"How hard can it be?" Training Update

[Veronica]

That's the title on my fundraising page for Barb's Race. :D
http://www.active.com/donate/vineman08/VDyson

Some background - I've always wanted to do a triathlon, but they also freak me out a bit. Since I've missed out on some of the double centuries I planned to do this year, I decided I needed a new goal. I picked a Half IM tri. I know that sounds like a crazy first distance, but I have a swimming background - the mile was my event in college. I haven't been swimming regularly in the last few years, but I'm not worried about building that leg back up. I have been doing ultra distance cycling. My endurance is really good and I know how to regulate my effort so that I can finish a two hundred mile bike ride. Some of those have taken me 18 hours! I am not worried at all about the bike portion.

I am also still working on an R-12 award. That means doing a 200 K bike ride each month.

Running - well - I've never been a runner. So I'm really going to be focusing on being able to complete that leg.

I have no aspirations about being competitive in this tri. I'm doing this for me and to raise money for a good cause.

Week 1 - This first week has a few extra days because I decided to do this race Thurs. 4/17 and immediately started training on 4/18.

Fri. - First run in over a year - 2.2 miles about 25 minutes.
Sat. - Quads and shin muscles were pretty sore - Spinervals Yoga DVD
Sun. - Sprint Intervals on the bike. Shin muscles are still a bit sore from the run.
Mon. - Spinervals Yoga (SY) in the AM, rode up Mt. Diablo after to work. I only went to the Junction, took a minute off my season's personal best. I'm still way off from my all time personal best though.
Tues. - Another 2.2 mile run in the AM. SY in the PM.
Wed. - Not sore from the run! But I overslept and missed my morning yoga. Broke my goggle strap when I went to swim after work. Did Yoga for the Upper Body instead. (YUB)
Thurs. - 3 mile run, just under 34 minutes. I decided it was time to up the mileage since I had no soreness at all after Tuesday's run, and to push a little harder. The first two runs my average HR was 160 -161. Today's average was 165, with my last mile having an average of 169.
Fri. - I plan to do more yoga in the morning, probably SY, I like all the hip and hamstring stretching in it, and swim after work.
Sat. - We are working a rest stop on the Devil Mountain Double, so I'll be doing a three mile run before we head out, assuming everything still feels good. We'll be at the rest stop pretty much all day. The one we do is near the top of Mt Hamilton, about mile 130 so the riders are pretty strung out. Working a rest stop is tiring in its own way.

I'm beginning to like running more than I thought I would. Not being sore for days afterward helps. :D

V.

[roadie gal]

Good going! Remember to give yourself a day off now and then so your body can repair.

[Running Mommy]

++2 what RG said. NEVER train more than 6 days in a row. Esp. when you are working on building in something new. Running is hard on the bod, you need to give it time to recover and repair. Remember, you need to repair to build. If you are always breaking it down and not giving recovery time you'll end up hurt and w/chronic fatigue.
Of course you KNOW this...:rolleyes: we all do... But sometimes we need to be reminded. ;)

Otherwise- looks good. Just build that running slowly. And what kind of shoes are you running in? New ones? Have you been properly fit for your type of foot strike?

[Veronica]

A couple of years ago I gave running a try and I went to a running shoe store recommended by some of running buddies. At the store, they watched me run and I tried a bizillion different shoes it seemed. Those shoes have maybe 30 miles on them, since I didn't stick with it then. :D

After my knee issue this fall, I'm really trying to be super careful about what hurts. Muscle soreness is okay and to be expected. That's one reason I'm keeping these early runs close to home, so I can walk back if something just doesn't feel right.

V.

[HillSlugger]

The rubber in shoes can break down even when they are not being used. Please consider replacing them with something new before you start piling on the miles!

[Veronica]

How do you know when it's time to replace your shoes?

V.

[Grog]

How do you know when it's time to replace your shoes?

V.

I know it when my knees or other part of my anatomy starts hurting AND the shoes have gone a few hundred kilometers...

Which doesn't help you here, I know.

It wouldn't really show, I'm afraid...

Although the shoes are a prime suspect for your knee pain, I would primarily suspect that the quick increase in your running volume might be at fault. Going from zero to three runs in a week might be a bit much for your knees... You might want to give them a chance, include more walking, or something like that... But this is very unscientific.

[Veronica]

My knees are feeling great - ever since I had my bike fit and stopped overextending them every day. :)

I'm doing a lot of stretching in between run days. I'm really pleased with how I feel actually.

V.

[HillSlugger]

Generally something like 3-500 miles or 6-12 months. If you don't want to automatically replace these because they've "never been used", then you should definitely retire them early, say within 200 miles and 6 months.

[Grog]

My knees are feeling great - ever since I had my bike fit and stopped overextending them every day. :)

Oops I had misread what you wrote above.

If you don't have pain, I'd give the shoes a chance, but when light pain arises in any joint (ankles, knees, hips) - or at about 200 miles - I'd retire them to walking-shoe status...

It's also not a bad idea to have two pairs of shoes and to alternate, especially if you're going to be running two days in a row once in a while. I learned that the hard way. Running every day breaks shoes down much faster, it seems. :(

[Veronica]

Thanks, I wish you could see the wear, like on a bike tire.

Having two pair does make a lot of sense.

V.

[maillotpois]

I was a runner for almost 20 years. Hard to believe. When I got serious about it, in my (foolish) marathon days, I would have 2 pairs of shoes and would write on the foam stuff between the sole and the shoe part date of purchase. Then I would alternate them, trying to keep track of which ones were used for long runs, etc.

Boy am I glad I'm not running anymore. :D Have fun with that, though. :D

[roadie gal]

Another worthwhile thing to do is to spend an extra $25-30 and put good, cushioned insoles into your shoes. The ones the shoes come with are garbage. You can get them in any running store or online. I think they make a huge difference.

[Veronica]

Friday and Saturday did not go as I had hoped. Friday I stayed at work later than I had planned because one of my students is turning into quite the drama queen. So no swim on Friday.

Saturday morning I woke up with my stomach just feeling weird. But the time it felt better, it was time to get ready to work DMD.

Working a rest stop is a lot of work! But we got a lot of thank you's. Our weather has been weird; temperatures have been up and down the last few weeks. It goes up into the 80s for a couple of days, then back down to the low 60s. It was warm yesterday and our rest stop comes 4 miles into a 5 mile climb, 130 miles into the ride, with an average grade of 8.5% The rest stop is in this spot because it's where the ham operator can set up. There is no cell phone coverage out there. The riders were very happy to see us. We had Popsicles! :D

I have got to get into the pool this week.

V.

[kelownagirl]

Friday and Saturday did not go as I had hoped. Friday I stayed at work later than I had planned because one of my students is turning into quite the drama queen. So no swim on Friday.

Saturday morning I woke up with my stomach just feeling weird. But the time it felt better, it was time to get ready to work DMD.

Working a rest stop is a lot of work! But we got a lot of thank you's. Our weather has been weird; temperatures have been up and down the last few weeks. It goes up into the 80s for a couple of days, then back down to the low 60s. It was warm yesterday and our rest stop comes 4 miles into a 5 mile climb, 130 miles into the ride, with an average grade of 8.5% The rest stop is in this spot because it's where the ham operator can set up. There is no cell phone coverage out there. The riders were very happy to see us. We had Popsicles! :D

I have got to get into the pool this week.

V.


Working and training when you're a teacher is a challenge but the good thing is that we have a more flexible schedule. I've been running with the school Running Club at noon twice a week and that is giving me more free time after school to do other things (like marking:rolleyes::p) The kids only run 3km so I head out as soon as the bell rings and do one loop before they join me. Then I do another loop after they're done. I think I might keep running 5k at noon twice a week even after the Running Club program is finished.

Good luck with your training plans!

Can I throw in just one quiet warning about your running? When I first started running, I felt great and nothing hurt so I kept amping it up and it felt fine. It took awhile (3 months) before things started hurting and I was sidelined by injury. Again, I waited awhile, did all the PT stuff, then started back running, starting up again too fast and again, I had the injuries. This time, I've been adding on extremely slowly and have managed to stay more or less injury-free for 4 months. I just WISH I had understood this clearly in the first place and had built up slowly like everyone told me (10% rule) - I would have been waaaay further ahead than I am now if I had.

Now, you may be in way better shape than me and your increases may be absolutely fine so take this advice with a grain of salt. But I just had to say it anyway. :) :)

[Veronica]

Sunday - I went for a run, 3.1 miles in the daylight. I got to wear my new Thumps. Music is good! And I could still hear the duckies in the canal.

Monday - yoga in the morning, rode Mt Diablo to the Junction in the afternoon. I wore the Thumps for this ride too. Made the climb a lot more fun. My pace was about the same as last week, but I didn't feel as tired when I got to the Junction.

Tuesday - 3.1 mile run before work, 1600 yard swim after work

Wednesday - yoga in the morning. I was going to ride in the afternoon, but I had some work I really needed to do before Thursday.

Thursday - 4.1 mile run before work, 21 mile bike ride after work. I was surprised by my average speed on the bike. My HR was pretty low. In spite of doing some hill work, my average speed was surprisingly high. I discovered that I can't hear the music from the Thumps when I'm doing 20 mph on the flats - too much wind noise. I can turn up the volume I guess. :p

Friday - yoga in the morning, 1900 yard swim in the afternoon. I can do a mile swim now in about 32 minutes. Sadly, no where near my college times. :) But not bad, considering I haven't been swimming in about two years.

Saturday - planned 50 mile ride. We were going to do Diablo and Morgan territory, but I filled the car up with gas today. :eek: I decided I really don't want to drive anywhere to ride unless I have a good reason. So, we're going to stay local.

Total training time so far this week - 7.5 hours. That doesn't include tomorrow's ride,

I need to put my core work back into my schedule somewhere. I had been really good about through January and February. But when I decided I wasn't going to doubles, I slacked off.

I have meetings on Wed. and Thurs. next week, so afternoon workouts probably won't happen those two days.

I'm feeling really good. I'm going to keep my before work runs at 4 miles until I can get them down to a ten minute pace. I'm currently doing about 11:20 average. But my HR is still pretty low. I've been sort of "feeling out" this whole running thing. I plan to bump up to 5 miles two weekends from now. Next weekend is my 200 K bike ride for the month of May.

I'm still having fun. :D

V.

[Wahine]

V. You're doing awesome. Keep it up. I love how enthusiastic you are and how you still think to comment on the little things that are so cool, like ducks in the canal. That's really what it's all about, getting out there.:D:D

[Veronica]

The ducks were really cute. It was a whole little family, 3 little ducklings. I went by them twice. The first time daddy flew up to the trail to squawk at me. On the return, it was mama's turn.

I hope they are still there when I run tomorrow.

V.

[Veronica]

Sunday - 5.4 mile run - still about an 11:20 average pace. Okay....

Monday - Yoga and Core in the morning. I was supposed to swim in the afternoon, but I was feeling crummy and congested at the end of the day. I came home and took a two hour nap instead.

Tues. - 4.1 mile run. I did intervals on miles 2 and 4. Got my average down around 10:30, with my last mile a 10:00 flat. Yippee!

After work swim - 2350 yards. I was going to ride after that, but my rear tire was flat. :mad:

Wed. The congestion was back. I did yoga and CORE in the morning, vegged in the afternoon.

Thurs. Still feeling crummy and congested, no workouts. I had a meeting after school that went until 5. I know most folks work until 5, but they aren't watching and entertaining 32, 10 - 11 year olds for 6 of those hours. Late days just wipe me out.

Fri. I really wanted to get in a third run. I wasn't feeling great, but not awful either. First two miles were right around 10:30. I tried doing intervals on the second mile and just felt crummy. I decided to just work my way through the last two miles. Those were 11:00 miles. But better than my previous average of 11:20. :D

I was supposed to swim this afternoon, but I stayed late to meet AGAIN with my bully's dad. I had to kick him out of class again today. I'm still a little congested. :( I hope I feel better tomorrow. I'm doing a 200 K on the bike.

Total time so far this week - not much - 4:40. The 200 K tomorrow will take somewhere between 9 and 10 hours I expect.

But I'm happy I got in my 3 runs. The long run on Sunday has given me some confidence to push myself a little harder on my 4 mile before work runs.

The swimming is going well. I actually started working the swim this week. Last week it was just go and get your butt in the pool and see how it feels. My wetsuit should be here next Friday. The outdoor pool at the gym is not heated, so that will be a good place to try it out. :D

Next week I only have a meeting on Wed. so hopefully I can get in a little more time. I don't know if I'll be able to do my long run on Sunday after doing a 200K tomorrow. I may have to put it off until next Saturday.

My students clap for me every time I tell them I did a run. I have been using that as an example of goal setting and that sometimes you have to do things that are hard or that you don't want to do, to get where you want to be. Trying to get that last little bit of influence in, before they head off to middle school...

V.

[jesvetmed]

V: Cool to include your students in your goal planning. And... expose them to a new positive thing they could do with themselves! Great work -- in and out of the classroom!

[Veronica]

My 200 K turned into 103 miles. I felt crummy from the very beginning. I didn't eat much breakfast and I didn't start eating right away like I should have. This cold I've had has just messed up my appetite. I was chilly at the start and it took me a long time to warm up. Then... I got a flat about 20 miles into the ride. I was doing about 20 mph, going downhill and the bike got a little squirrelly. I had picked up a thorn. After fixing the flat, I continued down the hill, but couldn't stop shivering. It was pretty demoralizing.

I met up with Thom at about mile 30, just before the serious climbing began. He got a flat 3 miles later. No more tubes, luckily we had no more flats. At about mile 60 my front tire started making a noise. It looked like the casing was delaminating slightly. We continued out to the turnaround. It never got any worse, but today I got a new tire and I put in a slime tube. I don't care that they are heavier. I don't want any more flats on important rides.

It seemed like one of those rides that just wasn't meant to be. All day long I felt like I had no power. Thom was constantly waiting for me. That's normal on climbs, but even on the false flats in between, where normally I pull him because I don't really like to draft, I couldn't stay with him.

We got back to the car at mile 92 and I decided to press on to the next checkpoint at mile 103. By now my butt was really beginning to hurt as my saddle really needed to be re-tensioned. I think I was riding on the rails for most of the ride. :mad:

I would pedal and do about 17 mph and then coast down to 13, so I could get a butt break. I got off the bike at mile 103. Thom told me I looked miserable. This mini mart had a taco bar and Thom had gotten his dinner. I got a Red Bull and a banana and tried, unsuccessfully, to feel better. I only had 23 more miles to go, but I just didn't feel like suffering. Oh... and I had managed to get sun burnt despite putting sunscreen three different times.

So... we packed the bike in the car and drove home.

I've got three more weekends to get in a 200K this month. So, I'll try again next weekend. It upsets my running plans a little bit. I'm suppose to up my mileage to 6 miles next weekend. I'll do that on Saturday and then ride on Sunday. Hopefully my legs will handle it.

Veronica

102.9 miles
5200 feet of climbing
13.5 avg.

[Veronica]

Sunday - rest day

Monday - yoga and core in the AM, 5.4 mile run after work

Tues. - swim - speed work day, after the warm up I did 9 x 100 - easy , build, easy, hard. This is when I miss having a swim coach to tell me what's a good interval. I did them on 2:15 and got about 30 - 35 seconds rest for each one. Then I pulled a 300 and did a cool down.

Wed. I broke my run into parts. I did two miles in the morning, focusing on intervals. 3. 1 miles in the afternoon when it was about 95 degrees out. I liked the two miles. :D The afternoon run was hard. I had ice cream and cracker jacks, courtesy of our PTA about 2 hours before the run. Not good run food.

Thurs. - Long swim in the afternoon - 1750 yards in 31 minutes at about a 6 on a scale of 1 - 10 for effort. I was actually trying to barely kick - based on something I read in Triathlete magazine.

Fri. - Turned in to a rest day. We went to breakfast with my in-laws. They had a delivery nearby (they are truck drivers.) And I just couldn't get up the gumption to go for a bike ride after work when it was already 98 degrees.

Sat. - Long run in the morning, 7.4 miles in 1 hour 20 minutes. I kept looking at Mt Diablo and wondering if I could someday run up it. I wore my new tri outfit - LOVE IT! I love all the pockets. I carried two gels with me today but I didn't eat them. I was just getting to the point of considering eating as I turned onto my street. My cell phone stayed put in another pocket, no bouncing around. My little water flask fit nicely into a pocket and stayed fairly cold too. I want another outfit just like it, just for running in. :D

It's too hot to do anything around the house, so we're going to drive up and look at the course today.

Tomorrow I'm trying for that 200 K again. I have a meeting on Wed. and Open House at work Thursday night. So, it will be hard to get in as much training as I want this week.

V.

[Wahine]

Hey V!! It's nice to see your updates. You're doing really well.

I've been thinking about you this weekend because I've been crewing for people who are riding more than 100 miles a day for 4 days in a row, the biggest day was 148 miles, today was easy... only 140ish with less climbing. Tomorrow they'll ride 120 miles but they're climbing up to timberline on Mt Hood. That'll be interesting!!:p These guys make you look almost sane.:D:D

[Veronica]

Hey V!! It's nice to see your updates. You're doing really well.

I've been thinking about you this weekend because I've been crewing for people who are riding more than 100 miles a day for 4 days in a row, the biggest day was 148 miles, today was easy... only 140ish with less climbing. Tomorrow they'll ride 120 miles but they're climbing up to timberline on Mt Hood. That'll be interesting!!:p These guys make you look almost sane.:D:D

Thom saw this and said, "Gee, that sounds right up your alley."

Sunday's 200 K went well. I wrote about it in another thread.

We looked at the race course on Saturday. The bike course looks nice. I've ridden some parts of it on other rides, but in the opposite direction. It's mostly rollers and very curvy. There is one substantial climb.

The run course pretty much freaked me out. There are a lot of hills! Fortunately, they are all smaller than my hill. :p I actually have two hills on my morning loop course. One I have been running down (the big nasty one!) One I run up (the smaller, nasty one!) I think both are bigger than the hills on the course, but I'm going to reverse my morning loop so that I am running up the bigger, nasty one.

It also occurred to me on my run on Saturday that I'd really like to get up to 15 miles or so before race day. I know that will be pushing it. I've only got 11 weeks until my race. But I know I'll have more confidence on race day if I have run further than the actual race distance.

V.

[Veronica]

Sitting at the computer today, I feel like this wasn't a great training week. I've been fighting the sniffles all week. I swear this is the sneeziest class I have ever had! I get over one cold and I have 2 or 3 kids start sneezing all over the place and boom, I have the sniffles again.

Sunday - 200K. This was a good ride. I felt strong for most of it.

Monday - yoga

Tuesday - AM run - 4.1 miles. I reversed my route. I ran 4 times up the big hill. It's about a 5% average grade, climbs 60 feet in about .3 miles. Naturally the steepest part is the end. This was a lovely run though. We had a full moon and it was just sitting on top of Mt Diablo, with a few wispy clouds around it. There were a lot of birds out, twittering and singing to each other. A lot of flowers are in the bloom so the air was gently perfumed. I was out long enough to also see sunrise - beautiful sky filled with shades of orange and pink.

PM Swim - This also went pretty well. The main set was 6 x 100 at a RPE of 9. I was coming in somewhere between 1:30 and 1:35 and doing them on the 2:15. I'm not positive of the times since I left my HRM at home. :o

Wed. - I slept in Wed. We normally get up at 4:25. The alarm went off and I asked Thom to let me sleep some more. He got up and I went back to sleep until 5:40. It's not normal for me to sleep after he gets up. Of course my sniffles were back.

I did yoga in the afternoon.

Thursday - Slept in again, only until 5:10 this time. I did more yoga in the afternoon. Then went back to school for Open House.

Friday - You guessed it, slept in again. Thom took Friday off, so we didn't even set the alarm. I didn't do anything Friday.

Today I had planned to do my first brick. I was going to ride about 20 miles and then run 3, just to do it and see what it was like. Plus I wanted to ride in my tri shorts, so I could decide if I wanted another pair just like the ones I got. I really like them for running in.

But, it's raining. Maybe this afternoon. If not, we'll at least get some of the weekend chores done.

I know this was a stressful week for me, hence all the extra sleep. My bully's parents have been spending a lot of time meeting with me. I wish they had done something about him months ago - not now when there are just three weeks of school left. And Open House is a lot of work.

The next three weeks are going to be tough. There is always a lot to do at the end of the year and I am moving classrooms, so I need to pack up all my stuff. Moving is good. It forces you to go through your things and I'm going into a double room. :) But it all takes time and energy.

I have my first tri in 4 weeks. It's one of the Tri for Fun series - 400 yard swim, 11 mile bike ride, 3.1 mile run. :p That all seems so short compared to what I have been doing. Gosh, my swim warm ups are 400 yards. But it's a chance for me to work out transition bugs.

I'd kind of like to ride up Mt Diablo this weekend and go mountain biking. I've been concentrating so much on running, that I don't get in very many rides and I miss it.

V.

[Veronica]

Sunday - Laze around the house and read a book day.

Monday - 19 mile bike ride, followed by a 3 mile run. The run was hard, partly because I didn't fuel on the bike like I should have. But that's part of what training is all about - learning what you need to do.

Tuesday - Yoga in the morning, wetsuit swim in the afternoon. The outside pool at the gym is not heated, so it's still pretty cold. The swim was an interesting experience. The wetsuit certainly makes my legs a lot more buoyant. In some ways they seem less effective since they are so buoyant.

Wednesday - 7.4 mile run in the afternoon. That's hard to do after work. It's more windy, blowing in the high teens, with gusts into the twenties; and the kids are wearing me out. They are ready to be done and so am I - nine more days.

Thursday - Yoga in the morning and in the afternoon.

Friday - Overslept again and did some chores around the house when I got home.

Saturday - short flat ride with Thom.

I've got a lot of stuff going on after work this week, so my afternoon workouts are going to be minimal.

The brick and the long run on Wednesday were both really hard for me. I have a long list of reasons why they could have not gone well... But logic doesn't matter. It didn't feel good and that is kind of making me dread running. So the plan for this week is to do a long run today - 7.4 miles, and short 3 -4 mile runs on Tue., Wed. and Thurs. mornings with stretchy girl yoga in the afternoons.

I'll swim Monday afternoon and take Friday off since I'm doing another 200 K on Saturday.

V.

[Wahine]

V - bricks always hurt. Especially when you're first starting out. The key is getting good at making your legs do that running thing when they still want to do that cycling thing. That means practice. You don't have to do long bricks to get this. In fact short reps work really well. I will sometimes do a workout where I ride 5 miles, transition and run 1 mile and repeat that 3 or 4 times through. The other thing I do in a race is tell myself that the first 4 km of the run are going to hurt, no matter what and I can't use how I feel as a guide to how I'm doing. After 4 km, if it still sucks... well then it's time to start thinking about what needs to change, but until then you really have no guage.

[Veronica]

Thanks. I hadn't considered doing shorter ones as a repeat. I've got a great route for this already worked out in my head and I did that today instead of a long run. I only did it twice - a 4.4 mile bike ride followed by a mile run. I wanted to end feeling good. :p

V.

[Veronica]

Sunday - Short brick repeats
Monday - yoga in the AM
Tues. - yoga in the AM, 7.4 mile run after work. Still wicked slow, but more fun than my last two runs.
Wed. - AM yoga, PM dentist :(, then I rode out to BART to meet Thom - 27 miles
Thurs. - nothing, but now my hair looks good again. :D
Fri. - nothing
Saturday - 200 K with 7,000 feet of climbing - number 4 in my quest for the R-12.

This is my last week with the kiddos. But I also need to finish moving out of my classroom. I expect some late days at work. I haven't been very successful at running before work lately. But I need to get in three this week. Friday is our 22nd anniversary. It's my first day of summer break and Thom is taking the day. Not sure what we'll do yet, but something fun.

V.

[Wahine]

Nice week V. You're up to 7.4 miles running and that's great. You really could finish the race now. You've got enough endurance base to carry you through.

Does the R12 thing mean you'll do 12 200k this year?

That's impressive!!

Have fun on your anniversary.:D

[Veronica]

Does the R12 thing mean you'll do 12 200k this year?


Yep - one a month for 12 consecutive months. I'm glad I started in March. January and February can have such nasty weather, but I'll be so close to finishing, that I think I'll be a little more motivated.

V.

[Veronica]

No more pencils!
No more books!



I didn't do much this week. Monday we had our end of year field trip. Tuesday was our promotion ceremony. Wednesday I stayed late at work to finish packing and do some planning with my grade level team. Thursday was the students' last day. YIPPEEE!!!!!

I did some yoga on Monday and Wednesday. I went for a 4 mile run Tuesday morning. The run was good. Wednesday was our staff vs students softball game. I play softball once a year. It always leaves me unexpectedly sore, especially in my quads.

Friday was our anniversary. Thom and I went up to Olema and rode the Bolinas Ridge Trail. We haven't been on our mountain bikes since Feb. We only went about halfway up the ridge. Funny thing - we looked at how far we went on Google Earth and we only had about another 400 feet of climb over the remaining 4 miles or so. Oh well. We had some steep, loose stuff to descend over, so I was glad to not be too tired. I'm working on finding my happy mountain biking place again.

We mountain biked today on our local trail. In 2.8 miles it climbs 1000 feet. I think running is making me a stronger rider. I had about the same average pace as the last few times I've ridden this trail and my AHR was 12 beats lower. And it was 85 degrees out! Unfortunately I can't compare my data with my fastest ever ride up this. It was on my stolen laptop. Argh...

So, now I have all my days to myself. I can train, train, train... Don't worry, I will not over train. But it will be nice to have nothing else to worry about.

I think I may need to get new running shoes. My ankles and my feet are sort of creaky when I first get up in the morning. I feel like I'm shuffling like a little old lady. It goes away after a few minutes. It could just be a product of getting old I suppose.

Next Saturday is my first tri - one of the tri for fun series. I'm excited, but a little nervous about the transition thing. Plans for this week are to do all three events back to back once or twice - probably a 500 yard swim, 12 - 15 mile bike ride and a 3 mile or so run. I need to see how it feels to do one right after the other. I also need to test out my outfit for the swim. I'll probably run or mountain bike the other days.

V.

[jesvetmed]

YEAH FOR SUMMER! I'm always jealous when DH gets out for the summer.. I MISS that!

Good luck this Saturday -- don't overdo it ahead of time... you'll be surprised that it will all be "OK". Do it in your mind multiple times, try it for reality at least once (you can always practice transitions without doing the actual stuff in between!). Keep us posted!

Jes

[kelownagirl]

No more pencils!
No more books!



I didn't do much this week. Monday we had our end of year field trip. Tuesday was our promotion ceremony. Wednesday I stayed late at work to finish packing and do some planning with my grade level team. Thursday was the students' last day. YIPPEEE!!!!!

I did some yoga on Monday and Wednesday. I went for a 4 mile run Tuesday morning. The run was good. Wednesday was our staff vs students softball game. I play softball once a year. It always leaves me unexpectedly sore, especially in my quads.

Friday was our anniversary. Thom and I went up to Olema and rode the Bolinas Ridge Trail. We haven't been on our mountain bikes since Feb. We only went about halfway up the ridge. Funny thing - we looked at how far we went on Google Earth and we only had about another 400 feet of climb over the remaining 4 miles or so. Oh well. We had some steep, loose stuff to descend over, so I was glad to not be too tired. I'm working on finding my happy mountain biking place again.

We mountain biked today on our local trail. In 2.8 miles it climbs 1000 feet. I think running is making me a stronger rider. I had about the same average pace as the last few times I've ridden this trail and my AHR was 12 beats lower. And it was 85 degrees out! Unfortunately I can't compare my data with my fastest ever ride up this. It was on my stolen laptop. Argh...

So, now I have all my days to myself. I can train, train, train... Don't worry, I will not over train. But it will be nice to have nothing else to worry about.

I think I may need to get new running shoes. My ankles and my feet are sort of creaky when I first get up in the morning. I feel like I'm shuffling like a little old lady. It goes away after a few minutes. It could just be a product of getting old I suppose.

Next Saturday is my first tri - one of the tri for fun series. I'm excited, but a little nervous about the transition thing. Plans for this week are to do all three events back to back once or twice - probably a 500 yard swim, 12 - 15 mile bike ride and a 3 mile or so run. I need to see how it feels to do one right after the other. I also need to test out my outfit for the swim. I'll probably run or mountain bike the other days.

V.

Good luck Saturday! I'm not finished school until the 27th so can't be free to 'train' freely until July. Luckily my tri isn't until August. Enjoy your summer off!

[Veronica]

Sunday I did a 7.4 mile run. Thom came out and took pictures of me along the way. He's got a new camera and he wanted to work the bugs out before my first tri on Saturday. I made him throw away all the pictures. They weren't flattering. I make a funny face when I run and I look like a sausage stuffed into too small of a casing in my tri outfit. I definitely do NOT have the build of a runner. I do have nice photogenic teeth though. He said I have a really short stride too. I think I'll keep running the way I have been until after the HIM and then do something about it. I have been injury free so far and don't have any major soreness when I'm done. I don't want to change anything with my event only 6 weeks away.

It was a good run. I averaged 10:40/mile. Pathetically slow, but sustainable. I keep having to remind myself that this is a new thing for me. I have only been at this for nine weeks. And how I compare to anyone else really doesn't matter. My completing a HIM is all about me.

Today I did a tri! Sorta... I drove to the the pool with my bike and all my gear, wearing my sausage casing. I swam 500 yards. Swimming is a piece of cake. A nice, easy pace gave me a time of 8:50 for a 500. Average heart rate was 145 with a max of 155.

I hurried out of the pool, dried my feet, sprayed more sunscreen on my shoulders and back, put on my socks and bike shoes. I should have dried my feet more. I walked out to my car, pulled out my bike, helmet and water bottle and was on my way. I rode 9.6 miles, climbed 541 feet with an average speed of 15.3 and an average HR of 152, with a max of 174. "Not working hard enough, pal." On a double century I try to keep my HR between 160 and 170, except when I'm descending. On descents it does whatever, usually dropping like stone down to 90 or so.

My bike/run transition was a little long. A friend was coming out of the gym as I was coming in on the bike and we had a little chat. I changed my shoes, threw my bike in the car, had a Hammer gel and some Gatorade and took off.

Very cool - I ran into (not literally) the mom of a student I had 11 years ago when he was a 4th grader. She's one of those really crazy people who does ultra distance runs. She's doing the Western State 100 at the end of the month. She slowed down and I sped up a bit and we ran together and talked. She chided me for not having water. I was only going to do between 2 and 3 miles so I figured I'd be okay. We talked about goals; she had been doing marathons for awhile and decided to move up to the Ultra distance. She does a marathon in 3:04! I hoping to do half that distance in 2:30! She was super encouraging though. Everybody starts somewhere. She works at one of the local running shoe places. I told her I'd been thinking maybe I needed new shoes. She looked at my shoes and said, "Those are Mercury's. They were discontinued years ago. They have been replaced with Inspires. Yeah, you probably need new shoes."

I guess I'll be hitting the store soon for some new shoes. I want to replace them before something really hurts. Right now, I'm just creaky in my ankles and feet when I get up in the morning - age or shoes? I also want to wear anything new for awhile before the big day.

My run time was 21:40 for 2.2 miles. That's a 9:50 pace! It's not sustainable though. AHR was 166 with a max of 175.

All in all, it felt pretty good. My outfit may not be flattering, but it felt comfortable in all three disciplines. It's not easy to slide your butt back on the saddle when your shorts are wet.

The transition time between my swim and bike was 6:15. That includes doing a bunch of stuff I won't have to do on race day - unlocking my locker, getting my bike out of the car...

Between the bike and the run it was 5:45. But I won't be talking to anyone on race day or having to put my bike into the car. :D

For next time - I need to dry my feet better and I need to carry water with me on my run. I think I'm going to make the bike and run distances longer too.

V.

[jesvetmed]

Sounds like you are doing GREAT!!!! Congrats, I'm glad it felt so good to you.

[Wahine]

Thank you V. You rock.:D:D

[Veronica]

Thank you V. You rock.:D:D

No problem, a small token of my appreciation for all your encouragement.

Today was hard, but kind of fun in a masochistic sort of way.

I did three short bricks back to back - 4.8 mile bike, 1.1 mile run. All but one of my transitions were under 2 minutes. That one included a potty break.

My legs were a little fatigued. I've run three days in a row now. Who'd have thought I'd ever say that? :p

I've been looking at the results for last year's Barb's Race Athena class. I could have a kick butt swim time. :D I wish the swim were longer. :rolleyes:

V.

[Wahine]

Yippeeeeeeeee V!! You are so ready for the triathlon world. You're going to kill your HIM. Are you going to be racing in Athena? Cool.

I unfortunately, or fortunately... (I'm not sure which)... have dropped firmly out othe the Athena category. I look good but won't be medaling much this year.:D:(

[Veronica]

Are you going to be racing in Athena? Cool.:D:(

Yep - even at my lightest I'm an Athena. And I'm about 10 pounds up from that. :mad: Would you believe that I have not lost a single pound since I started training. And no, I have not added muscle and my clothes do not fit differently. It's a little annoying.

Given last year's times and what I think I may be able to do - I'd come in 5th. Out of a field of like 10. :D I waver back and forth between doing the swim harder. I could probably shave off another two minutes if I swam it hard. And I could do the bike faster than I've projected. But 13 miles is a long freakin' way to run...

Gee Mr. Official... could I do the run first so I can get it out of the way and then focus on what I'm good at? I promise not to drown. :D

Right...


V.

[Wahine]

V - I had a coach that asked me to do an Oly race before an IM where I pushed the bike as hard as I could. Then run and not worry about the run, just run it like it was any other race. Turned out that I could run just as fast even though I thought I had totally emptied the tank on the bike. You might want to try it on a small race first just to see what'll happen. Or even in your training. There's a lot of time to be made up on the bike even if you push just a little bit more.

[Veronica]

I already wrote about the early part of this week.

Wednesday I did two 26 mile bike rides - Thom's commute - out and back to the Pittsburg BART station. I rode out with him in the morning and back by myself, went back in the afternoon so we could ride home together. The afternoon ride was tough - hot and a wicked headwind on the way out. And I was feeling fatigued. I felt better when I realized all I had done since last Friday. I should have felt fatigued!

I took Thursday and Friday off in preparation for today's race. I just did yoga those two days. You can read about the race and see pictures on our website.

This next week - lots of running. :cool:

V.

[jobob]

Woo-hoo V! Glad your first tri went well!

[Veronica]

I took Sunday off. It was nice to just hang around the house with Thom.

Our air quality has been awful here because of all the wildfires. I met with the trainer twice, ran on the treadmill 3 times and did Spinervals twice - a double header one day.

Today the Vineman people were holding a guided swim so Thom and I drove up to Guerneville so I could do that. There were some cute, teeny tiny ducklings in the river. It was my second swim in my wetsuit. It feels a little weird, my legs seem very buoyant. But it's not uncomfortable. It was good to hear what the set up will be like on race day.

I had an okay swim. I guess I don't track very well. I ended up nearly running into the shore three different times and got into some lily pads once. :eek: I suspect I did some extra yardage. Fortunately on race day there will be large orange buoys in the center of the river. That should help. Oh and I was faster going up stream. Probably because I kept running into things on the way back down. :)

I'm hoping I can get some outside time in this week.

V.

[roadie gal]

It sounds like you're really moving along on the training. That lousy air does put a damper on the training, doesn't it?

Up here the visibility at times has been less than a mile. I tried to get on my bike one day and had to quit after 1/2 an hour because of the smoke. It's good you have the option of an air conditioned gym to go to, even if you have to be on the treadmill and trainer.

[Veronica]

This has been a pretty light week. I ran 9.3 miles on Monday. I did a two hour recovery bike ride on Tuesday - 27 miles, 14.5 mph, AHR 144. Wednesday we started working on replacing 40 feet of fencing. That was demolition day and dig up the old concrete footings. Thursday we put in four new posts. Friday we put up the stringers and put the caps back on. Today we are hanging the slats. I did get in a session with the trainer on Thursday and I went for a VERY short run on Fri.

9.3 miles was hard. Actually the first mile was hard and the last two miles were tough. The ones in the middle were fine. I wonder how on earth I will be able to do 13.1 miles in 4 weeks. At the pace I'm going, that will be like another 50 minutes of running. Scary! It's funny, I don't even worry about doing the swim and then the bike ride.

I wonder when running will become something I enjoy. Right now it's something I do because I have to. It's a chore. I want it to become like my ride on Tuesday. I just go out and do it because I like it.

Tomorrow my plan is to do my July 200 K. I want to get in another long run early in the week. Next Sunday - July 13 I have an Olympic distance race. I'll be taking off at least Friday and Saturday.

V.

[Wahine]

V - you'll be able to do the run because you will be buoyed by the fabulousness of the day. Good luck on the 200 tomorrow!!

[Veronica]

I've scratched my plans to do my 200 K tomorrow. My wonderful husband has correctly read my anxiety about next weekend's race and has suggested that we go look at the course tomorrow instead. I feel a bit guilty because Jo has to keep sending me cards to do her permanent. I owe her lots of cookies. It's a wonderful course, if anyone ever gets it into their head that they need to do a 200 K a month. It's a really nice mixture of quiet little roads with not much traffic, but enough places spread out through the ride to refuel.

V.

[jobob]

I owe her lots of cookies.


Chocolate chip pleeze

:D

[Veronica]

Chocolate chip pleeze

:D

You betcha! Have you had the ones with the mini peanut cups in them? They are my favorites. Velobambina came up with that alteration to the recipe. Very, very good if you like peanut butter. Hey, I'd even make some of each for you. :p

V.

[Wahine]

You betcha! Have you had the ones with the mini peanut cups in them? They are my favorites. Velobambina came up with that alteration to the recipe. Very, very good if you like peanut butter. Hey, I'd even make some of each for you. :p

V.

What do I have to do to get a hold of those mini-peanut butter cup cookies?

[Veronica]

What do I have to do to get a hold of those mini-peanut butter cup cookies?

Well, you can make them, just use Trader Joes mini peanut butter cups instead of the chips.

Or if we ever actually end up in the same place, I'll bring some.

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies
Cuisine Magazine – Issue #22

Makes 3 dozen cookies
Bake Time: 12 - 14 minutes

Whisk together; set aside

3 ¼ cups all purpose flour
1 t. baking soda
1 t. kosher salt

Cream “Wet” Ingredients with an electric mixer

1 cup sugar
1 cup dark brown sugar
2/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup vegetable shortening
2 eggs
2 t. vanilla

Stir Flour Mixture into the creamed mixture with a spoon. Then stir in:

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
½ cup milk chocolate chips

Form cookies and bake.


I use Guittard chips only, no Nestle.


V.

[jobob]

oooh mini peanut cups, you betcha. :cool:

[Veronica]

Today I actually felt like a runner! :D I wasn't fast, an average pace of 5.8 mph over 4.2 miles. But I felt good the whole time. Going up the hill on Golden Bear didn't totally wear me down, 4 times up that sucker!

Maybe it's my new Title 9 shorts. They are pretty comfy. Maybe it's that I noticed when I started to shuffle and stopped it. I didn't get tense in my shoulders. I didn't let my HR get too high on the hill. Maybe it's all the work I've been doing with the trainer...Who knows, but I like it. :D

Now, if only I can hold onto that feeling for three times as many miles...

V.

[Veronica]

An easy week this week since I had a race today. I ran two days, attempted a brick workout one day, but had some issues, and met with the trainer once. I had a couple of yoga sessions in there as well.

I have big plans for the next two weeks. I want to get in two 12 mile runs, one each week. I'm doing a 200 K next Sat., for sure this time, since I'm running out of time for this month. I'll be doing some shorter 4 mile runs with an interval focus and some bricks. Did ya notice no mention of swimming yet? Maybe I'll do some, maybe I won't. It's the "easy" leg. :)

I'll be meeting with the trainer a couple of times each week too. She has me doing a lot of core work and some leg stuff. I think both are paying off with the running as I feel better when I run. Maybe it's all in my head, but that's okay.

V.

[Veronica]

I only did one outside run last week to give my toes some time to recover. I swam once, met with the trainer once and did a few yoga sessions. I rode a couple of good outside rides, including my July 200K. That is number 5 in the books. Although the last thirty miles of that pretty much sucked - headwind, red lights, clueless people. I wanted to throw my bike aside like David Millar did at the Giro and have a total emotional breakdown. I was just so frustrated and angry.

This morning I did one of the run routes that I had done early on in this saga. I was 1:45 faster over 3.1 miles than I was in the beginning. I guess that's good, but I'm still woefully slow.

My left calf is constantly tight. It's particularly bad when I wake up in the morning and gets better the more I move.

I've finally lost a little weight too, two whole pounds. :rolleyes:

Thom and I drove the course again yesterday. They had the Vineman 70.3 on Sunday and you could see how the course was marked. I hope it as well marked for my race. Chalk Hill is short, but steep, probably 7 - 8%. Of course I'm only thinking about the end of Chalk Hill, not all the rollers going into it.

There are a lot of little hills on the run and one big one just before the turnaround. But it is asphalt and that will be better. It was chilly up there, only about 60 degrees; the sun didn't come out until nearly 1 PM. I'm wondering if I will want arm warmers and a vest to throw on after the swim,

V.

[colby]

T minus 12 days already, time flies! :eek:


It was chilly up there, only about 60 degrees; the sun didn't come out until nearly 1 PM. I'm wondering if I will want arm warmers and a vest to throw on after the swim,

You'll know when you get within a couple of days if you need contingent items, but I would include them if you're even debating... the good news is that you have so much riding experience to know when you'll feel cold and what to wear to be comfortable. You'll have to factor in being a little wet, too, but that will wear off as you heat up...

1:45 over 5k is nothing to sneeze at, even if you are still "slow"... I suffer from the same disease, but every minute is one step closer to "average" or "above average" ;) Congrats on the July 200k, too, sounds like you earned that one the hard way. :)

[Wahine]

Hey V!! I'm so excited for you.

You'll do great. Have you got a race plan? By that I mean strategies to deal with things as they come up. It's a good thing to think about. Like what will you do if the run is really painful and just sucks, how are you going to motivate yourself to keep going. Or what will you do if your stomach goes south. Having pre-planned ways to deal with these things is helpful. I'm sure you have lots of experience with this with cycling.

BTW - I just finished crewing for Race Across Oregon. It was an amazing experience. You might seriously want to think about it. Maybe not as a solo but as a two person team or something. It was very cool.

[maillotpois]

Any idea what time you might be done? I have a friend doing his first IM that day (the other arm of the "extreme" TNT group we have does IM, and this guy's one of our honorees) and I might head up there after the Marin century to cheer him. It's a long drive, though, so if I had a chance of catching you as well, there'd be even more reason. ;)

[Veronica]

Have you got a race plan? By that I mean strategies to deal with things as they come up. It's a good thing to think about. Like what will you do if the run is really painful and just sucks, how are you going to motivate yourself to keep going. Or what will you do if your stomach goes south. Having pre-planned ways to deal with these things is helpful. I'm sure you have lots of experience with this with cycling.


My standard plan of HTFU and finish. :D Even if it means walking a whole bunch. We've been over the run course twice now and there is a good chunk of up and down. I can see me walking up and running down and going as far as I can... then walking up... etc.

Finishing time: My swim wave is at 8:20. I expect the swim to take 40 minutes or less. I did the guided swim in 43 min. at a very leisurely pace and lots of zigzagging. :D

I anticipate being able to average 15 - 16 miles an hour on the bike. I hope to be a little faster... but who knows. 3:30 - 3:45 for the bike.

I'd like to do 12 minute miles for the run, but could be as slow as 15, so 2:37 - 3:17.

Adding it up 7 - 7:45 - so I should finish sometime between 3 and 4 PM. Yowza!!!! But Central Coast Double took me 18 hours... so I can do this. I don't see a podium finish in my future. :rolleyes:



V.

[kelownagirl]

My standard plan of HTFU and finish. :D Even if it means walking a whole bunch. We've been over the run course twice now and there is a good chunk of up and down. I can see me walking up and running down and going as far as I can... then walking up... etc.

Finishing time: My swim wave is at 8:20. I expect the swim to take 40 minutes or less. I did the guided swim in 43 min. at a very leisurely pace and lots of zigzagging. :D

I anticipate being able to average 15 - 16 miles an hour on the bike. I hope to be a little faster... but who knows. 3:30 - 3:45 for the bike.

I'd like to do 12 minute miles for the run, but could be as slow as 15, so 2:37 - 3:17.

Adding it up 7 - 7:45 - so I should finish sometime between 3 and 4 PM. Yowza!!!! But Central Coast Double took me 18 hours... so I can do this. I don't see a podium finish in my future. :rolleyes:



V.

What's the bike course like?

[Veronica]

What's the bike course like?


Other than the Chalk Hill Climb, which is about 7 - 8% for about 1/2 a mile at the end, (estimating from my GPS data) it is very similar to my local ride, very rolling, very curvy.

http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=21148&highlight=local+ride

V.

[kelownagirl]

Other than the Chalk Hill Climb, which is about 7 - 8% for about 1/2 a mile at the end, (estimating from my GPS data) it is very similar to my local ride, very rolling, very curvy.

http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=21148&highlight=local+ride

V.

Sounds like the route on my tri except I have more downhill. It's 2 X 10k laps with one short but steep hill (9% for .5km) and lots of turns. No use for aerobars so I'm taking them off and losing a lb. I hope to avg about 18-19 mph on the bike.

[Veronica]

Aerobars????

Maybe next year I'll add them. I've ridden big chunks of this course, but in the opposite direction, on different brevets I've done. I don't know how useful aerobars would be. I've been able to average 17+ on the shorter tris. I'm not sure I can sustain that for 56 miles. Plus this is much hillier than those two were.

V.

[kelownagirl]

Aerobars????

Maybe next year I'll add them. I've ridden big chunks of this course, but in the opposite direction, on different brevets I've done. I don't know how useful aerobars would be. I've been able to average 17+ on the shorter tris. I'm not sure I can sustain that for 56 miles. Plus this is much hillier than those two were.

V.

I couldn't maintain that speed on a longer race either unless it was flatter, at least not if I wanted to run after. :D I don't find I use my aerobars much. I'm lower, faster, more comfortable, and more in control in the drops.

[Wahine]

Aerobars don't give you much benefit unless you are going 16 mph or faster. So if there are a lot of hills and you are going a bit slower, you're better off saving the weight.

[kelownagirl]

Aerobars don't give you much benefit unless you are going 16 mph or faster. So if there are a lot of hills and you are going a bit slower, you're better off saving the weight.

Yup, that's what I heard from my coach too. Oh wait, you ARE my coach... :p

OK, coach, I'm off to do my hill repeats, and hey, I've been doing pretty well following the plan we devised. Yeah baby! It's great to have all this time to train!