I've had butterflies in my stomach for weeks. And today I'm pacing and can hardly focus on what I've got to get done. Not for my race...for D & G who are doing IM Florida today!! Go Team G!

Just a note to the airlines...please don't lose their bikes on the return trip. My bike box needs to turn and burn straight back down there with me. :)

wonderman, update and rpms

First things first. My husband is amazing. How many of your "others" will clean the bathtub for YOU to take an ice bath? Mine will. I usually fill a shallow plastic storage bin outside because I hate sitting in the tub, but this day I had to do the tub.

He can also make a kick ass chicken soup. I love fall. And I'm still baking with apples from our apple picking. Matty gave me pics from his phone today. I love this orchard because the trees are huge and you can climb them. So fun! Here's Matty in a tree.

and me. I think I cooked this sucker yesterday. I just found out someone else is bringing the apple pie to Thanksgiving though. So I won't get to make my pie. Bummer. I can't make it for myself so someone's going to get an apple pie. I'm ready to start my holiday baking!...and eating. 2 months of cookies, cakes, pies and pastries. Can't wait. :)

The bike got a bath yesterday! Although I have to admit I think it's at a point where only professional cleaning can help him. Sorry buddy. Maybe the Florida sun will melt off all the gunk, crud, and muck.

Tune-age leading to race day is a lot of big hair, double bass & gated reverb snares - 80's rock!! And "Angels & Airwaves". Okay...and some 90's prog. metal.

Well, my run and swim are going great. In fact, my run pace at mid 150 bpm has gone from 7:15-7:20 to 6:55-7:00 in the last 10 weeks. Pretty remarkable. More than I hoped for. Bodes well for the limited time I have to prep for a Feb. marathon, that's for sure. All I gotta do is build a little mileage (sort of). I'm feeling pretty strong in the pool and knocking off some great workouts...solo. Opted for solo the last few weeks to just get into my own head and really connect with my training.

The bike's another story too long and complicated to discuss. It's been a challenge. In short, in addition to having a new powermeter that reads different #'s than the old powermeter, the pressure through the season of an entire relationship and my worth being based on my power output, which was faulty and drastically inconsistent due to a bad meter, which caused a shit load of tension and anxiety as I suspected something was wrong with the device but kept being told otherwise, wore me to hating the bike and hating the numbers. When so much stock is put into numbers and the numbers are wrong, and someone keeps telling you they're right, it's enough to drive you batty. Sorry, but ride after ride for weeks averaging at least 40W lower than normal, many rides averaging 30W higher than normal including a race that would have put my P:W ratio at almost 5, TT's at a minute slower but 10W higher, and the list goes on and on for months and months, is an f'd up meter. Not me worrying about my legs being tired as it was taken. The degree of anxiety and tension this all caused is greater than can be expressed. It wasn't until that crazy high number race in August that finally I was believed. Didn't matter at that point though and I had decided to continue on my own by that point. With every hard effort now anger from it all builds, so the longer the intervals, the closer I get to smashing my bike into pieces. In other words, it's been a lot more short interval training than long and not much pace work. Will see where that leaves me. Probably not so hot. I did what I could and it is what it is, but at least I am starting to enjoy my bike training again. It's becoming mine again and I am no longer a wattage number. All I want is to head into the off season and next season's prep with a fresh perspective on the bike.

What I have noticed though is that my cadence has lowered slightly. It's got me to thinking about cadence once again as I head into planning my training for next season.

Last year my 70.3 (56 mile) effort was at 85 rpm average. This year it went up to about 92 rpm average and I was riding 4 minutes faster (capable of 6 by August on a repeat course). Last year's 12k TT effort was also at about 85 rpm, and this year it went up to about 95 rpm average. Hills also went from mid 80's to 90+.

Take one look at me and you know instantly what muscle fiber type I am predominantly made of. Type 1, Slowtwitch (almost) all the way, baby!

I began thinking about all this and wondering what to do with it this summer as the numbers were increasing and I was having a harder time pedaling at slower cadences. Part of me worried “what if it keeps going up and I suddenly have to pedal 110+? Won’t that be exhausting?” "Am I weaker if I can't hold lower cadences at higher power anymore?" Well, that’s silly. And the cool thing about training...you can always change it.

While it's naturally more comfortable for me to pedal a high cadence given my musculature, it's also much more efficient. This isn't new news. But important for long course athletes. A higher cadence puts less stress on your muscles, which means they will take longer to fatigue (not to mention the vacation you're giving your joints) but your lungs and heart work harder. But muscles fatigue a lot faster than your heart and lungs and your heart and lungs recovery a lot faster than your muscles. And less fatigued muscles off the bike means more energy for the run. Not to mention the fact that more use of slowtwitch fibers means more efficient utilization of fuel stores.

Even Lance Armstrong progressed his cadence over years to 100+ rpm. Granted his cardiovascular and respiratory system have a bigger capacity than us which I'm sure makes it much easier for him to pedal 100+ for hours on end, but still...

I guess I'm not gonna worry about how high the rpms get just yet and keep working on increasing those Type 1's. My body seems to prefer it and my riding this year showed that.

Bluster!

What I said the other day about there not being much in the way of environmental challenges on the road...today's ride begs to differ!!

I needed shin guards & shoulder pads. Thank goodness for the helmet. And I have mastered the art of picking leaves out of my bike and it's moving parts while riding. What a ride!..through 30 mph winds, funneling cyclones of leaves, being assaulted by pine cones and branches, uphill over blankets of acorns in crazy headwinds. Then..a snowstorm!?...no wait! It's fuzzies from a field of cattails. Oh and the little part about trying to just stay on the bike. It was so windy there wasn't even a draft to catch off the trucks on 2A. But I've never had so many people ride in mine before.

It was crazyiness out there. I couldn't believe how many cyclists were on the road today. Probably more than I've seen all year. The temps couldn't be beat, that's for sure! 72 degrees!

Loved it!

4 Deserts, an accident with a goose and nose drainage

Check it out!! The 150 mile Sahara race is happening right now. You can see pics and read blogs from the competitors. One of them is a guy from Charlestown.

http://www.4deserts.com/

A couple of training bloopers that triggered some serious belly laughter. I laugh at pretty stupid things so maybe they're not all that funny but holy crap I lost it.

The geese took over the track today and I tripped on a pooping goose!! Both unscathed. I hope he was able to finish his business elsewhere after. Sorry dude....but you're in a tough spot. The inside lane is for runners, not a squatting goose! You should have read the rules on the way in.

On the trainer Wednesday afternoon about 4 hours after my swim, all of a sudden my nose let loose like the Hoover Dam collapsed. It wouldn't stop running. It was water...pool water...rushing out and pouring all over my bike. This happens after I swim sometimes but 4 hours later!? What? Where the hell was it all being stored? I had to take a 5 minute breather to clean up and stop laughing. I had half the pool up there! One of life's great mysteries. Where does all that pool water hold up in there?

Put Matty in front of a mirror or a camera and you'll laugh your ass off. Ham.
My first video chat experience (I know, welcome to now, Russell). I'm loving my new computer!

long and longer

This time last year Nick and I were testing our wits and cold tolerance and hitting the open water right up 'til Clearwater. Crazies. Early morning we went (to his dread, but I had to get to work)...and froze...and I thought it was a blast! That cold shock creeping in through your zipper and making its way down your back is much more tolerable when you have someone to laugh it off with!

After Clearwater we hit the trails a bunch...kicked our asses...and froze some more. Loved it. It's these little outdoor training adventures I really love. The road is predictable and there's no environmental challenge. That's what I love about trail running, and why I got into it several years ago. The longest one I've done to date is 22K. Wrecked my ankles, couldn't walk for a week. But it was one of the best experiences I've ever had!

I was working my way up to 50 with thoughts of a 100. Then I got a hip injury and got into triathlon instead.

It's time for more adventures! This time it's a doozy though. Taking another step toward the 50 with a 50k with April in April (haha!)...if she'll still have me.

But first, a marathon! Instead of a warm weather Cali. training week this winter, we're sticking to the southern east coast for another new challenge. I'm pretty excited, although a little nervous about the winter run training. I do it every year, but my knees and feet don't like the cold and last year was so cold that my toes turned purple and I had all kinds of tendon problems. I do believe I may be jumping to the dark side and dreadmilling it for some of my running this winter. Based on where my run is at right now and what my bike plans are through Jan & Feb, I've set an attainably challenging time goal. Should keep me motivated, that's for sure.

These are things I've wanted to do for a few years and it's time to get them out of my system! :)

After that it's time to Tri!!

Let the withdrawal begin. Tonight was the last night of the season with the Title IX girls and we had a blast with some fun relays (WITH the hill...ugh..oohhhh...aahhhh..noooooooo) and Halloween candy. What an incredible bunch!! I'm so proud of all of them. They'll all be back for indoor season, but that's not 'til January. Boo. But what a way to brighten the bleak winter. :)

I'll keep meeting with one or two of them that have set some goals for themselves and want to keep running.

Crush: Alright, we're here, dudes! Get ready! Your exit's comin' up, man!
Marlin: Where? I don't see it.
Dory: There! I see it! I see it!
Marlin: You mean the swirling vortex of terror?
Crush: That's it, dude!

-Finding Nemo, Disney

BEER!?

Beer. It used to make my legs feel awful on days of hard workouts. It also always seemed to be detrimental to my muscle recovery. So I rarely drank it. I don't know how or why, but lately it's been making the legs feel good and hasn't been inhibiting things at all. What happened? I'm not complaining!! Currently drinking Wolaver's Pumpkin Ale. :)

With that...I can't believe how resilient I've become over time. Especially since stepping up my run training. My body has changed so much. It's crazy and cool.

Run and Swim

Up til now it's been a lot of pushing and pulling my FT and building strength with a lot of high intensity interval work and some tempo miles thrown into my secondary long runs and shorter T-runs. I also concentrated a lot on cadence and form, and every other week I loaded the volume, or duration of the longer runs, rather, resulting in big volume. 2 cycles of that and I'm feeling pretty good, paces have dropped and I'm stronger off the bike. Stronger off the bike is really what I'm looking for most.

Now it's all about working that race pacing. This cycle is also a big mental one. It's all about really getting in touch with my body and ability at this point, knowing the numbers and building confidence. A lot of race specific training.

Unrelated...sort of...just thinking about some runs I like to do that I used to do years ago before following any training plans.

1) secondary long runs (9-11 miles) where I progress my pace 10 seconds per mile til I get to high end tempo effort that I hold for a mile, then a steady state few miles back home, final mile easy. I hit a little bit of everything, it's not too taxing, it's fun, and over time I get a good idea of how my running is improving.

2) Yesterday's workout. Tempo runs on the track. I used to do this kind of workout years ago to help prep for the back half of longer (10-13 miles) running races when you're tired. Kind of a jumbled, progressive tempo run on the track. And since it's triathlon now, I did yesterday's on Thursday's legs from my hard ride/short tempo T-run. 9 miles @ 3 mile warm up to the track, open it up with some strides, then 2 miles at FT pace (10 sec. per mile faster than the pace I hope to and should be at by mile 6 of the Half IM run). Then 30 sec. recovery walk followed by 4 x 1/4 mile @ just below VO2Max (40 sec. per mile faster) on about 7 seconds walk between each (really more of a mental break). 30 sec. walk recovery then into 2-3 miles at 10 sec. per mile faster than FT pace (what I hope to close out the final miles in). Then run on home. Simple. Works the threshold, the track helps get your legs to fall into a rhythm and the VO2Max in the middle makes those last 3 miles feel more like they would in the race. And when you're on pace (as I was yesterday) it's a good confidence boost. When you're off pace...well, you're still putting some good time in at and just over threshold effort. If I'm really dragging during the first 2 mile interval, then I'll revise the workout.

3) I actually like high intensity 1/2- 1 mile repeats too. Barf fest. Thank god those are over with. Follow up with several 200's with jog recovery...yum.

Today...yes, I'm loading my running...I've tested it out over the last 10 weeks and I like back to back or sometimes blocks of hard run workouts. I've been handling them fine, recovering fine and they seem to be more beneficial. Never two days in a row of VO2Max work though. I only hit that once a week now anyway, minimally. Today was my long run and a race sim. run on the legs I've acquired since Thursday's long/hard bike and swim, and yesterday's track workout and swim. Goal was to run 13 miles - 11 per my pacing plan after 1 mile warm up. Ran 1 mile and then settled into my goal starting pace and progressed accordingly. Terrain was similar to race with a lot of flat, but the hill is only about 2/3 the distance of the bridge and a tad less steep, and occurs every 3 miles. Things went great. Absolutely nailed it and there was definitely room for the 2 more miles. Almost seemed a little conservative, given the ease on tired legs.

A little bike this afternoon then a big bike workout tomorrow. Nothin' but a 2k recovery swim Monday that will feel so sweet.

Today's run soundtrack was a trip back in time - Queensryche - Operation Mindcrime, 1 1/2 times through and I sung along for most of it! I know every single freaking word. (I'm one of the "them") A little Geoff Tate falsetto?...

Swimming! So I'm paranoid. I know. I hate people watching me. And when I swim at my pool, especially when I'm having a bad day, I'm always paranoid that the lifeguards are watching me thinking "why is she even bothering...she sucks. She's so slow!" This is part of the reason I loved swimming with Craig's group. I didn't have to battle those thoughts there. Well, it turns out my paranoia is partly true. They DO watch. BUT, I was talking to one of them yesterday (who's been watching me swim since the first day I jumped into the pool and couldn't even put my head under water 3 years ago) and he was telling me how much faster, stronger and more efficient I look now than just a few months ago. He said my stroke has really improved! He's impressed. I said, REALLY!? Super. So yay! All that work with Craig Lewin this summer really helped so much!! Thanks Craig! I still try to get up there once a week when I can. It's helpful to maintain getting a certain degree of regular feedback to keep it fresh in my head so I don't stray while training on my own. It's also nice to have someone on deck running your workout occasionally given my tendency toward moping rather than working in the pool on my own.

So the lifeguards are watching, but they're not laughing. Good to know. ;)

New favorite show! LA Hard Hats. :)

Some of you were interested in the construction process of the concrete structure building project that I worked on for a bit (Jeanie actually did the structural design for it). Here's a link to a show that shows the process - "Top down" construction. Different building but they did the same thing.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/91792/la-hard-hats-rodbusters?c=News-and-Information

...and that, Road!

Well that's that. I'm not racing Sunday!

After this morning's swim pump up and then my bike ride starting so great today, I made an on the road decision to take advantage of what my body was giving me (and the weather) and revise and step up today's session in exchange and gear it more towards what I feel I need right now. Everything was there so I went for it and it went great! Not liking tempo effort running in the new shoes though...too labored.

Two great things. I seem to have pulled it off and done everything "perfect" for my biking. I was starting to burn out by Timberman and by Pumpkinman I was fried. I wasn't mentally in the race at Pumpkinman but regardless, the power wasn't there. I was zapped. My power from Timberman was pretty pathetic too. I had bursts of high power to get up the hills, but the power average dropped drastically on the flats. I couldn't hold anything. So post Pumpkinman priority was to let my bike legs recover and be supremely anal about the type and amount of stress I put on them on the bike through last cycle. I returned to some long duration rides and some strength oriented sessions while keeping up with some short interval work to keep things sharp. Maintained a keen sense of when enough was enough in each workout for that given day to make sure I was still on the path to freshening while building what needed work. Tricky and in the end I did a little less than I had hoped (not much), but it got me to where I needed to be so it doesn't matter. Today was proof. I haven't ridden like that since I think early July. What's great is that since there doesn't seem to be much of a crossover of bike and run fatigue with me, I was able to hit my run hard like I wanted to do, with little detriment to my bike legs. Race specific focus this cycle and I hope I can get it as right to get me to race day fast and strong.

The other good thing is this whole banishing myself to the loathsome trainer for most of my riding. I was like a bull out of his pen today. It was my first time on the road in about 10 days! It's great. You get out there and are so psyched to be on the road you ride with fresh perspective and excitement! When you're burnt on riding and have to keep training, it's a good way to go. Makes most sessions miserable as hell, but the hope is that when it counts and you hit that road, you're psyched and on fire. I also like to do more trainer rides to prep for Clearwater since it's so flat. I don't have those conditions anywhere around here.

The only bad part was my "bump in" with a car. Nothing serious luckily...just a banged up ouchy (bruised) shoulder/upper arm. Beats the strained adductors and crushed quads from last year's two accidents. It's been a while since I've had to ride during rush hour. IT SUCKS! But the motivation and attitude you get to put towards your workout from it great.

Today was a good day. I hope it carries with me through the less than great days I'm sure are in my future.

Take that, Pool!

I had to...had to!...get a hard swim set in today. I was motivated when I went to bed, but after only 3 hours of sleep and waking up late this morning, I was exhausted and dreading it. And I got lazy during my recovery week last week so my swimming has been pretty pathetic this week which made me dread the potential demoralizing disaster in wait.

We got to the pool and I bailed...left Matt and got back in the car to go home and come back later. Wuss. Knowing me...I would not end up coming back later. It's now or never. So after much debate and a long self talk in the car - on "shut up and just do it you shithead!" I got out of the car and went.

I felt like Jim Carrey in "Me, Myself and Irene" when he's fighting with his other self in the car and throws him out. It was like there was another me dragging me through the garage and down the stairs and across the street. When I got to the building I was on my own.

Write up the set on my iPhone, stretch while I memorize it, then block out everything with my swim cap and goggles and jump in.

Swimming is a real battle. I suck at it and it's hard. Hard is an understatement. So the successful days are glorious highs. For me, a successful day in the pool is not hitting times that I should be or wish I could. It's getting through the whole workout, completely focused, at the right intensities, and on schedule. No cheating. No compromise. No negative thoughts.

Today I win! 4400 solo yards of ass kicking success. It was no easy workout and I didn't stray once.

I was on this kick pre-recovery week. Hopefully it'll stick. Swim discipline is exhausting.

Next to the high of a successful swim workout on your own is a 70 degree fall bike ride!!!! Today rocks.