The countdown is really on now. And so the really hard work begins. Our week in South Carolina was good; not as good as our first year (at least for me) but good none the less. I had a really good ride our first day out even thought it was windy, I still managed to push the pace a bit and keep myself together until the last 45 minutes or so. It was a bit of a struggle to get back to the cabins. But I was happy. I climbed well and managed to hang with the boys (even if I was at the very back) so I was pleased. I didn't ride as much as the first year (only 350k) but I think I really needed a break so I took the time to enjoy myself and relax. I climbed Ceasar's head again this year. I was about 2 minutes faster this year than 2 years ago so I was pretty pleased with that.
I had a lot of foot issues later on in the week. I'm not sure what the problem is - it might be my orthotics, I don't know but I'm having a lot pain in my metatarsal area on my left foot so I've been getting "hot foot" on the bike and suffering through my runs by altering my gait slightly. I really need to get that looked at so I'm going to call Pivot tomorrow to see when I can get in to see their foot guy. I really hope I haven't done anything bad to it.
The last couple of months have been a BIG struggle for me mentally. I have been lacking serious motivation and most of my workouts see me just going through the motions (especially my swim workouts). I don't think I push myself as hard as I should, although, that being said, I'm obviously doing something right as my cycling has improved. My running is suffering at the expense of my riding but, that seems to be the way the plan goes. We're supposed to start some track workouts in the next few weeks so I'm hoping that my running comes around again. Obviously I need to get my foot issues sorted out first.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Monday, April 7, 2008
All of A Sudden....
the snow was gone! Yes, it's true. That white stuff is NO LONGER! The birds are singing, the crocuses are blooming and once again, I can see my backyard! WOOOHOOOOO! We had a BEAUTIFUL weekend but surprisingly Gary and I opted to ride on the trainer INSIDE. Yes, I said INSIDE. I rode for 3 hours and 40 minutes. I think I lost my mind at about 2 hours. But, it doesn't matter because from here on in, all of our rides are going to be outside! Starting next Sunday with a nice little 4 hour jaunt through the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Gary's workouts for the week in South Carolina have been posted and I took a look. Holy crap. He's got a 4 hour ride followed by a 40 min run, followed by a 30 min open water swim if possible. Monday is a 30 min swim, 1:50 run followed by an 'easy" 2 hour bike. Tuesday is a MEGA day- a 6.5 hour bike followed by a 20 minute run. Wednesday in an INSANE day with a double brick; bike/run/bike/run - 2 hours 50 minutes then a 50 minute open water swim. Thursday is the longest bike ride of the week: 7 hours. Friday is a 1 hour run with a 5km time trial in it followed by a 3.5 hour bike, followed by a 45 min open water swim. Saturday we drive back and Sunday is a day off. Thank GOD. Holy. I'm going to try to do everything in Gary's schedule but I think I'm going to have a hard time convincing Silvia to ride for 7 hours and I can't keep up with the guys so, we'll see what happens. Maybe I just end up doing loops to make up whatever time I need to.
I'm hoping that I manage to hold together next week. I've been having foot issues and my elbow has been bothering me the last 2 swims. I'm thinking that it's probably because I'm really tight through my shoulders and back. I'm scheduled for a massage tonight so hopefully that helps. As for my foot issues, well, I'm not sure what's causing that discomfort, probably tightness in my arches. I really should be wearing orthotics in all my shoes but I don't, only when I run. I should probably go and see my podiatrist at some point....when i can find the time!
I'm hoping that I manage to hold together next week. I've been having foot issues and my elbow has been bothering me the last 2 swims. I'm thinking that it's probably because I'm really tight through my shoulders and back. I'm scheduled for a massage tonight so hopefully that helps. As for my foot issues, well, I'm not sure what's causing that discomfort, probably tightness in my arches. I really should be wearing orthotics in all my shoes but I don't, only when I run. I should probably go and see my podiatrist at some point....when i can find the time!
Friday, March 28, 2008
On Becoming A Fish....
Funny title since I am, astrologically speaking, a fish. Even more ironic that I'm not too fond of swimming- at least open water swimming. I don't hate it but, I do have a few little phobias around it. When I let my phobias get the better of me, well, I don't usually last long in the water. I think this year though, I will be able to put those phobias to rest (at least some of them). My swimming has come a LONG way from when I started back in 2003. I swam 3850m this morning in 1 hour and 25 minutes. 2 years ago that would have probably taken me close to 1hr 40 minutes to complete that workout. I had to swim a 600 m warm up and then 3x 1000m with one minute rest in between and a 200m cool down. It was supposed to be a 3800 m workout but I swam an extra 50 on one of my 1000's. My 1000 times broke down like this: #1) 21:28 (this was where I swam the extra 50) #2) 20:12 #3) 19:48. Yes, I broke 20 minutes! I was THRILLED. My Ironman swim time from LP was 1:19. This time around, I thinking I can actually do 1:15 easily, maybe even 1:10 if I seed myself correctly. I think I am ACTUALLY looking forward to the swim! Wow, never thought I'd hear those words come out of my mouth. We'll see what actually happens when I get into open water for the first time this year. I may change my tune.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
The Blah's
It's here. Again. I've hit that low. I've crawled into that nasty place called Unmotivation. I don't know what it is - perhaps it's the weather, the seemingly never ending cold and snow - but, I'm really bummed out. I'm tired and have no desire to do anything. I'd be much happier sitting on the couch watching a movie. I slept in yesterday, didn't do my run on Sunday (I felt like I was getting a cold) and didn't finish my workout this morning (that was due to an entirely different problem). I am really starting to feel a little stir crazy. We've got another BIG week of workouts scheduled, very bike intensive since we're heading to South Carolina in 3 weeks. I have a 3800m swim scheduled on Thursday. 3800 m! That is the FULL ironman distance. GOOD GOD. The swim I had this morning was 3500 but I only managed 1600 due to some pretty serious cramps so I got out and sat in the hot tub.
I think once the nicer weather comes along and I can actually start to get outside and ride, then I'll get out of my funk but until then, it's going to be a struggle.
I think once the nicer weather comes along and I can actually start to get outside and ride, then I'll get out of my funk but until then, it's going to be a struggle.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Toeing The Line
It's been a while since I've been on here; since March 2nd to be exact. The last 2 weeks have been HELLISH to say the least. I've been SUPER busy at work so busy that I was starting to feel a bit burnt out. I was lacking any sort of motivation to do anything because I was SO tired and stressed. I missed 3 workouts last week, a run a swim and a weight workout. I really didn't feel like doing them. I just felt like I needed to sleep. It took me a few days to recover from the half, I think I pushed myself a little too hard that day. We've had a TON of snow which has made running outside challenging to say the least. It's all been a bit much. I can't wait to see the grass again and not have to bundle up when I head out for a run. There's 4 weeks until we're off to South Carolina and it can't come soon enough. I'm looking forward to the fact that it's a 3 day weekend this weekend as well. Another day to sleep in! One positive thing that I can take away from the last couple of weeks was my bike ride yesterday. We went to Absolute Endurance yesterday and did a 3 hour computrainer ride on the IM Switzerland course and I had NO issues. No leg soreness, no foot soreness, nothing. I managed to average 138 watts for the ride, which I guess is alright. Although, I am able to push much higher watts on a hill; anywhere between 170-180 watts. If I push really hard I can hit 200. I can't sustain that for too long but I can at least hit it. When I it the flats, I don't seem to have that same power. I have to figure out what gear ratio works best for me. I did most of yesterday's ride in my big chain ring, except for the climbs. It's hard to work on this on the trainer, especially since I don't have a power tap. But, I'll figure something out.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Chilly Half Marathon-Watching the Wheels Fall off the Wagon
So this was the first race on my schedule this year. Gary’s coach wanted him to race it so I figured I might as well. I’ve never done this race before because it always falls on the weekend of my birthday and truth be told, I do enjoy a good night on the town every so often, especially when it’s my birthday. So, instead of a night on the town, we spent a night on the couch (there’s always next weekend!!!) I’d heard pretty good things about it this race; especially about the post race food. Good post race food? Sign me up!!
Our friend Sue showed up at our place around 7:30 am and we hit the road around 7:45. Made it out to Burlington in about half an hour. Parked the car and headed over to the bus pick up area. It was COLD, but nice and sunny. I was glad I brought my parka. After about a 20 minute wait, the bus showed up and we all piled on. 15-20 minutes later, we were dropped off a few blocks from the finish line. We wandered around, checked out the food tent (smelled AWESOME) and tried to find some “facilities”. We came across a row of porta potties. Bloody hell, I was already freezing, the last thing I wanted to do was drop my drawers in the cold. Oh well. No choice. We wandered around and found the baggage check, got ourselves sorted and wandered over to the start line. We headed out on a warm up jog when Sue & I had to find some “facilities”….again. So we ran around for a bit, found a pub that was open and letting the runners use their facilities. It was right near the start. By that point we had lost my hubby (Gary) but I figured it didn’t matter much as he was going to be miles ahead of us anyway. We hopped into the crowd and made our way towards the 1:45 pace bunny. My goal was to run sub 1:45. I figured if I could stay with the 1:45 pace bunny for at least the first half of the race, that would be perfect. I could then pick up the pace a bit for the second half. Well, the gun went off and I said good bye to Sue and then promptly lost the 1:45 pace bunny. I picked up the pace a bit thinking that he was ahead of me. Nope. I slowed down a bit looking for him. Couldn’t find him at all. Oh well. I had my foot pod that I thought was fairly accurate. Ha. Anyway, I ran along at a good clip, pushing the pace a bit. I felt good. I was looking for km markers to see how accurate my food pod was. I didn’t see a marker until the 3 km mark. I went through 3km in just under 15 minutes. My watch was telling me I was running 4:40 km’s. Hmmm….looks like it’s off by quite a bit! Keeping that in mind, I tried to settle in to a 4:55 pace (4:45 according to my watch). It felt relatively comfortable and I figured I could maintain it for the duration of the race. I felt pretty good (albeit a bit warm) right through the 10km mark. I had to take off my gloves at about 5km and then the jacket came off around 11 km. I was sweating buckets and had to air myself out. Shortly thereafter we turned onto Lakeshore and into the wind. Yikes. The thought of putting my soggy jacket back on was incredibly unappealing so I sucked it up and kept going. The gloves went back on for a bit and that helped. I had taken half a GU at the 55 minute mark. I figured I’d save the other half for the 1:15 mark, figuring that would carry me through to the end. In hindsight, I probably should have had 2 GU’s with me and taken half of one at 30 minutes, the other half at an hour and then the last one at 1:15. It was about an hour and 15 minutes into the race that I started to feel not so good. My calves were starting to cramp and I was starting to lose speed. Uh-oh. I had that last half of GU hoping it was enough to get me through the last half hour. That last half hour was torture. I pushed through and hit the 16km mark feeling absolutely horrible. At the 17km mark, I started to feel a bit better so I thought I had turned the corner. Just after I hit the 18 km mark, the wheels fell right off the wagon. I thought both of my legs were going to seize up. All I could think about was putting one foot in front of the other at this point. I was still managing to run just under 5 min km’s but it was killing me. It was at this point that the 1:45 pace bunny came hurtling by me. What the hell?? He was behind me the entire time. Great. I tried to keep him in my sights. I kept my eyes fixated on those pink ears. I think I had blinders on from 18 km to 20 km. I was so focused on that pace bunny. We came up a small hill to a crowd of people yelling “only 400 meters to go!”. SWEEEET! That news gave me that little bit of adrenaline that I needed. I started to pick up the pace a bit and I was closing in on the pace bunny. “Just follow the pink ears, you’re almost there!” I thought. I motored along into the finishing straight, taking a quick look around for Gary. No luck. I now had my sights on the race clock. One final push and I crossed the line in 1:44:38. (1:44:07 according to my watch). Just under the wire. I was pretty pleased with that result, especially for an early season race. Not a bad way to celebrate a birthday either!
Our friend Sue showed up at our place around 7:30 am and we hit the road around 7:45. Made it out to Burlington in about half an hour. Parked the car and headed over to the bus pick up area. It was COLD, but nice and sunny. I was glad I brought my parka. After about a 20 minute wait, the bus showed up and we all piled on. 15-20 minutes later, we were dropped off a few blocks from the finish line. We wandered around, checked out the food tent (smelled AWESOME) and tried to find some “facilities”. We came across a row of porta potties. Bloody hell, I was already freezing, the last thing I wanted to do was drop my drawers in the cold. Oh well. No choice. We wandered around and found the baggage check, got ourselves sorted and wandered over to the start line. We headed out on a warm up jog when Sue & I had to find some “facilities”….again. So we ran around for a bit, found a pub that was open and letting the runners use their facilities. It was right near the start. By that point we had lost my hubby (Gary) but I figured it didn’t matter much as he was going to be miles ahead of us anyway. We hopped into the crowd and made our way towards the 1:45 pace bunny. My goal was to run sub 1:45. I figured if I could stay with the 1:45 pace bunny for at least the first half of the race, that would be perfect. I could then pick up the pace a bit for the second half. Well, the gun went off and I said good bye to Sue and then promptly lost the 1:45 pace bunny. I picked up the pace a bit thinking that he was ahead of me. Nope. I slowed down a bit looking for him. Couldn’t find him at all. Oh well. I had my foot pod that I thought was fairly accurate. Ha. Anyway, I ran along at a good clip, pushing the pace a bit. I felt good. I was looking for km markers to see how accurate my food pod was. I didn’t see a marker until the 3 km mark. I went through 3km in just under 15 minutes. My watch was telling me I was running 4:40 km’s. Hmmm….looks like it’s off by quite a bit! Keeping that in mind, I tried to settle in to a 4:55 pace (4:45 according to my watch). It felt relatively comfortable and I figured I could maintain it for the duration of the race. I felt pretty good (albeit a bit warm) right through the 10km mark. I had to take off my gloves at about 5km and then the jacket came off around 11 km. I was sweating buckets and had to air myself out. Shortly thereafter we turned onto Lakeshore and into the wind. Yikes. The thought of putting my soggy jacket back on was incredibly unappealing so I sucked it up and kept going. The gloves went back on for a bit and that helped. I had taken half a GU at the 55 minute mark. I figured I’d save the other half for the 1:15 mark, figuring that would carry me through to the end. In hindsight, I probably should have had 2 GU’s with me and taken half of one at 30 minutes, the other half at an hour and then the last one at 1:15. It was about an hour and 15 minutes into the race that I started to feel not so good. My calves were starting to cramp and I was starting to lose speed. Uh-oh. I had that last half of GU hoping it was enough to get me through the last half hour. That last half hour was torture. I pushed through and hit the 16km mark feeling absolutely horrible. At the 17km mark, I started to feel a bit better so I thought I had turned the corner. Just after I hit the 18 km mark, the wheels fell right off the wagon. I thought both of my legs were going to seize up. All I could think about was putting one foot in front of the other at this point. I was still managing to run just under 5 min km’s but it was killing me. It was at this point that the 1:45 pace bunny came hurtling by me. What the hell?? He was behind me the entire time. Great. I tried to keep him in my sights. I kept my eyes fixated on those pink ears. I think I had blinders on from 18 km to 20 km. I was so focused on that pace bunny. We came up a small hill to a crowd of people yelling “only 400 meters to go!”. SWEEEET! That news gave me that little bit of adrenaline that I needed. I started to pick up the pace a bit and I was closing in on the pace bunny. “Just follow the pink ears, you’re almost there!” I thought. I motored along into the finishing straight, taking a quick look around for Gary. No luck. I now had my sights on the race clock. One final push and I crossed the line in 1:44:38. (1:44:07 according to my watch). Just under the wire. I was pretty pleased with that result, especially for an early season race. Not a bad way to celebrate a birthday either!
Monday, February 25, 2008
Monster Swim
As if the pounding I took on the weekend wasn't enough, I had a 3500 m swim this morning. 3500 meters!!! The swim in Ironman is 3800 meters. So I swam almost the entire race distance this morning. Took me an hour and 26 minutes. Not bad considering 800 m of it was pull (which I suck at) and 400 m of it was kick which is always slower than swimming, at least for me. I'm thinking that a 1:10 swim might ACTUALLY be possible, as long as I get myself in the right spot at the start.
BRING IT ON!
BRING IT ON!
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