2014 - A Year of Excitement

2013 was a year of getting to know my strengths and weaknesses. It was a year of building. It was a year of learning. I wanted 2013 to be a solid foundation on which to base goals.

In 2013,

• I ran my first half Ironman.
• I placed first in my age group in an open water swim.
• I ran the whole way in a half marathon for the first time.
• I broke through my 30 minute 5k barrier - TWICE!

With out further adieu, it's on to 2014.

I want 2014 to be a year in which I stretch. A year where I push myself to be faster and stronger. I've picked races that will be the back drop for this goal. There will be lots of hard and long training to meet this goal. I will need mental strength to get me past the times when I'm sick of being sore. I will need mental strength to keep me making the right/good choices when I'm tired and want to quit. I will need mental strength to keep me from whining when the workouts make me want to puke since this is my choice to do. To embody this mental strength, I'm going to employ a mantra this year.

Those on twitter and facebook already know my mantra for the year - Buckle up (and probably sick of it). But, you might not know why.

I could have used Macca's "Embrace the suck". I guess you can interpret it differently but, I see it as you are the victim of the suck. I see it as taking away your power. I wanted something to give me power when I needed it.

I could have used Bobby McGee's "There you are. I've been waiting for you". Closer. With this, the pain becomes your companion. This doesn't take anything away from you but, pain is never your friend. I wanted something that acknowledged the adversarial role that pain plays.

Facing the pain (aka discomfort) as I push myself in a race is what I need to do to meet my goals. It's like a bull rider that needs to draw the biggest and meanest bull in the show so that he gets the most points... and the most risk of pain. It's like being on a huge roller coaster as you reach that first peak and fear floods your body. We've chosen racing as our adventure. I wanted to take ownership of that. What do you do when you find yourself on the bull and the gate is about to open?

Buckle Up!

2013 Off Season...

Looks like off season is just about over and not a moment too soon. But, wait. It hasn't all been bad.


This is the first time I've had an honest to goodness "off season". From reading and listening to others, "off season" supposed to be about:

• Recharging
• Reconnecting
• Losing some fitness

I was completely ready to recharge (mentally and physically) and reconnect (with friends, family, and Grumpy) but, lose some fitness???? I don't have that much to lose!!! Coach only told me NOT to do nothing....

So, I've reconnected with my dogs by running, hiking, playing:

Grumpy with Tazzy & Essie

Essie (run by Grumpy) making a nice close turn on the jump

I've reconnected with junk food and alcohol:

Candy Cane Joe Joe's and Chocolate covered Joe Joes

I've reconnected with my pajamas (no pictures, just imaging flannel jammies and slouch socks)

I've reconnected with friends for dinner, dog shows, and music. 

Blowing off all sorts of workouts has been a decadent treat. I've recovered from constant fatigue. My mind is clear. Come December 1, I'll be ready physically, mentally, and spiritually to start working on the 2014 workload. This final week is a bit like standing on the edge of the pool at 5:30 am. It's going to be cold. It's going to be hard. I'm excited to get going.

2014 Meal Planning

I hate to cook. I have no interest in it. I'm happy with a bag of croutons or a bowl of cereal. I know this isn't a healthy diet. Over the years, Grumpy has taken over this household chore. Problem solved... right? Not really. Grumpy isn't good at decisions or planning.

Every week, I spend 1-2 hours combing over recipe books and on-line recipes, reviewing the upcoming schedule to know how much cooking needs to be done, and looking through the cabinets and refrigerator all in order to make a meal plan and grocery list.

I have recipe books....

... and more recipe books ...

It sucks but, this it what it takes to get healthy meals cooked regularly. What's worse, is that when the weekend workouts get long or we go to dog shows, this falls apart.

I've been trying to figure out how can I speed this process up? What I want is a menu that has only healthy meals... no thought, just point. I came up with this:

Recipe binder with full and half page inserts

That's right. ANOTHER recipe book!!! But not just any recipe book. This recipe book will be limited to ~40 GO-TO favorite healthy meals - one stop shopping!

I've already started collecting and I should have about 40 GO-TO meals by February or March.

Wish me luck!

Off Season 2013 - aka. A Blog Full of Promises

Last year, I didn't really take a break. I worked through the "off season" with coach to take off a bit of weight. I was also concerned about getting out of the routine. Although I still have both issues, I decided to take the break this year. I KNOW what the late spring and early summer will bring.

Sooooo, it's off season huh? Now what?

First thing, look back on the 2013 season. In particular, what are the NON workout points that I want to do differently. These include:

1. Menu planning and preparation.
2. Work out journal
3. Bike weight reduction - hydration
4. Bike weight reduction - tire kit.

I will write about these issues in future blogs... I promise.


Second thing, plan the 2014 season. What are my goals? How am I going to achieve my goals?

I will write about these in a future blog... um, I promise.


Finally, do all the things I can't do during training:

• Staying in your pajamas all day - my favoirte.
• Sleeping in - my record so far is 7:45am.
• Go for a hike
• Eat pizza - may be not the whole medium pepperoni pizza
• Eat cookies and candy - may be not the whole box
• Stay out late with friends.
• Get personal swim lessons.
• Try out club workouts.

But, the ultimate goal is to become bored. I want to recharge and be ready to take on a higher level of training to help me achieve the goals I set for 2014 and beyond.

Wish me luck!

2013 OktobeRun Half Marathon

Well, I haven't been keeping up on blogging BUT, I haven't been sitting on my butt. After I recovered from Vineman 70.3, I started training for this half marathon. Something finally clicked. I was having one surprisingly good training run after another. I knew I was going to finally break my half marathon plateau.

But first, a little background...

I've done a fall half marathon for the last 4 years. Last year, I decided that I wanted my season to be done in October instead of dragging through the end of November. I picked the Morgan Hill Half Marathon thinking it was on the east side of the valley (flat farm land). How wrong I was! This year, I went for FLAT FLAT FLAT. 

The OktobeRun Half Marathon takes place about 40 minutes north along the marsh land of the San Francisco bay.  The city puts on a big Oktoberfest in conjunction with this race so, Grumpy would have something to keep him entertained. And did I mention that it was flat?

This is an out and back going over an overpass at miles 1 and 12. It then goes over a small bridge that crosses a small channel at miles 2 and 11. I have no recollection of what was at miles 3 and 10 to make the blips that are shown in the picture above.

The last 2 weeks was very stressful at work and I missed a few swim workouts. My asthma was out of control and I was not sleeping well. My run workouts were not at normal times and they also suffered. But, I didn't focus on them. I knew my long runs had been solid. I understood that the current life stress was playing havoc on my training.

As I wrote my race plan, I focused on making this race as close to those great long runs as I could. I programmed it all into my Garmin as I've done for my long runs. There were programmed target pace ranges but, I knew exactly what pace I needed at each stage in order to make my overall goal.

The morning of the race, I woke with a mild migraine (slight head ache and sour stomach). I would have loved to be able to stay in bed but, I knew if I could just get moving on my day, I'd get through it. Grumpy and I arrived early to find parking was a breeze. Nothing was open so, we sat and watched all the swank people do static stretches (especially this tall, thin, hard core running attired woman that seemed to know EVERYONE).

This week, the temperature suddenly dropped to the upper 40's. 15 minutes prior to start, it was time to take off the warm cozy jacket and "warm up". The plan was a simple 5 minute jog with some strides thrown in....

THISSUCKSTHISISHARDTHISSUCKSTHISISHARDTHISSUCKSTHISISHARD... 

I could barely do 12:00/mile. How was I ever going to meet the day's goal??? I told myself that this is like the first 5 minutes of my training runs and that I never look at how fast I go then because it is always sucky. (Not going to panic).

5 minutes later I met up with Grumpy and agreed where to meet and when after the race. I really didn't think I could do this race the way coach and I had planned. But, I shifted my thinking "this is just a long run like she's had you do before". I recalled that my long runs had been great, they had been done with some what tired legs, and I was well tapered. Just stick to the plan. The plan was solid.

There was no seeding so I just positioned myself in the middle and with all the people, it felt warmer (took off the arm warmers before the horn went off). The horn went off and we were all moving.

Race Start

First 26 minutes: Plan was to build to a peppy but, not fast pace. Then, build to goal pace for a few minutes. Then, wake the legs up by building to slightly faster than goal pace. Finally, back off to slightly less than goal pace. Not surprisingly, lots of people passed me. But, I also passed people.

By this time, I was running along side the bay. My plan relied on me running as close to a 13.1 race as possible. I tried to keep the line to the shortest possible but, at times it was 4 people across.  I was easily running at goal pace and took the bridge over the channel with only slightly more effort. I started to think about picking people to pass and immediately shut that down. Stick to the plan. This felt exactly how my training had been.... stick to the plan. My plan was to run MY race not go off the rails.

I had programmed the Garmin such that I'd run at goal for a while and then get to drop to slightly below goal for a couple of minutes. I descended the length of each goal pace stretch so that as I got tired, the breaks came sooner. Mentally, this helped me keep the pace up. I had to keep it up for less and less amount of time.

As I hit the 6 mile mark, I suddenly spotted Miss I Know Everyone and passed her like she was standing still. I was passing men too. I hit the turnaround and kept chugging along. I found that if I kept my cadence between 90 and 93, I would begin to feel less discomfort. I made sure my arms were swinging properly - not across my body. The more tired I got, the more I made sure I kept my form correct (or at least as correct as I ever am).

Between 7 and 8 miles, my stomach started to get a little upset. I held off on the next scheduled gel and just took in water. The field was really starting to thin out. I passed a woman who was walking while her partner tried to talk her into running again. I passed a man who was hunched over making thudding noise with every foot fall.  And OMG, I passed some guy that really should have showered BEFORE the race (may be even twice).

Miles 9 and 10 were a blur. I followed the Garmin and I just kept plugging away. I hit the down hill of the bridge over the channel and my knee SCREAMED. I'd pay for that later. I made it up and over the overpass at mile 11 passing a couple more people at the bottom.

Mile 12 was just keeping the pace until I hit my last "break". But I knew I had this. After the break, the Garmin showed "Haul Ass" on the screen. This was a quarter mile out and I could see the turn to the finish line. The finish line was just around that corner. I had not programmed any target. The plan was to give what ever was left in the tank. I was so close to my goal and it actually felt good to push. I guess I looked really strong because the comments I was getting was a lot different than the woman just ahead of me. I came around the corner and crowd applauded. I kept pushing strong until I was done.

I swear I was hauling ass and there was a crowd!

Result:  2:13:24
 
Not only did I meet my goal of sub 2:15 (set in December 2012). I met coach's goal of sub 2:14!

With that, my planned 2013 season is over. I'm a little sad to see it end as I feel like things are finally coming together. But, I'm also very excited about events I'm looking at for my 2014 schedule.

For all that you have done to help make 2013 a wonderful year, thank you to:

• Grumpy for all the times you came to my races and you had to wait for me to finish my workouts.

• My coach, Elizabeth Waterstraat, who is patiently working miracles.

• My friends and family that have given support and humor.

I love you all.

2013 Vineman 70.3 Race Report

A week ago, I did my first half Ironman®, Vineman 70.3. I'm struggling to come up with what to say in this race report. The problem is, I really didn't race it. At no time during the whole day, did I push. Just the distance was enough of a challenge. How can I write a race report if I didn't race?

Last year, I wasn't ready to do a half marathon run after the swim and bike. So, I did the Aquabike. Best decision. This introduced me to the swim, bike, and spectacle that is Vineman without having to do the run. But this year, I was ready.

Vineman 70.3 starts at Johnson's Beach which is on the Russian River in Guerville. The swim is an out and back course that starts at the seasonal dam and goes about .65 miles upstream past numerous cabins with docks along the waters edge.

 

I got to T1 early and found a great spot right next to a sign. I was determined NOT to lose my spot when I came back from the swim this year. Set up went quickly and I double checked that I could find my bike from the swim timing mat. Lots of time to hang around watching the pros and the early waves take off.

Finally. Time to put the wetsuit on and get in the water. Waves went off every 6 minutes. I lined up in line with the sight buoys and a couple people back. 30 seconds. 15 seconds. Horn!

Typical. Every one jumped ahead as soon as the horn went. That's me where the arrow is and everyone is already off the screen. My plan was to just go steady and use the swim as my warm up. There was a LOT of contact all the way through the swim. I don't mind the hands on the toes but, you grab my leg and hold on, you're going to get kicked -- and not so gently. As I reached the turnaround, the wave behind had caught up and there was a mass of people trying to turnaround in extremely shallow conditions. After the turnaround, there was about 10 feet that was impossible to swim. Swimming meant raking your hand across rocks. Everyone had to walk. Then, it became an effort of dodging previous waves or my women in my wave that tired out. Finally, I made it to the ramp. This year, I lined up straight on to avoid the huge rocks -- really wasn't that less rock.

Swim: 42:06 (PR)

Once I found my legs, I quickly ran to my transition spot and ripped off my wetsuit. Shoes on. Glasses on. Helmet on. Grabbed the bike and out of T1.

T1: 4:36 (better than last year!)

After a quick run up the hill, I was on the bike and headed out on a nice 5 mile stretch that is perfect for getting settled in. Eat a little. Drink a little. Do a couple quick spin ups just to wake up the legs and then it's a quick down and a very rude short steep hill that requires you to get out of the saddle - 286 watts - ouch! From there, it's about 40 minutes of rolling hills. Coach's words kept going through my head -- How is what you are doing going to help the run? I kept the up hills easy. I rested on the down hills if necessary but, other wise kept the speed up.

Once out of the rollers, I tried to keep the watts with in range yet, I wanted to leave lots in the tank for the run. I passed some of the people that had gone out too fast. There were a few people I saw in the distance that I was able to slowly real in. Eventually, the ride was done and I entered T2.

Bike: 3:33:13 (*sigh* slower than last year)


I had an easy to spot spot in T2. My rack was at the first large tree and all the way back on the cement. I quickly racked my bike and almost started out with my helmet. Took an extra second to add some spray on sunscreen.

T2: 4:24 (forgot to get out of my shoes while still on the bike -- la la brain)

So now the dreaded run.

It was easy to write up my race plan for the swim and the bike. I struggled with the run. It took some hints from coach to get in the right frame of mind. I realized that I wanted to do Vineman not because I'm some fast, young, speedster. Just like the Morgan Hill Half Marathon (HILLY), I wanted to do Vineman because it is a challenge. So what if it's hard. What can I do to rise to the challenge? Just go do what I need to.

As usual, I felt great right off the bike. My plan was to go easy on the run and walk any hills I needed. The first 2-3 miles weren't bad and there was a lot more shade than I had anticipated. Following the plan, I took water and ice at each aide station. And then the first hill which I power walked. And then another hill, power walked that too. About this time, I started leap frogging a middle aged man. We would encourage each other as we passed.

Just after I power walked the biggest hill (around mile 4), I began to have a few negative thoughts. By my calculations, I wasn't going to meet my sub 7 hour goal. All this power walking was just too slow. But my race plan came back to me -- What can I do to rise to the challenge? It didn't matter if I didn't hit sub 7. Just keep moving.

The hills and leap frogging went on until mile 6 which took us into a winery. They had a lovely mister that I took full advantage of and out of the winery for some more road running. I walked a portion of mile 8, regrouped, and then... the miles started ticking down. The man passed me on the last hill of the course. I passed him on the down hill and kept going. The last 2-3 miles are relatively flat so, I ran... and ran... and ran. All of the racers encouraged each other. The spectators were great. And then, I was running into the high school. It seemed like the finish line was at the other end of the school but, I made it. And I finished strong.

Run: 2:34:53

As I crossed the finish line, I did a quick calculation (8:11 - 1 hour = 7:11) and was a little disappointed that I hadn't made sub 7. But, I just did my first half Ironman®!!!!

The finish shoot dumps you right into the food and knowing I couldn't take the food out of the area, I ate enough to quickly recharge so I could hurry up and leave. I met up with a friend, Johanne, who had just finished and chatted a bit. But, I really just wanted to go find Grumpy and get on the road home. As I was leaving, I saw Leap Frog Man and we congratulated each other.

On the drive home, I checked my official on-line results and to my delight - I HAD GONE SUB 7! My wave took off 1:12 after the pros!

Overall: 6:59:12

This week, every one wants to know if a full Ironman® is next. And I still say, it is not currently on my bucket list. I have enjoyed all of the training for this HIM and look forward to doing another.

Thank you to Elizabeth Waterstraat, my coach, for not giving up on me. I look forward to you turning up the heat.

Thanks to dear friends  - Dorothy, Susan, James, Mark, Scott, and Janice - for keeping the love of my life company while I chase dreams.

Thanks to Barbara and Molly for getting me off the sofa so many years ago.

Last but not least, thanks to Grumpy for all the sacrificing you've done while I go challenge myself.

The Ride to Hell and Back.

Haven't blogged much lately so, here's a recap of Saturday's bike ride -- both the longest ride of the year and the hottest day of the year.

Saturday started off with a lovely 30 minute (instead of 60 minute -- I misread that) swim. That out of the way, it was time for the bike ride. The goal was to do at least 60 EASY miles in 4 1/2 hours. I decided to hit the canyon from the backside which means the first 2 1/2 hours were mostly flat cutting through some suburbs and small town downtown neighborhoods. Highs were forecast to be in the 90's.

I froze 2 bottles of water and 2 sport drinks leaving 2 sport drinks immediately read. The 2 frozen bottles of water fit nicely into my cycling jersey (love the deep pockets). It was already 72 when I started. No sooner had I started, when I dropped the chain. I am spatially challenged so had to take everything off the bike so I could turn the bike upside down to fix it. Great, now my hands are COVERED in bike grease and I'm only 30 seconds into my 4 1/2 hour ride. I used my 1 and only tissue to clean up.

Heading south and about 30 minutes later, I was on the outskirts of the city. Endorphins were kicking in. I loved my family. I loved my coach. I loved my friends. I loved you guys.... (really, this is what goes on in my head). Away from the buildings and trees, there was nothing to protect me from the wind. The thing about this area is that when it's hot in the bay area, it is hotter in the central valley. This creates strong winds that I hadn't taken in to consideration. So, it was 30 minutes tucked as aero as could manage until I was in the next town... right past the slaughter house with the cooking urine burning my sinus. Finally into town, I was now going east which meant I wasn't taking the brunt of the wind either.

It was nice to be out in the farmlands away from the wind but, the roads are highly washboarded. I struggled to keep the pace up because it hurt and because I didn't feel in control on those roads. 30 minutes of feeling like jack hammering, I was very glad to turn west again and head for the canyon where I'd be out of the wind and for a little while, under trees. All through the ride, I did a body check. Arms feel good. Wrists are a little sore - is there a better position? How's my peddling? Am I toe up or down? Up hurts the Achilles. Down hurts the knees. How much fluid have I had. Is it time for a salt tab or a gel? etc...

Up until now, the ride was rather flat. 35 miles in, I had a category 5 climb up into the far side of the canyon. The air was stagnant. It was draining but, at least it was in shade. I stayed in the saddle, went to the lowest gear I had, and spun my way up. I stopped at the reservoir and re-arranged my bottles. All of the frozen bottles were luke warm by now. It was nice to have plain water after all that sweet sports drink. It was really hot by now.

But, the climbing isn't done at this reservoir. I had 2 more to go by. I made it up the next set of hills by staying in the saddle, low gear, and spinning. 3 hours/40 miles, I was fried. It was sweltering. The road was endless. Nothing to do but keep peddling. No sense in pushing. Just peddle. I'm not calling Grumpy to come pick me up. Just peddle. Have some more sport drink. Have some more water. OHHHH, feel that little breeze. Is it time to eat another gel. Stand up and let some blood flow into your but. c****. I don't have a tissue and I really have to blow my nose ... did you know that snot wiped on ones bike shorts provides a cooling effect?

I finally made it to the top of the last big hill. As I swooped down out of the hills and turned the corner to face the city, I was hit by the hottest wind I have ever felt - furnace hot. The wind I fought early when I went south, had shifted and now, I got to fight it the last 30 minutes of my ride.

It wasn't the funnest ride I've ever done. I finished 61.28 miles in 4:22 and pretty much said FU to trying to make it to a full metric century. Checked the outside temperature - 101F. Used all the ice I had to make an ice bath which melted as soon as I got in there. Managed to only sun burn the side of my wrists.

So, now it's rest week. I wonder how long it will take for me to get bored?

2013 Morgan Hill Sprint - The failed race that wasn't

I decided to sign up for this race last fall. Thinking only of the distance, I had wanted to do a sprint as my first race of the season. However, this race was offered after Silicon Valley International Tri. So, a sprint would be my second race of the season.

The Morgan Hill Sprint is a 3/4 mile swim, 16 mile bike, and 5 mile run along parts of the same course as the Silicon Valley International Tri that I did in April. Several of my friends (Tania, Tricia, and Barbara) were doing this race as a relay. All three women are faster than I am so, I planned to use them as my rabbits. The main goal was to not let them get too much of a lead on me. I wanted to have made it to mile 1 before I met Barbara coming back on the run. This would be the mental carrot to help me dig deep.

I had everything packed and ready to go the night before. I ate my pre-race dinner early as planned. I went to bed early. The alarm went off at 4:30am and I woke with a mild migraine. At this point it was a slight headache and full on nausea. I wasn't sure breakfast was going to stay down. Well, I wanted to learn to suffer in my races. Ha! Be careful what you wish for.

The race site is a 25 minute drive through back roads but, I wanted to be there early to get parking and a good transition spot. So, Grumpy and I were on the road before by 5:30am. Good thing we did as every one had the same idea. As I set up, Grumpy found a beautiful spot to watch the sunrise.

Tiny buoy to the left is the start line

Mist rising from the water

After setting up, I met up with my friends and soon it was time for warm up. An easy jog and it was time to get in my wetsuit. They announced that the water was 69F. I was glad I had chosen my sleeveless wetsuit for this race. The water was algae and goose poop filled. Stacking up to be a perfect day all around.

I swam out to the starting line and waited for the count down to the horn with the rest of the women 40 and older. As with the Silicon Valley Tri, most people lined up to the right.

Start buoy to the far right and turn buoy the big yellow triangle

My wave this time was made up of women 40 and older which was a much bigger group than my wave in the Silicon Valley. This meant that I had more fast feet to try to hang on to. However, since this was a sprint, there was also a lot of less experienced athletes out there. I set my sights straight and my strokes were well balanced. The closer I got to the turn buoy, the more crowded the water became as the people that lined up to the far right merged over. I avoided being kicked and I "held" on to as many faster feet as I could. About half way through the swim, I thought I spotted my friend Tania blasting passed every one. She had started 4 minutes behind me and had already caught up and passed me. She was putting on a tremendous lead. The final turn buoy was crowded and no one gave an inch. Finally, my hand brushed the cement bottom and the moment of truth -- am I going to actually pop up?

Swim: 25:52  (goal time was 26:00 - not bad!)

I ran up the ramp with no wobbles. Out of my wetsuit, into my socks, shoes, and sunglasses. Put on the helmet and grab my bike. I'm outta here.

I battled that woman for the inside line around that last buoy -- whahahaha!

T1:  2:10 

Out on the bike, I downed my first gel and hoped it stayed down. I started out a bit harder than I should have and pulled back on the first hill. There were a group of 4 women and 1 man that I trailed up the hills and made up some ground on the first of the down hills. At about mile 5 there is a tremendous down hill into a sharp right turn. Once I made the right turn, I lost my water bottle. You can't leave ANYTHING on the course or you risk penalty (plus it's not cool). So, I stopped and got it. It took less than a minute. 

Getting on the bike

Back on the bike, I didn't think I could catch the group. It was at this point I realized, the thing about sprints is -- YOU RED LINE THE WHOLE TIME! That means you go until you think you can't go any more. I couldn't get my legs to red line. I'd forgotten how to ride fast! I thought about backing off and just relaxing through the rest of the race. I had a migraine for crying out loud! What am I doing out here? But, my headache wasn't that bad. My stomach was not complaining. Keep pushing. 

I caught up to two of the women before I hit the big steep uphill. I caught another who was walking up the steep hill. I definitely red lined that hill! As I zipped down the other side of the hill and rolled around the final turn, I caught sight of the man and several new people. I'm not holding the watts I'm supposed to but, keep pushing. I caught the man just as the road leveled out and I slipped out of my shoes to dismount. Dismount and into transition.

Bike: 1:00:28

Rack the bike. Off with the helmet and grab my bib, visor, and fuel bet, and I'm outta here.

T2: 1:32

At this point, I realized that my Garmin wasn't working. Coach has been trying to get me to learn to run blind, it's hasn't been easy. When push comes to shove... I reset the Garmin so it just told time and I tried to find a pace I could run the whole distance. 

I went into myself and ran. The sound of my breathing was like a metronome. I started to notice it was starting to get hard to breathe at mile 1 and saw I was already running sub 10:00 -- too early for THAT speed, back it off. I thought that I must have missed Barbara. I passed a few people and more people passed me. Some where close to mile 2, I saw Barbara coming back. I was pretty amazed that I was that far before I saw her. 

At this point, I stopped worrying about how fast I was going and just tried to keep the effort up. At the turn around, I was able to go slightly faster due to the down hill. The miles began to fly by and the time just ticked, ticked, ticked. Soon I was back at the parking area and I came up on a woman in my age group. It was time to pour it on. She picked it up too but, couldn't hold on. The downhill of the finish shoot took me and it was a fight to stay on my feet.

Physically can't go any faster here.

Run: 51:54 (goal was 50:00 still not bad)

Overall: 2:21:56 (goal set in December - 2:20)

I didn't ride as well as I am capable of riding. Looking back, I realize that I wasn't mentally prepared to red line the ride. I don't know if this was due to the mild migraine, if I've set my mind on long course riding, or both. But, I didn't quit and I kept pushing. I had splits close to my goal times. I feel great about my performance and am looking forward to the rest of the season. Bring it on!

Week 16 - wrap up

The week started out fairly easy to allow me to recover from the race but, by the weekend, it was clear full on training was finally here.

This week will be the highest volume week I've ever had and yet, next week will be bigger. The hardest thing to all of this has been balancing time with Grumpy.

April numbers are a bit surprising. I think it reflects how much my swim and my run are improving. The bike is a little lower perhaps because I'm doing so much more trainer work and that always resolves to lower mileage. 

Picture of the week:

Tazzy, Shelby, and Essie

2013 Silicon Valley International Triathlon

Last Sunday, Grumpy and I drove down to a local reservoir about 25 minutes south of us. I chose this race to work on the run after the bike.

Uvas Reservoir

The forecast was for a beautiful day with a high of 85F. At the crack of dawn, it appeared to be on track.

Ramp for Swim In

After finding a nice transition spot by the Run/Bike Out, I met up with Grumpy and waited to warm up.

After warming up, Grumpy and I made our way down to the shore line. I met up with the 15-20 50+ year old women that were in my wave. We chatted. I scoped out the fast ones.

The swim course was a nice counter clockwise swim around the little peninsula and up the nicely carpeted boat ramp. However, the swim start was about 150 yards out! Waves were going off every 4 minutes. As soon as the wave before us took off, we started to swim out. This is when I realized that I'd left my ear plugs! It felt like forever. I couldn't feel vertigo coming on. I began to think I wasn't going to make it there before the horn. Seconds after I got there, I heard the horn but realized there was still a wave ahead of us! Good. I had 4 more minutes to pull myself together and get rid of the dizziness.

I lined up behind the speedsters and we were all lined up to the far left (shortest line possible). The horn went off. I went with the speedsters ... and they were gone!  In the picture below, I'm the middle swimmer with the head up and arm up. It was the 3 of us on the short line. Every one was far to the right. They did this last year and I can't figure it out. Simple geometry says the my line would be the shortest distance. There is no current.

Two strokes and they were gone

So, I was on my own... again. The plan was to moderately swim with long, full strokes. I didn't pass any one and once past the first buoy, no one except the very fastest relay swimmers in the final wave after me.

Swim: 30:21 (4+ minute course PR)

Imagine having to walk after spinning around and around for 30+ minutes. I was very dizzy getting out of the water and did all I could to move swiftly through transition. Yep. I sat down to get my wetsuit off.

Better to sit, than to do some damage trying to be cool

T1: 2:10 (second fasted in AG)

Still dizzy getting out to the mount line but, once on the bike - no more dizziness. Plan for the bike was to stay in my Oly power range. Keep the power up on the flats and down hill but, be reasonable on the uphills. I also wanted to keep the nutrition flowing on the same schedule I used last year. I nailed both!

No one passed me. However, I passed men and women all the way through the course. Yeah me!

Bike: 1:33:43

T2: 1:10 (fastest in AG)

By now the temperature is was in the mid-upper 70's. This was the test. How were my legs going to do after 1 1/2 hours of Oly watts and how would my core do with the temperature. The run course was a rolling run course mostly with out shade. In the past, I've melted. But, I was determined to beat this.  In preparation, I had done several runs in "warmer" temperatures. I also brought 2 10oz bottles with sport drink for the run. Water stations were every mile and at each water station I poured 1-2 cups of water all over me.

The first 2.5 miles weren't bad. At about 2.5 - 3.1 miles there is a double hump that is a bit steeper. I slowed to make sure I had enough to carry me through. By mile 5, you just bake. There are no trees to provide even the sparsest of shade. But, I wasn't going to slow. By mile 6, I gave it everything I had.
 

I almost LOOK like a triathlete!

Run: 1:06:59 (8+ minute course PR)
Overall: 3:14:23

Last fall, I sent coach my list of 2013 races and goals for each. The goal I had for this race was 3:15!


Overall, I'm pretty happy with this race. I focused on the process and had a great time. Everything is coming along. I just need to keep doing the work and following the plan. Some day I'll get that run down below 1 hour.

Weight Loss Intro - week 2

• I AM NOT A TRAINED DIETICIAN. 
• I AM NOT A DOCTOR
• BEFORE EMBARKING ON ANY WEIGHT LOSS OR EXERCISE PLAN, TALK WITH YOUR DOCTOR. Your doctor is a partner in your health. Don't shut him/her out. Use them!
• I HAVE NO VESTED INTEREST IN LIVESTRONG.COM, WEIGHT WATCHERS.

So, how did you do last week? Did you have problems getting set up or tracking? If you haven't already, go weigh in.

This week is all about getting started with movement. I'm a big believer in getting my body moving every day. There are so many benefits to movement but, most important to me is mood. Often, I really don't want to do it but, I've never regretted having done it.

Movement can be anything you are capable of but, most importantly something you enjoy doing.

• Dance
• Walking
• TRX
• Yoga
• Running
• Swimming

The list is endless. But, only do what you are able to do. Studies on the benefit of exercise and weight loss are often conflicting. I can promise you, as you start to lose weight and see you are doing more and more movement, you will be proud of your efforts.

When I started getting healthy, I bought a pedometer. I thought that walking the dogs every evening, I was getting more than my 10,000 daily steps. Imagine my shock when I barely hit 2500!

For this week, purchase and wear a pedometer. You don't need anything fancy. You just need it to learn how much you are actually walking.

Weight Loss Intro - week 1

There are a million websites and books and forums and organizations out there talking about how to loose weight. Some of it is good info but, a lot of it is crap.

But, when you're getting started, it's hard to know where to get started. Lots of the good info out there is too vague. How do you get started? What does this mean to you? What do all these terms mean? I recently read a book (Choke: What the secrets of the brain reveal about getting it right when you have to) which talked about how once you master something, you begin to lose all the little steps that it took you to master it. Therefore, you lose some of the insights that would be useful to teaching another person.

One of the reasons that I started this blog was I wanted to show people that any one can do this stuff. Whether it is losing weight, racing a triathlon, or what ever you dream of, it is in all of us to shine.

Before I get started, let me make it clear.

• I AM NOT A TRAINED DIETICIAN. 
• I AM NOT A DOCTOR
• BEFORE EMBARKING ON ANY WEIGHT LOSS OR EXERCISE PLAN, TALK WITH YOUR DOCTOR. Your doctor is a partner in your health. Don't shut him/her out. Use them!
• I HAVE NO VESTED INTEREST IN LIVESTRONG.COM, WEIGHT WATCHERS.

I believe in balanced, some what clean eating combined with exercise. Pretty much what the CDC
advises. So, if you're looking for cleansing, paleo, vegan, etc., I won't be talking about those. I also don't go in for a lot of supplementation other than a good multivitamin and a Omega-3 pill.

Without further ado, let's get started.

Recently, the results of a study was published. This study showed that with 2 groups of dieters, those that were instructed to NOT change their diet for the first 8 weeks while they learned about weight maintenance, kept the weight off longer than those that began immediately.

So what is there to learn? I mean, everyone knows it's calories in verses calories out. In the upcoming weeks, you'll see how that is just not true.

For this series, I'll be using MyPlate on Livestrong.com to explain about tracking you food intake, determining how many calories your body needs, and how exercise burns calories. You can use other calorie tracking software (or you can do it by hand) but, examples and settings will be based on MyPlate. There is also an IPhone app which I use regularly but, the set up needs to be done on the website.

Assignment:

1. Log on to Livestrong.com/myplate
2. Create an account if you don't already have one.
3. For your calorie goals, set it to maintain weight
4. Follow the instruction for Activity Level (How do I choose the right activity level)
5. Weigh yourself and enter the current weight. Be brave. It's just a number and gives you a starting point.
6. For the next week, enter every bit of food or drink you have. Be honest but, don't drive yourself crazy about it either. Also, start tracking your exercise.

DO NOT worry about what the numbers are currently adding up to. Take a casual note of what things are high calorie and high in fat. But, we haven't talked about a lot of stuff so right now you're just gathering data. Data about yourself and your habits.

As you enter the data, think about how you were feeling before and after you ate it. Did you want more? Were you stuffed when you were done? Were you nervous/bored/upset? How much sleep did you get? When did you last have a drink of water?

Be kind to yourself.

Week 14 and a little bit of life

What a week. Mileage was down a bit this week since my daughter was having cosmetic surgery and I was determined to be by her side as much as possible.

The first part of the week was front loaded with as many workouts as I could fit in. Thursday was the big day. We were up at 3:45am to get her to the hospital in San Francisco by 5:30am. This was scheduled to be a 10 hour surgery, so the plan was to leave once they took her in and we'd be back before they wheeled her out. Driving in San Francisco at 5:30am isn't too bad nor, is leaving San Francisco at 7:30am.

Each time we drove into San Francisco, Garmin directed a different way. I had absolutely dreaded spending so much time in the City. As an adult, I've only been through the tenderloin, the financial district, and market street -- my opinion was not good. But, we drove through Noe valley, Twin Peaks, Dolores Park - all very nice.

Once released from the hospital, she is now convalescing in a near by hotel. She was doing so well this morning that I felt comfortable leaving her while I did my last run of the week out on the bay trail. I had hoped to go early and beat the cold fierce wind. Ha! 8am and it was a strong head wind. But, on an out and back course, that meant a very lovely tail wind. This was to be a zone 1-2 run and I was beating last year's 10k pace EASILY.

Ran this in the Diva's Half Marathon last May

Magic Week 13

Posting a little late. Life is CRAZY right now. Because my workout hours are iffy, coach gave me peak week for Week 13. It's amazing how easy a peak week is when you just come off of a rest week.

Week 13 Mileage:

Swim: 3.24 miles
Run: 20.66 miles (Really???)
Bike: 53 miles (sucks my trainer reports less mileage)

So, if that wasn't enough, Grumpy and I helped do an agility demo. I was so proud of all the grrls (even little Essie) for working with a very large crowd watching. Afterwards, they did a meet and greet where the crowd came up to touch and ask questions. Shelby was the perfect little golden - children waving hands, hugging, kissing - she was calm and accepted their attention.

10 year old Tazzy

2 year old Essie

5 year old Shelby

Beef, Beet, and Cabbage Soup

Need ideas on something easy, delicious, and packed with that high performance beet nutrition? The following recipe is just a suggestion. You can add more vegetables or remove vegetables as you like.

Prep: 20-30 minutes
Crock Pot Cooking Time: 4-6 hours on high or 8-10 hours on low
Serves: 6
Serving size: about 1 1/3 cups
Calories: 200

• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1 lb boneless chuck trimmed and cut into 3/4" pieces
• 2 onions, thinly sliced
• 4 beets, trimmed, peeled, and diced
• 3 carrots, sliced
• 1 cup thinly sliced cabbage
• 1 (14 1/2oz) can petite diced tomatoes
• 1/2 tsp salt (I don't salt)
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1 bay leaf (I put 2)
• 8 cups reduced-sodium  beef broth

Steps:

1. Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the beef, in batches, and cook, stirring, until browned (about 8 minutes). Transfer the beef to a 5-6 quart slow cooker.
2. Add the onions to the skillet and cook, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add to the slow cooker along with the remaining ingredients. Cover and cook until the beef and vegetables are fork-tender.
3. Remove the bay leaf. Ladle the soup into bowls

Saying good-bye to rest week

I really enjoyed this rest week. It was the first time I didn't go entirely sloth. I worked towards some of my long term goals in other areas of life. I played with my grrls a little extra. I enjoyed listening to Grumpy play his guitar and sing at Open Mic night. I laughed with family.

All week long, I fretted about my run test on Saturday. I was supposed to go to the track and do it there. I prefer the treadmill to the track. At the track, you run around in circles and don't get any where. You look forward to getting some where but, it's right back where you started. Although on the treadmill you don't go any where either, there is never a time you think "When am I going to get there?"

I have never done a run test outside of a race. I worried whether I could push through the pain with out the added energy from others racing. But, this year is about going longer distances. To do that, I'm going to have to make friends with pain.

So, early Saturday morning, I dragged Grumpy down to the local high school track to watch. 

Looks peaceful - doesn't it?

I did my warm up to get the blood flowing and the legs moving. Grumpy kept asking "Are you done?" Finally, it was time for running as hard and steady as I could for 20 minutes. I started off sub 9 so, I backed it off a bit. I finished the first lap in about 2:45. That meant it was going to be about 10 laps total.

I finished the 2nd lap in about the same time. I was going faster than I had planned and a LOT faster than my last 5k. I still had 15 minutes to go. I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to keep this pace up for another 8 laps! I knew if I didn't, coach would toss out the test and make me do it again. I drew strength from that. I was going finish this test correctly or puke trying.

I drew this up in response to my friend Molly's bike test storyboard. This was my internal dialog for laps 3 through 7.

Do Mirinda or Leanda have these thoughts?

Once I hit lap 8, I began to think I could do it. Coming down the final stretch, I put it all out there.

This hurt... bad. But, I learned I can do this. I know this pain and I own it. I won't have to wonder if I can do it. I've already done that.

Tomorrow starts the next build phase and an early peak. I don't know whether to have a drink or cry.

Week 11 Update

Still going strong. Final week in this build phase is in the books. Not much else worth noting - swam, biked, and ran my butt off.

Swim: 3.2 miles
Bike: 50.75 miles
Run: 17.4 miles

Looking forward to this upcoming rest week.

Picture of the week:

NorCal Spring

2013 South Bay Duathlon Race Report

Wow! Time is flying by. Some how I managed to miss a couple of weeks of blogs. Just going to dive right into the race report.

Last Sunday, the South Bay Duathlon race was held. This is a nicely organized race held in Morgan Hill (approximately 25 minutes south of San Jose). Morgan Hill is a smaller community separated from San Jose by the "Green Belt". To the east and west are hills that are beautifully green this time of year. The weather forecast for the day was mid-60's and blue sky.

There were two distances offered. I chose to do the 2 mile run/10 mile bike/2 mile run. Due to the longer distance running first, I decided to be at the site and set up before the first race went off. I'm very glad I did. I got there about 7:15am and snagged a good rack space with my tri club. Now, I had to hang around for a couple of hours. Luckily, there were some friends waiting too.

All of a sudden, it was time to warm up! Doing the 5ks at the end of last year, I really learned the importance of warming up. Getting the legs moving, the heart pumping, and the blood flowing. 10 minutes of kicking out the cob webs and a few minutes building. It was time to get to the start line.

The under 40 women went off first. Once they were off, the 40+ women stepped up. Another tri club was out in force and those women are FAST! So, I lined up right behind them. When the gun went off, I watched my age group run off (*sigh* some day I'll be with them).

Run #1 was pretty much the same as last year's race - trying not to go out too fast while every one else passed me. But then, something different happened. I started to pass people. Not a lot, but some.

Coming from the first run

My goal was to not go out too fast and use this first run as a continued warm up. I also wanted to run strong.

Run #1: 20:49

Now into T1. I ran to the speed bump that marked my rack and found the bike no problem. Slipped my shoes on and grabbed my helmet. Off I went.

T1: 1:07

I had a little trouble clipping in but, I finally got on my way. I had wattage I was supposed to keep but, stupid battery in the cpu unit had died while sitting on the rack. So, I was riding this blind. No idea what the watts were. No idea how fast I was going. I tried to dial in a certain level of pain and stayed with it. It was crowded at the beginning so, I was passing quite a few people. People rode 3 abreast at times.  It started to thin out as we reached the hill. Funny, it seemed steeper than last year. The first part of the hill isn't too bad and I was able to pass a few people. The final 15 yards of the hill gets steeper so, a couple of those people passed me. But, I barreled passed them on the way down the hill.

First loop done, let's go again.

The second loop went faster. There were fewer people on the course by now. I was able to keep that special kind of pain all the way through. Coming down the final stretch, the road was very washboard and I was shaking violently on the bike. Luckily, the road smoothed out about the point I wanted to take my feet out. For the first time EVER, I managed to get my right foot completely out AND loosen my left foot so I could just slip it out when I got off the bike.

Bike: 34:22

Running into transition, I was so distracted by running in socks I lost track of where I was running. When I realized I'd gone too far, I was 2 racks beyond. Rack the bike, take off the helmet, slip on my shoes, grab my water bottle, and snatch my visor as I ran out.

T2: 1:01

 I didn't realize I was smiling at this point. My legs felt great. The plan was to go as fast as I could. The first mile was solid. I began passing people.

Let's go!

 At about 1.5 miles, I started to struggle. My stomach hurt. I backed off a little to let it stop hurting. A few steps later, I pressed on. A quarter mile later, I figured that I only needed to run another 5 minutes... I can do this for 5 more minutes. I turned the corner and could see mile marker 2. I could do this until I got there. Finally, I was back to transition where we had to run through to get to the finish line. Push!

Run #2: 21:41

Overall: 1:19:00 (5:53 PR)

HUGE progress! I'm trying to not get ahead of myself and take each race as it comes.... 

Week7 - Call this build phase a wrap!

I think I'm a frog... I'm already doing close to last year's highest volume. I shudder to think what May/June will be like!

Life continues to be swim, bike, run, dogs, rinse and repeat.

18.53 miles running??? How did that happen?
3.35 hours on the bike trainer.
Only 5800 yards in the pool.

Bring on rest week!

Topping off this final week in this training block, was Shelby earning her championship title in CPE.

Picture of the week:

C-ATCH Hall's Canine Shelby Cobra CGC BN RE NA PDI PKII PJII

Week6 - Wrap Up

Started the week out with the worst asthma attack I've ever had and ended the week cough/wheeze/rattle free! All my workouts done and 10 1/2 hours of training in.

Ended the weekend at the local Obedience trial with Shelby. I did all the stuff the "experts" say: 1) I slowed down, 2) I looked at her the whole time, and 3) I dropped my shoulder. Not only did quirky dog got a qualifying leg toward her Obedience Novice A title, she got third place!


Picture of the week:

Shelby and her obedience ribbons.

Week5 wrap up and Valentine's Day Race Report

I am clawing my way back to being fully functional. At the beginning of this week, I was still sniffling and wheezing. I knew it was just going to work its way through but, Grumpy insisted I see the doctor. No fever. No ear infection. No sinus infection. No bronchitis. Doctor made me get a chest X-Ray and voila! No pneumonia. Just my asthma completely out of control. Doctor gave me a stern lecture and I'm back on 2 allergy medicines and 3 asthma medicines. Darn if I don't feel better already!

The early part of this week was pretty easy especially since I skipped the 5:30 am masters swim.

Wednesday, I raced through my workout to get Shelby to the obedience walk through. Thanks to the seminar I attended last week, she was really into the heeling. I won't delude myself into thinking she's fixed. We will probably not qualify next week but, I hope we continue to show improvement.

Thursday I finally got to do a little force work and spent a little time in zone 3+. I felt great afterwards so, I'm really getting back to normal. I braved the 5:30 am masters swim on Friday and while I could feel the wheezing, I did fine. Tazzy joined me for my pre-race run and feet up the rest of the day.

I managed everything on the training schedule with the exception for that first swim. Coughing less and less every day.

Valentine's Day 5k Race Report

Saturday I braved the 34F degrees and headed out to do a local 5K. The course was on a trail that I regularly run. I was pretty nervous about doing much pushing but, I wanted to see how much fitness I'd lost.

I couldn't get my mind straight on how to race. That morning it hit me: it's about pushing through the discomfort NOT about the pace. Whether it's 13:00 or 9:20, this race was about mindset.

I did the 20 minute warm up and thought my pace would be way off. I planned to start at 10:30 for the first 1/2 mile and adjust from there. The second 1/2 of the first mile and each mile after, I was going to try to push a little more. I used my Garmin only for that first 1/2 mile, the rest was blind.

It was my first shotgun start and the course was narrow. I made sure I was behind the fast racers and not near the little kids. The first time I looked at the Garmin, I was going 8:26! The Garmin kept whining that I was going too fast, I kept dialing it back and dodging walkers and slower runners.

I pushed too much during the second half of the first mile and didn't have enough reserve to push the last mile that had slippery bridges, narrow/crowded paths, and a couple of under passes. Around 2 miles, my stomach was burning so, I eased up a bit before going back at it. I sprinted the final turn into the stretch.

I was nervous about my asthma but, I did ok. I think if I'd pushed any more, I would have gotten into trouble. The result is that even being sick for 2 weeks, I have a lot more capability than I've had before and I'm much more confident.

Official time 30:42 which is about 20 seconds slower than December. I'll keep knocking and eventually I'll break through that 30 minute barrier.  I wasn't expecting it today... Then again, I didn't know what to expect today! Good confidence boost.
Picture of the week:

5th AG out of 53!