Rest Days

Rest days are never rest days it seems.  When I'm not training it all comes down to all the other stuff I neglect while I'm in my happy place.  Catch up family time, laundry, tidying up, actual recovery (like stretching, yoga or foam roller time) and thankfully (like today) finding some time to sit down and write a little bit.

We're a mere 10 days out from my first half ironman of the year and I'm a little nervous.  My open water swimming is not where I need to be, I'm feeling tired on the bike and run, I'm starting to feel a little run down.  I know this is normal for the training block and I'll feel better after I taper next week going into the race, but I have no idea how I will perform.  I have no estimate which is scary.

This is the earliest I've been ready for a half ironman ever.  Usually at this point of the year I'm just getting into base building and open water swimming and I'd hastily choose a July half ironman and go in undertrained.  I can say that I feel just as fit going into this race as I did after a whole season training going into last year's full ironman.

I'm feeling good, just not confident.  I'm fighting hard against the "I can'ts" and the "I'm not fast enough". Truth is, I've been working hard and have been diligently training and I need to get past comparing myself to everyone else.  I will be happy with the results because it's not the "A" race, it's just a gauge.  It's a benchmark for later races.  Once I see how this one works out, I'll adjust the training.

Last weekend I was thrilled to watch my daughter run her first 5k as the culminating event to the Girls on the Run program.  She had trained twice a week in this program for 10 weeks.  The program that also covers running, body image, self esteem, healthy habits and a host of other good things girls Norah's age should be familiar with.  All things I wish I had in a program growing up.  Norah ran to finish and did spectacularly well in the cold, driving rain.  She did it in 37 minutes and was so proud of herself at the end, and I was so incredibly proud that she toughed it out and finished.

It took me back to my first races and that feeling of completion and accomplishment.  It was so special to share that experience with her doing something I love so much.  To see her face at the end with everyone cheering her name, arms up, smiling and soaking wet but all done...  It's something I'll never forget.  We congratulated the girls who came in before us and stayed to the end and cheered her friends and other racers in because that's what a good sport does.  Trying to start good habits now.

I will also never forget to not race a 5k smack dab in the middle of half iron training.  It was like a well placed anaerobic bomb.  I did well, I pretty much ran flat 7:30s in terrible conditions.  I won my category and came in fifth overall.   I won a Fuelbelt which I let Norah pick out since I have one.  She's now the proud owner of a purple and green Revenge series.  She was super happy, that's all that matters.

My bike mileage per week is out of hand (easily 120+ a week in addition to all the running and swimming when I can), and I should probably spend more time trying to get out in the pond/ocean.  Being on the Kestrel team has made me a little bike crazy in I want to see major results, so I'm building a lot of volume now and lately the speed has been catching up.  It's really good in a way.  I want to make the team proud and I always want to push myself to do better.  Being on the Kestrel team has really helped keep a lot of the doubt away.  Someone thought I was good enough to represent the brand in a uniform, so I am good enough.  Seems silly, but it helps.

I'm close to breaking the 20 average miles per hour on that torturefest we locals call a time trial course.  I'm getting there.  I'm stronger on the bike this year (thank you winter of TriFitLab) even just going into base building.

I'm looking at doing an Olympic distance duathlon the Sunday after Patriot just to see what it's like.  It sounds painful, and I like the idea of the distances.  I will get crushed, but duathlon may be something really good for me in the future.

I'm trying to set up some travel for Columbus in September and Dallas in October to race with more of the Eleonore Rocks team.  Olympic distance racing kind of scares me, it's a distance I think I'd be good at in theory, but I will definitely not be fast for those races when they come up.  I've almost even dabbled with just doing 70.3s this year and maybe opting out of the full at Cedar Point.  Maybe racing the half they hold there and then supporting Kevan as he races the next day.  I've got a lot to think about.

In other news, a friend and fellow triathlete super-mom blogger Marie mentioned me on her blog (totally flattering), and I'm pretty excited that others may find it this way.  I was pretty sure no one read it until very recently.  So if you're here from there, welcome aboard!  Hopefully you'll gain something interesting in the process of reading.

Update soon! I promise.

Busy bee lately. Update on things is forthcoming as I go into three weeks out before my first race of the season. :)

Tiny breakthroughs

If you've ever been stuck in a training rut you'll appreciate where I'm coming from.  After two years of being stuck at the same running pace, I'm making good progress in the right direction to getting a teeny tiny bit faster.

The United Healthcare half marathon was last Sunday and I had trained for this particular distance for the first time ever.  Actual training with speed work and tempo runs, the whole thing.  To top it all off, I followed it pretty well.  I made no excuses and I'm happy to say I got some good results.

I had a great race Sunday and managed to clock a 1:44 (7:59 min/mile average pace) taking six minutes off my previous half marathon time on the same race (similar course).  So my "Let's Get Faster in 2012" plan is working and I'm looking forward into going into my first half ironman with this run base and speed that I've built training for this race.

It feels nice to make a good training decision picking the half marathon over the marathon.  Now instead of a solid week's worth of recovery from a marathon  I was off for a day and back on the bike yesterday doing some hard intervals.

I also got to do my first race in my Eleonore Rocks colors and with my Infinit.  Both worked out really well.  Pictured above is my Kestrel/Eleonore Rocks race singlet I made with iron on transfers until my kits come sometime soon.  Even though it was a little arts and craftsy and had nothing to do with my cycling ability on the Kestrel end I was still super proud to be able to wear it.

I'm looking at doing a half ironman a month and a half marathon a month until the full ironman at Cedar Point in September.  Lofty I think, but necessary.  By November when I plan the run the Amica Newport half marathon where I want (ok need) my time to be well south of 1:40.  New goal, more training.  Now it's time to switch over my run focused training and start tempering it with get faster bike workouts, which will be great to stop the pounding on my feet and legs for a bit.

Training thoughts

My brain was mostly empty today as I reluctantly headed out for a 14 mile long run. I tried to fill it with positive thoughts or think of creative workouts because I'm working my training plan today for most of my season.

But all I could think about on this cool and rainy spring afternoon was how I didn't want to be running right now.

It started out achy and tired, still feeling my trail run earlier in the week and feeling my overnight shifts and crazy schedule earlier in the week.

I started thinking about how I'm always happy on perfect weather days spent training with good friends having fun. While these are great days and one of the reasons I love this sport, they suddenly didn't count as great training days.

I understood this moreso on a wet Sunday running miles and miles alone. Great training days happen when you want to quit or even never start but you follow through anyways. It's easy not to quit with company. When it's just you and some long, lonely miles it's a victory to be miserable and not take the shorter route home, to not quit because you don't want to.

Fighting the workout despite your results and pulling something positive out of the experience anyways. That's a great training day.

I ran today, I didn't feel fit or even fast. I felt pretty miserable and I was soaked and cold for 80% of my run. Despite feeling like junk I managed to keep on par (by seconds) with my best half marathon time.

From this kind of awful run today I pulled a pretty good conclusion that if I feel good on race day (even just a little better than today) I will PR, hopefully by a significant amount of time. It's just a half marathon, but it's an important step for me beginning my season and I'm pretty excited to see what I can do this year.

Hectic

Work and regular life have forced me into some kind of awful, hectic holding pattern or running around all over the state for all sorts of things.  So I haven't had time to update.

I've got crazy hours at all times of the day and night, Norah has Girls on the Run (which involves an easy hour to hour and fifteen minutes of driving each time...  twice a week), I have volunteer stuff at work to coordinate, the Girls on the Run 5K to help plan...  Workouts, swim classes, maybe some time to load the dishwasher/make dinner/do laundry and lastly maybe, maybe sleep.

Not else much going on.  Which is not true really, everything is going on.

Aside from my mastery of time management squeezing in workouts in whatever tiny amounts of time I have.  Darkness (cold and dark o'clock is my favorite time for a run), the hour where Norah is at Girls on the Run (great tempo workouts when you're going to be late picking her up), the two hours I have free between work (if I get out on time) and the time Ben's preschool closes (I love picking him up all sweaty decked out in a tri kit or running clothes).  Biking is slacking a touch because it requires the most gear, but I am packed in my car for every training and weather situation at any time.  It's like an athletic apocalypse in there.  I look a little homeless.

I started Masters Swim which I'm very, very excited about.  I have a long way to go, but it's a relief that I'm getting the swimming thing addressed and working on it.  Getting back in the pool every year is a hurdle for me because I hate swimming.  Most of that derives from being poor at it which derives from not receiving proper instruction.

I had one solid session, and I'm not even on the workouts yet, but I'm feeling much better in the water.  I know it's working because for the first time in almost three years of swimming I was sore in the muscles that you use for swimming.  Go figure.

I was just excited to make it a full lap across the pool the first day while the instructor watched and figured out what's wrong with my swimming.  When the assessment came up "not that bad" I was relieved.  That was my second time in a real 50 yard swimming pool and it seemed waaaay to big.  The first being at MIT for a Total Immersion clinic a year or two back where the instructor asked me if I had any "traumatic water incidents" as a child.  No joke.

Long story short, I felt better in the water.  More importantly, I went back to the pool to practice laps when it wasn't masters swim.  Huge victory.

I've had some easy bike rides, nothing major.  Working on my bike training plan to get some specific workouts in there outside and on the trainer.  Getting out for the long rides on the weekend has been a little harder, but I've been managing some good mid week distances.   I'm off Thursday and I need to get that done over pretty much everything else.

Running is going really well in the new shoes.  I'm running faster.  Which is pretty cool, but even more exciting when I know it's happening on purpose.  I ran almost thirty miles last week and all my runs averaged to 7:45 pace, even the perceived easy ones.  Which as a chronic 8:00+ minute miler with little improvement over time is really a big gain for me.  I'm getting really excited about the half marathon in three weeks, I think it's going to be a really good result.  I don't want to get too ahead of myself and post predictions, but I have a good goal.

Eleonore Rocks kits are coming soon, Kestrel kits are in the works.  I got my nutrition in today so I'll test that out today on my easy ride....  Big things, actually.  The fitness and the reasons are all coming together for this to be a really great season.

Time to go do some easy hills on the bike, hah!  That's funny.

Highlights

Not much happening at the moment.  Base training, writing training plans, looking into a few masters swim programs.  Kicking it into gear because my first half ironman is in 12 weeks.

We (Kevan and I) bought a CycleOps Powerbeam Pro to share between the two of us to train.  I'm looking forward to some sufferfest power training sessions at home.  The best part?  Unlike outside or the computrainer studio it really doesn't matter what I train in.  Aside from silly outfits and good times it means that I can train with power, which is an immensely helpful training tool.  I'm pretty excited.

Still training to PR the Cox Half Marathon, still on track for that.  Trying to figure out my newest shoe confusion. I've been training in the K Swiss K-Onas for about two months and I really like them, and I get a little calf pain.  Which I've credited to inefficient running form because I'm a pronator and not really a natural runner.  I bought Nike Free Runs on a whim at an expo last week to wear during TRX, run drills and to walk around in because I like the idea of minimalist shoes.  The foot strengthening idea seems great and I need to work on that to help with my pronation issues.

After hard intervals on the Computrainer on Tuesday night I ran afterwards with a friend in them at his pace, which would be a little easier for me.  I figured easy pace I could focus on form and see how the shoes felt without risking any kind of strain.  We did an easy 5k with a negative split at the end and I finished faster and feeling better than I had with the K-Onas.  I chalked it up to sometimes just changing shoes worked for me.

I am reticent to try new shoes after The Great Saucony Kinvara Incident of 2011 where I got new shoes for my birthday...  Minimalist, light, nicely constructed shoes.  My birthday happened to fall on a Wednesday which is group run night, 7 hilly miles through Providence's East Side.  I had done it at least 10 times before.  Long story short I wasn't made for those shoes and ended up in Physical Therapy.

So I ran the dreaded Wednesday night run in the Frees at a good pace, pain free.  I ran mid to forefoot and felt good.  And I have to say I woke up with minimal soreness and no calf pain to boot.  So I'll probably try and figure out what's happening via the internet and then if that fails go to Rhode Runner and consult them.

And I'm happy to say that I'm actually on the right bike and don't need to upgrade to a new and shiny Kestrel 4000, because turns out it may not be an upgrade for me after all.  I had a little new bike fever/envy via the Kestrel team and the Eleonore Rocks crowd and it was cured.  I'm always glad and grateful to know people with great bike knowledge that can help me decode these kinds of things.  Bike fit is so finicky and I'm so happy and comfortable with the Airfoil that it's a relief to not have to switch over.

So that means we make the Airfoil better.  I am having a hard time with race wheels.  Silly, tiny wheels.  I want to find something other than Zipp or HED but unless something else falls from the sky I would probably have to go that route.  Not that they aren't great wheels I'm just sure there are other options for me.  A lot of the little manufacturers I looked at that have great reviews just don't make wheels in my size.  So that may be a next year kind of thing.  I have a friend who'll let me borrow, so there is that.  A solution for this season.  But I would like to own.  It's one of those things that I won't feel like a real triathlete until I get race wheels.  Fancy bike and training wheels.  Sad.

Ok, it's a day off time to go walk my dog and then ride the bike for a couple of hours when it gets a touch warmer.  Just need to figure out where.

Base Building

Yesterday's bike workout: 54 very hilly miles, four Category 5 climbs.  It was a good ride.  3:22 but with a good amount of stopping.



If I could only be as consistent to do a workout like this every weekend leading up to triathlon season, I'd be all set.

Training Currency

I've decided that my the most important currency for me lately has been time.  I used to think I was at a disadvantage for a long time because I wasn't earning six figures and couldn't buy all the speed in the world.  I didn't have X bike and Y Wheels.

Balance is becoming harder and recently I've been trying to train smarter and harder with less time.  Two weeks of that and I'm getting much better results.  More intervals, harder efforts, less time.  I've had a decent amount of balance than over the winter.

Priorities being what they are it breaks down (in this order):

• Kids/Family/Relationship Time - Much more important than training or racing.  I want to give my two kids the world.  If I miss Monday's speed workout to help my daughter with her math homework then so be it.  I'll make it up another day.  It's harder now that I'm alone with them.  So on days they're with dad (if I'm not working) I need to make the most of it.
• Work - Need money to race, it's pretty simple.  Lately I'm putting in enough effort to stay employed.
• Training - That is what it is.
• Everything else

It's becoming more and more important that I nail workouts as they happen.  I'm waffling back and forth on coaching but I realize I'm kind of a nightmare when it comes to scheduling.  I would drive a coach nuts.  I drive myself nuts.  As I've learned with the Endurance Nation Fast Camp I signed up for...  I can't do anything in any kind of order, I try to keep a reasonable schedule.  Long runs, interval and long easy bikes, tempo runs, swimming...  But I can't commit to a weekly schedule, every day depending on work or kids is per diem for workouts.  So I'm still self coaching for a little while to see if I can still do it.  I self coached myself through an ironman last year, I think I can do it again this year.

Self coaching can be a great accomplishment and a great excuse I find.  If I do well, it's pretty amazing.  If I don't meet my goals, "Well, you know... I am self coached."

This year has much more volume than last year.  A half ironman at least once every month and a full in September.  A half marathon once a month so I can slowly creep my time down.  The 70.3 training is more speed focused and the 140.6 training is just trimming the fat off last year's time and going faster while keeping up the endurance.

I think last year with all the long, slower endurance training I realized maybe I wasn't meant for sprint and olympic distance triathlons.  I can do them, but I just can't push myself to that pace that's needed to do really well.  I can push the pace to squeak out a podium, but not win.

Current training for the Cox Half Marathon is going well.  I did a tempo long run (contradictory?) last night and kept pace for just under ten miles, easy effort.  I'm really hoping for a ten minute PR on that race at least.  Any PR on that race would be good, but I like goals.

Cycling training is definitely picking up as I head outdoors for the spring for longer rides.  I'm still looking to do shorter, power focused rides on the trainer.  Which is nice because I can do them and not worry about sunlight or the weather or time of day.

Off to enjoy this unusually warm weather in March (80ish in New England in March, what?!) the best way I know how, on my bike!

Big News!

I'm very, very excited to announce that in September I applied for the Kestrel Race team and just this month I found out that I got accepted! Only 17 of over 275 applicants were accepted onto the team.

In essence it's an amateur sponsorship. That's right, "S" is for Sponsorship. I'm beyond excited and so grateful for this opportunity to represent the Kestrel brand.

So for this year I'll be riding for Kestrel and raising money and awareness for Eleonore Rocks. Kestrel is already a huge sponsor of that team as well. It may mean a new bike, it may not.

Luckily I don't have to convert over to a new bike since I'm already a faithful Kestrel customer, but of course, I'd like to be riding the newest fanciest thing there is. So I'm looking at options. Everything is still getting laid out for us since triathlon season hasn't really started yet, so I'm sure there will be other developments.

It means a lot of new friends and contacts from both the Kestrel and Eleonore Rocks team, more resources, other opportunities. It's a big deal.

My other big bike related news is.... After three years of cycling, we finally invested in a trainer. I know, I'm probably an idiot for not having one. But I was waiting for a Computrainer or something like it. So Kevan and I settled on a CycleOps Power trainer which is fairly new and getting some really good reviews.

So I'm looking forward to making less excuses to train in spite of the kids or the weather. And perhaps making some fitness gains or not losing as much fitness over the winter. I had two great weeks of training after I got sidelined with the Norovirus that's been floating around. I got outside for a 55 mile bike and have been hitting all my long runs and maintenance runs. I'm losing weight (thank you stomach flu, hah!) and feeling really good.

I just need to remember to stretch, keep foam rollering, and recover when I need to. I have a feeling it's going to be a great season!

Yay!

I have big news that I'm waiting until next week to share, but let me just tell you that I was so excited I could barely contain it when I got the email. I had to reread it like ten times to even comprehend it. It's an amazing opportunity for me that's triathlon related that I am incredibly grateful for.

In other great news, I'm down five pounds in my race weight quest. I'm having a hard time with the body composition thing, balancing my body so I can generate power on the bike, not be too bottom heavy to swim properly, and light enough to run fast. It all seems silly to complain about, but it's seriously concerning to me. :)

I registered for my first race! Cox Half Marathon on the first weekend in May. I've done it before but I've never trained for a half marathon, I can just do it. This time I'm going into with three months of pace training. Plan is to demolish all of my old times and go into triathlon season much faster on the run in the beginning instead of working on it throughout the season. That plus six months of computraining should set me up to be pretty fit at the start of the season, I'm aiming for some drastically better results this year.

Still thinking of doing the full marathon in Newport in October. Not sure how I will feel about running after Cedar Point. After Beach to Battleship I was fine with short distances, as long as I didn't try and ramp up my heart rate too much. The idea to run the full would be to qualify for Boston which I need to run a 3:40 to do, which is just slightly over an eight minute mile. I will really have to see how I feel and register closer to October at that rate.

I did the TTBikeFit indoor time trial with some modest results a couple weekends ago. I placed in my heat, but man, I need to start working on generating consistent power. Which the trainer Kevan and I purchased should help with. Maybe I can consider myself a real cyclist now that we have one? Even though I kind of poo poo trainers because I prefer riding outdoors, they really are handy. I'm actually looking forward to spending a lot more time on the bike and focusing on generating power.

Loving my new shoes by the way... KSwiss K-Onas. Such a simple thing as trying a new brand really brought back my love of running.

I'm off to a nice recovery day of cursing at my foam roller, yoga and TRX core work.

Blog Restart Round Three!

I am really attempting to using my blog more and to be more active again in the social media realm. Frankly, I got a little lazy over the summer. And the fall. And the holidays.

Race season is coming! Ok so it's really base building season. But still.

I spent most of the winter attempting to find sponsorships or partnerships. It takes a lot of work, but as a single mom in a sport that is ridiculously expensive by nature it's worth the work. I still have applications out to a team or two somewhere in the space of the internet. I am patiently waiting.

I am very proud to say that this season I'll be fundraising for The Eleonore Rocks Foundation via The Eleonore Rocks Ambassador Race Team.

It's my first triathlon season where I've raised money for any kind of charity. It's a great charity with a heartwarming mission. As a mom and a triathlete I was touched by their mission. It was an easy decision. I'm really excited about the awesome team sponsor partnerships and all the other athletes I'm going to meet and race with along the way.

Now that I've committed to race I need to commit to train and get things back together. I took most of December off from running, so now I'm getting back to it, regaining fitness slowly and carefully. I could feel like I was slowly approaching an overuse injury from not taking time off after the ironman in October. Ironman to 5k was not my best recovery plan.

Back to conscious eating, to consistent exercise. Back to working on performance. I'm excited to get my races lined up for this year, hopefully by the end of this month. Rev3 Cedar Point will be my big race for 2012, another full distance ironman.

Kevan and I have already planned to volunteer again at Lake Placid this summer so we can both race in 2013. I would like that to be my big race, my big focus for next year so I can perform like I know I'm capable of. I'm looking forward to training on that course again this year too.

Once I settle my race calendar I will post the races I'm doing so I can stay accountable to my training. I managed to train for an ironman almost part time last year, save for the six and seven hour bike rides, so I can do it this year. I just need to be smarter and more committed than ever before.