FeWoman

Business Life

2010-03-08T15:38:00Z

Lots of conversations lately with friends about their businesses, my business and other businesses. Most people think they own a business but often are really in a busyness. Hence the quote..."the doing of the doing is why nothing gets done..." As I have new ideas for a business or I am presented with new ideas for a business, I often test it against the following criteria:

1) Can I live my values?
2) Am I able to put family and friends first?
3) Can I create income that allows my family to live very well but well below our means? No debt beyond a limited mortgage, full retirement contributions (including additional investing), lots of travel.
4) Can I make myself expendable in a short period of time. My buzz words are redundancy and duplication.
5) Can I create efficiencies (usually through technology or systems).

I have done the busyness concept. I was young, enthusiastic and wanting to be the 90's vision of the entrepreneur. I thought this model was really about the work. I thought people needed to know that I worked all the time, that I could out work anyone else, that I was earning the right to own my own busyness. Our American culture celebrates the person who bootstraps and rewards (we think) the person who gave every ounce. Unfortunately, I started to notice that this model didn't really end well, for the business or the owner.

So, what does this have to do with training? The same criteria apply but with a slight twist:

1) Can I live my values?

I don't cheat (no drafting, cutting corners), I don't do drugs, I help and support others, and my seat is not too high.

2) Amy I able to put family and friends first?

This one is best judged by the "victims." I would say yes but it does take some creative planning. I try to get at least one workout finished while my daughter is sleeping. I schedule my longest workout of the week on Tuesday's while she is at school. I finish my second workout in the afternoon before she gets home from sports. The weekends are generally morning workouts although this winter I was selfish and did mid morning workouts on Sunday to join the pain cave crew.

3) Disposing of income.

This is a great hobby for my overall health but it is not cheap. Initial start up costs (clothing, wetsuit, tri bike, power meter, garmin, shoes etc.) are expensive but I have found that once I have the right equipment I stick with it! I am not really interested in chasing speed with dollars. At this point, I spend money on coaching, race fees and travel. Fortunately, Coach is very supportive and in the end I feel like it improves my business almost as much as my health!

4) Redundancy and duplication.

Obviously I can't be expendable and I can't hire someone else to train for me. Hell, at this point I would probably hire someone to train with me! I can focus on doing the right things, at the right times in the least amount of time possible. Doing more does not translate directly into success. I must be vigilant to not let triathlon training turn into a busyness.

5) Efficiencies.

I think this piece alone I have had great success applying to triathlon. I use a Coach who has made it easy to do everything electronically including calendar and communication. I have all the digital equipment and use them well. I have an online log linked to my lap top. All of these tools have focused my workouts, saved me time and lead to unbelievable improvement.

Training update:

I am currently in a cycling Power Module (get stronger!). Gordo warned me that my running may suffer as a result. Affirmative. My running isn't pretty right now but it is sustainable. As I mentioned, Boston is not a race for me, but rather an event. I am working hard to keep it that way! My longest run to date was last Friday at 14 miles. I will probably max out at a whopping 15 miles and rely on my fitness to finish.

I am off to Austin this week for SXSW (think spring break for geeks). Coach is joining me for the weekend. I am expecting 70 degrees and sunny. How do I train when I travel? Well, in Austin it is pretty easy. I will rent a bike or go to the Pedal Hard studio to continue the power module. Lots of running around Town Lake and swimming in the Deep Eddy spring fed pool (wetsuit of course).

Last thought:

Anytime I write this stuff there is a little voice inside me that wants to remind anyone that reads it, that I am not even close to having all the answers. The questions beget more questions. Deep in my soul, I have a distinct feeling that when I am 80 and read through my drivel, there is a good chance that I will be thoroughly disgusted. So noted.

Germ Warfare

2010-03-01T22:08:00Z

I have returned from the land of darkness, kleenex and narcotic cough syrup. Is it just me or does the cold season seem worse this year? Given that my work is often in the epicenter of chronically fatigued, hungover and sick college students, I am exposed to my share of germs. Add all the kids in my life and suddenly I realize that the enemy is not only at the gate but usually sneezing in my face.

Last Saturday, I started with the scratchy throat and by Sunday I had the full blown head cold. Usually, no problem if I dose with some Mucinex, Advil, occasionally Sudafed and sleep. Workouts are usually fine but I am certainly not doing anything exceptional. Basically, I follow the neck up rule. No fever and all symptoms are above the neck, let the work continue. Unfortunately, this time, my cold had other ideas and nestled in my chest. It was soon greeted with glee by the asthma I have had since I was a kid. By Thursday my lungs had shut down and so had my training. I haven't really had an episode like this in years. How would I describe the feeling? It felt like I was panting or breathing under water...there were no deep breaths available to catch up. Throw in a cough that sounded like I had just escaped from the TB ward and I was soon the least popular person at work and home.

Being the over thinker that I am, I decided to look for patterns and solutions. Since last August I have had a total of four colds (thanks to my training log). Prior to this, I usually have a couple of colds per year (usually one in the fall and one in the spring when the allergies are at their worst). I noticed that I have had a cold every two months since August. Weird.

So, in no order of significance I have picked out some potential causes:

1) Swimming more. Chronic sinusitis aggravated by the pool.
2) Failed to recover from some training load from camps.
3) Low levels of Vitamin D3 which can impact immune system and asthma.
4) Not using hand sanitizer. When Zachary was ill, we all used hand sanitizer to the point it smelled like my daily perfume.
5) Failure to adjust my diet. I am training like I do in the summer but didn't change my nutrition.

The problem with getting sick and getting jacked on steroids is that the over thinking starts to drag you down the rabbit hole. There is no reason to pinpoint in an aha moment but there are areas for me to improve:

1) Cleansing sinuses with saline after swimming. Twice per day.
2) Enjoying camps and learning how to recover without scheduling too many multiple back to back camps.
3) I had a blood test and found out my Vitamin D3 is below normal. Seriously supplementing.
4) Adding hand sanitizer back to my regimen.
5) Eating more fats at lunch and dinner. Increasing carbs in training.

I am feeling much better now and I am tapering back into my full workout schedule. I will cut back on intensity, heart rate, speed etc. until I get my legs under me again. In the meantime, if you see me coming, keep your distance, do not hug and don't even think about a fist bump. Just run in the other direction!

Camping

2010-02-21T15:49:00Z

Anyone that knows me will be surprised to see a blog post entitled Camping! Why? Basically because I am Italian and it is well known that we do not engage in "camping." For me, a cheap hotel is as close to camping as I am ever going to want to try. I love the outdoors but prefer to experience them from a distance. If our forefathers meant for us to camp, they would not have invented screens and air conditioning.

This winter I did decide to embrace virtual camping. All camps are voluntary and you record your daily scores in a Google Doc for all campers to see. The first one started around Thanksgiving with the Endurance Corner team.   14 days of high volume/low intensity swimming. The second camp was a run camp in January. 30 days of running at least once and preferably twice per day. The third camp was another 14 day swim camp of high intensity/less volume. Some things I have learned from camps:

*training virtually with others is fun and motivational
*camps give you a great start and end point for your goals
*I have made my greatest improvements with this high density training
*Despite the focus sport, you also continue with training in the other two events.

What doesn't work:

*Campers seem to lose their interest after a few weeks or are prone to overuse injuries
*The second swim camp totally lost me when it required other strokes to score. In the future I will choose camps that match my skill set.
*I think camp completion would improve if each camp had an assigned "coach". Someone who could run a forum thread that people could look to for suggested workouts, motivation and interaction. Retention would probably improve.
*I should probably have a down week between camps. I went immediately from run camp, to swim camp and now to the power cycling module. A week gives you a bit of time to assess, recover, recharge and get excited for the next challenge.

So, what is the end result of all these camps? Right now I am at race weight in the winter, I am running faster/easier and I am swimming faster/easier. The jury is still out on cycling but I will have an update in about 5 weeks...

Negatives? I have another cold dammit. I am starting to think it is the pool.   Ever since I increased my swimming in August 2009, I am getting a damn cold every two months. I am going to try some nose plugs to see if it helps and if I can look like an even bigger dork in the pool! I tweaked my shoulder a bit in the fast swim camp when I changed my breathing and stroke pattern to go faster. It is quickly disappearing with a return to my normal breathing pattern.

Ryan and I finished my bike fit yesterday. I am more comfortable and more aerodynamic. Ryan did some research and decided to have me go to more of a Levi Leipheimer fit.    We brought my elbows closer together, added a spacer to bring me up a bit in front and brought my hands up a few degrees. I will have a better idea today after my Time Trial workout. I took some video of the new fit and will continue to video my fits from now on as a reference point.

I feel like I am in an excellent place with training. I am eight weeks out from Boston and just about 200 days from IM Wisconsin. I feel like the foundation is strong enough to build a solid season of competition. I also learned that it was a bad idea not to travel this winter. Next year I am already planning 10 days in the warm sun during February!

Shake it!

2010-02-15T12:15:00Z

After a long hard work out day, if I have time, I skip the Ultragen bit.ly/daksTl and make my special post workout cocktail. I kinda stole the idea from the Olympic Training Centers oatmeal recipe for athletes...

Power Recovery Shake
1 cup unsweetened coconut milk (50 calories)
1 ripe banana (100 calories)
1 tablespoon of almond butter (95 calories)
1 scoop of whey protein (100 calories)
1 heaping tablespoon of dark chocolate unsweetened cocoa powder (20 calories)
1 half cup of frozen blueberries (35 calories)
Ice as desired

Total calories: 400 calories, 24 g protein, 14 g fat, 44.5 g Carbs, no added sugar!

If I am having a light training day I will drop the almond butter. This drink really hits the spot and is tasty. If you need more calories, you could supplement with some greek yogurt or an extra banana. Enjoy!

Swimmingly

2010-02-14T12:29:00Z

Yesterday I was tricked into my first swim meet. Tricked? Yes, by the evil members of BARC who all happen to be very good swimmers. They tricked me into this six months ago by promising fellowship, laughter and maybe a beer afterwards. What they forgot to mention is the pain of actually swimming.

Unlike triathlons, I learned in swim meets that you have no idea what time you will actually race. I decided this is done purposely to increase spectator attendance. By the way, the spectators are all married to Master's Swimmers or are the children of Master's Swimmers. Everyone in the stands had this tired/tedious look of, "Oh God, I can't believe (insert name here...Sue for example) is making me go through another five hour crappy meet watching a bunch of middle age folks in speedos prance around while looking like most of them could use a good waxing!"

Out of pure fear of letting my team down, I get there early. Lots of hellos, love, banter etc. I am ready to warm up and realize they are only allowing us to warm up in the diving well. IU has probably the best diving program in the nation and an unbelievable pool for the IU swim team. Unfortunately the diving well temp is just below 212 degrees. After about 300 yards of my warm up, I noticed that my suit had started to melt. In order to get out alive, I cut the warm up short.

As we are standing waiting for our event, I decided to up the ante. I challenged the other teams to not only an open water start but also to sharing one lane together! It would be a lot like short track skating in the Olympics. Add some razors on our forearms and you get the general idea. The wimps all declined.

I get on the block expecting to just go when the man in white takes us through a session of Simon Says. First he says ready, then stand, then ready, then stand, then ready... What the hell??? And by the way, where is Dara Torres? I thought she would be here to show me how to splash water on my arms and walk around looking like a total stud in my speed suit. Okay, I didn't have a speed suit but I was tempted to get a cheap one off Ebay for the laughs.

Finally the race starts and I fly off the blocks. I didn't actually fly...more like Thud off the blocks. I suddenly found myself four feet under water trying to get back to the surface. Of course my goggles fogged instantly and off I go. They didn't fog up enough for me to not notice that I was suddenly left behind. At that point I swam hard when out of nowhere appeared the bulk head. Seriously, I was so use to a 50 meter pool that the bulkhead surprised me. It also was a bit of an optical illusion because it is partially open underneath. I perform a crappy turn and swim like hell back. The hardest part of the whole race was hoisting my body out of the pool without asking for help. Seriously, the deck is like 10 inches above the water line. My arms are only 10 inches long (or so it seems when you see me swim). I finished my leg of the 50 in 40.7. Wendy was next and did a tremendous job keeping her goggles on her eyes and not setting a new fashion statement by wearing them across her chin (which looked great in practice). Mindy was after her and also had a great swim without falling victim to another calf cramp (obviously the electrolytes from the wine the night before worked!) . Tatiana was clean up and finished with a blistering 30 second fifty.

Final team result was that we finished in 2:24 for the 200 Freestyle relay and first in our age group. Yes, we were the only ones in our age group. More importantly, I received my first swimming ribbon for my wall of shame. No, I will not be getting a ribbon tattoo on my calf. Just for the record, I have no tattoos our of fear of their expansion properties when I am 80 and am living in the nursing home.

Did I mention they consolidated the relays for men and women? This is only important to note because the other event I signed up for, the 500 Freestyle, was immediately after the relay. Before the big event, I looked at the seedings and noticed that most of the women listed their 500 times between 5:30-5:45. I almost threw up when I read their times. How can anyone swim that fast legally??? I am sure if they were drug testing someone would fail. Speaking of which, have you noticed normal middle age athletes who are jacked? They have middle age heads on bodies that look like they are in their mid twenties. It just looks wrong. Unfortunately, it also has the same attraction for me as a car accident on the highway. I want to look, I need to look and can I just please openly stare. They are freaks of too much science and way too much narcissism.

Before I jumped on the block I warned my timer that this might take a while. I mentioned that by the time I finished, she would be drinking a glass of whiskey and having a cigarette saying, "Oh you, I remember you...I thought you had left years ago!" I probably should have not said this to the 10 year old girl timing in my lane, but I knew she would be a woman by the time I returned.

The start was uneventful. I actually had a better start and raced down to the other end where once again I was surprised by the bulk head. I was also surprised by the lap counter showing an odd number. Huh? No one mentioned that the lap counter counted lengths and not laps. Crap, in my oxygen starved state I would need to do math! I kept reminding myself to divide by two!

My plan for the race was pretty simple. First 100 steady and build from there. I ended up the first one hundred being faster than steady but once I figured out my breathing I was fine. Until I actually swallowed half the pool. I can't remember ever choking that badly in the last three years of swimming. I seriously worried for a minute that I would have to stop to breathe. Fortunately, 15 yards later it cleared.

During my race I hit about half the turns and the other half of the turns were pathetic and would have been faster if I had done a touch and go. My goggles were so fogged up that I could barely see the lap count. My friends and training partners were walking beside me on the pool deck yelling but I couldn't hear a damn thing. Cheering in a swim meet is really a distraction provided for the spectators to break the unending boredom. The competitors are oblivious. At one point I got totally confused on my lap count. I thought I should have been done a lap earlier but decided to trust Wendy who was serving as my lap counter. I think she slipped me the "bird" underwater which translated into could you please hurry up because I need to get home to my husband and three kids.

I finally finished in a time of 8:08 which is a new PR and PB. I was wiped and briefly thought of pulling a Titanic and gently slipping below the surface into a peaceful finish. I ended up finishing 2nd out of the three in my age group. The winner went at least a 5:45!

I will be back next year and hopefully, I will be faster next year. One change I will make in 2011 is not to have a focused run the day before the meet. What little kick I had was non-existent. I found it the last 100 but my legs were basically checked out.

Big thanks to my team mates for pulling me through. Also, Louisa my swim coach, you are missed! I could not have improved without you. Can you please move back to Bloomington for the summer? It is okay, Jesse will understand. Please tell him it is for the greater good. Gordo thanks for the great workouts and adjustment in my head bobbing. It was much better this time... Great meet Mindy and Tatiana. I think you now will be appointed meet directors in perpetuity. See, no good deed goes unpunished!

Post race report: everything from my lats to my finger tips are sore. I had no idea swimming could hurt. I now know if I ever here anyone comment that something went "swimmingly" that they have never ever, in their lifetime, swam in a swim meet.

Chasing Better

2010-02-10T20:20:00Z

What drives me? Two things…a 1990 Honda Accord that I have affectionately named White Trash because it is a white beat up monstrosity and a 1997 mint condition BMW convertible. Why do I point this out? I think both of these cars represent fundamental elements of my personality. On one hand I understand expediency. Almost all of my business sites are located within high density student residences. Have you seen college students park? Sober and not sober? Your car eventually looks like a bumper car at one of those sad looking small town carnivals. As a result, I drive White Trash most days when I attend to the stores.

The Beemer is a different story. The Beemer represents my love of a perfect machine. It is beautiful, it is fast and it is twitchy. Really, it is a Driving Machine. I reserve the opportunity to drive it on days that I can protect it from the weather and careless people parking. My training is a lot like my cars. Day in and day out I do the work. It isn't pretty, sometimes it is unpleasant and sometimes I get beat up. I do it daily because I am driven to chase better. Notice I didn't use the trite overused business phrase of excellence. Excellence represents the pinnacle. A pinnacle implies for me an end point. In my perspective "chasing better" is a daily focus regarding sometimes achieving a "better" that is so slight as to be unnoticed. Mutiply those miniscule betters by 100x (or days) and suddenly I am better or faster or stronger. For me, there is no end in sight but rather the process of getting better and building on it incrementally.

A great example occurred last week. I sent Team Gordo a video of me swimming my first relay practice (yes I even dove off the block…and no it wasn't pretty!). Gordo pointed out that when I breathe I lift my head. Sure enough, I looked at the video again and I look like I am bobbing for apples while I am swimming. I mentioned it to Bobby C and he provide my Doh! moment for the week. He looked at me and said, "Sue, have you not noticed that when you look at something you turn your whole body…not just your neck?" What a great example of a chasing better moment. In two seconds Bob identified the problem. As a result I have been working all week on stretching my neck and using my chin to breathe while swimming. Bob, I owe you a few seconds per 100…thank you!

Why am I chasing better? Why not? Seriously. If I am going to try something I do really want to be the best. It does not matter what activity I am attempting. I receive great joy in giving it my best effort. In triathlon, I love the racing. I want to be the best in my body on that day. Notice, I didn't say I want to win the race. I understand at 42 years old, I am fortunate to just be able to line up at the race. I know that I do want to win my age group. I want to have the feeling of a terrific accomplishment when I cross the finish line. Races are the final exam for me to determine if I am better. There is no "better" feeling!

Too often, I see so many people satisfied being average. I want my daughter to feel what it is like to chase better. I want her to understand the joy of being surrounded with others willing to do the work in order to chase and catch better. To feel the joy, pain and at the end of the day, to be rewarded by feeling alive, aware and connected.

Time to chase better…

State of the Union

2010-02-01T20:52:00Z

First, the important stuff...I am no long "weary." My brief "unload" of training stress was great and my homeostasis has returned. I will admit that I miss the needing more sleep part. It was kind of fun to sleep 8.5 hours a night. It didn't feel very productive but it did feel a bit decadent.

A long time ago, Coach and I started having "State of the Unions." We usually conduct it over dinner and discuss everything that we value in our relationship and grade it. Usually, we are on the same page but once in a while we are in completely different sections of the book. It isn't always pretty, but it does bring us together. So, let's do a quick State of the Union for me and in no order of significance:

*I am incredibly proud of Coach. When she retired from Division I coaching, many people doubted her ability to make the transition. After a year or so of retirement, Coach asked for and received a position in our best friend's company. She loves it and was a rock star last year.

*Swimming. Oh how I hated ye. I could never list all the profanity laced descriptions I have developed through the years for swimming. Well, I could list them but the blog would probably get shut down. After swim camp, and lots of 4000m (2.4 miles) days, I am starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel (no, not the same light I see at the end of the tunnel after a hard interval when I think crossing over would be easier). No, the light now is that swimming feels easier. I feel lighter. I feel faster. Hell, I am faster. I am no longer blitzed after swimming 4000. The work is working and I am invested in continuing.

*Running. I just finished run camp and it was a pain in the ass. Not literally (I swear most my friends and family members have periformis!). No, it was annoying to structure two 30 minute runs in one day. It was helpful to find out that it wasn't a big deal and it is an easy way to add some extra durability to my legs. I reached my goal with 30+ hours of running and approximately 200 miles. Back to Coach, thanks to her, she does a great job of protecting me from myself. Coach knew that camp was the perfect venue for my OCD tendencies. I am quite convinced that she purposely made me miss a run in the middle of camp so that I would not become streak obsessed. Unlike most people, streaking (not the naked kind) is the perfect activity for my personality. I read those articles of people who have run 15 bazillion days in a row and I know to stop and not even consider it. As odd as it sounds, I have to be OCD to not be OCD!

*Cycling has been saved by the Pain Cave Crew and Bobby V. They make me laugh and they support me in my random workouts. I am way ahead of the game in terms of my endurance and I continue to see improvement in my capacity to do the work. My cadence has increased as has my watts in the steady zone. I am getting closer to reproducing the heart rates I see in hard runs on hard bikes (this is a good thing!). Speaking of which...

*I am a genetic freak. Although I lack talent, I have a body that can do a lot of consistent work with little to no damage. I started to think back on my athletic involvement through the years and I realized that I was almost never injured (four sports in high school and one in college). I had two small injuries in college but both were collision injuries (bursa on my heel from getting hit with a ball and a small tear in my rotator cuff from someone falling on me). I have no pain, and I almost never take Advil or Tylenol. Fortunately, Gordo provides me lots of consistent work!

*I decided to change up some things in my life. It is still an experiment and I plan on writing much more about it in another post. One of the things I would like to mention is that I decided to study a language with a tutor once a week for two hours. Which language you ask? Why I am happy to report that I decide to learn Geek. Yes, Geek aka the Universal Language. Why you ask? Two reasons; I love technology and I did not want to attend South by Southwest Web Interactive in March without spending some time in the native language. So, today I learned how to code in html and create a css file. I love it and the two hours flew by. Don't get me wrong, I will not pretend to be competent and I will always put a premium on paying the experts what they can do better and faster than I! Having said that, I am using my brain in different ways and I am excited to spend some time in a new classroom! Which brings me to my next point...

*Technology. Oh, I love you so. I love coding. Today, the most important code I learned was how to fix the one thing that annoys me on many websites; the dreaded link that does not open into a new page in your browser. I HATE when a link opens in your current browser window and you lose the website you were currently visiting. The code is so easy that I realized it is actually the webmaster's passive aggressive plot to annoy their non-geek visitors!

*Nutrition. This is not really about me but Coach has decided to embrace a healthier more organic based diet. Now, if you have ever seen Coach she looks like a triathlete without ever working out. Did I mention she can eat more candy and potato chips than a 16 year old boy and maintain her incredible girlish figure??!??! Yes, I am bitter. Speaking of genetic freaks. She does however have a family history of heart disease and some other unpleasantness. Improving her diet can't hurt and I am excited to help her! My nutrition is going well. I have added some coconut fat and Omega-3 supplements to my diet along with natural nut butters. I think the increase in good fats is helping energy etc.

*My best friend. She is amazing. The last few years have been a test of love, faith and determination for her. How does your child die and how do you come out the other side? Well, there is no easy way. She has amazed us all with the fact that she even found the other side. In the meantime, she has become a runner and totally embraced technology. Who are you and what have you done with Ann? We now meet twice a week to discuss life, business and technology for our companies (this does not include social gatherings). Ann does not have a middle name but if she did it should be Evolution! Thank you Ann for not embracing the status quo and supporting my evolution. I don't want to get too carried away. Ann is not an angel and I am still counting on her to be the bitter drunk lady in the back seat of the convertible (think Shirley McClaine in Steel Magnolias).

*My daughter Willa decided to play basketball out of the blue a couple of years ago. In Indiana, it is your family birthright to play basketball from the time you are released from the womb until the day you can no longer walk. Needless to say I was shocked after trying to talk her into it for years. Well, surprise, surprise but she not only made JV but also Varsity. They are now 19-2, conference champs and she absolutely loves it. She also started weight training and has become an amazing physical specimen. Track starts for her soon and I am excited to see how she performs with her new found body. On a personal note, Willa chose to find her birthmother this winter. She continues to amaze me with the love and grace she lives her life. In the process, she has brought us all back together again. Her birthmother has been wonderful and welcoming to Willa. Another circle completes itself and reinforces that it does take a village. The downside, is that Willa's family section is the largest one at her games!

*Anything else? Yes, I will get an iPad. If nothing else, I can at the least get my daughter to manage her extensive iTunes library without my laptop. I am still waiting on the Saris Joule (a Christmas gift from Coach). My bike guy, Ryan (an amazing triathlete), wants to change my fit again. He has been watching me in the pain cave and we are going to make a few adjustments towards Levi Leipheimer's fit. Bring my elbows in a bit and hands up a bit. I am going to make these adjustments slowly to see how comfortable they are for 6+ hours of riding. New swim camp starts today and lasts for 8 swims over two weeks. This one is all about speed...

Resting for the Weary

2010-01-24T13:19:00Z

I think people banter around the phrase "I am overtrained" as a symbol that they are one of the triathlon elite. I believe "overtraining" should never be uttered by anyone training under maybe 20-25 hours per week. I do believe that you can just get tired after a solid training block or after adding lots of higher intensity work. I don't believe when this happens that I am "overtrained" but rather that I need to "unload" or shed some of my fatigue. Signs for me that it is time to unload (I was experiencing most of these by the end of last week);

*Eating becomes work. Funny from someone who appreciates food.
*My internal thermometer becomes set on hot. Not hot flashes (still some years away) but I find I need less clothes etc.
*My need for sleep increases. Normally I sleep 7 hours per night but during the last week I am up to 8-8.5 per night.
*Clumsiness increases. Okay, it is always there but it is a bit worse right now. I drop things quite a bit. Two days ago I was getting into Coaches new hot tub and I slipped, fell and tore a chunk of skin off my ankle.
*My impatience factor is way up (especially with myself).
*I am having a hard time taking naps. My body is humming and it is hard to quiet the energy level.
*Easy workouts start to become hard from an emotional and physical level. Overcoming inertia takes energy.
*Heart rate becomes less consistent (higher or lower than normal).
*I develop some acne on my chin. What am I, 16?

Warning signs that I have gone way too far (not experiencing any of these right now):
*Night sweats
*Crabbiness with everyone
*Lack of hunger
*Sleepus Interuptus

How did this happen in January you ask? Well, first off I got excited. I am ready to train again and I am excited to embark on my journey to Boston and Ironman Wisconsin. I have a solid training program right now and I added the run camp for the month of January (a minimum of 60 minutes running per day...usually split into two runs). I dropped my effort level quite a bit on running to reach my goal . At least I intended to drop my effort level until a week and a half ago. I seriously upped the intensity level racing with the Pain Cave Crew and then hit some nice steady runs. Sometimes you pay to play!

So, what have I done about the fatigue? This weekend I have unloaded big time. Less of everything (except the running) in the schedule. I have dropped intensity too. Changed my diet slightly and have added some coconut products to up the fat I consume. Coach is still recovering from a bad cold and decided that we needed to slow down this weekend. What a great idea! We have relaxed, spent time in the hot tub and just enjoyed some quiet time. I have a swim test today and I will get a better idea if I have truly shed some fatigue.

I think these moments are important in my training. Especially for a long course race. When I work through this kind of fatigue and come out the other side, it gives me the strength to do the same in the low point of a race. Just another brick in my road to the finish...

The Pain Cave

2010-01-19T12:44:00Z

Winter training sucks. No way around it. Every day usually combines two out of the three variables; gray, cold and wet. If I see the sun anytime soon, no matter how cold it is, I am just going to lie down in the front yard for an hour or two and up my Vitamin D synthesis.

The only saving grace of my whole "winter of my discontent training" has been Team Pain Cave. Every Sunday we meet at Sarah's house and head to her basement. We usually have as little as four people and as many as eight people meet for a cycling adventure. Attendance is taken and displayed on a white board next to the old school TV and a VCR. There is even a cassette music player down there! It is retro Pain Cave! The most frequent cast of characters:

Rob: Usually is some state of alcohol toxicity. The youngest of us all.
Sarah: Owner of the pain cave and always ready to go the distance. Training for Worlds in Budapest.
Tatiana: The Greek Goddess. Still trying to decipher her power tap and wondering why there is no valet service. Budapest bound.
Bob: Aka Bobby V. Always in full kit, coconut water in hand and ready to rip it.
Sue: Your lovely blog host. Always in full OCD mode with workout written on index card.
Chelsea: "Lone Wolf" In the past she would "threaten" to join us and then no show. This year she is "all in!"

The morning usually starts with me showing up 10-15 minutes early. I wish I was kidding. Often with enough nutrition to feed a small third world country. Sarah and I head down to the pain cave where I start my workout promptly at 10:30am. Bobby V usually shows up and hops on the bike at 10:35am asking what our workout is and calculating for the next hour and a half the time difference between the stages of the workout because he was late! Rob shows up often mentioning his social activities the night before. Chelsea bursts on the scene expecting applause for showing up...again. Tats, shows up ready to burst from breakfast with the family. God forbid her bike is not set up and in the front row.

Did I mention that each arrival is followed by lots of ribbing and general mayhem. The last to arrive ends up becoming the group bitch..."Would you please turn on the fan?" "Can you turn up the TV?" "Can you wipe the sweat off the Greek Goddess' brow?"

I usually have the longest workout and the rest of the gang usually completes about an hour of the Robbie Ventura tape. At the end they are all feeling "a little confused" (Robbie's words!) after following Big John around on the tape. I think everyone is actually confused because between all the wireless Power devices on our bikes and our cell phones, our brains are totally fried from all the electromagnetic waves. One day we should probably just wear tin foil helmets to protect ourselves (I promised KT I would only do that at home...ooops!).

After we do our time on the bike, we segue into the transition run. Transition in the winter is a euphemism for "can I put on all my winter gear to run outside on in less than an hour?" Have you ever tried taking off sweaty clothes and then trying to roll a dry sports bra down your torso? It is not a pretty picture.

After everyone is dressed and often over dressed, we head out for our run. Last Sunday we were all tired...until the run. First dropped from the pack was Rob, who was muttering something about overdosing on Junipers the night before. After Rob shot out the back, the game was on! Next thing I know we are running 7:30 pace with Bobby V and Sarah in the lead. The Greek Goddess starts wondering why the hell she ate breakfast so late. Her stomach seizes and she drops back. I decide that today is my day and I stay on Bobby V and Sarah's heels. Did I mention it was a bit warmer and I decided to wear shorts? Unfortunately I accidentally grabbed an old pair of shorts. Sarah pointed out that not only did they look like parasails but that she was fighting a pretty large urge to pants me on the IU campus. With my winter pelt, I think we are all relieved that she chose to focus on her running.

Back to the race. Really at this point it was a race. It felt incredible to be in the middle of my run camp (I am running twice a day) and crank out fast miles. The speed started to increase and I see 7:20 pace. All of a sudden, Bobby V fueled by coconut water (at least that is what he claims is in his water bottles) increases his leg turnover. So does Sarah. These two will fight it out to the death whether running or biking to see who is the best. It is really fun to watch two amazing athletes compete. As the race was on, I decided to go to my next gear. Unfortunately, there was no next gear. Dropped. Again. I kept the pace though to the very end. I was really happy that they pushed me and that I got to watch, from a distance, them push each other!

Basically, I love the pain cave; the camaraderie and the fact that I can't get dropped on the bike (trainers for all!). I love that we can each do our own workout and support each other. The skill level in the pain cave is pretty incredible. We have two USA triathlon all Americans in their age groups, two people going to represent the USA at Age Group Worlds in Budapest, and one former tri pro and Kona qualifier.

Eventually, I will be very happy to be back outside. Until then, I look forward to my Sundays in the Pain Cave. I could not ask for a better team to train with...thanks to you all for jump starting my season!

Gadgets 2009

2010-01-05T19:24:00Z

Gear I have loved this year:

Garmin 305. Totally has changed my running. Easy to use and almost guarantees a negative split (this is a good thing) in every race I participate.
Powertap. Like the Garmin...considering upgrading to the new Joule computer head this season.
Trainingpeaks.com Wow. I balked, dragged my feet and finally succumbed to Gordo's request. After every workout I upload my data to trainingpeaks where Gordo can instantly view it. He provides feedback on all key workouts and more frequently than not, daily workouts. You can view graphs galore and drool in a data induced coma. Geek love!
Zojirushi Induction Rice Cooker Brown rice is my carb companion throughout training. This year I decided to finally get the fuzzy logic rice cooker I have lusted for after my trip to Japan. Set it in the morning and my rice is ready for dinner. I can even cook it GABA style...I think it is a type of marketing hype for brown rice.
iPhone Why did I wait this long. The Verizon handcuffs are finally off and I have found my true love. Seriously, I use my laptop so much less it is frightening. Wait til I fully implement dropbox!
Macbook I can run my business effortlessly and my training (thanks to Parallels and WKO+) from anywhere in the world!
Nano 3rd generation Smallest running iPod to date. Considering buying the H2O audio case for my epic swims...
Widescreen Flat Panel video monitor for my office Coach made me pull the trigger on this one. Huge difference when working on big projects. Better yet, I added the Hulu app to my Macbook, set up my tribike on the trainer in front of the screen and I can ride to 30 Rock, The Office, V and Flashback anytime I want...
Tweetdeck Great app to link twitter facebook etc. Easy to view and easy to use!
Sleeveless 19 Wetsuit I committed the unpardonable sin of trying something new before my Longhorn race. I finally realized that I could no longer swim in my wetsuit with arms. I am just not strong enough and it is exhausting. Thanks to lots of advice and Coaches support, I purchased the 19 sleeveless in Austin. It was the first race that I came out of the water in the top 25% and I wasn't exhausted!
Gold toe running socks The cheapest stuff I own. Coach found these at Target for me years ago. They are bullet proof. Five years later I have yet to throw out a pair. Suddenly, this season, they reappeared at Target. Coach bought out the store. I still haven't cracked some of the new packs.
SRAM deep dish front wheel My little bonus purchase for this season. It is for races only. Slap my disc cover on the back wheel, stick the SRAM on the front and damn my little bike is fast. This wheel is actually Zipp's off brand. A bit cheaper and well made. Looks cool too!
Aerus Biospeed Soft Bike Case My first bike case. Very easy to use and total protection. The only downside is that I am short. When I hoist it over my shoulder it is only and inch or two off the ground. I looked so pathetic in the Austin airport that Coach grabbed it from me and carried it. Bonus! I am willing to loan this out to folks as needed...just ask!
Fujitsu S510M scan snap My accountant recommended this scanner. I am almost totally paperless with it. Terrific for scanning all documents and conveniently files them or emails them.
Nespresso Milk Frother/Heater I love my Rancilio Silvia espresso maker (with PID of course) but I did not love having to teach Coach how to froth her milk every week (I am fairly certain she was using me)! So, I purchased this frother. You put in a quarter cup of milk and it heats and froths it for your espresso. Neat and fast. I started using it anytime I wanted to top off my espresso.
Starbuck's Via As you can tell, I take my caffeine seriously. Very seriously. Many times when I race, it is way too early to find an open coffee shop. The solution? A Starbuck's Via packet. The coffee isn't bad and it is the perfect caffeine delivery system.

Playing Games

2010-01-05T12:50:00Z

I am sitting by the fire, with Cocoa (the Yorkie from hell) resting on my legs while I type on my Mac. Outside, the weather has hit the single negative digits. We have definitely left cold and descended into the frigid zone. The holiday chaos is over and now I am mired in the gray frigid days of January. I really am thinking that next year I need to go someplace warm and sunny for about three weeks.

----

So what am I up to right now? January is often a good time to contemplate the year ahead:

Saying No: I have gotten very good at saying no thank you. December I fell off the wagon and said yes to way too much. This year I am going to go with the Hell Yeah barometer. It is not happening unless I feel like "wow...hell yeah!" Check out this blog post: bit.ly/4AYjY4

Travel: Lots of it this year. March I am attending South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive (a technology conference) in Austin, TX. I am very excited to actually attend a conference for something I truly enjoy. April is the Boston Marathon. May is a terrific trip that I will write about in another post. June is family adventure time. This year, Coach and I gave our daughter Willa and our nephews an adventure in the Caymans. All three kids will get certified in scuba diving! They think we are trying to kill them by water (2008 was surf camp, 2009 white river rafting). September is Ironman Wisconsin.

Business: I have made a commitment to expand the BBC's main store/production area. This will be my first foray into some serious financing. I hate debt but with the addition of our third store we are physically bursting at the seams and desperately need more space. I am hoping to add some luxury apartments overlooking campus and a roof top garden. The architect's feasability study is due later this month. I am going to remember to breathe!

Training: Gordo is shaking up my world a bit with some of his camps. Thanksgiving was swim camp. This month I am engaged in run camp. The minimum goal is 30 days of 30 minute runs. I have done this before so I decided to up the ante. I get an extra point for camp if I add an extra 30 minute run during the day. Some days this is impractical with parenting etc. (three showers a day after all my training can be a bit much). On the impractical days I will just go for one point and run 60 minutes. February has an advanced swim camp coming up. I am already scared.

Personal; I told Coach after Christmas that I wanted to focus on making our relationship great. It has been a tough year for Coach. Her father died and that has pretty much rocked her world. She has done an amazing job of being loving and caring for her Mom despite the geographical distance. I am looking forward to more "us" time in 2010.

Parenting: Our daughter is growing into an amazing young woman. There is only 2.5 years left until she is off to college. Now is the time for me to focus on continuing her development as an independent adult. Her driver's license is next and after that she will really cut the cord in many ways. I am excited about all the opportunities awaiting her and I need to focus on the skills that can help her; financial management, balance, knowing when to say Hell Yeah!

Race Schedule:
April 17th Boston Marathon
July 10th Muncie Endurathon or Dumpathon (thanks Sarah)
Sept 12th Ironman Wisconsin

Training Goals:
Finish Wisconsin in under 12 hours. To do this I need to continue my progress especially in the swim and bike. My run development continues to be strong and I believe I can do an IM marathon in 4 hours or less. A year ago, I went in search of a coach for one reason; I needed to improve my steady state endurance. Gordo absolutely helped me to achieve a solid steady state performance and a great PR at Longhorn. I am not going to give away his magic but I can say that his motto, "There is no easy way" is a terrific summation of his methods. My goals remain long term with my biggest test in two years when I age up to the 45-49 group.

So, I am looking forward to all the adventures ahead of me this year. Hell Yeah!

St. Louis Track Club Frostbite 10 Miler

2009-12-29T12:03:00Z

As I was getting ready for our annual holiday trek to St. Louis, I decided to see if there were any races the few days we would be visiting family. For the first time, I found one hosted by the St. Louis track club as part of the Frostbite series. The race would take place entirely on the roads of Forest Park. If you haven't been to St. Louis, I really enjoy running in this park (the external loop is 5.XX miles). Much like the Chicago waterfront, this park is an incredible addition to the city, and was the residual benefit of hosting a World's Fair.

Christmas with my nephews and their parents was wonderful. Great company, great food and a lovely day. I knew the next day was going to be cold and windy but racing the last few days of 2009, seemed a wonderful way to end the year. The race didn't start until 9am. It was going to be in the 20's with high winds. After having my espresso and breakfast (two pieces wheat toast pbj and a banana), I dressed in the following layers:

Hat that I could pull well down below my ears
Tight short sleeve running shirt for base layer
Winter running turtleneck
Wind jacket
Winter running pants
Socks
Shoes
Cheap glove liners
Fleece gloves
Vaseline on face

Okay, I know it all seems like over kill but I was actually slightly under dressed! I could have used a base layer on my legs. Temperature ended up at 27 degrees, with 18 mph winds and a wind chill temp of 17 degrees. In addition to the layers I still had a cold and decided to plunge ahead and consume a dose of mucinex with sudafed. The only other small issue is that I have some asthma and I know that cold can irritate my lungs. On the way to the race, I grabbed an 8 ounce coffee from Starbucks. I normally never drink drip coffee (too much caffeine...makes me edgy) but I planned on consuming it 30 minutes prior to the race to make sure my lungs were open (caffeine is a bronchodilator). It worked great! Maybe I should wear a sign that says, "this race brought to you by Sudafed and Caffeine!"

On to the race! This was a very low key event. There were probably about 300+ people which was surprising considering the conditions. One thing that did surprise me was the number of people wearing shorts over their running tights???? Huh??? Must be a St. Louis thing. It had been a while since I had run a shorter distance race and I knew with the hills in the park that I would need to be careful to not blow up. I also knew that there would be no warm up. Too damn cold to get hot and then freeze before the start.

The race started and I was off. At first I realized I forgot to move up to the start but I was amazed how fast people took off! Obviously, this race was for the hard core runners. I wore my Garmin 305 and monitored the pace. I was briefly panicked by how fast I was running and how easy it was to run the pace. I had not completed any shorter distance open running races recently and I was a bit unsure about the pace. On the fly I decided that my plan to hit 8:15 average was out. My goal would be to maintain 8' miles for the first 7 and open it up if I had anything left the last 3 miles. This was a two loop race with mile 3 and 8 the hilliest.

Mile 1: 8:04
Mile 2: 7:59
Mile 3: 8:06 (hills)
Mile 4: 7:54
Mile 5: 7:55 (water stop)
Mile 6: 7:49
Mile 7: 7:39
Mile 8: 7:47 (hills)
Mile 9: 7:35
Mile 10: 7:32

As you can see after the first three miles I realized I was running too slow and picked it up progressively. The only times I felt like it was hard was the uphill miles. Most of the time I felt comfortable with a bit of a push the last three miles. I think if I work on strides and some leg turnover I will learn that running under 8 is the right pace. I just need a bit more brain training to believe it!

How do I explain my improvement? A few things:
*Increased training load over the last three years
*Increased steady state training over the last 10 months thanks to Coach Gordo at endurancecorner.com
*Weight loss in the last month or so (not purposeful)
*Swim camp for two weeks; aerobic improvement and tightening of core
*Long runs flat...around the track have greatly improved my steady state race running

Entire race: 1:19:26, 7:49 minutes per mile and average heart rate of 168. I finished top twenty out of 171 women and 7th in my age group (wow, women 40-44 are damn tough!).

Oh yeah, I lived up to the race description and ended up a bit "pink" in places!

Some issues of concern:
*Too many small colds/illnesses lately (stomach bug 2.5 weeks ago and now a cold)
*How do I get through December and maintain a semblance of balance??? I have done well on diet, I hardly drink but the relentless series of events and travel is taking it's toll in fatigue and illness. I have one last family trip this weekend and then I need to stop. I spend 11 months of my life in balance and 4 weeks in chaos. Not liking the chaos...
*When will I see the sun again!?!!?!?!? This is the first winter where I am thinking I must leave. Now.

Off to bike indoors in the "pain cave" and follow it up with a steady 45 minute transition run. Did I mention it was eleven degrees outside??? And so it goes...

Postcards from Virtual Swim Camp

2009-12-08T11:17:00Z

As I have mentioned previously, my weakness in triathlon is swimming (areas of weakness include: swim strength, swim skill and emotional maturity). In every race, I wait for the swim to be over in order to truly begin my race. Often I am physically depleted and disappointed by my time as I start the bike portion of the race.

This last year, the final insult was when a woman in our Master's Swimming program told me in no uncertain terms that I did not belong in their lane (the slowest lane at Master's). Okay, she is a bit crazy but to be called out publicly was hard. I decided right then and there that the best revenge was to learn to swim well.

Enter Louisa who was willing to Coach me once and sometimes twice a week on swimming skills. The lessons were harder than my workouts! There was no talking, no bonding, no understanding my feelings but just work, work, work! (I did once take a lesson with someone who spent all of the time demonstrating on dry land and doing all the touchy feely stuff. I think in one hour I swim 300 yards. By the end of the hour I was cold and shriveled). Louisa is an excellent teacher and I know I tested the boundaries of her patience with my slow development. At one point, I would not have been surprised to see her on the side of the pool with a whiskey and cigarette yelling at me to stop dropping my damn arm.

About the same time I started working with Louisa, I signed up to work with Gordo. The first few months, I couldn't even finish his workouts. Some of them were so hard that I couldn't comprehend finishing them without drowning. By the middle of the summer, I did start finishing his workouts and hitting my time goals. After I finished racing for the season, Gordo made it very clear that to start reaching my goals, we had to first fix my swimming. Each layer of triathlon is dependent upon the previous layer. The foundation of all of it is the swim. Essentially there were gaping holes in my foundation!

So fast forward to late November. Gordo and some of the athletes on his team decide to have a swim competition which they called Virtual Swim Camp or for twitter followers #swimgame. I accidentally found the upcoming camp on the forum and decided that it was exactly what I needed.

The breakdown for the 14 day camp:
*The goal of camp was to get some consistent long swims done. Points were received for anything from the minimum swim of 2000m up to 4000m swims. This turned out to be a great cap for people.
*Extra points were achieved for consistency in swimming.
*Extra points were achieved by completing 8 different Gordo assigned workouts.

My goals for camp:
*50,0000 meters of swimming
*Swim every day

The results:
*52,000 meters of swimming
*Swam 13 days (no pools open on Thanksgiving day!)
*Added a half hour of running or cycling almost every day

The postcards:
*Sometimes the Y pool has orbs of hair floating in the abyss that vaguely resemble tribbles (a gift for my geek friends).
*If you leave your swim bag in your car outside over night, your suit will in fact freeze into a block of ice.
*I spent the first 4 days of camp nauseated and not sleeping well. I soon realized that you can burn a lot of calories swimming. Eat more and feel better! Since the Y pool is pretty warm, I also added 20 ounces of water consumption in each workout.
*One day camp was not virtual because Louisa came back to town. As a fellow camper, she joined me in the pool. In the time it took me to complete my 4k swim, she finished 6k. Really.
*I started to think of my 1k warmup as a jog around the block.
*My lats hurt pretty much every day.
*I finally was able to swim a whole workout with my paddles, pull buoy and band.
*My obliques hurt pretty much every day.
*I was at the Y pool so much (1.5 hours per day), that the life guard asked me to keep an eye on things while he grabbed a soda.
*Doc Counsilman's widow asked me if I swam in college. Uh no, I replied, and I am paying for it every time I swim.
*Swimming would be conducive to pondering the Universe if it wasn't for the damn counting.
*After 13 days in the pool, your skin begins to slough off in large sheets.
*About the 10th day of camp my internal furnace started to burn hot! I felt like a nuclear reactor. I was definitely getting cooked!
*When your loved one snuggles in and says you smell like chlorine, you are officially a swimmer.

Was it worth it? Yes! I finished the camp tied for 3rd place (2 pts...one swim!!!!!!) behind the winner (out of 31 people). Okay, here is the disclaimer; I would guess I was the weakest swimmer in the camp and I only did well because I played the game exactly the way it was designed. Most everyone else is faster (much faster) and would have huge swim distance days despite the fact that you received no additional points for any swim over 4k. I decided to just kept swimming every day and checking off my 4k per day.

More importantly, I decided on a whim yesterday to return to Master's to see how I was developing. I put on my Big Girl Panties and jumped in a faster lane. I found out pretty quickly that I had knocked 45 seconds off my 200 time and 25 seconds off my 100 time. I was only lapped once and it is pretty clear that my time loss occurs on the wall. My flip turns are poor and my streamlining off the wall is non-existent.

The next step in my swim development is maintaining the distance emphasis as I get ready for IM Wisconsin. Two swims per week are now 4k and 5k. The hardest part is that if you add up the time required to swim (including commute to the pool) and starting strength training twice per week, something has to give. At this point, it looks like it will be my running with a potential reduction to 5 days of running per week. Now that Louisa is teaching elsewhere, it is time to start lessons with her boyfriend. I am hoping we can add flip turns to the mix!

Gordo mentioned Advanced Swim Camp in February. Ugh. We all get what we deserve.

The Art of Getting Dropped...

2009-11-20T21:10:00Z

I train with some amazing athletes. Seriously, they are local, regional and national stars in their respective age groups. The guys that are train with are also incredibly strong and talented. Out of our group I am by far the least talented member. I didn't learn how to swim when I was born, I spent most of my life over weight and I have the running gait from hell. I am not really sure why they ask me to train with them but I am always willing to be a victim. However, over time, it has evolved into a drop fest. As I focused more and more on long course racing, I started to get dropped every training event and even earlier than usual. Sometimes in the first half mile. Some days I get dropped so quickly that it looks like I am standing still.

Why do I continue to do this to myself? Really?

I do it because I trust the process. I do it because my goal is elusive and still over two years away. My races in the last month were merely bench marks for me to confirm that I am on my path. One life goal down (Boston Marathon) and one to go (Kona).

One of the Coaches that works with Gordo is Alan Couzens (he is an exercise physiologist). He wrote a terrific blog piece today that explains a bit more about where I am and where I choose not to be;

"As a coach, I find a large part of my job is continually bringing the athlete’s focus back from ‘the goal’ to ‘the way’. As the proverb above suggests, the fundamental limiter to an athlete achieving their goal in the shortest possible time is, paradoxically, a focus on achieving the goal in the shortest possible time.

It may be of some surprise that Rob DeCastella, one of the most successful marathoners of all time credits his success to his willingness to ‘undertrain’. That is, to be certain that all training is at or below his ‘absorption threshold’. Deek goes on to state that “while there are hundreds, maybe thousands, of runners around the country who could keep up with him on any given training run, there are none that can keep up with him for a years worth of training runs and that is the difference”

I have seen similar things in my own experiences training with some of the sports best. At one of our early season camps in Tucson, I was riding hard with Gordo, JD and a couple of other campers. Using every inch of my focus to purely hold the wheel in front, I didn’t notice when Jonas Colting made the executive decision to turn around, as the effort was too much for this training day. Focused as I was on hanging on for dear life, I think I had too much lactate in the bloodstream to have been physically capable of considering that option. Maybe I should have. After getting myself into a pretty deep hole following that camp, I wound up crashing my bike and never really regaining my mojo for my A race of the season after putting out several ‘A efforts’ on training days like this one. Jonas on the other hand…

Similarly, in his book, ‘Breakthrough Triathlon Training’, Brad Kearns describes one of the times that he had the privilege of training with Mark Allen on one of the competitive group runs around Rancho Santa Fe. He was amazed to watch Mark trot in several minutes behind the quasi-racing pack. He says “Mark had an intuitive sense not to ‘mix it up’ that morning. Furthermore, he didn’t seem troubled or distressed by missing the big, intense, macho battle at the front of the pack.”

Brad goes on to say that, in his opinion, “The misuse of mental toughness may be a contributing factor to the mediocrity epidemic in our sport. Applying mental will and stubborn toughness to workouts that are intuitively wrong will fatigue you and sabotage your fitness”.

The ability and willingness to train like this comes from knowing your body and from having complete confidence in your training program.

As Franz Stampfl once said “training is principally an act of faith”. When one doesn’t have complete faith in the program, the temptation is always there to ‘test it out’.

Consider the level of faith required for Lasse Viren to spend 4 years running slower than he ever had & routinely getting beaten in smaller meets all so he would be able to unleash on the one day in those 4 years that mattered – the Olympic final.

The point of all of these anecdotes is that the ‘right effort’ in order to progress as fast as your potential will allow in day to day training is (perhaps paradoxically) never 100% effort. When training with others who are willing and chomping at the bit to give 100% effort, this then becomes a spiritual task as much as a physical one, a task to abandon the ego and reaffirm your faith in your own training process on a daily basis.

This is an essential spiritual stepping stone on the path to discovering your true potential as an athlete and, perhaps, as a human being.

Train Smart,

AC"

You can read Alan's full blog entry at endurancecorner.com.

Time to go get dropped...

Monumental Fitness Test

2009-11-09T11:23:00Z

Last spring, as I was considering my race calendar, "What about Bob" and I decided we would once again try to qualify for Boston. The last time we tried was in 2004 in our pre-Garmin days. Pre-Garmin days are similar to the days before microwaves. You vaguely remember them but can't imagine life without them now! Suffice it to say that the 2004 race was less than stellar. "What about Bob" took off in a blaze of taper glory despite my best effort to hold him back. At mile 20 we met up again and I decided to walk/jog/shuffle him in for a PR 4:03 finish. I knew I could have come in under four hours but probably not by much.

Flash forward to 2009. At this point I have completed four open marathons (the last one with Bob in 2004) and two Ironman marathons. Insert countless other triathlons and running races of various distances. So, two weeks ago I finished Longhorn. My legs were shredded from the downhills and the DOMS lasted the longest I have experienced. It was 5 days until they dissipated. Five painful days.

A week into my recovery I knew the Marathon was a bad idea. A really bad idea. Despite everyone around me thinking I am insane in my athletic pursuits, I am actually pretty moderate and methodical. Unfortunately, loyalty trumps common sense and I knew if Bob was going to toe the start line, so was I. The question mark was Bob. He developed a back/leg ailment and rehabbed like crazy the last two weeks.

In the meantime, after a week of just moving, Monday of race week rolled around and it was time to get ready. My assignments from Gordo were pretty simple:

Monday: one hour run with 2x20 minutes steady (about 8:15 pace)
Tuesday: 45 minute run at steady/3 hour ride (bike not car)/45 minute run at steady
Wednesday: 30 minute easy run/30 minute swim
Thursday: Off
Friday: 20 minute run
Saturday: Race

Obviously Tuesday stands out in terms of effort and length of workout. Basically, this day served two purposes. First, check my recovery from Longhorn. What would my heart rate look like in the second run? Would it be elevated or depressed? Both could be a sign of needing more rest. Second, how would I run in the second run. Essentially, I was mimicking the fatigue of a marathon by working out for almost four hours before the second run.

I am happy to report that all the data came back very good. My heart rate and speed were on target and my second run was very good. There was only one slight problem. My legs were pissed. Basically, they were not their usual springy, well as springy as I can get, self. For the first time they had creaks and lots of little ways to communicate that they would like the off season to start NOW!

Despite my legs, I decided to go for it. The only question at this point was what would happen at mile 20. My longest run this year had been about 16 miles. Most recently, I had been focused on the half marathon run for Longhorn. Gordo reassured me that the fitness was there but I was concerned about the specificity of the pounding. I was not convinced it was there despite running approximately 35 miles per week throughout the year.

Race day shows up and the weather is decent. About 45 degrees at the start with a high of 66 degrees. The only concern is winds 15-25 mph from the southwest. Basically, the last 10 miles of the race were into the wind. Insert my standard pre race breakfast and fueling here. Bob had brilliantly booked a hotel at the start and we were able to skip the whole port-a-potty experience.

My race goal was to qualify for Boston. I knew that I needed to average and 8:47 pace (3:50 total race time) throughout the race. Bob needed a 8:27 pace (3:45 total race time) to qualify. I decided to run his pace to work as a team to the finish. I had also decided that this race was NOT a leave no runner behind event. If one of us couldn't make it, the other needed to get it done.

Right before the start I chugged by 8 ounces of Gatorade with EFS pre-race mixed into it. The race had about 7000 participants (tremendous growth) and started seamlessly. I anticipated my Garmin having a few problems in the beginning of the race because of the urban environment blocking the signal. The first three miles were about not blowing up and easing into our pace.

After three miles I started my nutrition plan. I knew two things in advance. One, it would be hot. Two, the course was serving Powerade. It has a higher carbohydrate percentage and can cause stomach upset if you are not careful. I decided that I would sip at least two gulps of fluid at each stop and have Powerade every second or third stop. As I got hot, I started putting a bit of water on my neck and back. At mile 9 or so I would have a chocolate Clif shot. At mile 14, I would have a Cliff espresso (caffeine please!). Another 40 minutes later I would have another chocolate Clif shot. Every time I would have a gel, I would walk and consume a 4 ounces of water. Much simpler nutrition plan than an Ironman!

The first 13 miles were unpleasant, not painful, just unpleasant. My legs were creaky again. At various times my hip flexors, left shin and even the bottom of my right foot announced that they were annoyed. It was really strange to have my legs feel this way. At this point, I ran through a few mantras to remind them it was okay; Relentless forward motion, this is a day at the office, 4 hours until the off season and Boston or bust. When things felt really hard, I looked at my Livestrong bracelet. Yes, I pulled out the big guns for the race and decided to wear the Livestrong bracelet that Zachary received at his first stem cell transplant. When things get hard, I remember that they are nothing compared to what Zachary chose to endure. These are the times that I talk to Zachary. These are the times I remember what is real.

At mile 14, I realized that Bob was a little behind pace. I decided to pick it up to see if I could pull him through. About this time the caffeine kicked in and I was feeling good. Mentally I felt strong because I slipped into Ironman mode. For me, this is the mode where I start clicking the miles off. This is the mode where time changes and I move into relentless forward motion. I love this feeling. Unfortunately, Bob's leg decided to protest and he fell farther behind. I decided to keep moving because I had an appointment with Boston to keep.

The only problem was that my bladder was full. Really full. In a triathlon, you are in spandex and you are grimy and soaked. If you pee on the run no one thinks twice about it. In marathons, the average participant thinks you are socially inept and will treat you like a leper if they see you urinating on yourself. I decided that it was better to hit the port-a-potty than run in wet running shorts for another 12 miles. It turned out to be a good choice because I was so much more comfortable the rest of the race.

Miles 15-18.5 had some elevation changes but nothing like Bloomington. It felt good to use some different muscles. One of the things I really missed in this race was the age on people's calves. In triathlons, you can tell when you are passing someone in your age group. In marathons you have no idea. I was passing lots of people but the thrill was missing!

About mile 20 I started to do the math. If my speed dropped from my average pace of 8:23 to 10 minute miles, would I still make it? I was asking these questions because my brain was getting a bit fuzzy and my right quad was cramping a bit. The wind continued to pick up. This was the specificity point of the race where the pounding started to make a difference. The next water stop I walked a bit to gather myself and get some good hydration. At this point, I knew I just needed to power through.

At mile 24, the crowds increased and Bob's wife Jane was there to greet me with her son Ben. A little further down, Bob's daughter Sarah took pictures of me as I ran. A few moments later I see her sprinting down the sidewalk and stop to take more pictures. I think we have another runner to join our team in the future.

The rest of the way I was able to pick it up a bit and run it home to a huge PR and a ticket to Boston. I finished 9th in my age group out of 108 women and I was 417 overall out of 1978. My finish time was 3:43:06 with a pace time of 8:30 per mile. When I finished I quickly remembered why I gave up open Marathons! They are hard and they hurt. I knew I was also slightly dehydrated despite the fluids I consumed in the race. I immediately chugged two 20 ounce waters and an 8 ounce Powerade. I was also hungry and ate a banana. I really wanted potato chips but I was unable to find a single chip. I swear, if they put a salt lick in the middle of the finish area, it would be surrounded by runners madly trying to get their fix.

On a side note, Bob's day did not go as planned. He finished but was having some weird sensations including sensitivity to light. He wisely went to the medical tent and given his heart condition (a heart attack and five stents 3 years ago), they decided to take him to the hospital. They kept him over night for observation and he was released the next day.

Despite qualifying for Boston, I was disappointed that Bob would not be joining me and that he was headed to the hospital. I love him dearly and everything felt empty without him. I missed our post race beer and laughter. I missed knowing we had won the day together. I also delayed posting or talking to anyone until we knew he was okay. He is back in Bloomington and doing well.

A special thanks to Coach and Willa. Once again, they released me to go experience the world. During the race I thought about BARC and how all the members of the team got me to Boston one way or the other. I can't thank them enough! Another special thanks to Village Bob who has been a part of my training and racing journey this year. He even stuck with me in his off season! Now we are both in the off season! Gordo again proved that his tag line is correct, "there is no easy way" but there is a better way. My thanks to him for letting me be a part of his team.

And the final verdict: fitness carried the day. I am amazed how much better my legs feel today. I have a feeling my recovery will be much faster than Longhorn. Perhaps it is the Boston effect.

Longhorn Triathlon 70.3 Ironman

2009-10-27T13:18:00Z

Race week started with a pretty radical taper. Lots of 16 hours+ training weeks leading up to my A race. I felt a pretty strong "taper hangover," when my body realized that it was no longer going to get it's exercise fix. I like a radical taper the last week because I know I am not really losing fitness but I am shedding some cumulative fatigue. By Friday I was feeling edgy and by Saturday I had started to feel shaky with excess energy.

Saturday night I was ready for the race. Coach and I had my traditional pre race pizza dinner. She drank the beer and I had water. I slept until about midnight and then woke up excited and ready to race. Only problem was that I was about 7 hours early. I tried to go back to sleep and dozed off an on until the 4:45 wake up call.

Pre race breakfast was caffeine, oatmeal with soy milk, half a bagel with PBJ, and a banana.

The race had over 2000 participants trying to funnel into one isolated area. Coach suggested we pick up Bob (my training partner and fellow participant) at his hotel and head over earlier. Great idea.We got to the race site and set up our transition area. Unfortunately, my deep dish SRAM wheel would not inflate again. Thankfully, we were early and I was able to get some help at the support tent. I decided despite some forecasted wind to go with a disc on the back wheel.

The temp was in the 50's and I put on my sleeveless wetsuit for the swim. 30 minutes before the race started I consumed 100 calories of EFS grape and one scoop of EFS Pre-Race (basically a caffeine burst). Each swim wave went off in 5 minute increments with the women's 40-44 wave leaving 4th. Our wave had 88 people in it. The course was a counter clock wise triangle. The swim was uneventful. No current and minimal pushing. My swimming has really improved as I moved out of the slow group. I have a lot of work to do to catch the draft of some of the fast women. Unfortunately, I ended up in no where land with no draft. I would say that my swim effort started easy and eventually became steady with some mod-hard periods. Towards the end of the swim I passed some folks in the earlier waves and some women in my wave. I loved my new sleeveless wetsuit and I was excited not to get out of the water exhausted. It was a bit cool but manageable. As I ran out of the water, Coach was cheering me on as usual. I PR'd the swim in 38 minutes and was 32rd in my age group. All those damn yards in the pool paid off as did my extensive swimming lessons with Dr. Louisa Raisbeck.

I got to my bike and loaded my gear. Next year, I need a better long course jersey to race in with the deep pockets in back. I had two small side pockets which were not helpful and took too much time to pack properly. Once again my T1 time basically was long enough to make a latte and toast a bagel.

Once I got on the bike I stuck with the plan of my coach, Gordo Byrn (endurancecorner.com). My goal watts through 30 miles were in my steady zone at 130. After 30 miles, if things were going well, I could lift a few watts. The bike had lots of little rolling hills and huge fissures on the road. I think some of them could have swallowed a small dog. The course required a great deal of focus due to the congestion from the other athletes and the road conditions.

The first 15 minutes, I let my body adjust to the cycling pace. After 15 minutes I started my nutrition plan which included lots of electrolytes for the forecasted high temp of 80 degrees:

Hour 1: 100 Calories of EFS Grape and 160 calories of EFS Vanilla gel
Hour 2: 100 Calories of EFS Grape and 160 calories of EFS Gel, 66 calories of Margarita Clif Gel Blocks
Hour 3: Water 160 Calories of EFS Gel, 66 calories of Blocks

The bike went great. I stuck to the plan the first 30 and average 134 watts, the last 20 I pushed a bit more at 138 watts (the wind picked up considerably). There was only one point in the bike where I felt a bit of fatigue and added the gel blocks for calories. The bike set up was great and I felt fast. It did get hot towards the end of the bike and I worked hard to hydrate and toss some water down my back. At the end of the bike I started to pass quite a few people who were sitting up out of their aero bars looking shelled. I finished in 3:04 and with a new cycling PR.

One problem with my bike was that my frame is so small I only have room for one bottle holder. I have been running a set up with the other bottle wrapped by an elastic band to the aero bars. The roads were rough enough that I had to focus on holding the bottle in place the whole time. The other problem was that the aid stations handed out water bottles that would not fit my side loading bottle holder. One popped out and almost took me out.

I arrived in T2 ready to run and left T2 in a faster transition time once I dumped all the luggage from my pockets. Every race and every ride I take my tire repair kit. In the last year I have never used it on training rides and never needed it in a race. There has got to be a better way to carry it!

I am always excited to get off the bike and hit the run. Gordo's focus for me was to make sure that I finished the swim and the bike in great condition to pass a lot of people on the run. I immediately hit my target pace of 8:15 pace but noticed that it was getting hot quickly. First water stop I grabbed a cup and doused myself.

The course was a 3 loop course with lots of long hills. After assessing the heat and the course topography I decided that I needed to maintain my pace and go on damage control with the heat. There were an incredible amount of aid stations. At one point in the course if felt like there was an aid station every 100 yards. I don't think I missed a single one! Every aid station I would sip water and douse myself or sip Gatorade Endurance. If there was ice, I would take off my hat, dump the ice in it and put it back on my head. At mile 3, I consumed a Cliff Gel Espresso (caffeine of course!) and at mile 10 I had another Clif Shot without caffeine. I passed so many people on the run that I gave up counting. I finished the run in 1:44 a new triathlon PR and a new stand alone half marathon PR! Given the right course, I think I have a faster half in me but I felt satisfied and ready to be done by the end of the race.

I finished the race in 5:35:39 (Coach had the exact same time on her watch!). I was 15th in my age group and the 6th fastest run in my age group. I had no idea how well I had done until the online results appeared! I was ecstatic...

I just reread the race report above and realized it is, well, boring. I thought a lot about why it is boring. Throughout my training (peak period and race prep training), Gordo assigned lots of workouts that were essentially race practice. The only difference is that the training pace seemed so much harder with all of my accumulated training fatigue. Essentially I would bike for 2-3 hours at race pace (sometimes harder) and immediately enter a transition run at race pace (sometimes easier). Race pace became the way I trained. Over time, I felt the race aerobic zone get deeper and wider. By the time the race rolled around, there were no surprises. Stay in your zones and execute the way you have trained. Patience and relentless forward motion.

How did I feel after the race…good and tired. The nice part about a half marathon is that you know it only takes a few days to recover reasonably well. My quads were slightly shredded from downhill running but I ended up in good condition. I have a feeling a few toenails are going to take a brief vacation…again. Ugh! My least favorite part.

Endorofun does a terrific job of putting on this race. It was one of the best organized races I have attended. They treat the athletes great and provide terrific service.

Over 70 pros attended the race vying for prize money and spots to the National Championship. Gordo ended up in first place for all age group men and first place in his age group of 40-44.

I am going to follow up this race report in the next few weeks with a full season assessment. All I can say right now, is that hiring one of the best to help me this season was a great choice. He raised the bar and elevated my game. I look forward to our next year together!

An update on Bob. He completed his first 70.3 well under 6 hours. He showed dedication and focus throughout the build up to this race and was ready to reap the rewards for all the work. He had a great swim, he got a little too excited on the bike and learned why perhaps you need to hold back a bit for the run. I am excited because I think he saw a glimpse of how good he could be with some patience and a plan. I am incredibly proud of him and so glad that we shared the journey.

Finally, Coach was incredible this weekend. She took great care of me and was there cheering me on every step of the way. She has officially been out of Big Ten coaching now for two years, but I realized in this race she will always be my Coach. Throughout it all she is there to make sure I am safe and striving to be my best. The newest addition to our team has been our 15 year old daughter, Willa. She has become an incredibly focused athlete. She is always there with her support and gentle reminders that she could take me at any moment in pretty much any athletic event. She is leading by example!

Ironman Wisconsin here we come...

American Triple T (TTT)

2009-05-25T10:18:00Z

So, two years ago I signed up for this race. It has a bit of long course mystique. Basically, you go to somewhere obscure in Ohio (Shawnee State Park), join 350 other long course triathletes, everyone is required to wear the same red/white/blue flag motif race top,

rough it by camping, staying in a cabin or the lodge (of course I chose the lodge!) and complete 4 triathlons from 5pm Friday until 3pm Sunday afternoon. The actual distance of all the races totals the length of an Ironman with a little extra swimming.

My training had been going great for this race. I had been hitting my workouts, improving my swimming and really running well. Unfortunately, the universe sometimes slaps us in the face to remind us about what is truly important. About four weeks from the race, Coach's Dad became increasingly ill. We immediately started spending our weekends in St. Louis. I am amazed at how much I was included during her family's most difficult time. I was honored to be a part of her family in her father's last moments and as we celebrated his life. Another reminder that family and friend's come first...hobbies are not even on the list! I was able to run quite a bit during this time but biking and swimming became almost non-existent.

So, by race week I knew I was not prepared and undertrained. Not a good combination. I was also going without a race bitch. Coach would be in St. Louis with her Mom and the rest of the team was enjoying a holiday weekend in Bloomington. What possibly could go wrong? The coach I have been working with, Gordo Byrn at endurancecorner.com, asked me not to race but to "train through" the weekend. I agreed and chose not to wear my watch so that I would not try to race the event. I did decide if I felt well by the last run, I would race the half marathon on the last loop.

Just an aside...Gordo has won this race. After doing it, I am even more impressed. Wow. Fortunately, I followed his suggestion and changed the gearing on my bike from a 12-25 to a 12-27. I don't think I could have got up the hills without it!

The hills/mountains are relentless. We are talking over a mile long on most of them. One hill in the race started with a 17% grade for 50 meters and then "leveled out" to a 9% grade for the next mile. The run course was crazy with 4 miles up some very steep forest fire road hills and 2.5 miles down hill.

So...the races were hard. Friday evening, the first race was an appetizer to remind us we were screwed. Totally. Unequivocally about to get our asses kicked. It was super short (250 yard swim, 3.5 mile uphill bike and 1 mile run). I was very careful to do no harm! Most people raced it crazy fast!

Saturday was two Olympic distance races. It was also very, very hot! In the 80's with high humidity. The first race was my complete and utter destruction. By the time it was over, I headed back to the lodge and totally disintegrated. On top of that, my stomach had shut down. I was nauseated and did not want to eat. Fortunately, everyone I had talked with who had done this race before said they key was to eat...constantly. I choked down a PBJ and went to sleep for 45 minutes. I felt so much better later and was relieved that I might actually be able to do the second race.

The second race is a reverse Olympic. You bike first, then attempt to wedge your sweaty body into your wetsuit, and then you run. I felt so much better during this bike. It had the longest hill I have ever biked in my life. By the time I returned to the transition, I was actually excited to get in the water just to cool down! Fortunately, a volunteer helped wedge me in the wetsuit and the rest of the race was uneventful. I was surprised how well I felt during the second race. I was even hungry immediately afterwards.

The hardest part of the races? When you were not racing, you were moving all of your triathlon crap back to your room, trying to dry your stuff, preparing your nutrition for the next race, eating, sleeping and then moving all your crap back to the next race. There was some serious sherpa work involved! Thank you again to all my previous race bitches!

By the last race on Sunday everyone looks like zombies. People are moving very slowly and have this "I really want to go home" look. I could immediately tell that there were a lot less people racing (over the course of 3 days, 12% of the field dropped out!). I was tired. Very tired. Each part of the race had two laps. I kept telling myself that I could quit AFTER the next lap. A lovely little psychological game! The only physical concern I had was that there was a little bit of soreness in my quads from the downhill running.

The swim was long...people were tired and moving slowly. The bike was incredible with this very long switch back hill/mountain. It also got very hot. Over the course of the races, I worked very hard to eat more. I sucked down to EFS 400 calorie gels (2), one Clif Blox package, two fig newtons and 8 ounces of Heed. Roughly 1200 calories over 4 hours. I also drank 3-4 bottles of water.

By the time I got to the run it was damn hot and humid. I felt relieved to arrive at the event where I do my best. I continued the eating with a gu every 3 miles and water/gatorade. I poured ice water on my head and back. I even put some ice in my bra. Basically I put my head down, ran the first six conservatively and ran the next six as fast as I could.

Interesting notes:

1) It was very cool to do a race where everyone wore the same uniform. It felt like a team moving together. The support you felt from strangers was incredible.
2) Some people cannot possibly do something where they don't stand out. Despite the uniform requirement, there were definitely a few people that needed to be noticed. You can't help but chuckle at the lengths they go to...streamers on their race numbers, goofy sun glasses, running with a kilt...you get the idea.
3) Three days with perfect strangers and not one of them asked the standard, "Where do you work?" I loved that no one cared beyond the mission of the day. We were all equals under the weight of the task before us.
4) MIchigan St. has a very cool triathlon team. Before the last race they did the Green and White fight cheer. As soon as it was done someone yelled out, "Go Buckeyes!" Very funny!
5) Another Bloomington friend was there...Marty. It was great to have someone to cheer on in his very successful race.
6) I finished 11th out of 13th in my age group. Underprepared, undertrained and underperformed.
7) This race had the most aesthetic pleasing group of athletes I have ever witnessed. Wow.
8) This was the hardest event I have completed. Harder than any other Ironman I have completed. It really required me to climb down in the whole and get used to the darkness. Perhaps that is why the first Olympic was such a shock!

Like the St. Louis Marathon and the Chili Hilly Stage Running Race, the Triple T is now part of the famous list of "One and Done!"

New Swim PR 1:37 x 100 and :43 x 50!

2009-04-06T14:13:00Z

I have been taking swim lessons. Serious swim lessons with Louisa (I have not asked her permission to post her last name). The lessons feel harder than my actual swim workouts and require a tremendous amount of focus. This week I learned that I can swim 100's on 1:45 IF I concentrate on not taking more than 20 strokes per length. Now I need to work on my muscle strength and my lungs!

That's Just the Way I Roll!

2009-04-03T19:21:00Z

To blog or not to blog...that is the question. My readership is well...basically me. I feel like the end might be near but haven't really had the strength to take her off life support. In the meantime, I am experimenting with new media.

I am twittering (which sounds like it was something illegal in the 20's) at fewoman and playing with facebook (which also sounds vaguely illegal). As a stockholder in Google (in the interest of full disclosure), I hope the rumors are true and it is purchasing Twitter. Combined with the up and coming Grand Central (and Android of course) and I think Google may be the communication company for the next decade.

On the tri front I have decided to enlist the services of Gordo Byrn and endurancecorner.com. Gordo happens to be a phenomenal and analytical endurance athlete. I really enjoy his blog as he interweaves business and training. Two of my great interests. His coaching service is brand new and I am very impressed with his attention to detail and service to his team. His level of responsiveness to the forum and emails is unmatched.

As I mentioned in my post IMAZ analysis, I have felt that the one thing I have been really missing is the ability to go long and steady. The Zone II endurance and speed necessary for IM success. So...Gordo, unlike Endurance Nation, really focuses on building your Steady state endurance. Specificity of exercise principle people! Lots of heart rate training which is not exciting and at times down right long and boring. I am concerned that it is missing some intensity work necessary at age 40 to hold on to my hard earned fitness gains. Having said that, I am paying the experts to provide me with the knowledge and direction to take it to another level. I am going to work hard to trust the process.

So, I am getting ready for Triple T. I had a big training week with 32 hours of swimming, biking and running. Over 320 miles of biking! I recovered really well and am back in a build phase again. I had a long run (Poker run..1/3 easy, 1/3 steady and the last third steady or faster) today and negative split as follows: 9:12, 9:09, 9:08, 8:25, 8:24, 8:22, 8:06, 7:54, 7:34. I am running really well and am highly tempted to blow out a half marathon. Patience.

I almost totally screwed up my training because I decided to support a local running store and I had to change my brand of shoes (another store in town has the Asics monopoly). Not long after I switched, my achilles started to ache. Back to the old shoes and it is correcting itself nicely. Close call.

What About Bob is back from his almost year long injury hiatus and running incredibly well. I missed his consistency, hard work and low maintenance style. He is the rock of my running. He is running so well, that I have to release him after our warm up. We are both thinking about marathoning in November to try and qualify for Boston (he needs an 8:30 pace which is only slightly faster than my qualifying time). It is really hard to reign him in..I am worried that he will peak way too soon and have nowhere to go but injury lane.

Race weight is close...just a few more pounds. I have upped my protein and I continue to emphasize whole natural foods. I am craving lots more fruit than normal. I have lost count of the pineapples, apples and bananas we have consumed. Time to get on the bike...because, that's just the way I roll...

The Off Season

2009-01-27T11:19:00Z

So...what have I been up to on the training front? I decided this year to maintain my hard earned fitness and recover from my race. My first priority has been spending time with my family. Running is easy to work around family events and travel. It really is my best investment for calorie burn and overall fitness.

Last year I had great success with making December and January my "run focus" months. I ran most every day. 2009 has had a similar focus with some rest days interspersed once every couple of weeks. So...my weeks have consisted of 6-7 days of base running. No intervals, some harder runs and some hill sprints. When commitments allow, I bike 2-3 days a week on the trainer. I swim 2-3 days per week. How does 2009 compare to 2008?

Without going into too much boring detail, my chronic fatigue (blue line) or base has almost doubled since 2008! For a couple of training partners that have expressed concern about me not resting enough, you can see that due to holiday travel and vacation that I have had a nice block of reduced acute training load (purple line).

Why does this matter? My base fitness for 2009 is already at the same level as my base fitness IN JUNE OF 2008! This year will be a great opportunity to build upon my fitness gains of 2008. The best is yet to come.