all together perfectly

pre-race

I headed up to Napa valley a few days early since me and some friends had rented a cabin for the whole week...I was excited...a little nervous...but mostly excited. By Friday night everyone in our little crazy, slanty cabin was there and some nervous excitement bounced around. Saturday consisted of a little workout where I was pleasantly surprised by my bike with a low HR and a high speed and a nice pace off into my run. I was feeling comfortable and confident.

We headed down to packet pickup and then drove the bike course backwards. T1 and T2 are not in the same place so it is a point to point bike. As we were driving we totally talked up the course: its rough roads, its pretty hilly, yea don't get too high expectations for your bike split...ect.

Being my first HIM my coach and i had sketched out possible ranges of times I might have, but I didn't know what to make of all of the times. Were they too fast? Could I do them? I just didn't know. And after talking to my coach we had discussed that I'd probably do around 3:15 on the course because of the hilliness. I was fine with this reality...but secretly sad too. I somewhere deep down thought I might be able to do 3 hours and the hilly bike course was taking the fun out of this possibility. But i let this desire go and realized there are other flatter courses that I might be able to achieve a 3 hour bike and let go of the thought. At the end of the day it didn't really matter the time...i had trained hard and I was going to give it my all and have fun. Time didn't really concern me...racing well and racing smart were more important.

swim like a fish

Amazingly I slept 6 full hours without waking up before the race. I even dreamed (i rarely remember my dreams)...it was pretty funny too since my dream was about going to the velodrome the night before the race and setting up my gears to ride and thinking: hmmm...i don't think my coach would like it if i did this...so I packed up my bike headed home. I started the day with a smile from that. Too random and funny.

The swim is upstream/down stream in the Russian river. It actually was pretty uneventful. I tend to swim at a stupid speed that no one else swims so I'm generally between the fast fishies and the really slow fishies in no man's land. I do remember thinking at one point: how fast do i have to go before i'm not stuck around people who will resort to the back stroke? I cannot tell you HOW many races I have been in where I have had to deal with a back stroker...and while I don't have a problem with people needing to do the back stroke, I know that if I were a little faster I wouldn't witness this.

Swim time...? There was no swim time, but I had an awfully long T1: 45:xx :-) Granted, I did actually have a ridiculously long T1. I was really struggling getting everything I needed on and at one point I just thought: screw it...this is MY day and if I need to order a pizza, do the laundry and have a picnic in T1...well...so be it. So that being said, I probably swam around 38-42ish. Which was great right where a solid swim time for me should be. I was pleased.

ride like you stole it

The bike course was rolling hills and so in some respects a little difficult to figure out what front chainring to be in most of the time. That got a little annoying, and I tried to be smart so as not to drop my chain. I tend to be quite talented at that...and managed to get through the bike without this reality.

At about mile 30 I realized my avg speed was in the mid 18mph and my HR seemed to be on the lower end of things....like 10 beats lower. So for a minute I got a little excited and sorta wanted to put the hammer down, go a little harder and see how fast I could have a bike split...but equally I got a little nervous about the fact that I was going to have to run a half marathon afterwards and since i was MORE than happy with my time and pretty stoked to see a low HR...i just let the idea of going faster fade and saved more for the run.

I kept playing leap frog with this one guy from the 29 and younger age group. Keep in mind...he was really 4-8 minutes AHEAD of me...but anyway...i'd drop him for awhile and then he'd catch back up...and then pass me for a minute or two, but I swear he'd then just slow down and I would have to re-pass him. I think me 'chicking' him multiple times frustrated him to a degree because after we had to dismount our bikes and run the timing mat ...he RAN around me to hit the mat first. Really? really REALLY? Did he just do that?Sigh...that is so lame.

I loved the bike course...i kept thinking: this is MY bike course. As I pulled into the T2 area I looked down and saw: 2:58....WOW. All I kept thinking was: 3 hours bike split from the girl who could barely hold an avg speed of 16.5mph in a sprint distance a year ago?? I was all smiles...

how many picnics in one day?
OK...T2...ridiculously long...almost SIX minutes, but that was due to needing the bathroom and almost forgetting all of my gels before I left the transition so I had to head back to my rack. Whatever...it was my day.

running on the surface of the sun
It was hot...no...IT.WAS.HOT! People have reported that the temps were somewhere in the range of 90-100 degrees.The course is rolling and...well...did I mention it was hot? I had worried about this and over heating a lot and talked a lot to different people. I had a strategy...water and ice...water and ice. I took ice at every aid station I could and shoved it down the jersey and in the hat and would pour a cup of water on me and drink a cup. There tended to be a little fiddling at times with the ice from the volunteers and when I saw my time of: 2:01 I thought:Could i have gone sub two without the ice?? And then I realized, if i had skipped the ice I probably would have overheated and gone much slower. So really?...what's two minutes if it keeps you running?

When I ran down the finishers shoot I saw the total time on the clock and knew I had gone sub 6 hours. 5:55! I was elated and ecstatic. I knew it was a possibility if I had the perfect day but to realize that I actually had the perfect day was amazing. All that hard work came together perfectly...it was really...REALLY... awesome....I don't actually have the words for it.

post race thoughts
I actually have too many post race thoughts to mull over and emote...but I guess the biggest thing is how much I surprised myself in my training and the fact that I am discovering my athletic nature. Sunday was awesome and I can't stop smiling. I was telling my friend Matt today about it and he just looked at me and said:you're glowing! I guess I am. :-)

I did...

Just returned from a week in Sonoma county for Vineman 70.3 and it.was.awesome. Here is a very brief overview of the loooooooong race report to come, but I need to go to bed right now.

In my last post I mad a few goals for my race and I DEFINITELY achieved them all.

I did...

• have fun...on more than one occasion had spectators comment on the big smile plastered on my face.
  
• thank the volunteers...they were awesome
  
• smile on occasion ...actually...most of the time I couldn't get the smile off of my face
  
• try to encourage others on the course
  
• leave it all on the course...I did this so 'well' that I ended up being ridiculously goofy after the race because I couldn't think straight... it was almost embarrassing.
  
• keep my ego in check on the bike...mission accomplished
  
• drink, eat, drink, eat, throw water on me, use ice to cool me during and after the race...did it to such a degree that I actually raced the whole race.
  
• Finish...with a big smile on my face
• And the amazing part of the day? Accomplishing my 'reach' time goal of sub 6 hours and finished it in 5:55!!! It.was.awesome

more later...

I will...

Tapering for vineman has made me ansty, but life does not stop for us as we move towards goals either. I'm in the middle of condo buying, big equipment buying at work, big project at work, team chaos with crazy people, some other odds and ends yet the real one that most likely has me the most ansty is the reality that my sister went into the hospital this weekend, had surgery yesterday and now...they still don't know what's wrong. Life does not stop.

She made me laugh today when I was on the phone with her because she was so bummed that she had to miss her first 5K because of needing to...you know...go to the hospital and all that. She joked: I sure have bad excuses for missing my first race. All I really wanted was the t-shirt.

The thing is, i'm bummed for her too. I've been helping her all spring...psudo coaching her by giving her more interesting workouts at the gym so she doesn't go completely crazy and she's gotten so much stronger, fitter and leaner. I'm so proud of her. Especially when she got all excited about signing up for this 5K that she wanted to run/walk. She even thought about doing a super sprint this summer. But many times our plans are really just that...ours. They aren't the plans that life has laid out. Too often I think I actually have a 'say' in what those plans are...but many times I do not. And...life does not stop.

But...life... sometimes in weird ways does put things into perspective. While some of this endurance stuff really is crazy I think I find some beauty in that. When it hurts it's because I can push my limits because my body is healthy enough to let me. That is something that the past year I have come to truly recognize is a privilege not a right. So in light of many learnings from this year and people I have bumped into I have come up with various goals for my race.

I will...

• have fun...i don't get paid to do this, it better be fun
• thank the volunteers
• smile on occasion (even if it hurts)
• encourage someone else
  
• leave it all on the course
• be smart about my pacing and try to keep my ego in check on the bike
• drink, eat, drink, eat, throw water on me, use ice to cool me during and after the race
• Finish
  
• make some time goals, but not let them dictate whether or not I had a 'good' day
  
• remember that I GET to do this

I am really excited, but i'm also really wound up right now due to much of the aforementioned chaos so i'm glad I'm leaving a few days early to unwind before the race.

misplaced nerves and Tour trash talk

I'm 10 days out from Vineman 70.3 and the other day when i stopped for a second I discovered....

i'm nervous about...RACING the velodrome in a month.

what?

Yep...the other day I had this HUGE wave of nervousness about what is NOT in front of me for awhile. Um...need to check in with current state of real life.

And because i'm rather excitable, full of too much energy I have also discovered I will randomly talk to strangers. At work today two guys (i have NEVER seen in my life)...were in front of me in line to get coffee...and they are doing what I call: The Tour Trash Talk.

Tour Trash Talk is the invested discussion about the riders in the tour...what they may or may not do on the next stage...what team is doing what...what politics are going on...and generally acting like those of us who are having the conversation are actually involved in the comings and goings of the Tour. I do it...those of us who follow it do it...and you know what....its really FUN.

I love the Tour and it is the ONLY time during the year I wish I A)had a TV that I could do more than watch DVDs on and B)had DVR. I don't watch TV, don't have cable so generally just have to watch small clips about the Tour online. I somehow survive, but am considering that next year this will not be the case. (gasp...i've not actually had a TV I could watch proper television since 2002)

Back to the guys in line...due to my current apparent lack of internal filter that tells me: NO...we do NOT BUTT into the conversation of TWO random strangers who are merrily having a nice conversation with out YOU. I suddenly discover that I have to join their conversation about what they think Astana is going to do on this next stage.

They let me join the conversation (because what other choice did they have?)...but definitely look at me sideways. And I even got the: Do you ride? Question. I should have gone for the fringe sport in my reply...yea...track bikes. (hahahahah)

You see...i have no one who will PLAY Tour Trash talk with me at work. My cube mate thinks i'm nuts...my group mates equally so. Lately i've been dying to talk the Tour with someone. Even though I really only know enough about all the riders to actually sound like I know who's who...its just so much FUN to hash out the previous stage or what might happen in the next stages. Mix in all the excitement about the Tour with my current phase of taper and well...i might as well be an excitable 5 year old waiting for Christmas.

I wonder what people would think of me just skipping up and down the hallways. :-)

Things that make me happy...

Different things make each of us happy and I don't think one thing or one person can really ever make a person happy...as in a permanent disposition of happiness. But there are times when happy things do happen and I think it is good to drink those in and enjoy them because this world can be harsh so much of the time that it is good to reflect on the good things and be thankful for those.

I've had a very "Things that make me happy..."kind of week even though it has been rather stressful on MANY fronts and too many times I have raised my voice at people when trying to make a point, rolled my eyes at interactions(ok maybe not DURING, but surely after), and wanted to throttle too many people. Given THAT disclaimer...i still found some happy things to be happy about.

Things that make me happy...

• Riding my 'real' racing gear at the track, 50x15, and lovin it (even if it hurts a little more).
  
• Not getting dropped in a paceline as frequently and mainly getting dropped when I would screw up and gap myself off the paceline
• Seeing my actual Garmin watch (which is known to LIE ), register its highest number to date at the velodrome: 30.2mph (which was probably more like 33mph)
  
• Riding the velodrome and seeing constant improvement
  
• Seeming like I have boundless energy and I haven't even started taper
• Discovering that the condo I am in the process of buying is within 2 blocks of the coolest coffee house. I knew I was in heaven when they had TURKEY ruben sandwiches as well as doubling as a psudo-wine bar in the evenings.
  
• Having said condo inspected only to discover the ONE minor repair that is needed on the place may cost me less than 100 dollars and it is as cute as I remember it.
  
• Going for a 'gossip' bike ride that is focused on...chatting...chatting...ooops there's a big hill...and chatting and generally enjoying the ride and catching up with a good friend.
• Gearing up to run my longest run i have ever done, 16miles, and looking forward to the final 3 mile because my good friend is going to join me
• Having good friends who enjoy similar activities
  
• After making my announcement about IMCDA to family and friends and discovering that many seem inclined to be my ironspectating section. (ppppsst...it's still open...any takers?)
  

It is good...

367 days...

It was a normal Tuesday. Nothing special about it. I was checking my email and reading some blogs and happened to find myself blog stocking someone's blog who had just finished IMCDA. I looked at my watch and realized that it was more than 24 hours since the Ironman Coeur d' Alene 2010 slots had opened. And for whatever reason I found myself on the website looking through the finishers and eventually looked at the sign up page for the event because I thought: There would be NO way it would still be open? hahaha...NOT that I would sign up for it...errr

I thought that m-dot races usually sold out in MINUTES...so i thought that it was very odd that at 9pm on a Tuesday 36 hours after registration was opened up that it should still be open. (FYI, I’m writing this on Thursday and they are STILL open) I thought it might be a glitch with Active. But.... it's not. After an hour or so of thinking about it...i realized i have actually thought about doing IMCDA for years because if I were to do an Ironman, Idaho is my home. So somehow that makes more ‘sense’ IF I was going to do an ironman...this would be the one. Granted NOTHING...nothing...about an Ironman is logical…so I’m kidding myself trying imply i had a 'logical' reason for chosing this event.

Right then I wanted to just go to bed and just not sign up...but after an hour of deliberation i knew i would be disappointed if I let it go. A few months ago in the middle of my current training for Vineman 70.3, I had a conversation with someone who said: you have to at least do one ironman for the experience. And i got to thinking….And thinking. And back in April i had very seriously toyed with making sure that I had my finger on the computer when registration opened on June 22nd...but then I got overtrained...and then I thought triathlons were silly...

My plan was to start racing at the velodrome after July. Actually…its still IS my plan and something I WILL do. Although, I think there was a point I even contemplated stopping a lot of this endurance silliness. And even considered never being a triathlete again. really. ever. (granted I like to be a drama queen in my head, so I don’t think I would have actually ever done that) I had plans to be a roadie and velodrome girl and life would be good. So somehow i sorta thought that maybe it was 'meant to be' if it was still open 36 hours after registration opened. We MUST be in a recession.

WTF did I just do?

yes...2.4 miles of swimming, 112 miles of biking and 26.2 miles of running...all in one day...all in less than 17 hours...oye it's pretty crazy and pretty silly. But as I put it to someone else..."people climb mountains solely because they are there and well...Everest is much further away, more expensive and I don't think I would like sleeping in the snow or climbing over dead bodies. "

So...yes...I will embark upon 140.6 miles of insanity in 367 days.

In the meantime…I’ve got half of that silliness to focus on. Just under 4 weeks til Vineman 70.3! And I am….EXCITED.

just how many needles?

Back in May I fell again on my right knee, which began to aggravate my (least) favorite injury my psoas. But for weeks it was just sorta aggravated and then a week chalk full of cycling REALLY aggravated it...as in: i'm trying to not throw up while releasing this trigger point...type of aggravation.

So...i decided to try acupuncture. It's easy to be skeptical about acupuncture, but if you find a good sports acupuncture person they really can help. Especially if there are muscle imbalances and you need muscles to fire correctly as well as muscle spasms. My friend had recommended a sports acupuncturist in the area so I decided to give it a try. I've had it before but wasn't really that impressed with the previous person. This time...i walk in: it's your right hip right? Yep...it is.

She poked and prodded me, noting that my right hip is actually correctly slightly tilted anterior-ly while my left hip is tilted posterior-ly. She found all sorts of interesting things going on in my body, not necessarily related directly to the psoas injury, but not unimportant either. The body tells a story even if you don't want it to. It will give away all of your secrets if you have the right person who can actually read all of them. From some of the comments she made I think she can.

She then proceeded to poke me with a zillion needles as one would expect in an acupuncture session, but she also did a modality called "cupping"

I have laugh this guy in the video and his comments related to this modality that is it soooo relaxing... oh no...it doesn't HURT...um...yea...LIAR. I have one spot that is a bright purple circle and then a region that is very purple and it was very uncomfortable. (still is a bit) The purpose of this is to help move stagnant blood that is in the interstitial regions that stagnates which can happen due to training, ect. The practitioner is also an iron distance triathlete so she understands the demands of training as well as not making me feel like i'm 'too hard on my body' (as one massage therapist told me a year ago).

The interesting part was her trying to get my glutes to activate...at the beginning...not so much and by the end were firing. Now that they actually are being activated while exercising...lets just say after my 9 mile run on Sunday my butt is very sore. But glute activation is actually what I need long term to happen to counter this silly hip issues.

So i think i'm on a good path to both holding off this injury from becoming full blown before Vineman half...as well as figuring out what my body needs to be strengthened equally to be better functioning with less injury in the future.

please...just take my money...

So...awhile back I mentioned the whole "trying to buy a condo" thing...well that didn't work out so well previously...but I found a cute new place that does need some updating, but great price, love the location. Little itty bity glitch...sorta. LITERALLY half a block away from what is my default bike shop. Please...here is my pay check...just cash it. It will be less painful.

This is the shop where i bought my track bike...it's a fixie focused bike shop and the club I will race for when I start racing at the velodrome. (did I just say...when?)

Yes...actually...i did say when. And that when is not too far away actually. August = when. A second night of racing has started on Friday nights and they have added a women's category. And know what...if we could get all the women to show up at the same time...there might be a field of 10-20 women out there. How cool is that?

Funny thing about it...i SWORE up and down and to anyone who would listen that I would NEVER actually get out there and race...ever....ever...ever. (granted I don't think anyone believed me) I bought my track bike with the one intention of being able to ride the velodrome when I wanted to all winter and that was my only intention.Really...it was... Ride all winter take classes til...forever, but race? no way... So I bought just a basic entry level track bike...nothin fancy...just standard entry level beauty. And that is true...he is a beauty. sigh :-)

And my beauty just got an upgrade i CANNOT wait to try out. NEW CHAINRING!!!!! I just bought him a 50...I have a 48x15 geared up right now and typically ride with that...but I do have a flip flop hub and can run a 48x16 if I want to. So...going to gear up another 4 gear inches to a 50x15! YEA for leg strength. Only concern i have pushing a bigger gear is that reality that I have no 'jump' when we start. I'm pathetic on a smaller gearing until I can get up to speed so a bigger gear is just harder with getting a 'jump' at the beginning. Will have to see how it goes. More plyometrics?

I took the train to Disneyland! (and then...rode my bike home)

This weekend was the end of two pretty heavy training weeks with a culmination of me taking the train to Disneyland/Anaheim and then riding my bike back with Chris and another guy from the tri club. 81miles...longest bike ride ever for me and it.was.awesome. The day was perfect, overcast and not too windy. We all just kept saying: itsn't this such a great ride! Ok...at mile 70 i was hurting a bit, but it didn't matter and Chris somehow convinced me that I really should do that 2 mile brick that I really didn't want to do. But just 'something' to get the legs movin, nothing special.

If anything those two miles gave me huge confidence about Vineman 70.3...ran off those 80miles even with things hurting, into 9 and sub 9pace which is where i'm hoping to hit for my race. Very happy.

Told my family about my adventures only to hear: you are nuts. I'm used to hearing that now.

Unfortuantely since late last week the ol hip/psoas issues have been back. Not inducing actual hip pain or knee pain as it has in the past, but lots of tenderness and LOTS of massive trigger points on my belly and into my hip. Not fun especially when it is contracting and aching and it feels literally like I ate a rock.

Been trying to use some massage therapy to help it out...and today my massage therapist and I further continued to try to find the root cause of some of this. While the spasm was profoundly noticed after I fell in Nov 2007 I actually have believed for a long time I have some sort of functional leg length discrepency. My massage therapist noticed today that while standing, my injured side is shorter than the other even though my hips are aligned and in the same plane. PT's have noticed this as well as chiropractors, even though my legs hip joint to heel are the same length...MY question is: WHERE IS THE ROOT CAUSE OF THIS LENGTH DISCREPANCY??!!

So far...no one knows. It doesn't make sense (at least to me) and really my massage therapist just keeps giving me 'homework' every time I see him to try to help with the psoas. (like I don't have enough things to do?) Last time it was just to stretch out my QL region where you make the number 4 with your legs and reach for your toes. Ok...easy enough...this time? 1)I need to work on exhaling...um...what? 2)And I need to go to yoga. Of course a yoga teacher would tell me that, but I think he does have a point. ug...back to yoga...i do try to love it...but if I'm honest about it, I don't.

the track....sigh...

I do want to clarify from the last post...and in general...while riding at the velodrome for whatever physics related reason it is quite easy to go over 20mph. 30mph does start to get up there speedwise, but it still isn't *that* fast compared to other crazy speedsters out there...i've seen many a speedy sport hit well into the high 30s motorpaced and i'm sure some were going faster. It does feel pretty fast, but it's not like trying to go that speed on the road. It's not the same for whatever reason.

Sometimes I forget that riding the velodrome is a little on the 'fringe' side even for bike sports. Today I walked into a local bike shop here, that is more tri focused. But since I won that awesome 100 dollars the other week, i've got some money to burn there and I was trying to figure out what to spend it on.

I walk in the door and warned the guy that I had a bunch of questions and start with: Do you guys have chain rings? I'm looking for a 50...my track bike is set up with a 48x15 and I'd really like a bigger chain ring.

blink, blink, blink

Him: um...i'm not sure we carry just chain rings...we have crankset. In the end we found out that they do...but I did get stared out blankly for a bit...no 50 sadly. The conversation turned into Bla, bla, bla..how often do you ride the track??? This seemed to be quite the curiosity. Once again...i realized i tend to do weird things, apparently the velodrome is one of those weird things.

The point...oh yes...the point of the post (if there is one)...they have started another day of racing at the track that is for beginner racers/juniors/spinters and women. OYE...i want in! Yes please! No...i'm not actually going to start racing til after Vineman HIM...but i went tonight to help out and got to be the lap girl and the bell ringer girl (you ring a bell to notify racers of the last lap). Let's just say, i will be CHOMPING at the bit in Aug to race. Very excited and I know i'm going to get my butt kicked, but i'm still super excited.

FINALLY

Mr. Garmin FINALLY decided to register 30.0mph at the velodrome tonight. Granted, i was actually going 32mph off the back of a motorcycle...details, details. Chris pointed out that Mr. Garmin has issues at the velodrome because of the small circle situation. Mr. Garmin doesn't like going round and round. He gets confused with all the circle action. Suck it up Mr. Garmin. PUUUULEZE.

Did a 'preview' of the Vineman 70.3 bike course on a computrainer on Tuesday. OWCH. Lots of sitting on the trainer and it's kinda like riding a fixie for hours on end since you can't stop pedaling...but gave me a good idea of what the course would be like. Rolling-ish hills with two hills in at 25 and 45...but not too big of a deal. Overall the evening went well. I did practice my nutrition, but neglected to practice my actual pacing...um...HR a little on the higher side of things. Not sure I could have then run a full 13.1 miles after almost 3 hours in my Z4...details, details. Now I know better.

Gnarly week going well. I discovered that spending 5 bucks on what I call 'grandma' compression socks at CVS do actually work after a hard workout. Or at least my legs were much spring-ier than they would be for a tempo run after such a hard trainer session the day before.

And saturday...i'm riding my bike back from DISNEYLAND!! That's just fun to say :-) ohhhh yea, and 80 mile train ride. Take the train to Anaheim and then ride the bike back. Crazy...crazy.

It's gonna be a little gnarly

Basically 5 weeks until I start taper for Vineman 70.3 and 6.5 weeks til the race so the rest of my training looks a little like this: two weeks of gnarly training (for me), one week of less gnarly training, two more weeks of gnarly training, two week of taper. So I am focused on the following things:

• Getting enough sleep (already botched this one up last night when I couldn't stay alseep...arg!!)
• Getting enough food. (I have trouble eating enough calories once done with a heavy workout. )
  
• Replenishing my glycogen stores within 30mins of training
• Drinking enough fluids during the day and during workouts
• Dialing in my nutrition (Pretty close to this, but trying few new things)
• Stretching and taking proper care of muscles with ice baths, massages, ect.
  
• oh...and having fun

Few cool things going on...I am previewing the bike course on a computrainer next week. I'm pretty excited for that one. It will calm any anxiety about the bike I have (which remarkably is little).

Also what is nuts is there are a lot of firsts for me over the next 5 weeks before the actual race. First time riding 80 miles, First time running 16 miles, First time sitting on my trainer for 3ish hours (while I want to preview the bike course i'm not so sure how I really feel about being on the trainer that long).

So I doubt i'll be around much on the blogsphere here soon...mainly because of that whole: get enough sleep thing. But I'll do my best.

Happy training

YES!!!!

I typically never win anything. Raffles...races...whatever. It's really not that big deal, but it would be nice if I had my name drawn in a raffle for something....Tonight at the club meeting, i WON 100 dollar gift certificate to one of the local bike shops. Talk about making my DAY...or WEEK...or COUPLE OF WEEKS. I'm already plotting what to buy. (Probably a new saddle for my track bike)

I've been having a particularly rough go of it lately. Maybe a little over trained, maybe not enough sleep, way too much stress which has turned me into a cranky, crabby girl who is notsopleased with training and UTTERLY exhausted. I'm told it will pass. I'm still waiting for it to pass. Waiting...

I will say winning the gift certificate definitely lifted me and my crabby mood. AND my friend BG even won a 50 dollar gift certificate. YEA!

While in many ways this week has sorta been down in the dumps, one of the highlights this week was the best-est trigger point massage...ever. And if you follow any of my yammerings you might know...i hate massages. They are uncomfortable. They usually hurt...a LOT. There isn't a lot of relaxing involved for me. And while this massage wasn't exactly pain free, my massage therapist somehow knew my edge and was able to keep the massage not too painful but work out a lot of my trigger points.

Granted by the end of an hour we were nowhere near done...and my neck even spazed out the next day as it does. I kinda knew I needed more work so I'll be going back next week and we will focus on the neck a little more.

I think I need my head checked

Today my training was: 'ride 50 miles hard' ...zone 3/4 hard. I'm not so good at pushing myself by myself at times...i definitely lolligag way too much on my own...so I recruited (or suckered) my two fast rodie friends Elaine and Mark into being my rabbits. They are faster than me...so it was good to just try to keep up as best as I could...but I also realized at mile 10 when I saw my HR reading 171...i might need to chill it out a little bit. So I dropped back a bit but tried to keep them in my sights as much as possible.

The other part of this was: do a big hill at mile 40...considering the route we decided on,mile 40 turned into: Torrey Pines. Torrey Pines is what people like to do hill repeats around here because well its a steep and reasonably long hill. Since it was a little steeper than necessary we decided on the outside of Torrey and not the gnarly inside of Torrey that I RAN up during La Jolla half...but it still is a big grade for 1+ miles. In truth, I've never done hill repeats on Torrey...i've only heard fabled tales of them. But as far as the outside hill is concerned, I realized today I really need my head checked. My little secret...I fell in love with that hill...i did. In fact I am now wondering when I can next do some actual hill repeats on that hill. Who likes doing hill repeats??!

Something is seriously wrong with my head.

My turn

Trying to buy a condo again...we are up to counter offer number 3...the ball is in my court right now. I don't like this very much. More will be known i think in the next few days. Yep...i really thought that closing escrow RIGHT around the time that I would also be tapering for Vineman 70.3 would be super good timing. How about throwing in a big work trip the week after Vineman too with lots of insane planning that has to go into that? All or nothing for me I guess. Just mash it all together...right?

Realized that I have triathlons on the calendar for a total of eight months this year...March-Oct. I also realized...that's a REALLY long time for me...i think things are going to be shaken up after Vineman. Been having a lot of funny conversations in the past week that have all ended with me saying: Sure, I'd love to...but not until after Vineman in August. I like all my training and am TOTALLY enjoying it...but anytime I have to say that to other people or even to myself i do feel a little bit like a little kid and my mom won't let me come out and play. Sigh...i do have some serious athletic ADD. And no...i can't start them now...not enough hours in the day or in the week. Too many fun things to do!

My schedule said: Have fun

I loved him...i did...my first road bike that is. He was totally ghetto. I found him for 75 bucks at a pawn shop in Puallup, WA when I was an undergrad. Took a BUS 45 minutes to try the bike out, and eventually bought the bike . Why? Some days I still am not sure. I had a vague notion in undergrad that I wanted to learn how to 'ride' a road bike or something. I think I even bought a 'Bicycling' magazine and took a PE class...but that class didn't last too long. Extenuating circumstances sorta killed that idea.

He wasn't ridden much our first 8 years together. And then...triathlon came into my life and he was dusted off. I was told that I somehow wound up with an entry level racing bike from the early 80s. The down-tube friction shifters were the sexiest part of the bike.

But sometimes things just don't work out. It may have been the fact that we weren't the right fit for each other. Also...he was a little bit of a pest at times too and I think he tried to make my life difficult on purpose, typically during a race. I once wound up in the middle of a race with only my front two chain rings for gears. I think it was around that time that I knew we wouldn't last much longer.

Why am I reminiscing about my old bike? I don't know, I think it is because every time I get my stuff together for a race I think about that very FIRST race I did. Six seasons ago...sprint distance. No clue what I was doing, but had pulled together a 10 week beginner sprint distance training plan from trinewbies.com and somehow trusted it would get me across the finish line. I was so nervous...and the awe and wonder of that first race was a little scary to me. I finished in something like 1:45...and you would have thought I won the race by how excited I was by that accomplishment. I'm a goofball like that.

I like to think about that first experience because it helps me remind me of how far I have come and how it IS a big deal for someone doing their first race even though it has become a little hum drum when the race isn't an A race for me. Last night I didn't even start packing my transition bag until 10pm...i knew I should have been in bed, but meeh...it didn't happen.

Today was the TCSD club race and it was great. Two weeks ago when i ran La Jolla, i prepped, i focused... i thought about PRing...i WANTED to PR...i tapered...i fussed about the weather a hundred times a day...i was nervous...i was excited...and in the end got what i was after. I PR'd. La Jolla was not quite an A race...but maybe an A- race or B+ race on my list. Vineman 70.3 is my A race. I still brought my A-game though...and it was a sweet accomplishment. Today's race was about a C or D race. I had barely thought about it this week.

Today I went to the club race with the one intention my coach had put on my schedule: Have Fun. Granted waking up at 445 AM is not fun to me...but as my alarm went off I reminded myself: have fun.

The race wasn't that eventful...few kicks to the head in the swim (normal)...the bike was pretty decent from what I can tell my avg speed was somewhere between 19.5-20mph(really flat course on Coronoado)...we didn't have too much wind, but on the way back what little wind there was, was to our backs.

I had fun playing the game I call: Can we go???(yes...we...me, myself and I ;-)) It goes like this: Can we go...23mph?...Can we go...24mph?...Can we go?... 25 mph...25.5mph...26? In the end I believe my max speed was 25.7mph. Sprint distance races are fun because I know I can push as hard as I want and while it might impact my run a little bit...it kinda doesn't matter.

I played a similar game with the run of: Can we go? I ended up with an average pace of 7:59mpm which was totally awesome in my book! First race I have ever had a sub 8mpm pace...for a tri or even a running race!

So total time...1:17:32...I know I PR'd the run and I may have PR'd the bike for a sprint distance too (i don't have the official results yet and me and Mr. Garmin were having a disagreement during the race). The total time is the fastest sprint race I have ever done...but those are tricky to compare against since distances always vary a little bit. My last PR on a sprint was last October...I was 5 minutes faster this time. Nice.

This PR just sorta snuck up on me...out of nowhere...but you know what? It's still a great feeling.

I know all of the huge improvements I have ALREADY seen this season wouldn't have been possible without the help and encouragement of my coach. Finding the right person who works with the way you think, the way you process information, and the way you train is completely worth it. I never thought I would see such huge improvements so quickly. I'm excited to see what the rest of the season holds.

CASUALTY ON THE TRACK!

FORTUNATELY...the casualty on the track was no rider....but a suicidal squirrel. You would think that they know better since they live on the infield of the velodrome. We were doing a paceline burn-out where the speed of the paceline gets faster and faster until you can't keep up and you 'pop' off the paceline...leaving the fastest people at the end. I think we were still warming up at that point, I was near the front of the group when I saw the squirrel starting to try to dart up the track. We were probably going about 25mph...he had no chance.

I was just glad it wasn't my tire that took him down. One of the bigger guys had the misfortune of being the squirrel killer for the evening but it was probably a good thing that HE hit it and not someone smaller like me...the rider to squirrel ratio was better and more favorable for not causing a crash. The next time around I was pulling the paceline and was a little concerned that the squirrel might be squished into the track or something, but fortunately he had slide down the track and onto the apron. The guys in charge managed to move him and give him a proper burial. Stupid squirrel.

The rest of class was pretty awesome. I'm getting a LOT...A LOT better at holding the tire in front of me, drafting, and getting stronger class by class. It's really awesome to watch my progress. My favorite part of tonight's class was a 5lap motorpaced sprint where the first 4 laps are a motorpaced paceline and then the last lap is a sprint. We had to do this 3x. I hung on the wheel ahead of me really tight, no gaps...after each sprint was able to hop back into the paceline behind the motorcycle and even came in 3rd on one sprint!

I even got a nice compliment tonight...we were discussing speed and one guy said: yea but you are getting stronger. It does kinda hurt whenever you are in the front the paceline.

Awww...I never thought I'd be proud to know that I can put a little hurt into the group when I am pulling the paceline. Funny things to be excited about.

As per usual...i love the track. Nothing more to say here.

What an awesome day!

The quick and dirty: La Jolla Half marathon was today...According to my garmin= 1:54:32 (granted I also ran 13.2 miles but that is expected...can't run all the tangents and there is always some zig-zagging). Previous half marathon PR in 2006: 1:58:14. A PR by roughly 3:15 on a very hilly course (1800 ft of elevation gain/loss)!!! It.was.awesome!!

The long report:
My running has been improving a lot this season and it has been a lot of fun to watch and challenge myself with it. It's been exciting, but I recently have realized that as my running has been coming along well...I didn't know if it was coming along well enough to PR on such a hilly course. I really wanted the PR and knew I could PR on a flat course, but this one? I had a suspicion that if I had good weather (check), I felt good (check) and it all came together (double check) that I could PR. But races are sorta exciting in a way because....you never know what is going to happen. It is a big surprise in a way.

Being obsessive as any other racer leading into a race...I probably checked the weather report at least a few (hundred) times every day to see how saturday's race would be. Last year it was HOT and in the high 80s...this year...perfect 60ish and at one point was supposed to be overcast...but some winds. (which in my opinion is prefect running weather...not too hot and not too sunny). In the end sunny/coolish/and a slight ocean breeze....pretty much perfection.

I am my own sherpa
Last year the race ran out of water, having run the race last year KatieB told me to carry my own water. I didn't really want to in all honesty, but I also knew that if I got myself dehydrated...even if the race went fine...i'd be mad at myself...so I carried my water...my nutrition...my cell phone (for after)...my key to my car...you know....whatever else I could cram in there. ;-) It wasn't an ideal situation, but it was what it was.

In the end there was enough water for where I was running in the race, but it was questionable to me if people at the back would have enough.

Amazingly there really isn't a lot to tell about the race. It all kinda blurred together and went by pretty fast too! There is a gnarly hill in the middle that is a 420 ft climb over a mile...that was...gnarly...but ok. The beginning of the race and the end flew by. This is only my 4th half marathon ever, but what I find the most interesting I felt the strongest for it during all parts of the race as well as it was mentally one of the easiest for me too.

My friend Sam is a runner and we were chatting yesterday before the race. She is a fearless downhill runner and during our conversation I told her I would just channel her for every downhill. So on every downhill I thought: RUN LIKE SAM! I think that in part is why I did have some fantastic downhill times.

My coach came down for the race and even ran with me for few bits of the race...which was completely appreciated.

Overall an awesome day. I had some friends come out to the race to cheer me on and go out for breakfast. It was great to share a great day with good friends.

Offically taper

My friends and i in grad school called it 'taper madness' because you do go a little crazy during taper. I've tapered some for Sunday's race, but it hasn't really been that bad. I've been more tired randomly than usual...fell asleep in my car for 10 minutes yesterday as I tried to talk myself into my swim workout...which I did...and it did go well in the end.

But the part of taper I forgot: the shopping

My friends and I joked about this during grad school. I don't think i ever really succumbed to this phenomenon at the time, but one friend when she was tapering for a marathon...bought a bike. Another friend during marathon taper bought a bunch random things. I sorta could reign it in just purely from the fact that I had not money to spend or even pretend to spend so 'splurging' on a candy bar really wasn't going crazy shopping. That was just a normal stressful day.

But today it happened, and it didn't occur to me until I came home with the most random things:skirt, jeans, ear phones, new wallet...a PASTA STRAINER...a small mirror, no two of those, a tank top.

ooooookkkkaaaaaaaaaay.

None of them actually can be considered a 'splurge' purchase (ok...maybe the skirt, but it was on sale and justifiable seeing that very little of my wardrobe fits me very well anymore...everything is getting too big) as I had been meaning to get all of them at some point I just had been too busy and in all truth...i hate shopping.

Still have a few odds and ends I still need to hunt down...in time.

Should I be nervous?

Sunday: Scattered showers and a high of 62...winds West 12mph.

I'm not so worried about the possibility of rain...i did go to undergrad near Seattle. I know I won't melt if I get rained on, but the wind...hmmmmm...not so sure about that one. Everything else is pretty awesome running weather. Overcast, 60ish...very nice. Not like this last weekend where I spent Sunday in August like conditions at an Earth Day festival trying to convince people that science is good and by learning about it they can help the environment. It was pretty hot though.

This Sunday is La Jolla Half Marathon. I can't decide if I should be nervous or not. I'm tapering for it...so I am sure some of the antsy-ness will settle in come later in the week.La Jolla is a hilly half marathon with a pretty gnarly hill at mile 6...420 ft of climbing in a mile and a lot of other hills along the way. It doesn't sound like that much, but it is a pretty nasty hill. I did preview it a few weeks ago on my long run, it'll be interesting.

I think what has come up the most with me about this race is the FACT it is hilly and the reality that this is the first time post psoas injury/post grad school/and into a new life that I have actually trained for a season.

In 2006 I trained for and went sub 2 for a half mary at Hartford, but between 2006 and now I: fell down the stairs (and subsequently stopped running for a month or so), gradschool went down hill pretty fast over the next 8 months Jan 2007-Aug2007, I finally graduated Aug 2007, I moved to SD Sept 2007, I injured my psoas Nov 2007, I thought about quitting triathlons April 2008, My training philosopy from April 2008-Dec2008 was pretty much summed up in one word: whatever.

I did some crossfit, i rode my bike when I felt like it, I met up with KatieB. on Friday's to ocean swim (but rarely actually swam in a pool otherwise), I fell in love with the velodrome and BOUGHT a track bike. And in someways looking back on where I was personally and emotionally post-gradschool...it was probably the best thing for me to do: whatever.

Things started to shift in the fall...I signed up for Vineman 70.3, (granted...I should say I signed up again because in 2008 my hip was not getting better fast and it just wasn't the right time for me to tackle the HIM distance yet) I became part of Team Barney Butter (and part sponsored), I hired a coach (which I never in a million years thought I would every do) and now I am actually training.

But the funny thing about actually training is i'm actually getting faster. Imagine that...funny how that works sometimes. I'm running really well right now and I realized the other day I'm kinda pissed La Jolla isn't flatter because I know I would PR on it if it were a flat course. I almost PR'd 13.1 miles the other week when I was just doing my long run...just one minute off and I wasn't really trying.

Granted with the monster downhill after the gnarly uphill...anything can happen. I don't actually think it is completely out of reach, but I do need to have a good day to make it happen. So i'm hoping for a good day.

Am I nervous...ask me in a few days.