but it reset my max allowable weight to 126.0lbs. Time to keep it up!
Today: 124.8lbs/24.3% -> Measured at 5:30am before breakfast. A little higher than yesterday but still reasonable.

Eating:
Chocolate: 0 days -> My biggest vice!
Sweets: 0 days -> Wine gums from the trip. This number needs to go up quickly.
Dessert: 1 day -> I spent a lot of the last 2 days sleeping so it was easy to skip. :)
Pop: 1 day -> I used to just track Coke but now it's time to get rid of soda completely.

Exercise Completed:
Tuesday: trained
Wednesday: swam 6:30am ~1300m
Exercise Planned:
Wednesday: hockey 9:45pm
Thursday: swimming 6:30am, spin class 6:00pm
Friday: do the du 8:00am (tentative)
Saturday: run, mtb ride
Sunday: road ride

Stressed out!

2008-12-17T18:19:00.001-08:00

Only 8 days until Christmas and 7 days until I leave on vacation. Yikes! That's 4 working days to get all of my projects in order, 2 days to finish all of my Christmas cards, and -6 days to send gifts to my family.
This time of year is supposed to be fun and festive but I got behind in November and haven't been able to catch up since. I've almost completely given up on eating healthy but have managed to keep up with some of the exercise. Tonight, I'm going to play two hockey games so hopefully that will mitigate the ridiculous amount of chocolate I've eaten over the last few days. Hmm... that could have something to do with why I'm feeling so crummy at the moment, too.

Today:
Weight:125.6lbs
Body fat: 24.3%

Days since last:
Coke (Oct 29th): 49 (49)
work lunch dessert (Dec 17th - Freiburg cookies): 0 (14)
chocolate (Dec 17th - peanut butter cups): 0 (2)
dessert (Dec 17th - peppermint rice crispies): 0 (8)

I lost 10 pounds...

2008-12-15T10:29:00.000-08:00

...Too bad it wasn't off my midsection. I bought a new bike! It's a 2009 Cervelo S2 and it is beautiful. It takes off like a rocket and climbs like nothing I've ever ridden before. The bike shop is making a few adjustments for me and it will be ready later this week. Woo hoo! I can't wait to get back out on the road now.

Other than that, last week was a crazy week. My boyfriend was away and I was in class M-W and it absolutely destroyed me. I hardly slept at all and that was not conducive to eating well or getting exercise. Though, I did go to a new spin class on Thursday night and it was really eye-opening. It was my first time riding on a trainer and it definitely exposed many issues with my pedal stroke. I clearly need to spend more time riding one legged... After 15 seconds, I was barely able to get the pedal the whole way around.

Friday was my usual "Do the Du" class and we spent time running with high knees and resistance bands. Not surprisingly, my calves were really sore afterwards but I was shocked at how tight my shoulders were. Apparently trying to hold someone back is as good as or better than the rowing machine. I went for a run on Saturday and didn't feel too bad during but definitely paid for it afterwards. I was still having trouble walking yesterday evening.

This week is going to be extremely busy with trying to get ready for Christmas so I'm going to keep my goals simple.
1 - Go to my usual appointments: trainer Tues, spin Thurs, Do the Du Fri.
2 - Go for a run.
3 - Swim.

Today:
Weight: 126.8lbs (Very close to my max of 127.0lbs. Need to be careful today!)
Body fat: 25.0%
Water percentage: 53.1%

Days since last:
Coke (Oct 29th): 47 (47)
work lunch dessert (Dec 10th - Freiburg cookies): 4 (14)
chocolate (Dec 14th - Advent calendar): 0 (2)
dessert (Dec 14th - apple strudel): 0 (8)

Exercise recap from last week:
Sunday - long road ride (Canada, Alpine, Joaquin), brick run
Monday - hockey
Tuesday - rest
Wednesday - rest
Thursday - spin
Friday - Do the Du
Saturday - 1 hr run
Sunday - rest

Slooooowwwwly getting back on track

2008-12-09T14:45:00.000-08:00

I'm trying really hard to ramp up my training again this week. But, I am in class at work M-W which makes it a little more difficult. Not having those 1-2hr breaks to sneak in a run is hard!
After my long ride and run on Sunday, I didn't do a whole lot yesterday. I played my regular hockey game but didn't get any training in. Today, I need to do something but I haven't decided what. I brought my swimsuit, running clothes, and yoga outfit with me so I'm a little overwhelmed with options. I need to pick one soon or nothing will get done.

Yesterday
Weight: 125.2lbs (This is a little deceiving because I was probably a little dehydrated.)
Body Fat: 24.3%

Today
Weight: 126.0lbs
Body Fat: 24.7%

Days since last...
Coke (Oct 29th): 42 (42)
work lunch dessert (Nov 26th - milano cookies): 14 (14)
chocolate (Dec 8th - Advent calendar): 0 (2)
dessert (Dev 8th - cookies): 0 (8)

Embarrassed...

2008-12-07T21:42:00.000-08:00

You know you had a bad week when you're too embarrassed to even blog about it... Wasn't that the whole point of starting this thing in the first place? To have somewhere to talk about
Well, time to start again. This week was the first time that I went over the +2lb limit that I set for myself. After the joy of being down to 125.6 two weeks ago, I jumped back up to 127.8. And, it wasn't because I drank too much water... It was the chocolate, the dessert, the excessive snacks, the works.
Last Thursday marked 4 months from the Oceanside 70.3 triathlon. Yikes! I realized that I need to get back to it, and now! So, Friday, I dragged my ass out of bed and went to my "Do the Du" class. Saturday, I went mountain biking and I did a long ride with a short brick run this afternoon. It's a start, I guess. Now, I just need to keep it up.

Yesterday
Weight: 126.4lbs
Body Fat: 23.7%

Today
Weight: 126.2lbs
Body Fat: 25.3%

Days since last...
Coke (Oct 29th): 40 (40)
work lunch dessert (Nov 26th - milano cookies): 12 (14)
chocolate (Dec 7th - Advent calendar): 0 (2)
dessert (Dev 5th - Kathie's bday cake): 2 (8)

Exercise recap from last week:
Sunday - rest
Monday - hockey
Tuesday - training
Wednesday - hockey
Thursday - rest
Friday - Do the Du
Saturday - MTB ride
Sunday - long road ride (Canada, Alpine, Joaquin), brick run

The Holiday Season is Here!

2008-12-01T12:41:00.000-08:00

It's quickly becoming clear that training is not going to be easy in December. With all of the work, parties, cards and shopping to do before Christmas, fitting in exercise is going to be a major challenge.
My goal for today was to ride into the office this morning but I didn't get to bed until 2:00am last night so that didn't happen. I'm in meetings until 5:00pm tonight so I won't be getting a run in today either. :( So, my goal will be to get a bunch of stuff done tonight so that I have more time to exercise tomorrow.

Yesterday
Weight: 126.4lbs
Body Fat: 23.7%

Today
Weight: 126.2lbs
Body Fat: 25.3%

Days since last...
Coke (Oct 29th): 33 (33)
work lunch dessert (Nov 26th - milano cookies): 5 (14)
chocolate (Dec 1st - Advent calendar - This is going to be 0 for a while!): 0 (2)
dessert (Nov 30th - Harvest festival samples): 1 (8)

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-12-01T00:15:00.001-08:00

I hope everyone out there had a great long weekend. I really needed and enjoyed the break.
Thursday was the traditional ride up Mt.Hamilton and I PRed, making it to the top in 2:06. Not bad for 19mi straight uphill! It was also the last one of the low key hill climbs for the season. It was my first year doing this series and it was a lot of fun. I will definitely participate again next year.
Now, it's time to focus on the half ironman and start doing some long rides. I was hoping to get out today but got caught up in the rest of life. My boyfriend is out of town for the next two weekends so that will be a good opportunity to get plenty of miles in.
This week's goals: swim, bike, and run at least once during the week + training.

Thursday
Weight: 127.6lbs
Body Fat: 25.9%

Friday
Weight: 125.6lbs
Body Fat: 24.5%

Saturday
Weight: 125.8lbs
Body Fat: 25.6%

Sunday
Weight: 126.4lbs
Body Fat: 23.7%

Days since last...
Coke (Oct 29th): 32 (32)
work lunch dessert (Nov 26th - milano cookies): 4 (14)
chocolate (Nov 30th - Harvest festival samples): 0 (2)
dessert (Nov 30th - Harvest festival samples): 0 (8)

Exercise recap from last week:
Sunday - rest (My Birthday Party!)
Monday - hockey
Tuesday - training
Wednesday - hockey
Thursday - Mt.Hamilton ride (2:06)
Friday - bike test rides (Yay! Bike shopping!)
Saturday - run to Airport term B
Sunday - rest (Leonardo exhibit)

Still looking for that wagon...

2008-11-26T22:35:00.000-08:00

The last few days have been really hard. For some reason, I've had no control over my need to snack constantly. I can tell I'm feeling really guilty because I haven't even had the guts to fess up in my blog and admit to others that I'm failing. But, that's what's happening right now.
Monday I snacked all afternoon on sugary cereal. Yesterday, it was dry roasted peanuts. Today, crackers & salsa as well as chocolate. Yikes! And it's showing on the scale, too. The disappointment in myself is the worst part.

I'm going to ride Mt. Hamilton tomorrow morning and I hope that will jump start me back into the healthy lifestyle. Thanksgiving is not going to make it easy but if becoming an Ironman were easy, it wouldn't be such an accomplishment.

Monday
Weight: 126.4lbs
Body fat: 25.2%

Tuesday
Weight: 127.4lbs
Body fat: 26.4%

Today
Weight: 127.8lbs
Body fat: 25.0%

Days since last...
Coke (Oct 29th): 28 (28)
work lunch dessert (Nov 26th - milano cookies): 0 (14)
chocolate (Nov 26th - NYC samples): 0 (2)
dessert (Nov 26th - birthday brownies): 0 (8)

Happy Birthday to Me!

2008-11-24T11:07:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I turned 30. It was a big day and a big party but not a big deal in terms of the number. According to USAT, I've been 30 since January!
The holiday season has officially begun and it's already become a challenge to keep up with the training and healthy eating. With the party yesterday, I wasn't able to go for the run that I planned and I definitely ate a lot of chocolate! Looking at my schedule for now through Christmas, the weekends are pretty packed. I have to start making decisions on what I really want to attend and when a bike ride or run becomes more important. I've already said no to the cookie exchange - definitely a good idea for my health.
Last week, I did manage to add the weekday bike ride and a swim. I need to do that again this week and make sure that I also do another long run that I missed out on last week.

Friday
Weight: 127.0lbs
Body fat: 25.3%

Saturday
Weight: 126.4lbs
Body fat: 25.6%

Sunday
Weight: 126.2lbs
Body fat: 24.7%

Today
Weight: 126.4lbs
Body fat: 25.2%

Days since last...
Coke (Oct 29th): 26 (26)
work lunch dessert (Nov 13th - cobbler): 11 (14)
chocolate (Nov 23rd - NYC samples): 0 (2)
dessert (Nov 23rd - birthday brownies): 0 (8)

Exercise recap from last week:
Sunday - rest
Monday - hockey
Tuesday - training
Wednesday - bike to work, hockey
Thursday - gym (elliptical, core)
Friday - Do the Du, swim
Saturday - bike to Ice Oasis via MTV, pickup hockey

Done the Du

2008-11-21T13:34:00.000-08:00

Today was the final day of my "Do the Du" class for this year. It was a really good spin/run class and I improved far more than I thought I would. On Oct 14th, I did my pre-test and I ran 2 miles in 16:51 after cycling for 15mins. This morning, we did the same loop and I finished it in 14:49! That's 2 minutes off my time in 6 weeks! I was very surprised and pleased to see that I had improved so much in such a short time. I have to credit some of my speed to the others in the class for pushing me really hard this morning. Now, I need to translate that improvement to my 10k and half marathon races.

I'm feeling a little more control in the food department today. While I've had 2 hot chocolates to keep me awake and warm, I managed to resist the ice cream sundae at lunch today. I'd say that's at least neutral and a major win compared to yesterday.

Yesterday
Weight: 127.2lbs
Body fat: 24.8%

Today
Weight: 127.0lbs
Body fat: 25.3%

Days since last...
Coke (Oct 29th): 23 (23)
work lunch dessert (Nov 13th - cobbler): 8 (14)
chocolate (Nov 20th - milk duds): 1 (2)
dessert (Nov 20th - cookie dough ice cream): 1 (8)

It's so easy! ...to fall off the wagon.

2008-11-21T00:07:00.000-08:00

Ugghh! I want that feeling from last week when it was easy to turn down chocolate, I wasn't craving diet Coke constantly and my weight was a pound lower than it is today.
Today was a good day emotionally; my promotion was announced to the entire organization and my friends were there to congratulate me. So it should have been easy to feel good about myself and avoid the ice cream, right? Wrong! It was the perfect excuse... "I earned it." "It's a special treat." And then, I couldn't stop. The ice cream wasn't enough; I had to have milk duds, too. Did I really want them? No. Did they taste as good as I imagined? No. Did I need to eat the entire box for 340cal? Definitely not.

I felt really bad about it afterwards and forced myself to go to the gym. Hopefully that will be enough of a kick in the butt to get me back on track tomorrow.

Yesterday
Weight: 127.8lbs
Body fat: 24.1%

Today
Weight: 127.2lbs
Body fat: 24.8%

Days since last...
Coke (Oct 29th): 22 (22)
work lunch dessert (Nov 13th - cobbler): 7 (14)
chocolate (Nov 20th - milk duds): 0 (2)
dessert (Nov 20th - cookie dough ice cream): 0 (8)

I didn't really want that.

2008-11-19T17:30:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a rough day in terms of self control and the scale confirmed it. First, I had a piece of chocolate that I didn't really want. I thought to myself "This isn't as good as I was hoping; I should just throw it away." So, what did I do? Ate the whole thing. Why? I don't know. But it has to stop. Second, I went to a movie with some friends last night and was starving by the time we came out of the theatre. I could have easily just eaten the small granola bar that I had with me but, no, I had to have a huge slice of pizza at 10:30pm. I knew it was the wrong thing to do but was embarrassed to tell my friends that I didn't really want to go out to eat after I said I was so hungry. Again, stupid!

Today wasn't much better. I biked into work (good) but didn't plan my food or water well at all (bad) so I ended up snacking a ton all afternoon (bad) and now I feel a little ill (very bad). I'm sure part of it is probably the guilt and knowing that the scale is not going to be pretty again tomorrow morning. At least I have hockey tonight to try to burn some of it off.

I'm going to either run or bike in to work again tomorrow morning and make sure that I am more conscious of what I eat and drink.

Yesterday
Weight: 126.4lbs
Body fat: 25.5%

Today
Weight: 127.8lbs
Body fat: 24.1%

Days since last...
Coke (Oct 29th): 21 (21)
work lunch dessert (Nov 13th - cobbler): 6 (14)
chocolate (Nov 18th - Lindt): 1 (2)
dessert (Nov 9th - brownie and cookie at the game): 8 (8)

Feeling guilty

2008-11-18T15:17:00.000-08:00

This weekend was so beautiful and I took full advantage of it on Saturday with my rides. But, on Sunday I got caught up with a bunch of personal things and didn't get out. What a waste! I'm still feeling bad about it today. It's also a very busy week at work so I'm having a hard time trying to fit everything in now that the sun sets so early. I'm looking at my calendar now and it's not pretty. Wednesday morning I don't start until 10am so I may be able to go for a ride in the morning. I have a gap at lunch on Friday so I think I can fit it a swim then. I promised myself I'd start swimming again this week and I'm determined not to give up on that. Now I just need to find a day to run...

Weight wise, I've done pretty well the last couple of weeks. I've dramatically cut back on desserts and snacks and have tried really hard to eat only until I am full. So far, it seems to be working. I plateaued a little over the last few days but I think that's partially due to the lack of exercise. I still haven't really seen a difference in my clothing but I'm willing to give that a little more time. I popped the button on my skinny jeans last week (oops!) so I need to get them fixed and make sure that it doesn't happen again.

Sunday
Weight: 126.2lbs
Body fat: 23.5%

Monday
Weight: 126.6lbs
Body fat: 24.6%

Today
Weight: 126.4lbs
Body fat: 25.5%

Days since last...
Coke (Oct 29th): 20 (20)
work lunch dessert (Nov 13th - cobbler): 5 (14)
chocolate (Nov 18th - Lindt): 0 (2)
dessert (Nov 9th - brownie and cookie at the game): 7 (7)

Time to Start Planning

2008-11-16T22:57:00.000-08:00

The weather was unbelievably beautiful this weekend. We were able to go out in the evenings without a jacket and took advantage of it on Saturday. I did a low-key hill climb race up Metcalf Rd and then my boyfriend and I went to Russian Ridge for a mtb ride. The low-key races are definitely a lesson in humility. While I didn't come in last this week, I was still 7 minutes behind the winner and it was only a 20min ride! It only goes to show that I have a lot of room to improve, especially in my strength and power. Unfortunately, endurance isn't much of an asset in these races. :)

As I realized on Friday, I really need to start focusing on my training. Looking at this past week, I see a lot of hockey and one good run but not a lot more. This week my goal will be to add a mid-week ride and a swim. I'm also going to skip out on the low-key race next week so I must go for a longer ride on the weekend.

Friday
Weight: 126.4lbs
Body fat: 25.6%

Today
Weight: 126.2lbs
Body fat: 23.5%

Days since last...
Coke (Oct 29th): 18 (18)
work lunch dessert (Nov 13th): 3 (14)
chocolate (Nov 15th - Ghirardelli): 1 (1)
dessert (Nov 9th - brownie and cookie at the game): 5 (5)

Exercise recap from last week:
Sunday - walking around the Statue of Liberty :)
Monday - hockey
Tuesday - training
Wednesday - hockey
Thursday - run 1 1/4 hrs around Shoreline
Friday - Do the Du
Saturday - Metcalf low-key hill climb, mtb ride at Russian Ridge

Doing the Du

2008-11-14T13:28:00.000-08:00

It seems like all I can talk about lately is my weight so I'm going to focus on my exercise and training today.

On Fridays I take a spin/run class called "Do the Du". There are about 8 of us in the class along with our trainer. 5 weeks ago we rode for 10 minutes and then did a 2 mile time trial and since then have been doing different bricks. Next week, we do the time trial again. The workout isn't quite as good as one-on-one training but it is keeping me on the bike and running. The challenge of trying to keep up with others in the class is also great motivation. I definitely need to work on my power; I did a fairly long run yesterday and had nothing left for the hills this morning.

This weekend I plan to do another low-key hill climb race up Metcalf Rd. I think I've been on the bike once since my last race three weeks ago (yikes!) so this one's going to hurt. My goal is to not be the last woman up the hill tomorrow which is what happened on Quimby.

After that, I hope to go for a MTB ride with my boyfriend and do a short run on Sunday. The weather is supposed to be amazing this weekend so take advantage while you can.

Next week: Get back in the pool!!!

Yesterday
Weight: 127.6lbs
Body fat: 24.6%

Today
Weight: 126.4lbs
Body fat: 25.6%

Days since last...
Coke (Oct 29th): 16 (16)
work lunch dessert (Nov 13th): 1 (14)
chocolate (Nov 14th - chocolate samples): 0 (1)
dessert (Nov 9th - brownie and cookie at the game): 5 (5)

I need to read my post from yesterday...

2008-11-13T12:48:00.000-08:00

Whether is was stress or tiredness or plain old lack of control, the joy that I felt yesterday was completely taken apart today.
I had gained back the weight that I lost yesterday. And, while that's not surprising with how people's weight fluctuates daily, it was still disappointing. Not only that, but I allowed myself to have dessert at lunch today and now I feel terrible for it. Now I'm really back to the drawing board. I will absolutely go for a run this afternoon to try to help counter it.

Yesterday
Weight: 127.2lbs
Body fat: 25.0%

Today
Weight: 127.6lbs
Body fat: 24.6%

Days since last...
Coke (Oct 29th): 15 (15)
work lunch dessert Nov 13th): 0 (14)
chocolate (Nov 12th - chocolate samples): 0 (0)
dessert (Nov 9th - brownie and cookie at the game): 4 (4)