How Hard Can It Be? 5.0

[Veronica]

I've got 11 more days to be a slacker as March 12 is 20 weeks out from my HIM.

I really like training for this distance. It's a long enough race that I have to train, but not so long that training becomes my life. I don't know if I'll ever do a full IM since this mostly makes me happy. :p

I've run once in the last two weeks since I hurt my foot. Once I realized that it had not recovered enough for me to make my monthly mileage goal I decided to just let it rest and REALLY heal. It's not even like I have a cool story for how I hurt it. I got out of bed while still kinda asleep and lost my balance and stumbled. I didn't trip over a cat or shoes or anything, just being klutzy. I'd say it's about 90% recovered.

This year I'd like to actually swim once a week, justify my gym membership if nothing else. :rolleyes: My running has come so far, and I've learned so much about myself as a runner. Maybe this year I'll have a decent run and break 7 hours. I'm not going to worry about going super fast on the bike this year, just get through it and run well.

Four weeks after my HIM, Thom and I are doing one as a relay in Maine, with our hometown crowd. That is going to be fun! I'm going all out on the swim because I'll have a couple of hours to recover before the run.

I've got a few smaller races planned before the half. I'm excited about it all.

Veronica

[kacie tri-ing]

Love following your journey!! Hope that foot heals up soon. I'm sure it will realize that you are training and it will shape up soon!

[7rider]

I've got 11 more days to be a slacker ...

You're a slacker?? :confused:
Heck. What does that make the rest of us?

Good luck with training. Make sure you allow that foot to get the other 10% back. That's the hardest part, I think.

[Veronica]

Week 1 - pretty much a bust. :(

I have not been "healthy" since Valentine's Day when I hurt my foot. It seems to have recovered - just stiff now when I first get up. March 5 I crushed my right middle finger between two parts of a moving wall. I didn't break anything, but did a lot of cell damage. It's still pretty ugly and swollen.

This past week I caught a cold and had three major projects - 2 presentations and an outline for a third - to finish as part of a Math grant I'm participating in. I was not thrilled about having to do so many "dog & pony" shows and left the prep to the last minute. Stupid, I know. :rolleyes: All three did go well, but it was stressful and sucked up a lot of my free time.

No swims, no bike rides...

But I did do this really fun exercise on Wednesday with the TRX and a set of steps. Put one foot in a stirrup, put your hands on the step and jump backwards on the other foot. Jump forward and stand up, then jump onto the step and jump back off. I did 15 on each foot with I think four steps. Took a minute break, added a step and did 15 more on each foot. I really worked my glutes and of course all the little stabilizer muscles are firing. I REALLY enjoy balancing and plyometrics. :D

And I did do 30 minutes of intervals on the treadmill yesterday, after a ten minute warm up. Intervals were 50 seconds of running at a 7:30 pace, followed by a 1:50 walking. I was aiming for 1 minute and 2 minutes, but it takes me 10 seconds to change the speed on this treadmill.

Hopefully, this next week will be better.

Veronica

[Veronica]

Week 2

A little bit better than week 1. Still no swim, only bike ride will be today, 90 minutes in the trainer. Morning workouts are so much easier to get in than afternoons. :rolleyes:

I did my first "long" run in eight weeks yesterday - 7.5 miles. At first I was pretty unhappy with it. My pace seemed slow and that last half mile felt like a death march. I had my HRM set for my long endurance zone and for the first five miles, I was right there, but the last 2.5 I could not keep it down there. Once I factored in how much wind I had, huge storm has blown in, and 8 weeks of minimal running to allow for recovery, it really wasn't that bad - only 10 seconds off my pace on my last good long run.

I had thought I might swim on Wednesday afternoon, but I could hardly lift my arms over my head. Tuesday Shawna had me do bicep curls into an overhead press with the EZ curl bar and just ten pounds added to it. Oh, it was just 3 sets of 50 reps. OUCH! Muscle endurance work can be so much fun.

Wednesday was mainly a plyometrics day. Jumping with a twenty pound weight vest on is entertaining. It took about 5 jumps each round to get into it. I think we started with 7 steps and added one each set.

I need to work in a yoga session on Sunday because by Monday I really feel the need for it and I want to make Monday afternoons my swim day.

Veronica

[Veronica]

Week 3 - another week of base building. :)

This is the week I decided to take charge of my diet. Over the winter I had gained 5 pounds and I was okay with that since my body fat percentage was still under 19%. But I am not light at 120 pounds of lean body mass, so the leaner I can get, the better - within reason of course. :D I do have quite the sweet tooth and I am not good at moderation so I went cold turkey on sweets. Bummer because my local grocery store had Ferrar Rocher chocolates on sale this week. However, I've already dropped two pounds. :D I want to lose 5 more for sure and maybe as much as ten by the end of July. Ten pounds lost would give me 12% body fat. That's pretty lean and it's more important to me to stay healthy and have the energy to train well.

I got my March running goal this month by doing another longish run on Saturday - 8.4 miles. It was another blustery day and I finished up just as it started pouring. It was a really good run, as always a bit slower than I'd like. But Thom remarked that I didn't seem beat up at all and I felt like cardio wise I could have kept going. My legs were getting tired though. :rolleyes: Maybe because I did a killer hamstring session with Shawna on Wednesday...

Veronica

[roo4]

Week 3 - another week of base building. :)

This is the week I decided to take charge of my diet. Over the winter I had gained 5 pounds and I was okay with that since my body fat percentage was still under 19%. But I am not light at 120 pounds of lean body mass, so the leaner I can get, the better - within reason of course. :D I do have quite the sweet tooth and I am not good at moderation so I went cold turkey on sweets. Bummer because my local grocery store had Ferrar Rocher chocolates on sale this week. However, I've already dropped two pounds. :D I want to lose 5 more for sure and maybe as much as ten by the end of July. Ten pounds lost would give me 12% body fat. That's pretty lean and it's more important to me to stay healthy and have the energy to train well.


Veronica

Veronica,

12% body fat for a female is not "pretty lean." Essential fat for women is estimated to be between 8-12%. Please consider a more healthy goal.

[Veronica]

Veronica,

Please consider a more healthy goal.

I appreciate your concern, however, I am a fairly athletic person and 12% is a reasonable goal. I work with a nutritionist and I am not starving myself. I am well aware of my athletic performance and how different things affect it. That is why I said in my post 12% was the goal only if I could stay healthy and train effectively for my Half Ironman.


Veronica

[roo4]

I wish you a healthy triathlon season.

[Veronica]

Thom asked me on Sunday why I hadn't signed up yet for any of my early season races. I had two reasons. 1) Angels Camp was COLD last year. The swim was freezing and I did warm up on the bike and the run, but after the race I couldn't stop shivering. I think that's why one of my Christmas presents was a heated car blanket. :p 2) Racing stresses me out. I was a mass of jitters pre-race last year. I think I had set my expectations so high, that it really got to my head. The jitters would go away a hundred yards into the swim, but still it wasn't fun. And as I get older, I have to wait longer to start. It occurred to me that what I really like about triathlon is the training and I need to just have fun when I race. So that's become my goal for this year - to have fun at all my races.

Change of topic...

Somewhere along the way, I've developed some serious abs! So, I'm one of those weird people who just keeps track of numbers. My jump rope record is 323 jumps in a minute sort of thing. Yes, you can count that fast in your head! :p I have always hated ab work that involved lifting my legs. My legs are large, heavy, immovable objects, especially when I have to work against gravity. We use to do a lot of decline leg lifts - sets of 15. I would do 7, then 5, then 3. I was very excited when I could do 12 straight, but I never got to 15. We haven't done them in a few months. Today, Shawna says do 20. O.... kay.... to my surprise, I did 20! And I did 20 on round 2 as well. Then we moved to bicep/tricep work.

Yep, I definitely like my training and triathlon just gives it a focus. I think it makes me a more well rounded athlete.

Veronica

[Wahine]

Yay Veronica!! It sounds like you are doing great. I'm always happy to hear about how your training is going.

Keep up the amazing work. :cool:

[solobiker]

Yay Veronica!! It sounds like you are doing great. I'm always happy to hear about how your training is going.

Keep up the amazing work. :cool:

+1 I enjoy reading about your training. :-)

[indysteel]

Ugh; decline leg lifts are my nemesis (along with about 50 other exercises). Great job! I'll try to channel you the next time my trainer has me do them.

[Veronica]

My abs are still slightly sore. :rolleyes:

Today was my first day of spring break. I had thought I would go for a run... but I've really enjoyed hanging out with the kitties, reading Robbie McEwen's book and working in my back yard. See, this is why I can't ever do an IM... :p

We're spending a good chunk of the rest of break mountain biking the White Rim. It's been awhile since I've mountain biked; I hope I have forgotten how! We're taking our running gear and plan to get in a trail run. That will be a nice change of pace.

Veronica

[solobiker]

Have fun V!!

[indysteel]

My abs are still slightly sore. :rolleyes:

Today was my first day of spring break. I had thought I would go for a run... but I've really enjoyed hanging out with the kitties, reading Robbie McEwen's book and working in my back yard. See, this is why I can't ever do an IM... :p

We're spending a good chunk of the rest of break mountain biking the White Rim. It's been awhile since I've mountain biked; I hope I have forgotten how! We're taking our running gear and plan to get in a trail run. That will be a nice change of pace.

Veronica

Have a great trip. Please give a ride report. We leave for the White Rim in a couple of weeks.

[Veronica]

http://www.tandemhearts.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/steps-300x225.jpg

Did more jumping on Wednesday. I was going to do 14 steps (a new record) on my third set of twenty jumps. My legs were pretty fried since this round had also included squats on the Bosu, side to side jumps, leg press and a minute of jump rope - 292 was my best! I didn't want to take a chance on missing and ruin my mountain bike trip before it even started, so did 13 steps instead. :D

Veronica

[Veronica]

The pictures (http://tandemhearts.smugmug.com/Travel/White-Rim-Trail-2012/22421743_NxfPFH#!i=1792604403&k=R6SnhJw) are up.

It was great training. I do not like riding in deep sand - sends the heart rate sky high and feels like you're stuck! Fortunately, there was not a lot of it. Unfortunately, we rode it and the Hardscrabble climb after a big lunch on Day 1.

Day 2 I was smart and ate PBJ to prepare for the big climb - Murphy's Hogback after lunch.

Day 3 was the best - lots of swoopy, short steep hills.

Day 4 ended with the climb up Shafer, very doable, about a 10% grade for 3 miles. Loved it!

We'll have a more detailed report on our website sometime soon. :p

Veronica

[Wahine]

:D:D:D:D:D:D

Sounds fnatastic.

[Veronica]

Full report is here. (http://www.tandemhearts.com/wordpress/white-rim-trail-2012/)

It's not any different from my link in the mountain bike section. :D

Veronica

[Veronica]

The latest issue of Triathlete has an article about doing a sub 6 hour HIM. Gosh all I want is a sub 7 hour. Articles like this make me somewhat excited, frustrated and a little depressed. Why? The times projected for a sub 6 hour race.

Swim 35 - 45 minutes: My times range from 34 - 40 minutes. I'm there and don't even have to work for it.

Bike 2:55 - 3:15: My best is 3:18, but that's pretty close and could be achieved.

Run 1:50 - 2:10: My best is 2:50 :( Training pace ranges I'm pretty close everywhere except race pace. Mostly because I've never really trained at "race pace."

Maybe it's time to take this running thing up a notch.

Veronica

[kacie tri-ing]

Don't compare yourself! You work on what YOU can work on! You will find so much more success! Trust me on this! If your goal is to go sub 7, then you do everything in your abilities to do sub 7 this year both in your training and in your racing. Then you can re-set your goals to a new one!

[solobiker]

V..I know you know this...just think about it this way, your are far more fit and athletic then most people half your age!!:D:D Several of my co-workers that are in the low to mid twentys can't even ride a bike 20 miles.:eek:

Sub 7 would be great and and I know from your posts you will train hard to achieve this goal. Good luck and keep us posted on your training.:)

I also think it was you with a signature line something like this: A goal is just a wish without a plan.

[Veronica]

I love my Saturday morning runs; I can't remember the last time I had a bad Saturday morning run. On the flip side I can't remember the last time I had a great 5 AM run or after work run.

Early morning runs, I'm stuffy and can't breathe well. After work runs I'm tired and my lunch usually feels like a brick in my tummy. But until school is out, those are times I have to work with.

What's my tag line again? Oh yeah, something about discipline. :rolleyes:

Veronica

[Veronica]

I really need to get my butt to the pool sometime soon - my first race is coming up in just 3 weeks.

Work is getting hectic with lots of events plus getting ready for state testing. I am trying really hard to not let that stress me out too much. I think this is the best prepared class I have ever had. I am definitely a fan of looping - two years to get them here has been great.

I went out for a lovely three mile run on Friday. It was warm - 65 and no wind at 4:45 AM.

I did a long run on Saturday, 8.5 miles. It was great until about 4.7 miles and then my legs just didn't want to run anymore. I think I didn't eat enough breakfast. I started doing a run/walk thing. It worked out pretty well until my music died. :mad: I was pretty surprised that my overall pace really wasn't too bad and my average heart rate was pretty low.

We've signed up for another mountain bike tour in June - Telluride to Moab, six days of riding with lots of climbing at elevation, should be some good training. :D

Veronica

[Wahine]

We've signed up for another mountain bike tour in June - Telluride to Moab, six days of riding with lots of climbing at elevation, should be some good training. :D

Veronica

This sounds awesome!!!:D:D:D

[Veronica]

I'm tired today. :D

Today's workout with Shawna was entirely with the TRX. We started off with push ups - one foot in the stirrups, hand walk backwards so your feet are higher than your head, keep the free foot parallel to the foot in the stirrup, do ten push ups, switch feet, repeat.

We did a couple of other things then...

Both feet in the stirrups, elbows on a Bosu ball, basically plank position. Come up onto your hands, one hand at a time, then go back down onto your elbows. Do ten each side. This was paired with bicep and tricep work.

Finally, I did knee pull ins - both feet in the stirrups, elbows on a Bosu, pull your knees in toward your chest.

I so like doing stuff with the TRX, it much more of a whole body experience than just weights. But I need a nap!

Veronica

[Veronica]

Thom and I did short intervals this morning. Typically he runs ahead of me; he's my rabbit, that I'll never catch. But today he was behind me, kind of pacing me. On the penultimate one he says that I have to stay ahead of the zombies. Now I know he can catch me, but I wanted to put it off as long as possible and somehow I managed to sprint 15 seconds faster than I ever have! Typically my sprints are between 5:15 - 5:30 pace, but somehow I came up with a 5:00 even! I was fried, but hey that's what super short sprints are for. :p

Veronica

[Wahine]

Nice work!! Sprints are killers. But then again, so are zombies.

[Veronica]

Gotta love my guy - He emails me today, "I love you for your ...... BRAINS!"

The Zombie Apocalypse is the whole reason he got in shape. :D

Veronica

[Veronica]

Finally got my butt to the pool. I haven't swum since my last race in September. :rolleyes:

After my warm up, I swam a thousand yards, just to kind of get a feel for where I'm at. My time was 19:09, not bad. But regular swimming would definitely improve it. :D

Veronica

[alexis_the_tiny]

Just so you know, Veronica, I'd give my right arm and possibly both legs to swim a thousand yards in 19 minutes after a warm up. Although that'll be the end of any swimming for me, so I'll stick to 20 minutes to finish 500 yards. :rolleyes: You totally rock in a very big way. :D

[Veronica]

Just so you know, Veronica, I'd give my right arm and possibly both legs to swim a thousand yards in 19 minutes after a warm up. Although that'll be the end of any swimming for me, so I'll stick to 20 minutes to finish 500 yards. :rolleyes: You totally rock in a very big way. :D


That would make swimming and the rest of your tri - very hard! :D

Thanks!

Veronica

[Veronica]

My last ride on my road bike was 25 miles on February 12. Yesterday we went out for 70 miles in the delta - very flat, but very windy. The first half of the ride we had a headwind and the occasional cross wind, and the pavement was awful. But it was a beautiful day, we were on lightly trafficked levee roads and we had some pretty vineyards, river front homes and the river itself to distract us. Still, I was glad on the second half to be on better pavement and to have tail or crosswinds. And we still had those river views. :D

The first half of the ride we averaged 14 mph and my HR average was 145. The second half we averaged 18.3 and my HR was 150. Those rates are solidly in my endurance zone on the bike. I was deliberately trying to keep it below 155. I spent the last 17 miles either in the drops or doing invisible aerobars. Happily, my bike is quite comfy, even with the time off. I have put my race wheels back on it and I could feel the crosswind with those deep rims. I'm a little tired today and I can tell I haven't had much saddle time. I don't really recommend taking 11 weeks off your bike. Although, in fairness, we did ride the tandem once and we did the White Rim trip. :D

Veronica

[Veronica]

My first race of the season is on Sunday. It should be quite a bit warmer than it was last year, which is good. Hopefully, the buoy won't move and it will only be a 1,000 yard swim. It will be my first swim in my full sleeved wet suit. My only swim goal is to get accustomed to the wet suit. :D

The bike is pretty hilly and my plan is to just not go too hard. I want to keep my HR around 155. That will be hard to do on the hills.

The run is not especially flat either! My goal is to run smart and have fun on the run. Once you move up and away from the transition area, the run is on some gorgeous single track up above the reservoir. I want to run to my HR - not letting it get above 168. No blowing up! :rolleyes:

Between now and then I plan to relax and not get sucked in to making time goals. :p

Veronica

[tprevost]

Hey Veronica,

I'll be cheering for you! See ya Sunday!

Tracy

[Veronica]

Cool! I was hoping you would be there again this year! It should be much warmer! :D

Veronica

[tprevost]

Yeah, I sure hope so! I was freezing and I had clothes on! :p

[Veronica]

Race report and pictures are posted on our website. Click the link below. :D

Results are posted: 5/11 in my age group; 10/23 Overall

The race is smaller than I thought, with less than 70 participants.

Veronica

[Veronica]

I may never be able to run as fast as I would like...

but I can do push ups with my hands on the floor, one foot on the fit ball and 1 foot in the air, ten on each side. :p The first side was always pretty easy. By about 5 on the second side, Shawna was keeping the ball from rolling too much.

Veronica

[Wahine]

I may never be able to run as fast as I would like...

but I can do push ups with my hands on the floor, one foot on the fit ball and 1 foot in the air, ten on each side. :p The first side was always pretty easy. By about 5 on the second side, Shawna was keeping the ball from rolling too much.

Veronica

That's awesome. Well done.

[Veronica]

Did a brick on Saturday and went mountain biking on Sunday.

Sunday's ride was very short - just 5.75 miles with 1,000 feet of climbing and descending. Yep, it goes up for just over 2.7 miles and then we turn around and go back down. It's possible to do it as a loop, but we actually prefer it this way - get the best climbing and the best descending. :D

Switched my upper body workout to Mondays this week - a lot of core work today, including ab roll outs. I'll feel those tomorrow.

Just three weeks of school left. I've got my dog and pony show presentation for the math grant I've been participating in on Thursday. Bought a new dress for it yesterday. :p

Veronica

[Wahine]

Bought a new dress for it yesterday. :p

Veronica

I hope it's cut appropriately. You know, to show off your guns. :D

[Veronica]

I hope it's cut appropriately. You know, to show off your guns. :D


This is what I got.

http://images.titlenine.com/images//set_a/en_us/local/products/zoom/165202_z.jpg


I don't think the picture is great and on the rack it looked so busy. But it's really cute on and totally different from my regular wardrobe. Most of my stuff is separates and solid colors. And yeah... the shoulders and biceps look really good. :D

Veronica

[Susan Otcenas]

That's Prana. I love their prints. Super cute!

[Veronica]

And I'm relieved to see that TE doesn't sell this particular one. :D

I've never really been a "print" person. I feel like I look like curtains or my grandmother in them, so a huge leap for me.

I tried on this dress in a really pretty green

http://gg1.teamestrogen.com/ri/300/300/2011_Spring/PA-58729-ALL.jpg

It looked great from the front - really showed off the abs. :p But I have too much back muscle and it was pulling across my back in a size medium and a large was too large.

Veronica

[Veronica]

Presentation was a huge success; the dress looked great - got lots of compliments. My favorite, " Mrs. D. you look very nice in that dress." from my student who makes robot sounds in class and pretends to be flying airplanes with his pencils. If you watch Modern Family, he's like both Luke and Manny, depending on his mood.

My hip has been bugging me a little this week - icing and lots of yoga.

Just ten more days of school. I'm really going to miss this group of kids, but I'm ready for a break.

Veronica

[colby]

Presentation was a huge success; the dress looked great - got lots of compliments. My favorite, " Mrs. D. you look very nice in that dress." from my student who makes robot sounds in class and pretends to be flying airplanes with his pencils. If you watch Modern Family, he's like both Luke and Manny, depending on his mood.

Aww, how sweet. ;) Way to bring him back to reality for a minute!

[Veronica]

Next race is a week from today. I was looking at my past results, from my first year of racing, and looking at the race organizer's website. I learned that my race is a qualifier for Nationals - top 1/3 in each age group automatically qualify. It would be cool to qualify, but I don't think I will. :rolleyes: I wonder if that means the race will have more entrants than previously. IT DOES NOT MATTER. My only goals are to swim easy, bike easy and enjoy the run. It would be nice to be faster than when I weighed ten pounds more, but even that, doesn't really matter.

Veronica

[Veronica]

Stress, stress stress...

The school district went all fancy this year and we do our report cards online. But they didn't bother to update our work computers or our Internet connection. It takes me twice as long to enter all my grades at work as it does from my home computer. And it's even slower if more a few teachers are working on it at the same time.

But the system developed a bug this weekend, so I couldn't get them done, like I had planned. Now I need to find a couple of extra hours in my schedule to get these done - assuming they get the bug fixed.

Guess I won't be swimming this week.

Veronica

[Tri Girl]

Stress, stress stress...

The school district went all fancy this year and we do our report cards online. But they didn't bother to update our work computers or our Internet connection. It takes me twice as long to enter all my grades at work as it does from my home computer. And it's even slower if more a few teachers are working on it at the same time.

But the system developed a bug this weekend, so I couldn't get them done, like I had planned. Now I need to find a couple of extra hours in my schedule to get these done - assuming they get the bug fixed.

Guess I won't be swimming this week.

Veronica

I feel your pain, but such is the life of a teacher. Flexibility, flexibility, flexibility. It'll all be over soon. This is my 2nd week on summer vacation... I'm SO glad it's here!

[Veronica]

Report card program was fixed late Tuesday and I finished mine up yesterday. Whew...I really dislike administrative tasks and don't like having them hanging over me.

I also discovered I misread the website for my next event; it's not a national qualifier. One of their other events is which means I don't have to worry about being in anyone's way on the run on Sunday. :cool: Yeah, I was worried about that. I think my swim and bike times would put me in the top third, the run not so much. It's not a goal or even a dream of mine to qualify for Nationals, but I would hate to be in someone's way who had a shot and part of the run is on single track. Stupid thing to worry about probably, but I was anyway.

I don't know what it is about Wednesdays, but I often need a nap Wednesday afternoons. Yesterday was one of those days. A two hour nap and eight hours of sleep, now I feel good. Or maybe that's the endorphins - had a great 4 mile run this morning. Yes!!! An early morning run with no wheezing and no tummy upset. It wasn't a PR or anything - just felt good and was fun.

Veronica

[Veronica]

Tough workout with Shawna this morning. I was (am still) very tired from my race yesterday.

Today's fun exercise - feet in the TRX stirrups, hands on a Bosu ball, round side down. Pull feet in and then back out, followed by a push up - 15 reps.

We ended the day with 10/20 repeated 3 times, no rest - 10 V ups, 20 Russian twists.


How soon until I can nap?

Veronica

[Veronica]

I am just about recovered from Sunday's race. The muscles in my feet and my ankles have really been sore. Yes, it's the muscles. They ran 6.2 miles on almost all gravel and single track, which my feet are not very familiar with. Poor Thom has been stuck with my feet in his lap while we watch the Dauphine coverage. :D The massage really makes them feel better.

Today is the last day of school. I managed to not cry at our promotion ceremony yesterday. A couple of my kids cried and a lot of parents were teary, including our principal.

I have a week to train and then we're off to mountain bike Telluride to Moab. I'm a little nervous about so much riding at elevation - 8,000 - 10,000 feet most days. But I know how to moderate my effort and it will make me look at the scenery. :p

Veronica

[Veronica]

The Telluride trip was awesome. Pictures are here (http://tandemhearts.smugmug.com/Travel/Telluride-to-Moab/23765341_2LnMSr#!i=1924957371&k=r4ZF2GH). It was some of the hardest riding I have ever done. Every day I just worked at staying in a zone where I could ride. I think it turned out to be some pretty good training. :D I know I came home with some wicked huge calf muscles.

It took a few days for me to recover from the trip. I found myself napping for a couple of hours both Monday and Tuesday. But by Wednesday I seemed to be back to normal. My workout with Shawna on Wednesday was just awesome, lots of plyometrics. My favorite exercise being hold on to two 12 dumb bells and jump up onto a bench 15 times. I kept focusing on how quietly I could land. :D

Thursday, Friday and Saturday (today) were run days. Thursday's run was hard since I had not run in 2 weeks. Friday felt better, of course it was shorter and not as hilly. Today I went out for 8.5 miles and it was perfect! I just got into the zone where I felt like I could just keep going. It wasn't fast, but you know if I could run that pace for my entire HIM in 4 weeks, I'd be thrilled.

Shawna is heading off to Alaska with her dad for two weeks, so no trainer sessions. I've got a week and then we're heading to Maine. While there I plan to get in an ocean swim and run the course of our race in August. Not sure yet if we'll bike or drive the bike course. My sister lives on a small pond so maybe I'll work on my open water skills a bit.

4 weeks until Barb's Race. I don't feel ready. That's nothing new; I've never felt ready. :rolleyes:

Veronica

[Veronica]

Maine trip was great. I ran three times, including part of the course for Rev 3 Maine. It's a fairly flat run course with a section on the Eastern Trail through Scarborough Marsh. OY!!!! Running through the section of marsh was like running through a sauna! It's a good thing it's flat, because there is no way I want to walk through the section.

We biked about 45 miles of the bike course, picked up some pretty decent rental bikes at Gorham Bike and Ski in Saco. Oddly, they don't have a Gorham location. :p None of the climbs are very long, a few are fairly steep. Thom is doing this part of the relay and I expect he'll have a pretty good time. We averaged 16.5 mph without pushing ourselves and with me sightseeing along my old school bus route.

I had my first trainer session with Shawna in two weeks today. I expect I'll be a little sore tomorrow. My first set included Burpees and push ups, just ten of each, not bad. But the second round I had to do twenty and you guessed it. The third round was 30. :D Burpees are worse than push ups!

My HIM is less than 2 weeks away. I really need to go swim...


Veronica

[Wahine]

Good luck V. I'm looking forward to hearing how the race goes.

[Veronica]

It's not a good idea to let your mind wander when doing squats... Last round, 2nd of 15 reps... don't know what I did... leaned forward maybe. All I know is I had a sudden sharp pain to my lower back. That was Wed. Lots of icing and advil. No bike ride Wed., no run Thurs., no swim today.

It's feeling better, more like I just overworked it now. I still feel it when I bend over to scoop up a cat though. I had been planning on a 9 mile run tomorrow, one final pacing sort of run. Maybe I'll run tomorrow, maybe I won't. But I don't think it will be nine miles. It was more of mental thing, no fitness to be gained for the race at this point.

I hadn't planned on a taper, since I never really ramped up my training. It's going to be an interesting race. No matter what, I am having fun next Saturday. I may post the worst time ever, but I'm not going to stress this year. :D It would be ironic if I posted my best time. But I'm not going there.

One bright note - I'm not the last wave! My age group is HUGE. We're all by ourselves. The 40 - 44s are going with with the 55+ after us. I hate being the last wave, so many people to pass. They all pass me later on the run... :rolleyes: But at least they can see where they're going and they don't run into the butts of people who are walking. It's impossible to see wetsuit covered legs that are walking. :p

Veronica

[Wahine]

V - I'm sorry that happened. That sucks.



I hadn't planned on a taper, since I never really ramped up my training. It's going to be an interesting race. No matter what, I am having fun next Saturday. I may post the worst time ever, but I'm not going to stress this year. :D It would be ironic if I posted my best time. But I'm not going there.


Well I guess you're on a taper now. I'm glad you're not stressing about it.

[Catrin]

Sorry to read that Veronica, but glad to hear it seems to be resolving. Have fun next weekend and looking forward to reading about it!

[Veronica]

Here's the website (http://www.vineman.com/latestnews/2012_Full_Vineman_Barb_s_Race_AB_Athlete_Tracking_and_Updates.htm) for tracking me on race day. If it works. :D I'm number 2137.

My back is much better. I had a good workout with Shawna this morning. She's going easy on me this week.

I do believe I could PR this race - not a huge OMG PR. But being the geek I am, I've analyzed all 4 of my past results.

Swim times have ranged from 34 - 41 minutes. My goal this year is 40 minutes. Last year was 37.

Bike times have been 3:18 - 3:37 - goal 3:30. Last year was 3:28.

Run - my fastest time was 2:50. Last year was 2:54. This year I want a 2:44. That's a 12:30 average pace. I've been running my long runs at just under 11:30. But I've done almost no brick work this year. Plus there are some good size hills. My mantra is going to be, "Shuffle." Not an actual shuffle mind you, but a slow paced run.

Transition - last year I spent 12 minutes in transition and that's what I'm targeting this year. I've started wearing a bike jersey and arm coolers to avoid sunburn. It's probably a little late to start worrying about my skin. But happily, I did not burn at all last summer. :D So it's worth it to take the extra time in T-1.

Last year they changed the run in and out of T-2. Both are much longer with run in being on a concrete sidewalk. I didn't like running it in my bike shoes and walked it last year. I was 7 minutes in T-2 last year. If they've changed it back - I'll be a little quicker.

Add it all up, you get a 7:06. That's a PR by 3 minutes. Yeah, I'd like that sub 7 hours. I could get it by swimming and biking faster. But a better run would make me very happy.

Weather currently looks good with a projected high of 82.

Veronica

[Susan Otcenas]

Enjoy the day, Veronica! You've worked really hard to get here, and I'm sure you will be successful. :)

[Wahine]

Yay!! It's almost here. I'll be cheering for you.:)

[colby]

Final countdown! Very cool!

[Veronica]

It was good. Report and pictures are here. (http://www.tandemhearts.com/wordpress/barbs-race-2012/)

Veronica

[Veronica]

Recovery Week - Had a trainer session with Shawna yesterday, lots of core work and 160 push ups, done in sets of 20 mixed in with other things.

Easy run this morning, legs felt like lead and my left calf kept cramping up. I've been spending a lot of time on the couch watching the Olympics or napping with the cats. :D

Veronica

[Veronica]

Thinking about next year - Half Aquabike has a lot of appeal. It would be nice to focus more on my swim and to just lay it all out on the bike - something I've never done because of that 13 mile run. :rolleyes:

The thing is - after 5 years, I actually enjoy running. I suck at it, but I like it. I'm kinda leaning towards more sprints and Olympic distance events and the Half Aquabike. It seems like a good combination.

I've got two more races this year and I'm already thinking about next year. Geez.... :rolleyes:


Veronica

[sgf726]

Hi Veronica,
Nice report - thanks for sharing and congrats. I envy your ability to barely swim train and still do 42 minutes, my HIM time is about 55 minutes an I swim 3x per week.

Interested to see what you think of REV 3 Maine. Thinking of doing that race next year. I have heard good things about there races.

Sharon

[Veronica]

Thanks - I wish I could run like you! :D

Check out the medal for Rev3 Maine. It's kinda cool.

http://rev3tri.com/wp-content/themes/rev3tri/timthumb.php?src=http://rev3tri.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Maine-Finisher-Medal-Raw-Piece-Front-7-31.jpg&w=160&h=160&zc=1

I don't have any Finisher's Medals quite like that. :D

Veronica

[Catrin]

Thanks - I wish I could run like you! :D

Check out the medal for Rev3 Maine. It's kinda cool.

.....

I don't have any Finisher's Medals quite like that. :D

Veronica

I think you need one :cool: :D

[sgf726]

Very cool - think I will need to add that one to my collection (next year).

Have fun!

[Veronica]

My next event I'm only swimming and running. We're borrowing the in laws RV and I even get to shower in between.

I saw this and decided, if I can't be fast, I might as well be cute.

http://images.teamestrogen.com/ri/300/300/2012_Fall/BR-220473-513-a.jpg

Veronica

[Wahine]

I like it! It's very cute.

[Veronica]

It gets even better. I decided to add a skort, 'cause I can.

http://gg1.teamestrogen.com/ri/300/300/2012_Spring/SK-1017-062.jpg

I am a girly girl at times. :p

I just hope I like running in a skort. I'm going to test it out next weekend.

Veronica

[Wahine]

I think running skorts are great. I've not run in one but I always think they look fantastic.

[spokewench]

Great Race Veronica - I have a lot of respect for people who do open water swim. I just don't have it in me! This one looked great though as there were people standing up in the water (I actually might be comfortable enough to do a race like that!:D)

Oh, the shirt and skort are wonderful. Have fun!

[Veronica]

Yeah, the water was very shallow in lot of places.

Interesting to look back at my recovery runs last week.

Tuesday I "ran" 1.7 miles at a 12:40 pace. Some of that I walked.
Thursday I ran 2.2 miles at an 11:47 pace, keeping my heart rate quite low.
Saturday was 3.5 miles at a 10:25 pace, which included stopping to yell at an ankle biter dog.

Feeling just about "normal" again.

Today's trainer sessions was lots of fun. We flipped the tire ten times. Then did twenty push ups with your feet on the tire.

http://tandemhearts.smugmug.com/Training/Tire-Workout/tire-workout-1/1158280259_Jf429-L.jpg

Pic is from two years ago - tire is the same. :D

We did a total of six sets of flipping and push ups interspersed with other exercises, including ab roll outs and ab pull ins. I don't really like the pull ins. For some reason my feet end up rolling out an angle by my like my 5th one. I really like roll outs though. :p

The push ups weren't too bad until about the 80th one.

Veronica

[Wahine]

Wow!!!!!

[Catrin]

Wow indeed! I remember the first time you posted this picture :) Impressive!

We have this tire, and a larger one at our gym. I just beat it up with a large hammer - though I've seen people flipping it like in this picture! I always think of you when I see people working it.

[Veronica]

Rev3 Maine was an absolute blast! Thom and I both posted reports and they are on our website.

I was looking through the photos and noticed the Jumbrotron picture in the background of the finish photo Thom's aunt took.

http://tandemhearts.smugmug.com/Triathlons/Rev-3-Maine-2012/i-bhs36zd/0/L/IMG3069-L.jpg

They took the picture in the background as part of registration. I thought it was pretty cool.

I was thinking I had only one more race this season, but we've decided to do a mountain bike race as a relay in October.

I've also decided to change my focus a bit for next year and do the Vineman Half Aquabike instead of the HIM. I like running in training, but come race day I suck! :mad: I'll still do sprints and Olympic triathlons. But I'm excited about putting more focus into what I'm good at. I've worked out a training schedule where I can go swim with a Masters group on Saturdays. Yesterday was my first day. It was good, having a coach definitely makes me push myself harder.

Veronica

[Crankin]

That sounds like a good plan. Why not do what you really love?

[Veronica]

Yesterday was a big energy drain for me. I worked out with Shawna like normal at 5AM. Monday's upper body and core day. Almost all my weight work involved balancing on the Bosu with one foot lifted - chest press, overhead press, skull crushers... She also had me do sets of hanging leg raisers followed by decline leg lifts - 3 sets of 20 for each. My abs hurt today!

Then Thom and I took the mountain bikes out. It was a short ride - only 5.5 miles. 2.2 miles to climb 1,000 feet and then zip back down.

After lunch we went to the gym so Thom could see how he liked swimming. I think he may do his own tri at some point. :) I swam 800 yards while he swam.

Tired, tired body last night. He's been tinkering with his phone, which is our alarm clock and the alarm wasn't set. I was happy to have the extra 35 minutes of sleep this morning. Part of why he has been tinkering is so he could add a running game app to his phone. We completed our first mission of Zombies! Run! this morning. It was fun and gave a different focus to the run. Good to mix things up a bit.

Veronica

[Catrin]

Sounds like you had a lot of fun yesterday! Love the sounds of your workout, and then you were still able to hit the trails - great way to spend Labor Day! Our local trails were closed yesterday due to the rainy weekend, else I would have followed your example.

[Wahine]

Well done V!!

I agree with you on focusing on the racing that you like to do the best. It's all about having fun, in the end nothing else matters.

[colby]

Well done V!!

I agree with you on focusing on the racing that you like to do the best. It's all about having fun, in the end nothing else matters.

Yes! Very cool. It will be fun to try something new, go all out on the bike, show 'em who's boss ;)

[Veronica]

Last race of the season is coming up on Saturday. We decided not to do the mountain bike race after all. The race venue is a couple of hours away, we'd want to pre-ride the course a few times and we just don't have time. We need to get some maintenance stuff done around the house.

I've swum with the Masters group 3 times now and I'm having a blast. It's not easy, but it's that good kind of hard. I actually did two lengths of butterfly this last time, separated by a 75 of free. :D Our last set on Saturday was 8 x 25 sprints on 40 seconds. I was pretty happy that I was consistently around 20 seconds for all 8. That 20 seconds of rest was great! :p I've had 3 different coaches, but all have seemed pretty good at pushing me and noticing little things that I can do better.

Veronica

[Veronica]

I've decided to not race tomorrow. The water quality at the venue doesn't meet state standards. The park website says the beach will be open, but don't swallow the water and shower as soon as possible after swimming. The amount of fecal coliforms and e.coli is too high. Yeah, I'd probably be okay, but why risk it?

We're going to go for a bike ride instead up Mt Diablo. :)

Veronica

[Veronica]

The final days of the year seem to cause most people to reflect on what they did over the past year and what they hope to do in the next year. I’ve never been a fan of “resolutions” as they have always seemed like a dream with no real plan to achieve it. Goals, on the other hand, are driven by a plan.
http://tandemhearts.smugmug.com/photos/i-CNDjp5t/1/L/i-CNDjp5t-L.jpg

It never gets easier…

My goal for 2012 was about relaxing and enjoying the journey. Racing had become very stressful and quite honestly, not any fun, and I really wanted to move away from that mindset. In that regard, I was fairly successful. I didn’t hit any of my other goals for racing, but I did decrease the stress I felt on race day. I enjoy the training to race – Masters swim class, running with Thom, pushing myself on the bike, crazy hard sessions with Shawna. It’s about the day in, day out routine, not the event. I like knowing that I am fit, that I can run up three flights of stairs and not be out of breath. It’s good to be flexible and strong enough to crouch in the back of the SUV and lift out the seats. Racing just gives all that training a focus. Still, I like goals.

The focus of 2013 is going to be a little different. My “big” race is not going to be a triathlon, but rather an Aquabike. While I have finally come to enjoy running, I’ve realized that for whatever reason, I’m never going to be very good at it. I’d like to see what I can do when I train for a race that focuses only on my strengths, making Aquabike perfect! I’ll swim 1.2 miles, bike 56 miles and be done. The hard part has been deciding on a realistic goal time, what finishing time will make me happy? The race course is the same course I’ve raced the last five years, so I have lots of data to obsess over. I’ll be content with a time under 3:50. I’ll be thrilled with 3:40! How’d I arrive at those numbers? My fastest swim time is 34 minutes, fastest bike time is 3:18 and I’m estimating a 5 minute transition time. I’ve never done either all out because I wanted to leave something in the tank for the run. In previous years, I never trained for the swim and really didn’t put much focus into specific bike training either. A time of 3:40 means taking 17 minutes off that; the bulk of which will have to come from the bike. It won’t be easy, but setting a goal isn’t about doing something that you can already do. It’s supposed to be a stretch.

Happy New Year!

Veronica