October 2007

oh, fer goodness sakes, why are you guys still checking my training log? i haven't updated it in ages! worlds 70.3 is now less than 3 weeks away and, basically, i've avoided the pool since hawaii (when was that? june 3rd?), haven't been up to the hills since july, and my running mileage has been pretty pathetic. other than that, i've been kind of happy sleeping in every morning. would it be an understatement to say that the season has been too long? i promise myself that, in 2008 if i start hardcore in jan-feb like i did this year, my last race won't be later than july.

August 27-September 2

endured a cold mid-week, which isn't surprising with school having started again. the darned virus made its way through everyone in the family (w/rob experiencing the pukes originally thought as being a result of food poisoning). so, a very lame week of training for the both of us. obviously, i need to regain my focus.

August 20-26

i'm starting to feel the increase in training in my legs, esp. from the extra hrs in the saddle.

August 13-19

sat: note to myself - no long runs the day before hills.

wed: i may be singing a different tune tomorrow but i am finding myself asking, "what am i doing this for?" during workouts. maybe it's because of all the stuff that's going on in our lives right now...maybe it's because it's been a long, freaking season... or maybe it's because it's so dang hot. an unmotivated husband who says he's not going to run until it gets cooler doesn't help either.

August 6-12

sun: hill ride showed me how pathetically out of shape i am right now. the first hill and i was feeling pooped. rob felt much stronger on sunday...not me.

picking up the running again and it's making me delirious...very difficult to want to go out there w/the humidity being so awful.

July 30-August 5

sun: great ride with steve h and rob...3+ hrs. to st. pete and back.

sat: it rained all week so i am using it as an excuse. i did manage 2 swims, 2 runs (each 3-4 mi) and 2 rides (1 hr spins on the trainer). top gun was a good impetus for me to start some consistency again.

July 23-29

fri: yikes! so i didn't get my act together. okay, maybe next week (or probably the week after because i'll be getting my booty kicked at top gun). 

mon: so i blew off my schedule for the last 2 weeks. just didn't feel like being tied to anything. anyway, that means hardly any swimming. i guess i'll get my act together this week.

July 2-8

wed: not having luck with bikes this month. found a cracked derailleur hanger on my road bike which is preventing me from getting into the big ring.

Oh, how i love all these bricks!

June 25-July 1 

sun: if you're reading this, you must be bored out of your skull at work...had no problem riding @ rob's pace on saturday but today lungs felt just gassed.

tues: not motivated to do 3-a-days just yet. 

June 8-24 

June 4-7 

May 28-June 3 (FINALLY!)

some other folks summarized their experience at the 2007 hawaii 70.3 much better than I did below:

Olwen Huxley

Paul Webber

Brian McNitt (do you believe Val sold this guy from San Fran yet another P3C?)

Kristin Hilger

hawaii 70.3 race report: i wasn't expecting to break any PRs at this race, especially since i've been told that the big island breaks everyone down. and, based on my experience at st. a's, i knew i had to tame my efforts, esp. on the bike, or the run would be a sufferfest.

the swim went well for me: i didn't freak out with the mass start and i didn't get lost either. i got on my bike after a long, long uphill run into transition and rode moderately despite feeling the urge to battle it out with others who passed me on some of the early ascents as if i was standing still. i'm sure most of those folks suffered on the run as i did but probably more so since it appeared they weren't dosing out their efforts appropriately (at least, i made such an assumption). in a way, it was a good thing i had a cracked head tube since it forced me to stay in the saddle and save some of my legs for later. besides, the head wind toward hawi was wearing me down. 

once i rode into t2, my right quad stopped me in my tracks. had to stretch it out under a nice shady tree for about 10 minutes but after that, i was able to start plodding. i was 5th in my ag off the bike and probably kept that spot until mile 8 of the run since i didn't see an w40-44s pass me. btw, the run course is on a "links" golf course which means an abundance of bunkers and sand along a seaside. oh what fun! anyway, after that awful mile, i had stomach cramps that forced me to stay in a port-a-let for about 7-8 minutes. no more gatorade or gu after this point. i could only keep cola and water down but not very well. it seemed that when my stomach seemed to settle down my legs took up the slack. i've always heard that taylor goes through all-over body cramps during hot triathlons and started to wonder why he or anyone alike would subject themselves to this much suffering. it's not fun and i now commend him for enduring so many races in this condition.

basically, mile 8-13.1 was gawd-awful. i walked, and walked and walked. i did manage to run a bit between 11 and 12 when another w40-44 girl and i started helping each other along. thank goodness for rebecca during those last miles. in the end, she was able to continue running and got to the finish line about 2 minutes faster. c'est la vie.

rob and i went to the awards ceremony to watch taylor hopefully get a kona slot. last year it went 3 deep so, with the first m35-39 being from hawaii, we thought he had a good chance. unfortunately, they awarded "numero uno" an international slot (which we all can't figure out why) and taylor had to settle for a 70.3 worlds slot instead...not that it's a bad thing at all. since there were only 50 70.3 slots here and not the regular 100 given out at the mainland races, the half im slots were not that easy to win. by the time they got to the women's age groups, it appeared everyone wanted these slots, i started to lose faith that i would even have a 1% chance of landing one. oh well, i really didn't want to race another 70.3 this year anyway.  in both the w30-34 and w35-39 divisions, 8-9 women stood up for the clearwater slots. but when they called for the w40-44, only 3-4 gals stood up. do you believe i had the 2nd fastest time of those gals? well, hot diggity! now, all i need now is a new tri bike.

May 21-27

sun: left knee (the one w/o the ACL) has been kind of bothersome. house issues...found a nice crack on my tri-bike head tube. argh, trying not to stress and focus on balmy beach scenes. talking about balmy, during these last 2 weeks the wind has been something else. is someone trying to prepare me for some hellacious race or what?

fri: rob and i have decided to work out only when we want to this week. other issues are more important right now...besides i feel like i need to focus on feeling good.

tue: feeling pretty broken down right now.

May 14-20

sun: rob was in rare form on the bike today. this morning, besides clocking in just :29 sec. more on the bike than the fast-riding spencer smith (who started 10 minutes earlier in the 1st wave), he later pushed the pace on our 3.5 hr training ride. i'm at the point of my training when i can ride that long, brick 6 mi and not feel too tired; but, trying to keep up with the boys today when they maxed out @32 mph on the gandy was impossible (in fact, i feel like i've lost my "5th gear"). had to let 'em go before we hit the racetrak. sigh.

wed: the most excruciating and slowest 14 miles i think i'd ever done. i don't think i  could possibly do anything else today.

tue: feeling better in the pool. even though i may not get much faster in a couple of wks, there's some consolation that i won't be as tired getting out of the water.

mon: got my new schedule from jeff and i have to laugh that he is making me swim almost every day.  little does he know that i've already been doing that for over a week. big swim meet for nikki fri/sat so i will probably have to add some saddle time during the week.

May 7-13

Sat: i'm beat.

Thurs: i would like to think i'm growing gills with all this swimming.

Tues: blisters are now just a mild annoyance...air quality was pretty awful today on bayshore.

April 30-May 6

Sun: bad run mileage. just didn't feel up to it.

Sat: stayed in a pack during the first mile of the swim (watch said 35-something) but arms started fatiguing (yes, i made up that word). I hear a good current can separate the strong swimmers from the weak ones. well, that's for sure.

Fri: i hope there is food left for me at the breakfast buffet after i finish my swim tomorrow...run wasn't as bad as i thought it would be although it's quite an oven out there. started scrubbing the blood off my sneakers and decided to leave it as a reminder to wear socks during my runs.

Thurs: yesterday during our lunchtime swim, rob swam 10 min and then got out. he told me that he will not swim junk yards anymore. since the beginning of 07, we've been meeting at noon to swim and really haven't benefited from all those sessions. without taylor waiting in the driveway at 5:30 am, rob and i have blown off masters swim class. well, no more.

Wed: not too sure if i can run this week. initially, because of the spasms in my calves, esp. my right, i've been holding quite the self-pity party. but i've analyzed that everything until june 2nd are good learning experiences. nothing else really matters except "soaking in" the process and taking it with me for the big day.

Mon: rt calf is tremendously sore. cramped up on the swim again. 

April 23-29

Sun: swim sucked...biked strong...ran in pain in order to save a few seconds in transition (donned new shoes w/o socks). ugh. then, calf cramping in both legs...oh, and did i mention that my swim sucked? i've decided that i need to get in the water a lot more and cram for hawaii. btw, i hope i don't sound like i'm making excuses. i'm not. i made some bad calls today but i really did enjoy my race. if it weren't for the increasing heat, i'd say the day was near-perfect.

Thurs: decided to take pez with me for my 2-mile run. i thought border collies were supposed to be able to run forever—i had to drag her the entire first mile. she is quite the lazy pooch!

Wed: did back-to-back 500s @ <9:00 each which i was pretty happy with considering i'm the worse swimmer in my family. rob made sure to point out that he and nic swim their 500s more than 3 minutes faster. hurricane man 2.4m sure is gonna be a fun family affair for me....not!

April 16-22

Sun: got in the pool 6x this week. yeah!

i have to laugh at rob...he's going through what i went through in my base phase in march—always feeling tired. of course, he had no sympathy for me back then and now that he's feeling it, well, i can only reply to his whining with, "suck it up."

Sat: nice, steady pace for over 80 miles in the hills. gonna take it easy on the run for a couple of days. 

Fri: ray had a swim meet tonight....probably not going to winter haven for nic's since she's still unable to score pts. because of her club transfer. she has gained an incredible amount of respect for dave g, her coach. she's become quite determined at practice lately and is always the last one to leave. if i could only harness that will for my swim sessions. a tad of PF.

Tues: quick spin and then a decent long run immediately afterwards. calves very sore.

Nicole has a swim meet this weekend so i will probably have to juggle all this below. i've decided to stop being so mental about swimming: gonna "love" going to the pool, including my "optional" sessions (which i have been interpreting as "no-need-to-swim"). also, i plan to take a proactive approach at the start of my wave...no more waiting for everyone else to leave the shore and then be one of the last to start swimming. i vow at st. a's that i'll fight for clear air vs. waiting for it.

April 9-15

Sun: spent the a.m. waiting for the rain to dissipate...taxes, house chores...went to swim w/rob and then spin for an hour and a half on a very windy davis island. i timed my 500yd free @ a decent 0:08.48...either i can't swim w/ a wetsuit or i spend too much time hyperventilating at the swim start. i look back at the races since aug. 05 when i started this triathlon craziness and my times are definitely better w/o a wetsuit. dunno, i must be mental. thank goodness hawaii won't be wetsuit legal.

Sat: So, despite a slow and sorry swim (which especially sucks at this early-season race), i came off the bike first in my age group. i was pretty ticked about the fact that i let 3 girls get away on the run. of course, it's 'cause i am not a patient person. at least, i have a gauge as to how I should feel during the bike for St. A's. this morning, i let myself get dizzy on the bike. not good (but, hey, i managed ~24.5 mph). at least i started to feel better on the back end of the run and had enough for good kick at the finish line.

April 2-8

Sun: Slept in, egg hunt, went to the beach, watched the Tour of Flanders...Happy Easter! 

Thurs: just as i was thinking to myself, "wow, i'm doing a lot here," i come across training logs of athletes like blake becker. i cannot fathom me being able to swim his weekly yardage in one month.

Tues: figured i might as well get the longest of my 2 long runs scheduled this week over with since i was feeling well out there. by mile 10 though, a case of turf toe started bothering me. i guess i'll lose a toenail in a day or two. 

Mon: finally, a rest day!

March 26-April 1

Sun: can't believe i have 13 hrs of cycling this week. meant to brick my 8 but the ride with rob and steve was longer than i anticipated (almost 5 hrs w/ a coffee shop stop). then when we got back home i just couldn't stomach running down bayshore again. so we hauled the kids to fort desoto where i ran. very windy but that's no surprise.

Sat: good hard effort. man, i need a nap.  

Fri: finally, after a bad month or so, I'm feeling pretty strong (for me, that is).

March 19-25

Sun: Yesterday's ride was challenging with Rob and Ken pulling most of the day. We had a nice crew for our 4-hr ride and I managed not to crash into anyone. Yay! Most importantly, I felt stronger as the ride went into the 3 hr mark. I'm pretty stoked about that so I don't feel too guilty about missing a swim and a run today. I would rather watch my daughter swim anyway.

Thurs.: these impromptu house showings are cutting into my training.

Wed: fierce head wind all the way out.

Tues: trainer....davis island...trainer...davis island? both continue to sound unappealing to me. sigh, if only we lived near some hills or mountains. and it's gotta be the long steep ones 'cause i suck at the ones i have to power up on since it requires me getting out of the saddle. so i decided to spend most of today's trainer ride standing up on my pedals.