I "slept in" until 6:15 a.m. today. How pathetic is that!
I'm still feeling fairly calm, but getting a little nervous about the heat. I bought Endurolytes today, and despite what people say about not trying something new on race day and despite knowing better, I might. Probably I'll just carry them and use them if I'm experiencing cramping, or if my forehead gets scratchy from all the salt.
Friday, July 21, 2006
Thursday, July 20, 2006
Preparing for the end
I keep thinking about all the cool things I can do when my race is over.
-- Sleep past 4:30 a.m. regularly
-- Stay up past 10 p.m. regularly
-- Diet!
-- Wakeboard (or attempt to)
-- Mountain bike (or attempt to)
(these last two things I haven't done because I'm not risking injury by taking on a new sport now)
I'm still looking forward - very much so - to the race. I'm looking forward to the excitement of that morning, starting the swim, ending the swim, cruising on my bike, starting the run, and of course finishing. But I'm also looking forward to the great sleep I'll get that night, sleeping in Monday morning, and starting to plan the rest of my year (marathon training and sprint tri fun).
I still don't feel nervous. The race will be what it will be. However, a co-worker has issued me a challenge: If I beat him at Lake Stevens, he will do the Kirkland sprint tri in a skirt (like the one I did STP in).
Well, I'm sure beating him will be very difficult for me, so I plan to use the motivation if I start to falter. But I plan to just get into a happy place, accept problems if they arise, and just keep moving. I have a new song to run to (not that I get to run with an mp3 player much since I have so many great running partners now, but still) - it's "Move Along" by the All-American Rejects. "All you got to keep is strong, move along move along like I know ya do" - that's me. All I have to keep is strong. I will listen to this song over and over again prior to the race so it gets stuck in my head, and since I don't know any other of the lyrics, all I can sing is this one.
Although I had so much fun singing on STP that I might have to think of other songs to sing while racing. That would certainly keep my heart rate in the right place, wouldn't it!
So this morning I met Nancy at 5:15 for half of our usual run - just a 30 minute jog, then I met Jessi for a swim/bike brick. We did 40 minutes of each at a very comfortable pace. Strangely, I actually had a little water panic today - I got water up my nose twice, and that was uncomfortable and startling - but I recovered very quickly and I'm not even sure my stroke changed. Also, the sun was in a bad place over the water, so it made unilateral breathing difficult. I did switch to my less-comfortable side and felt so-so; it was enough to get me past the crazy-can't-see part.
Tomorrow will be a total rest day; Saturday will be a mini-tri (like today, but in the correct order with fast transitions), then Sunday the race! I can't believe it's here - and I feel calm about it!
-- Sleep past 4:30 a.m. regularly
-- Stay up past 10 p.m. regularly
-- Diet!
-- Wakeboard (or attempt to)
-- Mountain bike (or attempt to)
(these last two things I haven't done because I'm not risking injury by taking on a new sport now)
I'm still looking forward - very much so - to the race. I'm looking forward to the excitement of that morning, starting the swim, ending the swim, cruising on my bike, starting the run, and of course finishing. But I'm also looking forward to the great sleep I'll get that night, sleeping in Monday morning, and starting to plan the rest of my year (marathon training and sprint tri fun).
I still don't feel nervous. The race will be what it will be. However, a co-worker has issued me a challenge: If I beat him at Lake Stevens, he will do the Kirkland sprint tri in a skirt (like the one I did STP in).
Well, I'm sure beating him will be very difficult for me, so I plan to use the motivation if I start to falter. But I plan to just get into a happy place, accept problems if they arise, and just keep moving. I have a new song to run to (not that I get to run with an mp3 player much since I have so many great running partners now, but still) - it's "Move Along" by the All-American Rejects. "All you got to keep is strong, move along move along like I know ya do" - that's me. All I have to keep is strong. I will listen to this song over and over again prior to the race so it gets stuck in my head, and since I don't know any other of the lyrics, all I can sing is this one.
Although I had so much fun singing on STP that I might have to think of other songs to sing while racing. That would certainly keep my heart rate in the right place, wouldn't it!
So this morning I met Nancy at 5:15 for half of our usual run - just a 30 minute jog, then I met Jessi for a swim/bike brick. We did 40 minutes of each at a very comfortable pace. Strangely, I actually had a little water panic today - I got water up my nose twice, and that was uncomfortable and startling - but I recovered very quickly and I'm not even sure my stroke changed. Also, the sun was in a bad place over the water, so it made unilateral breathing difficult. I did switch to my less-comfortable side and felt so-so; it was enough to get me past the crazy-can't-see part.
Tomorrow will be a total rest day; Saturday will be a mini-tri (like today, but in the correct order with fast transitions), then Sunday the race! I can't believe it's here - and I feel calm about it!
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Riding the Lake Stevens course...or not
So yesterday I took half a day off from work to go back up to Lake Stevens to ride the bike course one more time. I did it in early May once and just wanted to see it again, prepare a gearing strategy, etc.
Well, I looked at my cleats yesterday morning and the tip of the left cleat was completely broken off - meaning, would not clip in anymore. So I asked Danielle to pick up new cleats for me before she met me here at work to go up to Lake Stevens (about an hour away). Wendy, another triathlete doing the Lake Stevens 70.3, joined us for the ride as well.
We get up to Lake Stevens, eat a yummy vegetarian lunch Danielle brought us, pump up our bike tires, put on sunscreen, and then I go to try out my new cleats. I can't clip in. Turns out, there's more than one size of Look cleats - and my pedals require the smaller size. So the cleats Danielle got me were too big for my pedals! No ride for me! (Lake Stevens is tiny - no bike shop - and had we tried to drive to a nearby city, find a bike shop, and then drive back, we wouldn't have time to ride before Danielle and I had to be back home.)
So I felt awful for Wendy and Danielle, who expected to get at least something of a workout, and I wanted them to ride without me. They didn't want to, though, so instead we spent the time doing something probably equally as useful: driving the bike course and discussing different parts of it, what gears we'd be in, where we'd need to be careful, where we could let loose on the downhills, etc. Then we went to find the transition area and check out the water (it's warm), then we drove the run course. There's a fairly long hill on an out-and-back part - that won't be that exciting. All the way up to go down...but then do that in reverse. And, I think, twice. At least I'm a hill climber. Unfortunately, though, there's little shade for much of the run course and it's supposed to be 90 degrees. I think I'm going to make the strategic decision to carry my own water in my fuel belt to ensure I have enough.
I did work out yesterday though: I ran for an hour in the morning, then swam in Lake Sammamish. My run was perfect - no knee pain at all - then I learned something really important on the swim. I had bought a $35 Costco wetsuit just for fun, and because it's cute. I figured I might wear it for a late-season sprint like Danskin.
Well, it's not buoyant AT ALL. It was like swimming in a bathing suit, which is fine, but why should I waste precious transition time on a "wetsuit" that doesn't offer any buoyancy or even warmth? And what's the point of the thing, anyway? Must be psychological comfort - it certainly wasn't physiological. So I made another decision: despite the fact that the water in Lake Stevens is at least as warm as Lake Sammamish, I will wear my full wetsuit for the half-IM swim. I'm choosing to be warm but buoyant (and have to work less hard) versus comfortable temperature-wise, but having to work much harder to swim. In the wetsuit, I barely have to move my legs; yesterday in the Costco thing, I needed to actually kick.
This morning I wanted to ride my bike to work, but John had a bit of a tantrum about me riding alone, so I slept in (until 6 a.m. - and I had gone to bed at 9 because I was in a bad mood, so that was a ton of sleep for me!) and drove with him to drop off the kids, then rode the rest of the way in to work together. It was actually quite nice. I worked on cadence - I switched my bike computer to show cadence instead of speed and tried to keep it above 90 all the time. I found it really hard, especially on the parts of the route where I like to go really fast. However, John's computer was showing mph, so I was able to ask him, and I was surprised to find that despite feeling "slow" pedaling much faster, I was keeping my normal speeds through the rollers. I wonder if this is an indication that if I really work on cadence when I ride outside, will I get so much faster even when I am in a big gear? Because I felt like I wasn't working at all, but my speed was still high. I don't know why I feel like I need to be working hard all the time...but maybe I need to train my legs to love high cadence, then they'll learn to love it in a big gear, and THEN I'll be working hard again!
Well, I looked at my cleats yesterday morning and the tip of the left cleat was completely broken off - meaning, would not clip in anymore. So I asked Danielle to pick up new cleats for me before she met me here at work to go up to Lake Stevens (about an hour away). Wendy, another triathlete doing the Lake Stevens 70.3, joined us for the ride as well.
We get up to Lake Stevens, eat a yummy vegetarian lunch Danielle brought us, pump up our bike tires, put on sunscreen, and then I go to try out my new cleats. I can't clip in. Turns out, there's more than one size of Look cleats - and my pedals require the smaller size. So the cleats Danielle got me were too big for my pedals! No ride for me! (Lake Stevens is tiny - no bike shop - and had we tried to drive to a nearby city, find a bike shop, and then drive back, we wouldn't have time to ride before Danielle and I had to be back home.)
So I felt awful for Wendy and Danielle, who expected to get at least something of a workout, and I wanted them to ride without me. They didn't want to, though, so instead we spent the time doing something probably equally as useful: driving the bike course and discussing different parts of it, what gears we'd be in, where we'd need to be careful, where we could let loose on the downhills, etc. Then we went to find the transition area and check out the water (it's warm), then we drove the run course. There's a fairly long hill on an out-and-back part - that won't be that exciting. All the way up to go down...but then do that in reverse. And, I think, twice. At least I'm a hill climber. Unfortunately, though, there's little shade for much of the run course and it's supposed to be 90 degrees. I think I'm going to make the strategic decision to carry my own water in my fuel belt to ensure I have enough.
I did work out yesterday though: I ran for an hour in the morning, then swam in Lake Sammamish. My run was perfect - no knee pain at all - then I learned something really important on the swim. I had bought a $35 Costco wetsuit just for fun, and because it's cute. I figured I might wear it for a late-season sprint like Danskin.
Well, it's not buoyant AT ALL. It was like swimming in a bathing suit, which is fine, but why should I waste precious transition time on a "wetsuit" that doesn't offer any buoyancy or even warmth? And what's the point of the thing, anyway? Must be psychological comfort - it certainly wasn't physiological. So I made another decision: despite the fact that the water in Lake Stevens is at least as warm as Lake Sammamish, I will wear my full wetsuit for the half-IM swim. I'm choosing to be warm but buoyant (and have to work less hard) versus comfortable temperature-wise, but having to work much harder to swim. In the wetsuit, I barely have to move my legs; yesterday in the Costco thing, I needed to actually kick.
This morning I wanted to ride my bike to work, but John had a bit of a tantrum about me riding alone, so I slept in (until 6 a.m. - and I had gone to bed at 9 because I was in a bad mood, so that was a ton of sleep for me!) and drove with him to drop off the kids, then rode the rest of the way in to work together. It was actually quite nice. I worked on cadence - I switched my bike computer to show cadence instead of speed and tried to keep it above 90 all the time. I found it really hard, especially on the parts of the route where I like to go really fast. However, John's computer was showing mph, so I was able to ask him, and I was surprised to find that despite feeling "slow" pedaling much faster, I was keeping my normal speeds through the rollers. I wonder if this is an indication that if I really work on cadence when I ride outside, will I get so much faster even when I am in a big gear? Because I felt like I wasn't working at all, but my speed was still high. I don't know why I feel like I need to be working hard all the time...but maybe I need to train my legs to love high cadence, then they'll learn to love it in a big gear, and THEN I'll be working hard again!
Monday, July 17, 2006
Back to reality
So I'm back at work and trying to get back into my routine for the week...but I still need to be tapering for my "A" race on Sunday.
I jumped in to the Pro Club's boot camp class this morning for a fun workout - Danielle was subbing for the regular instructor, so I knew it would be okay. It was a decent amount of cardio for the beginning part (running, walking lunges, etc) then strength training with bands, body weight and the body bar, then a four-mile run outside. My knee still hurts, but I was able to run pretty well (probably a 9.5 to 10 minute mile pace - that's cool for me this week for sure).
I need to get back to meal-tracking too, so here goes. Next week starts the hard-core diet, though.
Today's data:
Food:
Pre-workout: Vitatop and coffee with milk: 130 cals
Breakfast: English muffin with sausage and egg: 400 cals
Exercise:
Boot camp, including 4-mile run: 600 calories burned
I jumped in to the Pro Club's boot camp class this morning for a fun workout - Danielle was subbing for the regular instructor, so I knew it would be okay. It was a decent amount of cardio for the beginning part (running, walking lunges, etc) then strength training with bands, body weight and the body bar, then a four-mile run outside. My knee still hurts, but I was able to run pretty well (probably a 9.5 to 10 minute mile pace - that's cool for me this week for sure).
I need to get back to meal-tracking too, so here goes. Next week starts the hard-core diet, though.
Today's data:
Food:
Pre-workout: Vitatop and coffee with milk: 130 cals
Breakfast: English muffin with sausage and egg: 400 cals
Exercise:
Boot camp, including 4-mile run: 600 calories burned
Sunday, July 16, 2006
STP Ride Report
Yay! I did it! And it was way fun!
I was the most irritable, mean, yucky person on Friday afternoon when I got home from Germany. I yelled at my husband A TON (mostly because he failed to bring my bike in for the service I wanted prior to this 200 mile bike ride - and the reason I didn't do it myself before I left was that I was busy helping him with something else) and I just felt crabby. I chalked it up to needing sleep and went to bed at 9:30, after preparing all my stuff and going through lists of all the things I needed to bring, needed to put in John's car, and needed to do to my bike.
I slept so-so - thank goodness I was actually tired, or else I probably wouldn't have slept at all. I was very nervous and woke often with weird dreams (one of them, about John unplugging my cell phone from the charger to plug his in - and I screamed at him in my dream, of course - actually sort of came true: when John met us at the first rest stop, he took my phone's battery because his was dead. FLAKE). I also remembered a few things that I'd forgotten on my lists (headlight, cleat covers, etc).
So, I got up to the alarm at 4 a.m., showered, and made coffee. I decided last-minute to change my clothing strategy - I was going to wear a bike tank top with regular black shorts - but all that food I ate in Germany was making me believe I looked extra-fat - so I decided to wear my Terry skort and a different pink shirt. I still thought I looked fat in the shirt, but at least the skort hid my tummy and thighs. Plus, it gives me a silly thrill to ride past men all decked out in team cycling gear when I'm wearing a skort, and I did hope for some opportunity to ride well.
For breakfast, I ate a bagel and cream cheese and two hard-boiled eggs, but I was so excited and anxious that I had to force it down - and I couldn't eat it all. But I knew there would be ample opportunity to eat throughout the day.
Jessi showed up at 4:45, and Danielle was a few minutes late at 5:05. Jessi's fiance took a few pictures, and we were off. Matthew was waiting a mile down the road. I had decided we would start from home in Renton, rather than in Seattle, because I didn't want to get up even earlier, suffer through STP traffic to get to Seattle, just to ride back to Renton - and even though this cut a few miles off the trip, I felt - and still feel - that I completed the ride. The course went through my city probably 3 or 4 miles from my house, so we caught up with the earliest riders somewhere around 5:30.
Our strategy was to ride 17 to 18 mph all day on flat roads, and stay together in a pace line. Early on, both Jessi and I were feeling like this is just too easy, we should be riding harder - but Danielle kept reminding us that it's a very long day and we can't let ourselves burn out too early. So, we pretty much stuck to plan. Our plan also included stopping at every rest stop, but briefly - hit the Porta-Potties if we had to, fill up on water, and go. We were pretty efficient for probably the first 3/4 of the ride; towards the end of the day, we definitely slowed down at the rest stops. Maybe that was me, procrastinating. :-)
(Quick aside about Jessi, I just have to announce to everyone who might read both of our blogs that she is SO UNBELIEVABLY STRONG. She hadn't trained for a one-day ride and her longest prior to STP was 70 miles. At the end she was still pushing hard and looked amazing. I was so psyched she decided to come with us and share in the pulling. She is a force to be reckoned with! You can read her report here.)
The first 100 miles is incredibly easy. There's one hill around mile 45 or so, but, as Danielle said, "It's no Lakemont." (That refers to a two-mile climb that's one of the steepest, longest hills around here - that Danielle and I LOVE to climb, mostly because we can. And I like it because you get a 3-mile downhill on the other side.) My hill strategy was just to do it easily - not push hard, not race, just stay comfortable - and my heart rate told me I did, barely breaking 160.
Right after the second major rest stop (mile 55), I got a terrible, sharp pain right in the center of my right knee. Last time I had this pain, I couldn't ride my bike anymore - had to get off and walk. This wasn't quite as bad, so I just sort of tested it and pushed through it. I found that dropping my heel A LOT - more than you're supposed to, so my foot stayed completely flat throughout the pedal rotation - made it better, but pretty much I felt it the entire 150 miles more. Danielle thinks I need to get my bike re-fit for me, especially since any knee pain I feel running is completely different (and seems due to muscle fatigue in my quads, not joint trouble) - so I'm probably going to do that soon (but not until after the half-IM - I don't want to change anything before that).
We got in some good pacelines, sometimes with other riders we didn't know, and made it to Centralia, the half-way point, at 11:40 a.m. In Centralia, we ate big plates of spaghetti, and the sun came out. Up until then, it had been bright but cloudy - what I'd consider perfect biking weather. As much as I like sun, clouds are better so I don't get as hot or sunburn. I still felt very fresh and happy, despite the knee issue.
The miles from 100 until 145 were most definitely the hardest for me. 96 to 108 DRAGGED - I thought time was standing still. I'm thinking my body was busy dealing with the food I'd thrown in it, plus it didn't know that riding more than 100 was possible, so it took a while for it to catch up with my brain that was telling it, time to move! Got another 100 to do!
Also, 100 to 145 gets some rolling hills. Nothing huge - on a regular ride, I doubt I'd even get out of my big ring (but that's because I'm a masher anyway), but after a century, they were hills. And I started to notice how every hill, even slight ones, were taking a lot more out of me than they should. My legs felt heavy and full and I just got tired so easily - but then as soon as we were back on a flat or in a paceline, I was back to being pretty much fine (knee pain excepted).
Actually, here's how I would describe the two halves of the ride: the first half is the easiest century ever. The second half is the second easiest century ever, but when it comes right after the first half, it turns into something harder.
I sang a lot on the way. Some of it was quietly, just for me, and some was for other riders - like for this guy with an Oscar The Grouch shirt who I passed no less than 4 times (I ride faster, but take longer stops, I guess), I sang, "Oh I love trash!" And I sang the Sponge Bob song for people with that jersey on, and I made up my own song - to the tune of "I love to laugh" from Mary Poppins, "I love to draft!" I'm a big dork, but I entertained myself.
I also yelled at a guy for passing on the right. Danielle yelled at him for wearing earphones. He claimed he could hear us, but later, Jessi said that when we were getting towards a rest stop, everyone started yelling, "Slowing!" like we're supposed to, and that guy ripped his earbud out and said, "What's happening?" But I guess he was a fairly new rider and there were no hard feelings - when we saw him at the finish line, he actually wanted to take a picture with us.
At mile 162, we met up with a group called the Green River Riders. We'd seen them a bunch of times throughout the day - one guy had a pink helmet and pink wheels, so Danielle was all jealous, and Jessi rode up to the guy to find out who made the wheels so she could get them too. We left at the same time as them from the Goble rest stop and quickly realized they were keeping a pace just slightly harder than ours - so we hooked on to their pace line and held something more like 19-20, at times up to 22 mph. It ROCKED. They were really cool people - they actually live fairly close to Danielle and me - and although we did offer to help pull, they didn't take us up on the offer. We split off at the next rest stop at mile 175, but then decided we wanted to hang with them a little longer, so we found them and asked if we could. So we continued the great pace until mile 188, the last rest stop. They didn't stop, but we did - I needed to go to the potty. :-)
We definitely took a while at that last rest stop - frankly, I was reluctant to hurry. I was afraid I was going to be slow, and I warned the others that I might only be up to 15-16 mph for the end. Well, that turned out to not be true in the least. We kept the good pace most of the way; for a while we stayed behind a couple of guys going about 17, but for some of it, we were still up between 18 and 22. The last few miles, though, are in the city of Portland - and HILLS! Some of them significantly steep, but all of them pretty short. But again, hills were sucking the life out of me, so I just slowed to something easy and tried to spin up. (John told me later that compared to everyone in every pace line I was in, I was always at a slower cadence, even when first, which says I'm still mashing too much. Drat. I need to work harder on that.)
At the very end, Jessi and Matthew were ahead and they made a light that Danielle and I didn't. Although we'd been riding fairly well alone for these last 16 miles, in Portland there were suddenly a TON of people, so we couldn't really catch back up, and I think it felt good to both of them to just go hard to the end. Danielle and I finished just after they did; my bike computer said 11 hours, 8 minutes. Average speed 17.1 mph. 190 miles completed! (The full ride would have been 204; we cut off 14 by starting at my house. I felt like that was okay, though - I know I could have done another 10 or 14 if I needed to, and I'm calling myself someone who has completed a double century despite the missing miles.)
Here are some other random observations:
-- Number of flat tires Danielle counted: 20
-- Number of flat tires I, the queen of flats, got: ZERO! Really!
-- Number of times I dropped my chain: 1
-- Number of times I passed the guy in the Oscar the Grouch jersey and sang to him: 4
-- Number of beers it took me to lose the ability to talk post-ride: 1 (yes, really)
-- Number of 180-calorie Hostess cupcakes I consumed on the ride: 3
-- Number of times John stopped to offer his floor pump to riders with flats: 6 (isn't that nice of him?)
I was the most irritable, mean, yucky person on Friday afternoon when I got home from Germany. I yelled at my husband A TON (mostly because he failed to bring my bike in for the service I wanted prior to this 200 mile bike ride - and the reason I didn't do it myself before I left was that I was busy helping him with something else) and I just felt crabby. I chalked it up to needing sleep and went to bed at 9:30, after preparing all my stuff and going through lists of all the things I needed to bring, needed to put in John's car, and needed to do to my bike.
I slept so-so - thank goodness I was actually tired, or else I probably wouldn't have slept at all. I was very nervous and woke often with weird dreams (one of them, about John unplugging my cell phone from the charger to plug his in - and I screamed at him in my dream, of course - actually sort of came true: when John met us at the first rest stop, he took my phone's battery because his was dead. FLAKE). I also remembered a few things that I'd forgotten on my lists (headlight, cleat covers, etc).
So, I got up to the alarm at 4 a.m., showered, and made coffee. I decided last-minute to change my clothing strategy - I was going to wear a bike tank top with regular black shorts - but all that food I ate in Germany was making me believe I looked extra-fat - so I decided to wear my Terry skort and a different pink shirt. I still thought I looked fat in the shirt, but at least the skort hid my tummy and thighs. Plus, it gives me a silly thrill to ride past men all decked out in team cycling gear when I'm wearing a skort, and I did hope for some opportunity to ride well.
For breakfast, I ate a bagel and cream cheese and two hard-boiled eggs, but I was so excited and anxious that I had to force it down - and I couldn't eat it all. But I knew there would be ample opportunity to eat throughout the day.
Jessi showed up at 4:45, and Danielle was a few minutes late at 5:05. Jessi's fiance took a few pictures, and we were off. Matthew was waiting a mile down the road. I had decided we would start from home in Renton, rather than in Seattle, because I didn't want to get up even earlier, suffer through STP traffic to get to Seattle, just to ride back to Renton - and even though this cut a few miles off the trip, I felt - and still feel - that I completed the ride. The course went through my city probably 3 or 4 miles from my house, so we caught up with the earliest riders somewhere around 5:30.
Our strategy was to ride 17 to 18 mph all day on flat roads, and stay together in a pace line. Early on, both Jessi and I were feeling like this is just too easy, we should be riding harder - but Danielle kept reminding us that it's a very long day and we can't let ourselves burn out too early. So, we pretty much stuck to plan. Our plan also included stopping at every rest stop, but briefly - hit the Porta-Potties if we had to, fill up on water, and go. We were pretty efficient for probably the first 3/4 of the ride; towards the end of the day, we definitely slowed down at the rest stops. Maybe that was me, procrastinating. :-)
(Quick aside about Jessi, I just have to announce to everyone who might read both of our blogs that she is SO UNBELIEVABLY STRONG. She hadn't trained for a one-day ride and her longest prior to STP was 70 miles. At the end she was still pushing hard and looked amazing. I was so psyched she decided to come with us and share in the pulling. She is a force to be reckoned with! You can read her report here.)
The first 100 miles is incredibly easy. There's one hill around mile 45 or so, but, as Danielle said, "It's no Lakemont." (That refers to a two-mile climb that's one of the steepest, longest hills around here - that Danielle and I LOVE to climb, mostly because we can. And I like it because you get a 3-mile downhill on the other side.) My hill strategy was just to do it easily - not push hard, not race, just stay comfortable - and my heart rate told me I did, barely breaking 160.
Right after the second major rest stop (mile 55), I got a terrible, sharp pain right in the center of my right knee. Last time I had this pain, I couldn't ride my bike anymore - had to get off and walk. This wasn't quite as bad, so I just sort of tested it and pushed through it. I found that dropping my heel A LOT - more than you're supposed to, so my foot stayed completely flat throughout the pedal rotation - made it better, but pretty much I felt it the entire 150 miles more. Danielle thinks I need to get my bike re-fit for me, especially since any knee pain I feel running is completely different (and seems due to muscle fatigue in my quads, not joint trouble) - so I'm probably going to do that soon (but not until after the half-IM - I don't want to change anything before that).
We got in some good pacelines, sometimes with other riders we didn't know, and made it to Centralia, the half-way point, at 11:40 a.m. In Centralia, we ate big plates of spaghetti, and the sun came out. Up until then, it had been bright but cloudy - what I'd consider perfect biking weather. As much as I like sun, clouds are better so I don't get as hot or sunburn. I still felt very fresh and happy, despite the knee issue.
The miles from 100 until 145 were most definitely the hardest for me. 96 to 108 DRAGGED - I thought time was standing still. I'm thinking my body was busy dealing with the food I'd thrown in it, plus it didn't know that riding more than 100 was possible, so it took a while for it to catch up with my brain that was telling it, time to move! Got another 100 to do!
Also, 100 to 145 gets some rolling hills. Nothing huge - on a regular ride, I doubt I'd even get out of my big ring (but that's because I'm a masher anyway), but after a century, they were hills. And I started to notice how every hill, even slight ones, were taking a lot more out of me than they should. My legs felt heavy and full and I just got tired so easily - but then as soon as we were back on a flat or in a paceline, I was back to being pretty much fine (knee pain excepted).
Actually, here's how I would describe the two halves of the ride: the first half is the easiest century ever. The second half is the second easiest century ever, but when it comes right after the first half, it turns into something harder.
I sang a lot on the way. Some of it was quietly, just for me, and some was for other riders - like for this guy with an Oscar The Grouch shirt who I passed no less than 4 times (I ride faster, but take longer stops, I guess), I sang, "Oh I love trash!" And I sang the Sponge Bob song for people with that jersey on, and I made up my own song - to the tune of "I love to laugh" from Mary Poppins, "I love to draft!" I'm a big dork, but I entertained myself.
I also yelled at a guy for passing on the right. Danielle yelled at him for wearing earphones. He claimed he could hear us, but later, Jessi said that when we were getting towards a rest stop, everyone started yelling, "Slowing!" like we're supposed to, and that guy ripped his earbud out and said, "What's happening?" But I guess he was a fairly new rider and there were no hard feelings - when we saw him at the finish line, he actually wanted to take a picture with us.
At mile 162, we met up with a group called the Green River Riders. We'd seen them a bunch of times throughout the day - one guy had a pink helmet and pink wheels, so Danielle was all jealous, and Jessi rode up to the guy to find out who made the wheels so she could get them too. We left at the same time as them from the Goble rest stop and quickly realized they were keeping a pace just slightly harder than ours - so we hooked on to their pace line and held something more like 19-20, at times up to 22 mph. It ROCKED. They were really cool people - they actually live fairly close to Danielle and me - and although we did offer to help pull, they didn't take us up on the offer. We split off at the next rest stop at mile 175, but then decided we wanted to hang with them a little longer, so we found them and asked if we could. So we continued the great pace until mile 188, the last rest stop. They didn't stop, but we did - I needed to go to the potty. :-)
We definitely took a while at that last rest stop - frankly, I was reluctant to hurry. I was afraid I was going to be slow, and I warned the others that I might only be up to 15-16 mph for the end. Well, that turned out to not be true in the least. We kept the good pace most of the way; for a while we stayed behind a couple of guys going about 17, but for some of it, we were still up between 18 and 22. The last few miles, though, are in the city of Portland - and HILLS! Some of them significantly steep, but all of them pretty short. But again, hills were sucking the life out of me, so I just slowed to something easy and tried to spin up. (John told me later that compared to everyone in every pace line I was in, I was always at a slower cadence, even when first, which says I'm still mashing too much. Drat. I need to work harder on that.)
At the very end, Jessi and Matthew were ahead and they made a light that Danielle and I didn't. Although we'd been riding fairly well alone for these last 16 miles, in Portland there were suddenly a TON of people, so we couldn't really catch back up, and I think it felt good to both of them to just go hard to the end. Danielle and I finished just after they did; my bike computer said 11 hours, 8 minutes. Average speed 17.1 mph. 190 miles completed! (The full ride would have been 204; we cut off 14 by starting at my house. I felt like that was okay, though - I know I could have done another 10 or 14 if I needed to, and I'm calling myself someone who has completed a double century despite the missing miles.)
Here are some other random observations:
-- Number of flat tires Danielle counted: 20
-- Number of flat tires I, the queen of flats, got: ZERO! Really!
-- Number of times I dropped my chain: 1
-- Number of times I passed the guy in the Oscar the Grouch jersey and sang to him: 4
-- Number of beers it took me to lose the ability to talk post-ride: 1 (yes, really)
-- Number of 180-calorie Hostess cupcakes I consumed on the ride: 3
-- Number of times John stopped to offer his floor pump to riders with flats: 6 (isn't that nice of him?)
Friday, July 14, 2006
Hi-ho, hi-ho, it's off to Portland I go!
I'm back from Germany and now it's time to go to sleep...tomorrow I ride my bike 200 miles to Portland! Think happy no-jet-lag thoughts for me!
Thursday, July 13, 2006
I'm getting nervous
Yeah. I was really looking forward to STP...and now that it's two days away, I'm really nervous! What if I forgot how to ride my bike?
Okay, that's silly, but still. What if I feel yucky? What if I get bored with riding? What if I'm slower than I thought I'd be?
What if my bike breaks down? What if I get a flat every 20 miles? What if I can't sleep ever again?
Okay, I'm dumb. But still...being really far away from my bike, bike clothes, PowerBars, and everything else is kind of freaking me out.
Okay, that's silly, but still. What if I feel yucky? What if I get bored with riding? What if I'm slower than I thought I'd be?
What if my bike breaks down? What if I get a flat every 20 miles? What if I can't sleep ever again?
Okay, I'm dumb. But still...being really far away from my bike, bike clothes, PowerBars, and everything else is kind of freaking me out.
Food thoughts from Germany
-- Coke Light rocks. It's so much better than diet coke. Can I import it?
-- German food...not good for diets. And frankly, not that good anyway.
-- Ice cream...on every street corner...not good for Jessica. :-)
-- Beer! Lots of beer. Yum yum yum.
-- "Berliner Weisse" is disgusting. It's beer plus some kind of juice or syrup - super-sweet - and it comes red or green. But hey, when in Deutschland...(It's like the time that I ate durian in Singapore. DISGUSTING. But had to try it.)
-- I'm here for work, and we're working in a lab. Here's what the lab provides for food:
in the morning: a tray of cut fruit, whole fruit, and sandwiches.
for lunch: huge trays of food from a restaurant.
for lunch dessert: cake
for afternoon snack: ice cream
for late afternoon snack: more sandwiches and fruit
all day: soda and candy
So pretty much they feed us all day long and they get a little offended if we don't eat. Kind of makes it hard to stick to a reasonable diet! Oh, and they'll make us cappuccinos all day if we want them, and of course they come with a cookie.
-- So much other good food! Italian, French, Vietnamese, Japanese (sushi) - that is pretty crazy. We're eating way too well.
-- I can't find German Chocolate Cake on any menu. That makes me a little sad.
-- I can find German chocolate, though...and that makes me happy. :-)
I went out last night until 2 a.m. so I didn't wake up to exercise. I probably will do something tonight.
Hee hee. I find it funny that this post says it's 2 a.m. when I actually wrote it at 11 a.m. I didn't bother to change the time zone of my computer.
-- German food...not good for diets. And frankly, not that good anyway.
-- Ice cream...on every street corner...not good for Jessica. :-)
-- Beer! Lots of beer. Yum yum yum.
-- "Berliner Weisse" is disgusting. It's beer plus some kind of juice or syrup - super-sweet - and it comes red or green. But hey, when in Deutschland...(It's like the time that I ate durian in Singapore. DISGUSTING. But had to try it.)
-- I'm here for work, and we're working in a lab. Here's what the lab provides for food:
in the morning: a tray of cut fruit, whole fruit, and sandwiches.
for lunch: huge trays of food from a restaurant.
for lunch dessert: cake
for afternoon snack: ice cream
for late afternoon snack: more sandwiches and fruit
all day: soda and candy
So pretty much they feed us all day long and they get a little offended if we don't eat. Kind of makes it hard to stick to a reasonable diet! Oh, and they'll make us cappuccinos all day if we want them, and of course they come with a cookie.
-- So much other good food! Italian, French, Vietnamese, Japanese (sushi) - that is pretty crazy. We're eating way too well.
-- I can't find German Chocolate Cake on any menu. That makes me a little sad.
-- I can find German chocolate, though...and that makes me happy. :-)
I went out last night until 2 a.m. so I didn't wake up to exercise. I probably will do something tonight.
Hee hee. I find it funny that this post says it's 2 a.m. when I actually wrote it at 11 a.m. I didn't bother to change the time zone of my computer.
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Hitting the gym in Germany
All that sleep I got Monday night must have been stored up for future use: I couldn't get to sleep last night (finally forced myself to turn off the lights at 12:10 a.m.) then I woke up every hour! In fact, at 1 a.m. I didn't believe my clock - I had to get up and look at other clocks to be sure it really was 1 a.m. I thought it was time to get up already. At 5, I couldn't stay in bed any longer.
So I got 5 hours of broken sleep, but I actually feel quite good. At 6 a.m. I went to the gym in the hotel. I wanted to do some speed work on the treadmill, then lift weights, but I had a feeling it wasn't going to happen that way - and it didn't. My legs are still very sore. All the pain is in the muscles, though, not joints, so I know it's just going to take some rest to fix this, and I do feel fairly confident that I will be ready to ride STP on Saturday.
So I ran for 15 minutes at 10.0 on the treadmill. Yeah, that's kilometers, not miles, but it made me feel good anyway. :-) Then I did most of my normal strength training routine, with the exception of any lower body work - I skipped lunges and squats for obvious reasons. I also spent about twice as long on really good, deep stretches, and now I actually feel great!
However, my hamstrings and hip flexors are still tight and my quads hurt if I make them work hard. I was happy to see, though, that despite my extremely limited weight lifting over the last few weeks, my arms still have the right stuff.
Oh, one other funny thing! The weights are in kilograms, not pounds. It was pretty fun trying to remember the math - is it 2.2 kg = 1 lb? (I'm online, I could look it up...ah! I was right. So where I normally use 12 lb weights, I did 13.2, and where I normally do 10, I did 8.8.)
Anyway, no meal tracking, but I did eat fairly healthy yesterday, with the exception of an Apfelstrudel (yum!). I am in Germany, after all...
So I got 5 hours of broken sleep, but I actually feel quite good. At 6 a.m. I went to the gym in the hotel. I wanted to do some speed work on the treadmill, then lift weights, but I had a feeling it wasn't going to happen that way - and it didn't. My legs are still very sore. All the pain is in the muscles, though, not joints, so I know it's just going to take some rest to fix this, and I do feel fairly confident that I will be ready to ride STP on Saturday.
So I ran for 15 minutes at 10.0 on the treadmill. Yeah, that's kilometers, not miles, but it made me feel good anyway. :-) Then I did most of my normal strength training routine, with the exception of any lower body work - I skipped lunges and squats for obvious reasons. I also spent about twice as long on really good, deep stretches, and now I actually feel great!
However, my hamstrings and hip flexors are still tight and my quads hurt if I make them work hard. I was happy to see, though, that despite my extremely limited weight lifting over the last few weeks, my arms still have the right stuff.
Oh, one other funny thing! The weights are in kilograms, not pounds. It was pretty fun trying to remember the math - is it 2.2 kg = 1 lb? (I'm online, I could look it up...ah! I was right. So where I normally use 12 lb weights, I did 13.2, and where I normally do 10, I did 8.8.)
Anyway, no meal tracking, but I did eat fairly healthy yesterday, with the exception of an Apfelstrudel (yum!). I am in Germany, after all...
Double sleep
Okay, so yesterday afternoon we walked all over Berlin - which was great. It's a pretty incredible city. However, it was a lot of work to walk. We probably did 5 miles or so. Fun! When I got back to the hotel, I pretty much went to bed (9 p.m. Berlin time) - and SLEPT. I normally sleep six hours. I woke up naturally at 5 a.m., so after a good 8 hour sleep - then read for an hour. Reading made me tired and my bed was cozy, so I went back to sleep - and slept until 10 a.m.! Which was the hour I was supposed to meet my co-workers to head to work! AHHHH!
Fortunately they didn't call until 10:10, by which time I had showered and was half-dressed. I was downstairs at 10:18 with a ton of apologies. But that was 12 hours of sleep!
On the plus slide, I feel great today - no jet lag whatsoever. I don't plan to work out today, but maybe lift weights in the evening if I still feel great.
I'm also not meal-tracking this week - I'm not eating like mad, but it just isn't practical. Half the time I have no idea what I'm eating anyway, so it would be pretty inaccurate.
Fortunately they didn't call until 10:10, by which time I had showered and was half-dressed. I was downstairs at 10:18 with a ton of apologies. But that was 12 hours of sleep!
On the plus slide, I feel great today - no jet lag whatsoever. I don't plan to work out today, but maybe lift weights in the evening if I still feel great.
I'm also not meal-tracking this week - I'm not eating like mad, but it just isn't practical. Half the time I have no idea what I'm eating anyway, so it would be pretty inaccurate.
Monday, July 10, 2006
Seafair Half Marathon Report and other random musings from Germany
For future reference: Not my most brilliant idea, running a half-marathon in the morning then getting on an airplane for a 9-hour trip. It's about 7 hours in, and I haven't gotten out of my seat in a while, and I'm not actually sure I can. Every muscle in my legs is sore, from my hip flexors on down to my toes. Seriously. Nothing sounds better than a massage.
Plus, I can't obsessively check the race results site to see when official results are posted. I want to know how I did!
well, I sort of know. I know that I started out feeling pretty good, especially since I'm not sure when the last time I ran long was. Aleks really really wanted to beat two hours, which I knew I could do when I felt good, and I knew I could do on that particular course, since I did it last year. Hmm. Let me talk about last year for a moment.
I had planned in January to run the full marathon at Seafair in July, but I was completely undisciplined in my training...and then in May, I injured my foot and couldn't run at all for a month. So I decide to do the half-marathon at Seafair; I had done exactly one half-marathon before, and it was in Seattle the prior November. However, I did that race with a couple of friends, and we ran 11 to 12 minute miles for the first hour. I dropped them almost by accident - I meant to run ahead, then walk for a while so they could catch up - but I never stopped running. I did that first one in about 2:26, I think, but probably could have done 2:10 or 2:15.
So I didn't have much time to train between June, when I could run again, and July - I basically did a couple of 10+ mile runs and called it good. I planned to run 10 minute miles the entire way and finish in 2:10. I had no dreams of going sub-two.
But you know, when the excitement of the crowd hits you, something happens, and you just go. I realized immediately, by mile 1, that I was going 9 minute miles, and I thought, hey, I'll just do this until I can't anymore, then go back to plan.
By mile 7, I was at 1 hour, 1 minute, I think - nice! I finally catch up to the two-hour pacer, and I stay with that group for a minute, then I realize we're running downhill and I should just stay ahead, just in case. Because now that I've done 7 miles in nine minute miles, I'm doing the math and realizing I could go sub-two. And that sounds so great!
Of course, I was such a newbie that I didn't know about the need to have GU or some kind of carbohydrate drink on the run - I knew you shouldn't do something new if you haven't trained with it, so I only took in water. And by the 10 mile mark, I was really in pain. I pushed through, knowing the 2 hour pacer was so close to me, but I was not psyched. I also was feeling chafing between my legs and below my heart rate monitor - oh, and my HR was in the 170s THE ENTIRE TWO HOURS.
I got to around 12.8 miles or so - I could see the left turn to the finish - and burst into tears. I stopped short. I just couldn't run anymore. The pacer passed me and said, "You have to stay in front of me to beat two hours!" So I started running again, reluctantly.
I crossed the finish line at 1:59 on the gun clock, 1:58 on my watch. The pacer had been ahead of schedule slightly and was jogging in place before the finish. I was completely bonked - I didn't see my family, fortunately they found me, and they had to get me something to eat. All I wanted to do was sit.
So this year was different: I've run more half marathons since then (though some were trained through, with results of 2:05, 2:06 or so) and I did that one in Kirkland in May in 1:57.
We start out at perfect 9 minute miles, and then basically hold the pace throughout. A few miles were slightly faster - at one point we were about 30 seconds ahead of a 9 minute pace - but pretty much we were on target mile for mile. My fuel/water strategy for today was a new test: Jelly Belly Sport Beans, which I love while cycling, one pack at mile 4, 8, and 11. I actually did 4, 7.5, and 10 because of where the water stations were, but it worked. I didn't choke despite having to chew, and I could eat them prior to the water stations and be okay running without carrying water.
I did the Jelly Belly thing instead of GU because Jelly Bellys make me happy. I'm glad it worked - I think for the half-iron I will carry two GUs and two Jelly Belly packets so I can choose whatever I feel like having. It's good to have options.
The course has to be the best-supported course ever - water stations every two miles (slightly less, in fact), great volunteers, and fun music in places along the way. So every time I felt like maybe I was starting to get thirsty, a water station appeared.
Around mile 11, I could no longer happily keep up with Danielle and Aleks. I'd been feeling like I was working harder than I could sustain for a while, but when my heart rate wasn't coming down on a downhill and was hanging out in the low 170s downhill, high 170s flat, low 180s uphill, that says to me that I'm working closer to 5k race pace, not half-marathon. I had really hoped to be able to pick it up a lot for the last 5k, but when I got there, I knew it wasn't happening. I got behind them from a water station, then caught up, then started falling behind again, and I didn't work to pick back up with them. I went internal to fight my own head and finish the race alone.
By this time, I think my shoelaces were too tight, because my feet hurt in a new and exciting way they've never hurt before. I don't think I've run that distance with my Yankz shoelaces on, and I think they need adjusting. I also was feeling some weirdness in my quads - kind of like the muscle was pulling away from the bone. It was weird and made me think about chicken legs, which was a thought requiring immediate banishment.
The last 3/4 to half a mile is uphill. You can look up and see where everyone turns to go to the finish, and from last year I knew the finish was just 1/10 of a mile from the turn. I could see Aleks and Danielle up ahead, maybe just 1/10 of a mile, and to my surprise, I started passing people on the hill. It was actually kind of weird to experience - I didn't feel slow, really, but I didn't feel awesome. I guess that final hill affects everyone. I did have the thought in my head - hey, I'm not crying this year!
After the turn, it's downhill to the finish. I found something left and turned on the speed - but this time, my head was thinking about all of my race finish photos, where I always look twisted around. I wanted my body to look straight up and down and strong, so I tried to focus on great form while getting a nice long stride to the finish. The gun clock read 1:58:something when I crossed the finish line; my watch said 1:58:10, I think. So I'm fairly certain I beat last year's time by a matter of seconds, not even a whole minute. Hey, nothing wrong with consistency!
The post-race stuff deserves mention for anyone considering doing this race. Man, Seafair knows how to put on a great race! The post-race athlete's food was awesome - it included watermelon, sour patch kids, pretzels, bagels, Oreo cookies, and best of all, popsicles and ice cream sandwiches! Yum yum yum. Oh, and the finisher's medals were cool.
So the race was good, I definitely think it should be part of my summer every year. It was also the first running race I've ever repeated! I can say the course was different, but it was fairly similar. The primary difference between this year and last was that this year was warmer by about 10 degrees. I think it started around 60 last year, and it was 70 this year. Of course, where else can you run a summer marathon and not have serious heat or humidity? Yay Seattle!
So now, on to Germany. My plan this week is to do strength training in my hotel room with my bands and body weight, and do short runs (5k or so a couple of times). I'd love to run to see the city, but I'm not sure how safe that is - I'll have to find out. I'm traveling with a woman from work who runs, but she says she only does the treadmill. (I cannot imagine choosing the treadmill over a run with another person in a new city, but whatever.)
---
All that was written on the airplane. Now I'm here in Germany. It's 4 a.m. at home, 1 p.m. here. I'm feeling like I can stay up until 8 or 9 p.m. Berlin time so that I can get on this schedule, so that's good. Let's look up my race results!
Net time: 1:58:07 - one minute behind Danielle, 35 seconds behind Aleks. 9:03 pace. 44 out of 163 in my age group; 192 out of 863 women. Last year I did 1:58:21, so I was 14 seconds faster this year. I probably spent 14 seconds crying last year, so I'm not any faster. But that's okay - last year it was an "A" race, this year it was a decision I made on Tuesday to run. It's all part of a goal I have for the rest of my life: remain in half-marathon running shape forever.
Plus, I can't obsessively check the race results site to see when official results are posted. I want to know how I did!
well, I sort of know. I know that I started out feeling pretty good, especially since I'm not sure when the last time I ran long was. Aleks really really wanted to beat two hours, which I knew I could do when I felt good, and I knew I could do on that particular course, since I did it last year. Hmm. Let me talk about last year for a moment.
I had planned in January to run the full marathon at Seafair in July, but I was completely undisciplined in my training...and then in May, I injured my foot and couldn't run at all for a month. So I decide to do the half-marathon at Seafair; I had done exactly one half-marathon before, and it was in Seattle the prior November. However, I did that race with a couple of friends, and we ran 11 to 12 minute miles for the first hour. I dropped them almost by accident - I meant to run ahead, then walk for a while so they could catch up - but I never stopped running. I did that first one in about 2:26, I think, but probably could have done 2:10 or 2:15.
So I didn't have much time to train between June, when I could run again, and July - I basically did a couple of 10+ mile runs and called it good. I planned to run 10 minute miles the entire way and finish in 2:10. I had no dreams of going sub-two.
But you know, when the excitement of the crowd hits you, something happens, and you just go. I realized immediately, by mile 1, that I was going 9 minute miles, and I thought, hey, I'll just do this until I can't anymore, then go back to plan.
By mile 7, I was at 1 hour, 1 minute, I think - nice! I finally catch up to the two-hour pacer, and I stay with that group for a minute, then I realize we're running downhill and I should just stay ahead, just in case. Because now that I've done 7 miles in nine minute miles, I'm doing the math and realizing I could go sub-two. And that sounds so great!
Of course, I was such a newbie that I didn't know about the need to have GU or some kind of carbohydrate drink on the run - I knew you shouldn't do something new if you haven't trained with it, so I only took in water. And by the 10 mile mark, I was really in pain. I pushed through, knowing the 2 hour pacer was so close to me, but I was not psyched. I also was feeling chafing between my legs and below my heart rate monitor - oh, and my HR was in the 170s THE ENTIRE TWO HOURS.
I got to around 12.8 miles or so - I could see the left turn to the finish - and burst into tears. I stopped short. I just couldn't run anymore. The pacer passed me and said, "You have to stay in front of me to beat two hours!" So I started running again, reluctantly.
I crossed the finish line at 1:59 on the gun clock, 1:58 on my watch. The pacer had been ahead of schedule slightly and was jogging in place before the finish. I was completely bonked - I didn't see my family, fortunately they found me, and they had to get me something to eat. All I wanted to do was sit.
So this year was different: I've run more half marathons since then (though some were trained through, with results of 2:05, 2:06 or so) and I did that one in Kirkland in May in 1:57.
We start out at perfect 9 minute miles, and then basically hold the pace throughout. A few miles were slightly faster - at one point we were about 30 seconds ahead of a 9 minute pace - but pretty much we were on target mile for mile. My fuel/water strategy for today was a new test: Jelly Belly Sport Beans, which I love while cycling, one pack at mile 4, 8, and 11. I actually did 4, 7.5, and 10 because of where the water stations were, but it worked. I didn't choke despite having to chew, and I could eat them prior to the water stations and be okay running without carrying water.
I did the Jelly Belly thing instead of GU because Jelly Bellys make me happy. I'm glad it worked - I think for the half-iron I will carry two GUs and two Jelly Belly packets so I can choose whatever I feel like having. It's good to have options.
The course has to be the best-supported course ever - water stations every two miles (slightly less, in fact), great volunteers, and fun music in places along the way. So every time I felt like maybe I was starting to get thirsty, a water station appeared.
Around mile 11, I could no longer happily keep up with Danielle and Aleks. I'd been feeling like I was working harder than I could sustain for a while, but when my heart rate wasn't coming down on a downhill and was hanging out in the low 170s downhill, high 170s flat, low 180s uphill, that says to me that I'm working closer to 5k race pace, not half-marathon. I had really hoped to be able to pick it up a lot for the last 5k, but when I got there, I knew it wasn't happening. I got behind them from a water station, then caught up, then started falling behind again, and I didn't work to pick back up with them. I went internal to fight my own head and finish the race alone.
By this time, I think my shoelaces were too tight, because my feet hurt in a new and exciting way they've never hurt before. I don't think I've run that distance with my Yankz shoelaces on, and I think they need adjusting. I also was feeling some weirdness in my quads - kind of like the muscle was pulling away from the bone. It was weird and made me think about chicken legs, which was a thought requiring immediate banishment.
The last 3/4 to half a mile is uphill. You can look up and see where everyone turns to go to the finish, and from last year I knew the finish was just 1/10 of a mile from the turn. I could see Aleks and Danielle up ahead, maybe just 1/10 of a mile, and to my surprise, I started passing people on the hill. It was actually kind of weird to experience - I didn't feel slow, really, but I didn't feel awesome. I guess that final hill affects everyone. I did have the thought in my head - hey, I'm not crying this year!
After the turn, it's downhill to the finish. I found something left and turned on the speed - but this time, my head was thinking about all of my race finish photos, where I always look twisted around. I wanted my body to look straight up and down and strong, so I tried to focus on great form while getting a nice long stride to the finish. The gun clock read 1:58:something when I crossed the finish line; my watch said 1:58:10, I think. So I'm fairly certain I beat last year's time by a matter of seconds, not even a whole minute. Hey, nothing wrong with consistency!
The post-race stuff deserves mention for anyone considering doing this race. Man, Seafair knows how to put on a great race! The post-race athlete's food was awesome - it included watermelon, sour patch kids, pretzels, bagels, Oreo cookies, and best of all, popsicles and ice cream sandwiches! Yum yum yum. Oh, and the finisher's medals were cool.
So the race was good, I definitely think it should be part of my summer every year. It was also the first running race I've ever repeated! I can say the course was different, but it was fairly similar. The primary difference between this year and last was that this year was warmer by about 10 degrees. I think it started around 60 last year, and it was 70 this year. Of course, where else can you run a summer marathon and not have serious heat or humidity? Yay Seattle!
So now, on to Germany. My plan this week is to do strength training in my hotel room with my bands and body weight, and do short runs (5k or so a couple of times). I'd love to run to see the city, but I'm not sure how safe that is - I'll have to find out. I'm traveling with a woman from work who runs, but she says she only does the treadmill. (I cannot imagine choosing the treadmill over a run with another person in a new city, but whatever.)
---
All that was written on the airplane. Now I'm here in Germany. It's 4 a.m. at home, 1 p.m. here. I'm feeling like I can stay up until 8 or 9 p.m. Berlin time so that I can get on this schedule, so that's good. Let's look up my race results!
Net time: 1:58:07 - one minute behind Danielle, 35 seconds behind Aleks. 9:03 pace. 44 out of 163 in my age group; 192 out of 863 women. Last year I did 1:58:21, so I was 14 seconds faster this year. I probably spent 14 seconds crying last year, so I'm not any faster. But that's okay - last year it was an "A" race, this year it was a decision I made on Tuesday to run. It's all part of a goal I have for the rest of my life: remain in half-marathon running shape forever.
Saturday, July 08, 2006
Really quick, before I do a half marathon and go to Germany
Seriously, that's what I'm doing tomorrow. What in the world was I thinking? Hopefully I'll have a minute to tell you whether it was a great idea or horrible once I'm in Germany.
Today I rode a little over two hours with John, in what passes for heat in Seattle (I think it was around 80 degrees). But riding with John sucks, because his blood sugar gets low (he's a type-1 diabetic), and he gets tired, and he actually decided at two points to WALK his bike. WHATEVER! I'm okay with "recovery" rides for me, workout rides for him - but walking the bike? That's giving up, and I don't deal with that very well.
Anyway, I'm really tired, so heading to bed. And I really am doing a half-marathon tomorrow, and I really am getting on an airplane a few hours later to go to Germany. Don't tell me I'm an idiot, my family has already done that many times today. :-)
Today I rode a little over two hours with John, in what passes for heat in Seattle (I think it was around 80 degrees). But riding with John sucks, because his blood sugar gets low (he's a type-1 diabetic), and he gets tired, and he actually decided at two points to WALK his bike. WHATEVER! I'm okay with "recovery" rides for me, workout rides for him - but walking the bike? That's giving up, and I don't deal with that very well.
Anyway, I'm really tired, so heading to bed. And I really am doing a half-marathon tomorrow, and I really am getting on an airplane a few hours later to go to Germany. Don't tell me I'm an idiot, my family has already done that many times today. :-)
Friday, July 07, 2006
The miracle worker
Three posts in one day, I know. But this really does merit its own entry.
I went to the "miracle worker"shiatsu guy today. He took one look at me and knew that my right knee often bothers me and I lose feeling in my toes and feet when I exercise.
He rubbed on me in all different places, made me drink baking soda and water, and cracked every knuckle in my fingers and toes and cracked my neck and back. Then he pronounced me healthy again and told me not to eat cherries, strawberries, or orange juice.
Amazingly, I do feel better! We'll see how I feel tomorrow and for how long this lasts, but hey - it felt good (and painful) and clearly the medical doctors couldn't help me.
I went to the "miracle worker"shiatsu guy today. He took one look at me and knew that my right knee often bothers me and I lose feeling in my toes and feet when I exercise.
He rubbed on me in all different places, made me drink baking soda and water, and cracked every knuckle in my fingers and toes and cracked my neck and back. Then he pronounced me healthy again and told me not to eat cherries, strawberries, or orange juice.
Amazingly, I do feel better! We'll see how I feel tomorrow and for how long this lasts, but hey - it felt good (and painful) and clearly the medical doctors couldn't help me.
A question about swimming...
Every time I swim, I get a stuffy nose for hours afterwards. It's incredibly annoying. It happens in the pool and in open water. Does anyone have any idea of how I can prevent this, or fix it afterward? Today I tried a nasal decongestant, which doesn't seem to be working. I've gone through half a box of tissues already this morning...
If this is addiction, I don't want any 12-step
I'm no fun to be around when I can't exercise and I'm not feeling well. So rather than continue feeling miserable, or fasting again to try to have my blood drawn again, I decided to do a full-on hard-core workout this morning. And now I feel awesome!
I still have the lump on my forehead, and the back of my neck still hurts slightly, and I'm sneezing as I always do after a long swim, but my heart and mind feel joyful.
(Oh, the title of the post: John keeps telling me I'm addicted to exercise. Okay. I'll accept that. Just don't try to fix it. It's a better addiction than food, and I am also capable of taking a rest day or two in order to exercise better.)
Here's what I did: I woke up without an alarm to ensure that my body was fully rested. I went back to getting my coffee first-thing - I think changing my routine at this point is stupid, and I don't know why I did it. I went to Idylwood to swim (there were a zillion people there again, which was nice) and did three laps - just over a mile. Then I chatted for a few minutes (I wasn't working on fast transitions), and then took off for a 23 mile ride around the lake. I'm not psyched about the lake route, because I've done it a zillion times, but I just hate the Sammamish River Trail (so boring) so I figured the lake would be better. I went comfortably hard for the first half, then for the second half, the east side of the lake, there was this guy who stopped at a light I was stopped at. He was probably 6 feet tall, 175 lbs - looked very strong. Big guy, but not fat. He was a commuter, probably, based on the fact he was carrying a bag, but he had a nice bike and was dressed to ride (real shoes, bike clothes).
He started out behind me, and I just wanted to go fast...I guess I wanted to make it hard for him to pass. I kept it around 20-22 mph. There's one little hill on the route, and he got ahead of me before the hill and beat me up it, but I got in the aero bars and sailed past him on the downhill (which surprised me, based on our weight difference). He passed me back and picked up the speed - now we're going 24-25 mph on a slight incline - and I don't want him to think that I am only keeping up because I'm drafting, so I hang back about 5 bike lengths. And I stay there, and I stay there when the hill gets steeper, and I get a little closer on the flats (there's really no downhill on this part of the route), and I catch up all the way at a light, and then at the end we're going 24-25 still and flying past cars that are standing still in traffic. At the last light I catch him again, and then our routes split off. It was about 10 miles of hard riding - at one point my heart rate was 182, and I think it was hanging out in the high 160s on the flats and slight grades to the high 170s when it got steeper. On the flats, though, I felt like I could push harder - if it were a race, I could have overtaken him.
So after not riding hard for quite a while, this was great - I guess I still have it. :-)
I didn't run because it was just getting too late. I felt like I could, though.
So I'm happy! Yay!
Today's data:
Food:
Pre-workout: 1 Vitatop, 100 cals
Breakfast: Alternative bagel, ham, cheese: 215 cals
Lunch: Yogurt, granola, fruit: 400 cals
total so far: 715 cals I should eat a snack
Exercise:
Swim 1 mile
Bike 23 miles
Calories burned: 1200
I still have the lump on my forehead, and the back of my neck still hurts slightly, and I'm sneezing as I always do after a long swim, but my heart and mind feel joyful.
(Oh, the title of the post: John keeps telling me I'm addicted to exercise. Okay. I'll accept that. Just don't try to fix it. It's a better addiction than food, and I am also capable of taking a rest day or two in order to exercise better.)
Here's what I did: I woke up without an alarm to ensure that my body was fully rested. I went back to getting my coffee first-thing - I think changing my routine at this point is stupid, and I don't know why I did it. I went to Idylwood to swim (there were a zillion people there again, which was nice) and did three laps - just over a mile. Then I chatted for a few minutes (I wasn't working on fast transitions), and then took off for a 23 mile ride around the lake. I'm not psyched about the lake route, because I've done it a zillion times, but I just hate the Sammamish River Trail (so boring) so I figured the lake would be better. I went comfortably hard for the first half, then for the second half, the east side of the lake, there was this guy who stopped at a light I was stopped at. He was probably 6 feet tall, 175 lbs - looked very strong. Big guy, but not fat. He was a commuter, probably, based on the fact he was carrying a bag, but he had a nice bike and was dressed to ride (real shoes, bike clothes).
He started out behind me, and I just wanted to go fast...I guess I wanted to make it hard for him to pass. I kept it around 20-22 mph. There's one little hill on the route, and he got ahead of me before the hill and beat me up it, but I got in the aero bars and sailed past him on the downhill (which surprised me, based on our weight difference). He passed me back and picked up the speed - now we're going 24-25 mph on a slight incline - and I don't want him to think that I am only keeping up because I'm drafting, so I hang back about 5 bike lengths. And I stay there, and I stay there when the hill gets steeper, and I get a little closer on the flats (there's really no downhill on this part of the route), and I catch up all the way at a light, and then at the end we're going 24-25 still and flying past cars that are standing still in traffic. At the last light I catch him again, and then our routes split off. It was about 10 miles of hard riding - at one point my heart rate was 182, and I think it was hanging out in the high 160s on the flats and slight grades to the high 170s when it got steeper. On the flats, though, I felt like I could push harder - if it were a race, I could have overtaken him.
So after not riding hard for quite a while, this was great - I guess I still have it. :-)
I didn't run because it was just getting too late. I felt like I could, though.
So I'm happy! Yay!
Today's data:
Food:
Pre-workout: 1 Vitatop, 100 cals
Breakfast: Alternative bagel, ham, cheese: 215 cals
Lunch: Yogurt, granola, fruit: 400 cals
total so far: 715 cals I should eat a snack
Exercise:
Swim 1 mile
Bike 23 miles
Calories burned: 1200
Thursday, July 06, 2006
Truly, I am not a hypochondriac
My brain is coming out from my forehead. I think finally, I've come to the last straw, and all those '80s song lyrics that have been filling my brain are going to be pushed out to make room for other, more important things. At least I hope that's the part that will come out.
Okay, seriously, I woke up with a huge bump on my forehead - it's the entire length of my forehead and about 1.5 inches wide - slightly off center to the right. It's very definitely visible by other people (like, I know I analyze my face a lot more than others, but this is not some tiny wrinkle only I can see: it's obvious). It hurts like a bruise, but it's not discolored.
Then I went to the lab to have blood drawn - no workout of course, I don't even think I heard my alarm this morning, and I did go to bed early and planned to run - and they fussed with a needle for a while, in one arm, then the other, then the first again - but no blood came out. At all. So they told me to try again later.
So I'm still fasting, which makes meal-tracking quite easy!
Okay, seriously, I woke up with a huge bump on my forehead - it's the entire length of my forehead and about 1.5 inches wide - slightly off center to the right. It's very definitely visible by other people (like, I know I analyze my face a lot more than others, but this is not some tiny wrinkle only I can see: it's obvious). It hurts like a bruise, but it's not discolored.
Then I went to the lab to have blood drawn - no workout of course, I don't even think I heard my alarm this morning, and I did go to bed early and planned to run - and they fussed with a needle for a while, in one arm, then the other, then the first again - but no blood came out. At all. So they told me to try again later.
So I'm still fasting, which makes meal-tracking quite easy!
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
Ugh
I feel exactly like I did yesterday. My doctor's office opens at 8:30. 10 minutes until I can call. Man I hope I can get an appointment today and there's some magic pill that makes me all better.
On the other hand, maybe I've learned something finally: I didn't work out this morning! I even went to the Pro Club to meet the woman I was supposed to lift with to tell her I wasn't going to be there (I didn't have her phone number).
---
Later: Got back from my doctor's office. It seems my random collection of symptoms leads nowhere. I'm so frustrated I almost cried. I'm going to hide in my office the rest of the day and pout.
Meal tracking:
Breakfast: "the alternative bagel," ham, and cheese: 215 cals
Starbucks: Cranberry granola bar, milk in americano: 475 cals
Lunch: Lentil soup, turkey breast, oyster crackers: 300 cals
total so far: 990 cals
On the other hand, maybe I've learned something finally: I didn't work out this morning! I even went to the Pro Club to meet the woman I was supposed to lift with to tell her I wasn't going to be there (I didn't have her phone number).
---
Later: Got back from my doctor's office. It seems my random collection of symptoms leads nowhere. I'm so frustrated I almost cried. I'm going to hide in my office the rest of the day and pout.
Meal tracking:
Breakfast: "the alternative bagel," ham, and cheese: 215 cals
Starbucks: Cranberry granola bar, milk in americano: 475 cals
Lunch: Lentil soup, turkey breast, oyster crackers: 300 cals
total so far: 990 cals
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
I'm famous, and in pain
Okay, the first part isn't exactly true. Last September or October, though, I wrote up my experiences with dramatic weight loss for a friend of a friend at MSN. They wanted to start this new story type on MSN Health about personal stories of weight loss, and it was supposed to be a "New Year, New You" sort of thing and launch in January. Well, it's July and they finally published the thing - and here it is: http://health.msn.com/dietfitness/WeightLossStory.aspx?cp-documentid=100139066
For some reason, the pictures are broken today. Hopefully they'll fix that. I love my before photo, because it is just so awful. Seriously, it's got to be one of the worst pictures of me on record - so it's perfect for a before, because it's so real, and actually makes me happy: it reminds me of my accomplishment and where I could be again if I don't watch it.
So, now for the pain. I have no idea what is wrong with me, but I have to see my doctor tomorrow. Here is the list of pains:
-- Pain in both sides of the back of the base of my head (back of my neck), especially when looking up or when touched
-- Pain in my obliques
-- Pain in my chest
-- My tongue feels too big for my mouth
-- Pain in my throat, specifically on the left side. It feels like there's a hole from behind my nose way back there to, well, the spots on the back of my head/neck that hurt
-- Pain in the left side of my nose, mostly right on the hard part in the middle
-- Pain when I swallow
-- Hurts to cough (expand chest/belly)
-- Ears are itchy
And this morning, my lower lip was swollen and my mouth didn't want to close - the lower lip wanted to flop open, and my chin and upper lip all sort of felt like I was on novocaine.
Is this some sort of sinusitis? I don't have a runny nose or other cold symptoms, though. It's really weird...and because I can't diagnose it and haven't felt this way ever before, I'm going to let my doctor have a crack at me.
I'm traveling for my job to Germany on Sunday; I need to be healthy. Plus, I return Friday (the 14th) and do the STP ride on the 15th, so I really need to get and stay in perfect health through July.
In exercise news, I ran a nice six miles this morning on the trail (55 minutes). And I'm not talking about what got eaten today at the Fourth of July party we attended, but it most definitely did not involve brownies. Definitely not at all. Nor did I eat chocolate-chip cookies - homemade of course. Ha.
For some reason, the pictures are broken today. Hopefully they'll fix that. I love my before photo, because it is just so awful. Seriously, it's got to be one of the worst pictures of me on record - so it's perfect for a before, because it's so real, and actually makes me happy: it reminds me of my accomplishment and where I could be again if I don't watch it.
So, now for the pain. I have no idea what is wrong with me, but I have to see my doctor tomorrow. Here is the list of pains:
-- Pain in both sides of the back of the base of my head (back of my neck), especially when looking up or when touched
-- Pain in my obliques
-- Pain in my chest
-- My tongue feels too big for my mouth
-- Pain in my throat, specifically on the left side. It feels like there's a hole from behind my nose way back there to, well, the spots on the back of my head/neck that hurt
-- Pain in the left side of my nose, mostly right on the hard part in the middle
-- Pain when I swallow
-- Hurts to cough (expand chest/belly)
-- Ears are itchy
And this morning, my lower lip was swollen and my mouth didn't want to close - the lower lip wanted to flop open, and my chin and upper lip all sort of felt like I was on novocaine.
Is this some sort of sinusitis? I don't have a runny nose or other cold symptoms, though. It's really weird...and because I can't diagnose it and haven't felt this way ever before, I'm going to let my doctor have a crack at me.
I'm traveling for my job to Germany on Sunday; I need to be healthy. Plus, I return Friday (the 14th) and do the STP ride on the 15th, so I really need to get and stay in perfect health through July.
In exercise news, I ran a nice six miles this morning on the trail (55 minutes). And I'm not talking about what got eaten today at the Fourth of July party we attended, but it most definitely did not involve brownies. Definitely not at all. Nor did I eat chocolate-chip cookies - homemade of course. Ha.
Sunday, July 02, 2006
How to make donuts, by Camille
This isn't about diet, or exercise. I just wanted to write this down.
Camille, age 3: "You just get some brown sugar and white sugar, then you mix it up, and then and then and then you put the sprinkles on, then you put it in the oven. And then you eat it! And then you put chocolate on it." (Most of this was exclaimed while jumping up and down.)
Gabriel, age 6, and very practical: "How do you put chocolate on it if you already ate it?"
Camille: "Uh, you have to buy chocolate first."
Gabriel: "This is how I do it. I get a piece of bread, and then I cut it into a circle, and then I - I'm making a sprinkle donut - and then I put chocolate on it, and then I put the sprinkles on it, and then put it in the oven, and then take it out, and then eat it."
Camille: "That's not how you do it. That's not how you make donuts. You just get some brown sugar and some white sugar out, and then you mix it, and then you put it in the oven, and then you get it out of the oven, and put chocolate on it, and then eat it all up!"
Camille, age 3: "You just get some brown sugar and white sugar, then you mix it up, and then and then and then you put the sprinkles on, then you put it in the oven. And then you eat it! And then you put chocolate on it." (Most of this was exclaimed while jumping up and down.)
Gabriel, age 6, and very practical: "How do you put chocolate on it if you already ate it?"
Camille: "Uh, you have to buy chocolate first."
Gabriel: "This is how I do it. I get a piece of bread, and then I cut it into a circle, and then I - I'm making a sprinkle donut - and then I put chocolate on it, and then I put the sprinkles on it, and then put it in the oven, and then take it out, and then eat it."
Camille: "That's not how you do it. That's not how you make donuts. You just get some brown sugar and some white sugar out, and then you mix it, and then you put it in the oven, and then you get it out of the oven, and put chocolate on it, and then eat it all up!"
Saturday, July 01, 2006
A gorgeous ride
Days like today are the answer to "How can you live in Seattle with all that rain?". Man, it is gorgeous - and a perfect morning for a leisurely ride. I felt like one of those girls in the video for Corinne Bailey Rae's "Put your records on" - she and a bunch of girls are cruising along through a park or something under all these trees and with sun peeking through - very romantic looking. Of course, those girls aren't wearing helmets in the video, and I think they might be wearing skirts, and probably traveling at 6 mph, but whatever. I was with them in spirit today. :-)
I didn't pay attention to speed, cadence, or anything except leading my group. For some in the group, I think it was a good workout; for others, including me, a recovery ride. And I discovered that I didn't mind it at all! I couldn't ride like that every time, but I guess it doesn't need to be push-push-push all the time.
I still burned 1100 calories and averaged 13 mph. There were a couple of long, shallow hills and I think two areas that required a granny gear (including one short, out-of-the-saddle climb). And truth be told, I couldn't have gone my normal hard pace today - I still don't feel back to normal. In fact, I feel really bloated and fat and slow - although I checked my weight today (after a big lunch after the ride) and it was 140.2 - which I can't understand at all. I expected to see 147.
I have a new plan for post-70.3 race. I'm going to go on a hard-core strict diet. I will eat perfectly every day - the right balance of fat, carbs, and protein, and the right number of calories - for two months. And I will exercise two hours a day (with appropriate during-exercise fueling, of course). This will be through September, and at the end of September I will weigh 130 or less. And I'm thinking about whether I should weigh 120. That would rock.
Oh, I forgot one thing: It doesn't rain all the time in Seattle. :-)
I didn't pay attention to speed, cadence, or anything except leading my group. For some in the group, I think it was a good workout; for others, including me, a recovery ride. And I discovered that I didn't mind it at all! I couldn't ride like that every time, but I guess it doesn't need to be push-push-push all the time.
I still burned 1100 calories and averaged 13 mph. There were a couple of long, shallow hills and I think two areas that required a granny gear (including one short, out-of-the-saddle climb). And truth be told, I couldn't have gone my normal hard pace today - I still don't feel back to normal. In fact, I feel really bloated and fat and slow - although I checked my weight today (after a big lunch after the ride) and it was 140.2 - which I can't understand at all. I expected to see 147.
I have a new plan for post-70.3 race. I'm going to go on a hard-core strict diet. I will eat perfectly every day - the right balance of fat, carbs, and protein, and the right number of calories - for two months. And I will exercise two hours a day (with appropriate during-exercise fueling, of course). This will be through September, and at the end of September I will weigh 130 or less. And I'm thinking about whether I should weigh 120. That would rock.
Oh, I forgot one thing: It doesn't rain all the time in Seattle. :-)
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