"How hard can it be?" Training Update

[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.

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.