How Hard Can It Be? Year 2

[Veronica]

Veronica-I lurked your thread all last season, and I've been following this time around too. So, I thought it was time to jump in and say "Hi". I'm really impressed with your dedication to the food issues...giving up RedBull and cookies!
Thanks for the inspiration.

Thanks! Sometimes I do wonder if anyone actually reads this thing, besides me. Although I really write it because I enjoy writing and rereading past weeks helps to keep me motivated.

I don't know what I am going to do with the 18 or so Red Bulls I have in the house.

Veronica

[kacie tri-ing]

Do you have goal times for your race? I feel like you are going to feel great!

[Veronica]

The only race I have a goal for is the Half Ironman. Last year I finished in 7:28, with a 34:34 swim, 3:37 bike and a 3:07 run, that was mostly a walk.

I'd like to take 30 minutes off that, some from the bike and but mostly on the run.

The races I'll do before are like dress rehearsals. I'd like to do better in them than I did last year, but that's about it. Even one second better will be fine.

Veronica

[kacie tri-ing]

I bet you will blow that run time out of the water this year with all of the training you are doing!!!

Man, I wish I had that swim time.....I am jealous. Edit: Were you a swimmer, or maybe I am just really slow!!!

[Veronica]

I was swimmer and I just have a naturally strong upper body. The mile was my event when I swam in college, in the late 80s! That's why I so seldom swim; I can't take much time off that. I am kind of anxious to see how the more streamlined, stronger me will do in the water. But the indoor pool at the gym is so chlorinated. It sees a lot of kid use. The chlorine really bugs my sinuses now. They also keep it too warm. It makes the water aerobics classes happy. The outdoor pool is getting some maintenance. Once that reopens I'll swim some, just to make sure I feel good about the distance.

Swimming is all about what's going on under the water. When I swim I think about the catch and push and that's it.

Veronica

[Veronica]

Clothing update - I ordered some stuff from Patagonia and they fit! I'm officially a size 8! How someone who weighs 149 pounds can be a size 8 baffles me a bit, but whatever.

Here's the dress I got for Thom's 25th reunion. I like that it will show off my back and shoulders without being too bare. I think my shoulders look better than model's





I decided on red rather than black as discussed in another thread. I have a short sleeve dress in the same material, also in red, that I wore for my 20th reunion and I really like it. Red is my favorite color and with a red dress I can wear my black cashmere hoody when I get cold.

I'm just so happy to have actually mail ordered something that fits. The stuff I got has a regular rise - hits just below the belly button. I don't have to wear a belt tomorrow!!!!!

Veronica

[redrhodie]

Good choice! I like the red better than the black or the other blue print you were considering.

[Veronica]

I tried on the blue print this weekend. I really liked it and almost bought it. But Thom noticed that the thread on the straps were already starting to unravel. Who knows how many people had already tried it on, but I want my clothing to be able to stand up to some abuse.

Veronica

[Blueberry]

Yay, V - I'm sure you'll look fabulous

And yes, I've followed this thread too. You're quite an inspiration

CA

[tribogota]

if you look at the page with the lists, your thread has received 1448 views so far...that CERTAINLY means we're following you, unless you looked at the page 1448 times,

[Veronica]

I think it counts a hit for every time I post in the thread. But I don't think I've read it 1400 times. Maybe 140 times, but not 1400.

We're in for some hot weather this weekend - mid 90s both days. I think we're going to head back to the coast to ride on Sunday.

Veronica

[MM_QFC!]

Congrats, Veronica - you look great and yes, defend your right to 'bare arms' a la Michelle Obama! Yes, you'll look much better than the Patagonia model in that beautiful dress too!
Great job on the training too...am sure that you'll keep meeting all of your goals...very inspiring to all...thanks!

[Urlea]

I should read this thread more often, it's great inspiration!!! Go V. !!!

The results of all your hard work are fantastic. That's gotta feel good! Keep it up, you're looking to have a great race season this year.

Kacie- you aren't the only one jealous of that swim time. Maybe if we grunt really hard our feet will turn into flippers. Or maybe we'll pass out, either or.

[Veronica]

When running or riding I wear a pair of sunglasses with an MP3 player in them - Thumps. Music can be very motivational. Some songs just push me to go a little harder; Pat Benatar’s “Heartbreaker” is one of them.

It’s gotten hot here in the Delta. Every year we get one weekend in May with “unusually hot” weather. Yesterday’s official high temp was 106! We had planned on heading up to Marin to ride the coast again this past weekend. But an opportunity to buy a cargo liner for the new truck came up. The seller was in Santa Clara, so we changed our plans and decided we would ride out of Woodside, over the ridge and down to Pescadero on the coast and back.

The first challenge was Kings Mountain Rd. This road climbs 1500 feet in 4.3 miles for an average grade of 6.7%. It’s mostly shaded by huge redwoods and has lots of switchbacks. The climb began right away so it was my warm up. I turned on my Thumps when the climb started and I predicted it would take me ten songs to get to the top.



I was moseying along, enjoying the music and the scenery, with an average heartrate in the 160s until the fourth song - “Heartbreaker” came on. There’s something about that driving beat; it just propels my legs to go faster.

I passed Thom on the next hairpin and kept going. I thought he was right behind me, but when I looked back the first time he was no where in sight. Now I was in a groove and I was going to push hard all the way to the summit. I knew I had to keep my heart rate right around 175 or I’d blow up. On the steep hairpins it would top out at 178 and I’d bring it back down. It’s funny the difference of just three beats. I can climb at 175 beats per minute for hours, but at 178 I’m hurting.

I could see Thom below me on a couple of the hairpins; he was slowly reeling me in - pacing himself in the heat. He caught up to me about 3 miles in, a mile from the summit. As we got closer to the top, there were several sections that were not shaded and it was HOT! Much hotter than the 80 degrees the weatherman had predicted for this area. We entered one of those really hot sections just as “Smooth” by Carlos Santana came on my Thumps. I was singing out loud:

"Man, it’s a hot one
Like seven inches from the midday sun.”

Thom and I kept up the pace I had been setting and eventually arrived at the summit. It was an 11 song climb. There were a couple other groups there and everyone, including us, was discussing how much more riding they were going to do. The temperature was about 10 degrees warmer than the forecast called for, so everyone was trying to decide how hot was too hot. I had had fun pushing hard up this climb. But I was worried we would find ourselves seriously suffering when it came time to climb back up to this ridge from the coast. We decided we would just roll back down Kings Mountain to the car and have a nice lunch before getting the liner. Thom took a few pictures of me descending.





Once at the car we discovered it was actually 95 degrees. Boy, did the weatherman get it wrong!

The rest of my training has been much the same as past weeks’ - a little running, a few trips to the gym, a little yoga. I bought a waist hydration pack from REI on Saturday. I have to start running in our heat and I really dislike the handheld pack I bought last year. Hopefully this will be comfortable when I run.

Veronica

[Veronica]

I've posted my latest training update on our website.

Veronica