It would appear that I have slipped back into intestinal hell. I'm having another flair up and after feebly trying to workout on the bike for 20 minutes last night, I got off the bike, changed, sat on the couch and proceeded to cry.
I was crying for a few reasons. One, I wanted to do the workout IG sent cause it was a good one. Two I hated that I got off the bike; I felt like I gave up. Last, I hurt, I'm tired and I'm frustrated; I had thought I could 'muscle' through this flair up.
I've been battling this intestinal thing for many years now. In my old life I would just go home, lay down and hope that when I woke up things would be better. Sometimes they were, and sometimes they weren't.
Nowadays I'm asking a lot of my body with my training. That is part of the reason the frequency and duration of these flair ups has increased. I could give up my IM goals and perhaps they would lessen, but then I'd be giving up something that I love and that has become my life. So now what to do?
I've been to two GI specialists, and have yet another appointment with one in April. As of yet, Western medicine has not helped. They've shrugged and said, 'We're sorry, but you don't have the top three intestinal disorders so we can't help you and you'll have to figure out how to make yourself well.' I've also been seeing a Naturopath, and that seemed to help for a time, but no longer.
Diets, yes, I've tried many things. Even the 'Thrive Diet' Kelsey recently mentioned. I've removed meat, soy, dairy (save for the odd chocolate binge), and wheat/gluten from my diet. I'm still not well.
Stress plays a role in all of this and it's a vicious circle. I have 'healthy' stress from training and racing, and I have unhealthy stress from being so frustrated that my body is not cooperating with me. I'm tired of so many things - having to be picky about eating (it's annoying for my friends as well), the embarassment of the situation when I have flair ups, the constant rumblings and movements going on inside me, the feeling of having the life sucked out of me, the frustration of not knowing how to fix this, the fear of how this is going to affect IMCDA, and the tears. I hate being a wimp.
A friend of mine recently gave me a book on intestinal disorders called 'Breaking the Vicious Circle'. I started reading it last night and have already finished it. It too calls for healing through diet, but this one is quite restrictive. I'm tempted as I'm willing to try anything if it will help, but in doing this diet I'm not sure how I would get enough nutrition in for training or during a race. Can one race while not taking in sugars other than from fruits? I don't know what to do.
On one hand this diet (that has been used on patients since the late 50's) will apparantly bring your system back to a 'normal' state if you stay on it for approximately two years. Hmm, I could have a 'normal' life in two years. On the other hand, could I really do a diet like this for two years? Then I think, all these diets seem to make sense initially, and sometimes they help at the start, but then I still end up at the same spot I was in originally. Which is where I am now.
I wish so badly that there was someone that I could talk to about this. Someone who races Ironman who could give me some suggestions on what works. Even someone that's tried the above and can suggest how I can race while following such a diet. I know there isn't though, because IBS patients all have different symptoms and treatments. So I'm on my own.
The really ironic thing about this was that when I was swimming yesterday I was thinking how cool it was that I ran the night before and was in the pool in the morning pushing on even after the flair up started. I was also thinking about others I know or whom I've read about who are involved in triathlon. There are those who have started later in life, those with children, those who are physically challenged, and those who battle cancer, ALS, and other life threatening diseases. I thought about the triathlete spirit and how we all face adversity in some way, shape or form yet we continue on even in the face of adversity. Yet another reason why I love this sport so much.
In some ways that made me feel guilty for getting upset over this and for giving up on the bike last night. In other ways it reminds me that with a positive mindset anything can be accomplished. Sometimes, though, it's difficult to find the positive when you are in a fog. I know the fog will soon lift and I will try another diet, or treatment with renewed hope. Who knows, perhaps this time it will finally work.
Peace out my friends.
Friday, 14 March 2008
Wednesday, 12 March 2008
Ch-Ch-Chilly Out There!!!
Today was one of those days when my gut was not cooperating. I'm not sure why things are coming back, I was fine in Malaysia! Maybe I'm meant to eat only fish curry and rice?! Anyways, I was dealing with some serious sharp pains for a few hours this afternoon. Not fun at the best of times and even worse when you are stuck in a day long clients training session with your boss and coworkers. Rats! I was kind of wondering how my run was going to go tonight...
Surprsingly, it went well. I ran for 1:40 hour from the west side of town, where I live, all the way to the east side of town and back again. It was pretty nice out when I started out, but it sure cooled down later on. Nothing like running into a cold head wind to motivate you to get home sooner rather than later, haha.
At the start of the run I was having some HR strap issues. I think I may have lost some padding on my ribs cause lately my HR strap has been digging in on my rib. As I ran down the hill from my house, the strap was slowly slipping down, down and down. I decided till I was on the trail to adjust things. I tried to scooch it up and under the old jog bra without having to lift my shirt, but to no avail. So I had to lift my shirt up to move things around. Now, now, I wasn't showing anything so let's not all get in a tizzy. Well, at least I don't think I was....
As I had my shirt up and was moving the strap up I could feel the wind wrap around me. At this point I realized that my leggings were slung a wee bit low and perhaps there was just a bit of plumber butt going on, haha. It was then I remembered the email I got from a friend showing just another use for duct tape...hmmm....
Surprsingly, it went well. I ran for 1:40 hour from the west side of town, where I live, all the way to the east side of town and back again. It was pretty nice out when I started out, but it sure cooled down later on. Nothing like running into a cold head wind to motivate you to get home sooner rather than later, haha.
At the start of the run I was having some HR strap issues. I think I may have lost some padding on my ribs cause lately my HR strap has been digging in on my rib. As I ran down the hill from my house, the strap was slowly slipping down, down and down. I decided till I was on the trail to adjust things. I tried to scooch it up and under the old jog bra without having to lift my shirt, but to no avail. So I had to lift my shirt up to move things around. Now, now, I wasn't showing anything so let's not all get in a tizzy. Well, at least I don't think I was....
As I had my shirt up and was moving the strap up I could feel the wind wrap around me. At this point I realized that my leggings were slung a wee bit low and perhaps there was just a bit of plumber butt going on, haha. It was then I remembered the email I got from a friend showing just another use for duct tape...hmmm....
Perhaps next time I'll just make sure my leggings are done up a bit tighter, haha.
Peace out my friends!
Tuesday, 11 March 2008
Milestone Achieved...
I BROKE THE 20 MINUTE MARK IN MY TIMED 1000 M SWIM THIS MORNING!!!!!
You have NO idea how exciting that is for me. For my first timed swim in the end of 2005 (when I first started swimming) I was at 30+ minutes. Since then, I have been trying FOREVER to get past the 20 minute marker. Last year the best I did was 20:20 minutes. Urgh! So close yet so far!
This morning though I had a great swim, I used proper technique (thank you IG!!) and worked hard and my final time was 19:34 minutes. The last 500 m it would seem I was quite consistent and doing 1 minute 50's. I do wonder; however, if I could have eeked out a bit less time had I not completely missed the wall on two of my flipturns, haha. Yup, twice I flipped, felt no wall and my feet and was like "SHITE!" as I started pulling hard at the water to get going. Is all good though, I'm quite happy with my time.
Of course, as I am a triathlete, I will now set a new time to break....not telling what it is though!! Tee hee.
After quite the swim, I achieved another milestone tonight....this time on the bike! I managed to get up to 168 bpm while doing MAP's (not sure what that acronym stands for...only know it means PAIN!).
Okay, so the task was 2 groups of 5 times a set of 2x2. Does that make sense?? The 2x2 part was 2 minutes at threshold heart rate and 2 minutes easy at 90 rpm. The most I've gotten my heart rate to in the past was 157 bpm, but when I conferred with IG this afternoon he said the goal would be to try and get it to an upper zone 4 heart rate. The operative word there being TRY.
As I have mentioned in the past, it would appear that if IG asks my body to do something, it does. Stupid body. Doesn't listen to me when I say 'ow, ow, ow'. Nooooo. Always has to do what IG says. Sheesh.
I gotta say during the first set of 2 minutes at AT I was thinking, holy shite this friggin hurts! How many more sets do I have?! And why, oh why do the 2 minutes where you are pushing hard seem to go on FOREVER, yet the 2 minute recovery just zips by! Crap!
My breathing seemed almost inhuman for the last 30 seconds of each set. It was insane. Oh, and Keith and Jenna will be happy to know that I did spit up a little in my mouth. haha. I actually giggled and said 'ew' with that one. The giggle was because of Keith and Jenna, and the ew, well, that's pretty obvious I think. At least I didn't hurl on the floor or anything!! (At this point the parental unit will be shaking their head and asking why their daughter delights in this stuff?!)
For the majority of the sets my max heart rate was 166 bpm. My total ride time was 1:30 hours. Not bad for a gal who woke up this morning totally stuffed up, with eyes partially sealed by eye goobers (yuck!) and itchy lungs. Sigh. I can't wait till this cold or whatever passes!
What a day!!!
Peace out my friends!!
PS Ignore my prior record one legged spin times. Apparantly, she says with eyes rolling, one must do the spins at a cadence above 60 rpm - according to IG. I was below that so I am back to square one. Record time has been reduced to 1:45 minute and 1:15 minute. Rats!
You have NO idea how exciting that is for me. For my first timed swim in the end of 2005 (when I first started swimming) I was at 30+ minutes. Since then, I have been trying FOREVER to get past the 20 minute marker. Last year the best I did was 20:20 minutes. Urgh! So close yet so far!
This morning though I had a great swim, I used proper technique (thank you IG!!) and worked hard and my final time was 19:34 minutes. The last 500 m it would seem I was quite consistent and doing 1 minute 50's. I do wonder; however, if I could have eeked out a bit less time had I not completely missed the wall on two of my flipturns, haha. Yup, twice I flipped, felt no wall and my feet and was like "SHITE!" as I started pulling hard at the water to get going. Is all good though, I'm quite happy with my time.
Of course, as I am a triathlete, I will now set a new time to break....not telling what it is though!! Tee hee.
After quite the swim, I achieved another milestone tonight....this time on the bike! I managed to get up to 168 bpm while doing MAP's (not sure what that acronym stands for...only know it means PAIN!).
Okay, so the task was 2 groups of 5 times a set of 2x2. Does that make sense?? The 2x2 part was 2 minutes at threshold heart rate and 2 minutes easy at 90 rpm. The most I've gotten my heart rate to in the past was 157 bpm, but when I conferred with IG this afternoon he said the goal would be to try and get it to an upper zone 4 heart rate. The operative word there being TRY.
As I have mentioned in the past, it would appear that if IG asks my body to do something, it does. Stupid body. Doesn't listen to me when I say 'ow, ow, ow'. Nooooo. Always has to do what IG says. Sheesh.
I gotta say during the first set of 2 minutes at AT I was thinking, holy shite this friggin hurts! How many more sets do I have?! And why, oh why do the 2 minutes where you are pushing hard seem to go on FOREVER, yet the 2 minute recovery just zips by! Crap!
My breathing seemed almost inhuman for the last 30 seconds of each set. It was insane. Oh, and Keith and Jenna will be happy to know that I did spit up a little in my mouth. haha. I actually giggled and said 'ew' with that one. The giggle was because of Keith and Jenna, and the ew, well, that's pretty obvious I think. At least I didn't hurl on the floor or anything!! (At this point the parental unit will be shaking their head and asking why their daughter delights in this stuff?!)
For the majority of the sets my max heart rate was 166 bpm. My total ride time was 1:30 hours. Not bad for a gal who woke up this morning totally stuffed up, with eyes partially sealed by eye goobers (yuck!) and itchy lungs. Sigh. I can't wait till this cold or whatever passes!
What a day!!!
Peace out my friends!!
PS Ignore my prior record one legged spin times. Apparantly, she says with eyes rolling, one must do the spins at a cadence above 60 rpm - according to IG. I was below that so I am back to square one. Record time has been reduced to 1:45 minute and 1:15 minute. Rats!
Monday, 10 March 2008
Ray of Light...
As I sat in cubicle hell at work, where nary a ray of sunshine doth cross my path, I thought to myself...aaaah, won't it be nice to go for a run after work and soak up the last of the days sunshiny rays.
Alas, by the time I got home the wind had picked up and the clouds had moved in. Oh well, it was still warm, relatively speaking. At any rate I got home, donned my running duds, put my hair up in a cute ponytail that would merrily dance as I ran and off I went.
As I ran along the red rock path I found myself 'chasing' a wee squirrel. Well, ok, not chasing as the little guy sure had more speed than I did, so lets just say I was running behind mr. squirrel. It was hard not to laugh at him as his teeny butt was going up and down as he ran with his front two feet leaping, and then his back two feet leaping alternately. Why I found this funny, I know not. I just did. So I laughed. Evantually he ran off the path. I think my laughing must have ticked him off because when I was running on my way back I was chirped at quite vigorously by a squirrel in the trees. I have a feeling he wasn't saying 'have a great run Suse!'. haha.
Well, that's all I have to post for tonights blog. What can I say. The IGP called for a 45 minute EZ run with strides. So that's what I did. I ran. For 45 minutes. Easy. Even though I live at the top of a loooong hill. I ran. Easy. End of story. Now go write your own blog.
Peace out my friends.
Alas, by the time I got home the wind had picked up and the clouds had moved in. Oh well, it was still warm, relatively speaking. At any rate I got home, donned my running duds, put my hair up in a cute ponytail that would merrily dance as I ran and off I went.
As I ran along the red rock path I found myself 'chasing' a wee squirrel. Well, ok, not chasing as the little guy sure had more speed than I did, so lets just say I was running behind mr. squirrel. It was hard not to laugh at him as his teeny butt was going up and down as he ran with his front two feet leaping, and then his back two feet leaping alternately. Why I found this funny, I know not. I just did. So I laughed. Evantually he ran off the path. I think my laughing must have ticked him off because when I was running on my way back I was chirped at quite vigorously by a squirrel in the trees. I have a feeling he wasn't saying 'have a great run Suse!'. haha.
Well, that's all I have to post for tonights blog. What can I say. The IGP called for a 45 minute EZ run with strides. So that's what I did. I ran. For 45 minutes. Easy. Even though I live at the top of a loooong hill. I ran. Easy. End of story. Now go write your own blog.
Peace out my friends.
Sunday, 9 March 2008
Just Get On The Damn Bike!!!
I'm not sure if I'm still dealing with jetlag, or if I'm actually fighting off some sort of airborne disease. My throat is still sore (never really left me since being icky in KL), my nose is half stuffy and my lungs are achy/itchy. Oh, and to top it off my noggin hurts a bit. Sigh.
Because of all this I had quite the internal argument this morning regarding my workout. It went something like this, "Ugh, I feel like crap. Quit yer whining and get your gear on. Would it really matter if I missed one workout? Uh, YA. Dude, we have a goal to achieve at IMCDA so you better get your arse on that bike. But I feel like crap. Puhleez, it's a little sore throat and a wimpy cough. Deal with it. What if it doesn't go away?? Look, you have to work out cause if you don't, all your blog buddies will know and how is that going to look?! It's called accountibility missy! Who's idea was it to write a stupid blog anyways....GREGORY! Fine! I will get my arse on the bike. Hmpfff."
So I got my gear on, headed out my bedroom door and ran into my roomie. We hadn't seen each other in forever so I stopped to chat and catch up on his life. Oh, and yes, this was a stalling technique. haha. We chatted for about a half an hour until he said 'Don't you have to work out?'. Bastard! LOL.
So I made my way down to the dungeon and got on the bike. It was a bit slow to get going, that's for sure. I decided to have fun and see how long I could do a one legged spin before I 'klunked' over the top of the stroke. I managed to go for 3:14 minutes with the right leg and 3:29 minutes wiht the left leg. Admittedly as I was going along there I was losing my amusement for this game, haha.
After a 20 minute warmup I got into the main set. Nothing complicated. I was to do sets of 6:30min in high zone 2 and 3:30min in low zone 2. I actually didn't feel too bad throughout the workout. My legs felt strong and weren't tired - always a bonus. I have a lot on the brain these days so was trying to think my thoughts. It was funny cause I could tell when I was getting somewhat worked up about a subject because the frustration would flow through to my pedal stroke, I'd push harder and of course my heart rate would go up, haha. Oops.
Not having the tv or music on actually makes these workouts better. I focus on my cadence, my heart rate, and work out the thoughts in my brain. It's almost meditative.
The total length of my bike was 1:45. My throat, lungs and noggin still don't feel great. However, mentally I feel great because I got the job done and had a great workout. AND I can write in my blog that I did. LOL.
Stupid accountibility....
Peace out my friends.
Because of all this I had quite the internal argument this morning regarding my workout. It went something like this, "Ugh, I feel like crap. Quit yer whining and get your gear on. Would it really matter if I missed one workout? Uh, YA. Dude, we have a goal to achieve at IMCDA so you better get your arse on that bike. But I feel like crap. Puhleez, it's a little sore throat and a wimpy cough. Deal with it. What if it doesn't go away?? Look, you have to work out cause if you don't, all your blog buddies will know and how is that going to look?! It's called accountibility missy! Who's idea was it to write a stupid blog anyways....GREGORY! Fine! I will get my arse on the bike. Hmpfff."
So I got my gear on, headed out my bedroom door and ran into my roomie. We hadn't seen each other in forever so I stopped to chat and catch up on his life. Oh, and yes, this was a stalling technique. haha. We chatted for about a half an hour until he said 'Don't you have to work out?'. Bastard! LOL.
So I made my way down to the dungeon and got on the bike. It was a bit slow to get going, that's for sure. I decided to have fun and see how long I could do a one legged spin before I 'klunked' over the top of the stroke. I managed to go for 3:14 minutes with the right leg and 3:29 minutes wiht the left leg. Admittedly as I was going along there I was losing my amusement for this game, haha.
After a 20 minute warmup I got into the main set. Nothing complicated. I was to do sets of 6:30min in high zone 2 and 3:30min in low zone 2. I actually didn't feel too bad throughout the workout. My legs felt strong and weren't tired - always a bonus. I have a lot on the brain these days so was trying to think my thoughts. It was funny cause I could tell when I was getting somewhat worked up about a subject because the frustration would flow through to my pedal stroke, I'd push harder and of course my heart rate would go up, haha. Oops.
Not having the tv or music on actually makes these workouts better. I focus on my cadence, my heart rate, and work out the thoughts in my brain. It's almost meditative.
The total length of my bike was 1:45. My throat, lungs and noggin still don't feel great. However, mentally I feel great because I got the job done and had a great workout. AND I can write in my blog that I did. LOL.
Stupid accountibility....
Peace out my friends.
Saturday, 8 March 2008
Running With Icebergs...
A very short while ago I was running with palm trees...and today I ran with icebergs. Okay, perhaps they weren't huge like icebergs, but there was a ton of thick ice!
I went running with my buddy Esther today. It turned out to be a gorgeous spring day. Not a cloud in the sky and although the wind we felt running west was a bit cool, when we were running back east I had to shed my light jacket.
I was grumbling a bit about wanting to be back in the hot sun, so Esther started pointing out how beautiful it was here with the river flowing, the mountains in the background and the blue blue sky. Too funny. She is right though, it is beautiful here...I just wish it was warm all year round, haha. Give me global warming! (Kidding!!)
The run itself was good. My legs were slightly resistant to get going at the start, but finally kicked in. She noted that my pace was faster since the last time we ran, but my heart rate was where it should be (it popped up a couple of times), so I'm pretty pleased with that.
On the way back to the Rec. Ctr., where we started our run from, we realized we'd only run 50 minutes. Last time we ran together (at the beginning of the year) we ran this route in an hour, so somehow we've shed 10 minutes. Not bad. As the run was to be an hour, we kept along the path that followed the river. That's when we saw the 'icebergs'.
I've never seen anything like it on this path! At this point, the path dips down and is at the same level as the river. The river bends here and I guess there was a bit of an ice jam so all the ice has broken up and been pushed up onto the pathway and the land along there. It was wild! I wish I had a camera. The ice was at least a foot thick too. A lady who was walking her dog mentioned it had receeded since last week. Amazing!
We picked our way around the ice and finished up the run along the roadway.
We hit the gym after and met up with our buddy Paddy. I did my usual upper body workout. I'd only hit the weights once on the trip so was happy to be back in the gym. It's like my meditative zone, haha.
At one point 'Baby Got Back' came on my mp3 player. For those of you who don't know, this is my theme song and it's pretty much impossible for me not to get jiggy with it when the song is playing. I care not where I am or who's looking and today was no exception. I was in one of the training rooms with Paddy and Esther so started singing the song and shaking my booty. Lord only knows if I was singing on key or not, but it got the girls laughing and that's all that matters.
(I might mention I was even 'caught on tape' shaking my booty to this song at IMC as I started on the run....my friends daughters were singing it for me along the road, haha.)
As I went to reach for my lock on the locker my arms started to shake...a sign of a good workout. Will be interesting to see how they feel tomorrow though...
I went running with my buddy Esther today. It turned out to be a gorgeous spring day. Not a cloud in the sky and although the wind we felt running west was a bit cool, when we were running back east I had to shed my light jacket.
I was grumbling a bit about wanting to be back in the hot sun, so Esther started pointing out how beautiful it was here with the river flowing, the mountains in the background and the blue blue sky. Too funny. She is right though, it is beautiful here...I just wish it was warm all year round, haha. Give me global warming! (Kidding!!)
The run itself was good. My legs were slightly resistant to get going at the start, but finally kicked in. She noted that my pace was faster since the last time we ran, but my heart rate was where it should be (it popped up a couple of times), so I'm pretty pleased with that.
On the way back to the Rec. Ctr., where we started our run from, we realized we'd only run 50 minutes. Last time we ran together (at the beginning of the year) we ran this route in an hour, so somehow we've shed 10 minutes. Not bad. As the run was to be an hour, we kept along the path that followed the river. That's when we saw the 'icebergs'.
I've never seen anything like it on this path! At this point, the path dips down and is at the same level as the river. The river bends here and I guess there was a bit of an ice jam so all the ice has broken up and been pushed up onto the pathway and the land along there. It was wild! I wish I had a camera. The ice was at least a foot thick too. A lady who was walking her dog mentioned it had receeded since last week. Amazing!
We picked our way around the ice and finished up the run along the roadway.
We hit the gym after and met up with our buddy Paddy. I did my usual upper body workout. I'd only hit the weights once on the trip so was happy to be back in the gym. It's like my meditative zone, haha.
At one point 'Baby Got Back' came on my mp3 player. For those of you who don't know, this is my theme song and it's pretty much impossible for me not to get jiggy with it when the song is playing. I care not where I am or who's looking and today was no exception. I was in one of the training rooms with Paddy and Esther so started singing the song and shaking my booty. Lord only knows if I was singing on key or not, but it got the girls laughing and that's all that matters.
(I might mention I was even 'caught on tape' shaking my booty to this song at IMC as I started on the run....my friends daughters were singing it for me along the road, haha.)
As I went to reach for my lock on the locker my arms started to shake...a sign of a good workout. Will be interesting to see how they feel tomorrow though...
Thursday, 6 March 2008
Very Sleeepy...
So...tired...No...energy...
Hate...jet...lag...
Swam...today...
Biked...today...
Can't...keep...eyes...open...
Front...plank...2:05 min...
Right...plank...0:54 min...
Left...plank...1:01 min...
Must...sleep...now...sigh...
Wednesday, 5 March 2008
The Plank Challenge...
Okay, so in catching up on some blogs I noticed Julie's post about holding the plank for an unGodly amount of time (btw - awesome job dude!). So I got to thinking....we tri geek bloggers should do a challenge.
Here's what I propose:
Once a week (or more if you should choose) we hold a front plank and a side plank (each side) and time ourselves as Julie did! Each week we will post our times and see how we do. (Extra points for those who have a cat or dog standing on their bod as they do this too!)
Now this isn't about challenging Julie or anyone else (feel free to though, haha), but rather about challenging ourselves to beat our own times and to do this a minimum of once a week!
Even though it's a challenge, there are no losers as we will all win at having kick ass core strength.
So, all those in favour of signing up for the plank challenge say 'EDDIE VEDDER IS GOD!!'. LOL.
Oh, and for those who really want a challenge - feel free to add chinups to your weekly goal!
Here's what I propose:
Once a week (or more if you should choose) we hold a front plank and a side plank (each side) and time ourselves as Julie did! Each week we will post our times and see how we do. (Extra points for those who have a cat or dog standing on their bod as they do this too!)
Now this isn't about challenging Julie or anyone else (feel free to though, haha), but rather about challenging ourselves to beat our own times and to do this a minimum of once a week!
Even though it's a challenge, there are no losers as we will all win at having kick ass core strength.
So, all those in favour of signing up for the plank challenge say 'EDDIE VEDDER IS GOD!!'. LOL.
Oh, and for those who really want a challenge - feel free to add chinups to your weekly goal!
Holy Jetlag Batman!!!
I am SO glad I got my bike workout done yesterday in the morning because by mid afternoon I had a wicket migraine and vertigo. Urgh. I have never experienced jetlag before, but I can say it's officially kicking my arse.
Not only have I got the vertigo thing going, but my sleeping is totally erratic. I tried my best not to sleep during the day so I would sleep at night. Admittedly I nodded off a bit with the headache - but not a long time!!
I was out cold at 9pm last night and slept hard for two hours. That's when I woke up abruptly with the urge to use the loo. I stood up, caught myself from falling over (stupid vertigo), then stood there in total confusion thinking 'uh, where the hell am I? and where the hell is Greg?'. LOL.
Now I realize that might sound funny, but up to the night before we'd been together 24 hrs a day for 16 days! So I guess I kind of expected him to be there because for a while there I actually thought I might be in one of the hotels! Yup, that's just how friggin out of it I was, haha.
The really weird thing was that I think I kind of new I was in my room cause I knew to go straight ahead to the loo. Even though I could figure that out, I still wasn't sure if I was in my house or the hotel, haha. So there I am sitting on the pot thinking, am I really home? Then I started worrying that I really was in a hotel and I didn't close the bathroom door and there was the chance that Greg would find me on the throne!! LOL. This whole process took about 3 minutes to go through. It was all very confusing, and strange, haha.
Finally I figured it all out and fell back asleep for a short time. I kept waking up though and finally got up at 4am. Sigh.
Needless to say my first day back at work was difficult. By 2pm I needed toothpicks for my eyes. I won't even describe the commute home for fear of worrying the parental unit.
I really wasn't sure how I was going to pull off a run tonight as I felt like Mr. Magoo. I decided that the trick would be to walk in the door, not let my arse cheeks pull me to the couch, run upstairs, change and bolt! So that's what I did.
Considering how I felt this afternoon, I actually had a really great run! I worked on my gait and integrating IG's pointers from our holiday. (No secrets here, he suggested I shorten my stride and increase my cadence.) I think I was able to that tonight. IG said the point is not to let you foot contact the surface for too long, kinda like running on hot coals. So this is what I focussed on. I found it was easy to do when running on loose gravel (of which we have an overabundance on the side of our roads from when it was snowy!) Just by listening to how my foot was landing on the gravel I could tell if I was flicking it behind me, which is good, or doing a heel strike and pushing it forward, thereby braking - not what one wants to do. All very interesting.
I should add it was also nice to run after work and have it still be light out! I could actually run on the trails and not be freaked out by bear looking garbage cans or tombstone shaped stumps! haha. (Can you say overactive imagination boys and girls?!)
I ran for an hour and a half tonight in a low zone 2 heart rate. I actually felt that I had a faster pace with my new running technique. I don't wear a Garmin so am not sure of the pace. However, I think the point is that I FELT faster so even if I wasn't, I really don't care. So there! haha.
Not only have I got the vertigo thing going, but my sleeping is totally erratic. I tried my best not to sleep during the day so I would sleep at night. Admittedly I nodded off a bit with the headache - but not a long time!!
I was out cold at 9pm last night and slept hard for two hours. That's when I woke up abruptly with the urge to use the loo. I stood up, caught myself from falling over (stupid vertigo), then stood there in total confusion thinking 'uh, where the hell am I? and where the hell is Greg?'. LOL.
Now I realize that might sound funny, but up to the night before we'd been together 24 hrs a day for 16 days! So I guess I kind of expected him to be there because for a while there I actually thought I might be in one of the hotels! Yup, that's just how friggin out of it I was, haha.
The really weird thing was that I think I kind of new I was in my room cause I knew to go straight ahead to the loo. Even though I could figure that out, I still wasn't sure if I was in my house or the hotel, haha. So there I am sitting on the pot thinking, am I really home? Then I started worrying that I really was in a hotel and I didn't close the bathroom door and there was the chance that Greg would find me on the throne!! LOL. This whole process took about 3 minutes to go through. It was all very confusing, and strange, haha.
Finally I figured it all out and fell back asleep for a short time. I kept waking up though and finally got up at 4am. Sigh.
Needless to say my first day back at work was difficult. By 2pm I needed toothpicks for my eyes. I won't even describe the commute home for fear of worrying the parental unit.
I really wasn't sure how I was going to pull off a run tonight as I felt like Mr. Magoo. I decided that the trick would be to walk in the door, not let my arse cheeks pull me to the couch, run upstairs, change and bolt! So that's what I did.
Considering how I felt this afternoon, I actually had a really great run! I worked on my gait and integrating IG's pointers from our holiday. (No secrets here, he suggested I shorten my stride and increase my cadence.) I think I was able to that tonight. IG said the point is not to let you foot contact the surface for too long, kinda like running on hot coals. So this is what I focussed on. I found it was easy to do when running on loose gravel (of which we have an overabundance on the side of our roads from when it was snowy!) Just by listening to how my foot was landing on the gravel I could tell if I was flicking it behind me, which is good, or doing a heel strike and pushing it forward, thereby braking - not what one wants to do. All very interesting.
I should add it was also nice to run after work and have it still be light out! I could actually run on the trails and not be freaked out by bear looking garbage cans or tombstone shaped stumps! haha. (Can you say overactive imagination boys and girls?!)
I ran for an hour and a half tonight in a low zone 2 heart rate. I actually felt that I had a faster pace with my new running technique. I don't wear a Garmin so am not sure of the pace. However, I think the point is that I FELT faster so even if I wasn't, I really don't care. So there! haha.
Tuesday, 4 March 2008
Grumble, Grumble...
Well, we are back from wonderfully warm Malayisa....and I've been cold ever since, haha.
Perhaps it's the jet lag, the need for layers of clothes, the fatigue or the fact that my equilibrium seems to be off (jet lag side effect??), but I'm rather grumpy about being home. Sigh...
What can one do in this situation other than plot and plan for another adventure. Next time though I think I'd like to race...time to start surfing the net for early season IM's that are in warm countries!
I did continue my training when I was in Malaysia. I went running the day after the IM around the streets of Kuah. This time I took a different route and follow the road that I had walked back along from the bike turnaround.
As I was running I kept coming up to police barracades. I wasn't sure what they were for, or if I should ask. I did, however, ask if it was ok for me to run through. To which I was met with many smiles and teasing about 'the finish line is that way!' and 'why are you still running? the race is over!'. Oh funny, funny policeman, haha. I didn't bother trying to explain that I had been a cheerleader rather than a participant. If they wanted to believe I could do an IM then run the next day - then who was I to correct them! LOL.
When we went down to Kuala Lumpur I ran in the gym a couple of times. The streets are way to busy to try to run along. Plus the air isn't quite 'fresh'. I managed to get a swim in at the pool as well.
The rest of my training was bascially walking, and walking, and walking. I swear, we walked for hours a day every day. It was nuts, but a great way to explore your surroundings. I wish I had a pedometer to track how far we went. I do know that one day we must have been wandering around for about 6 or 7 hours. Phew!
My one foot took a beating from all this. Actually, more my baby toe. I had blisters upon blisters to the point that it looked like I had a two baby toes. Ew. Greg was teasing me that my foot looked worse than his did after IM. Greeeat. The toe is still in so-so shape. We'll see how running goes tomorrow.
Today was my first full day home so it was time to 'get back in the saddle'...literally. I hadn't been on a bike since I left so was eager to do so, even though my body wasn't sure this was a good idea. That was just the jet lag talking though.
I really want to get better on the bike this season - especially after seeing some amazing athletes (our Greg most especially) at IM Malaysia. So I decided that I need to be a hermit on the bike. No music. No television. No distractions. Just me and hours of focusing on what the bod was doing on the bike. Very exciting, I know! haha.
As I hopped onto the bike I was mighty glad it was attached to a trainer as my head was spinning and if I had been riding on the road I'm sure I would have fallen over a few times. heh heh. (The equilibrium thing again.) I figured I'd go for an hour and a half. See how I felt.
The good news is I had a pretty good workout. I did a 20 min warm up, 60 min steady state bike (at mid/high zone 2 heart rate) and then a 10 min cool down. I felt not too bad - phew! I was pretty worried I'd lost all my bike fitness over the last two weeks. I actually even managed to hold my one legged spinning for a minute with no dead spots in the pedal stroke and with good strength! Go figure.
The bad(?) news is that although I had no distractions like music or the t.v., I'm sure I only focused on my pedal stroke and technique for a minor portion of the time. The duration of time in between my checking my heart rate and cadence was spent reminiscing about Malaysia, coming up with ideas for a career that would take me to warm places cause I realized I'd rather be warm all the time than cold, dreaming about meeting Faris again, and just general future planning. LOL.
One day I will get this focus thing down pat! It was one of my goals for this year and it's obvious it's going to be a challenge. Ah well...if everything were easy - life would be friggin boring!!
Perhaps it's the jet lag, the need for layers of clothes, the fatigue or the fact that my equilibrium seems to be off (jet lag side effect??), but I'm rather grumpy about being home. Sigh...
What can one do in this situation other than plot and plan for another adventure. Next time though I think I'd like to race...time to start surfing the net for early season IM's that are in warm countries!
I did continue my training when I was in Malaysia. I went running the day after the IM around the streets of Kuah. This time I took a different route and follow the road that I had walked back along from the bike turnaround.
As I was running I kept coming up to police barracades. I wasn't sure what they were for, or if I should ask. I did, however, ask if it was ok for me to run through. To which I was met with many smiles and teasing about 'the finish line is that way!' and 'why are you still running? the race is over!'. Oh funny, funny policeman, haha. I didn't bother trying to explain that I had been a cheerleader rather than a participant. If they wanted to believe I could do an IM then run the next day - then who was I to correct them! LOL.
When we went down to Kuala Lumpur I ran in the gym a couple of times. The streets are way to busy to try to run along. Plus the air isn't quite 'fresh'. I managed to get a swim in at the pool as well.
The rest of my training was bascially walking, and walking, and walking. I swear, we walked for hours a day every day. It was nuts, but a great way to explore your surroundings. I wish I had a pedometer to track how far we went. I do know that one day we must have been wandering around for about 6 or 7 hours. Phew!
My one foot took a beating from all this. Actually, more my baby toe. I had blisters upon blisters to the point that it looked like I had a two baby toes. Ew. Greg was teasing me that my foot looked worse than his did after IM. Greeeat. The toe is still in so-so shape. We'll see how running goes tomorrow.
Today was my first full day home so it was time to 'get back in the saddle'...literally. I hadn't been on a bike since I left so was eager to do so, even though my body wasn't sure this was a good idea. That was just the jet lag talking though.
I really want to get better on the bike this season - especially after seeing some amazing athletes (our Greg most especially) at IM Malaysia. So I decided that I need to be a hermit on the bike. No music. No television. No distractions. Just me and hours of focusing on what the bod was doing on the bike. Very exciting, I know! haha.
As I hopped onto the bike I was mighty glad it was attached to a trainer as my head was spinning and if I had been riding on the road I'm sure I would have fallen over a few times. heh heh. (The equilibrium thing again.) I figured I'd go for an hour and a half. See how I felt.
The good news is I had a pretty good workout. I did a 20 min warm up, 60 min steady state bike (at mid/high zone 2 heart rate) and then a 10 min cool down. I felt not too bad - phew! I was pretty worried I'd lost all my bike fitness over the last two weeks. I actually even managed to hold my one legged spinning for a minute with no dead spots in the pedal stroke and with good strength! Go figure.
The bad(?) news is that although I had no distractions like music or the t.v., I'm sure I only focused on my pedal stroke and technique for a minor portion of the time. The duration of time in between my checking my heart rate and cadence was spent reminiscing about Malaysia, coming up with ideas for a career that would take me to warm places cause I realized I'd rather be warm all the time than cold, dreaming about meeting Faris again, and just general future planning. LOL.
One day I will get this focus thing down pat! It was one of my goals for this year and it's obvious it's going to be a challenge. Ah well...if everything were easy - life would be friggin boring!!
Friday, 22 February 2008
Training in Asia III...
As the pool here is the size of a tub - IronGreg suggested I swim down by the Jetty where the IM swim will take place. This would be a great idea, except that I saw a scary fishy in the water the other day when I went running down there, haha. Like, a really scary - prehistoric looking scary! Prickly, pirranha but bigger scary!!
That said, I didn't want to tell IG why it was I was scared to go into the water, because he was going to have to swim in that water in the race on Saturday and I didn't want him to worry about his swim and scary fish! (I am counting on the fact that he is busy with his final prep and likely won't read this post till AFTER the race, haha.) I figured that IG would be with me in the water, and likely other competitors getting one last swim in, so why not go?? Not to mention that I plan on doing an International race next year and it's likely I'd be swimming in an ocean or sea - might as well get over my fear now, right?
The plan was for me to do a run/swim/run. I'd run to the Jetty while IG biked around a bit then he'd meet me there. It's only about a 10 minute run or so.
When I got there, anyone that was in the water was getting out. Rats. IG showed up shortly after and when I said 'we going in?' he replied, 'Oh, I'm not going in today in order to save my shoulder.' "Okay", I squeaked...
Needless to say I was scared. I tried to rationalize this fear in my head, saying it was just fear of the unknown, not to mention fear of a fish that likely won't be anywhere near me...but I was still scared. haha. I thought about not going in - as now it would be just me in the water - but I knew I couldn't do that. One thing about fear, if you don't stare it down, it will never go away.
So I got my goggles on and slowly walked the plank....I mean walked to the pontoon. haha. It was kinda neat going in to swim where the race was going to be. Not that you could tell that was what I was thinking at the time....I was walking quite slowly to the pontoon and yes, a few tears escaped my eyes. (I'm such a loser at times!) I kept telling myself to suck it up and stop being such a wuss! I stood on the steps of the pontoon for a bit when one of the IM dudes that was watching over people going in notified me that the current was very strong and he didn't want me going further than a particular buoy. I see. I then asked him if there were fish that would attack me in this part of the water. He laughed and assured me there weren't.....I'm not sure if he was telling the truth or not, but he did promise to come in and rescue me if need be. Phew! LOL.
Oh, I should mention that I told IG I was scared to go in (I mentioned the fear of fish....I just didn't mention that I actually saw a scary fish!). He too assured me that he'd rescue me, to which I told him he wasn't allowed because he had to be ready for the race tomorrow. So I pointed to a handsome military dude (who closely resembled 'The Rock') and asked that he send him in after me, haha.
Okay, so I took a deep breath, and I dove in! The first few strokes were all out sprint. Wanted to make sure I scared any mean, Susi eating fish away. heh heh. Then I got into a groove. It was pretty quick into my swim that I was rudely reminded that I was swimming in salt water. Gasp, sputter!
I practiced my sighting and finally made it to the buoy. I turned around to see IG with his arms in the air cheering me on. I swear, he's the best coach - not to mention friend! I then swam back to the pontoon. I figured out quickly about the currents - it took me half the time to get back as to get out there, but I was also being pushed away from the pontoon. This would be something I'd let IG know about for tomorrow.
I did one more lap then got out. I was hoping they'd have the showers going, (they have them set up for the competitors tomorrow) but alas, this was not to be. IG sprayed some water on my face to wash off the salt, and I drank a bit to get it out of my mouth too. The rest would have to stay on me as I went for my run.
I said goodbye to IG and headed out. I am not one for busy areas, so figured I'd run in a new direction today and do some exploring. The first leg of my run took me along the water towards the Westin resort. I didn't have to run far to get there so I headed back to the hotel area.
It was really cool running through that section as it was more in the forest. I could hear the calls of about 3 or 4 different birds. All of them with a cry much more pleasant that our magpies back home!
Once back to the hotel I headed to the right, rather than the left where I had been yesterday. I had no idea where I was headed, but I knew it'd be an adventure!
I ran along a road that took me through a bit of a residential area - I think. I can't read any of the signs so not sure what all the places were, I think I went past a daycare, tons of little roadside stands, and houses. There was one industrial section that I went by and I saw a huge tank, but I'm not sure if it was for petrol or water. Pretty big pipes going into the header though!
I came to a 10% grade hill. Huh. 10% looks pretty steep! I started to run up it, but my HR was climbing too high so I stopped and walked a bit. Not to mention I was starting to wheeze, haha. The humidity hadn't bugged my asthma too much, but I think it would kick in big time if I tried to run up the hill.
I came to a junction that said 'Kuah' or 'Something Beach'. I decided it was to the beach I'd go! This whole section of road was like running through the jungle, but on a paved road. It was awesome! Part of the time I had CCR's 'Run through the Jungle' going through my head, haha. I savoured all the sights and sounds. Lots of animal sounds - I was hoping none of them were sounds an animal makes before attacking, haha. It was truly beautiful through there.
Finally I came to the beach and a very small resort. The beach was in this little alcove and totally deserted. How cool is that?! There was a little hut that indicated they could take you on adventure tours around the area - hiking, fishing, etc etc. I walked on the beach for a bit and collected a bunch of sea shells and then just stood there looking out at the water and thinking to myself 'I can't believe I'm here!!!'
I realized I'd better get running again as it was getting hotter out. First a quick stop at the resort to grab some cold bottled water. I got my water and learned how to say 'thank you' in Malay..."Tarima Kasih".
The run back had a few steep hills in it, but they weren't super bad. Of course I got to run down the 10% grade hill. Yay!
Along my run there were many people that drove by or that I ran by, who were sitting in the 'restarons'. I have to say the people here are wonderfully friendly and most will smile or say hello. I really must learn how to say 'Good morning' so I can greet the people I see. One fellow shouted at me 'Keep steady!'. haha. I also got an offer for a ride on a motorscooter, of which there is an overabundance here. The fellow who asked me was wearing a purple outfit, which I thought was quite fitting as it is my favourite colour! I thanked him, but said I was fine.
The reason he asked was because I had stopped along the road...and the reason I stopped along the road? MONKEYS!!!! I was running along and thought that I saw something up ahead...it wasn't until I got closer that I saw what it was that had moved. Two of them made for the trees, with one of them grunting. I took that to mean 'stay away', so I did! There was one sitting on the cinderblock fence that seemed quite interested in me. I stared back for a bit, then figured I'd better get running. I wish I'd had my camera!!! They weren't more than 6 feet away from me!
In no time I was back at the hotel. I got about an 1:15 run in. I was hoping to do 1.5 hours, but in all honesty I was burning up. As I thought how hot it was out, I thought about all the competitors that will be in the IM this weekend, especially our IG. I truly hope everyone has a good run and isn't affected too badly by the heat and humidity here. That said, there is a reason they call Ironman 'The Toughest Show on Earth'!!
That said, I didn't want to tell IG why it was I was scared to go into the water, because he was going to have to swim in that water in the race on Saturday and I didn't want him to worry about his swim and scary fish! (I am counting on the fact that he is busy with his final prep and likely won't read this post till AFTER the race, haha.) I figured that IG would be with me in the water, and likely other competitors getting one last swim in, so why not go?? Not to mention that I plan on doing an International race next year and it's likely I'd be swimming in an ocean or sea - might as well get over my fear now, right?
The plan was for me to do a run/swim/run. I'd run to the Jetty while IG biked around a bit then he'd meet me there. It's only about a 10 minute run or so.
When I got there, anyone that was in the water was getting out. Rats. IG showed up shortly after and when I said 'we going in?' he replied, 'Oh, I'm not going in today in order to save my shoulder.' "Okay", I squeaked...
Needless to say I was scared. I tried to rationalize this fear in my head, saying it was just fear of the unknown, not to mention fear of a fish that likely won't be anywhere near me...but I was still scared. haha. I thought about not going in - as now it would be just me in the water - but I knew I couldn't do that. One thing about fear, if you don't stare it down, it will never go away.
So I got my goggles on and slowly walked the plank....I mean walked to the pontoon. haha. It was kinda neat going in to swim where the race was going to be. Not that you could tell that was what I was thinking at the time....I was walking quite slowly to the pontoon and yes, a few tears escaped my eyes. (I'm such a loser at times!) I kept telling myself to suck it up and stop being such a wuss! I stood on the steps of the pontoon for a bit when one of the IM dudes that was watching over people going in notified me that the current was very strong and he didn't want me going further than a particular buoy. I see. I then asked him if there were fish that would attack me in this part of the water. He laughed and assured me there weren't.....I'm not sure if he was telling the truth or not, but he did promise to come in and rescue me if need be. Phew! LOL.
Oh, I should mention that I told IG I was scared to go in (I mentioned the fear of fish....I just didn't mention that I actually saw a scary fish!). He too assured me that he'd rescue me, to which I told him he wasn't allowed because he had to be ready for the race tomorrow. So I pointed to a handsome military dude (who closely resembled 'The Rock') and asked that he send him in after me, haha.
Okay, so I took a deep breath, and I dove in! The first few strokes were all out sprint. Wanted to make sure I scared any mean, Susi eating fish away. heh heh. Then I got into a groove. It was pretty quick into my swim that I was rudely reminded that I was swimming in salt water. Gasp, sputter!
I practiced my sighting and finally made it to the buoy. I turned around to see IG with his arms in the air cheering me on. I swear, he's the best coach - not to mention friend! I then swam back to the pontoon. I figured out quickly about the currents - it took me half the time to get back as to get out there, but I was also being pushed away from the pontoon. This would be something I'd let IG know about for tomorrow.
I did one more lap then got out. I was hoping they'd have the showers going, (they have them set up for the competitors tomorrow) but alas, this was not to be. IG sprayed some water on my face to wash off the salt, and I drank a bit to get it out of my mouth too. The rest would have to stay on me as I went for my run.
I said goodbye to IG and headed out. I am not one for busy areas, so figured I'd run in a new direction today and do some exploring. The first leg of my run took me along the water towards the Westin resort. I didn't have to run far to get there so I headed back to the hotel area.
It was really cool running through that section as it was more in the forest. I could hear the calls of about 3 or 4 different birds. All of them with a cry much more pleasant that our magpies back home!
Once back to the hotel I headed to the right, rather than the left where I had been yesterday. I had no idea where I was headed, but I knew it'd be an adventure!
I ran along a road that took me through a bit of a residential area - I think. I can't read any of the signs so not sure what all the places were, I think I went past a daycare, tons of little roadside stands, and houses. There was one industrial section that I went by and I saw a huge tank, but I'm not sure if it was for petrol or water. Pretty big pipes going into the header though!
I came to a 10% grade hill. Huh. 10% looks pretty steep! I started to run up it, but my HR was climbing too high so I stopped and walked a bit. Not to mention I was starting to wheeze, haha. The humidity hadn't bugged my asthma too much, but I think it would kick in big time if I tried to run up the hill.
I came to a junction that said 'Kuah' or 'Something Beach'. I decided it was to the beach I'd go! This whole section of road was like running through the jungle, but on a paved road. It was awesome! Part of the time I had CCR's 'Run through the Jungle' going through my head, haha. I savoured all the sights and sounds. Lots of animal sounds - I was hoping none of them were sounds an animal makes before attacking, haha. It was truly beautiful through there.
Finally I came to the beach and a very small resort. The beach was in this little alcove and totally deserted. How cool is that?! There was a little hut that indicated they could take you on adventure tours around the area - hiking, fishing, etc etc. I walked on the beach for a bit and collected a bunch of sea shells and then just stood there looking out at the water and thinking to myself 'I can't believe I'm here!!!'
I realized I'd better get running again as it was getting hotter out. First a quick stop at the resort to grab some cold bottled water. I got my water and learned how to say 'thank you' in Malay..."Tarima Kasih".
The run back had a few steep hills in it, but they weren't super bad. Of course I got to run down the 10% grade hill. Yay!
Along my run there were many people that drove by or that I ran by, who were sitting in the 'restarons'. I have to say the people here are wonderfully friendly and most will smile or say hello. I really must learn how to say 'Good morning' so I can greet the people I see. One fellow shouted at me 'Keep steady!'. haha. I also got an offer for a ride on a motorscooter, of which there is an overabundance here. The fellow who asked me was wearing a purple outfit, which I thought was quite fitting as it is my favourite colour! I thanked him, but said I was fine.
The reason he asked was because I had stopped along the road...and the reason I stopped along the road? MONKEYS!!!! I was running along and thought that I saw something up ahead...it wasn't until I got closer that I saw what it was that had moved. Two of them made for the trees, with one of them grunting. I took that to mean 'stay away', so I did! There was one sitting on the cinderblock fence that seemed quite interested in me. I stared back for a bit, then figured I'd better get running. I wish I'd had my camera!!! They weren't more than 6 feet away from me!
In no time I was back at the hotel. I got about an 1:15 run in. I was hoping to do 1.5 hours, but in all honesty I was burning up. As I thought how hot it was out, I thought about all the competitors that will be in the IM this weekend, especially our IG. I truly hope everyone has a good run and isn't affected too badly by the heat and humidity here. That said, there is a reason they call Ironman 'The Toughest Show on Earth'!!
Thursday, 21 February 2008
Training In Asia II...
We are finally here in Langkawi - home of Ironman Malaysia! It's awesome to be at an Ironman event again, even if I'm not racing. I still have to train for IMCDA of course, and it's great to be training around all these athletes who are ready to attain their goals next Saturday.
I wanted to get outside for a run as the last two had been on treadmills. IronGreg was headed out for a short one so I figured I'd follow him as long as I could. Needless to say that was about a millisecond, haha. Not that I'll ever be able to keep up, but one must also factor in that he's at the peak of his training and I'm in base endurance mode, which means working out at low heartrates.
We thought it would be fun if I ran one of the IM loops, so that's what I did. All I can say is I sure as hell hope there isn't that much traffic out on the course come race day! It's insane here! There are cars, trucks and a million mopeds.
For safety reasons I decided to run towards oncoming traffic so I could see if I needed to bail. This was definitely a good plan as I realized in short order that the mopeds, and bicycles will ride on the road edge, which is where I was running! I was a bit nervous as I had two options to get out of the way, either into the traffic, or into an concrete irrigation ditch that ran along the road. It was about a 3 ft drop into that one - not a great option. At least with having to be totally aware of all this it kept me occupied!
I should mention that Malaysia is predominantly Muslim. I wasn't sure how it was going to go over with me wearing shorts and a t-back sports top. Overall, no one minded. However, I did say hello to a Muslim L.O.D. (little ol' dear) as she was walking by me and she just looked ahead but persed her lips in a way that made me think she wasn't too pleased I spoke to her.
I also had a fellow say something to me out his car window... not sure what he said really, but I'm assuming it was 'Hey! Nice running technique!'. haha.
Oh, did I mention that they drive on the left side of the road here?? When I had to run across an intersection I had to look in a million directions because I wasn't sure where people were coming from. I also would run very quickly across the roads to get the hell out of the way fast! My heart rate did some interesting jumps then. haha.
By the time I got back to the hotel (I ran about 1:35 hours) I was soaked! I think it was about 30C outside and quite humid. I got into the elevator and one of the young boys that works here said, 'Were you out swimming?'. haha. Uh, no. This is all sweat. Good stuff eh?! haha.
Don't worry though, I'm not complaining about the heat, in fact I loved it!!
Later on I went for a swim. I was hoping to get an hour in, but the pool here is ridiculously short. So short that I could swim a length in FIVE strokes! Yup, you read that right.
At one end was a tile outcropping that was just about forehead height when you come out of the water to grab the pool edge. Nice....
I managed to swim 30 minutes in this tub of a pool, but that was it. Tomorrow I'm going to run to the jetty - Greg will bike there - and then swim some of the course with him. Then I'll go for more of a run after the swim. Hopefully there are no scary fishy's in there!! No wetsuit to protect me. Gulp!
I wanted to get outside for a run as the last two had been on treadmills. IronGreg was headed out for a short one so I figured I'd follow him as long as I could. Needless to say that was about a millisecond, haha. Not that I'll ever be able to keep up, but one must also factor in that he's at the peak of his training and I'm in base endurance mode, which means working out at low heartrates.
We thought it would be fun if I ran one of the IM loops, so that's what I did. All I can say is I sure as hell hope there isn't that much traffic out on the course come race day! It's insane here! There are cars, trucks and a million mopeds.
For safety reasons I decided to run towards oncoming traffic so I could see if I needed to bail. This was definitely a good plan as I realized in short order that the mopeds, and bicycles will ride on the road edge, which is where I was running! I was a bit nervous as I had two options to get out of the way, either into the traffic, or into an concrete irrigation ditch that ran along the road. It was about a 3 ft drop into that one - not a great option. At least with having to be totally aware of all this it kept me occupied!
I should mention that Malaysia is predominantly Muslim. I wasn't sure how it was going to go over with me wearing shorts and a t-back sports top. Overall, no one minded. However, I did say hello to a Muslim L.O.D. (little ol' dear) as she was walking by me and she just looked ahead but persed her lips in a way that made me think she wasn't too pleased I spoke to her.
I also had a fellow say something to me out his car window... not sure what he said really, but I'm assuming it was 'Hey! Nice running technique!'. haha.
Oh, did I mention that they drive on the left side of the road here?? When I had to run across an intersection I had to look in a million directions because I wasn't sure where people were coming from. I also would run very quickly across the roads to get the hell out of the way fast! My heart rate did some interesting jumps then. haha.
By the time I got back to the hotel (I ran about 1:35 hours) I was soaked! I think it was about 30C outside and quite humid. I got into the elevator and one of the young boys that works here said, 'Were you out swimming?'. haha. Uh, no. This is all sweat. Good stuff eh?! haha.
Don't worry though, I'm not complaining about the heat, in fact I loved it!!
Later on I went for a swim. I was hoping to get an hour in, but the pool here is ridiculously short. So short that I could swim a length in FIVE strokes! Yup, you read that right.
At one end was a tile outcropping that was just about forehead height when you come out of the water to grab the pool edge. Nice....
I managed to swim 30 minutes in this tub of a pool, but that was it. Tomorrow I'm going to run to the jetty - Greg will bike there - and then swim some of the course with him. Then I'll go for more of a run after the swim. Hopefully there are no scary fishy's in there!! No wetsuit to protect me. Gulp!
Wednesday, 20 February 2008
Training in Asia I...
Finally I can train in warmth!! Well, kind of, haha. We are finally in Singapore and I need to get some training going. After sitting in planes and airports for about 26 hours or so, I needed to move!
We had done a fair amount of walking on our first day in Singapore and I realized it'd be hard to get a good run in. For a few reasons really, there are a ton of stoplights - not to mention traffic! For that reason I decided to do my running on the treadmill in the gym at the hotel so I wouldn't have to constantly stop and start. Yes, I know, I chose a treadmill over running outside!
I actually had a good run yesterday and today on it. I put on some Jack Johnson and got into a groove. Funny thing was they had a mirror placed in front of the treadmill so I had to stare at myself the whole time. Urgh. How boring is that?! I did watch my technique though and tried to get my arms to stop swinging as much - to no avail of course.
I gotta say, even though they had some air conditioning on, it was friggin hot in there. Within about 15 minutes I looked like someone threw a bucket of water on me!
All good though, both days I ran for an hour at a 7:13 km/h pace and kept my heartrate in mid zone two (so between 130-135). Hopefully as the months go by I can keep my heartrate down, but pick up the pace a bit!
I managed to get a swim in on one of the days as well. It was not easy I might add. The pool was definitely not 25 meters....more like about 15 m...so it was getting boring really fast. I was trying everything to keep myself going! One arm drills, sculling, kicking, backstroke...
When Greg had got back from his run he came to the pool as well. Not to swim of course, but to take pics of me, in addition to a movie, when I didn't know it, haha. At least I also got some good tips on my stroke - it seems I was reaching quite far out when I'd go to take a breath. Will watch that from now on!
Every once in a while I'd bob my head out of the water and Greg, who was relaxing on a lounger, would yell out how many more minutes I had, haha. What a guy!
It was great though - I felt like a pro triathlete with my coach being right there!!
Oh we did get some fun pictures too...
Thursday, 14 February 2008
I'm Here!!!
Okay, so just because I haven't been blogging does not mean I haven't been training. Well, ok, I didn't work out on Wednesday, but we'll get to that shortly...
Hmm...now what did I do on Monday....OH! Right! It was as slick as snot outside so I decided rather than go for a run and risk breaking my leg (I have a vacation to go on in a couple of sleeps!) I'd jump onto the handy dandy Nordic Trak. No, I do not have a treadmill like some of my counterparts...but as all well know, Susi hates treadmills, so it's likely better that way.
The Nordic Trak was fine. Not as fun as being outside with the wind and snow in my hair and having snotsicles hanging down, but it would have to do. I was moving along just fine when I looked down and saw 32:16 minutes had gone by. Sweet. Not much longer to go. Slide. Slide. Slide. Some time had passed so I looked down...32:16 the display read. Cool, not much longer to go. (Apparantly my brain shuts down when I'm on such a mindnumbing piece of equipment, haha). Slide. Slide. Slide. I look down again and see 32:16. What the....?? (Yes, my brain FINALLY clued in.) Alrighty then. I guess I can dismount this bad boy as I'm sure I'm at my time goal, haha.
As for Tuesday, well let's just say 'I hate Tuesdays'. I never seem to have ANY energy on Tuesday. No idea why. Perhaps it's because I know it's going to be a long day. Swimming was fine - but as mentioned, no energy. Hmmm...nope, can't recall what we did... WAIT! I do remember doing a LOT of kicking. I'm not fond of kicking, which is likely why my brain tried to block out the painful memory, haha. I do try hard at kicking though, because I know I suck so badly at it and I want to get better.
Tuesday night I hoped onto the bike. Funny thing happened...my heart rate would not go up. I had it in the same gears as Sunday and my heart rate was 103 bpm. That would be about 37 beats LOWER than on Sunday. What the... GREEEEEEEG!! WHAT IS MY BODY DOING??
Now I know that IronGreg (IG) said he'd like it if I could stay in this particular gear and not have to go one easier towards the end of the work out...but seriously...did my body really just change over night just because IG wanted it that way?! I think not. It's way to stubborn to do that. I shifted two gears harder, but nope...the old heart would not pump harder than about 113 bpm. In the end I turned up the resistence in order to reach my goal heart rate.
What I forgot was that when your heart is doing something funky, it's likely trying to tell you something. The next day I had a wicked migraine. Ow. Hmmm, perhaps yesterday was a wee warning?! I was supposed to get on the bike that night, and I did try with the headache. However, I only lasted about two minutes. With every heart beat my head wanted to explode. Uh, ya. So not staying on the bike. I was super bummed as I was adding in another bike workout that night because I won't have access to a bike in Malaysia. (I could maybe borrow IGs...however I'd never be able to reach the pedals, haha. Oh, and lets not forget he'd be using it for a very important race!)
Okay, now where were we...swam, biked, tried to bike....right, back to swimming! Today's swim wasn't too bad. Jen was trying to drown us again, haha. One of our drills was to do the chicken swim. I'm sorry, did you say chicken swim....uhhhh, we do know that chicken's don't swim right?? I did my best and it wasn't pretty, haha. Just further proof that you can't swim like an animal that doesn't swim!!! tee hee.
We also did 10 x 50 m sprints. The first 5 were on 1:05 minutes. The last 5 were on 1:00 minute. My asthma acted up on the 7th set. Unfortunately I had to stop for a bit of a rest, but then was able to finish it up. It was cool being able to swim within the minute though!
Tonight I was on the bike again. My heart rate was back to normal, although I am happy to report I was able to keep it in a gear harder than on Sunday. Exceeeellent. It's always encouraging to see some progress, especially when you were starting to wonder because your body is doing weird things. I guess my body does listen to IG - at least a little bit.
I'll make up my missed bike ride tomorrow night. Somehow I'll squeeze it in with all the clothes washing and packing that I'll have to get done for Saturday. Yup, that's right....ONLY TWO MORE SLEEPS TILL WE LEAVE FOR MALAYSIA!!! Okay, actually it's Singapore first. haha. I so can't wait!! More on that later though. Time to get some shut eye.
Hmm...now what did I do on Monday....OH! Right! It was as slick as snot outside so I decided rather than go for a run and risk breaking my leg (I have a vacation to go on in a couple of sleeps!) I'd jump onto the handy dandy Nordic Trak. No, I do not have a treadmill like some of my counterparts...but as all well know, Susi hates treadmills, so it's likely better that way.
The Nordic Trak was fine. Not as fun as being outside with the wind and snow in my hair and having snotsicles hanging down, but it would have to do. I was moving along just fine when I looked down and saw 32:16 minutes had gone by. Sweet. Not much longer to go. Slide. Slide. Slide. Some time had passed so I looked down...32:16 the display read. Cool, not much longer to go. (Apparantly my brain shuts down when I'm on such a mindnumbing piece of equipment, haha). Slide. Slide. Slide. I look down again and see 32:16. What the....?? (Yes, my brain FINALLY clued in.) Alrighty then. I guess I can dismount this bad boy as I'm sure I'm at my time goal, haha.
As for Tuesday, well let's just say 'I hate Tuesdays'. I never seem to have ANY energy on Tuesday. No idea why. Perhaps it's because I know it's going to be a long day. Swimming was fine - but as mentioned, no energy. Hmmm...nope, can't recall what we did... WAIT! I do remember doing a LOT of kicking. I'm not fond of kicking, which is likely why my brain tried to block out the painful memory, haha. I do try hard at kicking though, because I know I suck so badly at it and I want to get better.
Tuesday night I hoped onto the bike. Funny thing happened...my heart rate would not go up. I had it in the same gears as Sunday and my heart rate was 103 bpm. That would be about 37 beats LOWER than on Sunday. What the... GREEEEEEEG!! WHAT IS MY BODY DOING??
Now I know that IronGreg (IG) said he'd like it if I could stay in this particular gear and not have to go one easier towards the end of the work out...but seriously...did my body really just change over night just because IG wanted it that way?! I think not. It's way to stubborn to do that. I shifted two gears harder, but nope...the old heart would not pump harder than about 113 bpm. In the end I turned up the resistence in order to reach my goal heart rate.
What I forgot was that when your heart is doing something funky, it's likely trying to tell you something. The next day I had a wicked migraine. Ow. Hmmm, perhaps yesterday was a wee warning?! I was supposed to get on the bike that night, and I did try with the headache. However, I only lasted about two minutes. With every heart beat my head wanted to explode. Uh, ya. So not staying on the bike. I was super bummed as I was adding in another bike workout that night because I won't have access to a bike in Malaysia. (I could maybe borrow IGs...however I'd never be able to reach the pedals, haha. Oh, and lets not forget he'd be using it for a very important race!)
Okay, now where were we...swam, biked, tried to bike....right, back to swimming! Today's swim wasn't too bad. Jen was trying to drown us again, haha. One of our drills was to do the chicken swim. I'm sorry, did you say chicken swim....uhhhh, we do know that chicken's don't swim right?? I did my best and it wasn't pretty, haha. Just further proof that you can't swim like an animal that doesn't swim!!! tee hee.
We also did 10 x 50 m sprints. The first 5 were on 1:05 minutes. The last 5 were on 1:00 minute. My asthma acted up on the 7th set. Unfortunately I had to stop for a bit of a rest, but then was able to finish it up. It was cool being able to swim within the minute though!
Tonight I was on the bike again. My heart rate was back to normal, although I am happy to report I was able to keep it in a gear harder than on Sunday. Exceeeellent. It's always encouraging to see some progress, especially when you were starting to wonder because your body is doing weird things. I guess my body does listen to IG - at least a little bit.
I'll make up my missed bike ride tomorrow night. Somehow I'll squeeze it in with all the clothes washing and packing that I'll have to get done for Saturday. Yup, that's right....ONLY TWO MORE SLEEPS TILL WE LEAVE FOR MALAYSIA!!! Okay, actually it's Singapore first. haha. I so can't wait!! More on that later though. Time to get some shut eye.
Sunday, 10 February 2008
The Many Thoughts...
Managed to put in two hours on my bike today...indoors of course as it's like friggin Narnia here still...only colder. How many sleeps till Malaysia?!
My goal for today was to sit on the bike for the alotted time and do 6/4 minute intervals of higher/low heartrates. I actually love my Sunday bike rides. I get up whenever I get up, eat me oatmeal and get on the bike. No rushing like during the week. Then I have blank number of hours of uninterrupted thoughts....
Here's a sampling of what goes through Susi's brain when she has to sit in one spot for two hours:
My goal for today was to sit on the bike for the alotted time and do 6/4 minute intervals of higher/low heartrates. I actually love my Sunday bike rides. I get up whenever I get up, eat me oatmeal and get on the bike. No rushing like during the week. Then I have blank number of hours of uninterrupted thoughts....
Here's a sampling of what goes through Susi's brain when she has to sit in one spot for two hours:
- Damn. Nuun makes me thirsty. Or maybe that's a side effect of having wine for Paddy's birthday last night...hmmm. Naaaah. Must be the Nuun.
- I love Eddie Vedder. I love how he serenades me every time I'm on the bike. Sigh. Eddie is my Rock God.
- Wind trainer...what a misnomer...if there was wind then when I broke wind I wouldn't have to suffer through the residual odour just hanging in the air around me...cough, cough.
- What DID I eat last night?? Jayzus. haha. I should set up a fan!
- I want to marry Eddie...even if he's involved with extremist environmentalist groups. At least I'm a vegetarian...that has to make me somewhat appealing to him. Right??
- OOOH! Are those muscles I see peeking out from under my insulation?! Please let it be so! I want ripped legs with lean long muscles just like our IronGreg! Only in my size cause really, his legs are as long as I am tall and that would just look silly on me. I'm sure of it. No. Really.
- I love flannel. Eddie wears flannel. We are SO perfect for each other. Sigh.
- Booger from 'Revenge of the Nerds' would be so proud of my burps. Excellent tenor and duration. What DID I eat last night?? Huh, wonder if I'll be able to say the whole alphabet one day? Good thing the roomie isn't around this morn, haha.
- Huh, wonder what that person is doing walking out the back road. It's so cold out! Better them than me. They can't be running? Oh. No. Not running. Still. What are they doing walking out there?
- I wonder if Eddie would be interested in a triathlete....huh, wonder if they have any triathlons in Seattle? Not that that would help me meet Eddie. But maybe...
- I can't wait for the day that my legs are so ripped that my inner thigh does NOT hit the damn seatpost. Unless of course they do because my adductors are so HUGE from muscle that it's just pure power slamming into the post. haha. Gotta dream big right?!
- Oh, shite, HR is too low. Focus Suse. Hey, I'm in a tougher gear. Sweet. Perhaps I'm getting efficient! Belieeeeeve.
- I love this song!
- Close your eyes and focus on what 90 rpm feels like at this heart rate....
- I wonder if I should pack some spare clothes in my carry on just in case my luggage goes wayward? Shorts and bathing suit. That should about do it. Heh heh. I can't wait for the glorious heat and humidity!
- I can totally do this ride. Getting a little tired now, but nothing unmanageable. Could probably go longer.
- Oh, look at that. I'm done and still have two more albums of Pearl Jam I could listen too. Awesome!
Just imagine what I'm like in meetings at work, haha. This is only a mere fraction of the thoughts that zing through my brain. I have to admit though, I'm getting better at focusing on my cadence and pedal stroke. So my non 'silly' thoughts are pretty much all about how I'm feeling and what my body is doing. Afterall, that's why I'm doing this. To get better on the bike.
Although, it can be nice to have some time just to let thoughts go zinging through my brain.....tee hee.
Friday, 8 February 2008
Stupid, Icky Treadmill...
It was -32C with the windchill tonight....and tomorrow is supposed to be even colder...so I was forced inside and on the treadmill tonight. Blech. haha. Actually, tomorrow is supposed to be my run day, but I have a million and one errands and appointments, so I figured I'd get my run in tonight - the cold was just an extra motivator.
I had the tunes cranked and was doing my thing when my stupid guts kicked in. Sigh. The pain was growing and I thought to myself, ok, just get to the half hour mark. At the same time, frustration started to seep in. I didn't want to stop running, but I hurt. So I made a deal, I would get to the half hour mark, then I would walk for a few minutes, and if I had to, I'd stop.
As I started walking, the frustration I felt started to turn into worry. Shite. What if what happened last year at IMC with my guts happens this year at IMCDA?! Dammit!! I don't WANT to have it happen again. How am I going to deal with it?? Crap! AAARRRRGGGHHH!!!
At the 0:35 minute mark the anger set in and took over any worry I was feeling. F*** this!! I'm not going to let this stop me. I'm going to run dammit. So I started to run, but slowly at first. Then my favourite 'go kick some ass' song came on. Eminem's 'Lose Yourself'. It was at that point I increased my pace. No, I'm not going to let myself worry about all the 'what if's' of the race. No, I'm not going to give up if my guts bug me. I will decrease my intensity, but I sure as hell am not going to give up! What I am going to do though, is I will make sure I get on my mental game - NOW.
Last year about this time I started working on my mental game. And let me tell you, it got me through many races, especially the big one when things started going all pear shaped. It's time to get back into it because you know what?? Triathlon - it's 80% mental baby. I'm soooo not exaggerating. I don't give a damn how physically fit you are, but when you are tired, and not sure how you are going to make it...it's not your physcial ability that gets you through the day. Nope. It's your mental attitude. You need to know how you will answer yourself when your mind asks 'Why are we doing this???'. You need to know what tricks you will play to stay positive when you are tired and you hurt and you want to take a nap in the ditch!
This is why I had to keep running. Why I couldn't just turn off the damn treadmill (which I absolutely loathe I might add) and say, my tummy hurts so I'm going to stop now. I had to work through the pain. So I did. I managed to run for an hour and I have to say I'm super stoked that I did. I'll admit it though, even with all this mental training....I really, really hope that I don't have to deal with my guts on that day!! LOL.
Okay. Enough of all the 'deep' postings. I really hope I can get outside and train soon cause all this indoor shite is making me too serious. LOL. I need some wacky adventure to occur!!! I NEED HUMOUR!! Too bad I didn't catch my shoelace in the treadmill or something. Now THAT would have been funny. You'd hear a 'yelp!' then a 'thud!', some sort of rock rolling down a hill sound....then absolute laughter! I guarantee it!!
I had the tunes cranked and was doing my thing when my stupid guts kicked in. Sigh. The pain was growing and I thought to myself, ok, just get to the half hour mark. At the same time, frustration started to seep in. I didn't want to stop running, but I hurt. So I made a deal, I would get to the half hour mark, then I would walk for a few minutes, and if I had to, I'd stop.
As I started walking, the frustration I felt started to turn into worry. Shite. What if what happened last year at IMC with my guts happens this year at IMCDA?! Dammit!! I don't WANT to have it happen again. How am I going to deal with it?? Crap! AAARRRRGGGHHH!!!
At the 0:35 minute mark the anger set in and took over any worry I was feeling. F*** this!! I'm not going to let this stop me. I'm going to run dammit. So I started to run, but slowly at first. Then my favourite 'go kick some ass' song came on. Eminem's 'Lose Yourself'. It was at that point I increased my pace. No, I'm not going to let myself worry about all the 'what if's' of the race. No, I'm not going to give up if my guts bug me. I will decrease my intensity, but I sure as hell am not going to give up! What I am going to do though, is I will make sure I get on my mental game - NOW.
Last year about this time I started working on my mental game. And let me tell you, it got me through many races, especially the big one when things started going all pear shaped. It's time to get back into it because you know what?? Triathlon - it's 80% mental baby. I'm soooo not exaggerating. I don't give a damn how physically fit you are, but when you are tired, and not sure how you are going to make it...it's not your physcial ability that gets you through the day. Nope. It's your mental attitude. You need to know how you will answer yourself when your mind asks 'Why are we doing this???'. You need to know what tricks you will play to stay positive when you are tired and you hurt and you want to take a nap in the ditch!
This is why I had to keep running. Why I couldn't just turn off the damn treadmill (which I absolutely loathe I might add) and say, my tummy hurts so I'm going to stop now. I had to work through the pain. So I did. I managed to run for an hour and I have to say I'm super stoked that I did. I'll admit it though, even with all this mental training....I really, really hope that I don't have to deal with my guts on that day!! LOL.
Okay. Enough of all the 'deep' postings. I really hope I can get outside and train soon cause all this indoor shite is making me too serious. LOL. I need some wacky adventure to occur!!! I NEED HUMOUR!! Too bad I didn't catch my shoelace in the treadmill or something. Now THAT would have been funny. You'd hear a 'yelp!' then a 'thud!', some sort of rock rolling down a hill sound....then absolute laughter! I guarantee it!!
Thursday, 7 February 2008
A Gentle Reminder...
So I was sitting in my wee cubicle, well really it's an open-air-concept-end-of-hallway cubicle, when my coworker, Ali, stopped by. He was showing me how to request some documents etc. Anyhow, he was looking at my monitor when his eyes wandered upward on the wall to where I have a picture of Tigger and I crossing the finish line at Ironman.
He pointed to the picture and asked what the picture was from and if I had finished a running race. I told him it was from a triathlon. He then had a quizzical look on his face, 'Triathlon?' He didn't know what it was so I explained that it is a race where you swim, then bike, then run, one event right after the other. He thought was pretty cool. So I mentioned that this was a long triathlon. He asked what the distances were. I told him the swim was 3.8 km. His eyes got a bit wider. Then I told him the bike was 180 km. He repeated what I said with a question mark behind it. haha. His eyes were even more wide then. Then I told him about the run distance. He said 'that's a marathon!'. Yes sir, it is.
He then looked at me, and with his quiet voice said 'What an amazing accomplishment to finish something like that'. Well, I gotta tell ya. I just about cried.
You may wonder why the heck that just about brought tears to my eyes. Well, for one you have to know Ali, he's a very kind, quiet man and so just the way he said those words got to me. The second reason is I sometimes forget just what an achievement finishing an Ironman is. I'm surrounded by many who've completed Ironman - even many Ironman. A lot of them are pretty darn fast too. So sometimes it's easy to forget how huge an achievement it is just to finish. It seems so normal to do one!
The last reason that tears were brought to my eyes...and this one I'm very ashamed of...is that I often think, yes, I finished an Ironman, BUT my time was 16:05. Like that means that my completing the race somehow means less than the others that came at quicker times!! Uh NOOO. I certainly wouldn't think that of any of the other competitors times...so why do I think that about mine?!
Well you know what? Ali didn't care about my time. He just thought it was awesome that I finished. He even said that he could see doing each event one at a time, if you took all day...and had much rest in between. But all together?! And he's right. I'm very humbled by what he said and very thankful he put it into perspective.
So why am I confessing my shame about how I feel about my time? Well, because we are now headed into another season of triathlon. Some of my friends are going to be attempting their first Ironman, some their first half Ironman, and I'm going to be attempting my second Ironman. I was given a gentle reminder about what it means to attempt and complete these challenges. I know, I've been reminded before....but I sometimes forget. So I want to be the first to remind you guys...
No matter what happens on 'the big day', be proud! Remember how completely amazing it is that you are out there and that you are giving it your best. Know that not everyone has the gumption to attempt any distance of triathlon, much less a half or full Ironman! Try your best not to compare yourselves to others or worry about the time. Sure, we all set some time goals. It's natural. It's not the be all and end all of the race though!!
Savour every moment of the day. In fact, savour every moment leading up to the big day!
And just as every parent says to their child before a big event. Just do your best!!
He pointed to the picture and asked what the picture was from and if I had finished a running race. I told him it was from a triathlon. He then had a quizzical look on his face, 'Triathlon?' He didn't know what it was so I explained that it is a race where you swim, then bike, then run, one event right after the other. He thought was pretty cool. So I mentioned that this was a long triathlon. He asked what the distances were. I told him the swim was 3.8 km. His eyes got a bit wider. Then I told him the bike was 180 km. He repeated what I said with a question mark behind it. haha. His eyes were even more wide then. Then I told him about the run distance. He said 'that's a marathon!'. Yes sir, it is.
He then looked at me, and with his quiet voice said 'What an amazing accomplishment to finish something like that'. Well, I gotta tell ya. I just about cried.
You may wonder why the heck that just about brought tears to my eyes. Well, for one you have to know Ali, he's a very kind, quiet man and so just the way he said those words got to me. The second reason is I sometimes forget just what an achievement finishing an Ironman is. I'm surrounded by many who've completed Ironman - even many Ironman. A lot of them are pretty darn fast too. So sometimes it's easy to forget how huge an achievement it is just to finish. It seems so normal to do one!
The last reason that tears were brought to my eyes...and this one I'm very ashamed of...is that I often think, yes, I finished an Ironman, BUT my time was 16:05. Like that means that my completing the race somehow means less than the others that came at quicker times!! Uh NOOO. I certainly wouldn't think that of any of the other competitors times...so why do I think that about mine?!
Well you know what? Ali didn't care about my time. He just thought it was awesome that I finished. He even said that he could see doing each event one at a time, if you took all day...and had much rest in between. But all together?! And he's right. I'm very humbled by what he said and very thankful he put it into perspective.
So why am I confessing my shame about how I feel about my time? Well, because we are now headed into another season of triathlon. Some of my friends are going to be attempting their first Ironman, some their first half Ironman, and I'm going to be attempting my second Ironman. I was given a gentle reminder about what it means to attempt and complete these challenges. I know, I've been reminded before....but I sometimes forget. So I want to be the first to remind you guys...
No matter what happens on 'the big day', be proud! Remember how completely amazing it is that you are out there and that you are giving it your best. Know that not everyone has the gumption to attempt any distance of triathlon, much less a half or full Ironman! Try your best not to compare yourselves to others or worry about the time. Sure, we all set some time goals. It's natural. It's not the be all and end all of the race though!!
Savour every moment of the day. In fact, savour every moment leading up to the big day!
And just as every parent says to their child before a big event. Just do your best!!
Wednesday, 6 February 2008
Do Coyotes Wag Their Tails???
Went for a run after work tonight. One thing that sucks about running at dinnertime is all you can smell is good food cooking, haha. This wouldn't be a problem, but I was soo hungry after work that I scarfed down a pack of Sharkies just so my stomach wouldn't be grumbling while I ran. Then when I was running all I could smell was yummy food....Sharkies just don't cut it sometimes!
Ahhh, the sacrfices one makes in order to squeeze her run in before eating as she has to get to bed before 9 so she can wake up before 5am to swim!!! LOL.
Anyhow, the run went well. Just ran around the neighborhood along the paths that weren't too spooky. Everything was fine and dandy till I was just about home. I was on a bit of a darkened section of path when I saw two pairs of glowing eyes looking at me...gulp! I had my trusty LED ball cap on so was shining it in the direction of said glowing eyes as I tried to figure out what the hell it was I was looking at!!!
Finally I could see wagging tails. Hmmm...coyotes don't wag their tails before they kill do they?! After a few tense moments I saw it was a big and small dog. Then I saw the owner of the dogs running along the path. All was fine and dandy! PHEW!!
Ahhh, the sacrfices one makes in order to squeeze her run in before eating as she has to get to bed before 9 so she can wake up before 5am to swim!!! LOL.
Anyhow, the run went well. Just ran around the neighborhood along the paths that weren't too spooky. Everything was fine and dandy till I was just about home. I was on a bit of a darkened section of path when I saw two pairs of glowing eyes looking at me...gulp! I had my trusty LED ball cap on so was shining it in the direction of said glowing eyes as I tried to figure out what the hell it was I was looking at!!!
Finally I could see wagging tails. Hmmm...coyotes don't wag their tails before they kill do they?! After a few tense moments I saw it was a big and small dog. Then I saw the owner of the dogs running along the path. All was fine and dandy! PHEW!!
Tuesday, 5 February 2008
14:39...
Holy hannah, it's Tuesday and I'm writing a post!!! Well I just had to as I'm happy with my swim time this morning. We did a timed 750 m swim and I did it in 14:39 minutes. I don't know if I've ever done it in that time...must go check back. Usually my timed swims are for 1000 m. But I'm still happy!
I am very proud of the fact that I managed to do flipturns for 90% of the swim AND I 'expanded my comfort zone'. haha. I started out a pace that felt good to start, but that I knew might be a challenge to hold. Any time I felt like I wanted to 'slow down' I would repeat my mantra for this year 'sustained power'. I think actually it was IronGreg's voice that I heard in my mind saying that, haha, as he usually does say that whenever I look like I'm getting tired!
The big test in a few months of course will be whether or not I can hold that pace for 3.8 kilometers!
My bike tonight was alright. I felt tired for some reason and really I shouldn't. In fact, I ALWAYS feel tired on Tuesdays. I have no idea why. I usually have rest days on Mondays (although that will switch to Friday from now on) and you'd think my body COMPLETELY forgets everything I've ever done in that one day!!
The first part of my swim this morning I felt tired. Then on my bike I was having to have a little chit chat with my legs to get them going. They were stubborn and didn't want to work, but I prevailed. Hah! I had to switch up my gears again to make things a bit more challenging to get the old heart rate up. I really do hope that's a sign I'm getting more efficient on the bike. Please, oh please!!
To finish off my ride during the cooldown I got a bit of a shock....apparantly I didn't tighten the lid on my second water bottle so when I went to take a drink...
Yup, you guessed it. SPLOOSH! haha. Cold water on my lower regions. YIPES! It wasn't too bad. At least it wasn't the whole bottle or anything....but any feeling of being tired was quickly replaced with a sudden feeling of absolute alertness! haha.
I'm such a dork!
I am very proud of the fact that I managed to do flipturns for 90% of the swim AND I 'expanded my comfort zone'. haha. I started out a pace that felt good to start, but that I knew might be a challenge to hold. Any time I felt like I wanted to 'slow down' I would repeat my mantra for this year 'sustained power'. I think actually it was IronGreg's voice that I heard in my mind saying that, haha, as he usually does say that whenever I look like I'm getting tired!
The big test in a few months of course will be whether or not I can hold that pace for 3.8 kilometers!
My bike tonight was alright. I felt tired for some reason and really I shouldn't. In fact, I ALWAYS feel tired on Tuesdays. I have no idea why. I usually have rest days on Mondays (although that will switch to Friday from now on) and you'd think my body COMPLETELY forgets everything I've ever done in that one day!!
The first part of my swim this morning I felt tired. Then on my bike I was having to have a little chit chat with my legs to get them going. They were stubborn and didn't want to work, but I prevailed. Hah! I had to switch up my gears again to make things a bit more challenging to get the old heart rate up. I really do hope that's a sign I'm getting more efficient on the bike. Please, oh please!!
To finish off my ride during the cooldown I got a bit of a shock....apparantly I didn't tighten the lid on my second water bottle so when I went to take a drink...
Yup, you guessed it. SPLOOSH! haha. Cold water on my lower regions. YIPES! It wasn't too bad. At least it wasn't the whole bottle or anything....but any feeling of being tired was quickly replaced with a sudden feeling of absolute alertness! haha.
I'm such a dork!
Sunday, 3 February 2008
Favourite Words...
Four of my favourite words when it comes to sushi...'ALL YOU CAN EAT'. And, Ladies and Gentlemen, that's what I did last night. LOL.
Personally, rather than call it gluttony, I like to refer to it as carb loading. Afterall, I had a bike ride to do this morning. Yes, that's my excuse for eating so much!!!
Okay, okay....I'll admit it....I ate enough to load me up for an Ironman, tee hee. So yeah, it was more like gluttony. I made sure I ate my $22 worth and some. Uh, did I mention I'm Scottish/Dutch and will always make sure I get my money's worth??
So I was quite proud that I ate eigth spicy tuna cones...which would have cost me $40. heh heh. (Actualy, I ate six...couldn't get the last two down, but they were damn yummy after my bike ride today!!) On top of the cones, I managed to ingest 2 rainbow rolls, bbq mussels, squid, salmon, avocado rolls and some spicy scallop rolls. heh heh. Oh, and I musn't forget the miso soup! When I told Mum about my feast she asked if they banned me from ever returning to the restaurant! haha. (They didn't by the way...silly restaurant.)
When I got home last night I could barely move. I was soooo stuffed. The sushi was put to good use today though. I had a great bike workout, even if it was just for 1.5 hours.
I noticed a couple of things during my bike today. One, I need to stretch and roll my IT bands more. I felt a bit achy for quite some time at the start of the ride. Two, I think my aerobic endurance is improving. At least that's what IG said.
After my workout I mentioned to him that I noticed that when I started it wasn't too hard to get my heart rate in the zones I wanted. (I was doing 5/5 sets low/high zone two heart rates.) But by the last three sets I had to increase my gearing and cadence for my sets just to get my heart rate up!
Before that I had been visualizing my muscles working and telling them this is what 'sustained power' will feel like. So I wondered if it was that, or just the fact that I'm getting more efficient on the bike. (Please, oh please!!). IG said it was likely both reasons.
Whatever the reason, I really hope this is an indicator of what my season will be like. Now if I could hold that power for 'blank' hours in IMCDA.... tee hee.
Personally, rather than call it gluttony, I like to refer to it as carb loading. Afterall, I had a bike ride to do this morning. Yes, that's my excuse for eating so much!!!
Okay, okay....I'll admit it....I ate enough to load me up for an Ironman, tee hee. So yeah, it was more like gluttony. I made sure I ate my $22 worth and some. Uh, did I mention I'm Scottish/Dutch and will always make sure I get my money's worth??
So I was quite proud that I ate eigth spicy tuna cones...which would have cost me $40. heh heh. (Actualy, I ate six...couldn't get the last two down, but they were damn yummy after my bike ride today!!) On top of the cones, I managed to ingest 2 rainbow rolls, bbq mussels, squid, salmon, avocado rolls and some spicy scallop rolls. heh heh. Oh, and I musn't forget the miso soup! When I told Mum about my feast she asked if they banned me from ever returning to the restaurant! haha. (They didn't by the way...silly restaurant.)
When I got home last night I could barely move. I was soooo stuffed. The sushi was put to good use today though. I had a great bike workout, even if it was just for 1.5 hours.
I noticed a couple of things during my bike today. One, I need to stretch and roll my IT bands more. I felt a bit achy for quite some time at the start of the ride. Two, I think my aerobic endurance is improving. At least that's what IG said.
After my workout I mentioned to him that I noticed that when I started it wasn't too hard to get my heart rate in the zones I wanted. (I was doing 5/5 sets low/high zone two heart rates.) But by the last three sets I had to increase my gearing and cadence for my sets just to get my heart rate up!
Before that I had been visualizing my muscles working and telling them this is what 'sustained power' will feel like. So I wondered if it was that, or just the fact that I'm getting more efficient on the bike. (Please, oh please!!). IG said it was likely both reasons.
Whatever the reason, I really hope this is an indicator of what my season will be like. Now if I could hold that power for 'blank' hours in IMCDA.... tee hee.
Saturday, 2 February 2008
Colder Than a Witches…
As many out in the wild west have noted in their blogs….it was freaking cold out this week. I'm talking eyeglasses giving me a slurpee headache cold. Snotcicle cold. Dressing like the Stay-Puff Marshmellow man cold!!! -46 C with the windchill cold!! I’m not sure if it was the cold that finally got to me or just all the changes that have taken place this month, but last night my knees finally buckled under the weight of it all.
Before I delve into that though, let’s cover off some of the week first though…did I run? Hell no! haha. Instead I replaced my Wednesday run with a bike in my, kind of warm, home. I say kind of, because when it’s minus a freakin billion outside, even my furnace wasn’t strong enough to make it warm in here.
I got to the pool on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, but I was late getting there on Tuesday. Apparently, our train system doesn’t like the cold weather either, so I only got a 40 minute swim in. After being a literal popsicle waiting for the train and walking in the cold, the water felt as warm as bathwater. Normally it would suck to swim in that, but I just loved it at that point. It was like a warm blanket!
Thursdays swim was amusing…for our coach. I have to say, it’s been a while since she tried to drown us. What did she get us to do this time?? We had to swim, with our heads up out of the water looking straight ahead, whilst inserting our arms straight down in the water and doing a mini-pull, so to speak.
What I want to know is how the hell do dogs swim?? Cause I’m pretty sure this is the type of technique they use! Works for dogs, kind of worked for me. I had to kick like heck and I swallowed vast amounts of water. Of course each time I swallowed water I couldn’t help thinking of Jenna’s damn email stating that one can ingest 1.5 litres of urine for every hour they swim. GACK!
Friday night I had SweatLab. It was to be my last session with the gang as I find it difficult to get there after work. It was a hard 2:12 hr workout with many hills. At one point my pedals were barely spinning. Urgh. Ross had inserted a video that was of someone biking. They had a camera on their helmut so basically it was like we were riding along the street. Was pretty neat, but didn't take my mind off the fact like I was getting nowhere fast!
By the time I got home after SweatLab that old feeling of being overwhelmed had started to cover me. It had started building early on…and now it was taking over.
The past month I’d been trying to adjust to a career change (same field, but new area, so all new stuff to learn), a new and longer commute, and starting back into IM training. I love my new job (even though I work longer hours now), I don’t mind the commute so much (except when I don’t get home till mega late because my car is frozen in the train parking lot, or when the trains break down every day because they don’t like being run in the cold…), and of course, I LOVE being back in training. So why was this feeling of being overwhelmed sneaking up on me??
When I got home I checked to see if IronGreg (IG) was online. Thankfully he was as he’s not only my coach, he’s one of my best friends and I knew I could vent and freak and he’d be able to help me. As soon as I logged on I started typing rather vigorously about how I was feeling.
Let’s put it this way, I’m a woman, and so my mind goes around and around quickly trying to solve several problems at once at the same time as worrying about things. IG knows this, so knew how to handle it, haha.
I was spazzing about a few things like how to reorganize workouts around the longer work day and commute time and not lose training time, at the same time as feeling like I would never get to the point I want to before IMCDA. (There was a lot more too, but I shall spare you the details.) At one point in the midst of all my frantic typing IG wrote ‘Breathe’. Which I did, and ‘eat something!’ cause it was 9:45pm and I still hadn’t had dinner. I kept writing and in all honesty was a bit teary eyed and sniffly when I saw IG write ‘Call me!’. I didn’t want to talk to him while I was sniveling so wrote him that. Next thing I see is a ‘PICK UP THE PHONE!’ haha.
Now, even though I was all weepy, I still had my smart a$$ attitude and thought of picking up the phone but not calling. Then I thought that if I didn’t call that when we were in Malaysia IG might make me run for 4 hours in 39C weather to teach me a lesson, haha. So I called him.
Needless to say he had me calm in no time. Really, I just needed to have a short weepy moment to clear my head. That and talking to IG helped me figure out some things about training and how I want to switch things up so that I could juggle everything that’s going on.
I felt much better about things this morning. I got up, got some things done around the house then headed out for a run. It was gorgeous out today! Oh it felt sooo good to have the warm sun on my face while I ran. I loved every step. I also knew I felt like my old self again. I even managed to do a spazzy thing as per usual. I kept running while I tried to blow a booger and thought at one point that I got it on my leg, haha. Of course I didn’t want to stop and check as I had just passed a fellow walking his dog so didn’t want to show that this may have happened!! LOL.
Thanks IG for once again being there for me and keeping things in perspective. You’re the best!
PS I saw that Faris Al-Sultan will be racing in Ironman Malaysia....he's an awesome triathlete....Kona winner too...shame about the speedo though! LOL.
Before I delve into that though, let’s cover off some of the week first though…did I run? Hell no! haha. Instead I replaced my Wednesday run with a bike in my, kind of warm, home. I say kind of, because when it’s minus a freakin billion outside, even my furnace wasn’t strong enough to make it warm in here.
I got to the pool on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, but I was late getting there on Tuesday. Apparently, our train system doesn’t like the cold weather either, so I only got a 40 minute swim in. After being a literal popsicle waiting for the train and walking in the cold, the water felt as warm as bathwater. Normally it would suck to swim in that, but I just loved it at that point. It was like a warm blanket!
Thursdays swim was amusing…for our coach. I have to say, it’s been a while since she tried to drown us. What did she get us to do this time?? We had to swim, with our heads up out of the water looking straight ahead, whilst inserting our arms straight down in the water and doing a mini-pull, so to speak.
What I want to know is how the hell do dogs swim?? Cause I’m pretty sure this is the type of technique they use! Works for dogs, kind of worked for me. I had to kick like heck and I swallowed vast amounts of water. Of course each time I swallowed water I couldn’t help thinking of Jenna’s damn email stating that one can ingest 1.5 litres of urine for every hour they swim. GACK!
Friday night I had SweatLab. It was to be my last session with the gang as I find it difficult to get there after work. It was a hard 2:12 hr workout with many hills. At one point my pedals were barely spinning. Urgh. Ross had inserted a video that was of someone biking. They had a camera on their helmut so basically it was like we were riding along the street. Was pretty neat, but didn't take my mind off the fact like I was getting nowhere fast!
By the time I got home after SweatLab that old feeling of being overwhelmed had started to cover me. It had started building early on…and now it was taking over.
The past month I’d been trying to adjust to a career change (same field, but new area, so all new stuff to learn), a new and longer commute, and starting back into IM training. I love my new job (even though I work longer hours now), I don’t mind the commute so much (except when I don’t get home till mega late because my car is frozen in the train parking lot, or when the trains break down every day because they don’t like being run in the cold…), and of course, I LOVE being back in training. So why was this feeling of being overwhelmed sneaking up on me??
When I got home I checked to see if IronGreg (IG) was online. Thankfully he was as he’s not only my coach, he’s one of my best friends and I knew I could vent and freak and he’d be able to help me. As soon as I logged on I started typing rather vigorously about how I was feeling.
Let’s put it this way, I’m a woman, and so my mind goes around and around quickly trying to solve several problems at once at the same time as worrying about things. IG knows this, so knew how to handle it, haha.
I was spazzing about a few things like how to reorganize workouts around the longer work day and commute time and not lose training time, at the same time as feeling like I would never get to the point I want to before IMCDA. (There was a lot more too, but I shall spare you the details.) At one point in the midst of all my frantic typing IG wrote ‘Breathe’. Which I did, and ‘eat something!’ cause it was 9:45pm and I still hadn’t had dinner. I kept writing and in all honesty was a bit teary eyed and sniffly when I saw IG write ‘Call me!’. I didn’t want to talk to him while I was sniveling so wrote him that. Next thing I see is a ‘PICK UP THE PHONE!’ haha.
Now, even though I was all weepy, I still had my smart a$$ attitude and thought of picking up the phone but not calling. Then I thought that if I didn’t call that when we were in Malaysia IG might make me run for 4 hours in 39C weather to teach me a lesson, haha. So I called him.
Needless to say he had me calm in no time. Really, I just needed to have a short weepy moment to clear my head. That and talking to IG helped me figure out some things about training and how I want to switch things up so that I could juggle everything that’s going on.
I felt much better about things this morning. I got up, got some things done around the house then headed out for a run. It was gorgeous out today! Oh it felt sooo good to have the warm sun on my face while I ran. I loved every step. I also knew I felt like my old self again. I even managed to do a spazzy thing as per usual. I kept running while I tried to blow a booger and thought at one point that I got it on my leg, haha. Of course I didn’t want to stop and check as I had just passed a fellow walking his dog so didn’t want to show that this may have happened!! LOL.
Thanks IG for once again being there for me and keeping things in perspective. You’re the best!
PS I saw that Faris Al-Sultan will be racing in Ironman Malaysia....he's an awesome triathlete....Kona winner too...shame about the speedo though! LOL.
Sunday, 27 January 2008
Holy...That Went Fast!!!
I had a really short bike ride today - just 1:15 hrs. (Yes Jenna, that's mega short - just you wait!!) I chatted with IG last night and he recommended doing 5 minute intervals. One interval of a heart rate at 120-125 bpm, alternating with a heart rate of 130-140 bpm.
After a 20 minute warmup I started in on the intervals. It wasn't hard to get my heart rate up, but getting it down was another thing, haha. I was trying hard to keep my cadence up, but also had to switch from my big chainring to my little chainring in order to drop my heartrate enough.
I have to say the time just flew by! The intervals were great. I'd like to throw them in now and then, but I still think my favourite bike workout is just holding a certain pace at a certain heart rate. I'm finding this to be the most challenging workout I have, both mentally and physically. It's exactly what I need to help me achieve my goals at IMCDA...
Still, I am not going to complain about having a 'fast' workout now and then, haha. It was a nice break!
After a 20 minute warmup I started in on the intervals. It wasn't hard to get my heart rate up, but getting it down was another thing, haha. I was trying hard to keep my cadence up, but also had to switch from my big chainring to my little chainring in order to drop my heartrate enough.
I have to say the time just flew by! The intervals were great. I'd like to throw them in now and then, but I still think my favourite bike workout is just holding a certain pace at a certain heart rate. I'm finding this to be the most challenging workout I have, both mentally and physically. It's exactly what I need to help me achieve my goals at IMCDA...
Still, I am not going to complain about having a 'fast' workout now and then, haha. It was a nice break!
Saturday, 26 January 2008
Lunch at the Lake...
I had a great ski day today. I went with the two Jo-anne's to K country. We started out on a similar route as taken before, along some gorgeous single track set in the trees. The sun was fighting to get out and I was hoping it would - it was a bit cool in there!
When we got to Elk Pass trail we decided to take another trail that would take us to Upper Kananaskis Lake. First though we had to climb up one fairly steep hill, then ski down another very, very steep hill. The three of us kind of stood there at the top of it for a bit wondering just how steep this hill was...it turned a corner so we couldn't see down. Gulp...
The top of it sure as hell looked steep!! I kept thinking, I have a race that's really important to me and can't afford to break or stretch something beyond it's stretchability! Then I thought, I can't afford not to go down, because if I don't, I'll be letting my fears govern what I do. Crap!! Why do I have to always be thinking thoughts like that?! Fine!, I thought, I'll go down!! haha. So off we went, one by one.
I just took it slow and easy until I got around the corner and saw it flattened out a wee bit, then I let myself pick up a bit of speed. I saw Jo-anne had stopped at the end of the one section, so I thought it was flatter than it was. I snowplowed a bit, then went into the trackset again. It wasn't flat though and I was picking up even more speed...Shite.
At the bottom of the track I could see three women standing there looking at the trail sign. Thankfully they looked up and saw the 'GET THE HELL OUT OF THE WAY!' look on my face and did so. It wasn't that I couldn't stop at the bottom, it was just that they were standing right where I'd have to hit the brakes where the track ended! I needed that space! We got a good chuckle out of the whole thing.
Finally we got down to the lake where we could eat some grub. It wasn't that bad out, the sun was peaking out a bit more and the wind, thankfully, had died down.
As we ate we were being stalked by WhiskeyJacks. They are almost like Puss'N'Boots in Shrek with their big fluffly bodies and begging eyes. You'll be proud of me though, I did not break down and share my rice and lentil lunch!! I tried to get a pic of the scoundrels, but they wouldn't let me. Likely afraid they'd see their faces in the post office the next day with the caption 'Wanted For Begging'!.
We finished up our lunch fairly quickly as we were cooling down quite a bit. We then took another route back to the parking lot. It has been fun skiing the last few times, taking new routes and seeing where they end up. The snow was great again and I got some awesome speed. I'm start to kick some serious butt with this xcountry skiing thing! Hmmm, dare I say that IG is correct and that all this consistent biking will pay off?!
Naaah. Don't want his head to get to big or anything - then he won't be able to fit through any doors!! LOL. Although perhaps it would help his buoancy in the swim??
Friday, 25 January 2008
Okay, Now Where Was I...
Let's see now...the last time I wrote it was Sunday and I had a great bike ride....it's now Friday!! So what's been happenin' in my exciting tri life?!
Let's start at the beginning shall we...
(Ok, this would be a good time to get a glass of your favourite bevy....this will be a long one in true Susi fashion!)
So, on Tuesday's swim we had a 450 m warmup then got into a 45 minute endurance swim. The concept is simple - swim for 45 minutes straight, just like you would in a race. So off we went...lap, after lap, after lap. Ya, not too exciting, haha. Then again I always manage to have a little excitment happen, no matter how big or small.
So I must have been doing my flipturns REALLY fast (ha, ya right!) cause my damn swim cap started to slip off. As hinted to above, there is no stopping in this type of swim. I had to keep going, just like I'd do in a race. Actually, this was good practice. Something wasn't going my way - it happens all the time in a race - and I needed to keep going despite it. So I did.
Before I even hit 1000 m the cap had somehow slipped off my head and was hanging on under my goggles in the nape of my neck! My pigtails were still in a bunch in there too. Hmm, can you say DRAAAAAG. haha. By the time I got to around 1800 m or so my pigtails were flopping by the side of my head and my cap was barely hanging on under the strap of my goggles. So I took it off. Only I did so at the wrong end of the pool so I had to swim with one hand in a fist and the other normal. haha. I blame these events on my only going 2050 m in 45 minutes. I should have been able to swim farther!
Lesson learned though - I felt great during those 45 minutes. I can tell I've improved since last year and that's an awesome thing. I also know that next time I can turn it up a notch. Very cool.
That night I had IG's bike class. It was a gooder!! After warm up we did six by two sets of 2 min hard, 2 min easy intervals. I was really happy with my biking as I got my HR up where I was supposed to AND kept my cadence up. My legs were burning and I could have used my inhaler, but it felt damn good. I felt strong!
It was only at the end I started to feel a wee bit off. I figured it was because I really didn't have a dinner before the bike - I had worked late that night. The last three sets were the toughest, but I still had strength. After I got off the bike was another story, haha. I had to sit on the floor of the shop for a while. Katie kindly gave me a little bit of chocolate to help me.
I finally decided I had to get off the floor - at some point IG would want to go home, haha - and drive home. I felt pretty crappy by the time I got home. Yes Keith, to answer the question I KNOW you are going to ask - I got a core workout in too. haha.
Wednesday was a run day. I was late getting home that night so headed out around 6:15pm. It was funny running by all the houses and seeing TVs on and people eating. I started thinking, hmmm, what would I rather be doing. Sitting in my warm cozy house watching TV, or being out here in the cold running?? Believe it or not, I choose the latter. haha. Yup, I'm nuts.
It's just nice being out there on your own and running. I, of course, had my safety vest on that Mum sent me. I learned as a kid that she is always right. When she said to put my coat on because it was cold out, and I didn't...I'd always freeze. Needless to say, I knew that if she sent me a running safety vest and I didn't wear it...that I'd be roadkill. haha. So run I did, for a good hour. I meandered around the paths (that were somewhat lit by the houses and my LED cap) and the roads.
Hang in there...I'm almost done!
Thursday was a swim day. Unfortunatley our coach wasn't able to make it, but we didn't know that beforehand so there were four of us in the pool. We did our regular 600 m warmup then figured Jenn wasn't coming. So on a whim, I took the lead and figured out a lesson, haha.
We did 100 m swim drill, 100 m kick drill, then 10 x 50 m sprints. (Yes, I'm mean - but hey, I had to do them too!!!) I went on 1:05 minutes. The first few were skookum - I was finishing in about 46 s. Of course that wasn't going to hold, haha. Towards the end I was resting for only about 6 or 7 seconds, haha. To finish off our set we did 200 m backstroke and 200 m breaststroke. Not too shabby for an amateur coach!
I didn't have to run on Thursday night, so I squeezed in a visit with my treasured chiropractor. I was in desperate need of a back adjustment not to mention my calves were 'tighter than a cow's ass in fly season!'.
You know, I really think my chiro needs to hand out disposable leather straps for his patients to bite when he's working on them. AIYAAAAA!!! At least I didn't drop any F-Bombs. I was close to doing so and had I not had the breathe sucked out of me because of the pain, I would have dropped one....or five. LOL.
My calves were seriously burning when he was working on them. Hopefully, with another visit I will be able to get the rest of the muscles to loosen up with some further stretching. Sigh... I think this counts as a workout though, because the next morning I sure felt as if I had worked out!
Okay, last but not least....it was SweatLab night tonight!!! It was a short ride tonight - 1:40 hr. I focused on my technique and keeping my HR where it should be. The ride we did tonight was to mimic the section from Oliver to Richter Pass. I wasn't pushing it so I only made it a smidge up Richter, which is fine with me!
Tomorrow is a xcountry ski day - I can't wait to hit the mountains!!! Hope everyone else out in TriLand had a wonderful week just as I did!!!
Let's start at the beginning shall we...
(Ok, this would be a good time to get a glass of your favourite bevy....this will be a long one in true Susi fashion!)
So, on Tuesday's swim we had a 450 m warmup then got into a 45 minute endurance swim. The concept is simple - swim for 45 minutes straight, just like you would in a race. So off we went...lap, after lap, after lap. Ya, not too exciting, haha. Then again I always manage to have a little excitment happen, no matter how big or small.
So I must have been doing my flipturns REALLY fast (ha, ya right!) cause my damn swim cap started to slip off. As hinted to above, there is no stopping in this type of swim. I had to keep going, just like I'd do in a race. Actually, this was good practice. Something wasn't going my way - it happens all the time in a race - and I needed to keep going despite it. So I did.
Before I even hit 1000 m the cap had somehow slipped off my head and was hanging on under my goggles in the nape of my neck! My pigtails were still in a bunch in there too. Hmm, can you say DRAAAAAG. haha. By the time I got to around 1800 m or so my pigtails were flopping by the side of my head and my cap was barely hanging on under the strap of my goggles. So I took it off. Only I did so at the wrong end of the pool so I had to swim with one hand in a fist and the other normal. haha. I blame these events on my only going 2050 m in 45 minutes. I should have been able to swim farther!
Lesson learned though - I felt great during those 45 minutes. I can tell I've improved since last year and that's an awesome thing. I also know that next time I can turn it up a notch. Very cool.
That night I had IG's bike class. It was a gooder!! After warm up we did six by two sets of 2 min hard, 2 min easy intervals. I was really happy with my biking as I got my HR up where I was supposed to AND kept my cadence up. My legs were burning and I could have used my inhaler, but it felt damn good. I felt strong!
It was only at the end I started to feel a wee bit off. I figured it was because I really didn't have a dinner before the bike - I had worked late that night. The last three sets were the toughest, but I still had strength. After I got off the bike was another story, haha. I had to sit on the floor of the shop for a while. Katie kindly gave me a little bit of chocolate to help me.
I finally decided I had to get off the floor - at some point IG would want to go home, haha - and drive home. I felt pretty crappy by the time I got home. Yes Keith, to answer the question I KNOW you are going to ask - I got a core workout in too. haha.
Wednesday was a run day. I was late getting home that night so headed out around 6:15pm. It was funny running by all the houses and seeing TVs on and people eating. I started thinking, hmmm, what would I rather be doing. Sitting in my warm cozy house watching TV, or being out here in the cold running?? Believe it or not, I choose the latter. haha. Yup, I'm nuts.
It's just nice being out there on your own and running. I, of course, had my safety vest on that Mum sent me. I learned as a kid that she is always right. When she said to put my coat on because it was cold out, and I didn't...I'd always freeze. Needless to say, I knew that if she sent me a running safety vest and I didn't wear it...that I'd be roadkill. haha. So run I did, for a good hour. I meandered around the paths (that were somewhat lit by the houses and my LED cap) and the roads.
Hang in there...I'm almost done!
Thursday was a swim day. Unfortunatley our coach wasn't able to make it, but we didn't know that beforehand so there were four of us in the pool. We did our regular 600 m warmup then figured Jenn wasn't coming. So on a whim, I took the lead and figured out a lesson, haha.
We did 100 m swim drill, 100 m kick drill, then 10 x 50 m sprints. (Yes, I'm mean - but hey, I had to do them too!!!) I went on 1:05 minutes. The first few were skookum - I was finishing in about 46 s. Of course that wasn't going to hold, haha. Towards the end I was resting for only about 6 or 7 seconds, haha. To finish off our set we did 200 m backstroke and 200 m breaststroke. Not too shabby for an amateur coach!
I didn't have to run on Thursday night, so I squeezed in a visit with my treasured chiropractor. I was in desperate need of a back adjustment not to mention my calves were 'tighter than a cow's ass in fly season!'.
You know, I really think my chiro needs to hand out disposable leather straps for his patients to bite when he's working on them. AIYAAAAA!!! At least I didn't drop any F-Bombs. I was close to doing so and had I not had the breathe sucked out of me because of the pain, I would have dropped one....or five. LOL.
My calves were seriously burning when he was working on them. Hopefully, with another visit I will be able to get the rest of the muscles to loosen up with some further stretching. Sigh... I think this counts as a workout though, because the next morning I sure felt as if I had worked out!
Okay, last but not least....it was SweatLab night tonight!!! It was a short ride tonight - 1:40 hr. I focused on my technique and keeping my HR where it should be. The ride we did tonight was to mimic the section from Oliver to Richter Pass. I wasn't pushing it so I only made it a smidge up Richter, which is fine with me!
Tomorrow is a xcountry ski day - I can't wait to hit the mountains!!! Hope everyone else out in TriLand had a wonderful week just as I did!!!
Sunday, 20 January 2008
Ironman - The Lifestyle...
I got on the bike today for my endurance ride. To give me a little boost and keep me company during my ride, I popped in the 'Ironman Kona 2004' DVD. The first time I watched this I was just about to do my second sprint triathlon. Ironman wasn't even a glimmer in my eye.
It was interesting to watch it now, after I'd completed my first Ironman. So many thoughts filled my mind. Last year all I wanted was to finish - this year I have a goal. A time goal. One which will remain between me, IronGreg and the Iron Gods and Godesses.
At one point, the announcer made the statement 'Ironman is a lifestyle'. It's so true. When I first got into triathlon I immersed myself in it, just as I have done with many other things in my life. Some of my friends couldn't understand why I would commit so much time to an activity or a race where I wouldn't 'win' or even be in the top of my age group. Sometimes I ask myself that question. Then I think of that statement, and for me it's very true. This is my lifestyle and I make no apologies for it - even if I never achieve more than mid-pack status.
So with that mindset in place, I pedaled my legs off for the remainder of my workout. Regardless if I'd always be a mid-packer, I was going to work my arse off because every little bit helps!
The last 50 minutes were the most challenging, mentally and physically. I was up for the challenge though. I know what I need to do in order to attain all my goals this year. I achieved what I wanted to today and felt great about it at the end - even if my legs desperately wanted to be stretched and massaged. One of the bonuses of triathlon training - no matter how big or small the goal of the day may be, reaching it gives you an amazing rush!
Who wouldn't want to have this lifestyle?!
It was interesting to watch it now, after I'd completed my first Ironman. So many thoughts filled my mind. Last year all I wanted was to finish - this year I have a goal. A time goal. One which will remain between me, IronGreg and the Iron Gods and Godesses.
At one point, the announcer made the statement 'Ironman is a lifestyle'. It's so true. When I first got into triathlon I immersed myself in it, just as I have done with many other things in my life. Some of my friends couldn't understand why I would commit so much time to an activity or a race where I wouldn't 'win' or even be in the top of my age group. Sometimes I ask myself that question. Then I think of that statement, and for me it's very true. This is my lifestyle and I make no apologies for it - even if I never achieve more than mid-pack status.
So with that mindset in place, I pedaled my legs off for the remainder of my workout. Regardless if I'd always be a mid-packer, I was going to work my arse off because every little bit helps!
The last 50 minutes were the most challenging, mentally and physically. I was up for the challenge though. I know what I need to do in order to attain all my goals this year. I achieved what I wanted to today and felt great about it at the end - even if my legs desperately wanted to be stretched and massaged. One of the bonuses of triathlon training - no matter how big or small the goal of the day may be, reaching it gives you an amazing rush!
Who wouldn't want to have this lifestyle?!
Saturday, 19 January 2008
Frozen Eyeballs and Snotscicles...
When I woke up this morning I called Esther to see if she wanted to go for a run. She'd been suffering from a cold so I wasn't sure how she'd be feeling this morning. It was then she informed me she wasn't feeling well enough to go, but also that there was a fair amount of snow outside.
Whaaa?! Snow? Suhweeeet!
Now I'm thinking that most people would have stayed in bed bundled up in their blankies, all hunkered down and passed on running. Me on the other hand....I love snow and was excited to head out into the winter wonderland.
Originally I was supposed to go out xcountry skiing, but the plans fell through. With the snowfall we had last night I was able to play in the snow without going to the mountains. Not that running around in the snow here is as nice as the mountains - but it would have to do.
I was going to go to the gym after my run so I started out from there and ran along the river. Some of the snow on the path had been compacted by others walking their dogs etc. But once I got past that part of the path I was trudging through about 3 inches of snow. I kept thinking to myself, 'I wonder what all the triathletes in California etc would think of us crazy Canucks getting our run in in so much snow?!' haha. Personally I think it makes us tougher.
Well, at least I thought I was tough, until I looked up and a snowflake dive bombed my eyeball. My thoughts immediately after the snowflake incident went like this: OW!!! HOLY HANNAH I FROZE MY EYEBALL!! I froze my damn eyeball! Holy crap. I'm blind. I've been blinded by a snowflake!! Okay, just try to blink... Okay, blinking. Good. Damn that hurts...my eye is watering like crazy. Wait! What if my eye freezes shut now?? Well for crying out loud how the hell can a wee snowflake cause so much chaos??
Of course I continued running while all this was happening. I'm happy to report that I neither froze my eyeball (I figured that out when I realized if I could feel the pain then I mustn't have frozen my eyeball...), nor did I go blind.
There was less drama for the rest of the run, although I was having a bit of an issue with snotscicles. Now don't tell me you've never suffered from a snotscicle! You know, that thing when your nose is sooo cold that you can't really tell you have snot hanging down till you kinda notice something waving in the wind?? If that thing hanging down is a bit frozen...well then, you have a snotscicle!! They can be somewhat embarassing, but fun at the same time. Cause if it's hanging down, then it's time to blow it out really hard! LOL.
Ah yes, the fun that can be had running in the cold and snow. Haha!
Whaaa?! Snow? Suhweeeet!
Now I'm thinking that most people would have stayed in bed bundled up in their blankies, all hunkered down and passed on running. Me on the other hand....I love snow and was excited to head out into the winter wonderland.
Originally I was supposed to go out xcountry skiing, but the plans fell through. With the snowfall we had last night I was able to play in the snow without going to the mountains. Not that running around in the snow here is as nice as the mountains - but it would have to do.
I was going to go to the gym after my run so I started out from there and ran along the river. Some of the snow on the path had been compacted by others walking their dogs etc. But once I got past that part of the path I was trudging through about 3 inches of snow. I kept thinking to myself, 'I wonder what all the triathletes in California etc would think of us crazy Canucks getting our run in in so much snow?!' haha. Personally I think it makes us tougher.
Well, at least I thought I was tough, until I looked up and a snowflake dive bombed my eyeball. My thoughts immediately after the snowflake incident went like this: OW!!! HOLY HANNAH I FROZE MY EYEBALL!! I froze my damn eyeball! Holy crap. I'm blind. I've been blinded by a snowflake!! Okay, just try to blink... Okay, blinking. Good. Damn that hurts...my eye is watering like crazy. Wait! What if my eye freezes shut now?? Well for crying out loud how the hell can a wee snowflake cause so much chaos??
Of course I continued running while all this was happening. I'm happy to report that I neither froze my eyeball (I figured that out when I realized if I could feel the pain then I mustn't have frozen my eyeball...), nor did I go blind.
There was less drama for the rest of the run, although I was having a bit of an issue with snotscicles. Now don't tell me you've never suffered from a snotscicle! You know, that thing when your nose is sooo cold that you can't really tell you have snot hanging down till you kinda notice something waving in the wind?? If that thing hanging down is a bit frozen...well then, you have a snotscicle!! They can be somewhat embarassing, but fun at the same time. Cause if it's hanging down, then it's time to blow it out really hard! LOL.
Ah yes, the fun that can be had running in the cold and snow. Haha!
Thursday, 17 January 2008
The Highlights...
With my new schedule I'm unable to keep up a daily blog as in the past. So from now on I'll be submitting a highlight reel of sorts! Little dribs and drabs from the week or the odd story of something neat that has happened or perhaps major breakthroughs.
So what's happened so far this week?! Well now...let's see...
On Tuesday I had a great swim. In addition to working on my 'sustained power', I managed to swim on top of someone. Yup, you read that correctly. Now, now, you Cheeky Monkeys - it's nothing like THAT. I was swimming the backstroke. Just making my merry way along - staring at the ceiling, reaching, keeping the core stable...trying not to snort water. You know, the usual. The next thing I know the small of my back is touching another body and I am getting kicked from underneath me!!
How'd that happen, you ask? Well, I really don't know other than to say it came down to timing. See, Kerry was in front of me using the kickboard, and as I was looking up at the ceiling with my ears under water (and with earplugs) so I neither saw nor heard that he was right there. I guess his legs were hanging low so I managed to swim over top of them until his backside was nestled in the small of my back and I got kicked. haha. Oh, and I managed not to hit him with my arms either. Like I said, it was all about the timing.
We both got a good chuckle out of it! I was very grateful too that he didn't kick me hard!
Later that evening I had my bike class. I was feeling the workout in my legs, but my heart rate wasn't showing it....Now folks, here's a lesson to learn - listen to your heart. No, not in some schmoozy Harelquin romance kind of way, I mean when it's low and you feel you are working - it's trying to tell you something. At the time I didn't know what it was trying to tell me. But as I was driving home and trying not to vomit - I finally got it. AHA! Something wasn't right.
I managed not to vomit in my car, phew, but did have a little 'core session', shall we say, when I got home. Ew. Why that happened, I know not. I think that rather than the flu, it was my wonderful IBS causing some problems. Urgh.
The next day was much better however as I got some nifty gifts from Mum. (Not for any particular reason really, other than I'm an only child and spoiled - so sue me.) First off she gave me a safety vest made by Fuel Belt. Needless to say, it's exceptionally bright. She knows I'm running around outside in the evenings now and was worried I wouldn't be seen....well that's not going to be a problem with this thing on! I wore it tonight when I ran and vehicles actually gave me a bit of room. Well, some of them at least. Damn trucks....
The other thing I got was a running cap with - this is great - a built in LED in the front brim!!!! Way too cool - I know! No more wearing my headlamp! Although my Mum is, (sorry Mum), ahem, technologically challenged (do NOT let her near a computer!) she always seems to find the coolest gadgets!
The cap was awesome, although there is one thing that I have to be aware of.... As mentioned, the LED is in the brim...so if I look straight ahead I can see the bottom of the LED in the middle of the brim...which makes my eyes tend to wander upwards...leaving me running and looking cross-eyed at my brim. haha. Not the best thing for my eyes or for my running technique!! Still it's a very skookum gift and I'm very thankful for it!! I just have to keep looking down. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing when you are running along a path in the dark!
On my way home I was sure the people in the cars driving toward me were wondering what the hell it was coming towards them up the hill. What with me in my mega-flourescent vest, LED cap and all. It was then that the thought struck me...
What if the people in the cars were like bugs and were attracted to the light?! They could become mesmorized and start driving towards me! Yikes!!! Obviously none did...or I wouldn't be writing my blog, haha.
Me and my vivid imagination!!!
So what's happened so far this week?! Well now...let's see...
On Tuesday I had a great swim. In addition to working on my 'sustained power', I managed to swim on top of someone. Yup, you read that correctly. Now, now, you Cheeky Monkeys - it's nothing like THAT. I was swimming the backstroke. Just making my merry way along - staring at the ceiling, reaching, keeping the core stable...trying not to snort water. You know, the usual. The next thing I know the small of my back is touching another body and I am getting kicked from underneath me!!
How'd that happen, you ask? Well, I really don't know other than to say it came down to timing. See, Kerry was in front of me using the kickboard, and as I was looking up at the ceiling with my ears under water (and with earplugs) so I neither saw nor heard that he was right there. I guess his legs were hanging low so I managed to swim over top of them until his backside was nestled in the small of my back and I got kicked. haha. Oh, and I managed not to hit him with my arms either. Like I said, it was all about the timing.
We both got a good chuckle out of it! I was very grateful too that he didn't kick me hard!
Later that evening I had my bike class. I was feeling the workout in my legs, but my heart rate wasn't showing it....Now folks, here's a lesson to learn - listen to your heart. No, not in some schmoozy Harelquin romance kind of way, I mean when it's low and you feel you are working - it's trying to tell you something. At the time I didn't know what it was trying to tell me. But as I was driving home and trying not to vomit - I finally got it. AHA! Something wasn't right.
I managed not to vomit in my car, phew, but did have a little 'core session', shall we say, when I got home. Ew. Why that happened, I know not. I think that rather than the flu, it was my wonderful IBS causing some problems. Urgh.
The next day was much better however as I got some nifty gifts from Mum. (Not for any particular reason really, other than I'm an only child and spoiled - so sue me.) First off she gave me a safety vest made by Fuel Belt. Needless to say, it's exceptionally bright. She knows I'm running around outside in the evenings now and was worried I wouldn't be seen....well that's not going to be a problem with this thing on! I wore it tonight when I ran and vehicles actually gave me a bit of room. Well, some of them at least. Damn trucks....
The other thing I got was a running cap with - this is great - a built in LED in the front brim!!!! Way too cool - I know! No more wearing my headlamp! Although my Mum is, (sorry Mum), ahem, technologically challenged (do NOT let her near a computer!) she always seems to find the coolest gadgets!
The cap was awesome, although there is one thing that I have to be aware of.... As mentioned, the LED is in the brim...so if I look straight ahead I can see the bottom of the LED in the middle of the brim...which makes my eyes tend to wander upwards...leaving me running and looking cross-eyed at my brim. haha. Not the best thing for my eyes or for my running technique!! Still it's a very skookum gift and I'm very thankful for it!! I just have to keep looking down. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing when you are running along a path in the dark!
On my way home I was sure the people in the cars driving toward me were wondering what the hell it was coming towards them up the hill. What with me in my mega-flourescent vest, LED cap and all. It was then that the thought struck me...
What if the people in the cars were like bugs and were attracted to the light?! They could become mesmorized and start driving towards me! Yikes!!! Obviously none did...or I wouldn't be writing my blog, haha.
Me and my vivid imagination!!!
Sunday, 13 January 2008
Expanding The Comfort Zone...
Today I had a great ride on the bike. Well, I guess as I was on the windtrainer I should say spin, because technically I didn't ride anywhere, haha.
Todays goal was to be on there for 105 minutes. Actually, that was next Sunday's goal....today's goal was 90 minutes, but I didn't figure that one out till AFTER I'd done the workout. Whoops!
I gradually got my heartrate to where I wanted it to be in the 20 minute warmup. In addition, I managed to get some one legged spins in there as well. Everything felt pretty good until around the midway point of my ride. Then I started to feel my legs.
It's funny, this workout wasn't hard per se, but it wasn't easy either. In saying that it wasn't hard I mean that I didn't have that 'YEOWCH' kind of pain that you can from sprints etc. Actually, it's hard to describe how my legs were feeling. Like they wanted me to back off or wimp out or something, but at the same time it wasn't like I couldn't keep pedalling.....does this make any sense?! haha.
I finally realized this is what it is to 'expand my comfort zone'. Last season, if I were riding outside, I probably would have backed off a bit. Hell, I would have done that on the trainer last year too. In fact, I'm sure I never kept my heartrate up on the trainer....just long easy recovery spins the whole time. Hindsight being what it is, I realize that I didn't do myself any favours! In my defense I didn't actually know what I was doing last year, but I'm learning this year.
I knew if I did that today that it wouldn't help me achieve my goal of sustained power this year. So rather than give in, I kept pedaling. I kept checking my heartrate and if it started to go down (indicating I was getting tired and slacking) then I upped my cadence a bit. In fact, I upped it to over 90 rpm, just to prove a point to myself.
I managed to keep this up the last 35 minutes of the ride, then did my 10 minute cooldown. I was really happy with today's ride. I kept my heartrate up, had great cadence and held it like that. It wasn't easy, but I did it!!! A great mental and physical breaththrough!
Just one more step towards my overall goal. How very cool.
Todays goal was to be on there for 105 minutes. Actually, that was next Sunday's goal....today's goal was 90 minutes, but I didn't figure that one out till AFTER I'd done the workout. Whoops!
I gradually got my heartrate to where I wanted it to be in the 20 minute warmup. In addition, I managed to get some one legged spins in there as well. Everything felt pretty good until around the midway point of my ride. Then I started to feel my legs.
It's funny, this workout wasn't hard per se, but it wasn't easy either. In saying that it wasn't hard I mean that I didn't have that 'YEOWCH' kind of pain that you can from sprints etc. Actually, it's hard to describe how my legs were feeling. Like they wanted me to back off or wimp out or something, but at the same time it wasn't like I couldn't keep pedalling.....does this make any sense?! haha.
I finally realized this is what it is to 'expand my comfort zone'. Last season, if I were riding outside, I probably would have backed off a bit. Hell, I would have done that on the trainer last year too. In fact, I'm sure I never kept my heartrate up on the trainer....just long easy recovery spins the whole time. Hindsight being what it is, I realize that I didn't do myself any favours! In my defense I didn't actually know what I was doing last year, but I'm learning this year.
I knew if I did that today that it wouldn't help me achieve my goal of sustained power this year. So rather than give in, I kept pedaling. I kept checking my heartrate and if it started to go down (indicating I was getting tired and slacking) then I upped my cadence a bit. In fact, I upped it to over 90 rpm, just to prove a point to myself.
I managed to keep this up the last 35 minutes of the ride, then did my 10 minute cooldown. I was really happy with today's ride. I kept my heartrate up, had great cadence and held it like that. It wasn't easy, but I did it!!! A great mental and physical breaththrough!
Just one more step towards my overall goal. How very cool.
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