Things are...uh...interesting around here at the moment. Had my first D.N.S. for a race (did not start) this weekend. Well I guess I will have a few others this season too, Wildflower and Ironman CDA, but I actually have planned not to race those races at this point...Super Seal I had planned to race until 6am that morning.
Let me back up. Pretty much since the week before Desert Triathlon I have dealt with unexplained fatigue. Still waiting on 3 more tests this week but so far all i have been told is that i have low-ish ferritin levels and low-ish Vit D levels (not anemic, thyroid is completely normal). Nothing that would explain drawn out fatigue for now...uh...two months. And this is: i'm unmotivated to get out of bed type of fatigue/unmotiviated to get my work done type of fatigue. I stopped worry about my training and just started worrying about my job. And I do have to say things have gotten a little better with a few supplements to help boost motivation levels...but the fatigue has stayed with me.
On Saturday I made it to packet pickup just before they closed and was able to catch up with fellow TNS peep who was racing the next day too. We chatted and said our 'see ya laters' and parted ways. I FULLY expected to race the next day. But...i did have a nagging thought of: is this really that smart?
I had a friend of mine email me earlier in the week and say: really...you are going to race because you don't want to take a hit on the race entry? That doesn't sound like the smart girl you are.
But i ignored that thought.
And then it gnawed at me.
And then I woke up race morning and thought about that thought and realized: hmmmm if I have to dig myself out of another massive fatigue hole like I had to after Desert tri (two FULL weeks of barely getting out of bed...and now just general mailase) so..not...worth it. So after getting up, eating, packing and gettting ready to leave the house I decided the trade off would just be not worth it. Spending another who knows how long being extremely fatigued was so not worth it when i'm finally at the level of *just* that constant moderately fatigued. (i'm being sarcastic...it's pretty ridiculous actually...18 mile bike ride 2 weeks ago almost left me in bed for the afternoon)...so i decided i would then just take a short nap and then go spectate for the race.
FOUR AND A HALF HOURS LATER...i groggily woke up and could barely pull myself together. No spectating for me. I was a bit of a disaster on Sunday but considering how LONG i slept after I went back to sleep I KNOW i made the right decision and i have NO regrets (aside from wasting money).
So for right now i'm dealing with the fact I want to exercise more but I don't really know how much is too much. I have a holistic nutritionist trying to help me through this as well as my doctor although my nutritionist is scaring me to death at the moment and has all kinds of not too fun thoughts of what might be going on. But for the moment i'm waiting for a cortisol test, mono test and a lupus test. If nothing comes back conclusive...i'm totally out of ideas.
In the meantime I have cleared my plate of triathlon. I take long walks along the beach now. I ride my bike as much as it will let me before i get fatigued. I do run a little here and there and try to do minimal training. The goals these days is: stay active. A little yoga, a little weight lifting...and a whole lotta: whatever keeps you being active is good enough.
Well it is mid april and i hate to say it...but it seems my season is over for a little while. That's kinda weird to realize. But the great part: some wonderful beaches and wonderful walks and sunsets and making new friends and enjoying what I can and mainly not focusing on what I can't do, but what I still can.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
errr..yea...
A LOT of stuff is Long over due...particularly: one race report from Desert Tri. Here is the quick version of that one: IT.WAS.COLD...IT WAS WET...but hey I stayed upright and even got to meet a newly minted pro! Charisa and I have managed to be at 4+ events, but never have managed to actually meet. So this was a long overdue hello.
The race itself was pretty uneventful aside from the rain that started coming down when I got to t2 and never let up. My swim...was awesome. I took 13 seconds/100y off of my Malibu swim time and 18 seconds/100y off of my Vineman 70.3 pace. Those ridiculous drills all winter have paid off HUGE. The bike went ok considering i was FREEZING. Avg pace decent and I really just cared about staying upright and not getting too cold. The run...i couldn't feel my feet for the first loop which was tough and my pace showed. A bit slower than I had hoped, but reasonable for me ~8:30mpm.
Overall it was an alright race. I came into somewhat...fatigued and was happy that I did well with it. The problem...that fatigue has gone from 'somewhat fatigue' to 6 weeks later I can barely get out of bed kind of fatigue. The week after the race was horrendous and now i'm ok except post any sort of effort the next day I am peeling myself off the floor. It's not good.
And I've seen the doctor and they bled me...good news: i'm pretty darn healthy. not so good news: um...maybe lowish ferritin levels? So my doctor: we are going to refer you to a sports medicine doctor. Maybe you are over trained?
um...ok...no...i'm not over trained. And considering how much non-training I have done in the past month I am REALLY not over trained and now i don't get to see the doctor for another month. By that point I'll be as non-overtrained as possible and i'm not thinking this is going away any time soon.
really...miss optimist is at it again. Actually it might be more like 'miss realist'.
Actually miss optimist is wondering if her triathlon season is actually more likely to be over in exactly 12 days...post Super Seal.
Wildflower Long Course is off the table due to a few things...mainly though: i can't get past this fatigue.
I'm not doing Ironman (see the last post)
Here's the thing...my normal doctor doesn't know what's wrong. My nutritionist is starting to suspect I put myself on the brink of adrenal exhaustion during graduate school and the fact I do endurance activities is exacerbating an underlying issue. The problem with this suspicion is...what IS adrenal exhaustion?
Here is where mainstream medicine frustrates me. With the adrenals...you are either healthy or you have Addision's disease where the adrenals have completely stopped working. I don't have that...all my blood work looks great. But this other possibility is just so...vague and well not well studied. But that being said it was through this holistic pathway that we found out that some health concerns that have plagued me in the past 7 years are due to a simple folic acid/b12 issue. No one in mainstream medicine took the time to test me for that...which quite simply makes me pretty mad and skeptical.
But while my skeptic is fighting with this one thing I do know: i'm tired and no one can tell me why. My training in the past 5 weeks has wrecked havoc on my body after any effort and more importantly...PAST all of this triathlon stuff...i'm way more worried about the fact I can barely peel myself out of bed for work. Screw triathlon...that's a hobby. I have bigger fish to fry in this whole issue.
And this is where i almost wish I had a tangible injury. THAT at least you can go to the PT and it doesn't impact your daily life...it might make training a drag for awhile, but THIS...ohhhh..THIS is no good. No answers.
So...what does this mean? I don't know. But I took that picture above on my slow bike ride on Saturday to remind me: I'm still a lucky girl.
Or the whale watching excursion where I got to see a bajillion dolphins and share a beautiful day with a friend...I'm a lucky girl.
Or spending the afternoon shopping and hanging out with a good friend of mine I've known since elementary school and now lives in San Diego...I'm a lucky girl.
I have a lot of things that are really great in my life right now. I am a bit frustrated with my current state of training and the reality my body might be asking me to: slow down. Time will tell.
Wednesday, March 03, 2010
ironman...we are breaking up (for the time being)
Ironman...it is with great sadness that I have to say: we are breaking up. I know you will always be there and I will revisit this relationship in the future, but for the time being I have to tell you good-bye. Upon embarking upon this demanding relationship I knew there would be hurdles and sacrifices and when I pushed the button for IMCDA last year I embraced your demanding needs and accepted the high attention you would require. I had sequestered the time in my life necessary for you. As with many new relationships it is easy to give that time up when everything is new and shiny.
And currently I still feel like our relationship is a little 'new and shiny' but ironman...you do not play well with others it seems. You are an awfully jealous partner and can cause one's anxiety to run high when the demands of the training are high. And to be honest, I knew this going into the relationship. I accepted your needs and was willing to meet them.
But then...then...then...yes my heart did wander. I could not help it. An opportunity of a lifetime that is my dream came along...but in truth my heart did not wander...my heart was always with my dream, just laying dormant until that dream became a tangible reality. I somehow thought that since on paper it was possible to share my time between you and my dream I could do it. But alas the sleep you need, you were not getting, the attention you need you were not getting, and then there was that pesky job of mine sending me all over the place that you did not like.
sigh
So...ironman...for the time being we are breaking up...and I am sad. But I know it is the right decision. Until I can give you the time that you deserve, you can find me in cahoots with your less demanding relatives half-iron and oly. And while it is with great sadness that we are breaking up, I know you will always be there. And don't be surprised if in the future I start flirting with you again...when my time and heart are not so divided. I do not know if that will be next year or down the road. Much depends upon the opportunity with the dream and what happens this year with that.
Granted it does mean that the velodrome and I can be much closer friends. I was going to have to break up with the velodrome for 2 months...for YOU!! Don't you see the kind of sacrifice i was willing to give you??? But i know...i know...working 60+ hours a week and traveling and my heart and focus being with my dream doesn't really mix with what you need. Until that time in the future...good bye ironman.
And currently I still feel like our relationship is a little 'new and shiny' but ironman...you do not play well with others it seems. You are an awfully jealous partner and can cause one's anxiety to run high when the demands of the training are high. And to be honest, I knew this going into the relationship. I accepted your needs and was willing to meet them.
But then...then...then...yes my heart did wander. I could not help it. An opportunity of a lifetime that is my dream came along...but in truth my heart did not wander...my heart was always with my dream, just laying dormant until that dream became a tangible reality. I somehow thought that since on paper it was possible to share my time between you and my dream I could do it. But alas the sleep you need, you were not getting, the attention you need you were not getting, and then there was that pesky job of mine sending me all over the place that you did not like.
sigh
So...ironman...for the time being we are breaking up...and I am sad. But I know it is the right decision. Until I can give you the time that you deserve, you can find me in cahoots with your less demanding relatives half-iron and oly. And while it is with great sadness that we are breaking up, I know you will always be there. And don't be surprised if in the future I start flirting with you again...when my time and heart are not so divided. I do not know if that will be next year or down the road. Much depends upon the opportunity with the dream and what happens this year with that.
Granted it does mean that the velodrome and I can be much closer friends. I was going to have to break up with the velodrome for 2 months...for YOU!! Don't you see the kind of sacrifice i was willing to give you??? But i know...i know...working 60+ hours a week and traveling and my heart and focus being with my dream doesn't really mix with what you need. Until that time in the future...good bye ironman.
Friday, February 26, 2010
15 seconds
I need more time...about 4 more hours per day please. Does any one know where I can find that? I'm having a massive scheduling issue in my life...mainly stemming from the fact that i am a)trying to do this ironman thingy at the moment b)have a job that this year likes to stress me out and make me travel a lot which = lots of work c)have another job that i love and want to pour my time into but it doesn't pay the bills d)friends/family/appointments I can't seem to keep up with. I feel like i'm falling off the back of a treadmill at the moment. One of my biggest faults? I have this ridiculous mindset that somewhere in my little brain I do believe I can do it all. It doesn't mean I *should* do everything...but as a friend of mine put it the other week: you love to be at your wits end tearing your hear out about to lose your mind. You love that space.
sigh
I'm trying to balance stuff...we will see how that turns out.
But today was a weird day. I just got back from TX for work last night and was EXHAUSTED. Pushed my AM swim to afterwork and had decided to leave work a little early to get the swim in but mid way through the day that just turned into: leave work early to power nap. I knew i'd sink like a rock if i attempted to swim so i went home and took a little nap.
FINALLY got my sorry state out of bed and headed to the pool. I was tired and kept telling myself: just be less tired please? Apparently you can't will yourself to be less tired...i tried real hard though. But I hopped in the pool and somehow found the concentration to focus on the drills at hand.
head down...arms wide...left hand entry....quick arm recovery...tight core...rotate...rotate...left hand (what the heck is that arm doing?)... arm recovery...arm recovery...arm recovery
It wasn't anything to write about...so why am i writing about it? I don't know. But at the end of the set i have a 4x100 cool down. K...just relax...cool down but keep it easy just focus on form with out the paddles and buoy.
TEN...TWELVE...FIFTEEN SECONDS!
That was the amount of time off of an 'easy' 100 from what I was swiming last year. FIFTEEN SECONDS! Last year an easy cool down hundred was typically 2:00/100yards. Today...1:45/100y
not.even.sprinting.
That's CRAZY in my book...but totally lovin in.
And NEXT week...we get to test and see if these little improvements pay off when it counts. Desert Tri....bring it on!
sigh
I'm trying to balance stuff...we will see how that turns out.
But today was a weird day. I just got back from TX for work last night and was EXHAUSTED. Pushed my AM swim to afterwork and had decided to leave work a little early to get the swim in but mid way through the day that just turned into: leave work early to power nap. I knew i'd sink like a rock if i attempted to swim so i went home and took a little nap.
FINALLY got my sorry state out of bed and headed to the pool. I was tired and kept telling myself: just be less tired please? Apparently you can't will yourself to be less tired...i tried real hard though. But I hopped in the pool and somehow found the concentration to focus on the drills at hand.
head down...arms wide...left hand entry....quick arm recovery...tight core...rotate...rotate...left hand (what the heck is that arm doing?)... arm recovery...arm recovery...arm recovery
It wasn't anything to write about...so why am i writing about it? I don't know. But at the end of the set i have a 4x100 cool down. K...just relax...cool down but keep it easy just focus on form with out the paddles and buoy.
TEN...TWELVE...FIFTEEN SECONDS!
That was the amount of time off of an 'easy' 100 from what I was swiming last year. FIFTEEN SECONDS! Last year an easy cool down hundred was typically 2:00/100yards. Today...1:45/100y
not.even.sprinting.
That's CRAZY in my book...but totally lovin in.
And NEXT week...we get to test and see if these little improvements pay off when it counts. Desert Tri....bring it on!
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
A lot of things running around up there
I've got a lot on my mind these days...and not a lot of time. I do find that I am more and more using this blog as a place to just get stuff flushed out of my little pea brain...but it still keeps running around. sigh
One exciting endeavor appears that i have will have the term 'writer' involved in part of one of my job descriptions. I know i sorta blather on with this here blog with fragments and run on sentences...but partly due to my over thinking personality I need some place where I can just go ON...where if people don't like my blathering or disjointed writing style they will just use that little 'x' in the corner and move on. I think I need that right now.But i'm kinda excited about this other prospect and have been enjoying this recently.
What is strange is I think i've always wanted to 'be' a writer but didn't really know what that meant. I went to some writing camps as a kid...but that being said even though I was a pretty good student in high school and college, english writing class was typically the class would get B's in. Give me a chemistry equation and i'd be golden...but literary analysis...um...not so much. I think it is the fact that I'm not the type of writer that will ever write the great american novel, but I have come to realize I do have a few writing skills. I just usually need to get through at least 1 or 2 or 10 drafts first. Any writers out there (and i know there are a few)...any words of wisdom are appreciated. So I will soon get to flex those skills in a more focused environment and see what happens. I'm actually a little nervous, but also really excited.
I think i need a miracle right now. i mean...who doesn't...but either I need some extra hours in the day or something dramatic needs to happen on the job front. So i'm currently praying for a miracle.
Folic acid is good stuff...and if you don't have enough of it...you won't feel very good. Trust me on this.
oh...i had another six degrees of separation or chance encounter or whatever you want to call it. This is the FIFTH time in San Diego i have run into someone I know from my past and the THIRD time it is someone from my undergrad...i went to a TINY undergrad near Seattle...not here. This.is.so.weird.
Training...i'm SUPER excited about Desert tri in 2.5 weeks. I'm currently doing the 'number' crunch in my head of benchmarks, goals, reach goals...ect. So...i'm going to put them down right now just to put them down. These are 'reach' goals...none of them may happen, one of them might happen...i don't know right now. Swim: sub 32, Bike sub 1:18 (i actually don't have a true grasp on this one) and Run for 6 miles (it's not a 10k...it's only 6 miles)...sub 48mins. Things are coming together, but everything seems to be coming ALL together and I don't know what that really means...or if it is just in my head? Or it IS coming together? My coach did tell me that he has seen many improvements in my training...i just don't know how that translates into times. I'm not so tied up in my times...i'm actually really excited to see how it DOES come together. But anyway...it's all pretty awesome.
ohhhh and i think something i'm going to get that will help...a tiny bit...with time: race wheels and race tires. Yes...i'm going to not race on my big ol FATTY tires. I kinda find them funny but i SOOOOOOOOO don't want to change a tire in a race...but well...rolling resistance...i might as well have added glue to my tires their rolling resistance is so fantastic. As in...they suck for racing. I've had mechanics laugh at me when they find out that I race in them. Sure...train heavy...but race at least a *little* lighter. There still is part of me that goes: but if i have to change a tire...its not worth the possible time 'savings'...there is no savings in that. I can change a tire in less than 5 mins flat, but that's still a lot of time. So...advice on tires/wheels? I don't want rims any larger than zipp 404's but i am exploring other companies besides zip.
That's enough out of me for awhile. Ohhh totally disjointed and all of that, but i'm just trying to write more and practice writing even if it is possible jibberish mainly because then i can hone my skills where they need to be honed and worked on over in that other space.
until i have something else to blather on about...
oh...but i do...next up...trigger point therapy stuff...or as i have been calling it around these parts: the box of evil.
until next time...
One exciting endeavor appears that i have will have the term 'writer' involved in part of one of my job descriptions. I know i sorta blather on with this here blog with fragments and run on sentences...but partly due to my over thinking personality I need some place where I can just go ON...where if people don't like my blathering or disjointed writing style they will just use that little 'x' in the corner and move on. I think I need that right now.But i'm kinda excited about this other prospect and have been enjoying this recently.
What is strange is I think i've always wanted to 'be' a writer but didn't really know what that meant. I went to some writing camps as a kid...but that being said even though I was a pretty good student in high school and college, english writing class was typically the class would get B's in. Give me a chemistry equation and i'd be golden...but literary analysis...um...not so much. I think it is the fact that I'm not the type of writer that will ever write the great american novel, but I have come to realize I do have a few writing skills. I just usually need to get through at least 1 or 2 or 10 drafts first. Any writers out there (and i know there are a few)...any words of wisdom are appreciated. So I will soon get to flex those skills in a more focused environment and see what happens. I'm actually a little nervous, but also really excited.
I think i need a miracle right now. i mean...who doesn't...but either I need some extra hours in the day or something dramatic needs to happen on the job front. So i'm currently praying for a miracle.
Folic acid is good stuff...and if you don't have enough of it...you won't feel very good. Trust me on this.
oh...i had another six degrees of separation or chance encounter or whatever you want to call it. This is the FIFTH time in San Diego i have run into someone I know from my past and the THIRD time it is someone from my undergrad...i went to a TINY undergrad near Seattle...not here. This.is.so.weird.
Training...i'm SUPER excited about Desert tri in 2.5 weeks. I'm currently doing the 'number' crunch in my head of benchmarks, goals, reach goals...ect. So...i'm going to put them down right now just to put them down. These are 'reach' goals...none of them may happen, one of them might happen...i don't know right now. Swim: sub 32, Bike sub 1:18 (i actually don't have a true grasp on this one) and Run for 6 miles (it's not a 10k...it's only 6 miles)...sub 48mins. Things are coming together, but everything seems to be coming ALL together and I don't know what that really means...or if it is just in my head? Or it IS coming together? My coach did tell me that he has seen many improvements in my training...i just don't know how that translates into times. I'm not so tied up in my times...i'm actually really excited to see how it DOES come together. But anyway...it's all pretty awesome.
ohhhh and i think something i'm going to get that will help...a tiny bit...with time: race wheels and race tires. Yes...i'm going to not race on my big ol FATTY tires. I kinda find them funny but i SOOOOOOOOO don't want to change a tire in a race...but well...rolling resistance...i might as well have added glue to my tires their rolling resistance is so fantastic. As in...they suck for racing. I've had mechanics laugh at me when they find out that I race in them. Sure...train heavy...but race at least a *little* lighter. There still is part of me that goes: but if i have to change a tire...its not worth the possible time 'savings'...there is no savings in that. I can change a tire in less than 5 mins flat, but that's still a lot of time. So...advice on tires/wheels? I don't want rims any larger than zipp 404's but i am exploring other companies besides zip.
That's enough out of me for awhile. Ohhh totally disjointed and all of that, but i'm just trying to write more and practice writing even if it is possible jibberish mainly because then i can hone my skills where they need to be honed and worked on over in that other space.
until i have something else to blather on about...
oh...but i do...next up...trigger point therapy stuff...or as i have been calling it around these parts: the box of evil.
until next time...
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Not too bad!
San Diguito Half Marathon...unofficial time...2:02:30
Official response to the day...great training run.
Official feeling about the race...it went pretty well.
Ways to make it better next year?
1) Show up an hour and a half before the race starts. Even though it is a stand alone running race and you don't have to set anything up...being stuck in traffic for 40 minutes from the off ramp to the race is one sure fire way to miss the official start.
2) Don't take the Lomas Santa Fe exit....use a map and take the exit before. That alone would have gotten me to the the start line with enough time to spare to use the bathroom.
3)hill training...yes..those bumpy things that go up and down....they are good if you have plans to do a hilly half marathon.
4)mileage...mileage would be good. While I have been doing that ironman training thingy...my coach hasn't built my volume excessively in the running due to my hip. We have only begun a phase where I will start seeing more appreciative volume...so while I have the endurance to complete a half marathon... running further than 8 miles leading up to the race might have been helpful...but this was a training run and really it was more of a 'test' in my book. And in my book...i totally passed.
5)Shoes with less miles on them feel better in a race especially on a hilly course.
There were a few hiccups...missed the offical start...figured that since i wasn't trying to PR and i'm not in the market for any bling during this life time...stopping early on to use the bathroom that I didn't have a chance to do since I was STUCK IN TRAFFIC...i just decided to be comfortable and stop early. I'm glad i did. Sometimes you just gotta race your own race.
A few weeks ago I actually told my coach that maybe i should skip this race. He told me...no...just do the race and use it as a training run. I aint going to lie...there was a little grumbling on my side of things under my breath. But I decided just to see how things are going. Last week I discovered i'm in 10K PR shape...like possibly-beat- my-10K-PR-from-november-by-something-like-5-minute- kind of shape. I didn't know how that would translate into a hilly half marathon that I haven't been training volume or hills for. Much to my surprise...not too bad.
And then i did a super crazy thing...and went to Sea World for the rest of the day. Oye vey!! I think my legs offically hate me at the moment...but hey...that's how it goes.
Official response to the day...great training run.
Official feeling about the race...it went pretty well.
Ways to make it better next year?
1) Show up an hour and a half before the race starts. Even though it is a stand alone running race and you don't have to set anything up...being stuck in traffic for 40 minutes from the off ramp to the race is one sure fire way to miss the official start.
2) Don't take the Lomas Santa Fe exit....use a map and take the exit before. That alone would have gotten me to the the start line with enough time to spare to use the bathroom.
3)hill training...yes..those bumpy things that go up and down....they are good if you have plans to do a hilly half marathon.
4)mileage...mileage would be good. While I have been doing that ironman training thingy...my coach hasn't built my volume excessively in the running due to my hip. We have only begun a phase where I will start seeing more appreciative volume...so while I have the endurance to complete a half marathon... running further than 8 miles leading up to the race might have been helpful...but this was a training run and really it was more of a 'test' in my book. And in my book...i totally passed.
5)Shoes with less miles on them feel better in a race especially on a hilly course.
There were a few hiccups...missed the offical start...figured that since i wasn't trying to PR and i'm not in the market for any bling during this life time...stopping early on to use the bathroom that I didn't have a chance to do since I was STUCK IN TRAFFIC...i just decided to be comfortable and stop early. I'm glad i did. Sometimes you just gotta race your own race.
A few weeks ago I actually told my coach that maybe i should skip this race. He told me...no...just do the race and use it as a training run. I aint going to lie...there was a little grumbling on my side of things under my breath. But I decided just to see how things are going. Last week I discovered i'm in 10K PR shape...like possibly-beat- my-10K-PR-from-november-by-something-like-5-minute- kind of shape. I didn't know how that would translate into a hilly half marathon that I haven't been training volume or hills for. Much to my surprise...not too bad.
And then i did a super crazy thing...and went to Sea World for the rest of the day. Oye vey!! I think my legs offically hate me at the moment...but hey...that's how it goes.
Monday, February 08, 2010
ugh...
Life is not hot or cold...black or white...on or off...but it does seem that I run that way with this here blog. Right now...i have too many thoughts running around in my little pea brain head so...to anyone listening...i'll just dump. We shall see how long that lasts.
Well...it's monday...and i wore compression socks to work (no...not as a fashion statement and yes they are black so they look like 'normal' socks under the trousers. I don't SPORT them like some wacky triathletes.) and one of my weekend activities involved taking an ice bath. Not usually a good sign. Blame the weights on friday...no i think blame the squats mainly.
But all this soreness made for an interesting weekend of training. And by interesting...i mean hard...mentally. Saturday the weather prescription was: 70% chance of rain. My original 4 hour bike was cancelled so I decided to deal with the rain during a run and push the ride to Sunday. Many accounts of Saturday's rain...and I think i made the right choice.
Saturday came and i felt like a complete rebel. I slept in...i drank some coffee...slowly...i soaked in the morning and puttered around the house enjoying a nice brekkie of coffee, french toast and fruit. The mornings exploits were seemingly scandalous compared to a normal Saturday early start. And then i realized: most people would do exactly this on a Saturday. I then realized: I wouldn't trade my Saturday morning rides, but occasionally it is nice to indulge in a 'normal' Saturday. Eventually i got out the door for an 8 mile run.
owch
slooooooooooooooooooooooooooowly i made my way along with some quads that hated me. But they didn't really hurt while running...they just made everything tired...slow...and tired.
Then sunday...lisa generously offered to ride with me on my long ride. Somehow google maps sucks...oh wait...somehow? yes...they just plain suck and told me it would be 15 miles from my house to point A...it was 7 miles...not 15. Which...now i was 16 miles short by the end of the ride since I was riding there and back to point A and then doing a loop off of point A. Double ugh...the ride itself was sorta a doozy. My body was achy, tired...but i pressed on. And near the end of it...what do I have to climb to get home? Torrey Pines. yowza. But before that I stopped to regroup with Lisa and looked at my watch: 2:58....nope I still needed some more time.
And then the negotiations set in: ugh..you're tired...do you really need to do 4 hours? We will get 3.5 i'm sure by the time I get home...legs hurt...body aches...really...what's 30 minutes??
I regrouped with Lisa and told her I needed some more time. She let me meander my way up the coast as she headed in. And then I was sent a small miracle mid-suffer fest. My friend mark.
I was stopped at a light when I hear someone say my name. I first think: who the heck would know me out here? And I look back...and my friend mark is there. Sigh...awesome. He distracted me for almost the whole distance I needed before I turned around. He truly was a Godsend when my little brain was just DONE and my body was screaming: ENOUGH.
Finally turned around and I swear the only reason I got home was part of it was down hill and there is that thing called gravity. The other portion...you know the part called Torrey Pines...well that was not fun...but I plowed up it and hung in there.
And then....more negotiations. I'm supposed to do 15x30 second pick ups with 30 sec recovery + 15 min cool down off the bike...so another total of 30 minutes of running...UGH...
just do 5...really...just do a few
then after 5...you can do 10 i know you can...
after 10...really...what's 5 more? You've come this far.
So i got all 15 done...but i wasn't finished at that point. Nope. Still had a weight workout to fit in later in the day.
Granted I got home, ice bathed, napped, ate, ate and ate some more...finally got to the gym with only 30 mins til close but i GOT to the gym. I seriously wanted to turn around half way TO the gym. AND i got a few lifts in to help with that anabolic response to help off set all that catabolic work i did this weekend. Maybe not the whole workout...but something is better than nothing.
you know what...i'm pretty proud of myself. I really was SO over the training pretty much all weekend...but i managed to get through. AND this morning...still feeling like lead and swimming like a rock...i got a good session of technique drills in (which are mentally challenging since they are so repetitive).
Major hurdles were jumped...yes max...there IS a steeple chase in ironman...i'm almost certain of it.
Well...it's monday...and i wore compression socks to work (no...not as a fashion statement and yes they are black so they look like 'normal' socks under the trousers. I don't SPORT them like some wacky triathletes.) and one of my weekend activities involved taking an ice bath. Not usually a good sign. Blame the weights on friday...no i think blame the squats mainly.
But all this soreness made for an interesting weekend of training. And by interesting...i mean hard...mentally. Saturday the weather prescription was: 70% chance of rain. My original 4 hour bike was cancelled so I decided to deal with the rain during a run and push the ride to Sunday. Many accounts of Saturday's rain...and I think i made the right choice.
Saturday came and i felt like a complete rebel. I slept in...i drank some coffee...slowly...i soaked in the morning and puttered around the house enjoying a nice brekkie of coffee, french toast and fruit. The mornings exploits were seemingly scandalous compared to a normal Saturday early start. And then i realized: most people would do exactly this on a Saturday. I then realized: I wouldn't trade my Saturday morning rides, but occasionally it is nice to indulge in a 'normal' Saturday. Eventually i got out the door for an 8 mile run.
owch
slooooooooooooooooooooooooooowly i made my way along with some quads that hated me. But they didn't really hurt while running...they just made everything tired...slow...and tired.
Then sunday...lisa generously offered to ride with me on my long ride. Somehow google maps sucks...oh wait...somehow? yes...they just plain suck and told me it would be 15 miles from my house to point A...it was 7 miles...not 15. Which...now i was 16 miles short by the end of the ride since I was riding there and back to point A and then doing a loop off of point A. Double ugh...the ride itself was sorta a doozy. My body was achy, tired...but i pressed on. And near the end of it...what do I have to climb to get home? Torrey Pines. yowza. But before that I stopped to regroup with Lisa and looked at my watch: 2:58....nope I still needed some more time.
And then the negotiations set in: ugh..you're tired...do you really need to do 4 hours? We will get 3.5 i'm sure by the time I get home...legs hurt...body aches...really...what's 30 minutes??
I regrouped with Lisa and told her I needed some more time. She let me meander my way up the coast as she headed in. And then I was sent a small miracle mid-suffer fest. My friend mark.
I was stopped at a light when I hear someone say my name. I first think: who the heck would know me out here? And I look back...and my friend mark is there. Sigh...awesome. He distracted me for almost the whole distance I needed before I turned around. He truly was a Godsend when my little brain was just DONE and my body was screaming: ENOUGH.
Finally turned around and I swear the only reason I got home was part of it was down hill and there is that thing called gravity. The other portion...you know the part called Torrey Pines...well that was not fun...but I plowed up it and hung in there.
And then....more negotiations. I'm supposed to do 15x30 second pick ups with 30 sec recovery + 15 min cool down off the bike...so another total of 30 minutes of running...UGH...
just do 5...really...just do a few
then after 5...you can do 10 i know you can...
after 10...really...what's 5 more? You've come this far.
So i got all 15 done...but i wasn't finished at that point. Nope. Still had a weight workout to fit in later in the day.
Granted I got home, ice bathed, napped, ate, ate and ate some more...finally got to the gym with only 30 mins til close but i GOT to the gym. I seriously wanted to turn around half way TO the gym. AND i got a few lifts in to help with that anabolic response to help off set all that catabolic work i did this weekend. Maybe not the whole workout...but something is better than nothing.
you know what...i'm pretty proud of myself. I really was SO over the training pretty much all weekend...but i managed to get through. AND this morning...still feeling like lead and swimming like a rock...i got a good session of technique drills in (which are mentally challenging since they are so repetitive).
Major hurdles were jumped...yes max...there IS a steeple chase in ironman...i'm almost certain of it.
Saturday, February 06, 2010
Just because I *get* it doesn't mean I like it
I've been doing this swim-bike-run thing for awhile...this year makes my 7th season. I will admit the first few years i did not pay much attention to the finer details of endurance sports and digging into the academic aspects such as the physiological aspects of endurance sport. But since I am such a big nerd, it was only a matter of time before I started researching the biophysics, physiological, and many other esoteric topics involved in different parts of triathlon such as yaw angles, the physics of aerodynamics, and then there are the numerous nerdy papers I have read on nutrition. And before I move on...can i just say...please avoid fructose (not just high fructose corn syrup...but that is its own topic) if possible if you have a touchy stomach. Ok...that is its own blog post right there.
But anyway...the point of this post is even though I UNDERSTAND the why of something specific to training....that I GET it...it doesn't mean i like it. The topic at hand...weight lifting. And actually i should clarify...i like weight lifting. Actually i REALLY like weight lifting. But lifting weights and training when you mix them together especially when the weight lifting prescription is: LIFT HEAVY...hurts...a lot...
Endurance training is actually quite catabolic in nature...this means that with lots and lots and lots of long distance the body produces the stress hormone cortisol. This same hormone is what is produced when you are under stress so if you are under a lot of stress or aren't sleeping a lot or not recovering a lot your body goes into a catbolic state. When the body is in a catabolic state it starts to destroy the muscles...and makes you feel bad. If you let this go on for too long the symptoms of overtraining start to arise. Restlessness, can't sleep, depression, ect. You can experience these things if you are in general under a lot of stress. Ever get really stress out...suddenly you aren't sleeping...depressed...ect. I'm always suprised to see a list related to 'overtraining symptoms' and not see someone say: HEY!! don't you also feel like this when you are also mega stressed out?? Well...at least I do.
Crazy part...if i'm really stressed out...i can just watch my times get slower...and slower. Blame the cortisol and the fact i'm not sleeping. And if i'm really stressed out it is unlikely that I am eating well. So...a perfect storm that leads to some ugly training.
So how to balance this? Get the body to produce anabolic hormones...no i am not advocating steroids. But your body does produce anabolic hormones like growth hormone, testosterone, ect. to help balance out the catabolic ones. HOW? sprints and weight lifting will do this...lifting heavy amounts of weight are optimal.
I have two weight lifting sessions per week that just say: lift as heavy as you can on that day 2 x 10. um...i didn't lift last week and waltzed into the gym on friday and was pretty excited to be back lifting weights. In all honesty I like lifting weights. And weirdly...i like lifting really heavy weights. I find it sorta funny in a weird way. Don't ask me why i think it is funny (no disrespect to weight lifters) but maybe it is just ME wandering around the free weights trying to get the gossipy boys to stop hogging the squat rack that makes me sorta laugh under my breath.
So yesterday i did just what was prescribed...nice and HEAVY lifts. And got my 2x10 squats @ 95 pounds...so i'm excited i'm flirting with 100 pounds considering I started around 65 pounds. Yes...i know...i'm no power lifter. And yes I am a to-parallel or below parallel kind of girl...A2G. I know it makes some people freak out by a full squat like that...but i know there is literature on both sides of the debate and thus far no one can give me a good reason to not use my full range of motion. For me...i have found it has strengthened my glutes and fixed my psoas in so many ways i'm sold on the full squat for the moment. So that was pretty exciting.
And then i got to my deadlifts and i have little goals i make up they tend to be a little arbitraty and considering training sometimes makes me have to lighten them up, which my coach has warned me about it is supposed to be HEAVY for that day and not worry about how i had done previously, some days i'll lift more some days less. The point is to get the body to release anabolic hormones...and for these managed to pull 2x5 @ 150lbs....another PR for 5 reps. So i'm doing all kinds of good things to keep my keep my catabolic hormones in balance...but here's the issue....i.am.sore.
Today i had to push my long bike to Sunday. Biking on sore legs is much easier than running on sore legs. oye...i got some sore glutes that did not want to move for a long run. it was a sloooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow run today...but got it done.
So just because I UNDERSTAND why i am supposed to do these heavy lifting....and even though i even LIKE lifting heavy...doesn't mean i like it when i'm dragging my sorry legs around cuz they hurt. Oh well. I'll live.
But anyway...the point of this post is even though I UNDERSTAND the why of something specific to training....that I GET it...it doesn't mean i like it. The topic at hand...weight lifting. And actually i should clarify...i like weight lifting. Actually i REALLY like weight lifting. But lifting weights and training when you mix them together especially when the weight lifting prescription is: LIFT HEAVY...hurts...a lot...
Endurance training is actually quite catabolic in nature...this means that with lots and lots and lots of long distance the body produces the stress hormone cortisol. This same hormone is what is produced when you are under stress so if you are under a lot of stress or aren't sleeping a lot or not recovering a lot your body goes into a catbolic state. When the body is in a catabolic state it starts to destroy the muscles...and makes you feel bad. If you let this go on for too long the symptoms of overtraining start to arise. Restlessness, can't sleep, depression, ect. You can experience these things if you are in general under a lot of stress. Ever get really stress out...suddenly you aren't sleeping...depressed...ect. I'm always suprised to see a list related to 'overtraining symptoms' and not see someone say: HEY!! don't you also feel like this when you are also mega stressed out?? Well...at least I do.
Crazy part...if i'm really stressed out...i can just watch my times get slower...and slower. Blame the cortisol and the fact i'm not sleeping. And if i'm really stressed out it is unlikely that I am eating well. So...a perfect storm that leads to some ugly training.
So how to balance this? Get the body to produce anabolic hormones...no i am not advocating steroids. But your body does produce anabolic hormones like growth hormone, testosterone, ect. to help balance out the catabolic ones. HOW? sprints and weight lifting will do this...lifting heavy amounts of weight are optimal.
I have two weight lifting sessions per week that just say: lift as heavy as you can on that day 2 x 10. um...i didn't lift last week and waltzed into the gym on friday and was pretty excited to be back lifting weights. In all honesty I like lifting weights. And weirdly...i like lifting really heavy weights. I find it sorta funny in a weird way. Don't ask me why i think it is funny (no disrespect to weight lifters) but maybe it is just ME wandering around the free weights trying to get the gossipy boys to stop hogging the squat rack that makes me sorta laugh under my breath.
So yesterday i did just what was prescribed...nice and HEAVY lifts. And got my 2x10 squats @ 95 pounds...so i'm excited i'm flirting with 100 pounds considering I started around 65 pounds. Yes...i know...i'm no power lifter. And yes I am a to-parallel or below parallel kind of girl...A2G. I know it makes some people freak out by a full squat like that...but i know there is literature on both sides of the debate and thus far no one can give me a good reason to not use my full range of motion. For me...i have found it has strengthened my glutes and fixed my psoas in so many ways i'm sold on the full squat for the moment. So that was pretty exciting.
And then i got to my deadlifts and i have little goals i make up they tend to be a little arbitraty and considering training sometimes makes me have to lighten them up, which my coach has warned me about it is supposed to be HEAVY for that day and not worry about how i had done previously, some days i'll lift more some days less. The point is to get the body to release anabolic hormones...and for these managed to pull 2x5 @ 150lbs....another PR for 5 reps. So i'm doing all kinds of good things to keep my keep my catabolic hormones in balance...but here's the issue....i.am.sore.
Today i had to push my long bike to Sunday. Biking on sore legs is much easier than running on sore legs. oye...i got some sore glutes that did not want to move for a long run. it was a sloooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow run today...but got it done.
So just because I UNDERSTAND why i am supposed to do these heavy lifting....and even though i even LIKE lifting heavy...doesn't mean i like it when i'm dragging my sorry legs around cuz they hurt. Oh well. I'll live.
Thursday, February 04, 2010
Guess i can't floss
Max said I should try to make blogging a habit...like flossing...well think the title of the post is inaccurate. I actually love to floss my teeth and i do it daily. But this regular blogging...nope. Lots is going on and i did write a post 2 weeks ago that is sitting in a word document on my work computer. But lots going on that is good and lots that is a juggle. I just moved to a new place and i'm digging it aside from the elephants that live upstairs. Training is going ok for the most part. I think the only thing I have to say in this post before I race off to work is my exciting run this morning.
I am currently training with a local coach and we have group workouts 2x a week. The way to really start to understand what it means to be FAST as in qualifyforkona FAST or winyouragegroup FAST is to train with people who do just that. I basically run in a different time zone than these people, but that's ok...i'm seeing improvements in MY training and that is SO COOL. But the wonderful thing about the group i train with is even though they come home with all kinds of bling from races they are super encouraging and really nice to train with.
We have a 500m loop that we run around and we were doing 2k efforts (4 loops) at what was to 'feel' like 10K pace. My pace: sub 50minute 10K! What's my 10K PR? 52:something that I did back in november...having *just* recovered from the swine flu. This morning I was on a 49:40 pace and absolutely felt like I could hold that for 6 miles. sweet!
So...the speed is coming. I actually threw down 6ish miles this weekend that i went for that aerobic feel (on top of actually feeling kinda blech about the run) and used my HRM to see what that 'felt' like and to see what my pace was. What was cool was that feeling of 'yea i could run this for a long, long, long time' was 9:45 @ 145bpm...no...not fast by anyone's imagination but it is encouraging for these loooooooong races ahead that loom in front of me.
This spring's racing schedule has pretty much been finalized too:
San Dieguito half marathon in two weeks: uh...yea this might be ugly.
Desert Tri March 7th (if you didn't sign up...it's already sold out! Crazy considering i signed up three days before the race last year...but there is some trash talking going on around this race. )
Super Seal (Oly) April.....11?
Wildflower Long Course May 1st. AKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK almost a little more nervous about this than IMCDA...that's kinda screwed up in my opinion.
And IMCDA on June 27
I am currently training with a local coach and we have group workouts 2x a week. The way to really start to understand what it means to be FAST as in qualifyforkona FAST or winyouragegroup FAST is to train with people who do just that. I basically run in a different time zone than these people, but that's ok...i'm seeing improvements in MY training and that is SO COOL. But the wonderful thing about the group i train with is even though they come home with all kinds of bling from races they are super encouraging and really nice to train with.
We have a 500m loop that we run around and we were doing 2k efforts (4 loops) at what was to 'feel' like 10K pace. My pace: sub 50minute 10K! What's my 10K PR? 52:something that I did back in november...having *just* recovered from the swine flu. This morning I was on a 49:40 pace and absolutely felt like I could hold that for 6 miles. sweet!
So...the speed is coming. I actually threw down 6ish miles this weekend that i went for that aerobic feel (on top of actually feeling kinda blech about the run) and used my HRM to see what that 'felt' like and to see what my pace was. What was cool was that feeling of 'yea i could run this for a long, long, long time' was 9:45 @ 145bpm...no...not fast by anyone's imagination but it is encouraging for these loooooooong races ahead that loom in front of me.
This spring's racing schedule has pretty much been finalized too:
San Dieguito half marathon in two weeks: uh...yea this might be ugly.
Desert Tri March 7th (if you didn't sign up...it's already sold out! Crazy considering i signed up three days before the race last year...but there is some trash talking going on around this race. )
Super Seal (Oly) April.....11?
Wildflower Long Course May 1st. AKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK almost a little more nervous about this than IMCDA...that's kinda screwed up in my opinion.
And IMCDA on June 27
Thursday, January 14, 2010
i miss blogging
i miss blogging...
i miss reading people's blogs and then being able to take the time and leave a comment...
i miss finding new people's blogs and the fun adventures that they discover...
i never intended this blog to be anything...it was an outlet in grad school...it was a social experiment that at times i almost have deleted...but i have come to enjoy aspects of it. i enjoy the writing process...the creative process...but now...sigh...not so much time.
ironman training is going really well. i'm really enjoying it, but I think i have spawned two gremlins that live in my body. Their names are: Mr. Tired and Mr. Hungry
Now Mr. Tired has a lot to do with the necessity of going to bed at 9pm since i wake up every day...oh yes...every day at 5am. Problem is: i am not a morning person. And well...look at that...it's 9:16 and i'm being a rebel and writing this post. So my gremlin named Mr. Tired is really my own fault.
But Mr. Hungry? He's a bit of a pest at the moment and I don't think it's going to get any better as time goes on. They tell you to eat every 4 hours to keep your sugar levels stable...bla...bla...bla....But my day looks like: wake at 5am eat a snack...go do a workout...eat breakfast at 745 am...Hungry shows his head around 10am...and then again at 12...definately by 3pm, but if i'm having a bad day as early as 2...and then 4 and then if I have an evening workout...don't forget the pre-workout snack and there is dinner at 7...my conclusion: THERE ARE MONSTERS IN MY BELLY!! Either that or I have a tape worm...take your pick.
oh wait...back to the topic of this post...i miss blogging. I do...i'm not even sure if anyone is reading this much anymore...but if you are: hi!
There are realities in life...and i've made choices between choosing to do an ironman as well as some other choices that are sucking the time out of my life oh...yea and then there is that pesky thing called work that has decided to light itself on fire in good fashion. But in truth...while i do miss this blog and reading everyone's blogs...the mis-adventures i have begun embarking on between ironman training and the other things that take up the rest of my time I'm pretty happy with. I just wish I had another 2 hours every day.
So...my sad blog might be even sadder this spring and I even had some silly ideas of how to redesign my writing voice, but i don't know if that will happen or not. Takes a lot of brain cells to do that and recently my little head is only holding so much information apparently.
so...this space will be a little sparce this spring...but it's not because I don't miss it. Unfortunately there are only so many hours in a day!
i miss reading people's blogs and then being able to take the time and leave a comment...
i miss finding new people's blogs and the fun adventures that they discover...
i never intended this blog to be anything...it was an outlet in grad school...it was a social experiment that at times i almost have deleted...but i have come to enjoy aspects of it. i enjoy the writing process...the creative process...but now...sigh...not so much time.
ironman training is going really well. i'm really enjoying it, but I think i have spawned two gremlins that live in my body. Their names are: Mr. Tired and Mr. Hungry
Now Mr. Tired has a lot to do with the necessity of going to bed at 9pm since i wake up every day...oh yes...every day at 5am. Problem is: i am not a morning person. And well...look at that...it's 9:16 and i'm being a rebel and writing this post. So my gremlin named Mr. Tired is really my own fault.
But Mr. Hungry? He's a bit of a pest at the moment and I don't think it's going to get any better as time goes on. They tell you to eat every 4 hours to keep your sugar levels stable...bla...bla...bla....But my day looks like: wake at 5am eat a snack...go do a workout...eat breakfast at 745 am...Hungry shows his head around 10am...and then again at 12...definately by 3pm, but if i'm having a bad day as early as 2...and then 4 and then if I have an evening workout...don't forget the pre-workout snack and there is dinner at 7...my conclusion: THERE ARE MONSTERS IN MY BELLY!! Either that or I have a tape worm...take your pick.
oh wait...back to the topic of this post...i miss blogging. I do...i'm not even sure if anyone is reading this much anymore...but if you are: hi!
There are realities in life...and i've made choices between choosing to do an ironman as well as some other choices that are sucking the time out of my life oh...yea and then there is that pesky thing called work that has decided to light itself on fire in good fashion. But in truth...while i do miss this blog and reading everyone's blogs...the mis-adventures i have begun embarking on between ironman training and the other things that take up the rest of my time I'm pretty happy with. I just wish I had another 2 hours every day.
So...my sad blog might be even sadder this spring and I even had some silly ideas of how to redesign my writing voice, but i don't know if that will happen or not. Takes a lot of brain cells to do that and recently my little head is only holding so much information apparently.
so...this space will be a little sparce this spring...but it's not because I don't miss it. Unfortunately there are only so many hours in a day!
Thursday, December 31, 2009
10 years is a long time...a reivew
I'm stealing my friend Max's idea to look back on the past 10 years and what they held. Next year...in a few days...hahaha...i will look at what 2010 holds. I don't write quite as eloquently as Mr. Max but i'll do my best. There have been a lot of mile stones in the past 10 years.
2000 I graduated from my tiny undergrad with a degree in Chemistry...not a bad way to start off a decade. I then moved to New Zealand that fall and began a two year adventure that sometimes makes me wonder why i ever left.
2001 was marked with lots of traveling around NZ in my green 1987 Mazda 626 i'd named Kermit and did a lot of growing up. I made a lot of mistakes...but who doesn't? I played a lot of ultimate frisbee around the country for a team in Auckland. Yes...not many people know there are competitive Ultimate Frisbee leagues.
2002 A co-worker planted the seed of triathlon in my little head as he was training for IMNZ. Both years I was in NZ i coincidentally in Taupo when IMNZ was going on. I thought those people were nuts. Especially the guy on the run without any shoes. And the guy who got 10 shades of excited when I started cheering for him. He was so happy it scared me.
I started training for an Olympic distance race but ended up moving in the middle of all the chaos back to the states and never did one. Good thing...i was not prepared for that distance and I probably would have had a horrible experience. I made the decision to move back to the states and out to MA and start grad school--five very long years.
2003 I still wasn't a triathlete and played a season of ultimate frisbee in a summer league. Realized, once again...i didn't like playing frisbee in the states. The culture here is different than overseas and stopped playing in the Fall. I walked at graduation...degree #1.
2004
Got tired of the gym and that seed of triathlon that had been planted 2 years before started to take hold. Convinced a friend of mine to do our first sprint distance race. Remember thinking: i am going to have to exercise for close to TWO whole hours straight!! Wondered if I might fall over and die in the middle of it. Never occurred to me that in a two day Frisbee tournament I probably played waaaaaaaaaaaaaay longer than that. Had no idea what I was doing...but enjoyed the challenge of it.
2005 My mom had a heart attack and survived. Made being healthier a priority for me. Tried to quit grad school. Was unsuccessful and somehow chalked it up to: it wasn't meant to be and stayed. Another year of sprint distant races. Still riding a 75 dollar pawn shop beauty that sometimes would stop shifting at important times...like in a race. Got a new bike at the end of the season. Ran my first half marathon in bucketing rain. Still remember a fellow gradschool/runner confused that my only goal was to finish and that I had no time goals. I didn't know what to expect...so i just went. Despite the downpour and squeaky shoes i had a good first experience.
2006 Got to do a little of what i love....teach. Did my first olympic distance-ish race (x2), actually TRAINED for a half marathon and broke 2 hours (thanks Joe!). This was my first taste at true athletic training and what it meant to do 400m track fun and hill repeats. I enjoyed it...but very quickly my athletics was put on a the back burner.
2007 Grad school was at a tipping point. It was not pretty. I somehow managed to secure a job...convince my adviser to let me graduate...defend and then move to San Diego. Triathlon? what's that? I did actually do one or two triathlons that season.
We also had a 'triathlon' at my going away party that entailed a slip-n-slide, a scooter war and a three legged race. My team won!
Fell while trail running a few days before my 30th birthday. The muscle psoas became an unfortunate part of my vocabulary...and still is.
2008 I was in the mecca of triathlons...but almost quit. Loved the sunshine. Bought my first wetsuit. Walked for graduation....degree #2. Dealt with hip injury. Signed up for my first half ironman but knew the hip wouldn't hold so backed out. Hired a coach in the fall. Something I never thought I would do. Discovered the velodrome and bought a fixie. Yes me...miss scaredy-pants on a bike that has no brakes and can't stop pedaling. Loved it.
2009
Was a big year for me with training. I actually started...training...you know hill repeats, time trial efforts, swim blocks, ect...mainly because my coach made me. :-) Was signed up...again...for my first half ironman, Vineman 70.3.
Was a year of PR's...like breaking my previous half marathon PR by almost 5 minutes on a very difficult course, La Jolla. Ummmm Torrey pines is soooooo fun to run up. Fastest sprint distant race time to date. Even broke my 10K PR twice now this year and the second time i was still recovering from the swine flu.
But the biggest athletic accomplishment was my first half ironman...Vineman 70.3. I hit a reach goal of sub six hours on a VERY hot day and had an amazing experience. Started to understand myself as an athlete better. And am now signed up for my first ironman!
2010 Holds ironman and some other crazy things to juggle. More on that in a future post.
The past decade has held its highs and lows....lots of learning and lots of growing. It will be interesting to see what the next 10 years hold.
So...raise your glasses and cheers! To the next decade!
2000 I graduated from my tiny undergrad with a degree in Chemistry...not a bad way to start off a decade. I then moved to New Zealand that fall and began a two year adventure that sometimes makes me wonder why i ever left.
2001 was marked with lots of traveling around NZ in my green 1987 Mazda 626 i'd named Kermit and did a lot of growing up. I made a lot of mistakes...but who doesn't? I played a lot of ultimate frisbee around the country for a team in Auckland. Yes...not many people know there are competitive Ultimate Frisbee leagues.
2002 A co-worker planted the seed of triathlon in my little head as he was training for IMNZ. Both years I was in NZ i coincidentally in Taupo when IMNZ was going on. I thought those people were nuts. Especially the guy on the run without any shoes. And the guy who got 10 shades of excited when I started cheering for him. He was so happy it scared me.
I started training for an Olympic distance race but ended up moving in the middle of all the chaos back to the states and never did one. Good thing...i was not prepared for that distance and I probably would have had a horrible experience. I made the decision to move back to the states and out to MA and start grad school--five very long years.
2003 I still wasn't a triathlete and played a season of ultimate frisbee in a summer league. Realized, once again...i didn't like playing frisbee in the states. The culture here is different than overseas and stopped playing in the Fall. I walked at graduation...degree #1.
2004
Got tired of the gym and that seed of triathlon that had been planted 2 years before started to take hold. Convinced a friend of mine to do our first sprint distance race. Remember thinking: i am going to have to exercise for close to TWO whole hours straight!! Wondered if I might fall over and die in the middle of it. Never occurred to me that in a two day Frisbee tournament I probably played waaaaaaaaaaaaaay longer than that. Had no idea what I was doing...but enjoyed the challenge of it.
2005 My mom had a heart attack and survived. Made being healthier a priority for me. Tried to quit grad school. Was unsuccessful and somehow chalked it up to: it wasn't meant to be and stayed. Another year of sprint distant races. Still riding a 75 dollar pawn shop beauty that sometimes would stop shifting at important times...like in a race. Got a new bike at the end of the season. Ran my first half marathon in bucketing rain. Still remember a fellow gradschool/runner confused that my only goal was to finish and that I had no time goals. I didn't know what to expect...so i just went. Despite the downpour and squeaky shoes i had a good first experience.
2006 Got to do a little of what i love....teach. Did my first olympic distance-ish race (x2), actually TRAINED for a half marathon and broke 2 hours (thanks Joe!). This was my first taste at true athletic training and what it meant to do 400m track fun and hill repeats. I enjoyed it...but very quickly my athletics was put on a the back burner.
2007 Grad school was at a tipping point. It was not pretty. I somehow managed to secure a job...convince my adviser to let me graduate...defend and then move to San Diego. Triathlon? what's that? I did actually do one or two triathlons that season.
We also had a 'triathlon' at my going away party that entailed a slip-n-slide, a scooter war and a three legged race. My team won!
Fell while trail running a few days before my 30th birthday. The muscle psoas became an unfortunate part of my vocabulary...and still is.
2008 I was in the mecca of triathlons...but almost quit. Loved the sunshine. Bought my first wetsuit. Walked for graduation....degree #2. Dealt with hip injury. Signed up for my first half ironman but knew the hip wouldn't hold so backed out. Hired a coach in the fall. Something I never thought I would do. Discovered the velodrome and bought a fixie. Yes me...miss scaredy-pants on a bike that has no brakes and can't stop pedaling. Loved it.
2009
Was a big year for me with training. I actually started...training...you know hill repeats, time trial efforts, swim blocks, ect...mainly because my coach made me. :-) Was signed up...again...for my first half ironman, Vineman 70.3.
Was a year of PR's...like breaking my previous half marathon PR by almost 5 minutes on a very difficult course, La Jolla. Ummmm Torrey pines is soooooo fun to run up. Fastest sprint distant race time to date. Even broke my 10K PR twice now this year and the second time i was still recovering from the swine flu.
But the biggest athletic accomplishment was my first half ironman...Vineman 70.3. I hit a reach goal of sub six hours on a VERY hot day and had an amazing experience. Started to understand myself as an athlete better. And am now signed up for my first ironman!
2010 Holds ironman and some other crazy things to juggle. More on that in a future post.
The past decade has held its highs and lows....lots of learning and lots of growing. It will be interesting to see what the next 10 years hold.
So...raise your glasses and cheers! To the next decade!
Wednesday, December 09, 2009
There's a catch to it
Technique is currently being HAMMERED into my head. Swim technique is a major focus...and then there is some run technique too. But swim technique has been hammered with endless 25y's. The focus of 25ys...perfect technique and repeat. I mentioned this awhile back and i have been swimming not huge volume but frequently...4 days a week...my hair and skin are starting to protest a little even with anti-chlorine shampoo and lotion. But I am seeing some dumbfounding improvements where I shake myself and say: but isn't that supposed to be my ALL OUT time? And really these improvements were just from one swim clinic about six weeks ago where my take home message was: hug a bear. Sure that was a motto i came up with, but after this last weekend's clinic...my six weeks of bear hugging has paid off. My coach gave me the thumbs up to move on to focusing on my stroke. One thing I like is my 'homework' usually is only 2 or 3 things to think about and focus on.
Ah yes...the catch of the stroke. I have discovered that if upon entering the water I subtly drop my wrist which causes the catch of the stroke to start later...and hence I am not pulling as much water through the stroke. But I have also discovered that i think i am destined to have massive deltoids because just when I thought i finally had some strength to them...this catch/pulling focus now tires the delts pretty quickly. But it is coming...and for whatever reason I really am digging the ability to focus on technique and it is paying off! That probably helps the motivation when I'm in the middle of a set of 72x25y and want to poke my eyes out from the repetition. But somehow I come back to center in the middle of it and embrace it again. It somehow works for me.
So in the meantime i will be working on my catch...and maybe I will start growing some fins and gills too.
Ah yes...the catch of the stroke. I have discovered that if upon entering the water I subtly drop my wrist which causes the catch of the stroke to start later...and hence I am not pulling as much water through the stroke. But I have also discovered that i think i am destined to have massive deltoids because just when I thought i finally had some strength to them...this catch/pulling focus now tires the delts pretty quickly. But it is coming...and for whatever reason I really am digging the ability to focus on technique and it is paying off! That probably helps the motivation when I'm in the middle of a set of 72x25y and want to poke my eyes out from the repetition. But somehow I come back to center in the middle of it and embrace it again. It somehow works for me.
So in the meantime i will be working on my catch...and maybe I will start growing some fins and gills too.
Friday, November 27, 2009
10k...Thanksgiving...and all the dressings
i've been in the category of 'endurance' athlete for about 6 years now. 2003 being my first sprint distance triathlon. Since then I have had a lot of firsts at many distances: some 5k's, a few10k's, a handful of half mary's, lots of sprint triathlons, multiple olympic distance triathlons, and my first half ironman. What I have discovered (moreso after moving to San Diego) is that I have developed a case of 'endurance arrogance' and many people around here also seem to have this.
I didn't want to do a 5K because...well...they hurt...a lot. My friend didn't want to do the 5K because: why would you want to get up that early to just run 3.1 miles?
Yep...give me 6 miles of hurting, but a different kind of hurt... i'll take that any day. I find it much easier to race at my LT than the constant edge between my LT/AT range required for a 5K. Maybe i'm just a wuss.
That thought process made me realize...that is kinda nuts compared to the standard population. Yes...i'd much rather race for 6 miles than 3? And back in Aug when I was bemoaning the fact I had signed up for AFC half marathon and a friend of mine said: oh it's just a 2 hour workout. We endurance athletes really need to get our heads checked!
The race went well...i achieved the three goals I had set out for myself: negative the two loop course, focus on footfalls/min >90 (weirdly leg turn over was more sluggish than normal) and swing my arms. I even managed to PR at the race with a time of 52:22! My previous 10K PR was off the end of Malibu Oly tri in Sept around 54:11. Not bad considering while i'm MUCH improved from the flu...i can tell i'm not 100% yet.
This is what got me to thinking more about endurance arrogance....i came home and pondered WHY i was tired. I thought it strange that I NEEDED a nap i mean...it was ONLY 6.2 miles...and then this morning was almost confused as to why my hamstrings were tight. This morning, I pretty much had forgotten that I had raced 6.2 miles yesterday....ahem...endurance arrogance.
So...to pull it back to reality...for thanksgiving I am thankful for being ABLE to wake up and run around like a turkey with her head cut off for 6.2 miles. That's pretty cool in itself and sometimes I need to remind myself of that.
Thanksgiving also reminded me of the fact: i don't like to cook. I had also re-realized this earlier in the week when I attempted some other cooking. I usually 'assemble' my dinner. Minimal 'real' cooking involved and NOTHING that requires a recipe. I may have been in 4-H as a kid and even won a gold ribbon a time or two for my cooking at the State fair (don't laugh too hard)...but as an adult...not a fan.
What a mess...and I was just making ONE side dish for dinner. Oh well. Thanksgiving was a chaotic assembly of a lot of random people but a good time...even punctuated with a big dance party at the end. No better way to burn off that pumpkin pie than with a dance party.
Thanksgiving is a day to be thankful...and i am of many, many things.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Technique
<--ummm...a little holiday cheer to help with the writing...maybe a lot of 'cheer' in there too. ;-) Things around these parts could be better but alas...that is how life is sometimes. Sometimes it is mountain tops that you feel on top of and other times there are valleys. I'm in a bit of a valley and trying to figure out the next best step...but alas it is what it is and i am trying to make the best of it in the meantime.
For my friend Max!! I know he's got to be on a mountain top He just finished IMAZ, his first IM and did amazing. Watching his training and race unfold makes me all the more excited for mine next year. Awesome job Max!
But...oh...yes...training...training has been interesting. Post swine flu episode I have been just trying to get back into the groove. The cough is almost gone and my energy is falling back into place. I only started back on the 'training' bandwagon a little over a week ago and it was a bit like this: do 20 minutes and if i had more energy do some more...if I didn't have enough energy 20 minutes was good enough. The goal: get back into consistency. Get back in the groove.
I had some good days and would finish the whole workout and other days where i'd rather sleep and call it good after 20mins. But I haven't pushed...and have just waited. All in all its coming along.
The big thing I have been focused on the past month or so is...technique. Swimming technique and running technique. About a month ago my coach had a group swim meeting where he taped our strokes and gave us just a couple of things to work on. I had three things to focus on: head position, arms WIDE (hence my hug a bear motto) and hand entry. I swim 4x a week and 2 of those workouts are what we call: endless 25y's. The other two are lots of 50y's so plenty of time still to focus on technique.
Grab a pull bouy...a set of XXS paddles and swim very focused for 25y. Rest for a very long time (20 seconds) and repeat...over...and over...and over. Throw in an all out sprint every 4th 25y...but you get the picture. Rep-i-tition. My violin teacher in undergrad would be proud of the montra. I have found I actually do very well with such a singular focus. Sure in the middle of a 72x25y...i get a little distracted and i'll admit a little bored, but over all i'm soaking it up.
So I constantly focus on perfect form. Over-and-over-and-over. When we were doing the group swim session a month ago my coach had said: just trust me with the endless 25y's this winter.
so...i am..
But...being the curious person i am i decided this week to 'see' if all of this insanity was making any difference. So I timed my warmup. You know...the slow 50y's. The one's where it is supposed to be easy peasy? And then...I timed the cooldown 100s...and focused on making them...easy peasy. And I was SHOCKED with the result.
over and over...my 50y's turned up 55sec.
my 100y's...mind you at an EASY PEASY pace...1:50
again...and again...and again...
no this is not terribly fast...but for me these times meant: i just took 5 seconds off of my 50 and 10 seconds off of my 100y. TEN SECONDS.
How long can i hold that? not sure yet...but i am very encouraged. Very very encouraged. I might just be a fish by the end of this crazy endeavor!
And as for running technique i currently hold a cadence of about 90-92 footfalls/min...goal: 96ff/min. Which i can get to if i'm focused...but the idea being that if i can make 96 'natural'...then in the middle of a long race i'll probably be more like 90. Few other tidbits working on with running technique mainly around the fact i apparently don't swing my arms. Weird. And a few other things...but it is all coming along.
Interesting bits coming together for sure, but technique can make a huge difference. It is amazing.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
HAPPY BIRTHDAY...you have the swine flu!
yes...it is my birthday today. Kinda a cool year too...11/10/09. I like it. But what I DON'T like is that I came down with the ohhhhhhhhh so lovely flu yesterday evening. Fever, chills, headache, muscle aches, skin creepy crawly, lethargic. This morning i thought i was superwoman in that my fever had broken and I thought: yea...take that stupid flu...until an hour later i was over 100 again and got worse as the day wore on. I've had some amazing wacky dreams. (Fevers do that to me) and came up with the BEST idea ever. (keep in mind....i AM little delirious at the moment) but I think that creating 'Fever' Pajamas would be the best thing EVER. Maybe call them HOT pajamas? (where is that little circle for copy right? ;-))
My thought is to take what would be winter running/biking material. It is supposed to wick the sweat away but keep you warm too. When i have a fever at night i get all sweaty but chilled (i have never understood the chilling part to a fever...why am i so dang cold?) but waking up to damp cotton pj's is not nice. So what about something that could wick the sweat away? So that's my invention for the day. Pretty prodcutive day considering i've been sleeping all day.
Yes part of me really wants to throw a little bit of a pity party today, but the reality is that aside from feeling yucky i have no complaints on my birthday. I am very blessed. I got to talk to my sister and her crazy little kids. My parents. I've received texts wishing me well...and emails of happy birthday: get better. Sure i would rather be going out for sushi with some friends as orginally planned but when I know I can (and did) call them and say: can you bring me some nyquil and cough drops that they were over in a flash. Knowing I have true friends is really the best present there is. Maybe it did take me getting the swine flu to truly appreciate that.
My thought is to take what would be winter running/biking material. It is supposed to wick the sweat away but keep you warm too. When i have a fever at night i get all sweaty but chilled (i have never understood the chilling part to a fever...why am i so dang cold?) but waking up to damp cotton pj's is not nice. So what about something that could wick the sweat away? So that's my invention for the day. Pretty prodcutive day considering i've been sleeping all day.
Yes part of me really wants to throw a little bit of a pity party today, but the reality is that aside from feeling yucky i have no complaints on my birthday. I am very blessed. I got to talk to my sister and her crazy little kids. My parents. I've received texts wishing me well...and emails of happy birthday: get better. Sure i would rather be going out for sushi with some friends as orginally planned but when I know I can (and did) call them and say: can you bring me some nyquil and cough drops that they were over in a flash. Knowing I have true friends is really the best present there is. Maybe it did take me getting the swine flu to truly appreciate that.
Friday, November 06, 2009
testing...tap...tap...tap...is this thing on?
This week has been interesting on the training front. I had a great swim stroke analysis from my coach last saturday which has lead to: endless 25y's and me tucking my head down and saying to myself: hug a bear.
yes...hug a bear
WHY hug a bear? Well...i do what many swimmers do...the dreaded crossing of the arms at the beginning of the stroke. So my coach wanted me to swim as WIDE as i could as he said: you won't ever swim too wide...trust me. So my motto all week has been: hug a bear.
On a fun training front i had a fantastic meet up with a fellow blogger this week...LG...somehow convinced her some hot yoga would be fun. And it was as well as hanging out with her and discovering that while we do very different things in life we have much training outlooks that are similar. That is always a fun find because sometimes that is hard TO find.
But overall...
i know i have been a little awol on the bloggy front. I've been reading many of your blogs out there, but my comments have been few and my writing over here has been...well...sparse. I'll create only about a 1/10 of a post and that will be all i can muster mainly because i am...exhausted...bone tired. And not the good kind either...the good kind is the kind where you are tired because the training is hard and things may take a ton of energy and time but it's positive and feels good to dump all the energy into those tasks. No...it's that draining kind...the kind where you just wonder: am i at the bottom of this yet?
And the answer is always: no
and to make matters worse: i over think.
and THAT...is an understatement
so when we all go through transition or points of change or just junk it gets all that much more emotionally exhausting for me because i MULL...i THINK...i think and i think. But weirdly...i will get in this mental churn and because i'll get tired of my internal churn i will make a decision just to DO something. Just to stop the churn and I sometimes tend to disregard some of the realities.
that is me...churn and then act but weirdly act slightly impulsively just to get the mental churning to stop. because acting gets me 'unstuck'. But patience is sometimes a better plan, unfortunately...i'm not so patient...mainly how can you be patient when you can't get the churn to stop without acting?
But stuff is in motion therefor so am i
And then there is some job stuff...my job...that job...that other job...that potential job...that dream job...no you can't do THAT in your job...but you MUST do THIS in your job...you want the ability to DO your job?...here?...really?...no...i just want you to deliver anyway on the impossible project...take all the time out of your actual job and do it now....really...sooooo not kidding
this makes me...frustrated
and slightly impulsive
there is a laundry list i could go on and on about to...but i don't want to encourage the churn. So i will leave it here. i'm alive...i wish things would settle down a little bit...i wish i knew the best answer for the question(s) in front of me...oh and...sleeping would also be nice.
yes...hug a bear
WHY hug a bear? Well...i do what many swimmers do...the dreaded crossing of the arms at the beginning of the stroke. So my coach wanted me to swim as WIDE as i could as he said: you won't ever swim too wide...trust me. So my motto all week has been: hug a bear.
On a fun training front i had a fantastic meet up with a fellow blogger this week...LG...somehow convinced her some hot yoga would be fun. And it was as well as hanging out with her and discovering that while we do very different things in life we have much training outlooks that are similar. That is always a fun find because sometimes that is hard TO find.
But overall...
i know i have been a little awol on the bloggy front. I've been reading many of your blogs out there, but my comments have been few and my writing over here has been...well...sparse. I'll create only about a 1/10 of a post and that will be all i can muster mainly because i am...exhausted...bone tired. And not the good kind either...the good kind is the kind where you are tired because the training is hard and things may take a ton of energy and time but it's positive and feels good to dump all the energy into those tasks. No...it's that draining kind...the kind where you just wonder: am i at the bottom of this yet?
And the answer is always: no
and to make matters worse: i over think.
and THAT...is an understatement
so when we all go through transition or points of change or just junk it gets all that much more emotionally exhausting for me because i MULL...i THINK...i think and i think. But weirdly...i will get in this mental churn and because i'll get tired of my internal churn i will make a decision just to DO something. Just to stop the churn and I sometimes tend to disregard some of the realities.
that is me...churn and then act but weirdly act slightly impulsively just to get the mental churning to stop. because acting gets me 'unstuck'. But patience is sometimes a better plan, unfortunately...i'm not so patient...mainly how can you be patient when you can't get the churn to stop without acting?
But stuff is in motion therefor so am i
And then there is some job stuff...my job...that job...that other job...that potential job...that dream job...no you can't do THAT in your job...but you MUST do THIS in your job...you want the ability to DO your job?...here?...really?...no...i just want you to deliver anyway on the impossible project...take all the time out of your actual job and do it now....really...sooooo not kidding
this makes me...frustrated
and slightly impulsive
there is a laundry list i could go on and on about to...but i don't want to encourage the churn. So i will leave it here. i'm alive...i wish things would settle down a little bit...i wish i knew the best answer for the question(s) in front of me...oh and...sleeping would also be nice.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
So *that's* what it is like to be near the front of a race!
This weekend was SOMA half ironman. I had signed up to do the race with some people through TNS training. When we signed up...they didn't know me...i didn't know them, but since the sign up and Malibu and this weekend i've gotten to know my happy little team and I was pretty excited to be doing the relay with them.
And then i was off the bike for literally 3 weeks...
And then i was poked and prodded with needles and beaten up with a foam roller...
i didn't know what to expect from my ability to spin the cranks and move those wheels. The original plan for this race was to see HOW much faster on a flat course and no swim or run I could go than Vineman. I wanted to break 3 hours since I was close to the 3 hour mark at vineman.
There was much about the weekend that was fun insanity and much about the weekend that was just unfun...predominately around the fact I almost got myself stranded in Tempe by no fault of my own as well as the fact my happy little relay had to break up due to our swimmer crashing her beautiful new bike on Saturday and making friends with the ground at 30mph. Bike crashes make me inhearantly sick to my stomach and my heart went out to her. But then to find out that due to how her handle bars crunched into her top tube on top ...she totaled her bike: double sick to my stomach.
So this was Saturday: me potentially stuck in Tempe longer than I anticipated, my relay's swimmer sporting some nice road rash, a (right) decision not to race, a totaled less than 100 mile bike and a friend wondering if a whopper of a migraine was about to strike before his race on Sunday. It wasn't boding well for well...any of us.
Saturday afternoon was packet pickup and our swimmer inquired if there was a way to do the relay without the swim...to then have the directors say: hey...ask this INSANELY fast guy to swim for you. oooookkkkkkkkkkaaaaaaaay
Race morning:
Still no ride home
Meet Mr. wicked fast swimmer...he's 10 shades of excited just to swim.
The relay's are in the second wave and he ends up swimming somewhere around 27/28 minutes and is within the top 10 out of the water.
My thought: well this is kinda cool that i'm now near the FRONT of the race...but also weird and a little concerned that i'm going to get passed like i'm standing still for the rest of the day. But really nice to be near the front because there was no one out there to jocky around and worry about staying back or passing or whathaveyou. Lap 1...not as many guys passed me as I thought...Lap 2 a few more zipping past and Lap 3...now we are in the thick of everyone on the course.
I didn't like the course really because there were a lot of random U-turns on the course. I ended up hammering it a little too hard in the beginning and suffered a bit the last 5 miles. But i was pleased with my effort.
And then i saw my time...
and had to laugh...
original goal: go sub 3hours (which i totally let go of with the lack of training the past month)
Time: 3:00:29
Not quite sub 3 but sooo close!Not bad for a girl who hadn't been riding her bike!
Funnily afterwards a random girl at the relay rack decided to ask me how I did. I'll admit my little brain wasn't working 100%, but something that definately bothers me about some triathletes (and i've seen it much more so here in s.cali) is that someone's reason for asking your time is to see if they bested you. I remember blankly staring at this girl thinking: WHO ARE YOU? AND WHY DO YOU CARE???? Fortunately Brian came to my rescue and said: don't mind her...she can barely talk after races. And gave my general update. But really...why was this person asking? So weird to me.
in the end...I fortunately found a ride home on Sunday...but the process of finding one was a clusterf...and i was not a happy camper.
Sometimes I think that if i have a patch of crappiness that patch will be it for awhile and i will soon spring out of it. The weekend was fun to see friends but definitely shadowed a bit by some of the not so fun things. unfortunately...i came home to difficult and distressing topics to which I am reminded: i really am bone tired and I wish i could figure out a respite.
life does not stop
And then i was off the bike for literally 3 weeks...
And then i was poked and prodded with needles and beaten up with a foam roller...
i didn't know what to expect from my ability to spin the cranks and move those wheels. The original plan for this race was to see HOW much faster on a flat course and no swim or run I could go than Vineman. I wanted to break 3 hours since I was close to the 3 hour mark at vineman.
There was much about the weekend that was fun insanity and much about the weekend that was just unfun...predominately around the fact I almost got myself stranded in Tempe by no fault of my own as well as the fact my happy little relay had to break up due to our swimmer crashing her beautiful new bike on Saturday and making friends with the ground at 30mph. Bike crashes make me inhearantly sick to my stomach and my heart went out to her. But then to find out that due to how her handle bars crunched into her top tube on top ...she totaled her bike: double sick to my stomach.
So this was Saturday: me potentially stuck in Tempe longer than I anticipated, my relay's swimmer sporting some nice road rash, a (right) decision not to race, a totaled less than 100 mile bike and a friend wondering if a whopper of a migraine was about to strike before his race on Sunday. It wasn't boding well for well...any of us.
Saturday afternoon was packet pickup and our swimmer inquired if there was a way to do the relay without the swim...to then have the directors say: hey...ask this INSANELY fast guy to swim for you. oooookkkkkkkkkkaaaaaaaay
Race morning:
Still no ride home
Meet Mr. wicked fast swimmer...he's 10 shades of excited just to swim.
The relay's are in the second wave and he ends up swimming somewhere around 27/28 minutes and is within the top 10 out of the water.
My thought: well this is kinda cool that i'm now near the FRONT of the race...but also weird and a little concerned that i'm going to get passed like i'm standing still for the rest of the day. But really nice to be near the front because there was no one out there to jocky around and worry about staying back or passing or whathaveyou. Lap 1...not as many guys passed me as I thought...Lap 2 a few more zipping past and Lap 3...now we are in the thick of everyone on the course.
I didn't like the course really because there were a lot of random U-turns on the course. I ended up hammering it a little too hard in the beginning and suffered a bit the last 5 miles. But i was pleased with my effort.
And then i saw my time...
and had to laugh...
original goal: go sub 3hours (which i totally let go of with the lack of training the past month)
Time: 3:00:29
Not quite sub 3 but sooo close!Not bad for a girl who hadn't been riding her bike!
Funnily afterwards a random girl at the relay rack decided to ask me how I did. I'll admit my little brain wasn't working 100%, but something that definately bothers me about some triathletes (and i've seen it much more so here in s.cali) is that someone's reason for asking your time is to see if they bested you. I remember blankly staring at this girl thinking: WHO ARE YOU? AND WHY DO YOU CARE???? Fortunately Brian came to my rescue and said: don't mind her...she can barely talk after races. And gave my general update. But really...why was this person asking? So weird to me.
in the end...I fortunately found a ride home on Sunday...but the process of finding one was a clusterf...and i was not a happy camper.
Sometimes I think that if i have a patch of crappiness that patch will be it for awhile and i will soon spring out of it. The weekend was fun to see friends but definitely shadowed a bit by some of the not so fun things. unfortunately...i came home to difficult and distressing topics to which I am reminded: i really am bone tired and I wish i could figure out a respite.
life does not stop
Monday, October 19, 2009
to be clear...
There have been a lot of learnings going on in this corner of the woods recently. Mainly revolving around...WHAT is going on in my hip. It spasms...it does crazy stuff...it's weird...net result...i get frusterated.
So...am in injured? Not really but i'm not 100% healthy either...ok...i'm not 100% of where I WANT to be to start something like IM training. If I were training for a half? Oh...i'd say I was totally FINE. But IM training...that's a different monster that i am sure would prey upon any imbalance that is latent in my body.
When I fell in June my acupuncturist discovered that i'm internally rotatated on my right side. In Aug I saw another guy about this and i'm rotated about 4 mm past where I should be. The best way to describe it...I have lower crossed syndrome. And in reality...i probably also have upper crossed syndrome too. For the life of me, i can't figure out how a person could have one and NOT have the other. But that's not the point.
So my conclusions to my anterior-ly rotated hip....
this didn't start in June (it was just discovered)...
and it didn't start in Nov 2007 when I fell....
nor back when I had runner's knee
Or piriformis pain
or IT band issues
But aside from the injuries caused by falling...this rotation probably CAUSED the other ones and aggressively aggravated the ones that were induced by falling and hence were so hard to overcome.
And the reality...this probably only was actually OBSERVED because i am an endurance athlete. Maybe there is something to be said for being a couch potato?
Here is my slightly wackadoodle theory (although I think i'm right)...the fact that my hip has too much of a tilt to the forward is most likely related to the fact I have played the violin since I was five....
and have TMJ...
and have back issues...
but first to understand how my wacky jaw is related to my HIP... you have to believe in fascia
and then you have to believe that the fascia are all connected together in interesting patterns and an dysfunction in a shoulder can influence the opposite hip
And once that understanding is embraced then it starts to make sense that all of the gnarly issues in my fascia from TMJ and years of playing the violin might actually be the root cause of inducing the anterior tilt in my hip. How you say? By tightening some of the back muscles, my QL got too short, which probably weakened my glutes, my hip flexors got tight (aided by cycling and running i'm sure) and it leaves me with an imbalanced weird situation.
So how does one FIX this?
Me and my foam roller are friends...ok...we are much MORE than friends.
My acupuncturist continues to work on releasing many muscles and balance them out
i stretch
i strengthen the glutes
i strengthen the core....the guy working to balance me out has me pretty convinced i'm going to have abs of steel at the end of this. I'm starting to see the separation between my obliques and rectus abdominis muscles (ie those six pack muscles) on the sides of my stomach and oh yea and the separation between the ab muscles is starting at the top. Hopefully i'm not just imagining this. ;-)
But much of this (the foam roller and acupuncture)...leaves me a little worse for wear as well as doing the things that continue to shorten the wrong muscles, like cycling and running, makes it tough to strengthen and release the right ones.
So...i took some time off over the past 2 weeks. I have barely been on my bike in the past 3 weeks...running has been minimal. But hey i think i grew gills and i'm a fish now. Never mind the fact that i'm getting defined deltoids because me and the pull bouy and paddles are becoming fast friends. Hmmm...good thing i always thought deltoids were the coolest muscle group anyway. (and probably one of the most attractive on a guy...yes I do have a thing for guys with defined delts. ) But i think this means that i need to say 'bye-bye' to cap sleeved shirts that button on the arm. I have one shirt that is like that and now it is tight in the arms and too lose in the waist. I think pretty soon i won't be able to button the sleeves. Sigh...
So...am in injured? Not really but i'm not 100% healthy either...ok...i'm not 100% of where I WANT to be to start something like IM training. If I were training for a half? Oh...i'd say I was totally FINE. But IM training...that's a different monster that i am sure would prey upon any imbalance that is latent in my body.
When I fell in June my acupuncturist discovered that i'm internally rotatated on my right side. In Aug I saw another guy about this and i'm rotated about 4 mm past where I should be. The best way to describe it...I have lower crossed syndrome. And in reality...i probably also have upper crossed syndrome too. For the life of me, i can't figure out how a person could have one and NOT have the other. But that's not the point.
So my conclusions to my anterior-ly rotated hip....
this didn't start in June (it was just discovered)...
and it didn't start in Nov 2007 when I fell....
nor back when I had runner's knee
Or piriformis pain
or IT band issues
But aside from the injuries caused by falling...this rotation probably CAUSED the other ones and aggressively aggravated the ones that were induced by falling and hence were so hard to overcome.
And the reality...this probably only was actually OBSERVED because i am an endurance athlete. Maybe there is something to be said for being a couch potato?
Here is my slightly wackadoodle theory (although I think i'm right)...the fact that my hip has too much of a tilt to the forward is most likely related to the fact I have played the violin since I was five....
and have TMJ...
and have back issues...
but first to understand how my wacky jaw is related to my HIP... you have to believe in fascia
and then you have to believe that the fascia are all connected together in interesting patterns and an dysfunction in a shoulder can influence the opposite hip
And once that understanding is embraced then it starts to make sense that all of the gnarly issues in my fascia from TMJ and years of playing the violin might actually be the root cause of inducing the anterior tilt in my hip. How you say? By tightening some of the back muscles, my QL got too short, which probably weakened my glutes, my hip flexors got tight (aided by cycling and running i'm sure) and it leaves me with an imbalanced weird situation.
So how does one FIX this?
Me and my foam roller are friends...ok...we are much MORE than friends.
My acupuncturist continues to work on releasing many muscles and balance them out
i stretch
i strengthen the glutes
i strengthen the core....the guy working to balance me out has me pretty convinced i'm going to have abs of steel at the end of this. I'm starting to see the separation between my obliques and rectus abdominis muscles (ie those six pack muscles) on the sides of my stomach and oh yea and the separation between the ab muscles is starting at the top. Hopefully i'm not just imagining this. ;-)
But much of this (the foam roller and acupuncture)...leaves me a little worse for wear as well as doing the things that continue to shorten the wrong muscles, like cycling and running, makes it tough to strengthen and release the right ones.
So...i took some time off over the past 2 weeks. I have barely been on my bike in the past 3 weeks...running has been minimal. But hey i think i grew gills and i'm a fish now. Never mind the fact that i'm getting defined deltoids because me and the pull bouy and paddles are becoming fast friends. Hmmm...good thing i always thought deltoids were the coolest muscle group anyway. (and probably one of the most attractive on a guy...yes I do have a thing for guys with defined delts. ) But i think this means that i need to say 'bye-bye' to cap sleeved shirts that button on the arm. I have one shirt that is like that and now it is tight in the arms and too lose in the waist. I think pretty soon i won't be able to button the sleeves. Sigh...
Friday, October 02, 2009
Its a good kind of pain, i think?
Nagging injuries, well...suck. I'm soooooooooooooooooooooooo tired of my hip injury that I have just up and decided, i'm over it. It doesn't matter that I can feel the spasm. Nope...i'm just over it. Ok...maybe i'm not over it physically...but i'm sooooooooooo over it mentally that mentally chose to deal with it as little as i can get away with.
That being said i have been 'prehabing' my hips for ironman next year. I had a lot of acupuncture after falling in May prior to Vineman which got me through vineman with the promise that post vineman i would focus on 'fixing it'. I"m in 'fixing it' mode, but the problem: it would get worse, it would get better nothing really was happening. i was secretly frustrated.
If I did X it was irritated...but only sometimes. I'd do Y on one day and nothing would be bad and then i would do Y again and i would have a massive trigger point. I wasn't getting any worse but i know i'm only at 90% and heavy loads of training would surly expose this and quickly.
For a few weeks i have been doing the strength hip thing with a person who is working to balance all of my muscles in my body prior to ironman training. I didn't have a full opinion of what he has been doing with me I was basically pondering the questions: was it working? Was this worth it?
While i didn't feel like i was making much progress, I had decided to just give it a shot and see what would happen and then last week I sent him an email: oh by the way whatever you did to me...i have a big 'ol unhappy trigger point in the psoas. not in pain...but definitely irritated.
So this week his response: that shouldn't have happen if it is psaos originated.
Me in my head:ok buddy then what do you suggest. most people won't suggest anything so here i am with the bitter knowledge that we might be treating something that isn't the right thing.
Him: Let's try something else...let's see if something ELSE is what the problem is. Maybe it is a quad strain?
And miracle of miracle...we found it. I get a referred trigger point that is typical of psoas pain and what i had when i fell the first time, but this time...i have a different irritated/strained muscle. Lots of poking and prodding of the muscle and it now...HURTS.
But i'm encouraged. Finding the root cause means we can fix it. Before it just seemed like guess work and i wondered if i was every going to get 100% better.
i'm in for some acupuncture tomorrow and i'm sure she will electrocute me in the process...literally. Not a fun thing when someone hooks electrodes up to needles that are IN your body...but it stopped the other spasm before.
in the meantime...ice and heat and oh what was that? Oh yea rest a little bit? that's a hard one.
That being said i have been 'prehabing' my hips for ironman next year. I had a lot of acupuncture after falling in May prior to Vineman which got me through vineman with the promise that post vineman i would focus on 'fixing it'. I"m in 'fixing it' mode, but the problem: it would get worse, it would get better nothing really was happening. i was secretly frustrated.
If I did X it was irritated...but only sometimes. I'd do Y on one day and nothing would be bad and then i would do Y again and i would have a massive trigger point. I wasn't getting any worse but i know i'm only at 90% and heavy loads of training would surly expose this and quickly.
For a few weeks i have been doing the strength hip thing with a person who is working to balance all of my muscles in my body prior to ironman training. I didn't have a full opinion of what he has been doing with me I was basically pondering the questions: was it working? Was this worth it?
While i didn't feel like i was making much progress, I had decided to just give it a shot and see what would happen and then last week I sent him an email: oh by the way whatever you did to me...i have a big 'ol unhappy trigger point in the psoas. not in pain...but definitely irritated.
So this week his response: that shouldn't have happen if it is psaos originated.
Me in my head:ok buddy then what do you suggest. most people won't suggest anything so here i am with the bitter knowledge that we might be treating something that isn't the right thing.
Him: Let's try something else...let's see if something ELSE is what the problem is. Maybe it is a quad strain?
And miracle of miracle...we found it. I get a referred trigger point that is typical of psoas pain and what i had when i fell the first time, but this time...i have a different irritated/strained muscle. Lots of poking and prodding of the muscle and it now...HURTS.
But i'm encouraged. Finding the root cause means we can fix it. Before it just seemed like guess work and i wondered if i was every going to get 100% better.
i'm in for some acupuncture tomorrow and i'm sure she will electrocute me in the process...literally. Not a fun thing when someone hooks electrodes up to needles that are IN your body...but it stopped the other spasm before.
in the meantime...ice and heat and oh what was that? Oh yea rest a little bit? that's a hard one.
Friday, September 25, 2009
a slippery sliding slope
many times in life we just climb, climb, climb and climb. wondering where the top is. Wondering what is on the other side. Wondering...when the stupid mountain will stop towering in front of us. And then there are other times when we don't realize we are on a precipitous slope that is about to give way underneath us and send us crashing down the hill. And while the tumultuous fall down the side of the slope is unnerving...it is important to get down the hill to see what is in store next. The disconcerting thing is: we don't know when we will stop sliding.
i am in a little bit of a free fall right now. i'm trying to kick my hands up in the air like it is a roller coaster ride and just enjoy the free fall, but i still have a little bit of that 'sick to my stomach feeling' you get when in free fall and desperately want to cling to a tree on the side of the mountain.
So here are some learnings of this free fall just this week:
i am in a little bit of a free fall right now. i'm trying to kick my hands up in the air like it is a roller coaster ride and just enjoy the free fall, but i still have a little bit of that 'sick to my stomach feeling' you get when in free fall and desperately want to cling to a tree on the side of the mountain.
So here are some learnings of this free fall just this week:
- I hate the word: opportunity... especially when it is used to depict crap. Crap is crap. it is not opportunity and it SURE does not smell like it either. Please just call a spade a spade.
- being a home owner isn't the end all and be all in life. I will not be buying this condo...and i will not be purchasing anything in the near future. Many things pointed to the reality that: It was not the right time for me. I am at peace with that.
- winning 'fake points' during a velodrome class...is still really fun. Even if you suspect the other person let you win. (ok this isn't really a 'free fall' type of learning...but a general learning from the week.)
- When real opportunity does knock on the door and speaks sweetly...it is scary and you start to wonder: is it really on the other side? And it may or may not be...but the belief that it might is very exciting. Even if the level of sacrifice is high...
- when in freefall...relax...it could take you where you've never dared to dream. And while those dreams are just dreams...you start to realize how valuable they are when you say: i would give up XYZ for it. And you never realized you WOULD give up XYZ.
- what happens to a dream deferred? you fight harder if the chance comes round again. you fight like you have nothing to lose because you realize you may only get one chance this time around.
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