"How hard can it be?" Training Update

[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.

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.

[Veronica]

Thank you V. You rock.

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?

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

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.

[Veronica]

Are you going to be racing in Athena? Cool.

Yep - even at my lightest I'm an Athena. And I'm about 10 pounds up from that. 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. 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.

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.

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. 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.