Guilderland Indoor Triathlon

Today was not my usual workout. Usually I am telling my body to slow down, keep form, and just spin. Today I was telling my body to go faster - go faster - go faster. Today included 15 minutes of swimming, 15 min of biking, and 15 min of running in a pool, spin bike, and treadmill. I felt great. 45 minutes of working out is easy for me and feels short especially when you are only doing 15 minutes of each thing. I was fast for me and was very happy with my distances. My legs are sore though from going fast combined with my long run yesterday. I wasn't overly dizzy today until I got on the treadmill but I didn't care at that point. I just wanted to go fast. Joe came in 3rd place overall. He did really well!

This week will be tough though. No off days until Saturday when we are in DC. Two workouts on all days except Wednesday and Friday (Wednesday is a long run day and Friday I only have time for a 45 min run before leaving for DC.) Plus, grades are due this week - this could be a difficult, stressful week.

My Long Runs

I love to run long distances. I truely enjoy running for 2 hours most of the time. Training for Ironman has been difficult for me in that respect which is very unusual. I have been stuck at one and a half hours for 4 weeks. The first time I did that time, it didn't feel good but it didn't feel bad either. I did that distance again the next week and felt great (Runnin' of the Green day - I raced for 38 min and still felt great). The next time I did it, it felt like I was trying to kill myself. I did that distance again two weeks ago and it sucked. Last week was my easy week so instead of a long run, I got to do a swim/bike/run workout on my long run day. This week I had scheduled an hour and forty-five minutes. I haven't been feeling great this week and actually took 3 days off in a row (shocking) this week because of my headache/dizziness/viral infection that most of my students and the faculty at school have but I felt good enough today to attempt the distance. Plus, we go to Washington DC next weekend to run the Cherry Blossom 10 miler so I needed to get in the distance. I started ok. It was beautiful out (a little warmer than I am used to but still ok). Today was my first run in shorts and a short-sleeved shirt, it was so nice out. There were tons of people outside at Washington Park and lots of college kids out playing football and volleyball and enjoying the sun. There was the woman and her 4 kids who were trying to cross the rode in the park and when they had the opportunity, the mom said go and all of the kids (probably all 4 between the ages of 3 and 7) sprinted across the road and went into the large field and just kept running like it was their first day outside after a really long winter (maybe it was, we are in Upstate NY). It was so funny to watch their little legs sprinting and the littest one was just trying to keep up but wasn't giving up. It was funny! It was a fantastic day for a run. About an hour in, I started getting my headache again. Then I got dizzy especially when I would turn my head to look for cars. The movement of the cars around me was making me dizzy. I really wanted the mileage though (only someone training for an Ironman would continue running when feeling like this because I have come to truely believe that we are a different breed and are completely crazy) so I kept running and made a deal with myself - If I finished the run, I could go to Starbucks and get a frapaccino (usually completely off my diet). I finished the run (Yippie!). Tried to stop feeling dizzy before I got into the car to drive to Starbucks. Found my new favorite drink at Starbucks - the Caramel Frapaccino!!! It was enough of a sugar/caffeine rush that I felt a little better within the next 20 minutes.

Tomorrow - Guilderland YMCA Indoor Triathlon. Next weekend, Cherry Blossom 10 miler in Washington DC! I hope I can shake the headache/dizzy/viral infection within the next two days to make sure I don't feel aweful when I workout this week. I really need a good quality week since the last two have sucked. I will think positive thoughts about this week and it will be good!!!

BTW - I will be sending out an e-mail about this too. If you know you are going to Ironman to watch Joe and me compete, let me know if you are staying at the camp or somewhere else and if you want a t-shirt. My mom wants our Ironspectators to have t-shirts to show support, so I will need to know who wants one and what size as well.

My love/ hate relationship with my ......... BIKE

Let me preface this with, even though I have been a triathlete for the past 6 years, I am a runner!!! I have been running for a much longer time than I have been swimming, biking, and running. Swimming I am proficient at. Running is my outlet - my place to release stress, anger, enjoy the scenery, and struggle through with a great feeling after I have completed it. I love to run. BIKING though, UGH!!! I try sooooooo hard. I can have great rides and then they take a nasty turn halfway through and I get passed by someone who is not trying while I am dieing. Today is a good example. I have been working my butt off (literally - see below) on the trainer all winter - not the same as riding outside due to hills, slanted roads, potholes, hills, and weather. It was a beautiful day so I decided to go for a bike ride since I did a long run yesterday. I started and felt good. I hit a turn about 12 miles in and then the wind hit me. I lost my form, I was struggling with cadence, I was struggling with hills (which I haven't been on very much since I have been on the trainer). My toes were cold or numb - not sure which. Then my mind goes to a place where I hate being on the bike and I want to get off. So, today I loved being outside and then I hated being on the bike. Plus, I feel like when I ride in Schenectady I must have a sign on my back that says "I want you to try to hit me so that I can get practice in avoiding your monstrous car!!!" because SUV's seem to think I don't belong on the road. Well, sorry to burst their bubble but I DO BELONG ON THE ROAD SO GIVE ME MY 3 FT!!!!! I wish I lived in a more biker friendly area. I had a good end to my ride though. I stopped thinking negatively and started thinking of the positives: 1. This is the earliest I have ever been out on the road during a season, 2. I did 31 miles today - March 15 - on an easy ride - which is great for my training, 3. I didn't feel extremely tired the entire time although hills were challenging, it was ok, and 4. I know I started to fast and can learn from my mistake - slow down!!! The Lake Placid Ironman course will be unforgiving if I start out too fast and I know it. Learn that now and survive Ironman.

On a side note..... All of this biking, swimming, and running is allowing me to gain some weight (YIPPIE! NOT!!!) but my butt is now an extension of my upper thighs or maybe it is an extension of my lower back - I am not sure. Anyway, I don't have a butt anymore. No one told me that that would happen. Noone told me that I would gain weight even though I am always hungry and don't feel like I am bigger. I looked back at pictures from Tinman last year and I had no butt in my finishing shots there too. Did it never come back after Tinman, I am pretty sure it did as I was able to keep up my pants without the necesesity for use of a belt for the first half of the school year but now, not able to. Where did it go?? It is missing!!! So, if anyone has my rear end, let me know as I miss it and want it back if only for the fact that I want to stop pulling my pants up all of the time and I don't look as good in clothes without it! If your solution is to buy new clothes, that won't work because my thighs are now even bigger than they were due to (again) swimming, biking, and running - so smaller sizes won't fit my thighs even though they fit my rear end and my waist. What a fantastic dilemma!!!

Beautiful Weekend!

Saturday, March 7 - Runnin of the Green (Island)
Woke up to a very beautiful day but about an hour earlier than I wanted to because Joe's car had a flat tire and he needed a ride into St. Rose to bring a couple of his athletes to Boston for a track meet. I brought him in and then back to the house to change quickly and head to Green Island. I got to the venue early, picked up my shirt and number, and headed out for the first part of my long run. I got in 35 minutes before the race and it was about 50 degrees out. Figured out that I didn't need to wear a long sleeved shirt so I moved my race number to my short sleeved shirt. What a change from last weeks temperatures in the 20's or lower. I went to the starting line which was buzzing with how excited everyone was about it being warm out. The race started and within the first 5 minutes, I realized that I hate being slow because the people around me aren't actually trying, they are talking about random things. I just wanted to say "Be quiet and run faster!!" I was working so hard. I was aiming for anything under 44 minutes because with all of the training, not much of it on the roads due to the weather, I don't feel like I am in the best running shape (good swim shape, ok bike shape, but just not where I wanted to be running wise). The first mile was a 9:55. I couldn't believe it. I was working hard but felt like I was going very slowly. I kept pushing and got a 9:53 second mile, followed by a 9:37 for the third. I kept pushing and feeling like I was getting faster as the race went on. My final mile was a 9:13 which is a great mile time for me!!! I PRed!!! I can't believe it. I guess I may be in a little better running shape than I thought. After the race, I finished my distance with a 17 minute cooldown which left me with a 1 hour and 30 min run which is exactly what I had planned. I also now had a slight sunburn.

So, due to a change in my plans, I got to go home after the race and take a nap. I slept for an hour and a half and was awaken by my alarm. I couldn't believe I was so tired. Got ready to go and pick up my parents from the airport and then head out to the Ride for Missing Children's spin-a-thon in Clifton Park. I got there a little early and got on the bike, just to get my legs moving from being a little tight from the run in the morning. Amy came out to ride with me and Stacy. After an hour and 20 minutes of spinning, I had had enough for the day, went to dinner, and then went home to eat dinner.

Sunday, March 8
Another beautiful day. Well, at least it started sunny and warm but became a little chilly and windy. Joe and I really wanted to get out on the bikes today for our first outside of ride of the year. Due to errands and other commitments, Joe and I didn't get out to ride our bikes until around 4 pm. It was about 45 degrees and very windy. The first ride outside is always very exciting but also very demoralizing. It is so much harder to ride outside than it is to ride on the trainer indoors. My legs were tired and sore from yesterday but I was really excited to ride outside and do a little hill over and over again. It went ok. It is so depressing to know that I put in soooo many hours on the trainer and it was so much harder to be out on the road. I have to get used to it though and Joe keeps reminding me that even though it is harder outside, all those indoor miles will help with my bike fitness later. So, after 14 miles and an hour of riding, my feet were numb and I was cold so we called it a day. On a positive note, that is a lot faster than I ride on the trainer, it also felt much more difficult but it was still faster. I can't wait to be outside riding for good. Probably not this week since it is supposed to be 30 degrees again. I will be dreaming of good riding weather.

What describes Ironman training?

I found a new saying that I think describes my Ironman journey:

Because I'm loving every wonderful, horrible minute of this