Are You Crying?

There's no crying in triathlon...

Coming off of the Death Valley 3K Open Water Swim Meet I was feeling pretty good about my training. It was a nice confidence boost knowing that I could do 3k in a murky lake, sight well enough to stay on course and do it all without my binky, AKA my wetsuit. If only that feeling would've lasted.

Mon: 3700 swim - Not such a fun start to the week. Warm-up: 6x75 as odd DPS, even build* Main Set: all on :20RI, 4 x 200 IM race pace,1 x 100@T-pace +2, 3 x 300 IM race pace, 1 x 100@T-pace + 2, 2 x 400 IM race pace, 1 x 100@T-pace +2, Cooldown: 6 x 75 as 25 free, 25 drill, 25 free

Tue: 6mi run - Fartlek. I'm so accustomed to doing bike on Tuesday I hadn't even looked at the schedule. Woke up, put on my cycling gear and checked training peaks for the workout and realized it was a run instead. Nice run since it was unexpected.

Wed: 3400 swim. Managed to get to the team swim tonight. Horrible storms so thought we'd get kicked out but we got it in. Just spaced out for some reason so not sure if I got all of the meters in - lost track and just swam continuous with a rest here and there. Sore shoulder...

Thu: 18mi bike on the trainer. Kicked some old school Rush on the IPOD - Distant Early Warning:

An I'll wind comes arising

Across the cities of the plain

There's no swimming in the heavy water

No singing in the acid rain

Red alert

Red alert

It's so hard to stay together

Passing through revolving doors

We need someone to talk to

And someone to sweep the floors

Incomplete

Incomplete

I admit it, I've got strange music taste. 80s rock and hip hop from the 80s to current. What can I say?

Fri: 10 mi run. Woke up not feeling great. Got to the gym and tried the new honeystinger gel I had bought. Squeezed the whole thing in my mouth before I really tasted it and then had that, 'Oh wow, that really sucked' but it was too late, had to gulp it down. Definitely didn't have a happy stomach. Slugged out 5 miles and then had to walk at the top of every mile for 1-2 minutes and then run the next. It was a long, defeating workout. Kept getting the sweats/chills at work until about 1p

Sat: Epic training weekend! From 11:30a to 4p we rotated between swim, bike, run clinics being evaluated by each other and our coaches. Learned a lot about my form. Thanks to teammate Ann for your run form suggestions and to Katie for your swim suggestions. I think my work is cut out for me on the swim. The videos were great for evaluation. Long day though.

Sun: 30 min Lake Open Water Swim, 59 mile bike on NGA mtns and 1.5 mile run. Was supposed to do 30 OWS, 70 bike and 2 run but it just wasn't my day. I think the 90+ degree heat, bad nutrition and not enough sodium/hydration took me out. Swim went great, got to the bike and started hitting the bike. It was definitely a tough course and I was still feeling a little puny physically so around 40 miles, I had stopped at a SAG vehicle in the shade and was shaking, dizzy, not good. My coach Mary had said I should stop there and SAG in. I started to cry. Yes, I said it, I cried over not being able to finish the ride. Watched that group take off as another group came in with my other coach. I was feeling a little better as I stood there cooling off and taking a break. By the time they were taking off, I decided to try to go on - Mike my coach agreed to stay with me no matter what so I felt safe that he would be there. We took off and I had turned the sorrow into rage so I took off like a bat out of hell. He caught up and was cracking up about my speeding off fueled by anger. We got to mile 59 and I was having really bad stomach pains, was dizzy again. SAG vehicle was there waiting so I got in the car with 2 other teammates as my coach took off. 

It was the first time that I had to SAG in on a ride ever. Sunday I'm not sure how many on our team caught a ride back and couldn't finish the ride but I think it was the majority. I'm trying not to let it mentally get to me and just call it a bad day but that's hard. I tried every affirmation, visualization I could and no luck beating the physical and mental issues. Got back, unloaded all of my stuff and stretched out under a tree for a few minutes. Got up and went for a 15 minute run after a mental battle of whether I was going to get up and do it or not. So thankful that I did. On the drive back with my fabulous teammate Karen, I had some pringles and a diet coke and instantly started to feel better. Maybe that's the secret!

No matter what I go through during this training, it doesn't compare to those battling cancer and their journey through treatment. I hope that you'll continue to follow my training through all of the ups and downs and will consider making a donation to Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

My longest OW Swim- Death Valley 3K

Lake Hartwell Pre Race - Clemson University

This week was a recovery week leading up to the Clemson 3K on Saturday. It was a really strong training week for me but even given that, I was really freaked out about swimming a couple of miles in the lake, especially with no wetsuit. Yes, I know Ironman is 2.4 miles but it's still 5 months away so mentally I wasn't confident in this distance in the lake. Take a look at Saturday's writeup for details. Cool thing was I met with a sports nutritionist this week who told me I'm not eating nearly enough so green light to eat more, woohoo! Here's my training:

Mon: 2100 swim. Loved this swim, it made me miss short workouts. Here was the drill - WU 400, as build by 100 (0:30 RI), 4 x 100 as descend 1-4 (0:20 RI), 4 x 50 sprint (1:00 RI), 200 Moderate (0:20 RI), 4 x 50 sprint (1:00 RI), CD 100

Tue: 18 mile bike, 1 mile run.

Wed: 2800swim in the am. Still swimming in the am vs pm with the team. I had to facilitate a late meeting at work so couldn't have gone in the pm anyway. Miss the team!

Thu: 7 mile run. This was a GREAT run. Ever since I met with the nutritionist Tuesday I've been really trying to up my calories (good calories, not junk) and I've felt so much stronger. I took a gel pre run and kept water on the treadmill with me so I finished nice and strong and happy.

Fri: Off day to rest pre swim meet. Retail therapy with a teammate and picked up some new goggles (barracuda tinted)

Coming out of the water at the end of the race

Sat: 3000m/1.86 miles Time to face my fears. Loaded up the family at 6am and drove to Clemson University to meet the team. Even though we've had swims longer than 3K in the pool, they're (a) in the pool, (b) broken up with drills and short rests so I was really not feeling confident going into this swim. This race was my 3rd open water swim in 7 years which also was sticking in my brain. Our race started at 10am so tried to stay hydrated and fueled from 6am til 10. I entered the water and was still swimming up to the 'official' start of the race when the cannon went off, whoops. Had no problems with panic, yaya! It's crazy what your mind will do for that long. Thought about work, thought about my family on the shore, thought about my teammates and LLS, repeated my affirmation - all that I need is within me now - and of course, Beyonce's 'Who run the world, Girls!' was on a loop non stop. Brooke LOVES this song now so I kept picturing her singing it laughing. The course was an out and back and the lake was pretty flat until the turn and part of the swim back. Got a little nausea with the rocking but kept it together. No ocean swims for me apparently. Took it very slow, really in hindsight probably too slow as I had a good amount of energy left at the end, especially since this wasn't a tri, just a swimming race. I haven't heard my time yet, I think it was around 1:15:00. You couldn't wear watches and I didn't see the clock when I finished so we'll see. Definitely slower than normal but I got the whole distance in feeling really good so that was my goal. Mentally it was a boost for sure.

Sun: 50mile bike. Did it on the trainer again. Brooke started swim lessons on Sundays at 10am so I've got to get my workouts in before her swim lessons.

Ramping back up this week on the training.Thanks for your continued support everybody!

Holy Heat Batman!

 

Yep, this is how I must look training in the heat right now

We've now switched to a 2:1 schedule - 2 weeks hard, 1 week recovery. It was 3:1 so it's nice to get a little step back a week earlier than we've had. The recovery is leading up to the Death Valley 3K open water swim this weekend. Death Valley, geesh, not thinking I like the word 'death' in the title of the race as I go for my first 3000 in the open water next week. Send some strong swim vibes for Saturday - to say I'm scared of this race is an understatement. Take a look:

Mon: 600y Open Water, 2500m pool. Met the team out at Mary Alice Park. I brought mini me with me just to go out and watch the team but my fabulous teammate Sally, offered to watch Brooke after she finished her swim so I could do a swim too. THANKS SALLY! I did just one loop so Sally didn't have mini me for too long so I ended up going to the gym later to get the rest of the distance. Amazing what holidays used to be compared to now - gotta love it! Thanks to all of our men and women serving and those that have served in the past- Happy Memorial Day!

Tue: 22 mile bike. Power intervals again.Hard workout...

Wed: 3600m swim. Tasted perfume the majority of the swim. The lady next to me must have had a ton on for me to smell and taste it in the lane next to her. It definitely didn't diminish in chlorine so that is some serious scent! WU 500 as: 300 Moderate / 200 build by 50, 1000 Moderate (0:30 RI),2 x 500 as build by 100 finishing last 100 at T-pace effort or faster (0:30 RI), 10 x 100 as: Odd: Moderate; Even: Fast (0:15 RI) CD 100 EZ. Yikes, right?

Thu: 6 mile run. Pick ups throughout, serious panting going on around here. 

Fri: 2500m swim. Kicks, drills, stroke counts. Not so exciting really.

Sat: 70 mile bike. On.the.trainer.A good percent of the team rode the gaps (N GA mountains), but Brad had to work so there wasn't going to be time for me to drive up north, ride the mountains and then get back in time without hiring a babysitter so I had no other choice. The trainer really, really isn't fun for that long of a ride. I did watch my DVR of IM to try to keep my spirits up but that didn't work for the whole time so just watched trashy reality tv after the inspiring IM coverage.

Sun: 11 mile run. This was a challenge after having some dead legs from Saturday. I ended up having to do this on the treadmill at our gym where we live (not my 'real' health club). I'm not going to lie, there was some walking happening, I couldn't run the whole way. The treadmills are the old school Landis so they're like running on a surface harder than asphalt, just no give at all. I ended up feeling like I had shin splints on my right leg afterwards. Iced it, rolled the 'stick' over it a lot and then slathered it up with some ben gay type stuff. Our daughter didn't want anything to do with me given the medicine smell on my leg. I'll have to remember that next time I need a little red wine and quiet time alone. Cooled down to Collective Soul - Run:

Is there a cure among us

From this processed sanity

I weaken with each voice that sings

In this world of purchase

I'm going to buy back memories

To awaken some old qualities

Have I got a long way to run

Have I got a long way to run

Yeah, I run

Have I got a long way to run

Yeah, I run

Have I got a long way to run

See you next week everybody!

Wine Week Becomes Whine Week

Silver Comet Ride - Yes, I took this of 2 teammates while riding in Aero

I learned a really important lesson this past week, but it's information only for the coached vs. coaches so if you're a coach, you're going to have just roll out of my blog for this paragraph. Here's the deal. Everybody on our team does an Olympic/International distance race that works out for their schedule a couple of weeks ago - some did Rev3 Knoxville, about 5 of us did P'tree Int'l (see my race report last entry), some did Lake Oconee Oly. We have the next week off. When I say off, I mean O-F-F. Here's where it gets ugly. Not the week off, that was just brilliant with a ton of couch and wine time. What's the lesson? Never, I mean never trust a coach that tells you to take an entire week off. They will make you pay the price the next week as all of us learned this past week. The new schedule got posted late Sunday night for the upcoming week and that's when wine week officially turned into whine week. Bring.It.On.

Mon: 3700m Funny I just found out that the pool I swim in is 25m vs 25y so there we go. Drill upon drill that about took up the entire piece of paper I had it written on.

Tue: 23 miles with Power intervals. 1 mile run. I've decided that even though it's not on the schedule that I'm going to run at least a mile or two after the bike on tuesdays.

Wed: 3700m. On the schedule we're supposed to do 3800 but I can't get it in fast enough to stay within our time limit so I'm generally 100 short of the full workout currently

Thu: 10 mile run. Yep, 10 miles on the treadmill before work. I've pretty much told my teammates that my pasty white butt won't be at the Wed night swim when we've got this type of distance to get in before I go to work on Thu mornings. It kills me to get home at 10p Wed night and then be at the gym at 5a the next morning. I've had several wardrobe malfunctions to prove that I'm just not capable of doing it and functioning normally on Thu. Red Hot Chili Peppers Breaking the Girl on my IPOD for this. You won't break me training schedule!

Twisting and turning

Your feelings are burning

You're breaking the girl

She meant you no harm

Think you're so clever

But now you must sever

You're breaking the girl

Fri: 2400m. Nice! Again, drills not continuous.

Karen caught a little storm debris in her spoke. Nice stick, eh?

Sat: 50mile bike 2 mile run (Brick) - supposed to be 70 mile bike. Rode the silver comet with a few teammates which was a blast. The comet is the flatest ride I've ever had here in GA and is also all trail so no cars to deal with. Apparently the trail goes to Alabama but we didn't get that far. I did 50 instead of 70 since this was my first long ride since my major re-fit on my bike and my bad knee pain so I didn't want to get way out in the middle of nowhere and be in pain. Great news is that I had almost no pain, but the odd thing was that the original knee that was injured didn't hurt at all, it was my other knee that felt a little iffy. 2 mile run afterward was good, no pain. I'm ready to get back on current distance for the bike I think.

Sun: 35 mile bike. Back to back rides leads to a sore Holly undercarriage... Rode the comet again so it was a smooth ride.

That's it for this past week! Thanks for following along and donating to Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. I'm number 4 or 5 on funds raised for our team so THANK YOU for your generosity!