ONE MONTH

FIRST - a quick recap of the Diabolical Double: Read my awesome training partners recaps of their days here and here. And then imagine of the exact opposite (as well as the exact opposite of my experience last year) - and that was my day. In a nutshell, at the second rest stop (about mile 40?) I made the wise decision to let my girls go ahead, do what was best for me on that day and drop down to the 102 mile route. I'm also VERY proud that I do not consider this a failure and was able to turn around one of the most challenging mental and physical days I've had on the bike in the last 14 miles.  Some days you just don't have 'it' and sadly, from the start, it was clear my 'it' did not show up to ride 125 miles and climb 16,000 feet.

HOWEVER - In general, things are moving along. Today marks ONE MONTH exactly to Placid. The past three week block has help my confidence about where I am and where I may be come race day, but I just got my schedule through the race and I realize I still have A LOT of work ahead of me, which is a good thing.

This year's approach has been very different than last year's build. Last year was all about crossing the finish line happy and healthy. This year - these things are still at the top of my goal list, but my coach has designed a program that will allow me to approach my pacing race day a bit more aggressively, if I choose to do so. I am still a bit uncertain how it will all play out, but as the weeks progress, I am a bit more confident in my current fitness and abilities.

However, a different approach makes it impossible to compare last year vs. this year, which as a type A athlete, is frustrating and freeing at the same time. I can't compare the number of rides over 6 hours I did last year vs. this year, because the structure is totally different. My rides may be shorter, but they are at a higher heart rate with specific goals built in. I can't compare my long runs and I realized yesterday I DEFINITELY cannot compare my taper period. This year will be 10 days of HARD work then 10 days of gradual rest going into the race. This means a long run much closer to the race than last year, and a longer ride the weekend prior to the race. It's scary, and I know that my taper could be hit or miss. But I've accepted it and mapped out my way to July 28th.

One of my goals for this training cycle was to let go a bit of the 'data' side of things. I am only keeping 1 very loose training log  and hardly recording paces - just notes on how things 'felt'. I looked today and I haven't downloaded any data off my Garmin since November last year.  I have only be using it to guide me through track work and monitor my HR on long rides. This approach has helped me get through the weeks, especially as I get more and more broken down. I can't stress about my pace this week vs. my pace two weeks ago on a 2 hour run, because I haven't been looking.

All this to say - the work is getting done, I am feeling MUCH better about my fitness than I was a month ago, but in all honestly I still have no idea what will come on race day, but I am 100% more excited than I was a month ago.

THIS.

Taken from www.thenaturegym.blogspot.com/2013/06/walking-walk.html


 NG: You are a proponent of the Run/Walk protocol, something which many athletes have trouble understanding and implementing. From your perspective, how did you manage to adapt your training with this method and what are its main benefits?
GB: Nobody has trouble understanding - that’s a smoke screen. Everyone has trouble with their ego, at least when they start.
The main benefits are faster overall pace in workouts, more miles at race pace, quicker recovery and less fade in races.
Simple long run protocol....

●        PowerWalk ten minutes

●        Split run into thirds

●        First third use 15 second PowerWalk segments

●        Second third use 30 second PowerWalk segments

●        Final third use 45 second PowerWalk segments

●        PowerWalk ten minutes

Use anywhere from a six to a twelve minute cycle, including PowerWalk segments.

●        Walk is fastest comfortable pace - like you are late for an airplane but don’t want to run in an airport.

●        Arm carriage remains the same (high hands).

●        Cadence remains up.

●        You should also work on PowerWalking hills to avoid large spikes in heart rate.

 

 

I 100% believe that a very similar walk/run protocol has allowed me, as a chronically injured swimmer-turned-wannabe runner, to stay healthy for the past few years. It takes getting over your own ego to accept that this method may be the best for some people.

I don't post this to preach, I post to remind myself - thismethod works for me in this moment of time, and allowed me to run my first IM marathon in the same pace as my first stand alone marathon, with a much more even split and much easier effort.

Emptying your mind.

I think one major advantage that comes with years and years of swimming is the ability to completely clear my mind. In order to get through a long set, a hard set, the pain of a workout, you need the ability to disconnect your body from your mind. Your mind telling you that it hurts, that it's bored, and it can't do one.more.lap.

After taking a break from regular swimming (read: since Ironman), it always takes awhile for this disconnect to return. But when it does, it's heaven. I was having trouble getting past the 2000 yard mark in workouts. My body was willing my mind was not.  My brain just wouldn't shut off. But I found that sweet spot during a set of 400s last week and it makes all the difference. Turn your brain off, find your pace, and just SWIM.

Sadly, this ability does not always translate to the bike and the run. It takes longer to find that space, and it occurs much less frequently. Sometimes an hour or two ride can seem ENDLESS because I just can't turn off my mind, and same with a hard interval run, or an easy long run. Especially with the run, I have had trouble turning my brain off. After 1 mile of a long run a few weekends ago, all I could think is 'I have HOW MANY more miles left?!'

But over the past week or so, the shift is slowly happening. Maybe it's the return of higher training hours, more focus, or the melting away of other-life stress, but I have been able to zone out and just get the work done, and it's GLORIOUS. 4 solo, hilly hours on the bike flew by on Sunday, and I couldn't wipe the silly grin off my face. At one point, while going 4mph climbing Mt. Weather, I was singing 'Eternal Flame' by the Bangles (RIP) aloud (LOUDLY) and realized, this is also a song I sing when swimming. Strange.

Then Tuesday, finally, FINALLY, I was able to clear my mind and just enjoy a long run. 10 minutes run, 1 minute walk, up and down hills, I was able to zone out for 1:50 and felt fresh at the end. And it made me SO HAPPY. I remembered how great the IM marathon felt and for the first time in awhile, I thought I could put together another happy IM marathon.

Slowly, but surely, I am remembering how much I loved IM training last summer. I'm remembering that  time and  pace and place don't matter, that I truly just love to be out there, and I know that I will be ready to do it again in 8 weeks.
 

Kinetic Aquabike

It was very strange to simply STOP after the bike. There was no real 'finish' line - very strange. I think I got out of the race what I was looking for - a check in on my swim fitness and a chance to really push the bike over 56 miles - something I haven't done in a really long time.


Swim was tough, and the times include T1, but this was definitely the weakest 70.3 swim I have had. I have been slacking in the pool, and need a swift kick in the butt ASAP. Comparatively with the field, it was competitive, but it took way too much energy and I need to swim double the distance in 10 weeks.

This is how the bike went:

Miles 0-5 : Oh great, it's pouring rain.

Mile 5-10: Stuck behind 2 large truck of manure. Smelled GREAT. I wanted to vomit. The trucks were not being annoying on purpose, they simply couldn't pass the bikers in front of them, but it made for about a 10 person back-up with no room to pass on the inside (no shoulder). One crazy girl went around them (2x) on the outside, across the double yellow line. Seriously - so stupid - into oncoming traffic. I was able to get around on the inside finally, and they eventually passed everyone back. Overall, this section was REALLY trafficy and the race wasn't stopping traffic at a pretty large intersection (right turn onto Courthouse from Lawyers) and it was a bit scary.

Miles 10-20: Things started to thin out and I was finding a good rhythm.

Miles 20-40: Riding strong, riding my own race, keeping legal pace with another woman. A line of 4-5 men would hammer past me, get in front of me, and coast. So I would have to either get stuck in their draft or put a surge in to pass 2-3 of them again - REPEAT FOREVER. Dudes, you are so annoying.

Miles 40-50ish. HOLY WIND. It was so windy and every time we turned I would wait for a shift and/or tailwind, but nope - stayed a headwind. At this point I was holding above a 20mph average, but I just lost motivation and willpower in this section and I was very much alone on the road. It's funny, looking at my 5 mile lap splits - they weren't THAT much slower, but it was just energy-sucking wind.

Mile 50ish-end: During the winds I had given up on breaking 2:40 on the bike, which I thought was a realistic goal, but I realized it would be very close as we turned back into the park a few minutes before I expected it. So put my head down and worked the last few miles as hard as I could. According to my Garmin the course was about 1 mile short.

Picture stolen from Caroline.

Garmin said 2:39, (non)chip time 2:40.Very happy with this. I haven't done a HIM since 2010, when I did 3: I road 2:53/2:52 on two very different courses (Eagleman and Syracuse) and 2:31 on a dead-flat course that I don't really count (Clearwater) because you literally couldn't avoid drafting on the course. I haven't really had a desire to do another HIM since that year, but now I am tempted to see if I focus on training for it, how I could do.  As I was cheering at the finish line, and as all my teammates had stellar races and results, a large part of me wished I had signed up for the whole race. Maybe I should have had a bit more confidence in my fitness at this point in the season, and see how it had turned out? However, I would likely not have biked so hard if I knew I was running. Good lesson for any future HIM, as I didn't feel THAT bad after the bike - push the bike as hard as you can.

2 OA in Aquabike

I remember asking one of my best friends how she paced a 70.3 before my first - her answer was "I don't pace - I go as hard as I can the entire time".  At the time her response made me laugh - this was coming from a girl who has qualified for Kona 2x at the 70.3 distance - but as I progress I can see that if you want to be competitive, she is indeed right, you need to go hard from the start and see how long you can last.

Lastly, between the last two weekends - I realized how lucky I am to have joined such an incredibly group to train and race with this year. Ignite Endurance, with the support of Tri360, had a stellar showing in both the Half and Sprint this weekend and I can't wait to keep racing with this awesome group of athletes.

Wine for everyone!

Monticelloman OLY

Going into this race my goal was to be realistic with my expectations. Training has happened over the past few months, but not to the extent which would lead me to believe I am in peak race-shape. Work and life have taken a priority and it's been an adjustment period in my life in general. The longer stuff has been the focus, building a base to have a solid day at Lake Placid.

Realistic expectations = I thought around a 2:30-ish was possible. I try not to define my results based on time because every course and day is different, but based on last year's results and my current fitness, I figured:

25ish swim [predicting a swim time in triathlon always a total crap shoot bc every swim course is different and conditions vary so much - This was just a nice round number]
1:10ish bike
50ish run
5ish for transitions.

What I learned this weekend? Mind over matter. Despite a tough bike and a hillier run than I had expected, I crossed the line in 2:29:45. Spot on my pre-race prediction. Perhaps I should be a bit more aggressive with my goal in my next few races.

I was very pleasantly surprised with my swim. I'm so glad I got in the water the day before and also warmed up/swam around for about 5 minutes before our wave went off. The water was low 60s, which is just about perfect for open water racing in my opinion, but it's definitely a shock to the arms/face if you're not able to warm up. I got out strong and was around about 4-5 other pink caps (women 39 and under), but as we turned around the first buoy, many of the girls I was swimming with started swimming towards a smaller sighting-buoy [which had drifted way off course], and I made the decision to jump off the feet I was on and swim towards the next large turn buoy. I could see one pink swim cap up ahead, and one to my left - we swam side by side for a few stroke, and she dropped back and swam the last leg back of the swim on my feet. Seb yelled out I came out of the water 2nd female and I was so happy. My swimming motivation has been severely lacking this season, and I definitely have some work to do before Ironman, but I was very happy with this swim.

I came into transition and had grand plans to take my time in T1 to put on gloves, socks and arm warmers, but who was I kidding? No way could I let this girl beat me out of transition after swimming on my feet for 10+ minutes. So threw on my helmet and shoes, decided to ignore the cold and potentially frozen feet, and was onto the bike. She still beat me out of T1 (whomp whomp) and I never saw her again.

I focused on securing my shoes and getting my breathing under control the first few miles of the bike. I was passed almost immediately by the eventual overall female winner, and didn't see another OLY female for the rest of the bike. I went back and forth with a few men, and overall I have to say the men in this race were a very nice and supportive group! Never before in a race have I had so many men passing me on the bike saying things like "Great swim!" "Nice bike" "Go get it girl" etc. It was really nice motivation. I had a tough time finding a rhythm - there were punchy hills (nothing too long or steep, just lots of up and downs) and there was a constant headwind almost the ENTIRE ride. It was a 1 loop course, so I just kept thinking, we must eventually get a tailwind, but really, it felt like headwind the entire way. I tried to keep my intensity up, but felt like my legs just weren't responding and I couldn't keep my heart rate up.

I focused on taking in my full 280 calories bottle (Carbo Pro + Skratch) plus water but felt burp-y and on the edge of throwing up the entire ride. This is the second race in the past few weeks [including a DISASTROUS trail race with multiple bathroom stops and walk breaks due to stomach pain] where my stomach has been uncomfortable [I also had to pee so badly the ENTIRE run]. After NO stomach problems last year, it's time to revisit what I have changed and go back to whatever I was doing last year.

Off the bike in 4th overall, time for the true test. My running off the bike over the past few years in OLY has just not been where I wanted it to be. I had a long talk with my coach and mentally prepared myself for this to happen again. He has asked for me to remember that I am training for an IM marathon, not a fast 10k, and they are two very different things. He reminded me how great I felt during IM and that a rough 10k isn't indicative of how IM will go. I know all these things in the back of my mind, but after getting passed over and over again in OLY races in the past few years, it's hard to stay positive.

However, this race, my legs and head were in the race. I wore my garmin to keep check of my splits, but didn't obsess over pace. I felt strong and focused on keeping my HR in check running uphill and really working the downhills. It was a lollipop-type out and back and saw 1 and 2 out ahead, but never saw 3. I also never saw 5 running me down. She came up FLYING past around mile 4.5 or 5. My body felt good and I tried to respond for about 10 seconds, but I laughed and realized it wasn't happening (turns out she was running about a minute per mile faster than me). I didn't get discouraged and focused on finishing up strong.

Based on my watch, I knew I had come in right around 2:30 and was DONE when I finished. It's been a long time since I did an OLY when I really felt like I left it all out on the course and I was happy with the results. My swim time was around what I predicted, but I felt WAY better than I expected, my bike was a few minutes off and my run made me really happy.

Useful awards are the best!

I'm excited to have a short recovery week, lay it all out next weekend at the Kinetic Aquabike, then it's head down for a solid 8 weeks of strong training up to Lake Placid! 

Updates.

All the uproar about Google Reader going 'away' made me remember I had a blog. For the record, I don't think Google Reader is going away...I think they will introduce something else.

Things have been quiet. In the history of my history, quiet means things are GOOD and there is no need to talk about them, or something is really BAD and writing it down means it's real so I avoid writing about it. Currently, I feel like I'm in a constant state of IN BETWEEN.

First the bad. I took February basically off of running. I have drafts saved in blogger about how 'YAY YAY January was my highest mileage month in years and I FEEL SO GOOD and I want to PR and go 1:3:x:xx in March and I am confident' Then February started and I was on an easy run and I had sharp pain in my foot that wouldn't really go away. X rays were taken and very.bad.things were ruled out, and the advice to take '4-6 week of rest' simply made me laugh. So I decided to take 2 weeks off. Focus on biking. Find my swim mojo (still searching for that...). I was dreading the time off. I had finally found my love of running and love running high miles. The week I go above 30 miles, I drop 3-5 pounds, it's like magic. Awesome magic. But the truth is, and I have learned the hard way over and over again, my body just can't take high mileage.

Part of the reason I hired a coach for IM was to save me from myself. I know I don't know when to say when. I also know, and have the MRIs and Xrays and scar tissue in my hip to prove it, that I also often choose to ignore aches and pains and push through majorly serious injuries and I have been conditioned by years of swimming to try to 'ice away' aches and pains. So my coach saved me last year. He showed me that I can be successful and happy at the end of the day running 20-30 mile weeks. That a marathon is possible on a long run of 16 miles. That success and happiness, FOR ME, for an Ironman equals lots and lots of hours in the saddle and no junk running miles and one FULL real rest day every week.

But I decided to focus on running this winter. Without a coach. and BAM, I went from the HIGHEST mileage month in years to the LEAST miles in years.

But surprisingly  for 14 days - I didn't miss running. Biking feels great. And I'm slowly and smartly (with the help of coach) adding back in my miles with no rush. I had some awesome tempo miles tonight that had my mind wandering to visions of still trying to race this weekend. Silly, silly Sarah. I will be on my bike, staying far, far away from any running races.

Another reason I didn't miss running? I was busy. You know how they* say that starting a new job and buying a house are two of the top 5 major life stresss? (*They...you know...THEY).  Well I decided to do both in a three month span, on top of trying to train for an Ironman and deal with an injury.

So needless to say, my head is NOT in the game right now when it come to training. I'm going through the motions and getting most of the work done (not in the pool), but I honestly am a bit freaked out by the idea that I'm doing an Ironman in a few months. I know it will all come around. We will move and things will settle down and I can just focus. And it will get warm and I can swim outside and I will be fine.

But right now. I just feel so IN BETWEEN. I'm so so happy about the house. We close in two weeks. But I'm stressed beyond belief. About stupid non-issues (couches and paint) and real life issues like being booked to travel 15 out of 20 work days in April.

I just want to take a deep breath, exhale and have it be May. Warm, race season, with long training weekends on the horizon. Oh, and probably another 15 days on the road.

Things to do during a 45-60 minute commute.

The first few years I lived in NYC, I commuted cross-town via subway and bus. The best days, it took 30-35 minutes. If I left a little too late, or if something was amiss with the trains or car traffic crossing Central Park, it could take 60+ minutes. But I really have no memories of dreading the commute, it was just a part of my daily life. I would check my phone/email on the subway, and then read or zone-out on the bus.

So in the spirit of the possibility that I will be re-introducing a 45-60 minute bus ride commute into my life, a list of things to convince myself I'm OK with it:

1. SLEEP.  Wake up 6am, catch the 6:20 bus, sleep en route. Arrive in DC at 7ish, run/gym, at desk by 8:30ish.
*Bonus of this plan - I don't have to give up the DC trails (Mt. Vernon, C&O, Potomac Heritage) that I love.
 
2. WORK. I'm planning to talk with supervisor about making this part of my work day - being on email and starting the work day when I 'sign on' via the wonders of 3G. I don't think the full 2ish hours would fly, but if it meant leaving my desk a bit before 5pm to make the 5:01 bus or arriving a few minutes past 8:30, it may be a possibility.

3. READ. Eh, not sure about this one, I tend to get motion sick when I read in the car unless it is dark out, so this will be a winter-time possibility.

4. WATCH TV. We have recently talked about getting rid of cable and using Netflix/Hulu. My new obsession is The Following - 1 episode would be a lovely 1-way commute. And I have hours of popular shows I've never watched that could keep me entertained.


A lot of people, some of our family included, think we are crazy for considering the move we want to make, but for us it's a tradeoff between space, cost of real estate and planning for our future. Related, during a majority of the year, I will be traveling 2-3 days per week, so this will not be a 20-day per month round trip commute.

ALSO, it will put me 30 miles CLOSER to multiple rural, beautiful biking options that I spent last summer driving 90 minutes to enjoy.