2011 – What ACTUALLY happened January 14, 2012

So, I haven’t been writing because basically it started to feel too much like work.  I’m thinking about migrating to blogger…Wordpress seems like it has a lot of cool features – that I might not be smart enough to use!  I wanted to have a cool blog for all four of you readers, but just can’t figure out how to do what I want to do. But I digress.

I only did 3 of the races on my “plan:” Tidewater, Wilmington Y, and Battleship Half Marathon.  I didn’t do as well as I’d like to at Tidewater – but I got to visit with my friend Heather and her family and since the race itself is nice, I’ll head back there this year.  I used the level 3 OLY plan in my training plan book.  The problem is I never quite jumped into the level 4 plan for Pinehurst.  I kind of decided that, since I don’t train on hills, I don’t want to race on hills!  I mean, why do races that accentuate your weaknesses, right?  Anyway, next thing I knew it was August and J was coming home from deployment!  I was maaaaaybe not as dedicated to training as I should have.  ; )

I did Wilmington on very little training, just because I told my friend Mona I’d do her first race with her.  And now that stinker is training for her first 70.3!  Mad props, Mona!  (Nobody says “mad props” anymore, do they?)

My favorite running buddy, Cait and I were ready for the Battleship Half though, in November!  I never thought I’d be able to (or want to) run 13.1 miles.  But we did it!

I did a little better than previous winters with keeping some level of activity during the holidays.  And now here I am again, making plans for 2012…One of which is to try and make a blog post here and there! 

Lessons Learned March 5, 2011

I’m starting to learn a few things about myself, at least as pertains to my training…

First, I’ve noted that year after year, I make a lot of winter/off season plans.  But I seem to forget all about those plans by the time Thanksgiving hits.  So I’m going to just go with it.  I’ll do the half marathon November 5 and hopefully some 5Ks in the weeks that follow to keep myself active as late in the year as possible.  And if, between Thanksgiving and January 1 I do anything besides hibernate and eat, it will be a bonus.  I predict I will actually get more exercise this winter than any other winter.  I may not further my triathlon goals, but I bet my sneakers will collect less dust.

Second, I really enjoy lifting weights.  I HATE strength training for endurance.  It’s like I don’t have the attention span to do 15 or more reps of anything.  I haven’t seen dead lifts prescribed for triathletes.  But I love them.  (I was so proud when I skinned my shin once with the bar.)  I don’t intend to lift like a body builder or to get huge, but when I have a chance to strength train, I intend to have fun doing it.  Again, might not further my triathlon goals, but I will do something I like that IS still ‘good’ for me.

Thirdly, I’m learning to separate my body and my mind.  Well, maybe, more specifically, I’m separating “can’t” from “don’t wanna.”  Can’t is physical – or sometimes maybe even logistical – but infrequent in actually.  Don’t wanna is more frequent and totally mental.  Although I’m two weeks into my training plan this season, I’ve had a workout or two where I was promising myself I would do it tomorrow because I was too tired, or too busy today.  I thought it was a can’t moment, but when you really got down to it, it was a don’t wanna moment.  In both circumstances, I recognized that I was essentially talking myself out of my workout, came to my senses and did the workout.  And in both instances I felt much better afterward!

I think there are more lessons to be learned, so stay tuned.  I’ve heard Ironman is as much about the journey to the starting line as it is the race itself.  I may be over analyzing it, but I think I need to understand a few things about myself before I can look at doing those longer distances.

Season Training Plan March 1, 2011

The training plan for my first OLY of the season started on the 22nd. I’m doing the level 3 plan “The Essential Week-By-Week Training Guide.  (More on that here.)

Level 3 consists of 6 workouts per week.  Mondays off, then swim, bike, run, swim, bike, run for 16 weeks.  This is the same routine I did for Pinehurst last year.  It will (obviously) end on June 11th and it works out that Pinehurst is exactly 16 weeks later, so June 14th I’m going to jump into the level 4 plan in preparation for my REVENGE on Pinehurst!

Level 4 consists of 9 workouts per week.  Mondays off, then swim/run, bike, swim/run, bike, swim/run for 16 weeks.  I think this foray into two-a-days will be the test of whether or not I can commit to training for a half iron or iron distance.

Every fourth week (in both plans) is a recovery week, with lower volume but the same number of workouts.  However, I’m going to try a little experiment here with level 3.  During recovery week, I’m only going to do 3 workouts, one in each discipline.  I also hope to maybe play some tennis, get a massage or a pedicure and otherwise let myself off the triathlon hook a little.  (If you’ll remember, last season I got a little fried.)

I also want to ensure I get enough rest and don’t overdo it training for this first race, since I consider Pinehurst my “A” race this year.

Between Pinehurst and the half marathon, I suppose I’ll just be running and running and running!  Seriously, don’t really have a plan for the half yet.  I’m telling myself that, if I can run 6 miles after swimming and biking, in five weeks I should be able to run 13 miles when that’s all I have to do.

2011 Race Schedule (so far) February 7, 2011

*hanging head in shame*

Well, it has certainly been a long time, hasn’t it my friends?

After the Pinehurst triathlon, I intended to take a week off, during which I would plan my off season attack.  This I would follow faithfully until it was time to start my 2011 training plan.

Key word, “intended.”

What actually happened:  During that week after my race, I was offered a job as a personal trainer!  Yipee!  While I was being oriented and going through my 30 day probationary period, I was offered a better job – in a totally different field – as an admissions counselor at the school I had been working at as a temp.  While my current job isn’t in the fitness industry, the great thing about it is the hours.  Plenty of time to workout before and after work without waking up at 4, or eating dinner at 8.

Any rate, the adjustment to all that took about a month.  Then the family came for Thanksgiving…you see where this is going, right?  By January 1, I probably could have counted on my fingers the times I had worked out since Pinehurst.  Pitiful. But now I’m back!  I’ve been meeting Lisa at the gym Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings.  Last week, I did a little running, biking and swimming.  I’m ready for the weather to be warmer, and most importantly, the days to be longer.  Here’s my plan for the 2011 season (so far.)

May 15 – White Lake Sprint II  (I could do a sprint at the New Bern Y – which is much closer – on the 21st, but I’ve heard White Lake is so nice, I’m dying to race there.

June 11 – Old Point Tidewater International Distance -  My friend Heather lives in that area, and has offered to put me up.  I hope she’ll come cheer me on, and bring Lilly for some good luck!

September 17 – Wilmington Y Sprint

October 1 – Pinehurst International Distance – I told you I’d be back…I’ll show you this time, Pinehurst.

November 5 – Battleship Half Marathon – There was much debate over doing a half marathon, or just going for broke in the Beach to Battleship Half Iron Distance October 29th.  Cooler heads prevailed.  I really need the mental training I hope to gain from the half marathon experience.

I need something in July/August to keep me going.  Perhaps the She TRI’s sprint in Wilmington August 7th.  It’s nice to sleep in one’s own bed the night before a race instead of a hotel!  Put me down as tentative for that one too.

Race Report: Pinehurst Oly October 17, 2010

My first Pinehurst International Distance Triathlon is in the books.  While it didn’t go QUITE as I hoped, I still had a good time and am proud that I know I could not have done the race any faster.  I really pushed myself as hard as I thought I could (and still make it across the finish line.)

Super big thanks, not only to J (as usual) for his support and encouragement, but also to Lisa P who made the trip with me (and was nice enough to drive me home afterward!)

So as for the race itself:
SWIM:  39:34
SMASHED my 45 minute goal.  Now, I was pretty optimistic going into it because during my last two swim workouts, I’d done 1500 in 40 minutes, once freestyle and once breast stroke.  I did bust out a little bit of freestyle during the race, but mostly stuck to old reliable breast stroke.  The water temp was only 72, so wetsuits were legal and I was glad I had one!

T1: 5:28
No, I didn’t stop and have a picnic.  I couldn’t get my wetsuit off my left foot, and when I did, I snapped the little plastic band holding my timing chip on my ankle.  CRAP.  So I stuck it in my jersey pocket and headed out of transition.  When I went over the timing mat, I didn’t hear the beep, so I explained to the worker at the bike mount line the situation.  She took it from me, waived it close to the mat, handed it back and I took off.

BIKE:  2:03:39
First off, the bike was 30 miles instead of the usual 25 for International Distance races.  Okay.  Second, this bike course was described as challenging, but overall listed as a ‘moderate’ course by Set-Up Events.  If this was moderate, I would hate to see “hard!”  Holy hills, batman!!  I also would not have described the course as “rolling.”  More like, “hilly.”  Around mile 24, as I was again climbing, I found myself in disbelief that I had to run 6 miles after I got done with the bike.  IF I ever got done with the bike.  Brutal.  I just did not train on hills (primarily because there ARE NONE on the coast.)

T2: 2:07
A much more reasonable transition time.

RUN: 1:17
Not any less hilly (or hell-ish) than the bike, upon which I had totally fried my legs.  I was trying SO hard not to walk, but did, for a grand total of probably half mile overall.  I actually did hold my 12 minute mile pace – just under it really – for the first three miles.

TOTAL TIME: 4:07:50
I was fourth out of the six women in the Novice Female division.  That doesn’t much matter to me because I really don’t race against anybody but myself.  As I said, I really pushed myself, and that’s a bit of a challenge with triathlon, knowing how hard to push during each event so that you can still make it to the finish line.  I planned to do this one event this year, just to get back into triathlon and I learned a lot along the way.  I’m disappointed that I didn’t come in under 4 hours, but ticked off enough at that course to try it again next year!

It all comes full circle… October 13, 2010

If you read my ‘about me’ you know that my first olympic distance triathlon was done as a member of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training.  That experience was, in word, amazing.  I can still hear the voice of one spectator, shortly after we set out on the run.  He was shouting to all of the TNT competitors something to the effect of, “I’m a survivor…Thank you for what you’ve done for me.”  Still brings tears to my eyes! Our T-shirts said, ‘Think a triathlon sounds tough?  Try chemo.” Huh.  Kind of puts recreational triathlon into perspective, doesn’t it?  Kind of puts a lot of the trivialities of LIFE into perspective.  Ironically, my second OLY is a fundraiser for Team in Training.

When I signed up for that first event, I had no personal connection to the society.  However, several years later, J’s nephew was diagnosed with Leukemia.  Long, painful story short, Sam lost his battle a year ago yesterday.  He was 9.  So, I’m racing on Saturday for Sam.  I hope my performance will honor his memory.

When slogging through the miles on the road, or reps in the weight room, be grateful that you have legs on which to run, muscles with which to lift and days with which to LIVE.

3 Weeks til’ Race Day! Goals? September 24, 2010

YIKES!  I just looked at my workout calendar and realized the Pinehurst Olympic triathlon I’ve been training for is only three weeks away.  Here’s an update on how things are going.

SWIM:  The freestyle stroke is coming along really well!  I’m working on bilateral breathing, as I’ve heard this helps you swim straighter.  My concern is my ability to do this in open water.  If not, is my breast stroke still strong enough since I’ve not been working it out very much?
Race Goal:  45 minutes.

BIKE:  Still not been overly eager to get out on my bicycle.  As mentioned in the “flat spot” post, I did get out for a two hour ride with my bike buddy Lisa (and her ever-so-tolerant-hubby Steve) that weekend.  Did all of last weeks’ workouts on the stationary bike.   I really need to ‘hit the road’ at least for the longer rides the next three weeks.
Race goal:  An average speed of 16-17 mph should get me through the course in an hour and a half.

RUN:  Had a new “longest run ever” last weekend at 1:10 on the beach.  Running is getting easier for me, but I’m not sure if I’m getting faster.  I’m focusing on keeping a higher cadence and staying light on my feet.  It’s a lot of concentrating!   Tonight I’m going to a “ChiRunning” clinic.  More on that later.
Race goal:  Let’s be realistic here, people.  I’ll be happy to string together 6 12:00 miles.  So that puts me at 1:12.

TRANSITION:  Let’s throw in a good 10 minutes for time spent there.

TOTAL:  3 hours, 38 minutes.

We’ll see!  Next week is going to be crazy because we’re finally closing and moving into our new house.  I’ve also started a part time, temporary job, so I’ve been adjusting to that as well.  But plenty of people work full time and do iron-distance races, so I think I can pull this off.

A flat spot – and my recovery. September 10, 2010

My training plan (Olympic level 3 from “Triathlete Magazine’s Essential Week-by-Week Training Plans”) has a goal for each week.  Week 11′s says, “If feeling a little flat, stay within yourself, do the work and look forward to recovery next week.”

The problem is, I’ve been feeling a little flat, and NOT doing some of the work, for two weeks now. My problem has primarily been with biking and running, I really look forward to my swim workouts.  I had a new best run of one hour straight on August 29th, and haven’t been able to touch that since.  Heck, I’ve hardly been able to complete my shorter interval workouts.  And don’t get me started on the bike.  I’ve been referring to my feelings as “bike dread.”  Just don’t even want to get on the thing.

So, in an effort to combat this total lack of motivation, I’ve been telling myself to just “do SOME work.”  Last weekend, I was supposed to do a bike/run.  Was having NONE of it, so we headed to the gym to lift weights.  I figured that’s better than nothing.  And when we got there, I rode a stationary bike and ran on a treadmill the whole time.  Go figure.  Earlier this week I did my shorter bike workout on a stationary bike at the gym.  It was perfect.  I propped up my brand new Barnes & Noble nook e-reader (which I’m obsessed with)  right next to the cadence display and was able to keep that between 100 and 115 the entire time – which just flew by.  I’m looking forward to doing the same thing with next Wednesday’s workout.

Tomorrow, I’m setting out for my prescribed 2 hour bike ride with my friend and 2009 Hotter ‘n’ Hell riding partner Lisa.  We will do 2 hours tomorrow, and I’m not in the least worried about how far we go.  It’ll just be nice to have somebody to ride with.  (J is just too fast for me anymore!) Lisa made a whole century ride fun, so I’m sure she’ll help turn my bike dread around!

Sunday’s prescribed run – ooooh 1:20.  YIKES!  What would make me look forward to that….hmmmm…Well, usually the sure fire way to get me running is to let me do it on the beach.  So I think that’s where I’ll head.  And I’m going to leave my watch at home!  Because running is so mental for me, I feel like I’m making progress anytime I run past the point where I feel like quitting.  Sometimes that’s 30 minutes in, sometimes an hour.  We’ll see what it is Sunday.

So, I’ve come full circle and feel good about having a plan to work through this “flat spot.”  I’m looking forward to my workouts this weekend…Starting with a swim in about 45 minutes, so I better jet!

Exam Results September 1, 2010

The word is in…I passed my NSCA Personal Trainer certification exam with flying colors. I’m almost too pumped up to write coherently right this minute, but I have to take a minute to thank J. He hasn’t been afraid to kick me in the butt when I needed it during this process, and has believed in me when I wasn’t so sure of myself.

Okay, now I’m going to burn some of this energy…I wasn’t feeling a bike ride today, but decided to do the DVD that came with my bike trainer.  I’ll let you know how that turns out.

Clean Eating Magazine August 26, 2010

I’ve recently started subscribing to Clean Eating Magazine and have to say I really like it!  (And no, I’m  not getting a free subscription or any payment of any sort for saying so.)

We really try to eat clean, which means eating food that’s minimally processed, has no artificial colors, flavors or preservatives and very little sugar or white flour.  Some people think that sounds restrictive, but when you cook at home as much as we do, it really isn’t.  So, because we both enjoy cooking and even J admits (reluctantly) that he does feel better when we eat better, we’re always looking to expand our clean cooking recipe collection.

Now, in the interest of full disclosure, I must say that I own both the “Eat Clean Diet” and “Eat Clean Diet Cookbook.”  And in the two years or so I’ve had them, I’ve probably made a grand total of 3 recipes from them.  They just didn’t seem to fit my cooking (or grocery shopping) style.    But when I bought, “Eat Clean Diet: Recharged” there was a coupon in the back for 2 free issues of the magazine so I thought, “What the heck!”

I’ve received my two free issues, and already mailed the subscription card back.  What I’m loving about Clean Eating Magazine so far:
1 – Very few ads.  Just maybe 2 or 3 for Eat Clean books that will soon be released, etc.
2 – Very accessible recipes – I think I made 2 or 3 from the first copy I received.  They usually have a one week budget dinner plan for a family of four.  (Eating well doesn’t have to be expensive!)
3 – 14-day eat clean meal plans, complete with shopping list.  These are designed for one person, which will make my shopping and meal planning a no-brainer when J is away.

The only thing I don’t like:
It’s a bi-monthly magazine.  I want one every month!

If you’re thinking about making some changes to your diet, I suggest checking the magazine out.  One of the first pages in each edition provides the basic tenants of clean eating and from there, you’re good to go!