I'm not an ambi-turner

As Derek Zoolander said, " I'm not an ambi-turner. It's a problem I had since I was a baby. I can't turn left". I confess, I can't bi-lateral breathe....How can I call myself a triathlete and not be able to breathe on both sides right? I've been living with the secret ever since my Half Ironman, but it's time to come out and admit it. I've been working on it, but there's a distinct possibility that I may be the only triathlete that does Ironman breathing on one side. Guess I'll have to work on my Blue Steel look to make up for it.

Huge news, I've made my fundraising minimum for Leukemia and Lymphoma Society!!! Thank you so much for your generosity - I definitely will keep fundraising but am so thrilled to have raised just over $5200 so far! Training for a higher purpose helps get me through the rough mental patches so thanks everybody! Training for the past week is below - about 12 hours of training (hour of it STrx):

Mon: 3000y Starting to work a bit more on speed with some shorter drills with quick rests. Here was some of the main drill: 2 x 200 (:20), 1 x 100 (20), 2 x 300 (30), 1 x 100,2 x 400 (40), 1 x 100. Felt pretty good!

Tue: 6 mile run, Fartlek/strides intervals. This was a gut buster at 5am but now I'm sucking down a hammer gel pre run so I'm not bonking as badly as I was with just running on an empty stomach. Still isn't fun but ya just gotta do it.

Wed: 2700y. I did this on my own and skipped the group swim. Still trying to work out a schedule to make the group workouts but for now, still missing most of the Wednesday night swims.

Thur: 20 mile bike. I did this at the gym, my bike was in my car with it's front wheel off and all of my gear in it and frankly, I was just too lazy to go get it, put together, hook it up on the trainer and ride in my living room. Sad but true. I think it's a good indication that I'm totally over the trainer at this point. Rode the Spinner bike (the cool one that has the spin class programmed into it or you can ride with your mp3 player). I jammed music and did intervals.

Fri: 2900y. Wrote my program for the swim down, conveniently forgot it in my car and didn't feel like going back out to get it (see LAZY above). Just did a wing it routine since I remembered the distance but not the actual program. I keep trying to get the left breathing down but it's bad so I worked on that a good bit. I don't know what my deal is. I can do it but it's so incredibly awkward and ineffective that I wait for almost nobody to be in the pool to do it. I'll keep working on it but don't know that I'll get it enough to actually try in a race. We'll see.

Sat: 62 mile bike, 2 mile run. Great ride with the whole team. I'm not a big talker when I ride or run so I usually just kind of hang with people. Not draft but just stay with the crew that seems to be about my pace for the day. It's not that I'm so intense I don't want to talk. It's really that I'm wanting to connect in with my surroundings - the landscape, the sounds, everything. Not to mention, I value silence living with a 4 year old daughter! I punked out on the run, was supposed to do 3 but did 2. Was running with a teammate and we made the executive decision to do 2 instead. I haven't been good about getting in my bricks so it was painful.

Sun: 8 mile run. Nothing remarkable to report here. Just another run on a holiday but dang those caramel filled chocolate easter eggs make it all worthwhile! Pre run was Run Like Hell by Pink Floyd:

Run, run, run, run

You better run all day

And run all night 

Love it!

Suck it up Buttercup!

Some of the Team!

Cyclists lining up

Looking back from the start line

These are a few pictures from the Tony Serrano Memorial Ride on Saturday

This was the week before recovery week so really feeling the miles and ready for a reduction in miles/time. Just a little over 12 hours of training again this week including ST.

Monday: 3500y - WU 600 as 50 Drill/150 swim, 2 x 300 as build by 100 (0:20 RI), 3 x the following: 400 negative split on T-Pace + 35 secs, 4 x 75 as 25 EZ / 50 Hard on T-Pace, CD 200. I keep my training in training peaks and had written that this workout rocked! It was definitely time consuming but I really like the variety of it. Good swim for sure.

Tuesday: 21 mile trainer ride. Training in HR zones 2&3 so pushed it at times for zone 3. Not much to report here - trainer rides are boring and I watch the dvr to occupy myself. It is nice to get ready at home though since I ride my trainer at home.

Wednesday: 2900y. Went to the pm group swim finally. It was so good to be back with the team and see everyone again. Tonight we were in the 50M pool which is a switch from 25y. We did another long continuous swim, this time 2000M. Every 2 lanes of swimmers combined into one lane to do a mass start and race simulation so lots of practice getting kicked and mouth full after mouth full of water. Combining 2 lanes of similarly paced swimmers, you have a good number of swimmers at about the same pace. Never was alone the whole 2000 meters for the continuous.

Thursday: 6.5 miles. As the title says, Suck it up Buttercup. Thursday has long since been my crappy workout of the week as far as results but probably the best training on running when I'm tired and not fully recovered. I really could've stopped at 3 miles because my head wasn't into it but I just kept thinking of all of the people that would love to be able to run and can't because of cancer treatment or injuries or whatever. Suck it up buttercup, you've got it pretty dang good so get 'er done and turn your brain off. Turned my IPOD up and finished ugly.

Friday: 2200 yards. Thankfully made it to the gym in the early AM again so didn't have to deal with the PM scene at the gym. I got there a little later than normal so at 6:30am I was getting out of the pool as a huge amount of people were coming in. Not sure what the group was but note to self to be there and done by 6:30am unless I want to swim circles.

Saturday: 62mile ride. What an awesome day. I mean REALLY! Got to ride with the team and do the Tony Serrano ride out in Monroe GA. Tony Serrano was training for Ironman when he was hit by a car and killed leaving behind a wife and 2 small kids. This is a ride that is in his honor. There were probably 500 riders. Gorgeous day, nice clean road, rest stops that were awesome. As I was driving to Monroe from Atlanta, the sun was coming up burning off a little fog - had to listen to a little Van Morrison, Into the Mystic:

We were born before the wind
Also younger than the sun
Ere the bonnie boat was won as we sailed into the mystic
Hark, now hear the sailors cry
Smell the sea and feel the sky
Let your soul and spirit fly into the mystic

Sunday: 9 miles. See thursdays Suck it up buttercup message. Today was another one of those. Could be the tired legs from yesterday but started out too fast and then got irritated by someone that kept trying to race me it seemed. Would pass me, I'd pass her, then she'd pick up her pace, pass me again... Meanwhile my pace stayed the same the whole time. You get the picture. I finally dropped her going up a hill for good. Though my pace was consistent mile to mile, it was too fast so I was hurting by the end. I kept looking at my HR and pace and telling myself to slow down but my legs wouldn't cooperate. When in doubt, blame the legs right?

Recovery week starts tomorrow, can I get a Woohoo?! This is going to be a busy week at work so it's good that training chills out while my work ramps up. Please consider making a small donation to Leukemia and Lymphoma Society!!

This week our daughter Brooke turned 4 so here I am with mini me. We did a 5K with me pushing her in the jog stroller so this was taken right after the race. She took my race belt as you can see. Happy Birthday Brooke!

Bring on the training for the week (12 hours of training this week including Strength Training):

Monday: 20 miles. Horrible thunderstorms and lightening in the morning so no swim. I did my trainer ride that was scheduled for Tuesday instead.

Tuesday: 3300y swim. Nice swim this morning. I really like this scheduled workout. Good amount of 50y drills but then also had 4x500y.

Wednesday: 3300y AM swim. Ladder workout which was pretty tough especially doing back to back 3300s. I skipped group swim in the PM since it was Brooke's birthday celebration. I have to admit, it's so hard to do the late PM swim followed by an early run so it makes me want to keep with the early AM swim vs. group PM but I get so much more out of the evening group swim and coaching that I just have to suck it up for the most part.

Thursday: 6 mile run. This morning it was Kanye - Bigger, Faster, Stronger:

n- n- now th- that don't kill me

Can only make me stronger

i need you to hurry up now

cause i can't wait much longer

Good run again. I suspect that it's because I didn't do the late swim again but who knows. Our bodies can be good or bad with little explanation sometimes. My garmin battery died unfortunately so I didn't get my HR so that may have been why the run was so good too. I couldn't obsess over my HR and keeping it low.

Friday: 2200y swim. Had to do this after work again. Brad had an away match so couldn't go to the gym in the morning but luckily he got back early enough to pick up brooke and watch her so I could get my swim in. Funny, it was pretty much the same scene as last Friday PM.... gray guy frog kickin' and the rest.

Saturday: 60mile ride, 1 mile run. So yes, I skipped the group open water swim followed by the long run - I was planning on doing it but when one of my teammates mentioned riding with the Summer and Spring training teams to get our long ride in vs. the open water swim, I jumped on it. First, the water temp was around 54 degrees and the air temp was around 45, second, I've only gotten one ride in outside, all of my other rides are on the trainer so while I had the Saturday to train as long as needed, I opted for the ride. Don't worry I'll get in some open water swims, just really needed the ride outside. It was pretty hilly and definitely windy (wind advisory for the day) so I think it was good practice for AZ which I've heard is super windy on the bike. GREAT ride, fueled with Hammer gel, Hammer Perpetuem and a granola bar. Hit up on oatmeal and peanut butter pretzels pre ride. Did a quick 1mile post ride just to get a quick brick in. No run scheduled post ride but had to do a mile at least.

Sunday: 9 mile run. Wow, who turned on the heat?? Hot run today around Piedmont Park and Midtown. This is going to be some tough training in the summer in Atlanta. I know it's always hard the first few runs in the heat or cold so this was one of my first really hot runs. No doubt the pollen is ugly too but it's all good training right? I don't run outside with music so last song I listened to before heading out the door was Unchained by Van Halen. Yes, I admit it, I'm a child of the 80s so sometimes a good classic rock song can work wonders:

Change, nothin' stays the same

Unchained, and ya hit the ground runnin'

Change, ain't nothin' stays the same

Unchained, yeah ya hit the ground runnin'

I dare you to listen to that song before or during a run and not get a little energy jolt.

Til next week! Thanks for your donations and for following along on the training!

Shift Happens

Holly and Paige before 12 mile night run (Our 2nd Leg - Ragnar) 

This picture was taken right before my ultra super cool friend Paige and I took off to do our 2nd leg of Ragnar in Jan 2011 (Miami to Key West) - 12 miles starting around 9 or 10pm. We had on our headlamps, blinkie butts, reflective vests and were ready to go. We ran single file on the side of the open highway, mostly in silence other than the occasional, "what was that noise?" and laugh. It was one of my all time favorite runs EVER. We ran under the most beautiful sky, just full of bright beautiful stars and so quiet and dark when there were no cars. It was like it was a dream where you catch yourself running and think, am I really on the side of the highway in Florida at 10pm running or is this just a crazy dream? This week we're trying to gather those 'thoughts' that will carry us through the tough mental spots of Ironman. This is one of mine - thanks Paige!

As the title this week said, shift happened. One thing I've learned is not to be obsessive about my schedule. I've got a full time job, family, life and training doesn't always intersect perfectly. This week I really had to change things around based on Brad being out of town a lot and my not being able to go to the gym.

Monday: Swim scheduled but rode the trainer instead since I couldn't go to the gym. Did 1:15:00 on bike. No idea on speed since my cateye needs a new battery. Felt good though.

Tuesday: Bike again (on schedule). Did 1:15:00 again. 15 minute warm up with a good bit of pick up intervals. Again, nice ride. Caught up on real housewives dvr..

Wed: Swim - 3300y. Now technically I could've made it to the group swim. I had a late meeting that I was leading from 5:30-6:30p at work and by the time we finished, re-set the meeting room it was about 7. Group swim starts at 7:45p so I was going to have to hang around work to waste time before it started. I thought about it... Thought about it... Then I decided I would go to the gym to swim on my own so I could get home earlier. I was super crabby from so many meetings on M-W so it was probably best I protected the team from being subjected to my bad attitude

Thur: 6 mile run. This was finally a good run for me, about damn time. 15 minute warm followed by 7x1 minute pickups, 3 minute recovery jog between. I end up doing the majority of my runs on the treadmill since it's just not safe for me to run alone at 5am outside so I get the bonus of music when I run on the tmill. I have some songs that I listen to working out because there's just something in a lyric that makes me push. This workout it was part of Foo Fighters Pretender:

I'm the voice inside your head, you refuse to hear

I'm the face that you have to face, mirrored in your stare

I'm what's left, I'm what's right, I'm the enemy

I'm the hand that'll take you down, bring you to your knees

So, who are you?

Yeah, who are you?

Yeah, who are you?

Yeah, who are you?

Keep you in the dark you know they all pretend

What if I say I'm not like the others

What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays

You're the pretender

What if I say I will never surrender

I kept thinking of the doubt in my head about training and the race and those lines were just killing it for me.

Friday: Swim - 2000y Slept right through my ealy workout time. I was just wiped and by the time I woke up, it was too late to get it in before work. So that was not fun having it just loom over my head all day. I left work right at 5p and got over to the gym. The gym is a different place at 5p vs 5a. Packed with people - locker room full. Got a lane to myself most of the time but of course had to share at one point with Captain breastroke with the massive frog kick and 75 year old body in a tiny speedo. Head back to the locker room and my locker is right next to the completely naked woman practically doing calisthenics while I stand there waiting to get a slice of space to open my locker. She finally finishes and takes her towel, throws it over her shoulder and walks off to another area of the locker room, yes, still totally naked. I don't know, maybe its me but I thougth the towels were for your to wrap around your body to cover it up a bit.

Saturday: 2:30:00 bike trainer. We were supposed to do 50miles out in Cartersville but the weather was not looking good so hit the trainer instead. Watched my dvr of IM Kona to keep myself occupied. I watch that and just can't believe I'm going to be doing IMAZ. Really?

Sunday: 8 miles. Today just rocked. Even though I didn't get to run until lunchish. Had a hammer gel right before starting since I didn't really get lunch and had a fantastic run. We have time and distance goals on our training schedules and you basically go by either unless noted not to exceed the time. Today I went on distance so went a little over our time but I just couldn't stop - in the zone baby!

On the fundraising side - I was number 5 on our team last week for total funds raised thanks to some personal and corporate donations. BUT! This week I haven't gotten any donations. Please consider donating any amount - $10, $25, any amount helps with research and treatment of blood cancers so please keep donating! Also, I love to see the comments so please keep commenting and letting me hear from you, it helps keep me going on this journey to Ironman and raising funds for Leukemia and Lymphoma Society!

Race Swim Simulation and Just the Stats Ma'am

First, wow, thank you so much everybody for the donations this week!! I'm in awe that about $2700 was raised this week in honor of Hailey White for LLS. Truly amazing so thank you - let's keep it going! Had to put one of the pics from our TNT RnR San Diego Marathon trip. I'm third from the left with the Coach bib. As you can see, it was time for a cold one after 26.2!

This week was week 11 of Training though I think just 3.5 weeks for me with the Team. I joined the IronTeam after they had already been training for a couple of months so I've just kind of 'jumped in' to where they were at that point. I'm really still trying to catch up to everybody else which may or may not be realistic but I'm going to give it my best.

I've had some questions about stat kind of stuff so let me give you the facts. No questions are off limits so here we go. First, I'm 42 (will be 43 race day), Brooke (our daughter) is 4yrs old and our only child. I'm generally about 123 pounds - I know this because I had my pre-employment physical a month ago and they let me know - I'm 5'6 or 5'7 I think. I work about 45-50 hours a week at the office, generally 7:30a -5 or 5:30p and I'm the Manager of Wellness & WorkLife for Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. I try to do all of my workouts (except Wednesdays) in the early am. I've done 5 marathons and a good number of triathlons with Half Ironman being the longest (back in 2005). Right now training is around 10 -12 hours a week I believe, I really haven't tracked that closely but I will now so you can get a sense since there have been some questions about it. Does that cover it? If you want more, let me know, full disclosure here!

Today brought recovery week to a close. Training distances and intensities were reduced which some would say is great. I had a pretty bad week though on the running side which technically should be my strength. Here's the week wrap up:

Monday: 2150y swim. Quite a few shorter drills so really focused on my usuals - catch up drill, keeping the elbows high and using the forearm as a paddle. I also found out that I don't really bend my left arm much so I'm working on bending my left arm more and really pulling with it. Very sore triceps with the stroke changes. Strength training after swim.

Tuesday: 4mile run. Again, just a tough run. I was trying to keep my HR in zone 1 & 2 but in order to do that I just kept slowing down and slowing down. Really frustrating. Gastric issues after the run so yeah, that was fun.

Wednesday: 2700y swim - group practice. Tonight was a simulated race swim - woohoo, my first whirl in the TNT blender! How does this work you may be asking yourself? Well, you take 40 or so triathletes, all training for IMAZ and all at different swim levels/speeds. Shove them all in one lane treading water and then blow a whistle to watch the fun unfold in the water as they all take off at once kicking and hitting. If you're on the deck, it's hilarious, but if you're in the water like me, it's a flesh blender, just like race day. We did a serpentine swim so you make it down one length, kick off and swim under the lane marker so you emerge in the lane next you. You keep doing that weaving through the lanes til the end, get out on deck, walk to the start, jump back in and start all over again. It took me a couple of times through the whole snake before I felt like I had any 'clean' water to spread out.

Thursday: 15 miles on my bike trainer at home. Watched the RH dvr'd. I'm trying to save my trashy tv for the trainer rides to keep me entertained on these shorter rides on the trainer. I was sooo tired at work thursday. Really, the late wednesday swim getting home around 10p and getting up at 4:45a the next morning makes thursday pretty rough.

Friday: 5Mile run. I had the same issue as I did earlier this week. Couldn't keep my HR rate down, gastric issues again. I talked to my coach Mike and I think he's right - I'm definitely not drinking enough throughout the day and night and am dehydrated starting my run in the mornings. I'm also not eating enough throughout the day so I'm going to keep working on drinking and eating more continuously. I'm not trying to lose weight during training and that's already happening so I'm going to start packing it in a bit more to balance the training out.

Saturday: day off, finally!!!! First day off in a few weeks.

Sunday: 2 hours on the bike Trainer. Couldn't see my distance as my cateye is malfunctioning for some reason. I'm guessing I was around 16 or 17mph but who knows really. Now I'm going to have to take my bike in and see what's up with that.

Next week we're back to distance and intensity so stay tuned!!

I was setting my bike up on the Trainer for my Saturday ride and in typical mini me fashion, she had to have her bike set up too. It was very, very cute. She lasted about 5 minutes but it was a great 5 minutes no doubt.

My husband Brad is in full swing with tennis season so this week it has been really hard to get to the group training. Ended up that I did all of the workouts on my own this week since our schedules are just opposite right now (and through the end of April really). I sent our coaches an 'I'm still alive and on schedule though you're not seeing me much' email. This was still an intensity week so more speed work and distance. Here's what my schedule was:

Monday: 3000yards in the am. It was a looooooong swim needless to say. I definitely felt the time pressure of getting the workout done, getting ready at the gym and getting to work. I'm going to have to get to the gym at 5am from now on when we've got this distance. Usually I'm at the gym by 5:15 but I need that extra 15 minutes on these long days. Either that or go to work with my hair wet... Working 9+ hours after swimming 3000yards isn't fun just in case you were toying with the idea of it.

Tuesday: 6 mile Fartlek run. Warmup of 2 miles, 6 x 2' tempo pace 3' recovery jog, 3-min steady run, 4 x 1' hard pace 3' recovery jog, Cool down remainder of miles. Had a smuckers pb & j sandwich before this run and had a much better run than last week on the empty stomach. I should know this after running 5 marathons but for some reason I just forgot the importance of eating apparently.

Wednesday: 2500 yards on my own - missed the group training, boo!

Thursday: 22miles on the trainer. I liked this workout, lots of spinups followed by good steady state cadence times. My heart rate definitely got in the zone by the end.

Friday: 2400 yard swim. Lots of drills, but really spent time 'feeling the water' and trying to focus on keeping my elbow high and knocking off doing the s pull. Also working on bilateral breathing and the catch up drill so I glide a bit more. I must say, keeping my brain cooking on these things while I'm swimming definitely makes the time go faster.

Saturday: 55 miles -See picture above, haha! Couldn't make the group ride since brad had a tournament this weekend so I rode on the trainer in our family room. Watched the episode of Celebrity Apprentice I had dvr'd and real housewives of the OC. Followed it with a 20 minute run.

Sunday: Beautiful day here - 8 miles running around Piedmont Park and Midtown. Just absolutely gorgeous. Went to watch Brad's team play with Brooke around noon. His team did really well so we have a happy, yet tired, household. So not looking forward to getting up at the 'new' 4:45am - which lets face it, is really 3:45am - tomorrow morning.

Til next week! This upcoming week is a recovery week so the miles will be reduced, woohoo!! Thanks for the donations - please forward my page around to anyone you think would like to read about my training and/or make a donation to LLS. http://pages.teamintraining.org/ga/ironaz11/hiftner

We now return you to your scheduled program

So after a brief hiatus where I switched jobs, joined the GA Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Ironman Training Team and you know, completely changed my schedule, I'm back! I was having a hard time given all of the turmoil getting my training in by myself so I decided that it was time to team back up with the purple people and raise some dough. I don't know, I guess it makes me feel a little less selfish about the amount of time I'm spending on myself vs. my family. So far my husband, the Iron Sherpa, has been handling the change in our home life but really, we're just getting started right? I hope he hangs in there with the patience, I think he will, he's a pretty great guy!

In January I flew to Miami with 4 other Atlanta IrunMommies to do Ragnar (190 miles - Miami to Key West). During the race, my super cool, super awesome friend Paige and I ran a little over 21 miles over 3 legs. Probably my favorite of the 3 was the one that you would least expect to be. It was 12 miles at about 10pm along the highway in the Keys. We had on headlamps and little blinkie tail lights and it was just so dark and beautiful. The sky had a million stars, it really was amazing. You wouldn't think that having a 12 mile run in the pitch black when you're normally sleeping would be fun but it was just cool. I love me some Paige after Ragnar. We got 'stuck' in Key West for 4 extra days due to the weather in Atlanta, just Paige and me and it was fabulous. We laid out, had drinks, went sailing and kayaking, ran. Best vacation I've had in a while.

So flash forward to current days. I'm in the full throws of Ironman training so my week is getting up everyday at 4:45am, heading to the gym to start working out at 5:15a or so, getting ready for work at the gym and going straight to the office arriving around 7:30am. I take off at 5p and head to pick up Brooke, make dinner and bedtime. Next day is the same as the last. Here is my schedule from this past week:

Monday: Swim at 5:15a. Did 2500 yards and then went off to do a bit of strength training. Not a bad start to the day! Off to work at about 7:25. Pretty much I've had to make the decision that to get all of the training in and be to work at a reasonable time, I have to leave well before work and just get ready at the gym. I don't get to see Brooke before she goes to school unfortunately but at least I can leave work around 5 and pick her up, have dinner and get more time with her before her bed. I hate to not see her in the morning but this seems to be the best time to get the training in M, T, Th and F. Assume all AM workouts are at the 5-5:30a time period

Tuesday: AM Bike for 15 miles. Easy peasy!

Wednesday: 2700 yards. Evening group swim with the team. Got home from work, spent about an hour at home then off to Dynamo Swim. 7:30p group meeting then onto the swim portion from 8-9p which really ends up being more like 8:10 to 9:20, haha! Home at 10p

Thursday: 6 miles AM run. Just wasn't feeling it the whole time. High heart rate to start and speedwork on the schedule so that doesn't make for a fun workout. Started with a couple mile w/up then 7x1 minute pickups 2 min recovery. Finished the rest with cool down pace. Just ugly. Had to sit down on the bench in the shower was so lightheaded. Not enough calories between the late workout Wed and early workout Thurs

Friday: 2200 yards AM. Good solid swim, some speed work so definitely challenging. Got to work about 7:20 and by 3pm was ready to fall asleep in my office. Just completely spent.

Saturday: Flip flopped workouts for Sat and Sun so did 7 mile long (8:30am) run Saturday because of a swim clinic I was going to in the afternoon. Learned in the swim clinic that my S-pull is no longer the 'best' way to stroke so now I'm a mess. This clinic was taught by an Olympic gold medalist in swimming who just happens to be a Triathlon world champion too so needless to say, I think she may know a thing or two about swim strokes so I'll work on this new way to stroke this week.

Sunday: 2 hour ride followed by 20 minute run. This was my first brick in years and it actually felt pretty good. I kind of like that rubbery feel when you first start running off of the bike. Yes, I'm strange but if you're one of my friends, you're probably strange like that too.

If you feel so inclined - I am raising funds for LLS so donations are appreciated to help fight the good fight for those suffering from Leukemia and Lymphoma. If you'd like to donate, you can find my page here:

http://pages.teamintraining.org/ga/ironaz11/hiftner#Training-week-228-36