Bike Goal

Yesterday I did a group brick workout (biking then transition into running). We biked 11.6 miles then did a 1.7 mile trail run. Wow, I am not used to so many biking hills and it just killed me both in my cardio and in my leg muscles. Though I guess that is why we practice because the short bike distance is ~16 miles and as I am now, I wouldn't make it.

Also, given that I really don't like going fast and was rather frightened that I hit 28mph, I'm a bit worried about making the time cut-offs. Even for the running because it is trail running and that takes a different set of muscles to stabilize everything. Guess it's time to hit the woods.

Swimming Zen

Today's swimming effort was very zen like. The 1000m felt very calm and not the struggle that it sometimes is. It took me 30 minutes to do the 1k, which is on the slow end but the technique is feeling more comfortable so I'm happy with that. I also did some sprints after the main portion. The 25m sprints weren't too bad, but doing 50m just killed me by the 40 meter mark. Sadly, the speed at which I was doing the sprints is where I need to get to for the actual races. As long as I keep doing both the length and the speed, I should be alright.

Guess this also meets my 40 lengths, any stroke without stop goal since it was 40 with frontcrawl.

Blood Sugar

The comment has been made that my fitness level is in a good state for training but my nutrition needs some work. For the second time in a handful of days my blood sugar crashed drastically to the point I felt incredibly ill. This is occurring before I don't have enough in reserve to be converted to energy when I need it. The two crashes are thus probably related because I didn't do a sufficient job of rebuilding the reserve.

When I first started training I was eating tons because I was always hungry from the increased level of activity. Eventually that hunger fell off and I went back to eating like I usually did but adding more midmorning snacks in, especially on days like going to boxing. Clearly I need to ramp back up my eating and making sure I get sufficient carbs.

First Two Weeks of Training Plan

The first couple weeks on my training plan have not gone overly well because I still haven't placed proper emphasis on the Tri over SCA. Last week I choose to go to an SCA event all day Saturday which left me wore out for Sunday. Then on Monday and Wednesday I did SCA stuff which reduced my planned exercise (though I still got some). Then this weekend I will be doing yet more SCA stuff. Thankfully, this should be it for a while.

That being said, I do need to go back and adjust the training plan based on what it appears my pattern will be. For instance, group ride with work folk on Thursdays, and possibly group runs on Mondays.

Now to today's group ride. It was my first one with my road bike. First off, I hate hills. Not just going up them. I'm not a great fan going down them. I topped out at 22 mph going down at one point and that just scares the heck out of me. In contrast, riding really fast on flat, straight areas is enjoyable and perhaps even fun. Interestingly enough, I got up to 19mph on a flat. I guess it is not so much the speed as the relative "I'm going to die" feeling that gets me.

A final thought... I'm a white & pasty girl. Thankfully I only burned a little.

16 weeks

It's now less than 16 weeks until the Int'l length which means I need to get in gear and really start training. I posted a link to a training plan a couple entries back, I am now starting to customize and populate that. This morning was already successful with the swim portion, and planning on the biking after work with hopefully new spiffy clip-in shoes :)

New Bike

I finally gave in and bought an entry-level road bike. Lots of folks with much more biking experience than me kept telling me how much easier the ride portion and training would be, and as much as I hate to admit it... they might be right. I rode it around the loading area at the store today and it is a much different feel but I was amazed at how easy it was to get going rather quick. They might be onto something here.

I need to do a fair bit of practice in the upcoming month but then I'm going to put it (and me) to the real test doing the Tour de Madison in mid-May. 27 mile course with a fair number of hills.

Really... now I'm done buying new modes of transportation...

Swimming Lesson

On Monday I had my first swimming lesson in over a decade. Evidently the techniques I learned a long time ago stuck with me so there were no comments along the line of "Oh my goodness, what have you been doing?!" I got a few pieces of advice on how to increase the efficiency and strength of my strokes, so that is good.

Beyond that it's been a slow couple of weeks for training. Last week I hurt my arm (don't ask) and this week I've had other commitments. Though with the time rapidly closing in, the Tri needs to become the commitment I skip other things for. I'm considering starting a more structured training plan based on one I found. I will shift the days around so that Wednesday is my rest day (which is only rest from exercise but will still be full of SCA goodness). Then I think the Sat/Sun rest day will have to be flexible based on my SCA schedule as well.

Ultra Pinkness!

I'm sure this somehow relates... the boxing instructor has referred to me as "Pink skirt" on a number of occasions due to my day-glo pink running skirt I sometimes wear. So this week I picked up a pastel pink exercise top from Target and wore just lots of pink. This of course got the reaction of "You better be hitting hard today if you come in a skirt AND all pink." Exactly what I was going for. I kinda like the image. All pink with skirt, and then boxing gloves throwing out some hard hits.

Training by-product

In general I've been focusing on increasing my distances and keeping my speed roughly around 10min/mi. To some extent I thought time on Saturday was quicker because I was running in a (MUCH) larger group. Yet today I ran a 5k by myself and ended up doing it in 28:30 which included a long nasty hill and a bit of walking. I know at somepoint I will need to work specifically on speed but right now I'm still in the phase of wanting to increase my endurance.

5th!

I took 5th place in my division! I was only 3 minutes behind the 3rd place winner. The results are at posted for your browsing pleasure.

Before you congratulate me too much, remember that there are lies, damn lies, and statistics. While I placed 5th in my division, there were only 8 women (guess all the college girls were still home on spring break). Next year I move up an age division and the woman with the closest time to my own placed 24th out of 46 so that is probably more representative. Overall I was 231 out of 435 runners. So just barely outside of the top 50%. Though Congrats to David for making the top 50% cutoff.

I am still very happy with my run and given that I've been doing this for less than a year, I think it's pretty good.

Martha Jefferson 8K race

This morning I ran in the Martha Jefferson 8K race. It was cold (40-45ish) and wet (mostly drizzle but one good down pour right before the race), but I ran it anyways. Despite the conditions I had my best time and pace yet for anything over a 5K.

I ran the 4.9mi (according to my Garmin) in 45:38 with an average pace of 9:18/mi. I was honestly expecting to be closer to 10/mi so that's quite a jump. Guess I just REALLY wanted out of the rain. My heart rate stayed mostly in zone 4 & 5 (as it should be) which means I was pushing at a reasonable pace for myself but could probably up it a little as I get more fit.

Based on last year's results, I would place in the 45-50 percentile range overall but dead middle for my division (female, 20-24). However, with the weather keeping all but the die-hards or the crazies (you may guess which I am) away I would suspect I might end up ranking lower. That does not diminish my achievement since I still ran and set a new PR (personal record).

Edit: Looks like this race knocked out all sorts of my time based running goals. Only original one that I had remaining was 10K in 60 minutes. I'm pretty confident I can do this and on a surface besides the UVA track. Just a matter of getting out there and doing it. I may add some goals to increase distance such as becoming comfortable running 10 miles, though I don't think I will be to that point by March 29th for the Cville 10 mile race. I need to work more on sustained energy.

Retaking 7th grade shop

In 7th grade we had a required tech course which taught us all sorts of useful skills such as reading transistor strengths, welding, and bike repair. Guess which one I took a refresher course on tonight.

The Cville triathlon club organizes group work outs, races, social get togethers, and some skill building workshops. Tonight the workshop was on bike repair so when (not if) your bike breaks down in the rain on the side of the road, you have an idea what to do. So much of what they were teaching seemed completely new to me and I realized I hadn't remembered a thing from 7th grade. Therefore tonight I learned what to listen for when trying to diagnose an issue, how to change a flat tire, and the importance of 50 cents worth of oil.

As for the training, I've been doing a fair amount but no great accomplishments recently. I'm working on endurance in the pool. I'm fighting a re-occurring blister from running. I'm doing spin class when I can until it warms up. I'm taking boxing in case something goes terribly wrong. I'm adding in brick workouts (where you ride for quite a while then go run).

Remember how your legs always feel funny when you first get off a bike. Now take that wobbly feeling and go run 6 miles. It will hurt greatly for the first mile or so while the muscles shift but then life should be fine. Therefore to train those muscles to do the shift, we practice that transition - called a brick.

Swimming update

This does not meet any goals, but I wanted a beginning time with doing only freestyle. I swam 20 lengths (500m) in approximately 14 minutes. This is the distance I will need to do for the Sprint Tri and the middle 80% (not first or last 10%) of the women ranged in time from 8-13 minutes. Clearly I need to build some more power and efficiency in the next 4 months, especially because I was pretty exhausted getting out of the pool. Had this been a real race, I would've had to biked 16 miles then run 3. I definitely have room for improvement.

Longest run ever.

Luckily it didn't feel as long or as draining as the nasty hill run. Though, I did accomplish my goal of a 5 mile run in under 50 minutes outside. I did it in a 45:34 so a pace of 9:06/mi which is pretty good for me.

Just for full disclosure, it was on the UVA track so nice, flat, springy surface. My knees were not up to road running so the track gave me the ability to do the distance, work on techniques, and get used to running in the cold without the extra pain of concrete. I do still plan on running where there are more hills and course variation, but it's still kinda neat to run farther than I ever have in my life.

Just for the nerds out there, I'm including a graph of my HR & pace. I don't think my pace varied all that much, but then again, I know I stayed in the exact same lane on the track and the GPS map has my path of ranging quite a bit from side to side. Therefore, I take it all with a grain of salt, but I do believe the pace average and that I sprinted at the very end.

3 Miles before breakfast

::: starts laughing::::
Who are we kidding, I don't do anything before breakfast. I did however run 3 miles before work and while it didn't meet any goals, it thoroughly convinced me that I really don't like treadmill. I'd rather have that nasty hill by work. I think the one I was on was also particularly bad because of how they had a TV set up, so I was either looking in the reflection (it was off) or looking at an angle around it. Perhaps if I more wisely choose a machine next time... though I think I'd rather just go run outside.

Sprint Registration Complete

I am now officially registered for the CVille Sprint Triathlon! I can do each distance individually right now, so I'm confident in the next 4 months I'll be able to put them all together.

Climbing Uphill

In knowledge it is commonly said that you don't know how much you don't know until you start to learn more about the subject. I believe it is similar in actions, you don't know how much you can or can't do until you try. The last two times I went for 5K runs with coworkers outside, I didn't make the entire distance running. Both times I had to walk for a portion of it. As in the opening statement, I didn't realize I would have such great difficulty with long gradual hills and also steep short hills, and having them back to back. (Also doesn't help that these hills are on the way back.)

Today, I was victorious against those hills. I did the 5K in 31:44 (which isn't spectacular) but more importantly, I did it all running. Now next instead of worrying if I can even make it, I can focus on bringing the time down.

Sprint Tri Too!

This just in! My family reunion which was supposed to be the same weekend as the C'ville Sprint Triathlon (.3mi swim, 15.5mi bike, 3mi run) was just canceled. Now I'm seriously considering doing both Triathlons this summer. This really shouldn't change my training goals, just gives me another chance to race. And realistically, the Sprint will be a good practice for the International distance.

Running Book

Back when I did the Women's 4-miler training program, one of the items they gave us on the first day was a book called "Run for Life." I read through initially but really didn't make much away from it since it seemed to be either common sense (stay hydrated) or beyond me (improving your pace). At that time all I wanted to do was to complete the 4-miler... running was not going to be for life. It was just something I was trying. Skip ahead many months and now I'm doing a triathlon in which I will be running 6 miles. Having taken a number of months off I started out slower and not able to run as far as in September, yet still better than last June.

I re-read the book tonight and much more of it sunk in and seemed applicable. I am going to try to start doing some of the stretches and actually try some of their suggestions about pace. I am considering getting another book about marathon motivation that a coworker recommended because it had great ways to keep yourself going for long races (which this one will seem to be for me).

Inspiring Song

This is my new favorite song. It just gets me inspired to want to go out and race today!