Big training weekend!

This weekend I changed things up a little. I typically run and swim on Saturdays and bike and run on Sunday. But this weekend we decided to go to New Hampshire on Saturday, so I did my ride and run before we left (awesome hubby does not complain about a late start and a morning filled with all the neighborhood kids - somehow all the kids end up at our house playing together or separately, searching for snacks and living countless plastic cups all over the house. Love 'em all, though).

I had a great ride on Saturday: 60 miles @ 18.2, HR 141, and 5 miles run with no Garmin (bc I want to keep the pace easy). I believe my ride was successful - I never felt tired, my HR did not spike, my legs did not hurt - partly because of mega caffeine intake: 32 ounces of coke zero, 2 caffeinated gels, plus one huge mug of coffee before leaving the house. Caffeine is awesome, how did I not know that? The run started out great. My legs did not have any of the usual lead-type feeling. However, it was super hot and I felt hungry and tired. Still, probably one of the easiest off the bike runs.

Today I did a hilly 14 miler with lots of race pace miles. Even in New Hampshire and running by the ocean, it was super hot. I forgot to take my E21 pills with me and ended up eating some salt packets that I grabbed at a cafe along the way. My legs felt tired from yesterday, and it was harder to hold a normally moderate effort pace, but things never got too bad or difficult. Happy with that! I realize, however, that if the temps are going to be this high on race day, I am going to have to be smart and run slower. Next, it was a swim, which got cut short to 1.25 miles (instead of 1.75) since I had to get home. I swam in a salt water indoor pool and absolutely loved it. Plus, no sneezing and no stuffy nose for me this afternoon! Oh, and how could I forget the icebath I took with Petru in the ocean, and the pleasure he took in splashing me with the ice cold salty water!

Tomorrow I am changing my plan and will do one of those multiple bricks I read about on some of the super fast triathletes' blogs. I am going to ride 15 miles, then run 3K @ HMP, then put my bike on the trainer and bike for 30 min with some alactates, than run 2K @ 10k pace, then bike 30 min with alactates, then run 1K @ 5K pace, bike 30 min with alactates, and then run easy 4-5 miles. This should be about 2+h biking and 10 mile run. I am excited to see how I am going to do. There could be a lot of suffering, as we are supposed to have 80+ degrees tomorrow. I'll bring my E21 pills, and lots of caffeine and enthusiasm!

What a difference a year makes and other random happenings

* Yesterday morning Chris and I headed to Walden with different priorities. I set out for my first OW swim of the year, and he set out...his yoga mat! We were the only people there, it was warm and sunny and just perfect. Do you know those fleeting moments in life where everything feels like it is just the way it should be? Yes, I felt that as I set out for my swim and said good bye to a Tree-posed Chris!

Except that a few minutes into my swim my shoulders were killing me. I had a hard time keeping my elbows high. WTF? Fortunately after about 10 minutes the pain went away and i fell into a groove. I decided to swim around the pond. I have no idea how long the perimeter of the pond is. It took me exactly one hour to go around and I was very happy since last year it took me almost 2 hours (including breaks, which I did not have to take this time). The bath house was locked which meant I changed clothes behind a tree (by the time I was done there were people around), put make up on on the beach, and went to work with my wet hair in a ponytail. Both Chris and I agree that we will make this our Wednesday morning routine.

* I had my first bonk on the bike today! I had 36 miles with 3X9 (which I did continuous) @ race pace. I had zero food with me and during the last 6 miles I felt loopy and hungry! I can easily run 20+ miles on no food (usually I take 1 gel at 10 miles), but I need lots of calories on the bike. This has to have something to do with metabolic efficiency; my body is used to running but biking is still relatively new to me.

* My HR is about 150 when I go @ race pace. I wonder if during the race I should push the HR up a little or that would completely mess my run up. Thoughts?

* After wearing compression socks at work the entire winter, I was sans them yesterday and noticed a huge difference in how my legs felt at night: sore, swollen, unhappy!

* A day like today reinforced why I never complain of coldness in the winter (I may complain of snow, but not of cold). I had a 10.5 mile suffer-fest this afternoon. I was to do 3X3 miles @ 7:15ish, and managed 2X3 before almost puking. It was hot, humid, and I am obviously not used to running in these temps. Even if I were used to these temps, I am much more of a cold weather type runner and am not looking forward to marathon training in the summer. Biking and swimming in the heat are much more enjoyable!

* We are in the mist of a tax override campaign here in Arlington, MA, so if you read this blog and live in Arlington, please vote "Yes".

Back at IT!

So I am going through a blog mojo-less phase. Things are a bit rote here in terms of training. I also feel that only a handful of triathletes read this blog, and runners are mostly not into reading tri stuff, so....am feeling a little boring these days. No worries, though, life is really good over here.

I finished a week of recovery and it was lovely. Aside from getting a little sick, and having idiopathic pains first in my L arm, then my neck, then my groin, I've enjoyed sleeping in, catching up on work and on life. I even cleaned the dining room and living room which says a lot!

I've continued to feel strong in the water. I feel my stroke getting better and better. My elbows stay high even in the water (I think, I need a video!), and I feel very relaxed when I swim. I do struggle with the short, all out intervals (25m, 50m, even 100m) but love the longer swims where I can get in a groove. I also love racing other swimmer. Yes, I said that!

I am seeing progress on the bike for sure. I am still scared of aero, but am doing better with it. I am also much faster than last year, and much more confident in my biking skills (turns, cornering, etc).

I've enjoyed running on fresh legs (I only ran 42 miles last week). What a difference! It was a struggle to keep the pace slower than 8 min/miles and I had some killer tempos, speed and long runs, which made me confident about my fall marathon.

Three big weeks before my HIM, with 3 long rides, including a 72 miler (I've only done one ride this long in my life). In 2 weeks I am going to East Freetown to swim, ride and run on the HIM course again. It would be interesting to see how I do on the bike course compared to last time.

Happy training and racing!

Much ado about nothing

#I just realized I have not posted in more than 2 weeks! Wow! The thing is, without any races, there is not much to report. Life goes on. Work is busy. Training killed me last week - I put in 19 hours, including a 14 mile progression run @ 7:22 + 1 mile swim on Saturday, and a 4+h ride and 2 mile tempo transition run on Sunday. I am thrilled to have a recovery week. My body has been holding up great except that for the past 2 weeks with an increase in time spent in the pool I have developed a reaction to chlorine. Every time I spend more than 1 hour in the pool I have a stuffy nose and I sneeze the rest of the day. I think all this training is probably lowering my immunity. This week I am going to do my long swim at Walden Pond, assuming that I will survive in the 60 degrees water with my wetsuit and 3 caps. Ha!

# I am officially faster on the bike than my husband. This does not mean, unfortunately, that I am a fast biker. Rather, it means that he is slow! Still, this feels good.

# My husband keeps shoving his 10K PR in my face. He ran a 39:XX about 15 years ago. He challenged me to beat his PR. This would mean running 2 back to back sub 20 min 5K. I think I can do it, actually! So, after my HIM, I am thinking on working on this before I start marathon training. I love the track and I know I am going to miss it by the end of HIM training, since there is really no point right now to try to do track workouts faster than current 10k/HM pace. Now I just have to think of a good reward for this challenge. Hmmm!

# My son had his first professional (aka nonmommy) hair cut this weekend. Chris took him and he called me to warn me that I might not recognize him. His hair is now very short, and he looks so grown up. Still, I can't wait for his hair to grow. I love long hair on boys.

# Today my son asked me where did the first people on Earth came from? And who were they? And how come there are "all of a sudden" so many people on Earth? I am not ready for this kind of conversations.

# I purchased a pair of Saucony Kinvaras and I love them. I am now officially wearing only light minimalist shoes (Brooks Launch, Saucony Kinvaras, Pearl Izumi Streak's, Nike Free's V5 and Nike Frees 7). My feet feel great and I am running strong.

That's it folks! Enjoy your week!

On skipping workouts and life

I was on the phone with my husband this afternoon and mentioned how I did not feel like doing my 12 miler. He told me matter of factly not to do it, but I told him I had to. He said something about me not having to be goal oriented in everything I do, and I explained that this has nothing to do with goals. It's more than that.

The thing is, I never skip workouts. I may change them around, but I never skip them. My reason? Fear! To me, skipping a workout is like walking in a race. Once I give myself that option, there is no turning back. Starting back up running after you walk is hard, and all I can think about is walking again. So I never do it. This is one reason why I carry my own water in races. I don't want to walk or slow down. So yes, skipping a workout would open the door for more skipped workouts. Unless I have to stay late at work, or my family demands me, or we have scheduling issues, or I am sick (like really sick), I get out there and do the workout no matter what. This is also why I rarely entertain thoughts about not doing a workout. These thoughts feel to me like a waste of time, since I know I will get out there anyway.

So today was a bit of a struggle. Training and work are at their peak, basketball games are going late and we often have people over for these, so I end up working late while watching basketball and going to bed late . I wake up early for me (6am) and get into work around 6:45 (I perfected the 10 min morning prep and 5 minute train makeup), to get a head start. I pretty much go, go, go until midnight. I do get in a couple of 10 minute naps, and sometimes a 20 min nap on a mat in my office, but that is not enough at this point. I used to nap in the weekends, but I can't really justify to myself doing that when I am gone for 4 hours biking and running every Sunday. I am certainly not complaining, I love my life and I choose to do what I am doing. I also know that I am in the last week of a big block of training, and I am supposed to feel tired. Next week is recovery, so I will be doing almost 50% less of what I am doing now (training wise, work will stay busy).

So yes, I could be doing only the work thing, or only the gym thing, but training gives me much more than a focus on health, or on how my body looks (though it does come with perks in these areas). I have always believed that it is important to have something that is yours, aside from the 2 pillars family and work, something to stabilize the other 2, like the 3rd leg of a 3 legged chair. The chair would lose its balance if it only had 2 legs, and so would I. And this is why I dragged myself out there today and really suffered through 12 miles on heavy legs. And I feel better for it!

Week in review and Mother's Day, too

Training is moving along nicely. I am really excited for a recovery week the week after next, though. I feel so much stronger in the pool and on the bike. I am running intervals faster than ever now, tempos are going well, but longer runs are hardish and not fast. For example, Saturday I did a 14 miler with 2 miles rolling downhills, 10 miles progression starting with an 8:15 mile that ended up @ 7:34 average, and then 2 miles rolling uphills. Aerobically I was fine, but I had a ton of lactic acid accumulation. My transition runs are the opposite. My legs seem fine but I feel depleted at the end of them (I mostly keep them at 5 miles). This is most likely nutritional but I just don't want to make myself take another gel. Funny thing, last week I grabbed a turkey burger (bunless) after my ride since I was craving meat, and I had no trouble digesting it. Anyway, this will not be an issue during the race, when I will make myself eat the 800 cals on the bike and 400 on the run.
Relatedly, I absolutely love what triathlon training does to my body. I no longer have skinny arms, people, and I love that. My arms are so strong, and they balance me nicely. And my legs are super strong. Love that!
#
Mother's Day was low key over here. Flowers and kisses, then 60 mile ride+ 5 mile run for me while Chris and Petru visited all the neighbors for playdates, then a quick lunch and 3 lovely hours of t-ball in the sun (for some reason all the kids kept wishing "Happy Mother's Day" to each other!), and then dinner with the inlaws with lots of chocolates! Yum! Yesterday the boys took me to Lululemon and let me loose in there while they visited the Lego store. I ended up with some speed shorts and headbands. I was not impressed with the other running shorts they had, however, and overall I wished for more color.

Hope everyone had a nice day. In my book every day should be Mother's Day, and I made sure to mention this to Petru several times today. I hope he wishes me Happy Mother's Day tomorrow as well:)

Weekend and winner

Things are crazy busy. Crazy busy. I am resorting to planning everything to the minute from the moment I wake up to when I go to bed. It's the only way (for me) to keep stress at bay and feel that I am giving the proper amount of time to all my responsibilities. There is little time for blogging right now, but thanks to the I-phone, I can keep reading all your blogs on my way to work and back.

We've survived the circus this weekend. Poor Chris got a headache from all the noise, I had my heart in my mouth watching people do crazy things and fearing for their lives, and Petru was much more entertained by the change in lighting than the actual acts. Yes, we will not do this again. We did have a blast at T-ball. If you have a bad day, go see 5-7 y olds play an organized sport. I don't remember the last time I laughed continuously for 2 hours. It was also a great opportunity to watch Petru in an unfamiliar social situation. He made me proud. He kept working on what the coach wanted him to do, introduced himself to the kids, started a cheering theme for every kid who was at bat, and used his connection to an older kid (future jock) when introducing himself to others. Aside from a bit of boredom when he and another kid started making sand castles while in the infield, he managed to do a good job staying focused. I am excited to watch him next week.

I had a great weekend of training. Saturday I was a bit tired, so I skipped the 1.5 hour bike and just ran 13 miles w/ 3X2.5 race pace, race pace-10 sec/mile, race pace-20sec/mile. I really wanted to go to the track, so made up this workout for myself, and then added 1.25 miles hills at the end. Loved it. Plus, I got called a "hottie" by a 13-14 y old lacrosse boy. Made me feel like a true Mrs. Robinson. I also managed a 2600 meter swim after that and my legs felt like new. I think swimming is the best recovery method. Sunday I did a 56 mile bike ride, nice and easy, followed by a 5 mile easy run with 1.25 hills. I felt strong and the run got better and better. I am learning a lot about the bike, changing gears and such. I am still not comfortable in aero but I am resigned to the fact that I am v cautious and it will take me a while to be able to ride aero. I am OK with that.

I did some soul searching while on the bike for 3 hours or so. I know now that I don't want to do an ironman in the near future. I know I could do one if I wanted it, but I like to be competitive, and I would not be able to train like I would need to in order to be competitive. I can barely do it for the HIM distance. I love love training, but balancing everything is hard right now. I don't think I will do another HIM this season, most likely will do olympic and sprints before training for my fall marathon. I am OK with that. The ironman will be there when I am older and slower. LOL.

OK, so the winner of the E21 giveaway is Aimee at I tri to be me! Congrats! Email me your address and I will do my best to mail your stuff shortly. I have 2 other packages to mail, please don't lose patience, I am doing my best here!