I was super excited to conquer 20 miles Saturday morning. I stuck to my hydration plan at work all day Friday, got all my clothes and gear out the night before and ready for a (very) early alarm clock/dress in the mostly dark, foam rolled out all the stiffness of sitting all day at work. And then I fell asleep while syncing my ipod. I fell asleep before setting my 4:00am alarm. I woke up at 6:45 and was immediately so upset about the whole situation. I even woke up with one of the kids sometime around 12:30am and was so tired that I went to bed without checking my alarm, which is something I would normally do.
Instead of running, I made a trip to the running store and picked up a new pair of shoes. My shoes weren't too bad, definitely showing a fair amount of wear, but the toe box on my right shoe collapsed! It was pressing on my toes with every step on that foot, and I have two very sore toenails as a result.
I tried to implement the same plan in preparation for Sunday. I did pretty good, maybe even nutritionally better. And last night I triple checked my alarm! I was up at 4:25 and running by just after 5:00. Early to avoid the sun and heat. Except today it rained, and rained hard for probably 2/3 of my run. I love the rain for running, so it worked out great. I made all 20 miles. I felt great until mile 16, 17 and 18 were very difficult and then I rallied a little for the last two. I finished in 2:52 (8:37 avg/mile). I am thrilled with that time for my first 20-miler. Projecting that pace, I should think another 50 or so minutes to finish another 6 miles is normal, but on the tale end of a marathon a challenge for sure. I am going to have to move it on race day to meet my goal time, but anything sub 3:45 would be amazing!
I wore my new shoes for the first 10 miles, then swapped out to my old ones. My feet are beat up. The rain really took a toll. I also had to ditch my music because the rain was coming down so hard I was worried something might short out. I did good with hydration, I think. I feel really dehydrated right now though, but I always struggle with recovery, so nothing new there (any suggestions are welcome!)
This week is an easy week to recover from the load of building to 20. The timing works out perfectly because this Sunday I'll be volunteering at Ironman Wisconsin!
Anybody out there achieving big goals this week? Or little goals? All victories are huge in my mind!
Sunday, August 31, 2014
Thursday, August 28, 2014
High Temps and Long Runs
Some people are built for hot weather. I am not one of them. It takes my head right out of the game when it comes to pushing through a tough run. In the wake of post-Racine fatigue the high temps have not helped my Columbus Marathon training. I finally feel recovered from Racine, but have been struggling getting mileage in with the high temperatures and humidity. On top of that, the route I usually run is almost exclusively in the sun. It's a bad combo. I've been on the treadmill way more than I'd like, which is fine for some things (I usually like to do speed workouts on the treadmill), but I can really feel it once I get out onto the road.
And then I remembered that years ago, I used to run the loop around the high school parking lot! It's lit until 10:30pm, which gets me off the roads in the dark, and I feel less likely to get attacked by a wild animal (why do I have this fear??). The loop is 1.1 miles/lap, it has some small hills. It's been great. Even though it's still been 80 degrees at 10:00pm. Plus, there is something really freeing about a night run. I've been wearing my head lamp, but haven't really needed it except once the lights go out.
On the docket for the rest of the week: a short tempo run and this weekend, my first 20-miler (1 of 3) in Columbus prep.
Monday, August 18, 2014
Bug Trouble
Two weekends in a row, I have gotten a gnat in my eye (the same eye) while on my long run. What are the odds of that? And of all the space in the air that a small insect could fly, why does it end up right in your eye?
Monday, August 11, 2014
How Ironman turned me into a marshmallow
I'm not sure if it was a post race slump, my hip injury, my body being overly exhausted from month's of long training, a new work schedule, the summer heat, or (most likely) a combination of all of those things. I have hit a serious rut since Racine. I have not been on my bike or in the pool in 3 weeks. I am a little afraid of my bike right now because of how tender my knee felt on it, especially given that I have running goals remaining this year.
But who can worry about running goals when my hip is in excruciating pain? It is beyond awful. I desperately want to get it looked at. It is now visibly swollen and you can feel the tendon or ligament or whatever it is puffy and moving around, which is completely the opposite of the other side. Unfortunately for me, we are in an insurance pickle right now, and I have to wait until September to get it looked at. We have terrible coverage to get us through until new, great coverage starts, and any visits or testing that I would do now would be out of pocket. So, I'm carrying on. And icing. And eating ibuprofen like candy. Believe me, I'd rather have candy.
I bruised 2 toenails on long runs. One is pretty black and gross. Awesome. Wearing the same shoes I've been wearing since January, without any problems.
I started a new work schedule that involves several over night shifts. While I feel fairly mentally adjusted to it after a few weeks, it is clear that my body just can't give what it normally would. My legs feel heavy and tired and I haven't been able to push the pace at all. Frustrating. I am trying to do what I can do while avoiding injury to a tired body.
The other problem with working overnights is that it has thrown off my eating schedule somewhat and so I feel less hydrated or incorrectly hydrated? I'm not sure. But I've been doing a lot of cramping on longer runs. It's all very odd. The more humid weather is not helping, and I've been forced to head out a little later in the day because of my schedule. For example, I did not start my run yesterday until 3:00 in the afternoon. It was 86 degrees and muggy.
I have a mental block because of all of this, and have missed my last 2 weeks of long distances, managing only 12 miles on both days (instead of the 16 and 17 I was supposed to do). I keep telling myself I have plenty of time still until Columbus, and I do. But I also don't. If a few things can come together, and I can get in a solid run that feels comfortable I know the mental block will go away. It's also a bit daunting because I haven't run over 15 miles in 3 years! I'm excited to push beyond that distance again.
Maybe a pair of new shoes is the cure? Nothing gets me motivated like new gear!
But who can worry about running goals when my hip is in excruciating pain? It is beyond awful. I desperately want to get it looked at. It is now visibly swollen and you can feel the tendon or ligament or whatever it is puffy and moving around, which is completely the opposite of the other side. Unfortunately for me, we are in an insurance pickle right now, and I have to wait until September to get it looked at. We have terrible coverage to get us through until new, great coverage starts, and any visits or testing that I would do now would be out of pocket. So, I'm carrying on. And icing. And eating ibuprofen like candy. Believe me, I'd rather have candy.
I bruised 2 toenails on long runs. One is pretty black and gross. Awesome. Wearing the same shoes I've been wearing since January, without any problems.
I started a new work schedule that involves several over night shifts. While I feel fairly mentally adjusted to it after a few weeks, it is clear that my body just can't give what it normally would. My legs feel heavy and tired and I haven't been able to push the pace at all. Frustrating. I am trying to do what I can do while avoiding injury to a tired body.
The other problem with working overnights is that it has thrown off my eating schedule somewhat and so I feel less hydrated or incorrectly hydrated? I'm not sure. But I've been doing a lot of cramping on longer runs. It's all very odd. The more humid weather is not helping, and I've been forced to head out a little later in the day because of my schedule. For example, I did not start my run yesterday until 3:00 in the afternoon. It was 86 degrees and muggy.
I have a mental block because of all of this, and have missed my last 2 weeks of long distances, managing only 12 miles on both days (instead of the 16 and 17 I was supposed to do). I keep telling myself I have plenty of time still until Columbus, and I do. But I also don't. If a few things can come together, and I can get in a solid run that feels comfortable I know the mental block will go away. It's also a bit daunting because I haven't run over 15 miles in 3 years! I'm excited to push beyond that distance again.
Maybe a pair of new shoes is the cure? Nothing gets me motivated like new gear!
Tuesday, July 22, 2014
Race Recap
Ironman 70.3 Racine....complete!
I could not be more happy or excited about how Sunday went. I had a great, relaxing week prior to the race. I was a little nervous about being on vacation for 5 days leading up to the race, but I ended up getting lots of sleep, having little in the way of regular chores to keep up with, and got in two really good lake/wetsuit swims, which really boosted my confidence going into Sunday.
I was extremely rushed at the athlete check-in and expo, and actually missed the pre-race meeting. I wanted to get my bike worked on a little before the race, but also missed that. Luckily, there were volunteers on hand in transition on race morning, so I was able to air up both tires prior to the race. I dropped my bike in transition, walked through the transition area, counting bike racks and walking my route for the run in/bike out/run out, etc. Then I went to the lake. There were kids swimming in it everywhere! I walked in up to my knees and immediately wanted to chase all the kids out. It was so cold! 62 degrees! I had originally planned to swim a little after dropping my bike, but I was tired and hungry and really just wanted to shower, eat, and start getting my head around race day.
I picked up my necessary fuel (bagels, Uncrustables, gatorade, bananas, and pizza and breadsticks for Saturday evening meal), headed to my hotel, and settled in.
My alarm went off at 4:00am Sunday. Getting out of my room and to the start area went smoothly. I even found on street parking very close to transition/finish! I got my transition area set up, went through body marking, and hit the port-o-lets. I had plenty of time and never felt rushed. Transition closed at 6:30 for the race start at 7:00. The swim was a point-to-point, ending on the beach by transition, so athletes had to walk the mile up the beach to the swim start.
The pro waves went off at 7:00 and then there was a wave pretty much every 4 minutes after that. My wave, number 11, went off at 7:37. Prior to that, I tried to just visualize my race: transition, swim, being calm, reviewed when I wanted to eat, how much and when to drink, etc. There was a practice area marked off in the water near the swim start. I went in, floated around, put my face in and floated and breathed, then did about 10 minutes of very light swimming, just trying to acclimate to the cold water. They announced that the water temp was 61.4 degrees on race morning! It was cold. My hands and feet were very cold paddling around in the practice area.
I saw Eric just before my wave went off! I was really happy to see him. I wasn't sure if he would be at the start or at the finish of the swim (turns out, I saw him at both places!). I tried to position myself near the back of my wave, not wanting to get caught up in going out too fast. This ended up being a bit of a rookie mistake, because I got caught behind some really weak swimmers. Not that I am, by any means, the strongest of swimmers, but I really got hung up in traffic. It was a mass of bodies. I couldn't see any clear path, every time I put my face down to swim, I ran into someone or a body part, and I was being touched on all sides. I never got pushed down or run over. I felt a little wave of panic from being very uncomfortable, but I tried to keep breathing and moving forward. Once the course turned to swim perpendicular to the shore, the traffic really cleared out and I was able to find some open water. I got into a rhythm and never let up, other than a few times when I had to maneuver around other swimmers. It was a little crazy...I'd be swimming along, turn to breath and all of a sudden there would be a body right next to me! I did try to swim behind someone, but found it to be more distracting than it felt helpful, so I went back to what felt comfortable to me. I remembered some good advice from a very experienced triathlete friend, and swam until my hands and knees were in the sand as I approached the beach. I swam past people already walking and fighting the water! I felt fresh and when I looked at my watch, I was thrilled with my time! Official swim time: 43:06 for the 1.2 miles.
T1 took 5:28. It went very smooth, no problems finding my bike. And I was very thankful for the kiddie pools of water to rinse the caked sand off my feet from running up the beach!
Again, a piece of valuable advice from my friend gave me an advantage out of the gate on the bike. The hill out of transition is enormous, so I was set up in a low gear. Thank goodness! I cruised right up and was on my way. My goal was to finish in 3:30 or under. The roads out of Racine were in horrible condition, and there was a lot of bike traffic. I ended up nailing a huge pothole and lost some air in my rear tire. I had no choice but to continue with it low and hope it didn't go flat. I felt on target with my nutrition goals on the bike. I ate my PB&J when I wanted, and finished 2 full bottles of fluid (one water and one Nuun, and about half a gatorade--I also put down about half a bottle of water in transition). I opted out of my gel because it was so warm on my bike frame that it just wasn't appealing to me when I had planned to take it. The bike course was nice, not too challenging and lots of downhill. The rough roads took a toll though. I really felt beat up by the end, and the rough roads made it feel like the pedals were pulling my questionable knee. I started to lose focus by the end, and just really wanted to be off. I was definitely counting down the miles with about 10 to go. The last 4 miles were into the wind and my knee felt totally destroyed. I had no power left in it, and I started to focus on how much it was hurting, which let in other doubts: I was hungry, getting tired, it was starting to get hot, I still had 13.1 miles to run! Also seeing the number of people on the run course already as I was almost back to transition made me feel like I was doing very poorly despite being ahead on both my time goals so far. I finished the 56 mile bike in 3:20:32.
T2 took 3:50. I even ended up changing my top for a looser fitting tank instead of the compression top I had been wearing, and swapped out watches for my GPS watch.
The hill out of transition onto the run course seemed very unnecessary on the first loop, and cruel on the second. The run course was a double loop. I wanted to start off a nice even, slow pace and then just maintain a comfortable pace for the entire run. I ended up doing 8:08 my first mile and 8:05 my second. My legs were a little rubbery still, but luckily NO knee pain on the run! I could have kissed every single person who had a hose set up in their front yard spraying runners as they went by....it was hot and the run course did have much shade. When I could see the lake, I kept telling myself that I was going in again after I finished (I didn't, but I did really want to!! I would have killed for that cold water at that point). I started to really hurt around mile 9, and my pace dropped off, but I maintained just below 10:00/mile. I finally needed to use the bathroom, and did take a very fast bathroom break between miles 9-10. Cups of ice at the aid stations were my savior. I grabbed one through each aid station, carried as much as I could in my hands and sucked on it while I ran. I was starving on the run, and ate two orange slices in one of the later miles...at the same aid station I used the bathroom. I ended up finishing the 13.1 miles in 2:01:04, my only missed time goal of the day (I wanted 2:00 or better), but all in all, I was thrilled with that! I didn't have to take any walk breaks, and felt like a beast pushing it up that brutal hill on loop 2 past all the walkers. Not that there is anything at all wrong with a walk break, I just had it set in my head that I wanted to push myself if I could and the day went my way pretty much all day.
My total time (I had the goal of 6:30:00 or better) was 6:14:00!!! Beat my goal by 16 whole minutes!
In the aftermath, I think I can improve by a small margin on the swim and I know I can run a stand alone half marathon a lot faster, but am stoked with 2:00 after a 56 mile bike. I honestly feel now that the bike is my weakest leg. I'm not sure if it is a strength issue, a technique issue, or an equipment issue, or a combination of all those?
I have no plans of signing up for a full Ironman in the near future, but would like to take it on someday. I do, however, fully intend to do another half. Running is still my passion, but triathlon has really found a place in my heart.
Thanks to everyone who supported me, sent me messages, encouraged me along the way. I cannot express my gratitude for my husband and kids for their sacrifice over the past months and for being there on race day to support me. There is a fantastic picture of me near the finish where I saw them all (the kids for the first time that day)...I have the biggest smile! My husband's parents were there on race day, and took the kids several times during my training to help me out in getting workouts in. And of course, my triathlete friends deserve huge props for putting up with my constant questions!
I could not be more happy or excited about how Sunday went. I had a great, relaxing week prior to the race. I was a little nervous about being on vacation for 5 days leading up to the race, but I ended up getting lots of sleep, having little in the way of regular chores to keep up with, and got in two really good lake/wetsuit swims, which really boosted my confidence going into Sunday.
I was extremely rushed at the athlete check-in and expo, and actually missed the pre-race meeting. I wanted to get my bike worked on a little before the race, but also missed that. Luckily, there were volunteers on hand in transition on race morning, so I was able to air up both tires prior to the race. I dropped my bike in transition, walked through the transition area, counting bike racks and walking my route for the run in/bike out/run out, etc. Then I went to the lake. There were kids swimming in it everywhere! I walked in up to my knees and immediately wanted to chase all the kids out. It was so cold! 62 degrees! I had originally planned to swim a little after dropping my bike, but I was tired and hungry and really just wanted to shower, eat, and start getting my head around race day.
I picked up my necessary fuel (bagels, Uncrustables, gatorade, bananas, and pizza and breadsticks for Saturday evening meal), headed to my hotel, and settled in.
My alarm went off at 4:00am Sunday. Getting out of my room and to the start area went smoothly. I even found on street parking very close to transition/finish! I got my transition area set up, went through body marking, and hit the port-o-lets. I had plenty of time and never felt rushed. Transition closed at 6:30 for the race start at 7:00. The swim was a point-to-point, ending on the beach by transition, so athletes had to walk the mile up the beach to the swim start.
The pro waves went off at 7:00 and then there was a wave pretty much every 4 minutes after that. My wave, number 11, went off at 7:37. Prior to that, I tried to just visualize my race: transition, swim, being calm, reviewed when I wanted to eat, how much and when to drink, etc. There was a practice area marked off in the water near the swim start. I went in, floated around, put my face in and floated and breathed, then did about 10 minutes of very light swimming, just trying to acclimate to the cold water. They announced that the water temp was 61.4 degrees on race morning! It was cold. My hands and feet were very cold paddling around in the practice area.
I saw Eric just before my wave went off! I was really happy to see him. I wasn't sure if he would be at the start or at the finish of the swim (turns out, I saw him at both places!). I tried to position myself near the back of my wave, not wanting to get caught up in going out too fast. This ended up being a bit of a rookie mistake, because I got caught behind some really weak swimmers. Not that I am, by any means, the strongest of swimmers, but I really got hung up in traffic. It was a mass of bodies. I couldn't see any clear path, every time I put my face down to swim, I ran into someone or a body part, and I was being touched on all sides. I never got pushed down or run over. I felt a little wave of panic from being very uncomfortable, but I tried to keep breathing and moving forward. Once the course turned to swim perpendicular to the shore, the traffic really cleared out and I was able to find some open water. I got into a rhythm and never let up, other than a few times when I had to maneuver around other swimmers. It was a little crazy...I'd be swimming along, turn to breath and all of a sudden there would be a body right next to me! I did try to swim behind someone, but found it to be more distracting than it felt helpful, so I went back to what felt comfortable to me. I remembered some good advice from a very experienced triathlete friend, and swam until my hands and knees were in the sand as I approached the beach. I swam past people already walking and fighting the water! I felt fresh and when I looked at my watch, I was thrilled with my time! Official swim time: 43:06 for the 1.2 miles.
T1 took 5:28. It went very smooth, no problems finding my bike. And I was very thankful for the kiddie pools of water to rinse the caked sand off my feet from running up the beach!
Again, a piece of valuable advice from my friend gave me an advantage out of the gate on the bike. The hill out of transition is enormous, so I was set up in a low gear. Thank goodness! I cruised right up and was on my way. My goal was to finish in 3:30 or under. The roads out of Racine were in horrible condition, and there was a lot of bike traffic. I ended up nailing a huge pothole and lost some air in my rear tire. I had no choice but to continue with it low and hope it didn't go flat. I felt on target with my nutrition goals on the bike. I ate my PB&J when I wanted, and finished 2 full bottles of fluid (one water and one Nuun, and about half a gatorade--I also put down about half a bottle of water in transition). I opted out of my gel because it was so warm on my bike frame that it just wasn't appealing to me when I had planned to take it. The bike course was nice, not too challenging and lots of downhill. The rough roads took a toll though. I really felt beat up by the end, and the rough roads made it feel like the pedals were pulling my questionable knee. I started to lose focus by the end, and just really wanted to be off. I was definitely counting down the miles with about 10 to go. The last 4 miles were into the wind and my knee felt totally destroyed. I had no power left in it, and I started to focus on how much it was hurting, which let in other doubts: I was hungry, getting tired, it was starting to get hot, I still had 13.1 miles to run! Also seeing the number of people on the run course already as I was almost back to transition made me feel like I was doing very poorly despite being ahead on both my time goals so far. I finished the 56 mile bike in 3:20:32.
T2 took 3:50. I even ended up changing my top for a looser fitting tank instead of the compression top I had been wearing, and swapped out watches for my GPS watch.
The hill out of transition onto the run course seemed very unnecessary on the first loop, and cruel on the second. The run course was a double loop. I wanted to start off a nice even, slow pace and then just maintain a comfortable pace for the entire run. I ended up doing 8:08 my first mile and 8:05 my second. My legs were a little rubbery still, but luckily NO knee pain on the run! I could have kissed every single person who had a hose set up in their front yard spraying runners as they went by....it was hot and the run course did have much shade. When I could see the lake, I kept telling myself that I was going in again after I finished (I didn't, but I did really want to!! I would have killed for that cold water at that point). I started to really hurt around mile 9, and my pace dropped off, but I maintained just below 10:00/mile. I finally needed to use the bathroom, and did take a very fast bathroom break between miles 9-10. Cups of ice at the aid stations were my savior. I grabbed one through each aid station, carried as much as I could in my hands and sucked on it while I ran. I was starving on the run, and ate two orange slices in one of the later miles...at the same aid station I used the bathroom. I ended up finishing the 13.1 miles in 2:01:04, my only missed time goal of the day (I wanted 2:00 or better), but all in all, I was thrilled with that! I didn't have to take any walk breaks, and felt like a beast pushing it up that brutal hill on loop 2 past all the walkers. Not that there is anything at all wrong with a walk break, I just had it set in my head that I wanted to push myself if I could and the day went my way pretty much all day.
My total time (I had the goal of 6:30:00 or better) was 6:14:00!!! Beat my goal by 16 whole minutes!
In the aftermath, I think I can improve by a small margin on the swim and I know I can run a stand alone half marathon a lot faster, but am stoked with 2:00 after a 56 mile bike. I honestly feel now that the bike is my weakest leg. I'm not sure if it is a strength issue, a technique issue, or an equipment issue, or a combination of all those?
I have no plans of signing up for a full Ironman in the near future, but would like to take it on someday. I do, however, fully intend to do another half. Running is still my passion, but triathlon has really found a place in my heart.
Thanks to everyone who supported me, sent me messages, encouraged me along the way. I cannot express my gratitude for my husband and kids for their sacrifice over the past months and for being there on race day to support me. There is a fantastic picture of me near the finish where I saw them all (the kids for the first time that day)...I have the biggest smile! My husband's parents were there on race day, and took the kids several times during my training to help me out in getting workouts in. And of course, my triathlete friends deserve huge props for putting up with my constant questions!
Monday, July 14, 2014
Devastation
I woke up yesterday so excited to put my training for Ironman 70.3 to bed. This week is an easy rest week leading up to race day on Sunday. I had a long bike/run scheduled. But when I looked out the window the weather was overcast (fine) and really windy (not fine!). I hate riding in such strong winds. I get frustrated because I just don't have the strength to power through strongly. My pace slows and I work so hard to basically go nowhere. Anyway, I headed out and pretty immediately got frustrated but went into the wind for a long time thinking how sweet it would be to head back with the tailwind.
Then my left knee started to hurt. It felt better when I wasn't pedaling so hard into the wind. But at a certain point it didn't matter. It just hurt. Bad. I got off my bike and tried to stretch out. That helped some, for about 5 minutes. Then the pain got to where I couldn't even push down, I couldn't get into aero position, and I just wanted to cry. I was far away from home and all I could think is that there is no way I can finish a 56 mile ride in this much pain next week. I eventually did cry because man did it really hurt, and there really isn't any relief on the bike.
I'm hoping that I just strained something with the excessive force I was using trying to go into the wind. I really hoping this is not a secondary injury to my hip injury that I've been fighting. Those tendons are all connected, and so it makes sense that if one is injured it might eventually affect the others. I just kept playing through the race. My pace slowed to almost 8 miles an hour, down from the 16.5 or so that I can usually maintain. That means it would take over 6 hours to finish the bike portion next Sunday, and I would not make the cut off time to continue on in the race.
I didn't go as long as I needed to ride. I ran just a little bit, and it honestly felt totally fine running. That is a good sign! It felt totally fine walking around all day. Just a little notice of something a couple of times sitting on the floor and one big twinge bending down to pick up a toddler. I used lots of ibuprofen and ice, and that's my place to get to Sunday, along with lots of stretching.
Fingers crossed it was a fluke!
Then my left knee started to hurt. It felt better when I wasn't pedaling so hard into the wind. But at a certain point it didn't matter. It just hurt. Bad. I got off my bike and tried to stretch out. That helped some, for about 5 minutes. Then the pain got to where I couldn't even push down, I couldn't get into aero position, and I just wanted to cry. I was far away from home and all I could think is that there is no way I can finish a 56 mile ride in this much pain next week. I eventually did cry because man did it really hurt, and there really isn't any relief on the bike.
I'm hoping that I just strained something with the excessive force I was using trying to go into the wind. I really hoping this is not a secondary injury to my hip injury that I've been fighting. Those tendons are all connected, and so it makes sense that if one is injured it might eventually affect the others. I just kept playing through the race. My pace slowed to almost 8 miles an hour, down from the 16.5 or so that I can usually maintain. That means it would take over 6 hours to finish the bike portion next Sunday, and I would not make the cut off time to continue on in the race.
I didn't go as long as I needed to ride. I ran just a little bit, and it honestly felt totally fine running. That is a good sign! It felt totally fine walking around all day. Just a little notice of something a couple of times sitting on the floor and one big twinge bending down to pick up a toddler. I used lots of ibuprofen and ice, and that's my place to get to Sunday, along with lots of stretching.
Fingers crossed it was a fluke!
Saturday, July 12, 2014
7 days out
Freaking out just a little. Race day is a week away. At this time next week I'll be tucked away in bed, preparing for a 4:00am wake up call. I'll be rested, prepped, and carbo-loaded, and ready to dominate Racine 70.3. At least that's what I plan to tell myself for the next week.
The forecast is out, and so far high of 77 and partly cloudy! That's a tad warm for the run, but it could be A LOT worse for mid-July. Of course, I think a temp of about 99 degrees would go a long way to make the lake temps more manageable for the swim, but...you can't win 'em all, and the water is going to be an ice bath no matter what the air temp is.
Today I did my last long run and swim. Again, a time crunch and afternoon plans had me a bit pressed for time. I cut a mile out of my run and did 13 instead of the 14 my training plan called for. I was actually ok with that because of a few twinges, which I'll get to in a minute. I chatted a few minutes with an older man that I see regularly on my morning runs (he ran a 5K last weekend and knew my race was coming up, so we exchanged updates). After a quick change, I was in the pool for a 3000m swim. It felt pretty good. Around 2000m I put my head down trying to work a kink out of my shoulder and felt myself go a little faster and easier through the water. I continued to focus on my head position and boy did I notice a difference. I then put my head where I had been holding it and instantly felt more "drag" in the water. Amazing that I didn't notice that earlier!
Tomorrow I have my last long bike/run workout. Right now I am sitting on my bed with my new bike helmet on. Pretty excited to put it to the test tomorrow. I've got a 50 mile ride and 4 mile run planned.
Status report: I have a few nagging "injuries." More like twinges. Probably from overuse. My hip continues to hurt. I can't believe it's been so many months since I fell. I know it took a huge blow and I have given it zero rest, but still! My right calf has been cramping pretty badly after about 3 miles. Not good. To take care of my body I've been using lots of ice on my hip, ibuprofen, lots of fluids, and this week the foam roller has been my calf's best friend. This morning I wore compression socks and had no problems from my calf. It was very tight after, but did not cramp while I was running. Plan to continue the foam roller and compression socks this week.
Funny story: went for a swim/run this week. I normally shower at home, but decided to shower at the Y before I left. This change totally messed up my packing. I only brought one pair of underwear, so after the pool my dilemma became whether to wear underwear for my run or on my way home, or wear the same sweaty pair after my shower. Gross. I opted to run commando and, of course, had tight running shorts with me, not the nice ones with the built in underwear. I had planned some speedwork and hills on the treadmill, and wouldn't you know the only other treadmill in use happened to be the one directly behind me. Umm....felt like that guy got a nice show during his workout. I have spare socks, shirts, etc all in my bag. Clearly, I need to add another article to that stash of extras.
The forecast is out, and so far high of 77 and partly cloudy! That's a tad warm for the run, but it could be A LOT worse for mid-July. Of course, I think a temp of about 99 degrees would go a long way to make the lake temps more manageable for the swim, but...you can't win 'em all, and the water is going to be an ice bath no matter what the air temp is.
Today I did my last long run and swim. Again, a time crunch and afternoon plans had me a bit pressed for time. I cut a mile out of my run and did 13 instead of the 14 my training plan called for. I was actually ok with that because of a few twinges, which I'll get to in a minute. I chatted a few minutes with an older man that I see regularly on my morning runs (he ran a 5K last weekend and knew my race was coming up, so we exchanged updates). After a quick change, I was in the pool for a 3000m swim. It felt pretty good. Around 2000m I put my head down trying to work a kink out of my shoulder and felt myself go a little faster and easier through the water. I continued to focus on my head position and boy did I notice a difference. I then put my head where I had been holding it and instantly felt more "drag" in the water. Amazing that I didn't notice that earlier!
Tomorrow I have my last long bike/run workout. Right now I am sitting on my bed with my new bike helmet on. Pretty excited to put it to the test tomorrow. I've got a 50 mile ride and 4 mile run planned.
Status report: I have a few nagging "injuries." More like twinges. Probably from overuse. My hip continues to hurt. I can't believe it's been so many months since I fell. I know it took a huge blow and I have given it zero rest, but still! My right calf has been cramping pretty badly after about 3 miles. Not good. To take care of my body I've been using lots of ice on my hip, ibuprofen, lots of fluids, and this week the foam roller has been my calf's best friend. This morning I wore compression socks and had no problems from my calf. It was very tight after, but did not cramp while I was running. Plan to continue the foam roller and compression socks this week.
Funny story: went for a swim/run this week. I normally shower at home, but decided to shower at the Y before I left. This change totally messed up my packing. I only brought one pair of underwear, so after the pool my dilemma became whether to wear underwear for my run or on my way home, or wear the same sweaty pair after my shower. Gross. I opted to run commando and, of course, had tight running shorts with me, not the nice ones with the built in underwear. I had planned some speedwork and hills on the treadmill, and wouldn't you know the only other treadmill in use happened to be the one directly behind me. Umm....felt like that guy got a nice show during his workout. I have spare socks, shirts, etc all in my bag. Clearly, I need to add another article to that stash of extras.
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