So I've started training for an Olympic distance race that takes place at the end of the summer and I had my first two long distance workouts this weekend. Saturday was a run and Sunday was a bike. After the swim workout I had on Thursday I needed these to be good workouts.
What happened on during Thursdays swim you ask?
I swam into a rock. I kid you not. It was a R.O.U.S. - Rock of Unusual Size. Apparently the lake is a little low due to the TWO WEEKS of 100 degree weather we've been having around here, so the rocks that you didn't notice last time, you swim into this time. Lovely. It scared the crap out of me too because, really, you don't expect to hit anything in the middle of the f'ing lake.
You know that scene from the cartoon version of The Grinch where the Grinch and Max are sledding down the hill and Max is wrapped around the Grinch's head, clinging for dear life? Picture me in my wetsuit, cursing & clinging to the front of the kayak. Yeah.
At least I got my 2/3 mile in. Hopefully a whole mile next time!
Saturday was the first long run & I was shooting for about 6 miles. (In an Olympic distance you run 6.2, so this was right on target). Thankfully the weather broke and it was a glorious 70 degrees first thing in the morning. I fueled up, grabbed my trusty iPod and water bottle, and headed out to Shady Acres, which would be my turn around point. It's a specially chosen turn around because my in-laws live out there. This means that if I'm dying half way through, at least I know whose front lawn I'm dying on.
It's all about strategy.
The goal was to keep the pace around 10:00min/mile on the way out so I'd have enough legs to make it all the way back and maybe pick up speed. I was able to do both, but keeping that 10:00 pace gets to be a challenge! Overall I averaged 9:34 per mile, ran 7 miles and passed another runner on the hill at the very end. WooHoo!!
Today was my long bike - supposed to be between 1:30 - 2:30. Oh goodness. My longest bike till now has been 1:30, so I figured I'd shoot for 2:00. It was another cool morning with NO wind (I hate wind on the bike), so I had breakfast, loaded the gear on the Tri-Mobile and headed out.
Today's goals were to enjoy the ride, figure out a nutrition plan that works and to be able to make it back home. Managed to do all three. I've been doing some research into race nutrition lately because I have a serious problem taking in all the calories I need to get me through these workouts and races. The plan for today was at the top of the hour gel, electrolytes, water; at the :15 HEED; at :30 2 Fig Newtons and water; and the :45 HEED. It seemed to work ok - I was supposed to be taking in somewhere between 180-200 calories per hour and I'm pretty sure I got there. Next time I'll have to see if I can run afterward with that much stuff in my tummy!
It was a perfect morning to ride & I was actually a little chilly to start out with. I got to try out my new bike shorts and spiffy Livestrong jersey. Love the jersey, the bike shorts are going to take some getting used to - the kind of feel like someone took a superplus maxi pad and shoved it in my tri shorts. Not pleasant.
My ride took me out Dodson, Road 5, Road A, Road 3 and back in. I averaged about 18 mph on the way out, and 15/16mph on the way in. Freaking headwind. Technically I don't think you could even call it wind. More like a breeze. Just enough that I felt it - so the way back was about 15 miles of resistance training. FUN! But it makes me better, so I suppose it's ok.
Overall, I'm very happy with this week of training! The goal for this week is to work on some speedy 400's in the pool for the next race (Aug. 22, Daroga State Park in wenatchee if anyone is interested) and to get a mile swim done in the lake.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Valley Girl Sprint Tri
Long time, no post....sorry! July has been such a busy month - Hoopfest, major yard projects, hubby left for a foreign country for 2 weeks, one race and a whole lot of training. Whew! And let's not forget the amount of time glued to the TV rooting for the cyclists in the TdF. Seriously, when Dave was in Australia that's all I watched - grown men in spandex. Apparently I need to get out more.
First, just let me say THANK YOU to the bestest friend in the whole world, Sherpa Katy. Since Dave was gone for the weekend Katy tagged along and we had a blast. She may have even convinced herself to do a tri next summer. I had nothing to do with it, I swear *evilgrin*
Ok, race report:
Overall I had a good time at this race. It was well supported, there were lots of spectators, the volunteers were awesome, and there was an espresso stand at the race expo.
Swim: 1/3 mile, 12:56, 2:13/100yd
Ugh. Still not thrilled. I hyperventilated at the very beginning (again) and had issues the whole way (again). Fortunately since then, with the help of Scott & Sam, I have figured my breathing issues out. I also got kicked, grabbed and generally smacked around more in this swim than any other. An all womens race - the claws were out!! One of my goals for this race was to have a great swim, and that didn't happen, but I tried to push that out of my mind as soon as I was out of the lake.
That being said, Liberty Lake is a fantastic lake to swim in. Fairly clean water, despite the fact that you swim through the marina, very little seaweed (which I swam through without panicking -wooho! ) and the water was really warm.
Coming out of the swim. 3rd from the right, black wetsuit.
Climbing the incline out of T1
YAY! Done!
Glad to be done. My brother calls this my "One time, the car broke down 12 miles from home, so my Mom gave me a Dr. Pepper and a Snickers bar, and I pulled the car home...I was TIRED!" picture.
First, just let me say THANK YOU to the bestest friend in the whole world, Sherpa Katy. Since Dave was gone for the weekend Katy tagged along and we had a blast. She may have even convinced herself to do a tri next summer. I had nothing to do with it, I swear *evilgrin*
Ok, race report:
Overall I had a good time at this race. It was well supported, there were lots of spectators, the volunteers were awesome, and there was an espresso stand at the race expo.
Swim: 1/3 mile, 12:56, 2:13/100yd
Ugh. Still not thrilled. I hyperventilated at the very beginning (again) and had issues the whole way (again). Fortunately since then, with the help of Scott & Sam, I have figured my breathing issues out. I also got kicked, grabbed and generally smacked around more in this swim than any other. An all womens race - the claws were out!! One of my goals for this race was to have a great swim, and that didn't happen, but I tried to push that out of my mind as soon as I was out of the lake.
That being said, Liberty Lake is a fantastic lake to swim in. Fairly clean water, despite the fact that you swim through the marina, very little seaweed (which I swam through without panicking -wooho! ) and the water was really warm.
Coming out of the swim. 3rd from the right, black wetsuit. T1: 3:05
Not thrilled with the transition location at this race. Had to run out of the water, up and across the beach, around the arbivitae, and then all the way across transition to find Honey, who I completely ran past. Oops.
Bike: 13 miles, 41:57
Very pretty bike course! It takes you on a complete tour of the Liberty Lake community - residential areas, business park, pine trees & farms. I saw buffalo. Seriously! I was riding along and thought to myself, "Damn. Big cow." Nope - buffalo. Which then made me hungry for DK's beeffalo burgers, but I digress.
I did pretty well on the bike, I thought. I can tell that my training has involved a HUGE swim focus and not much else, which is reflected in my bike time I think. It was nice to be able to get that swim out of my head and push on the bike. That was my second goal for this race - push as hard as I could on the bike (avg. speed was about 17mph) and see if I had any legs to run on.
Most people to that for fun, right? Kill your legs on a bike ride and then, just for fun, try to run? No?
oh.
I do have ONE tiny complaint. I almost got hit by a pickup. A note to boys in their big trucks who drive with something other than their brain - DO NOT CUT ME OFF when I'm taking a sharp corner at 20 mph. I pretty much had to powerslide around to corner to not get hit, and then I gave the driver the dirtiest look I could muster through my sunglasses while holding a gel pack in my mouth.
I'm sure he was terrified.
Climbing the incline out of T1T2: 1:42
Nothing spectacular. Lots of people cheering when I left on the run - kinda cool when people you don't know are screaming their heads off for you.
Run: 2.9 miles, 28:03, 9:21/mile
Overall, very satisfied with the run. I had legs the entire time, which makes me think I probably could have pushed harder on the bike. The run course was nice, but HOT, and there was something in the bushes making hissing/buzzing noises, which made me nervous. Got to run past 3 of the million golf courses on a paved trail, which was nice. They also had water stands set up at every mile, which seemed to make the run go faster, and since we were running through a residential area people were out in their frontyards with hoses offering to spray us down as we ran by. Very nice.
I managed to pass quite a few people in my age group, and even held off two of them for the last mile which was quite a challenge. Not because they were fast, but because I was starting to hurt. Apparently I had more left in the tank because I had a really good sprint through the finish chute which was about a block long.
YAY! Done! Total Time: 1:27:45 - a new Sprint Distance PR! YAY me!
Glad to be done. My brother calls this my "One time, the car broke down 12 miles from home, so my Mom gave me a Dr. Pepper and a Snickers bar, and I pulled the car home...I was TIRED!" picture.
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