It’s All Uphill From Here

Test week is over (as well as my rest week).  Phew! I’m glad to have some good hard work ahead before I have to do that all again!  I finished the tests off Saturday morning on the track with my run test.  Not my fastest ever but not my slowest either – I know it won’t take too long to get my running back where I want it and then even faster. 

After the test, it was time for some FUN!!!  We loaded up the dogs and hit the road, stopping to meet up with Eileen, Reid and Belle to caravan into the Sierras for a romp in the snow.

Our dogs are weirdos.

The only time you will ever see me neck-in-neck racing Eileen! And as she pointed out the dogs totally kicked both of our butts.

Training totals for January 4-10:
Swim: 3650 yards
Bike: 25.3 miles
Run: 10.8 miles
Strength: 1/2 hour
Total time: 5.6 hours

Awareness

I hope everyone on Facebook who was sooooo concerned about cancer awareness yesterday went and donated $$ to research.  And I mean research, not some *cough*pink*cough* awareness group that uses the majority of the money for their own self-promotion (Tasha points it quite well here).

What Color Bra Are You Wearing?

Boo-yah!!!!!

Coach’s email regarding today’s swim test (1000 yds):

WOO HOO!!!!

When we first tested you back in September '08 you came in over XX minutes.  You have dropped over 5 minutes in less than 18 months!  [16 months actually] THAT IS AWESOME!!!!

I think a year of growing real arm, shoulder and back muscles, for the first time ever, is finally starting to pay off and will hopefully lead to bigger swim gains as I have the muscle to work harder in the pool.  At least, based on the pain emitting from those general regions right now, I should still have muscles next time I try to use them.  Holy crap, my arms are sore.  Thank the heavens tomorrow is a rest day.

Two tests down, one to go.

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens

THESE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS!!!

I keep meaning to write a blog post about all the things that got me through training and racing last year and are expected to get me through another year.  Especially as I’ve been chatting with Jenn about what she will need for racing, the thoughts have come up.  So…today’s as good a day as any other!

In no particular order…

Aquaphor: My anti-chafing lube of choice.  Non-water-soluble, so it worked with wetsuits and swimsuits, during races, before/during bike rides, and anytime I had a sore spot that needed tending.  A sample size tube of this stuff stashed in my special needs bag saved the last 50 miles of my Ironman bike from being truly miserable.

Lululemon: I know, it’s no shock I’m addicted to their clothes.  But this is about…their running clothes!  So stinkin cute you can’t help but want to wear them all the time, but also wonderfully functional and comfortable! 

Roman Paradigm Massage: Regular deep tissue sports massages kept me on top of my game all year.  As I’ve often joked, NOT the fluffy relaxing type of massage but exactly what I needed to work out every potential issue in my muscles.

Asics running shoes: Keeping my feet, joints and muscles happy and healthy since 2008!

Foam Roller: Love it, hate it, hate it some more.  But it helped loosen up tight painful muscles and keep me injury-free.  Too bad mine is still in Arizona somewhere (long story), I’ll have to get a new one.  But maybe not just yet…

Recovery Sock: I LOVE these socks.  I really believe wearing them after tough workouts helped my legs recover quicker.  And they even come in pink!

Splish: The ultimate in cute swimsuits and the custom ones are even more fun.  Eat your heart out, Charisa Wernick, I have a gnome suit!

Rocktape: When I was getting ART last fall trying to keep myself from developing an injury, Rocktape provided excellent support to healing muscles so I could keep running.  AND it stayed on through swimming for a whole week, biking, and everything else!  Great little local company!

Infinit: It took a lot of experimentation last year before I landed on Infinit.  I was very happy I finally found the product that would allow me to take in all the necessary calories on long bike rides in a concentrated form without taking up too much space.  Completely customizable to your needs and taste!

Trolli Sour Brite Gummy Worms: Best addition to bike nutrition, ever.  I couldn’t stomach chocolate on the bike but gummy worms were just right for a taste of “something different” from my other nutrition products.

Willow Glen Bicycles: No matter what my emergency, the guys at WG Bikes were always there to help me out.  They’ve saved my butt pre-race, pre-bike test, pre-120-mile-ride more times than I can count.  Great bike selection, awesome service, and a knowledgeable staff – what more could you want?  At this point, they are family.

Elizabeth Waterstraat/Multisport Mastery: Last but certainly not least, there’s no way I would have survived the year I planned, trained or not, without the experience and guidance of my wonderful coach!  She kept me focused, neither undertrained nor overtrained, uninjured (!!!), entertained, and confident that I could accomplish my goals.  I’m so excited to be working with her for yet another season!

That’s all for now…my bike test provided a good starting point for the year and tomorrow? Aaaggghhhh! The dreaded swim test.

A Case of the Mondays

• I hit the snooze button about 6 times this morning but still made it to the gym for my arm-core strength training.  For some reason, it seems the New Year Resolutionists have not turned up this year (you know, the people that decide they are going to the gym every day starting Jan 1st and are usually gone by February – we’ve all been one at some point!).  I lifted weights Saturday and again today and it’s been extraordinarily quiet in there both times!  Strange, very strange.
• I am grateful that everyone else at work looked as shell-shocked as I did to be there.  My boss admitted to not getting out of bed before 11am every day of the shutdown.  No wonder she cut our meeting short and sent us all on our merry way.
• I cleaned out my swim bag yesterday and threw away 15 – FIFTEEN – nose clips.  It’s been well over a year since I was forcibly weaned off of them.  It’s so funny to me because I can’t even imagine wearing one now. 
• I swam with Jenn today.  She swam hard, I did drills.  Each workout assigned by our coaches.  But after I was done (my workout was shorter than hers and I got in the pool 20 minutes ahead of her), I jumped into Jenn’s lane.  And decided to try to flip-turn.  Please note: I tried flip turns once last year (shortly after ditching the nose clip).  I ended up with massive quantities of water in my lungs.  But I was sure that now that I’m more comfortable with water I should be able to do it.  Jenn gave pointers every time she popped back up at the wall in between her sets.  And gosh darned if I didn’t do a flip turn, swim across the pool, do another, swim back and do one more, before all was said and done.  They still need some work but suffice it to say my ability to do flip turns has gone roughly from Hot Wheels to 15-with-a-learners-permit. 
• My coach posted some exciting news today. 
• I’ve had 2 salads a day for, I think, 10 of the last 12 days.  I’m not on a diet, per se, but you know how your eating takes a turn into the calorie-heavy side at the peak of Ironman training when you need oodles and oodles of dense calorie-rich food?  I’m trying to jump-start my fruit and vegetable eating again and this seemed like a good way.  It also keeps me full enough from the salads to avoid some of the unnecessary snacking I am prone to do.
• I used to have a 2-Cokes-for-breakfast habit.  I gave up soda cold turkey 6 years ago.  I started drinking a little bit of it again last fall during Ironman training – long long bike rides and the transition off the bike to running – Coke was just made for these moments.  I even took a big swig in T2 (3:09, in case anyone had forgotten! Damn, I’m proud of the long run through transition to the changing tent, doing a full clothing change, AND chugging a bottle of Coke in an Ironman race and doing it all in 3 minutes) at IM AZ.  Anyway, I think I’m at the point in my life where I’m capable of moderating my soda habit a bit.  Here I am, admitting in public, I have had 1 Coke and 2 Mr Pibbs in the last couple weeks.  And they were darn good.  Since I seem to be incapable of drinking alcohol without a headache these days, I might as well enjoy something!
• And that’s all I have for today.  Tomorrow: the dreaded bike test.  Ooooooooo it’s gonna hurt!

Ho Hum

The fun and games are over: tomorrow I go back to work after 2+ weeks off (Hawaiian vacation + corporate holiday shutdown).  For about 2 days now, I’ve had that Sunday night feeling of dread that goes with realizing the weekend is over.  I’m trying, really trying, to work up my enthusiasm for a new year and new projects.  I hope I am able to try harder in the morning :-)

The exciting thing about next week though…it’s test week!  A bike test, a swim test and a run test are on tap for me, scattered throughout the week.  These will set the baseline for my training for the year and be solid benchmarks to compare to my fitness in future months.  While I know from a logical perspective what the purpose is and that they only serve as a starting point for my year, my emotional reactions to each are a bit more like this…

BIKE TEST: Ick.

Um.  I am still not very good at hurting on the bike.

SWIM TEST: Run away! Run away!

Anything that actually quantifies the extent of the slowness of my swimming is cause for fear.

RUN TEST: Bring it!

It won’t be as fast as my run test of nearly 11 months ago but I’m happy to work my ass off on the track for 20 minutes of all-out pace.

Clearly, we can see where I’m going to have to work on a more positive attitude this week.  I need to channel some of that gung-ho about running into my other two tests and not be afraid of the pain.  Given the shorter distance races I’m focusing on this year, I suspect putting up with pain will be a central theme, so time to put on my big girl pants and suck it up!

Training totals for December 28-January 3:
Swim: ~5359 yards
Bike: 29.1 miles
Run: 12.8 miles
Strength: 1 hour
Total time: 7.75 hours

Hello, 2010!

It’s fun to read everyone’s year-end posts and see the excitement and anticipation about a new year and all the hope that brings. But really…did today feel any different than yesterday? In my case, the only thing different was that I woke up pissed off after all the neighbors shot off illegal fireworks last night, waking us up and freaking out our dogs. Yes, I was the crazy lady in her bathrobe yelling at people in the driveway at midnight.

Anyway, from my perspective, it’s always exciting to see more friends get into endurance sports and specifically triathlon. You may remember my high school buddy Jenn, who was a great swimming and riding partner this year in my IM training.

She graduated nursing school this past spring and started work in the ER this fall. With all of that finally set up, Jenn was ready – starting today, she is working with Jen Harrison and training for her first triathlons this year! Yay!

Jenn started a blog (Will Train For Wine And Chocolate) to chronicle her newbie triathlete adventures, so add her to your blog readers and give her a little love and encouragement! She’s going to have an awesome year with some great challenges (for me, the biggest challenge would be combining tri training with working the night shift in the ER!). I can’t wait to see her success out there!