So with all of the training that Richelle has prescribed and that I have enthusiastically completed, I was ready to see what kind of results I'd get at a longer distance event, like a half-ironman. I wanted to treat GWN as a dress rehearsal for IMC, what a perfect opportunity to let it all hang out without worrying about the outcome or possible disaster.
Here are the distances: swim 2km, bike 90km, run 21.3km. I raced GWN two years ago as my first half-iron, and while the 6:45ish finishing time was a good performance on that day, I was also hoping to up the ante and see what the added training would do for me. I was ready for a dress rehearsal, time to try out nutrition, clothing, strategies etc. And see how far I could push the envelope.
This is how the day unfolded...
Lesley-Anne was kind enough to drive us to the lake, rather than take the uber-early bus (thanks LA!). I quickly headed to transition, organized my bike and other stuff, headed for the port-a-potty line, then worked myself into my (new!) wetsuit. Fits like a glove. I dove into the lake for a short warm-up (yucky murky water at the shore, ugh!), back on shore. I totally ignored all the crazies who natter about wheels and nutrition, I found my quiet zone and worked my plan. After exiting the water, while standing around waiting for the start, I was beside Cindy & Scott, who were sporting their Garmin 310XT's. I usually don't start my watch until the bike, as it is big and bulky and tends to get trapped in my wetsuit. Scott pointed out that because I have the quick release band, I can easily palm and twist off the Garmin. In a split second decision (and primarily because this is my dress-rehearsal race), I ran over to my bike and activated the Auto Multisport function. A huge THANKS to Scott and Cindy for their words of wisdom; this is what I love about our Team, we're good support and share info and experiences in a very open manner, it's awesome. The Garmin was a big success, I like having the extra data from the swim portion, transition info, love it.
Time to hit the water! My race plan called for getting into the mix of it all, taking some bumps and swimming with my peer group. Yep, I was certainly in unfamiliar territory! Lots of bumps, a kick to the chin, someone swam over my back, quite the washing machine! It ironed itself out after the first 400m, I kept swimming thru it all, long strokes, felt like a fish! Wonderful! The first lap was over quickly, sub 20min, then on to the 2nd lap. Not as bumpy, somehow I slowed down a bit, but still a huge improvement over 2009.
2009 swim time: +45min
2011 swim time: 40min
T1 was smooth, I probably could have gone faster, but it was smooth. I heard Angie at the mount line, I saw Danielle M, we gave a little cheer, then I pedaled up the hill.
I don't remember much about my bike ride, other than it was hillier course than I recalled from 2009. I remember trying to cram in my allotted nutrition, but I started to feel nauseous; I was unsure whether it was the nutrition or the exertion level, so I took little sips and prayed they would sustain me until the run portion of the race. The hills really sapped my speed, I lost ground to a lot of competitors on the hills, why oh why am I so slow on the hills, I train on hills, I mountain bike, I'm consistent on the hills with a good turnover rate, for the love of all things holy, why do hills slam into me like a freight train??? Something to work on, I'm sure.... anyhow, I stayed pretty focused, only momentary lapses, and the out and back course was helpful in determining where other teammates were on the course, cheering for them, encouraging them, receiving some cheers back. Nice.
2009 bike time: 3:16
2011 bike time: 3:04
T2 also went smoothly. Again, I could have been a bit quicker, but it felt like I was missing something, so I did a triple check before running out the gate. No harm done.
The half-marathon that they throw at us after swimming and biking is no picnic. Your legs are tired, and running 21.3km's is not what tired legs want to do. I generally pound thru the first 10km and hope that I can hang on; it's between 10-14km that I lose focus, I allow the nagging aches and pains to consume me, and I walk. Today was no exception, I desparately wanted to walk and walk and walk. I was tired, I needed motivation. That's when the TTL people starting appearing, as it was the out-and-back section of the course. TTL rocks, I am so thankful that we give each other a smile, a high five, a "go girl", whatever. It picked me up and pushed me forward, a gentle push to move me ahead. I also thought back to my race planning, and reminded myself that if an 8-year old can run 1km in 5:28, I needed to get it in gear. So I did.
In the past, the run portion of the race seems to have been my achilles heel: tummy trouble, nutrition issues, foot issues. I was determined not to let any of these slow me down. Yes, my foot started to hurt, yes, I grabbed the wrong nutrition bottle this morning so after the first sip I knew I would be doomed if I continued sipping, and yes, my tummy was still nauseous. The important part is how I solved these race-day in-the-moment issues.
1) ignore the foot: pain is temporary. Try to wiggle my feet a bit so that it stretches out, just keep going. I need to go back to see Sarah P again for more ideas for IMC. Post-race I iced it, stretched it, rolled it, and now my foot is back to normal.
2) time to look for alternative nutrition. The aid stations are serving flat cola and oranges, let's see what happens. I took mini sips of flat cola, it seemed to stay down and didn't jiggle in my tummy, in fact the sugar content was yummy, and little sips successfully got me through the run from min 61-110. Then I sampled a couple of orange wedges. Wow, they tasted amazing! And they seemed to work even better than the cola! Who knew?!
3) I decided that being nauseous was a by-product of my exertion level. Richelle had encouraged me to go hard on the bike and still hold steady on the run (similar to Wasa). Well, my bike was certainly a strong ride, and when I hit the run my HR was hovering around 160, where it stayed the entire run, even elevating a bit towards the end. I'm pretty certain that this high exertion level caused my nausea. And since I didn't actually vomit, I think it indicates that I was on the fine line of racing to my limit and totally blowing up.
Turns out the run portion of my race may no longer be my achilles heel:
2009 run time: 2:45ish
2011 run time: 2:22
Total 2009 time: 6:45ish
Total 2011 time: 6:07
Overall, I'm super excited about my results, my performance, my teammates, everything! This dress rehearsal was a huge success!
Now I'm ready for training camp, and I know that when August 28th rolls around, I'll be ready for that, too!
Monday, July 4, 2011
Monday, June 13, 2011
Wasa Lake Triathlon June 12, 2011 Race Report
Wasa Lake Triathlon June 12, 2011 Race Report
For the third year in a row, we packed up the family and headed for Wasa Lake, BC for the annual triathlon festival. This year we added another family member to the mix: our eldest daughter wanted to "race like mummy," so she signed up for the Tri Kids Challenge. I am so incredibly proud of my daughter! It makes my heart fill with laughter and pride and joy at seeing her so enthusiastic about triathlon. She swam 100m, biked 5km, and ran 1km in :31:37. Yes, she was pooped, but thrilled to have a medal of her own! Here are some pics:
On Sunday, it was my turn. My race plan was to make the bike hurt more than usual, so that my run would be very tough. Let's see how it all played out....
The swim start looked a bit intimidating, as it was one loop in the lake, for a total of 1500m. Seeing the big orange buoys so far from shore gave me a bit of a shiver! Once in the water, I decided to swim with the pack, and I found a couple of girls who swam about my pace, and who weren't interested in elbows and feet in the face. We swam along well for the the first 700m, but I lost the good feet at the first turn. Oh well. You'll notice how uneventful the first 700m were! That's because I was using long, relaxed strokes, easy breathing, no need to stop and look around, staying in the crowd but not being crowded. The return to shore was equally uneventful, a good, solid swim - and I improved my time over last year by almost a full minute!
The bike course was new this year. We headed out of Wasa Lake towards Fort Steele, up a series of rollers. Of course, I anticipated a bit of a hurt festival on the ride up, but was looking forward to the ride down. It didn't disappoint! Even with almost triple the elevation gain of the previous year, I rode the same time split, had an overall lower HR, practiced staying out of a draft zone, and had a good effort with nutrition while riding. Nice job!
The run course was the same as in previous years - loop around the lake and back again. My goal was to walk only thru aid stations if needed, but otherwise be consistent and persistent. Here's the comparison with last year:
The run is all pretty evened out year over year - except that I had a harder bike, and my overall HR was lower by about 5 BPM. It also FELT good.
Overall, my time didn't improve much over previous year (only better by a minute or so), but the effort was harder (due to the hills on the bike course), yet while my effort was increased, my biometrics such as HR were improved. And it felt STRONG. Which is exactly what I will need for my next two races.
Stay tuned for more racing action!
For the third year in a row, we packed up the family and headed for Wasa Lake, BC for the annual triathlon festival. This year we added another family member to the mix: our eldest daughter wanted to "race like mummy," so she signed up for the Tri Kids Challenge. I am so incredibly proud of my daughter! It makes my heart fill with laughter and pride and joy at seeing her so enthusiastic about triathlon. She swam 100m, biked 5km, and ran 1km in :31:37. Yes, she was pooped, but thrilled to have a medal of her own! Here are some pics:
On Sunday, it was my turn. My race plan was to make the bike hurt more than usual, so that my run would be very tough. Let's see how it all played out....
The swim start looked a bit intimidating, as it was one loop in the lake, for a total of 1500m. Seeing the big orange buoys so far from shore gave me a bit of a shiver! Once in the water, I decided to swim with the pack, and I found a couple of girls who swam about my pace, and who weren't interested in elbows and feet in the face. We swam along well for the the first 700m, but I lost the good feet at the first turn. Oh well. You'll notice how uneventful the first 700m were! That's because I was using long, relaxed strokes, easy breathing, no need to stop and look around, staying in the crowd but not being crowded. The return to shore was equally uneventful, a good, solid swim - and I improved my time over last year by almost a full minute!
The bike course was new this year. We headed out of Wasa Lake towards Fort Steele, up a series of rollers. Of course, I anticipated a bit of a hurt festival on the ride up, but was looking forward to the ride down. It didn't disappoint! Even with almost triple the elevation gain of the previous year, I rode the same time split, had an overall lower HR, practiced staying out of a draft zone, and had a good effort with nutrition while riding. Nice job!
The run course was the same as in previous years - loop around the lake and back again. My goal was to walk only thru aid stations if needed, but otherwise be consistent and persistent. Here's the comparison with last year:
The run is all pretty evened out year over year - except that I had a harder bike, and my overall HR was lower by about 5 BPM. It also FELT good.
Overall, my time didn't improve much over previous year (only better by a minute or so), but the effort was harder (due to the hills on the bike course), yet while my effort was increased, my biometrics such as HR were improved. And it felt STRONG. Which is exactly what I will need for my next two races.
Stay tuned for more racing action!
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Race Report: Scotia Bank Calgary Half Marathon, May 29, 2011
After the debacle of weather and feet at the Calgary Police Half, I asked Richelle for permission to run the Calgary Half (I'd like to point out that I asked her permission prior to bridging the subject with my husband....). Her response was encouraging: "Absolutely."
I decided to run it as a training LDS, especially since the weekend prior I was at the CSR training camp in Penticton (awesome camp, great mileage, it's enough material to demand an entire blog post, check back here later in the week!). My goal was to run the course and reach the finish line happy with an honest effort. Because there wasn't a lot of pressure, I was very zen about the race all week during taper, and even at the pre-race package pick-up, Richelle commented that this was a very different type of approach for me, and that I seemed very calm.
Race day dawned sunny and wonderful. I met up with TTL people at the C-train station, we hung out together, laughed a bit, warmed up together, waited for the starting gun. And..... we're off!
I really liked the course, as it covered very familiar territory, I knew the distances between landmarks and could estimate how much longer to refueling or walk breaks or whatever. About 13 or 14km into the run, I checked my watch and thought, hey, I'm feeling pretty good here, let's see what happens if I turn up the intensity??? Okay, this feels good! At 17km I turned it up again! As it happens, I turned it up enough for a PB!! Yep, on a day that was supposed to be a solid training run, I PB'd by almost a full minute. Cool.
Now, I know that I run with a fast crowd (ha ha, pun intended), so it took a while to get excited about setting a PB, 'cause most people that I train with run the half-mary in the 1:45 to 1:55 range, so it's a bit embarrassing to admit to PB'ing with 2:11:28. However, now that a few days have passed, I'm actually very proud and excited to OWN that 2:11:28 PB, cause it was the result of a season of hard work, it came to me unexpected and unaware, and hell, a PB is a PB!
And now, back to IMC training.....
I decided to run it as a training LDS, especially since the weekend prior I was at the CSR training camp in Penticton (awesome camp, great mileage, it's enough material to demand an entire blog post, check back here later in the week!). My goal was to run the course and reach the finish line happy with an honest effort. Because there wasn't a lot of pressure, I was very zen about the race all week during taper, and even at the pre-race package pick-up, Richelle commented that this was a very different type of approach for me, and that I seemed very calm.
Race day dawned sunny and wonderful. I met up with TTL people at the C-train station, we hung out together, laughed a bit, warmed up together, waited for the starting gun. And..... we're off!
I really liked the course, as it covered very familiar territory, I knew the distances between landmarks and could estimate how much longer to refueling or walk breaks or whatever. About 13 or 14km into the run, I checked my watch and thought, hey, I'm feeling pretty good here, let's see what happens if I turn up the intensity??? Okay, this feels good! At 17km I turned it up again! As it happens, I turned it up enough for a PB!! Yep, on a day that was supposed to be a solid training run, I PB'd by almost a full minute. Cool.
Now, I know that I run with a fast crowd (ha ha, pun intended), so it took a while to get excited about setting a PB, 'cause most people that I train with run the half-mary in the 1:45 to 1:55 range, so it's a bit embarrassing to admit to PB'ing with 2:11:28. However, now that a few days have passed, I'm actually very proud and excited to OWN that 2:11:28 PB, cause it was the result of a season of hard work, it came to me unexpected and unaware, and hell, a PB is a PB!
And now, back to IMC training.....
Monday, April 25, 2011
Quinoa Chocolate Cake: Better than the real thing!
Instead of the traditional pies (yummy lemon meringue, apple, pumpkin and butter tarts) that I usually bake with Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter, I opted for a new idea that uses my favourite new ingredient: quinoa.
It's such a quick, healthy alternative to pasta, crackers, cereal, beef, etc., and I've discovered it in bulk (flour, yellow, black and red) at Community Natural Foods, which is making it more affordable, too.
The cookbook Quinoa 365 by Green & Hemming is wonderful - it gives you lots of options for everything from breakfast to dessert. I've tried several recipes, including a hot cranberry cereal that has become a breakfast staple in my fridge, several soups that rotate thru my kitchen, a tuna casserole that my kids will eat, muffins, loaves, and now, chocolate cake!
This chocolate cake has NO FLOUR in it, and my guests and kids loved it. Here's the recipe:
Moist Chocolate Cake (Quinoa 365 by Green & Hemming, pg 159)
2/3c white or golden quinoa
1 1/3c water
1/3c milk
4 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3/4c butter, melted then cooled
1 1/2c cane sugar
1 c unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
Bring quinoa and water to a boil, cover and simmer 10 min. Turn off heat, leave covered for 10 min. Fluff with a fork and cool.
Preheat oven to 3 50 degrees. Lightly grease 2x8" cake pans. **Line the bottom of the pans w parchment paper.
Combine the milk, eggs, and vanilla in a blender or food processor. Add 2c of cooked quinoa and butter and continue to blend until smooth.
Whisk together in a large bowl the sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add contents of the blender and mix well. Divide evenly between the two pans and bake on centre oven rack for 40-45 min. Remove from oven and cool completely in the pan before serving. Frost if desired I just served it with a sprinkle of powered icing sugar and ice cream).
Store in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 1 week of freeze for up to 1 month.
Yummy!
It's such a quick, healthy alternative to pasta, crackers, cereal, beef, etc., and I've discovered it in bulk (flour, yellow, black and red) at Community Natural Foods, which is making it more affordable, too.
The cookbook Quinoa 365 by Green & Hemming is wonderful - it gives you lots of options for everything from breakfast to dessert. I've tried several recipes, including a hot cranberry cereal that has become a breakfast staple in my fridge, several soups that rotate thru my kitchen, a tuna casserole that my kids will eat, muffins, loaves, and now, chocolate cake!
This chocolate cake has NO FLOUR in it, and my guests and kids loved it. Here's the recipe:
Moist Chocolate Cake (Quinoa 365 by Green & Hemming, pg 159)
2/3c white or golden quinoa
1 1/3c water
1/3c milk
4 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3/4c butter, melted then cooled
1 1/2c cane sugar
1 c unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
Bring quinoa and water to a boil, cover and simmer 10 min. Turn off heat, leave covered for 10 min. Fluff with a fork and cool.
Preheat oven to 3 50 degrees. Lightly grease 2x8" cake pans. **Line the bottom of the pans w parchment paper.
Combine the milk, eggs, and vanilla in a blender or food processor. Add 2c of cooked quinoa and butter and continue to blend until smooth.
Whisk together in a large bowl the sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add contents of the blender and mix well. Divide evenly between the two pans and bake on centre oven rack for 40-45 min. Remove from oven and cool completely in the pan before serving. Frost if desired I just served it with a sprinkle of powered icing sugar and ice cream).
Store in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 1 week of freeze for up to 1 month.
Yummy!
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Race Report: Calgary Police Half Marathon, Sunday, April 17, 2011
Yep, the conditions today were horrible. Lots of snow and ice, the single-track, hard-packed, icy trail with divets that were perfect for rolling your ankle, the sidewalks had "brown sugar" snow which made it feel like running in sand.... yeah, not a lot of positives there. In fact, my feet are killing me.
The temperature was good - at least, I dressed for it. The thermometer read -4C when I left the house, and while the snow continued to come down, the sun did break thru just as I crested the top of the Weaselhead hill.
My point about the weather report? It could have been worse, no one was out there running for a PB (certainly not me!), and if you walked away without falling down, it was a good day.
And my day got even better!
Richelle and I tossed around a number of potential paces for me to run. Then the weather forecast kicked in (see above), so we revamped it to be a run for heart rate. We agreed on some HR zones for various stretches of the race. I pointed out that those HRs would make me slow; but keeping my HR under control helps me on two fronts: 1) it helps me avoid detours into the bushes (sorry, too much info?), and 2) it is good practice for IMC.
Here's the good news about my race today: I stayed close to or within all the HR zones that Richelle gave me, my goal of "consistent and persistent" during my intervals was bang on target, I had no tummy troubles, and I gained a huge measure of confidence for running at both Great White and IMC. The final 4km I kicked it up a notch, as per Richelle's directions, and felt spent at the line. Another plus: I recovered quickly, ready to keep going.
My training has been going well over the winter and early spring - although I've lost my speed. I feel like a tortoise (or a tank, depending on my mood!): slow and steady gets you across the line. I know that I'll need the endurance element, but I miss a bit of the speed.... oh well, today wasn't about speed anyhow!
Today's race was about consistency, pacing, HR zones. Does it matter that this is the slowest half Mary that I've ever done? Nope. Was it good prep for IMC? Absolutely.
The temperature was good - at least, I dressed for it. The thermometer read -4C when I left the house, and while the snow continued to come down, the sun did break thru just as I crested the top of the Weaselhead hill.
My point about the weather report? It could have been worse, no one was out there running for a PB (certainly not me!), and if you walked away without falling down, it was a good day.
And my day got even better!
Richelle and I tossed around a number of potential paces for me to run. Then the weather forecast kicked in (see above), so we revamped it to be a run for heart rate. We agreed on some HR zones for various stretches of the race. I pointed out that those HRs would make me slow; but keeping my HR under control helps me on two fronts: 1) it helps me avoid detours into the bushes (sorry, too much info?), and 2) it is good practice for IMC.
Here's the good news about my race today: I stayed close to or within all the HR zones that Richelle gave me, my goal of "consistent and persistent" during my intervals was bang on target, I had no tummy troubles, and I gained a huge measure of confidence for running at both Great White and IMC. The final 4km I kicked it up a notch, as per Richelle's directions, and felt spent at the line. Another plus: I recovered quickly, ready to keep going.
My training has been going well over the winter and early spring - although I've lost my speed. I feel like a tortoise (or a tank, depending on my mood!): slow and steady gets you across the line. I know that I'll need the endurance element, but I miss a bit of the speed.... oh well, today wasn't about speed anyhow!
Today's race was about consistency, pacing, HR zones. Does it matter that this is the slowest half Mary that I've ever done? Nope. Was it good prep for IMC? Absolutely.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Sabotage!
This week it feels like all my workouts are being sabotaged!!!! And my goal of consistency is severely off course!!!
Here's what happened:
Saturday I skied at Sunshine in some wicked snow conditions with a group of avid skiers. So tough day on the legs, but awesome day on the mountain.
Sunday I ditched my bike/brick for a x-country ski at Elk Pass and UP Blueberry Hill. It was another awesome day with sunshine and girlfriends, wouldn't trade it for anything!
Monday I headed for Edmonton. Now, Edmonton got an obscene amount of snow this year, and with the +10 temperatures, the city is a big slush festival. I had hoped (perhaps naively) that the sidewalks along the sunny riverbank would be clear, like they (mostly) are in Calgary. Nope. A min of 4" of slush!!! So my speed work run turned into a stair workout, simply because the stairs were there and I was dressed to run and it was sunny and let's go already. So I did 8 set of stairs behind the Alberta Legislature. Probably not my smartest move.
Tuesday I overslept and missed my swim, then I drove like a mad woman and made it in time for Angie's spin class that I turned into a brick. The bike was hard, the brick felt amazing.
Wednesday I was scheduled to attend a breakfast meeting, but misread the invitation and was in the wrong spot at the right time. Trying to remain positive, I took it as a sign that I now had two free hours, let's go do that swim. Why did my swim feel so entirely wretched? Because I hadnt eaten the breakfast that was scheduled at my meeting. I've never bonked in a pool before, man did that suck. 2300m later I called Richelle, on the verge of tears. She chided me for the stairs, and suggested I forego the 30min easy run that afternoon, and look at a thursday as a fresh start. Great idea.
Let me internet by saying, she was right, the mental break was exactly what I needed. Thank Richelle.
Thursday. Once again I overslept my alarm, so my spin for today is already off kilter. I'm rock climbing with a girlfriend tonite, super excited to have a social life, but now I'm stressng about my bike.
Despite my best efforts, my training this week just seems to be spiraling out of control.
Focus for Friday: put in an honest effort for my LSD of 22km. If that works out, maybe an ez spin in the evening to make my legs feel better.
Wish me luck!!!
Cindy
Here's what happened:
Saturday I skied at Sunshine in some wicked snow conditions with a group of avid skiers. So tough day on the legs, but awesome day on the mountain.
Sunday I ditched my bike/brick for a x-country ski at Elk Pass and UP Blueberry Hill. It was another awesome day with sunshine and girlfriends, wouldn't trade it for anything!
Monday I headed for Edmonton. Now, Edmonton got an obscene amount of snow this year, and with the +10 temperatures, the city is a big slush festival. I had hoped (perhaps naively) that the sidewalks along the sunny riverbank would be clear, like they (mostly) are in Calgary. Nope. A min of 4" of slush!!! So my speed work run turned into a stair workout, simply because the stairs were there and I was dressed to run and it was sunny and let's go already. So I did 8 set of stairs behind the Alberta Legislature. Probably not my smartest move.
Tuesday I overslept and missed my swim, then I drove like a mad woman and made it in time for Angie's spin class that I turned into a brick. The bike was hard, the brick felt amazing.
Wednesday I was scheduled to attend a breakfast meeting, but misread the invitation and was in the wrong spot at the right time. Trying to remain positive, I took it as a sign that I now had two free hours, let's go do that swim. Why did my swim feel so entirely wretched? Because I hadnt eaten the breakfast that was scheduled at my meeting. I've never bonked in a pool before, man did that suck. 2300m later I called Richelle, on the verge of tears. She chided me for the stairs, and suggested I forego the 30min easy run that afternoon, and look at a thursday as a fresh start. Great idea.
Let me internet by saying, she was right, the mental break was exactly what I needed. Thank Richelle.
Thursday. Once again I overslept my alarm, so my spin for today is already off kilter. I'm rock climbing with a girlfriend tonite, super excited to have a social life, but now I'm stressng about my bike.
Despite my best efforts, my training this week just seems to be spiraling out of control.
Focus for Friday: put in an honest effort for my LSD of 22km. If that works out, maybe an ez spin in the evening to make my legs feel better.
Wish me luck!!!
Cindy
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
10 Days Without a Coach
Coach Richelle is taking a hard-earned, well-deserved holiday somewhere off the coast of the Honduras, and she left me with a kick-ass workout block to keep me busy while she's away... So then why am I nervous about being coach-less?
To be fair, I am doing well with sticking to the workouts that are given to me, and I'm even enjoying most of them, despite the wicked nature of some of them. I used to think the phrase "Ironman Journey" was cheesy, but now that I'm journeying, the sentiment rings true. There is a lot of training time where you really get inside your head and sort out world problems: should I cut my hair short or grow a ponytail for IMC? What should we have for supper tonite? What work problem needs to be sorted out today? How can I solve world peace? Yeah, too much time alone on the bike trainer... Anyhow, my point is that I'm loving my Journey.
My biggest worry is injury. And I know I shouldn't be surprised, but it happens so often, I'm surprised that after a tough workout, I survived and could take on more. I work out six days a week, often twice a day, and my rest day lately has been skiing oodles of powder so i don't really have a day off, and I worry that the training will result in injury. I like to check in with my coach every couple of days, or at least text her with a thumbs up after a tough workout, and my security blanket is basking in the sun.
In her absence, I have soldiered forward, completed all but one swim workout (too much cold and snow for a 5am drive to the pool), and I'm feeling great. I really just need to keep moving forward and stop focusing on every little twitch and twinge, i need to trust that I've built up enough fitness to handle the current schedule. These 10days without a coach could really turn into a good thing, build some confidence and trust in my ability. Cool.
To be fair, I am doing well with sticking to the workouts that are given to me, and I'm even enjoying most of them, despite the wicked nature of some of them. I used to think the phrase "Ironman Journey" was cheesy, but now that I'm journeying, the sentiment rings true. There is a lot of training time where you really get inside your head and sort out world problems: should I cut my hair short or grow a ponytail for IMC? What should we have for supper tonite? What work problem needs to be sorted out today? How can I solve world peace? Yeah, too much time alone on the bike trainer... Anyhow, my point is that I'm loving my Journey.
My biggest worry is injury. And I know I shouldn't be surprised, but it happens so often, I'm surprised that after a tough workout, I survived and could take on more. I work out six days a week, often twice a day, and my rest day lately has been skiing oodles of powder so i don't really have a day off, and I worry that the training will result in injury. I like to check in with my coach every couple of days, or at least text her with a thumbs up after a tough workout, and my security blanket is basking in the sun.
In her absence, I have soldiered forward, completed all but one swim workout (too much cold and snow for a 5am drive to the pool), and I'm feeling great. I really just need to keep moving forward and stop focusing on every little twitch and twinge, i need to trust that I've built up enough fitness to handle the current schedule. These 10days without a coach could really turn into a good thing, build some confidence and trust in my ability. Cool.
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