Back on the wagon

I'm trying to get back on the wagon nutritionally again. I have gained back almost all the weight I have lost to date. I'm not really surprised because I haven't kept up my good habits. At thins point in time with the remodel in progress I figure if I can hold steady things will be good. If I lose that is great but don't know if that is really possible.

I'm trying to find some alternatives that are quick and easy to purchase and make like back to my smoothies and cans of soup. It just means changing habits temporarily as I prefer freshly made food.

Knowledge, Skill & Desire

The tri of triathlon, don't you think.

Also Limitless Potential. Don't we all have limitless potential. We may not always get faster but we can always improve and grow in some way in these three areas of triathlon.

I am relistening to the 7 Habits of Highly Effective people and listening toward teh end of applying these principles to my triathlon training. Ironically the Triathlete Magazine had a similar article in their last issue but they focused differently than what I have focused.

More on this later....

Getting back on the wagon

Tomorrow I'm going to try to run into work. We'll see how that goes. Today I ran for 45 minutes and it didn't feel too bad it's just that with the big bruise on my leg the pounding kind of hurts and the pounding also hurts my ribs eventually too. I'll try taking some ibuprofen before I go and see how that goes. I want to do those things I can while I am recovering from my accident. Running and biking are really the only things i can do>

I am doing very poorly on nutrition right now I completely overate tonight. i don't know why either. The ffod was there and no one else was which is a bad combination for me. I want to be good again but my motivation is so low right now. I have regained everything I lost which really sucks but i have no one to blame but me.

Hit by a car

Yesterday I was hit by a car on my way to work. It was on Ainsworth and Interstate. Interstate has a bad streak of luck for cyclists lately.

A driver turned right in front of me and hit my front wheel. My bike is totalled and unridable.

I am really trying to be patient and understanding of this process. I had felt like I got back on the horse last weekend with my 2 hour run and now I'm sidelined again. I have stitches in my elbow that are preventing me from swimming for about 2 weeks and the pain in my ribs makes it difficult to breathe very deeply without pain.

I had been hoping to start my strength training again this week but alas it will wait for a week.

2 Hour Run

I don't think I could have asked for a more beautiful fall day. It was clear and cold and the trail was dry and you had to shuffle through all the fallen leaves. It was perfect!

I was afraid I'd be a bit cold because it was 40 degrees and I wore a thin base layer and a slightly thicker outer layer. Then I had tights on and gloves. It was also perfect once I got moving. I don't think I would have wanted anything heavier, or lighter for that matter.

I started out and maintained a steady even pace. I don't trail run much, hardly at all so it makes me a little nervous in that I am afraid that I will trip over a root or rock and end up injured. Also, I get a bit more nervous running by myself. But I have to say that after today I think I'll keep seeking out trail running. My knees never hurt and the time seemed to fly by. My pace was slower but i think that is normal when you are trail running.

Once I got past the 25 minute mark things just settled into a pace and everything felt good. I never felt like I was pushing or tired or anything. I was more careful at the end of the run about footing because it always scares me a bit when things are getting tired about twisting my ankle or something.

I wish I had taken a picture because I would love to share the experience and the beauty. I hope we get some more days like this.

Anyway.... that was my start of my off season training goal of improving my run. I think I'm off to a good start. Next week I will do 1 longer run (90 minutes) and then on Saturday post swimming I will do a track workout. The following week my plan is again 1 longer run and then a long run of 2:10.

Marathon Recovery

I just remembered this morning that it's been awhile since the marathon and I wanted to get an idea as to how long it took me to recover from the marathon so that i can make plans and predict my recovery for the Avenue of Giants.

So let's see here October 7 was the marathon and this past weekend I would say I felt completely recovered. No more soreness of fatigue feeling in my legs. I did a longer run at Mom's on the hills there and it was just fine. So it was 2 weeks out from the marathon that I felt like I could "train" again.

I think I would wait through this week for strength training for legs just to be sure and I would probably want to take my long rides back a bit too so that my legs could fully recover without getting fatigued again. I would also make sure that my rides were flat just base endurance Zone 2 rides.

So I'll get it mapped out on my training plan with my hours and see how it fits putting a marathon in my plan in early spring.

Planning and nutrition

This past week I have been in Seattle for training for work. I have been taking a SharePoint training which I really enjoy I just feel like I'm still putting together the pieces. I still ahven't wrapped my head around this yet. There are so many pieces to be put together.

Anyway, other than that, being out of town creates a difficult situation for me. I have a hard time eating well when I'm eating out. It is all psychological because obviously it isn't a physical problem. It is the enjoyment of eating out and eating good tasting food, the other is that the portions are so big and I guess I don't want to it to go to waste. It's hard for me. And I have to admit my motivation is low right now. I am rather kind of burnt out on watching things so closely but I'm noticing my habits are going back to my prior habits. I guess I don't need to watch it so close and could ease off on that and just work on good habits. That might be the best strategy at this point.

I have been listening to The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and have been trying to apply the principles there to my life because I feel like I'm trying to balance so many things and I feel like my stress level goes over the top sometimes because I have a hard time prioritizing things.

Habit 1 is Be Proactive
Habit 2 is Begin with the End in Mind

...I want to find the book. I know I have it because I think I can use these principles to help me focus on my goals.

Portland Marathon

OK.... I feel like I can come up with 26.2 reasons not to do a marathon! I don't think I would have ever done an Ironman if I had done a marathon first.

So one thing you have to realize is that I am designed for this stuff and not only that I am trained for this stuff. I do long slow distance better than anything else in my life probably. So a marathon should have been a cake walk right? Well.... no..... a marathon is nothing like an Ironman, at least not an Ironman I have ever done. I can get off the bike after riding 112 miles and swimming 2.4 and run 26.2 miles but not a marathon, at least not like I ran this marathon. I guess if I could come off my bike and swim and truly run a marathon race I'd be doing great!!!! maybe that's the different between me and those whose strength is the run. Is I go into it knowing I can put together a MOP swim and MOP bike and that my run is a BOP run.

I wonder what the difference should be between a stand-alone marathon and an Ironman marathon. Although like I'm trying to get the point across above these are not in any way the same race. I suppose in an IM you could go out too hard at the beginning of the run but since you've already ridden 112 miles you aren't like to do that because you're just trying to figure out how to move your legs in a fashion that resembles running.

So here's my splits on my marathon according to Portland Marathon:

Place Overall: 4058 out of 7724
Women: 1631 out of 4194
F 35-39: 314 out of 683
AgeGrade: 49.98% Place: 3745
FINISH: 4:46:24 pace: 10:56
10k: 1:02:53 pace: 10:08
Turn-9.1Mi: 1:31:37 pace: 10:05
Half: 2:14:23 pace: 10:16
17.2 M: 3:10:11 pace: 11:04
20 Mile: 3:35:36 pace: 10:47
35K: 3:56:34 pace: 10:55
Chip Time: 4:46:24
Gun Time: 4:54:10

Needless to say I went out at a really good pace. And it's funny because my watch was pretty accurate with the mileage until about mile 14 which als happens to be about the same time that my legs started feeling really heavy. I think that my stride must change at that point in the race and that my foot pod no longer really works the same because it is calibrated for normal running not a run/plod calibration.

So the watch recorded 27.8 miles and here is what it reports:
Overall Avg HR 156, Max 188
Pace Avg: 10:06
Spd. Acg: 5.9 mph
Run Time: 4:43 (1 bathroom stop at mile 17)
1: 9:58, A 142, M 157
2:10:04 A 150, M 159
3: 10:48 A158, M 165
4: 10:00 A 155, M176
5: 9:48 A 131, M 163
6: 9:38 A 157, M 161
7: 9:32 A 155, M 161
8: 9:38 A 156, M162
9: 9:34 A 158, M 162
10: 9:36 A 158, M 161
11: 9:26 A 159, M 162
12: 9:34 A 158, M 162
13: (2:07:48) 10:16 A 158, M 163
14: 9:58 A 158, M 166
15: 9:44 A 158, M 160
16: 9:34 160, M 162
17: 9:48 A 160, M 162
18: 12:36 A 152, M 163
19: 10:58 A 159, M 164
20: 10:52 A 155, M 161
21: 10:42 A 153, M 158
22: 10:38 A 154, M 160
23: 11:00 A 155, M 169
24: 10:18 A 157, M 182
25: 10:30 A 158, M 172
26: 10:34 A 159, M 188
27:10:30 A 163, M 176
28: 10:18 A 164, M 174

here's what I learned:

• I need to do more mileage in running
• running downhill hurts if not at the time it will later (I couldn't really even walk for 2 days following the race)
• How do they do a race that is almost all downhill?
• I have alot of mental focus/willpower. My legs were done at 14 but I really did a pretty good job sucking it up and keeping up my pace. yes I slowed but really was able to just keep pushing through.
• Running down hill is an art and you better have really strong quads to compensate
• Running the same pace throughout a marathon is probably one of the hardest things to do. That is skill!
• I'm going to look for more opportunities to run

Aftermath:

So I was REALLY SORE for 2 days after the race. like I could barely walk. And going up and down stairs HURT!!! I had to have both hands supporting my weight on the handrails. Today, Wednesday I can finally walk up and down without support.

Also interestingly enough I gained weight following the marathon! I weighed in 3 lbs heavier monday than i did Sunday and trust me it was not because of any overeating. I could barely eat after the race because my stomach was upset.

The other thing of note is that I did not use the race day boost like I have been using. I don't know if that made a difference in my race at all. but if you notice the HR my HR was high. i would never do an Im at that HR. I'm sure I was running at close to lactice threshold as I could. the good thing to note is that I think my LT is alot higher than i first thought.

What ideas this gives me for training for IMC 2008

• More running
• Long runs will be 2+ hours every other week
• Mid distance runs will be 90 - 120 every week
• 1 tempo and 1 technique run

More racing during off season. Looking for halfs and want to do the Avenue of the Giants marathon in the spring. (Although I want to talk to someone about this) I want to really see how long it takes me to recover from this marathon before I plan that because I don't want to end up with an injury.

Anyway.... it was a good experience even though there is not a part of me that really enjoyed the race. Doing marathons does not have the same emotional passionate place for me that Ironmans do. But doing marathons will make me a better IM triathlete so they have their purpose.

Three Swimming Sets for a Faster 1,500-meters

By Matt Fitzgerald Triathlete magazine

The 1,500-meter swim that constitutes the first leg of an Olympic-distance triathlon is a unique test somewhat different from the challenges presented by both shorter and longer triathlon swims. It's short enough so the well-trained athlete can sustain a very high intensity from start to finish, but it's also long enough so even the well-trained athlete must hold something back and pace evenly.

The main cause of fatigue during a 1.5km swim is muscular acidosis, or loss of pH balance in the working muscles, which inhibits further muscle contractions. Thus, you can improve your performance by decreasing your susceptibility to muscular acidosis through appropriate training.

There are two physiologically distinct ways to achieve this effect. The first is to increase your swimming-specific aerobic capacity--that is, to increase the rate at which your muscles are able to use oxygen to release energy during swimming--because aerobic metabolism does not produce the chemical byproducts that cause muscular acidosis. You can also enhance your body's ability to neutralize, or buffer, the metabolic byproducts that cause your muscles to lose their pH balance.

I asked three top triathlon coaches--LifeSport head coach Lance Watson, 2004 U.S. Olympic triathlon team coach Gale Bernhardt and former ITU triathlon world champion Siri Lindley--to share some of their favorite Olympic-distance swim sets, and they generously obliged. Be sure to warm up thoroughly before and cool down after each of these main sets.

Lance Watson's Lactate-threshold Test Set
Benefit: This main set divides the 1,500-meter race distance into three work intervals of decreasing length. By swimming each at maximum intensity and then recovering, you train your body to sustain a faster speed over the total distance.
Format:
800 TT (i.e. time trial, or 100-percent effort)
200 easy/recovery
200 TT
200 easy/recovery
100 TT

If possible, get splits at each 100 (and at each 50 for the 100) to monitor your pace. Also note your finishing heart rate after each time-trial swim.

Alternative main set if you want to trim some yardage: 200-400 TT, 200 easy/recovery, 100-200 TT, 200 easy/recovery, 50-100 TT.

Coach's comments: "This is a set I regularly use with my athletes to mark progress," says Watson. "It is usually on a Tuesday morning after a very easy recovery day on Monday that may or may not include a light swim to tune up. This set helps me determine my athletes' fitness at threshold and race start speed, which is crucial for getting out fast and getting a good draft."

Siri Lindley's 300s
Benefit: This main set enhances your ability to get a fast start and then ease into a sustainable race pace.

Format:
8 x 300Line up side-by-side with a partner of similar ability. The first 100 is done as fast as you can go, as in the start of a race. On the second 100 you hang on for dear life. If one athlete is slower than the other he can pop in behind the quicker swimmer and do whatever he can to hang on the other's feet for the second 100. The third 100 is an easy recovery swim. Rest for 45 seconds after the easy 100.

Alternative set: 3-4 x 300

Coach's comments: "This set is very race-specific. Get out fast and you can get away from the chaos and have a much quicker swim. If you go out too slow, you may get stuck behind swimmers that are slower than you."

Gale Bernhardt's Aerobic Set
Benefit: The first requirement for success in an Olympic-distance triathlon swim is a solid foundation of swim-specific aerobic fitness, and this main set provides it with a few little twists, such as lead changes and fist swimming.

Format:
900 steady swim. Change who leads the lane each 75
1- to 2-minute rest interval (RI)
3 x 600 steady swim, alternating 100 fist drill/100 swim
1- to 2-minute RI
400 pull (paddles and buoy)
1- to 2-minute RI
200 pull (buoy, no paddles)
1- to 2-minute RI
6 x 50 backstroke on 1:10

Alternative set: Cut everything in half

Coach's comments: "This workout is most fun if you swim the 900 with three to six other people that swim roughly the same speed," says Bernhardt. "Rotating the lead position makes the time go fast and help you practice drafting."The broken 600, alternating fist swimming and regular swimming, forces you to use your entire arm to catch water and can help increase cadence. Don't cheat on the fist portions. When you open your hands it feels like you're wearing paddles." Finally, says Bernhardt, "I like to add backstroke at the end to work a few different muscles."

Your thoughts

Hey laurie
Believe it or not I am already focusing on my next season. Yes I'm a bit compulsive ;)

So as I look back at my improvements this season I see a huge improvement in my body position, head position, and stroke length. The next piece I think is putting these things together at a faster pace. Mastering that perfect combination of stroke length and stroke rate.

I'm trying to envision this process in a progression of workouts.

Would you be willing to offer some suggestions about how you would go about this?

Maybe even help me set some milestones to measure my progress in this area.

Also cate and I talked about swim lessons again but want to take a bit of a break so probably january is when well be ready again.

Thanks

Deb

Race Report: Throw your heart over the mountain and your body will follow

“Throw your heart over the mountain and your body will follow”—Lisa Bentley, IM Canada Champion

Love this quote. That is how I felt this year. I felt like I threw my heart over the mountain and my body followed.

Doing an Ironman is more than a race it is a journey. It’s all the hours you spend swimming, biking, running, and strength training. It’s all the time you spend planning your workouts. It’s all the time you spend figuring out how you’re going to possibly fit everything in. It’s all the time you spend making sure your gear is clean and ready, that you have enough nutrition with you for any particular workout. IT’s a wonder anyone makes it to the start line. Just navigating the training program for an Ironman is a commitment.

The other thing I am reminded of is that an Ironman is not a solo journey. When training and racing an Ironman you need support on so many different levels. Family’s support, of course, is the most important and I am wonderfully blessed to have a partner who continues to support me in doing these races. Support from your co-workers who tolerate the spring fever I get when the weather starts turning nice and the unusual and sometimes spontaneous time off requests to get another workout in. And then there’s the training partners who see everything. They see your highs and your lows. The times when you’re flying high after a great workout and the times when you are just downright grumpy and they still pick your butt up for an early morning swim and then bike and somehow get you to laugh at yourself.

The Goal
This being my third IM I felt like I knew enough about myself and the race that I could set a goal time. I had 3 goals for this season:

· Go under 13:30 (Previous IM was 14:59)
· Race ~ 20 lb lighter than prior IM
· Improve all three legs of race

I set these high expectations in November of 2006 and planned my training around them. To achieve these goals I invested a good deal of time and energy into preparing for this race.
· Logged over 600 hours of training in 26 weeks
· Took private swim lessons to work on my swim technique
· Increased my running volume
· Worked with a nutritionist on my daily nutrition
· Changed my race nutrition to liquid only
· Invested in bike fitting, power output meter and new cranks on bike
· Did 2 weeks of “Epic Training” where I logged over 28 hours each week.

The Secret Goal
My published goal was 13:45 but in my heart I really wanted to do a 13:20. I had set a goal time in each leg and if I made each of those times I with two 5 minute transitions I would meet that goal. However I also knew that my last IM race had gone so well that I was a bit nervous that this might be a big challenge because it is a long day and anything can happen so you’ve really got to be careful because you can blow your whole day with one dropped water bottle or pushing too hard at the beginning.

My goals were:
· 1:15 Swim,
· 6:30 bike,
· 5:30 Run (with 15 minutes of bathroom breaks calculated into the run

I had trained this pace. I knew this pace well. My body could hold this pace for a long time. But would I be able to do that the day of the race one right after the other was the question.

I had lunch with a friend prior to leaving for the race and I held onto her words. “Stay Curious”.

Letting go of expectations
With that in mind the two days before the race I really worked on letting go of my expectations. I knew the pace I had to keep to make my times and that became my focus instead of the actual seconds ticking off the clock. That helped a lot. Knowing that I had a pace to keep versus a time to beat. I know it’s all mental but those small things make a difference. Now I could do something about it during the race, not just be disappointed at the end of each leg.


Support Crew
I have to say I have THE BEST SUPPORT CREW EVER!!!! They ran all over the course and cheered me on. They also created great signs and even produced some interesting body art that they displayed proudly. My entire family was there. Rocky, my godson in Colorado was watching online and called the second I crossed the finish line. My IM mentor and good friend Jen was visiting from New Zealand and she, her husband and daughter were all there cheering me on. It was great to have so much support out there.

The Race
I had changed my nutritional habits a great deal over the past couple months so my night before and morning of meals had changed. I was quite frankly experimenting (knowledgeable experimenting) with a new plan and it made me nervous. But I reminded myself to trust the process that I had been using for the past few months and reminded myself how good I had been feeling since changing my habits that it was the right thing to do.

I decided to have a smorgasbord of options for breakfast and only eat what and how much I wanted. I ended up having ½ a bagel w/ PB, a little quinoa, and cornbread with honey. I have typically eaten almost 800 calories IM race morning to “stock up”. That always left me very full on the swim so this year I was going to do less calories and make sure I got a little more calories throughout the race instead.

I left the room with the quiet confidence that I was ready for the day. I knew what I had to do and just made my way through the whole process of body marking, pumping up tires, dropping off last minute water bottles. Then I found a quiet spot.

I collected myself and went through a few yoga poses while I relaxed and let all the energy and noise around me just pass over me. I got into my wet suit and listened to my theme song for the day… Pink’s “Cuz I can”. It was going to be song that I used throughout the swim to keep my tempo up and it also pumped me up for the race. I started to let the excitement come in and let the energy around me energize me.

I dropped off my dry clothes bag and headed to the swim start.

The Swim
I have a theory about IM swims. If you are comfortable in the water and can stand the washing machine effect start in the front DO IT, regardless of your speed. I would rather be swum over than kicked in the face. So I started 2nd row back behind 3 women who looked to be strong swimmers. My goal was to follow them out into the frenzy and then settle down.

I was surprised at the swim. I had clear water to swim in almost the entire time. It was the easiest IM swim I have had to date. I thought I was swimming really wide to have that much room but I wasn’t more than 10 – 15 yards out from the buoys and I was heading straight for the mountain I had spotted on in my previous swims leading up to the race.

The swim was easy! I felt relaxed, in control, comfortable. I felt like I was keeping my pace up and not relaxing into my stroke too much. My legs did start to cramp up a couple times but I just stopped kicking and just pulled and let my feet relax behind me.

Approaching the swim exit my legs started cramping again. So again I stopped kicking and relaxed my legs and feet. I swam into the finish. Many people started standing at waist deep water on the rocky are no less. I had come in further to the left than I had intended which is the rocky area of the beach. With my tender feet there was no way I was standing until I saw sandy beach. So I kept my head down and kept swimming. Even when I could touch the bottom I kept swimming. I grabbed the rocky bottom and used that to pull against. I was passing people who were trying to wade out right and left. Finally at just below knee depth I hit sandy bottom. I hopped to my feet and ran the rest of the 10 feet out of the water.

I ran out of the water and pointed to my wetsuit strippers and encouraged them to “PULL, PULL” I felt great and was ready to get out on the bike.

I literally found myself right behind Zan getting her Swim to Bike bag. I tapped her and wished her well. She told me I had made my goal time on the swim!!! I couldn’t believe it. I was ecstatic. I hadn’t planned on looking at my watch until I was well onto Main Street so that I wouldn’t know what my swim time had been.

I ran to the changing tents, dumped all my stuff out and let the volunteer help dress me. I grabbed my bike shoes and ran to my bike. At my bike I put on my shoes before unracking my bike. I was on the bike course in just over 3 minutes. A wicked fast transition in my book.

The Bike
I ran into Allison, another Sorella Forte team member, on the way out onto the bike course. I wished her good luck and raced out right behind her. Although I passed her on the way out on Skaha Lake I knew it would just be a short time before she would catch me on the first climb of the day…. And she did. And that was the last I saw her all day.

It felt like I was flying all the way to Osoyoos. I continued to remind myself to be patient and take it easy but the other part of me knew that if I was fast here then I wouldn’t have to worry so much about keeping pace in the last half. So I rode that fine balance between not pushing too hard, yet pushing enough. My avg speed to Osoyoos was 22.5.

When I made the turn for Richter pass that’s when I figured out why it was so fast. A tailwind that was now a headwind. I reminded myself that being a strong rider I had an advantage in a headwind. I may be slow climbing but I have the strength to push into a headwind.

I watched my average speed throughout the bike. I knew to make my goal time I had to average 17.1 mph and I knew with the strong headwind that things were going to be kind of tight. I started getting worried on the rollers on the backside of Richter. I was getting tired and started getting low on nutrition. I had somehow forgotten how far special needs is in Canada…. Mile 85 or so. I hadn’t planned well enough for that. So I went through what I had on the bike and started in on my hammer gel but I’m not a fan of gels. So I ended up grabbing some Gatorade at the aid stations and prayed that it wouldn’t upset my stomach.

Fortuantely I ended up getting a second wind on the out and back section before special needs. I was so happy. I felt good again. I had nutrition on board that I had trained with and was ready to get this race underway since I don’t feel like an IM really starts until about 2/3 of the way into the bike. Everyone feels good up to that point. From there that is where you know how you’re going to do.

I was happy to see the climb to Yellow Lake approaching as the wind just kept getting stronger. It is a bit disconcerting when you are in a low gear concentrating on spinning on a slight downhill. I knew that once I started climbing that I would be shielded from the wind and then it was all downhill from there. Time to use those descending skills!

I was so happy to see that at the top of Yellow lake that I was still averaging 16.7 mph. I knew that the downhill to Penticton would bring that back up. So I flew into town. I speeded past every rider ahead of me barely touching the brakes. Top speed of the day was 49.9 mph!!! It was great. I was relaxed and comfortable and still full of energy. I took in as many calories as I felt comfortable doing on that downhill into town to stock up for the run.

I came off my bike in 6:27. I was ecstatic! I practically danced through transition.

I hadn’t gotten off the bike the entire time so was ready for a bathroom break. I quickly changed and psyched myself up for the run.

The Run
Heading out I realized I hadn’t taken off my gloves and I didn’t want to lose them. I scanned the crowd looking for a familiar face to hand them off to. Fortunately I was Malcolm, Karen’s husband, who took them for me. That was perfect.

I felt great! I saw Jen and Vaughan at the turnaround on lakeshore and gave her a huge High 5 telling her I had rocked the bike course and was feeling great!

My goal was to run for the first 6 miles without walking at all, including aid stations. I had a water bottle pack on me and was carrying a disposable Gluekos container. That worked great. I’ll definitely do that again. It worked really well for me to set short term goals like I want to make it to Mile X by X time. Also carrying my nutrition on me in a form that I could run and drink at the same time worked well too. Carrying my nutrition on me instead of relying upon the aid stations meant that I could take it in whenever I wanted instead of at their intervals. It was perfect. I would highly recommend that strategy to anyone.

I saw my family out on the run twice on the way out to Skaha. They were yelling and screaming their heads off. I was so happy to see them it gave me a good boost.

After mile 7 I started having some stomach issues and needed to use the bathroom. The day before Allison and I had spoken on the phone and she offered me advice from her race last year. She said if you start having stomach issues take care of it right then. Do not wait. So I slowed down my pace a bit and walked a little. I had to do this every time I took in any nutrition. So I developed the strategy of walking up the hills to take in nutrition and letting my stomach settle down and then running the down hills and flats. Fortunately there aren’t many hills in IMC or I may have walked a lot more. I reminded myself to be patient and that this would pass. I set a goal of trying to hit the turn around by 2:30. I didn’t quite make it as I had to stop and use the bathroom again.

I was pretty tired heading back up the hill from the turn around. I wasn’t cramping up and my stomach seemed to be settling down I was just tired. SO I took in more Gluekos and had a talk with myself. If there was no other reason than that I was simply tired that I needed to run. So I did. That seemed to do the trick. I got a third wind and made it through the next few miles using the same strategy of walking uphill to take in nutrition and letting the stomach settle. Soon I found that it hurt more to walk than to run so that helped keep me running. I no longer had any reason to walk. So get a move on I told myself. I gave myself another pep talk about 2 miles before 10K left, I also took an ibuprofen because my hips were getting really sore at this point. SO I decided to take my mind off it by setting a 10 K goal time. At mile 20 I had my goal in mind if I was going to make it if at all possible. I think my goal was a 1:10 for the last 10K which I calculated would put me at 5:30 for the marathon. Although adding 1 + 1 at this point in the day can be a bit challenging. I think my math may have been a little off but having that goal gave me something to focus on.

In the last 10K, I started taking in Pepsi and that was the magic ingredient. My energy came back. My pain went away. My stomach settled down. My negative thoughts dissipated. Who would have known that after all the nutritional focus I have had this year that Pepsi would be the magic ingredient for me.

The last 3 – 4 miles I flew… OK I never fly on the run but for me I felt like I was flying. I felt as good as I did at the beginning of the run so I pushed up the pace. I was surprised to see that I could still control my heart rate. At this point in the run my heart rate has always started to flat line. But not this time. That told me I was in good shape and had absolutely no excuses.

I raced into town. I even hate to admit that enjoyed passing a bunch of people on the way into town ( but it is a race after all right?). It was great. Nothing was going to slow me down.

Cate met me on Main Street and I handed everything extra off to her so I could have the “perfect” finishers photo! (It is all about the finisher photo!) I even tucked away a sponge in my tri tank strap to clean my face off with since other aid stations had run out of sponges. It felt great to see her and know that she would be there at the finish line and that there was no reason I wouldn’t make my goal.

As I ran I called out to the crowd several times… “If we are still running at mile 24 then you need to still be cheering…. It’s an Ironman rule!” That helped. People would then cheer and it gave me that much more energy to keep trying to push it.

I hit Lake Shore Drive and saw my family all cheering me on and Steph, E’llee and Jameson right at the finish line waiting for me. I just had a little left. I gave it a little hop and picked up my pace even more. I saw Jen about half way down Lakeshore and she was screaming. “You’re doing so great! I can’t believe it. You’ll make a 13:15! Go GO GO! With that I ran to the turn around looking for Vaughan and Lucy she said were down there but missed them. On the way back Jen was on the other side still screaming that I could make it. So I kept up my pace but I was getting tired now. This pace was getting hard now but I had less than half a mile left.

I got to the beginning of the finish line and all year I had wanted my mom to cross the finish line with me and I didn’t see her. I started to panic. Where’s Mom I yelled to Steph. “Just keep going, she’s right up there.” My mom had been having lots of heart problems since my last Ironman and I so wanted to cross the finish line with her especially since I was doing this race as a fundraiser in memory of my dad. I found her and my mom ran about 50 yards with me to the finish line screaming and yelling the whole way.

When I crossed I gave her a huge hug and thanked her. It had been a BRILLIANT day! I felt great! It was so great to exceed my own expectations. I was ecstatic.

Run Time 5:20 Total time 13:13:48, 7 minutes faster than my best case scenario.

Then I went to get some food and for the first time following and Ironman I could eat! I wolfed down a turkey sandwich and several cups of fruit. I wanted to get all my stuff and get a shower and get back to the finish line because I didn’t want to miss Zan and Karen’s finish. That was almost as important to me as my own finish. Zan and I had been training together all year and in the past couple months I had gotten to know Karen so seeing them finish and accomplish their goals as well was really important.

So back out I went after a quick shower and a little bit more food. When I saw Karen go by and I yelled and cheered her on. Just a couple minutes back was Zan with a huge smile on her face. I ran with her for a little while down LakeShore and then got my spot behind the finish line so that I could give her a hug when she finished.

I saw both Karen and Zan finish which was so cool! What more can you ask for than to be a witness and some small part of helping another person accomplish their dream. That just made the day so much sweeter.

In conclusion
Now it’s back to reality but I have reserved my spot to sign up for next year, IMC 2008. I’m currently contemplating goals and training plans and what I will do differently and what I will do the same. Most of all I am remembering how lucky I am to be able to do this event at all. And how lucky I am that I have so much support. That makes all the difference in the world.

So next year’s training will be different to be sure but I hope to enjoy it as much as I have this year and be reminded of what is important in life.

I can’t wait to throw my heart over the mountain again and let my body follow!

Run Averages

This is based on what my watch recorded but since it tracked 27.5 miles it obviously was off but it does give some good information.

Mile 1: 10:33 Avg 143
Mile 2: 10:32 Avg 148
Mile 3: 10:44 Avg 148
Mile 4: 10:32 Avg 146
Mile 5: 10:10 Avg 142
Mile 6: 10:54 Avg 143
Mile 7: 10:36 Avg 141
Mile 8: 15:18 Avg 132
Mile 9: 10:52 Avg 142
Mile 10: 12:08 Avg 142
Mile 11: 11:58 Avg 139
Mile 12: 12:22 Avg 139
Mile 13: 10:50 Avg 140
Mile 14: 15:10 Avg 130
Mile 15: 12:22 Avg 135
Mile 16: 13:34 Avg 137
Mile 17: 11:12 Avg 137
Mile 18: 11:32 Avg 137
Mile 19: 11:56 Avg 138
Mile 20: 13:50 Avg 131
Mile 21: 12:30 Avg 136
Mile 22: 13:10 Avg 134
Mile 23: 11:34 Avg 137
Mile 24: 11:40 Avg 141
Mile 25: 11:20 Avg 138
Mile 26: 9:46 Avg 144
Mile 27: 9:44 Avg 155

Nutrition

I think that one of the most important factors of having a successful race is nutrition. It is a multi-faceted thing from eating to recover from workouts to executing great nutrition during the race.

So here's what I have done in regards to my day to day nutrition. i worked/am working with a nutritionist to help me to improve my body composition and to also recover better from my workouts. I changed my eating habits alot in the last few months. I have probably doubled my veggie and fruit consumption and reduced my protien consumption of animal protein.

The day before the race I had oatmeal for breakfast. Lunch was a turkey sandwich. Dinner quinoa w/ mushrooms, roasted potatos, and some chicken.

Breakfast was cornbread, quinoa, bagel & peanut butter. I'm guessing about 600 calories or so. And don't forget the diet coke, I had stayed off caffeine for 2 weeks prior to the race.

After the swim I got on the bike and I had 3 bottles of perpetuem, 1 bottle of gluekos and 1 bottle of water. I sipped my water for the first 20 minutes or so. I ended up spitting out about a quarter of my water because I didn't need that much water and needed to start my perpetuem and needed to put it in my aero bottle.

I drank about 1 bottle of perpetuem an hour on the bike. I had a little bit of gas during the first part of the bike but it eventually stopped. Going up richeter I started drinking the gluekos. Over the rolling hills I drank my last bottle of perpetuem. unfortunately I was out of my own nutrition and needed some more nutrition so grabbed water and used some of the hammer gel I had on my bike but that wasn't working so well for me. So at the next stop I took gatorade and that helped.

I was taking about 1 additional salt tab per hour. I had already put 1 tablet in each bottle to begin with.

Special needs was further out than I had anticipated. I was happy to get my special needs and get my bottles. I had put 3 bottles of perpetuem on the bike. I drank about 2.5 of them from special needs on through to T2. My stomach felt a bit bloated on the bike. I hadn't stopped and peed the entire time I was on teh bike which was concerning me.

In T2 I finally peed. I didn't want to take the time but it made sense to do it then since I didn't know if the blue rooms would be open or if I'd have to wait.

I had a bottle of Gluekos and I also had a flast of gluekos as well. I ran the first 6 miles without stopping. I never walked until I got to the bathroom at mile 7. I had finished my flask by mile 4. By mile 8 I needed to refill my bottle. I had most of that gone by the time I was at the turn around. I grabbed my other bottle at special needs. I drank most of that on the way out by mile 18. Filled my bottle again and drank about half of it. In the last 10 K I switched to pepsi on the course. And that was the magical formula. It was perfect. My stomach settled down and I got a 4th wind.

A Brilliant Day

Here I am with E'llee getting my post race snuggle!

It was a Brilliant day. I couldn't have executed my race any better than I did.

Here I am on the run. I felt good throughout for the most part. There was very little reason for me to stop and walk. For the most part I felt great.

IRONMAN CANADA!!!!!

Yesterday was a BRILLIANT Day! I was so excited to see my race unfold for me. I went into this race confident but also cautious that I may feel too confident and end up blowing up and learning a different lesson for the day.



I had a secret, unpublished goal for this race:

• Swim 1:15


• Bike 6:30


• Run 5:30


• Transitions 10 minutes between the two

I figured if I made all these I would be done in 13:20.

So how did I do?

• Swim: 1:15:29


• T1: 3:26


• Bike:6.27


• T2: 6:26


• Run: 5:20:56


• Total: 13:13:48

YEAH ME!

RACE MORNING BREAKFAST

I woke at 4 am.... OK not exactly. I woke at 2 am or so and tried to at least relax and rest since I couldn't sleep. So I started my day prior to 4 am by eating what sounded good for breakfast. I started with a little quinoa that I had left over from the night before for my protein and then had 1/2 a bagel with peanut butter and then some cornbread with honey. I just ate what sounded good at the moment. I tried to eat enough but not too much. It seemed to work well for me.

THE SWIM

I had decided not to look at my watch coming out of the swim because I was nervous that if I didn't make my goal time or at least do what I have in the past that I would be discouraged and it might affect my attitude. When I came out I saw Zan right ahead of me. I tapped her on the back and said howdy and she told me I made my time! I was thrilled. My legs had started to cramp up on the swim. I don't know why I repeatedly have this issue during an IM swim. I swim this distance all the time and I don't have the issue except when I am in an Ironman even though I have taken electrolytes prior to the swim. I usually take 2 tablets prior to the swim so its not an electrolyte issue. I kind of wonder if its because the wetsuit restricts my muscles of the blood flow that I get cramps.

My mantra for the day was to stay in the moment and stay curious. So I just let the cramps relax and tried to deal with what was happening in that moment instead of worrying about the rest of the day.

The Bike

I flew out to Osoyoos. I think my avg speed was about 22 mph. It didn't feel like we had a tailwind until we turned up richter then I knew that the rest of the bike was going to get tough. I chose to shift to my easiest gear and do my best to save my legs for the run. I spun up richter and then flew down the other side passing cars that were slowing for other cyclists.

When I hit the rollers i just tried to relax and again tell myself that I needed to save my legs. So I took full advantage of the down hills and then spun up the other side. i was glad to tick off 7 in my head and just be faced with wind.

Being such a big race it was hard not to draft. I am strong on the flats so I tend to fall behind on the climbs and then catch back up on the flats. It was really windy but I tried to stay back 3 bike lengths from everyone but is hard to do that when it is just a steady stream of cyclists.

We got to the out and back and I was getting worried. I was completely out of nutrition on my bike. I had taken water at the last aide station to wash down the hammer gel but my stomach wasn't dealing with the hammer gel very well. So I ended up grabbing gatorade at the next aid station. I was afraid of what would happen because hammer tells you not to mix corn syrup with their products but I was getting desperate.

Next year I need to remember that special needs is about mile 85 so I need to carry concentrated versions of things on my bike and then dilute them with water because I was out. Once I had a tailwind I got my second wind. I had gotten retty tired pushing into the wind even thought I had tried to tell myself to take it easy. Fortunately the out and back gave me an opportunity to ease up and finally get some more nutrition on board.

At the turnaround we were back into the head wind but it didn't feel so bad for some reason. I was hoping to see Zan after the turn around and wish her luck but I didn't. Once we got onto 97 the wind was blowing right into our face. It is a little bit of a down hill but I was just trying to spin it out in a small gear. There were lots of people trying to push a big gear but with that headwind it didn't make any sense. It also started to sprinkle just a little.

Quite frankly I was happy to see the start of the climb to yellow lake because I knew finally we would be out fo the wind and soon I could rock and roll the descent.

As usual I fell behind on the climb but not too bad. Many had faded much more than I had. I was keeping up with most of the women climbing at this point. The men still passed, no surprise there.

When we finally got to the top I just let it go. I relaxed and enjoyed the drop into Penticton and saw my avg speed bump up from below 17 to by the time I reached T2 17.4. I was stoked.

I hadn't had to stop which concerned me a bit. I had to pee a little but not too bad. I hoped I wasn't underhydrated.

T2

In T2 I quickly made the decisions aobut what I would and wouldn't need. I prayed it wouldn't be too cool for a tank on the run but on the way in on teh bike i noticed lots of people wearing taknks so I figured I would be OK.

To be finished later

Looking good

We just saw Deb just below Yellow Lake and she had a big smile on her face. We actually saw her at 1:36

The weather is still great - about 75.Way to go Deb

Deb is out of the water

Deb got out at aroung 1:12. I think I missed her bike exit

The day is perfect for the race. The clouds are clearing and it is only supposed to get to about 75

We are headed to Richter Pass to see her on the bike. Keep 5eb in your thoughts today. And Zan too!

My roles

I didn't sleep much last night. Surprise. I never sleep well the night prior to an ironman and while I couldn't sleep I thought about all my different roles. Partner. Mom. Grandma. Sister daughter friend. Mentor.  Student.  Training partner. Coworker. That's a lot of roles. But today I get to draw upon all those who call me by all those names and just focus on being an ironman.

I have the best support team ever!!!

I am so overwhelmed by the amount of support and love I have in my life. I am one of the luckiest people in the world; to be loved so much and have the good fortune of being able to do this eztraordinary event. I am the luckiest person in the world

Just here in penticton I have my very own IronCrew. Cate of course is here as always supporting me in following my dream. Steph and E'llee here giving me all their love. My mom who I have asked to cross the finish line with me. My brother and his wacky fun kids jmeson and jessica. My sister who rescued me from my cornbread crisis and kirt, danae and greggory. Then Jen my buddy who I miss so much is here on her holiday all the way from New Zealand.

I am ready to go I acnt wait to see what the day has in store for me tomorrow.

Tomorrow I hope to do all these people on proud.

Deb

The Ironman experience

I love being here! It is so cool! I remember my first year doing an Ironman and it all felt so intimidating and scary. I feel much more confident this time and I feel like I belong here. I have earned the right to feel like i belong. I don't have that feeling of being huge compared to all the hard bodies that are wandering around here.

So today I did a quick 30 minute swim, then had breakfast while soaking in the Penticton rays. Then went to go stand in line for .... at least an hour to get my registration stuff. Came back to the room and decided to drive the course tomorrow instead of today. Watched a video about Lance Armstrong. The thing that I really liked about that is the very end where they say that the Tour de France is about life and that is what doing an Ironman is to me; it's about celebrating life.

Then tonight went for a quick little 30 minute run then just checked out my bike.

It is really hard not going out and working out. It is such an ingrained habit that its hard to not take advantage of the ambience and weather and do a real workout. I keep reminding myself that I am here for the race. There is absolutely nothing I can do to gain any fitness at this point! It's all there or not at this point. I only can make myself tired at this point. So all I have to do is remember how to swim bike and run at the pace I want to maintain. So that's what I'm doing in my workouts. Getting myself to race pace right from the outset.

Tomorrow is a morning swim, massage, breakfast and then a quick bike of the run course. Then out to drive the course. Then home to take it easy in the afternoon then to the meeting tomorrow night. Then bed early and sleep as late as possible on Saturday.

That's when the nerves will start settling in. Checking in my bike and gear and then the mandatory meeting. Then home to settle down and finish special needs bags and all my bottles that will go on my bike. Then Sunday its the test! WooHoo!

So today i weighed in about 19 pounds than my lowest race weight todate! So hopefully that will make a huge difference! I'm trying not to think beyond Sunday because I know that I will go through the post Ironman Glow and then the Post Ironman Blues. So no thinking beyond Sunday.... Stay in the moment and enjoy every minute I can.

I found my theme song

'Cuz I Can by Pink

Here's my version of the spoken part.
Rock n roll
I train more than you
I work harder than you do
And my bike is faster than yours TOO!

Want to see me swim?

See me swimming here.

Heat Miser

There's a striking resemblance eh?

I did my hair, bleach and color, on Friday. I do this for a couples reasons:

1. To be seen on the course; the blond helps me stand out
2. To remind myself that I do this stuff because it is fun
3. I love this kind of stuff and it's the only time I can really get away with it!

So just call me HEATMISER! That will be my name for the race!

Final swim lesson

Ok it's time to make some decisions!

What am I going to do? Am I going to do a 2 beat kick a 6 beat kick? WHat am I going to think about?

It's funny that in many ways my biggest concern for the race is my swim. It's the thing that is probably the most technically easy thing for me because the distance isn't overwhelming. It's the first thing so I know I won't be tired, under hydrated, over-hydrated, not enough electrolytes, etc. etc. All those millions of things you have to really start thinking about post swim. The swim is easy you hop in the water and swim 2.4 miles and that's it! There's no real equipment failure concerns. I guess I could get kicked in the face, lose my goggles, but those are all things outside my control.

So why am I concerned. Because I want to pull of an improved swim and I'm a bit afraid that if I don't do it that it could affect my attitude for the rest of the race. So let's put this into perspective shall we?

My last 2 Ironmans I swam in about the same time ~1:19. That is a 1:53/100 yard pace. If I go slower than that next Sunday what is it really going to mean? Will it mean all my hard work in swimming was just wasted time? Will it mean that I am going to have a crappy race for the rest of the day? Does it mean I'm a loser that I couldn't possibly that SLOW!

No it doesn't. It is what it is! It is just not even 1/3 of the race really! It is 1.5 hours out of basically a 14 hour day. That really is only 10% of the day. I need to keep it in perspective.

So here's my plan!

• 6 beat kick
• keep elbows high at the beginning
• find position at beginning of race and then settle into my pace
• don't slack off, don't get too comfortable
• Focus on one thing at a time
• Come out with a smile on my face and ready to ride!

It really is easy! That's all I have to do. I know I won't go too hard on the swim. I know that I am likely to be cautious versus overly aggressive. So there we go.

Just swim!

Countdown

So nows the time where I start wondering am I ready? Even though this is my third IM it still scares the crap out of me! I wonder if anyone ever looks at it as just a race. I know it's just a race but it also is an achievement.

So now I'm looking at my numbers for the past year. Have I done enough? Am I ready? Will I be able to do it again? Will I achieve my goals?

This year I really feel like I completely committed myself to my training. I worked on everything that I felt like I needed to really concentrate on.

My run is my weakness so I have increased my volume and I have also really focused on recovering from my increase in volume by adding yoga into my routine. I am convinced that I have been able to get rid of my patella tendon issues and my plantar fascitis because of yoga.

Climbing is my weakness on the bike so I have lost about 20 lbs from my last IM. That really helps on the up hills. I have also had my bike fitted so that I am in a better position on my bike. That also has made a huge difference.

I have worked with a swim coach taking private lessons to improve my swim which is where it is hardest for me to make improvements as I have YEARS of habits engrained into my stroke.

On top of that I have been working with a nutritionist to improve my body composition and that has been going incredibly well. I have worked really hard on changing my habits and it seems to really be working. I feel good. It is hard sometimes but this past week when I have been cooking for myself it has made a huge difference. My protein intake has been way down. There are even days when I don't eat meat. like today.... no meat at all.

Even though I'm scared about the race. It is from my healthy respect for the distance. It is overwhelming when you look at the full distance. I know that what I need to remember more than anything else is to stay in the moment and not get ahead of myself. All I have to do is keep going.

Peak Week #1

This is my first week of peak. These last few weeks are the toughest for me in many ways. This is where I pull down the volume and start realizing that I either have done the work or not. There is no way to backload the work. But I feel really confident that I have done the work this season. I think I've done a really good job of training and being focused this year.

My goals for the next two weeks are:

1. To lose another pound each week (this will put me right at my goal weight for this race)
2. To focus on my break through workouts and get to them fresh and have them be high quality instead of quantity.
3. Practice transitions.

So this week my key workouts are:

• Tuesday: 90 min ride, 30 min run
• Saturday: 3 hour ride, 30 min run
• Friday: Practice Transitions

Its hard for me to bring down my volume but I'm really trying to do this right.

Kids

It's hard to believe that I have 2 adult kids. Of course I don't feel like they are adult. They still seem like kids to me but they are both on their way to starting their own families.

Steph's baby, E'llie is now 6 weeks old. There I am playing airplane with her. She loves to just relax and be swung back and forth. We'll see how much longer I'll be able to do that! :)

And then there's Rocky. He got married the other weekend to a beautiful and bright girl, Jeanna. We were lucky enough to be able to go to Albuquerque and attend their wedding. It was great to see Rocky so happy. It was so good to see him. I miss our adventures together. maybe some day in the future we'll be able to have more of them.

Countdown

Well we are down to the countdown. Tomorrow is 1 month until the race!

I'm excited. I don't feel scared like I have in the past. I'm excited to put my training to the test and see how I have done preparing this time. I wonder what will happen. Last time I did Canada I had already done an IM that year and I wonder how that played into my being able to pull off a good race.

Today I went to the Chiropractor and got an adjustment. It felt grat. I did twist my ankle this past weekend at Dy's and I did it again last night at TKD. I thik I am going to onl do TKD once a week right now while I am in countdown mode. There is just too much potential of getting hurt and I need to rest.

I was so tired today during training. I need to get some more sleep.

Pacing Workout

Today I ran in the morning (7.5 miles) and then did a pacing workout out at Sauvie's Island. It was a good day.

Today's stats are:
Run: 7.5 mi 10:29 min mile, 5.7 mph
Loop1:

• Avg Power: 149 Watts
• Avg Speed: 18.3 mph
• Avg Cadence: 81 rpm
• Avg HR: 121

Loop 2

• Avg power: 160
• Avg Speed: 19.3 mph
• Avg Cadence: 85
• Avg HR: 130

Loop 3

• Avg power: 189
  Avg Speed: 20.6 mph
  Avg Cadence: 85
  Avg HR: 140

Loop 4

• Avg power: 212
  Avg Speed: 21.3 mph
  Avg Cadence: 87
  Avg HR: 154

A good effort all in all. I'm very happy with it. The last loop was hard, sprint distance level hard pretty much. maybe not quite that hard but my legs are definitely feeling it tonight.

Swimming: Basics.... again

Today I had a swim lesson with Laurie. We went back to the basics.... as Laurie called it it was a "come to Jesus" session. She had me start by just pushing off the wall on my back and moving to my front. She wants me to flip turn almost like my back turn and spin to my front and come right into my stroke.

The biggest thing is to use my core to move side to side, not just to keep my balance from the front to back.

I could definitely feel it when I used my core to propel through the water instead of muscling my way through the water with my arms. It is definitely different.

So it's back to exercising patience again and working on my technique. Get out of pace mode and work on using my core. It was so much smoother when i used my core for rotation instead of using my legs.

July 18 Forecast

What would you expect in the middle of July as a forecast in Portland, OR. Sunny, warm.... even hot! NO!

It is raining like mid March out there!

Just about drowned on the way into work today. I couldn't even wear my glasses becuase I couldn't see through them.

Craziness!

Training... Confidence

The question is now should I do another 3 hour run prior to IMC or not?

I ran it by Jen and her response was Why? Now that's a good question... Why do I feel like I need to do another 3 hour run? What is it really going to gain me. I know that 3 weeks out from IMC that you really aren't going to gain anymore fitness. So why a 3 hour run now.

Confidence, that's why. It would simply be a confidence builder. I think the risk is too big. I can do some long runs but they definitely don't need to be 3 hours. I think doing long runs with some tempo work would be a greater benefit at this point.

Confidence is such a huge issue but instead of doing something that could risk over training and injury it's better to just look back on my training and get my confidence from that instead.

Nutrition

OK. The 4th discipline.... NUTRITION!

So I'm working with a nutritionist now and I'm really trying to change my habits. The evenings are the worst for me. I find that once I'm home I just start putting food in my mouth. I'm not sure exactly what that is about....am I eating because I'm stressed, avoiding something...what? WHat is it. Is it that I am not eating enough still during the day.

I am consuming much less fat which is good. I'm trying to eat more carbohydrates and eat more smaller snacks.

So here is what I am trying to do at each "meal" 1 handful protein, 2 handfuls grain, 2 handfuls fruits and veggies. o I'm really trying to spread out my eating throughout the day and consume my calories more evenly thoughout the day instead of so heavily at night.

It's hard to change habits. I think i've lost some weight but not a huge amount yet. I've got to just keep working on it though. I think planning my meals would work much easier for me so I know what to expect.

i did make a good choice today. I was making my lunch and I could have had a chicken sandwich instead I made myselt chicken soup and only had 1/2 a chicken breast and had veggies that I otherwise wouldn't have had and had my grains as brown rice, a complex carb instead of a simple processed carb. So that's a good thing.

I did come home and start snacking immediately after my evening run and then yoga. But I hate fruit and for dinner I tried to keep my protein down and keep things within proportion. I ate way more fruit than i should have but better that than other things.

Timberline/govt camp ride

This weekend I headed up to Timberline with the Geckos.

We met out at Tri-Sport but I had a timeline to get back by so ended up heading out ahead of everyone fully expecting to be over-taken by the faster riders fairly quickly.

So I head out Halsey to Troutdale, turn onto the Historic HWY, across Stark Street Bridge turn up Kerlake Rd and start heading up hill. That is pretty much the story from that point. It's uphill to one extent or another including a very steep climb right after a stop sign on 302nd! Did I say Steep! Lowest gear standing was how I got up that one.

On top of that it was a HOT day. Very humid as well. Temp was about 94 but the humidity made it feel warmer.

I missed the stop in Welches so pulled over at a Subway for water to remix drinks. I was trying to consume about 1 bottle every hour (regular concentration). I was doing well with this. However, as it heated up I could feel that I really just needed some straight water but didn't really have any access at this point. So I took electrolyte tabs and continued up the Mtn.

I didn't get all the way to Gov't camp. I think I had about a mile left to go and turned around because I was really pushing getting home in time.

I hadn't realized how much I had climbed until I started going down. I flew down to Sandy. I don't think I ever had to get back out of my big chain ring all the way. Unfortunately I had a blow out on my side wall on my brand new tires which sucked. Went through 2 tubes fixing that one and limped the rest of the way home delicately.

Stopped in Sandy for water to refuel and filled one bottle full of just water. That was exactly what I needed.

When I got back onto Halsey I was ready to be done and since it's a straight shot I started singing 99 bottles of beer on the wall to pass the time counting down the blocks to the store.

All in all a good ride. I think I climbed about 5000 feet and rode 106 miles. Good stuff. That is my last really long ride until IMC!

Open Water Swimming

At my lesson Friday Laurie had me use a tempo trainer. This is basically a metronome. It fits on your goggles and you establish your stroke rate based on the beat.

We played around with it and found that somewhere between 1:04 and 1:00 was a good rate for me.

However, today while swimming I discovered something. I'm dropping my hand again when I breathe. Particularly on the left side, when i breathe to the right. So I'm getting only a fraction of the pull that I should be getting. I think that is exactly what I was doing in the race last weekend too. I wasn't thinking about going long. So I think I need to go back into counting my strokes per length again and trying to take that feel into the open water.

I think I'm going to try to go to klineline again Wed and swim some with a wetsuit and then without and see how it feels. It's kind of like swimming with a fist and then swimming with your full hand. The wetsuit takes away so much sensory experience it is really hard. It gives you added buoyancy but if I lose my technique in the process it's not good.

Swimming Faster

I'm sure I'll eventually get back to my race report but right now I'm processing my race and trying to figure out how I can improve.

So my swim was slower than I wanted it to be at Lake Stevens. Particularly since IM races typically have accurate courses and there was this very handy yellow rope that you could follow which means I was right on course.

This was my typical 1.2 mile swim 39 minutes. That means that my pace is 1:50/ 100 yards.

So the question is: why do I swim so much slower in open water than in the pool? I have a theory. I am a trained seal! I swim in pools all the time. I know where the walls are. I can tell how fast I'm going by the feel of the water and the bottom of the pool. All the things that I use as a reference for speed are completely removed in open water.

So how do I get beyond that? Well I think one thing I can do is no longer warm up. I am going to jump in and start swimming pace. I think that is part of my issue. I have trained myself to get in swim about 1000 leisurely yards and then get ready for the Heart Rate set and then main set. Well that's not what an IM race is going to allow for. It's too long of a day to hop in and do 1000 yards off the bat! As a matter of fact the only warm up I'll have that day is getting into my wetsuit.

The other interesting thing is that with a wetsuit you lose your feel for the water. You go faster because you're more buoyant but you don't get that lovely sensory input of the water on your skin. So one suggestion Sybil had was to get the feel by body position. Get used to where my arms/shoulders are when I pull and then also figure out a tempo that works well for turnover. So I've got to find a song I can play in my head that won't drive me nuts for 140.6 miles!

Lake Stevens 1/2 Ironman

Sunday was the Lake Stevens Half ironman. It was a beautiful day and we had perfect weather for the race.

Here are my stats for the race:

Lake Stevens 70.3 7/8/2007
Swim: 00:38:56
T1: 00:03:26
Bike: 3:25:55
T2: 00:04:01
Run: 2:24:27
Total Time: 06:36:45
Swim pace: 1:50/yd
Bike Pace: 16.32 mph
Run Pace: 11:02/mile

Jasper Blake

Monday night I was lucky enough to get into an event featuring Jasper Blake, the Ironman Canada winner of 2005. He was in Portland, at Club Sport, talking about his training, racing and campaign to raise money for the MS Society as his mom has MS.

It was a great talk but I think the best part about it was talking to him post event about his relationship with his mom, her MS and his training one on one.

Check out his website at: http://www.jasperblake.com/

Cranks

I have been meaning to mention this for awhile now. Cranks!

I got a new set of 165 mm Ultegra Cranks. They replaced my perfectly good carbon fiber cranks. I know why would I replace perfectly good carbon fiber cranks?

I'll tell you! Because I'm short. These cranks are sooooo much better. My cadence is faster. My pedal stroke is smoother and more even. It feels great.

I never feel like I'm rocking anymore either. It's great. I love them. They were definitely worth the $300 investment.

Epic Day

I had carefully prepared for this day all week. Wanting to be a little rested but not too much while also leading "normal" life.

Well the week was far from normal. Steph gave birth this week and Cate and I now have a little baby in our lives and that was the adventure for the week. So this week was anything but calm and relaxing. Because I am who I am I still got most of my workouts in this week. I also took Friday off to just hang with Cate and get a massage and my swim lesson. She leaves soon for Europe and I just wanted to spend time together today.

I had everything ready. (Those old IM packing lists that I saved come in really helpful!) All my bags for the day were packed. All my nutrition mixed up and in the cooler. All I had to do in the morning was eat and get dressed and drive to the start.

For Breakfast I had 3 pieces of cornbread and a blueberry, banana, Perpetuem, and Yogurt smoothie. I'm not sure how many calories that was but I'm guessing about 700 - 800. (Can I tell you I LOVE my magic bullet!) That will be a necessity for IMC.

So I headed to the river with plenty of time. Just like I want to do for the race. Enough time that I don't have to stress about getting everything done. A song by Pink and an older song Beautiful Oblivion played on the radio and also in my head for the rest of the day! Taught me to be careful about what I listen to race morning because it will likely echo in my head for the rest of the day!

I was ready to swim before Zan and Chris showed up so I got in and started swimming. The water was much colder than the lakes. It took a little while to get used to it but eventually it felt better. The temp was 63 degrees.

I was trying to work on some of the things Laurie had me doing during my swim lesson on Friday to speed up my stroke rate a little. I tried to slip my elbow up earlier and swing my hand through a little faster but it just didn't feel good. swimming against the current made it feel even worse so I eventually decided just to go back to the "good feeling" swimming and work on it in the pool first.

Unfortunately my neck got burned again by my wetsuit which made it uncomfortable for the rest of the day.

Got out and headed to the car to move things to our transition area for the rest of the day by the 205 bridge. Quickly checked in with Zan re: the plan for the day and giving her the instructions and reminder to myself. 1st loop easy, 2nd loop steady, 3rd loop should start feeling a bit harder but will probably be the same pace as the 1st if you pace correctly.

I headed out for my first loop and kept reminding myself to be patient. I swear the first 80 miles are all patience. Then the real work starts. I headed up to Crown Point. I worked on drinking every 10 minutes and consume just over a bottle an hour. I tried to hold my power on the flats to around 140 and climbing to 170.

Got to 205 in 2:25 for 40 miles (this includes a rest stop) so total ride time 2:21. Grabbed my nutrition for the next loop from the cooler and headed out passing Zan as she was heading in.

Again I reminded myself, patience. I had plans of skipping stopping after the second loop by trying to pack everything with me. But decided against this so that I would have cold drinks.

The second loop was 30 miles. Which is when I realized that today was going to be 110 miles, not 100. Good! A good test. I really needed to put more chamois butter on as I could feel some heat rash developing on my rear. But I didn't want to take the time. I figured I could do it when I stopped at the van.

The third loop I was still feeling really strong and good. I pushed up the pace a little pushing my watts to maintaining 150 while not letting my HR go above 134. I was actually able to push around 165 watts at this HR.

Heading up the hill I noticed I didn't have the same power in my legs as I did the first loop. I was struggling to push 170 up the hills without my HR going too high. So I decided to just spin and not try to push it too hard.

I thought I would run into Zan on my way down the hill from Corbett but I never did. I was concerned that she had decided to just do 2 loops and then the run and would be discouraged. When I got back to 205 I found that she had just shortened her last loop so that we could do the last section together.

I changed and got ready to run. I carried a water bottle and a thing of concentrated perpetuem. We ran for 45 minutes which quite honestly felt quite easy. Our average pace was 5.6 mph which is faster than i will run the IM because that is higher than what I want my HR at that point. I also was able (after the first initial shock) to stomach the concentrated perpetuem with water. I didn't like my carrying method so that will need to change. I think what I might do is carry a water bottle in my hand with Perpetuem and then had the concentrated stuff in a flask and then every... 5 miles refill the water bottle with the stuff in the flask. 1 flask of perpeuem, a flask of gu and a water bottle and salt tabs should be all I need for the run... oh and pepto bismal, can't forget that!

Overall a great day. I didn't feel real tired afterwards. I know I could have kept going. I think the 1/2 IM in a couple weeks will feel almost short if I pace it correctly. It will be a good rehearsal for the IM. I'm looking forward to it. It will be fun.

Day before Epic Day

I have been preparing this week for a race rehearsal day.

I took the day off of work to spend it with Cate and since Steph had jus had her baby we didn't spend it as I had planned. It was not quite the pre-race day I would have imagined.

Food:

Chicken Flautas
Beans
Rice

Dinner
Chicken Sandwich
Fries

Energy bar

I have been trying some of the race Day Boost stuff but found that it seemed to upset my stomach so I'm not sure it's such a good idea for me. I'll try it again the week of Lk Stevens and if it's an issue I will stop using it early in the week.

Hagg Lake Swim

Hagg Lake swim.
I'm pretty sure the course was long so I'm not so worried about the time. Even sub 1hr swimmers thought they were about 7 minutes slower.
Other than that I learned a couple things:I can free up the restriction on my shoulders by making sure my wetsuit is pulled all the way up. Make sure I free up my arms by pulling the arms up a bit more too.Do not velcro the neck at all.
I can swim with a kick and it still feels very easy. And I can site with barely lifting my head between strokes. I just peak.
I felt very comfortable breathing every 3 strokes but then I also had lots of open water around me.
My HR was avg of 133 for first loop and 135 (when I turned on kicking) for the second loop.
I think to go faster I need to figure out how to pick up the rhythm in my hips and catch the water better.

Speedy me

I seem to be getting faster in running. I "easily" get up to 6 mph now. I don't think I ever saw 6 mph on a regular basis in teh past few years.

YEAH!!!!

Epic Week Summary

Training Gone Wild
Epic Week Training
My Brief Foray into feeling like a real Athlete (with a Capitol A)

Over the course of 13 days (almost 2 weeks) I embarked on my fantasy of living the life of a true triathlete. One that doesn’t have to “work” for a living. Well I didn’t quite get my fantasy because over the course of this time I worked 5 days. However thanks to one heck of a boss who lets me get away with my crazy… it’s sunny outside PLEASE may I leave early! Pleas and a partner who supports me in just about any endeavor I decide to undertake I was able to do it.

Statistics


Swim

• Time: 9.5 hr
• Distance: 15 mi

Bike

• Time: 40.25
• Distance: 585 mi
  

Run

• Time: 2.75 hr
• Distance: 15.25
  

Other

• Time: 7 hr
  
  
  59.50
  615.25
  
  Other Statistics
  Approximate Calories Burned: ~42,000
  Bottle of Perpetuem Drank: 32 (I would guess half of my caloric intake during this time period was Perpetuem)
  Number of Flats: 2 (both in 1 day within 5 miles of one another, I bailed on the ride)
  Most feet climbed in a day: 7000
  Steepest grade climbed 16% (at least that is what the sign said… read on)
  Feet of elevation climbed: ~20,000
  Level of Fatigue Felt: Mind numbing
  
  

Thank yous

I can’t even begin to thank Cate for letting me train for an ironman for the 3rd time! It is huge. It is a huge time investment, financial investment, and emotional investment. Did I say that it is huge. I have been planning these two weeks for months. I can’t tell you how many times she had to hear me say “I’m training that week… I can’t……”. It’s hard enough to hear that I am training for the day but for me to say I am taking 2 weeks to devote to training everything else must wait…. Well you try it with your partner and tell me how it goes.

So huge thank you to Cate. Who supports me, rescues me on hot days when I have a bad tire in the middle of “God’s Country” as she puts it, and had a stash of cold Diet Coke (in the bottle I might add) ready for me after each ride. And organized and prepped for two parties we were hosting that weekend with little assistance from me. Not to mention putting up with my “life in constant transition”, stinky workout clothes, fatigued and weary attitude. She is absolutely the best.

Also thank you to my boss who tolerates my crazy IM training schedule. Who seems to “get” that this is just as important to me as others who take time off for maternity/paternity leave.
Thank you to my chiropractor and massage therapist who put me back together and get me back out there to train even more. Especially since just 2 days prior to my embarking on this “training gone wild” I was literally unable to walk 50 feet without tears in my eyes from the pain I was having in my foot. Seriously 2 days prior to my Epic training I was walking with a cane because I could not bear weight on my foot. So thank you Dr. J and Miriam for putting me back together again.

And, I can’t forget my compadre, Zan. Who had planned these past two weeks to join me almost every day in this adventure but came down sick and watched from the sidelines as I stacked on the miles. I’m sure that between her frustration at her illness and asthma and my just downright fatigue and sheer lack of sugar in my blood stream we made quite the pair. Zan was there everyday checking in and encouraging me to enjoy myself when she was green with envy and down in the dumps trying to seek some inner peace over her situation.

Thanks for the memories
Life in general felt like one big transition area. i was always onto my next 'leg'. Either another workout or training related task (like bike fittings), washing clothes so I'd have something to wear or stuffing calories down my throat so I could get my sorry ass up the the stairs and into bed.

I don't know that I have ever felt so consistently tired. And I'm still feeling it almost 4 days post Epic week. (I did run 3 hours yesterday which was probably not the smartest thing to do.) I was grumpy and crabby and just fatigued. Sleep wasn't enough. food wasn't enough. It does make you realize how much your mind/will plays into an Ironman. My body was done but I had more workouts to do and no matter how hot or tired I was I was going to try to finish them. it's not all that dissimilar to the race. Your mind keeps you going when your body otherwise would have stopped.

There were some classic moments i won't forget:

• Riding in Vancouver and having a motorcycle cop pull next to me and "remind" me that the stop signs are for me too. (I was on my second loop of my 2 X 50 mile loops. I wasn't going to stop for any stop signs! I had a time to beat.)
• Riding in Forest Grove after swimming in hagg Lake thinking "I want a nice easy flat ride" I had it all mapped out. Then I turned up Blooming Farm road and encouter a big hill. About 1/4 way up theres a sign that reads Alpe de blooming Farm Road. 16% grade next 4 miles. Can i tell you how I just about fell off my bike when my jaw hit the ground. (I made it up and it wasn't 16%.... only a very small section was that steep but it was a lot longer than it appeared from the bottom.

Epic Week Day 8: Sleep is a grand thing!

Oh boy was I grumpy and tired yesterday! I wouldn't have wanted to be around me. I just couldn't seem to shake my mood or my fatigue yesterday.

Zan and Robert came by and we drove out to swim at hagg lake and then do a bike and a run. Well the swim went fine. It actually felt really good to be in open water with no walls where I could just swim and not have to turn. It was interesting being in a wetsuit again. Now that my body position is better I totally felt like I was almost on top of the water. I didn't have to kick hardly at all and I felt like I was just cruising along. It was great. It took me awhile to put my "new" stroke into place but once I had it I felt like I could sustain it. Especially since I didn't feel like I needed to kick. My left hand was dropping some so I really concentrated on extending it out there and it finally came around. i did notice that my recover felt much different and even took a good deal more strength. next time i swim open water I think I'll check my wetsuit out a little better and try to get a little more mobility in the arms. I think I may not have had it fitted well. I don't remember it feeling like that in the past.

After the swim I got on my bike and it was all I could do to sit on my bike. I couldn't find a comfortable position to save my life. I was also on a new route where I didn't really know where I was going and I ended up going up a really steep hill that after Silver Falls the day before I was not ready for. It took everything I had to get up it. Then I took a wrong turn.... ARGH!!! Needless to say it didn't help my grumpiness.

So when i got back i didn't run. I was completely exhausted. I ended up going to bed around 7:30 and asleep by 8. I ended up sleeping about 12 hours, maybe more.... I definitely needed it.

Today I rode out to Crown Point. It was good to be back on a familiar route. I like my new position on my bike. It was certainly much more comfortable. And I think I like my new shoes except i don't know how you run in those. I feel like I slide all over the place. I'm tempted to just carry them to the bike mount and put them on there. I can't believe anyone could actually run on those. maybe on grass it would be fine.

I definitely need a cleat fitting though because my feet were cramping up. I think they need to be slid back a ways toward the ball o fmy foot.

The ride was good. I still have fatigue in my legs but not too bad. I felt strong most of the way and my run afterwards was good. I had a hard time bringing my heart rate down to even 153. It was staying in the upper 150's even when i felt like I was running really slow and easy. I only ran for 20 minutes so maybe I should try to run until I can get it down next time.

Tomorrow i just swim and bike to work. I'll only work on form tomorrow at swimming so that I can have a good ride on Wednesday.

Epic Week: Day 7 Silver Falls Brick

Today I rode from Champoeg State Park to Silver Falls State Park. It was a great ride. I think I was pretty well rested after yesterday. I did ride a little harder than I probably should have because I rode with someone else who was on my wheel all the way up the hill.

I'm pretty tired tonight though. Tomorrow is a triathlon day. Swim, bike and run.

Epic Week: Day 7 Recovery Day

Today was a recovery day. I did not sleep well last night at all. I could not fall asleep so ended up taking some tylenol PM to get to sleep. Finally I slept but had night sweats again. Ugh!

I didn't feel too bad however. I could tell that I still had some accumulated fatigue in my legs from yesterday however when I walked upstairs. I did get a massage this morning. It was OK. Not the best. She is on and off again sometimes. My calf/foot feels much better however. very little pain left. So that's really good.

I then went to work although that was for little more than checking e-mail and a meeting. I didn't get much else done. I guess that's OK. That's the way it will probably be next week as well.

I thought I had a swim lesson today but Laurie didn't have me on her calendar. So we worked together just a little bit. It was good though. I only really needed a couple pointers. She did recommend that I enter a long course swim meet and see how my stroke holds up when the adrenalin is pumping. that is actually a really good idea especially if she is going to be there. maybe Cate will want to do it too.

The things I worked on was keeping my head down just a bit more. It helps to see my shadow on the bottom of the pool. I like that about Southwest. It helps me keep my focus because I can see my hand extending in front of me. The other is to drop my fingers a little in my extension. Also to get a little more energy/momentum in my hand entry while also making it clean.

Other than that I came home and got ready for tomorrow's ride I'm posting it here. It is 90 miles from Champoeg Park to Silver Falls and back. It should be good. Looks like there are 4 of us riding. That will be good to have some other people there.

Then tomorrow night we have dinner with Patricia and larry. That will be nice.

Epic Week: Day 6 Eagle Fern Ride

Today I rode the Eagle Fern Ride. I haven't done it in about 3 or 4 years. It was much easier this time than last as I recall. It's a beautiful ride. Just hard. It was 4800 feet of elevation over just over 50 miles.

I also swam today. 4100 yards. Felt pretty good. At the end of the practice I felt like my toes were on the surface and my hand was extending really well.

Today I tried to keep my form while adding in the kick. It took awhile.

Free Form

I'm still working on my Free form. Today was "IM" day for our masters crew. Instead of working on stroke I did drills during the stroke set and used the particular stroke to work on a particular stroke focus.

The other thing I figured out today was that I can use a modified fist drill. When I breathe I close my hand into a fist so that if I start pressing down early it doesn't have nearly the benefit. Yet if I extend it is a huge benefit.

I guess I could modify that to breathing only to one side and keeping that hand closed.

Swim Focus Week

This week I'm concentrating on my swim. I am working on my form. It feels like this is a never-ending process for me.

So today I did mainly 25's working on that feeling of swimming downhill. I really think that between than and getting my hips into the picture for my rotation I'll start improving.

The thing that I find really helps me to think about using my hips is to think about a roll onto my side especailly when I breathe. I think about continueing to extend my hand underwater as I breathe. That seems to inhibit the desire to jerk my hand back and lift my head.

Today the PAC kids were swimming and some of them are just so effortless looking. That's what I want to look like. Like all I'm doing is really just gliding. You can really tell the difference between those kids who just glide and those that are working to keep it up. It's amazing the effort they expend.

SO I will just keep working at it. I get impatient and want to push it but I know that it's going to come eventually. The more I practice it the more it will come. I still have a lot of time before Canada. No need to stress about it.

Two Firsts!!

Yesterday when I arrived I went for a ride just about as soon as I got in and I had two firsts!

I took my jacket off while I was riding my bike yesterday. Granted this is on my road bike, not my tri bike. I think the headset is looser on my tri bike.

The other is that I rode the Lacamas Lake loop which is 52 miles round trip in 2:57. Under 3 hours. Granted I didn't stop at the rest stop which made the trip about 5 minutes faster.

Week in California

I hate traveling. It totally screws up my routine. I guess I didn't do too bad considering the limited time I had to train. The other factor is that I don't have as much control, and over indulge while I am out of town. So now I get to pay the price.

My weight is back up to the high end of my low range when i thought I was done with that. I do think some of it is just normal weight gain because my period is coming soon and I also seem to gain water weight when I fly.

So I did pretty well last week. I ran every day. Monday I got 3 hours of running in. Every other day I got at least 45 minutes in. I swam twice for 2 hours each just focusing on form.

I'll write about yesterday's ride in my next post.

Bridge of the Gods Ride 4/28/7

Saturday Zan, Colleen and I rode the Bridge of the Gods ride. It was a beautiful day. It started out kind of chilly but then cleared up and was clear, sunny and WARM.

So we took off meeting Colleen at the 205 bridge and rode to the WA side and through Camus. There you hook up with HWY 14 and start your climb to Cape Horn and Beacon Rock. It is a veautiful ride. Waterfalls, trees, astounding views, you can't beat it.

I felt pretty good climbing. I rode steady and it was easier than I recall in the past. On the flats Colleen helped to push my pace up higher than i would have otherwise.

Crossing the BOG is always a thrilling event. It's grated so a fall sends fear into your heart. And when you look down you see the river below you. it's scary.

From there you hit the bike trail and it's travels in and out of coveered woods and then alongside 84 and back again. Right before Warrendale you hop the guardrail and ride 84 for about a mile. There you head to Multnomah falls the last climb up to Crown Point.

The descent from there was awesome, as always. It's like a drop from heaven. Colleen and I then work together into the headwind along Marine drive making it easier going on both of us.

Overall I had a 112 miles for the day. It was beautiful and tiring.

I tried to ride the next day but couldn't really get comfortable on the saddle so only rode for about 90 minutes.

Today I was comfortably running. I ran for over 2.5 hours today. Almost 2 hours this morning and then 45 minutes in the evening.

Thursday Swimming

So after my day of just taking care of myself and not working out I feel MUCH better. The soreness seems to be gone and my energy is higher.

Today during swimming we had our dreaded "test set". This is a set that we used to do with Andrew periodically.

4 X 100 1:45
2 X 100 1:35
4 X 100 1:40
2 X 100 1:30

I made all of them until the last 100 on 1:40. I sat out a 50 and then did the last one on 1:30.

On the 1:45 I was holding 1:35. On the 1:35 I was on 1:35. On the 1:40 I was holding 1:38.

So not too bad. I know I could do the set if I started at 1:50. SO this is a good stretch for me.

I'm planning on doing the Bridge of the Gods loop this weekend so I need to keep that in mind these next couple days.

Treat Myself Kindly Day

Today I decided that it is a treat myself kindly day. My back is spasming even after my massage this morning. For whatever reason my hip flexors are really sore right now. The only thing I can think of re: is that maybe I over stretched them on Monday.

So massage this morning and my swim lesson was rescheduled to Friday and then a haircut this evening. And tonight Cate and I are going to have dinner together.

Hopefully tomorrow I will feel better. maybe I need to go see Dr. J for an adjustment too.

Swimming

This morning was my regular swim workout with "The Crew". Tuesday are usually stroke days so that's always fun in my book.

However my back is a bit tweaky since lifting yesterday. So I avoided Breast like the plague today but was still able to throw down some fly.

The thing I realized this morning is that I have been working on reintegrating my kick back into my stroke but now it's reversed. I have the right kick but I'm not long anymore.

So tomorrow during my lesson that will be my focus. Keep the kick and keep the DPS. Once that happens I know I will feel that effortless power.