So I raced last weekend and I have another on the schedule in little over a week. Luckily, they are both short course races (Oly last weekend, sprint next weekend). With races so close to each other, I'm trying really hard to focus on recovery.
I once read/heard that the fastest way for a beginner/intermediate athlete to improve is to take recovery seriously and recover well. Great! I can get faster by simply doing nothing?? SIGN ME UP!
However, recovery is the one thing that I always, always, always screw up, slack off on, or don't even do at all. Because it's ONE MORE THING and it takes up more time!!!
Example: I just finished a hard brick workout and it's 8:00 p.m. I haven't eaten dinner, I am a stinky-sweaty mess, the laundry still needs to be put away and the checkbook needs to be balanced.
The good triathlete would IMMEDIATELY drink 16 oz. of water, eat 15 grams of protein and 30 grams of carbs, hop in an ice bath for 15 minutes and then, while making dinner, (consisting of a pure protein, organic green veggies and a brown rice) stretch for a good 15-20 minutes, put recovery socks on, eat dinner, shower, AND THEN go to sleep making sure to get 8-9 hours of uninterrupted, peaceful sleep.
YEAH RIGHT!!!
Immediately after, I eat SOMETHING (80% of the time) while in front of the computer logging my workout into TP. Then I get on FB - for like, AN HOUR, (I'm addicted - I hate it) make dinner, eat dinner, maybe stretch, SHOWER, go to bed.
See, I didn't even get to the laundry or the checkbook - and I didn't do the ice bath and maybe not even the stretching.
BUT this week, I am making a concerted effort to get the recovery RIGHT!
This means: eating right and eating enough; drinking enough water - NO ALCOHOL (except Sunday night - my weakness); ice baths after hard workouts; stretching!!; ART with the hottie chiropractor; and taking it easy on my days off - this is the hardest because I usually see my days off as FREE DAY - a day to eat crap, go on a bender, run errands and clean the house. NOT TODAY. Today I will go the chiro and then head home and lay on the couch for the rest of the night.
Seriously, this recovery stuff is HARD! I have a life and I already put so much on hold, and say no to so many things because of training. Now I have to say no to friends and my only excuse is "I HAVE to do nothing tonight". It's a sure way to lose them. Unless of course, you have athletes for friends. Which I do not. Well some.
ANYWAY... I'm trying hard to focus because after training on auto-pilot all spring, I'm finally BACK! I'm ready to take ownership of my success. All the mental GARBAGE and clutter is behind me now. I can focus on ME and MY GOALS. GRRRRR!
And yes - a 2 minute PR is totally worth not having clean underwear or paying the mortgage two weeks late. All because I did nothing...something...nothing.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Evergreen Triathlon Race Report
WOW! What a weekend!
I just spent 13 hours driving to and from a race within a 32 hour window - for an Olympic distance triathlon. At first it seemed like a really good idea. I didn't want to do any of the races around here but wanted to add a July race to the roster. I asked Elizabeth for suggestions and that's how I found out about Evergreen.
Evergreen Lake is a small lake surrounded by evergreen trees (duh) located just north of Bloomington/Normal and south of Peoria, Illinois. Getting there meant driving 6.5 hours from KC ALONE because Paul was racing this weekend himself, and while we would have been home in time for him to race, he needed to be rested. This would also mean that I would not know A SINGLE PERSON at the race. I would be ALONE. While a little scary, it was also an adventure!!!
Finally got to town around 5:30 p.m. Friday night and drove to the race site immediately. Packet pick-up was uneventful - just my numbers and swim cap (I opted for no t-shirt and saved $5! More RDs should do this.) Racking your bike the night before was optional. Because the racks were only assigned by wave, I choose to leave my bike - and got a SWEET spot on the isle end of the first rack for my wave. I drove the bike course (lots of gravel) and run course (pretty flat - no shade) and then headed to town for dinner.
Dinner and hotel - uneventful so I'll skip those details.
I will say, Friday night I was a little scared about the weather. The wind was blowing HARD all day Friday at 20-25 mph and it was COLD! Like low 60s. The morning low was supposed to be 56 and the high for Saturday was only going to be 69! While this made for a wetsuit legal swim (YES!!!) I was afraid I would FREEZE on the bike - the run would be perfect.
Okay, okay... Saturday, get to the site and set up transition. It's chilly but not as cold and the wind has died to 5-10 mph. Talk to a couple of girls at my rack, headed out for a 10 min. run to warm-up, listen to the "pre-race meeting" and then suit up for the swim.
Our swim wave was all women 39 and under and there weren't very many - maybe 50 -75? I was freaking out a little - just nerves. I knew once we got going I would be fine. And I was. Until we got to the first turn and I couldn't see the next buoy. Where was it??? Here's where the stupid mistakes of the day start: I just stopped. I STOPPED SWIMMING for like, 10 sec. while I tried to located the stupid buoy. I KNOW! Ridiculous! I finally pulled myself together and decided to follow the swim caps to the next buoy and found it just fine.
SWIM: 29.18 - 2nd fastest swim split in my AG
Out of the water and onto the bike. Stupid mistake #2: I forgot to put my computer back on my bike! I had taken it off when I left it in transition over night and forgot to put it back on. This actually may have been a good thing - I went totally by feel and mashed it more than I should have but that made me faster. I started to feel like maybe my back wheel was flat. Another freakout - I stopped to check if it was flat! What is wrong with me??? It was fine!!! It was just the wind that was slowing me down not the wheel!!! Other things of note - some jerk in front of me slid on some gravel at a turn and ended up all over the road. I went left to avoid him and yelled "LEFT!" but he must have thought I wanted him to go left and he ended up running me off the road...precious seconds lost. I stayed upright but road in the grass for 2-3 feet.
BIKE: 1:17:03 (19.4 mph) - not exactly happy with this but at least it's consistent
Back from the bike and out for the run. I decided at the last minute to not use my Zoots (with the elastic laces) but run in the Mizunos instead - which have regular laces - which means tying them like a nerd. I also decided to run with socks for the first time in a long time. Socks = smart because I always get blisters no matter how much Body Glide I use. Shoes = stupid because I had to waste time tying the laces because I did not put in Yankz BUT I may have run faster because I was more comfortable. (The Zoots have been giving me knee pain on account that they really just need to be replaced after a year of racing in them).
Run was a run. Faster than I have been all season but still slow by comparison. At mile 5 my timing chip came off - I kicked it off with my foot by accident. I had to go back and get it, re-attach it quickly, and carry on. Then, when I'm like, 100 feet from the finish line, it comes loose again and I slowed down so that it would not fly off. More precious seconds lost.
RUN: 54:13 (8:44/mi pace)
OVERALL: 2:44:01
PLACE: 7/20 AG
The thing that saved me here was my swim. If you look at the AG results, I have the slowest run split of all the girls in the top 10 - but also the fastest swim split and a decent bike.
This race was FULL of fierce competitors! It was the regional qualifier for USAT and the Illnois state qualifier for BOUS. I knew this going into it and did not expect to place - BUT I beat my time goal by a full minute! My run speed is (SLOWLY) coming back! And despite all the little time sucking mistakes, I still finished with a decent overall time.
The absolute best thing about the race? THE FINISH LINE FOOD! You know, you go to these small, "local" races and the finish food sucks. They never have ANY protein and its mainly bananas, oranges and soda. What athlete recovers on that crap? But Evergreen had pulled pork sandwiches, sub sandwiches (complete with chips and a cookie), Panera bagels, watermellon, little individual baggies of cheese chunks, pasta salad, and plates and plates of homemade cookies!
I ate, packed up my stuff, headed back to the hotel for a shower, put on my compression socks, and hit the road. Another 6.5 hours in the car, ALONE with nothing but Patton Oswalt and David Cross to keep me company.
All in all, despite the drive, I am really glad I did this race and did so well - in my mind. And that's all that matters.
I just spent 13 hours driving to and from a race within a 32 hour window - for an Olympic distance triathlon. At first it seemed like a really good idea. I didn't want to do any of the races around here but wanted to add a July race to the roster. I asked Elizabeth for suggestions and that's how I found out about Evergreen.
Evergreen Lake is a small lake surrounded by evergreen trees (duh) located just north of Bloomington/Normal and south of Peoria, Illinois. Getting there meant driving 6.5 hours from KC ALONE because Paul was racing this weekend himself, and while we would have been home in time for him to race, he needed to be rested. This would also mean that I would not know A SINGLE PERSON at the race. I would be ALONE. While a little scary, it was also an adventure!!!
Finally got to town around 5:30 p.m. Friday night and drove to the race site immediately. Packet pick-up was uneventful - just my numbers and swim cap (I opted for no t-shirt and saved $5! More RDs should do this.) Racking your bike the night before was optional. Because the racks were only assigned by wave, I choose to leave my bike - and got a SWEET spot on the isle end of the first rack for my wave. I drove the bike course (lots of gravel) and run course (pretty flat - no shade) and then headed to town for dinner.
Dinner and hotel - uneventful so I'll skip those details.
I will say, Friday night I was a little scared about the weather. The wind was blowing HARD all day Friday at 20-25 mph and it was COLD! Like low 60s. The morning low was supposed to be 56 and the high for Saturday was only going to be 69! While this made for a wetsuit legal swim (YES!!!) I was afraid I would FREEZE on the bike - the run would be perfect.
Okay, okay... Saturday, get to the site and set up transition. It's chilly but not as cold and the wind has died to 5-10 mph. Talk to a couple of girls at my rack, headed out for a 10 min. run to warm-up, listen to the "pre-race meeting" and then suit up for the swim.
Our swim wave was all women 39 and under and there weren't very many - maybe 50 -75? I was freaking out a little - just nerves. I knew once we got going I would be fine. And I was. Until we got to the first turn and I couldn't see the next buoy. Where was it??? Here's where the stupid mistakes of the day start: I just stopped. I STOPPED SWIMMING for like, 10 sec. while I tried to located the stupid buoy. I KNOW! Ridiculous! I finally pulled myself together and decided to follow the swim caps to the next buoy and found it just fine.
SWIM: 29.18 - 2nd fastest swim split in my AG
Out of the water and onto the bike. Stupid mistake #2: I forgot to put my computer back on my bike! I had taken it off when I left it in transition over night and forgot to put it back on. This actually may have been a good thing - I went totally by feel and mashed it more than I should have but that made me faster. I started to feel like maybe my back wheel was flat. Another freakout - I stopped to check if it was flat! What is wrong with me??? It was fine!!! It was just the wind that was slowing me down not the wheel!!! Other things of note - some jerk in front of me slid on some gravel at a turn and ended up all over the road. I went left to avoid him and yelled "LEFT!" but he must have thought I wanted him to go left and he ended up running me off the road...precious seconds lost. I stayed upright but road in the grass for 2-3 feet.
BIKE: 1:17:03 (19.4 mph) - not exactly happy with this but at least it's consistent
Back from the bike and out for the run. I decided at the last minute to not use my Zoots (with the elastic laces) but run in the Mizunos instead - which have regular laces - which means tying them like a nerd. I also decided to run with socks for the first time in a long time. Socks = smart because I always get blisters no matter how much Body Glide I use. Shoes = stupid because I had to waste time tying the laces because I did not put in Yankz BUT I may have run faster because I was more comfortable. (The Zoots have been giving me knee pain on account that they really just need to be replaced after a year of racing in them).
Run was a run. Faster than I have been all season but still slow by comparison. At mile 5 my timing chip came off - I kicked it off with my foot by accident. I had to go back and get it, re-attach it quickly, and carry on. Then, when I'm like, 100 feet from the finish line, it comes loose again and I slowed down so that it would not fly off. More precious seconds lost.
RUN: 54:13 (8:44/mi pace)
OVERALL: 2:44:01
PLACE: 7/20 AG
The thing that saved me here was my swim. If you look at the AG results, I have the slowest run split of all the girls in the top 10 - but also the fastest swim split and a decent bike.
This race was FULL of fierce competitors! It was the regional qualifier for USAT and the Illnois state qualifier for BOUS. I knew this going into it and did not expect to place - BUT I beat my time goal by a full minute! My run speed is (SLOWLY) coming back! And despite all the little time sucking mistakes, I still finished with a decent overall time.
The absolute best thing about the race? THE FINISH LINE FOOD! You know, you go to these small, "local" races and the finish food sucks. They never have ANY protein and its mainly bananas, oranges and soda. What athlete recovers on that crap? But Evergreen had pulled pork sandwiches, sub sandwiches (complete with chips and a cookie), Panera bagels, watermellon, little individual baggies of cheese chunks, pasta salad, and plates and plates of homemade cookies!
I ate, packed up my stuff, headed back to the hotel for a shower, put on my compression socks, and hit the road. Another 6.5 hours in the car, ALONE with nothing but Patton Oswalt and David Cross to keep me company.
All in all, despite the drive, I am really glad I did this race and did so well - in my mind. And that's all that matters.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
One more but this is IT!
I finally bit the bullet and registered for my last tri for 2009 - REDMAN 70.3.
No more tri's after September 19th.
Don't get me wrong, I LOVE racing and Redman is a well run, well organized race, but training for 70.3s take up so much time! I can say goodbye to any weekend plans come late August early September. I'll make it worth it though. Last year I had my best ever 70.3 time and I plan to shave a couple more minutes for a freakin'-tastic PR!
After Redman, it's off-season. I'll try CX and see how that goes, put on a little weight, and finally get some new ink!
I can't believe I am (thinking) saying this, but, I'm really looking forward to fall!
No more tri's after September 19th.
Don't get me wrong, I LOVE racing and Redman is a well run, well organized race, but training for 70.3s take up so much time! I can say goodbye to any weekend plans come late August early September. I'll make it worth it though. Last year I had my best ever 70.3 time and I plan to shave a couple more minutes for a freakin'-tastic PR!
After Redman, it's off-season. I'll try CX and see how that goes, put on a little weight, and finally get some new ink!
I can't believe I am (thinking) saying this, but, I'm really looking forward to fall!
Thursday, July 9, 2009
One True Love
I'm trying some new things this year - racing wise - and it has really helped bring the spark back to my training. I've said this a million times, and I'll say it again, training for a winter marathon is HARD! Training for that marathon cut my "off season" really short and while everyone else was simply doing base training, I was in build, recover, build, recover, build, peak, race mode.
Exhausting. For me anyway.
This zapped my motivation this spring for all things racing.
BUT...now the fire is back! I've done two tris this year and have two more on the books in the next three weeks. I also have this amazing opportunity to head to Chicago in August to train with my coach. She sent out the itinerary yesterday and it looks FUN and CHALLENGING at the same time. Motivation is coming like a freight train!
Another thing that has me all fired up this month is crit racing. When Blue came into my life this spring, I had a renewed love for cycling again - my favorite of the three sports. I've missed group rides and the dinners (and beers) that follow. I've been training on my own for the most part, all on a TT bike in AERO all the time, and while that has it's place in the plan for sure, nothing beats the burn in your lungs and legs of riding in a pack.
So enter the Tuesday night practice crits. Time to pull on the big girl pants and just try it. Lucky for me, I am on an AWESOME team with fantastic girls that are more than willing to show me the ropes. There are two races - an "A race" at 6:30 and a "B race" at 7:15. Of course, we're doing the "B race" and it's 30 minutes on an "easy" course with only four turns (one big rectangle) that are not at all technical and with one tiny incline and a nice decline on the opposite side. I think the whole loop is .63 of a mile.
While warming-up, DR tells me what to expect. First lap is a "neutral" lap, hold your line, watch for squirrels (riders - not the actual varmints), the course is NOT closed and even though there are corner marshals we will need to watch for traffic (luckily this is an office park with little traffic after 6 pm).
Even after all this, I still am not 100% sure what to expect. I expect that it's going to be hard. I expect that I am going to get dropped and probably lapped. I expect to watch and learn. I think DR can see this on my face and graciously offers to ride with me. PERFECT! Even though I'm not that nervous, I know I will learn a lot from her direction.
And so we're off. The first lap - easy (neutral lap). Second - fifth lap are fast but this isn't hard - the effort I mean. It's hard for me to stay so close to someones wheel, or to find the right wheel, but the effort is manageable. I'm still hanging on to the middle back of about 20- 30 riders. About 15 minutes, or half-way, I start to fade. I motion for DR to go on but she is there to help and pulls me out. We pedal around and then wait to hop back in. I give them two laps and then we're back.
First, let me say, I can't believe I made it half-way! From what everyone was telling me, I thought I would be a goner by the third lap.
So we're back in the pack and I'm holding on but it's getting harder. I find MS, a the biggest guy out there at 6'8" and riding a Cross Check (of all things). I'm in his huge draft and I think, "just stay here...do not let him out of your sight". And that's what I do until they ring the bell for the final lap and everyone TAKES OFF! I'm spent. I don't know how to sprint. I'm a triathlete!!! We don't sprint. We ride for long, sustained efforts. We attack but we don't sprint!
So with less than a 1/4 lap to go, and DR looking behind her to see where I'm at, I let them go. I drop back. I'm done. I'm happy with the practice and I don't need to sprint to the finish to make this practice worth it. It's already been worth it. Should I have pushed? Yeah, probably.
Couple of cool down laps and I'm feeling good. Thirsty, but good. Exhilarated! I wanna do it again! One thing ELF told me going into this was, "cyclists talk the talk but have weaker fitness than they admit. You have better fitness but probably weaker skills.....you are there to learn skills". She is so right (as always)! Master the skills - cornering, being comfortable in a pack, strategic positioning, etc. and this will be MUCH easier.
I will head back to practice in the coming weeks and then, first race - Tour of KC OP crit on 8/9. I'm so looking forward to it!
Tris are still at the forefront this season but I love my bike and I could totally see settling down and being a one sport woman...in the future.
Exhausting. For me anyway.
This zapped my motivation this spring for all things racing.
BUT...now the fire is back! I've done two tris this year and have two more on the books in the next three weeks. I also have this amazing opportunity to head to Chicago in August to train with my coach. She sent out the itinerary yesterday and it looks FUN and CHALLENGING at the same time. Motivation is coming like a freight train!
Another thing that has me all fired up this month is crit racing. When Blue came into my life this spring, I had a renewed love for cycling again - my favorite of the three sports. I've missed group rides and the dinners (and beers) that follow. I've been training on my own for the most part, all on a TT bike in AERO all the time, and while that has it's place in the plan for sure, nothing beats the burn in your lungs and legs of riding in a pack.
So enter the Tuesday night practice crits. Time to pull on the big girl pants and just try it. Lucky for me, I am on an AWESOME team with fantastic girls that are more than willing to show me the ropes. There are two races - an "A race" at 6:30 and a "B race" at 7:15. Of course, we're doing the "B race" and it's 30 minutes on an "easy" course with only four turns (one big rectangle) that are not at all technical and with one tiny incline and a nice decline on the opposite side. I think the whole loop is .63 of a mile.
While warming-up, DR tells me what to expect. First lap is a "neutral" lap, hold your line, watch for squirrels (riders - not the actual varmints), the course is NOT closed and even though there are corner marshals we will need to watch for traffic (luckily this is an office park with little traffic after 6 pm).
Even after all this, I still am not 100% sure what to expect. I expect that it's going to be hard. I expect that I am going to get dropped and probably lapped. I expect to watch and learn. I think DR can see this on my face and graciously offers to ride with me. PERFECT! Even though I'm not that nervous, I know I will learn a lot from her direction.
And so we're off. The first lap - easy (neutral lap). Second - fifth lap are fast but this isn't hard - the effort I mean. It's hard for me to stay so close to someones wheel, or to find the right wheel, but the effort is manageable. I'm still hanging on to the middle back of about 20- 30 riders. About 15 minutes, or half-way, I start to fade. I motion for DR to go on but she is there to help and pulls me out. We pedal around and then wait to hop back in. I give them two laps and then we're back.
First, let me say, I can't believe I made it half-way! From what everyone was telling me, I thought I would be a goner by the third lap.
So we're back in the pack and I'm holding on but it's getting harder. I find MS, a the biggest guy out there at 6'8" and riding a Cross Check (of all things). I'm in his huge draft and I think, "just stay here...do not let him out of your sight". And that's what I do until they ring the bell for the final lap and everyone TAKES OFF! I'm spent. I don't know how to sprint. I'm a triathlete!!! We don't sprint. We ride for long, sustained efforts. We attack but we don't sprint!
So with less than a 1/4 lap to go, and DR looking behind her to see where I'm at, I let them go. I drop back. I'm done. I'm happy with the practice and I don't need to sprint to the finish to make this practice worth it. It's already been worth it. Should I have pushed? Yeah, probably.
Couple of cool down laps and I'm feeling good. Thirsty, but good. Exhilarated! I wanna do it again! One thing ELF told me going into this was, "cyclists talk the talk but have weaker fitness than they admit. You have better fitness but probably weaker skills.....you are there to learn skills". She is so right (as always)! Master the skills - cornering, being comfortable in a pack, strategic positioning, etc. and this will be MUCH easier.
I will head back to practice in the coming weeks and then, first race - Tour of KC OP crit on 8/9. I'm so looking forward to it!
Tris are still at the forefront this season but I love my bike and I could totally see settling down and being a one sport woman...in the future.
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