Oops!

*dusts off blog*

*dusts off anyone who actually is still reading this poor neglected thing*

What can I say? It's been a crazy busy month. Shortly after the last entry Dr. Z and I went on our annual canoe camping trip down the Buffalo. It was awesome - 126 miles in 4.5 days AND I kept up my run training. (Since I have from February to June to go from zero running to HIM (all with a very conservative increase in mileage), Coach Karen decided I couldn't afford to take the week off.

Since we've gotten back, it's just been shear craziness. Work has been INSANELY busy and as promised, Coach Karen REALLY ramped up the training in April. All this means that my house is currently a disaster area.

So, here's a summary of how my training in the three disciplines is going:

Swim: This is what I've been working the hardest (especially since it will be hard to find a place to swim next month, but that is a different entry altogether), and it shows. Before I was busting ass to try to stay sub-2:30/100 on anything longer than 100 yds, and now after a bunch of 3K workouts my new "cruising speed" seems to be 2:21/100, even for 600 yd sets. (Haven't done anything longer yet.) I also set three PRs last week, including an insane (for me) 58.22 50 yard.

Bike: This is currently my weakest area (says a lot about how much my swim has improved that I'm saying this!). What little time I spent in the saddle over the past few months was too easy, as I found out once I got off the trainer. I definitely don't have the engine I had at this time last year. Even Roo can't give me speed out on the road right now. It's all good though - Coach Karen assures me that as much as this is Swim Month, next month is Bike Month. If she can do for my riding what she's done for my swim, I will be more than ready to go for Tinman.

Run: This goes. I'm back up to 10:30 miles (the fastest I'm currently allowed to run) and my heart rate averages have slowly been dropping. In other words, I may have to keep the running easy, but I AM getting my run fitness back. I'm still run-walking my long runs though.

So that's the past month in a nutshell. Hopefully I can be a bit better about updating.

Roo's Home!

Hello Everyone!

Yes, I disappeared again. Sorry about that. Work and training have me seriously nose-to-the-grindstone.

Finally got Roo home on Thursday night. She had been cabled up last weekend, but I want pink bar tape and they were trying to find some. (They don't have as many supplies in the off-season.) Anyway, they finally just threw some black tape on her for now and said they'd replace it free of charge when the pink comes in. That with a pink bottle cage and pink bento box will be a very cool look.

So today was supposed to be my first ride on her, but thanks to a lovely cold/asthma type thingie that's just shredded my lungs, I'm taking a "wait and see" approach. I'd take a "talk to coach" approach, but (as luck would have it) she's doing an adventure race today. Sigh. I'm hoping I can at least spin lightly this afternoon/evening.

In positive news, my swims this week were bumped up to 2200 yards each - 1.25 miles exactly, as it happens, make them the second-longest swims I've ever done. (Longest being a 1.5 mile open water swim when I was peaking for the Vermont Half last summer.) I am going to be SO much better prepared for the Tinman swim this year. Hurrah! That's the nice thing about picking up a new sport (I've only been swimming for a year and a half): there's a very steep rate of improvement.

Next week the schedule is really shaken up since I'm departing for my annual Canoe Camping Marathon Paddling trip with the hunny on Friday. My first swim/run bricks ever - how fun!

My New Bike (and Bike FIT)

Being 4'10" has many challenges, but none so frustrating as of late as trying to find a bike that fits. My first bike (which I still have and use) was a mountain bike. It fits because it's a children's frame.

Then I got serious about triathlons. Unfortunately, they don't MAKE serious road or tri bikes in kid's sizes, so I settled on a 43 cm. Trek 2.1. She worked great as a road bike, but once I added aerobars I ran into nothing but trouble. And back pain. Great back pain that caused me to ride half the Vermont Half with one hand on the horn and the other on my lower back.

So with no end to my tri infatuation in sight, I started looking at Gurus last year. They made (at the time) a custom aluminum bike for around $3000. Unfortunately, they stopped making the aluminums and now only make carbon frames, which is WAY out of my price range.

Luckily, Brian at High Peaks Cyclery NEVER gave up and found me a potential bike. I came in, got on her, and it looked like she would not only work, but be a vast improvement.

So without further ado, everyone, meet Roo.



And for fun, here's a quick little picture I made to compare the fit on my old road bike to the fit on my new tri bike. Needless to say, I'm much more comfortable.



(Sorry for the blurriness - it was a quick phone pic.)

She should be ready to come home tomorrow. I can't wait!

"Recovery" Week

Well, it has arrived: My first recovery week. I thought it would free up time to catch up on work and household stuff before I dive in for another three weeks (including the annual canoe camping trip with Dr. Z.), but as it turns out, I'm busy as ever with tri stuff:

Monday: Short swim - only 1200 yards, but any time saved was more than lost with my rest week chiropractor visit. (As it turns out, my upper back was screwed up and I really needed it.)

Tuesday: Short bike, but once again, any time saved was taken up by stopping at the tri shop to see about my new bike.

Wednesday: Regular distance run, so no time saved at all.

Thursday: VERY short swim. This will be the one day I save time.

Friday: My first full DAY OFF since training started. Time saved? HA! I have my bike fitting in the morning (Probably a couple hours), followed by a one hour sports massage in the afternoon.

Saturday: Shortened bike ride, but there's an extra Karate class. Not tri stuff, but still - BUSY.

Sunday: Short run. Okay, I'll save time here. Unless the new bike is ready, then I'll be busy fussing with her and getting her on the trianer.

So, yay for rest weeks? I guess? LOL!

Killer Swim Set

Yesterday was the first (and only in these first two weeks) tough, non-Zone 2 session I had. I had been dreading it ever since receiving my schedule from Coach Karen. (Actually, it felt good to actually bust it out a bit. Zone 2 is essential for early-season HIM/IM, I know it, but it still gets BOOOOOORING for this former miler/5Ker/go-balls-to-the-wall-all-the-time girl.)

So it was 50's, but on less rest than I had ever done hard 50s on. The first two came in at 1:05, not bad for being sore from shoveling and not having anyone pulling me along. (I have trouble going fast in the water without a rabbit in the next lane.) Unfortunately, the times went quickly downhill from there.

I took my pulse using the lap clock right after finishing (before going into my cooldown) and my heartrate was about 180. WOW! Any other discipline, Coach Karen would have my head. Because it was swimming, she was doing the online equivalent of cackling evilly:

YAWN!

Don't know if it's the craziness at work, adapting to being in training again, or the weather which just keeps dumping more and more snow which needs to be shoveled, but I am POOPED!

Luckily,

1.) My workouts have all gone really well except for Monday's swim, which was affected by spending all weekend shoveling out from the Snowpocalypse. So far my coach's biggest value has been as someone I'm accountable to. It has really helped me to get in the workouts knowing she's looking over my shoulder.

2.) My team won the Superbowl. GO PACK!

So I'm too tired to write up a REAL post. In the meantime, here's a totally random commercial that cracks me up EVERY. TIME. I lose it when he says, "Bang."

100 in 2:11! Woohoo!

I know, I know...I haven't posted since Monday. Between still catching up on work after being gone for a week and instituting Coach Karen's Plan of Pain, I've been busy.

(I kid, I kid. She really is easing my out-of-shape ass into the swing of things.)

Anyhoodle...

Tuesday - First official session on the trainer. Nothing hard, just Z2 right now, but BOY do I need to harden my ass back up. Even with bicycling (as opposed to tr) shorts I was squirming around. The lady-parts were NOT happy. (And nobody likes unhappy ladyparts.)

Wednesday - Hit the roads. That's right, a light jog in SNOWPOCALYPSE. Who am i kidding? I freakin' LOVE running in the snow! Will be buying YakTrax however - all that sliding around got me out of Z2 even at a ridiculously easy (i.e. Turtles were passing me) pace.

Today - SWIMMY SWIM SWIM! After I warmed up, I hit my first 100 in an insane 2:11! Crazy! Unfortunately, I paid for that (and the FIVE TIMES I shoveled during SNOWPOCALYPSE) and my times went steeply downhill from there. Still, not a bad workout at all considering.

Tomorrow is another run - it's been sunny and low 20s all day and supposed to be more of the same for tomorrow, so the streets should be much clearer. Hooray for radiant melting!

Here We Go!

So...today started my official training for Tinman. 21 weeks to go. What better way to kick things of than hit the pool? Now, ever since returning after the holidays, my swim sessions have been like this:

(via Steve in a Speedo)

Sp I was pleasantly surprised when all of my sets (it was a 1500 yd form workout) were under 2:30? My first 100 was even 2:20. Not where I was in October, but a definite improvement. I felt really good in the water aside from a rough 200 where I lost my form a bit and started "attacking" in the water.

All in all, a great start to training. Tonight is Karate and tomorrow it'll be bike time. I'm actually really looking forward to Wednesday - run in a snowstorm. No, I'm not being facetious. I LOVE running in snow! Expect pictures.

First Schedule! Woohoo!

I had a nice surprise last night after work - Coach Karen sent my my first two weeks of training a few days early. Needless to say, I printed it out immediately and pretty much have it memorized already. It starts off fairly easy, a little over six hours next week and a little over seven the week after, but that's a good thing since I'm so out of shape. I have a little under six months to go and want to stay injury-free, so a slow ramp-up works for me.

Hoping to go for a swim today, but we'll see how work goes. I have a couple projects due before the weekend so might be relegated to the dreaded trainer just to save time. Anyone want to buy me an endless pool for the basement? ;-D

Will hopefully get out for some snow-filled fun tomorrow before it's all S/B/R.

Ready to Ramp Up

Not much new going on here. I start with my new coach, Coach Karen on Monday and I can't wait. I've never worked with a coach before, so I am SO excited to tear into the schedule I will be receiving sometime Sunday. You can bet that I'm going to print that bad boy out and read it over and over again. I'm really interested to see what she has in store for me!

I'm also a bit nervous. Having to call an early end to the season last year means that I am severely detrained and out of shape. Starting next week though, that will be no more!

In the meantime, I need to get back to work and clear my virtual inbox to get ready for the season.

Buckle your seatbelts, here we go!

It's never too cold to run!

Really busy day today, but just thought I'd share this fun photo from yesterday:



12 degrees. One crazy runner. This is how we do it in the L.P., bitches.

Bike LT Test

On Tuesday I had my first-ever lactate threshold test, a Christmas gift from Dr. Z. (Who says all girls want diamonds? ;-D ) I opted for the bike test as I have enough experience running to feel pretty good about knowing my zones.

So, we packed up the bike and brought her to the Fit for Life center in Saranac Lake. I got changed while the physiologist hooked her up to the Computrainer.

I got ten minutes of warming up and then the fun began. What struck me immediately is that the Computrainer was set way differently than my trainer at home. I had to warmup in the granny gear. Time to adjust the resistance at home!

So every four minutes he took a finger prick blood sample and then I had to go into the next gear. We repeated this three times before I maxed out completely. I will fully admit to being disappointed by the condition I'm in. I couldn't even reach the 220-age number for my heart rate. It was a big wake up call.

So here's the results:

Graph:



And here's my new (wimpy) zones:

Zone 1 119 (Recovery Rides)
Zone 2 119-131 (Endurance Events)
Zone 3 133-146 (Tempo Work)
Zone 4 153-164 (Lactate Threshold / Time Trialing)
Zone 5 166-183 (Sprints and Anaerobic Training)

Here's to time in the saddle getting those numbers up!

5 Day Swim Streak! DONE!

As everyone knows, the swim is BY FAR my weakest event. So what better to work on in the very early season than swimmy swim swim. The biggest limiter was my back and arms. I would have loved to have swam 2.5K a day, but a couple days all I could handle was 1K before my form fell apart.

So...3.5 miles in 5 sessions. NICE! The pool is only open four days next week, but my goal will be 4 miles in 4 sessions.

Also, I am officially registered for Tinman. Check it:



(Click to see full-size. Stupid Blogspot.)

Oh, and exciting new news to be announced. I'm holding off until I can get pictures.

First Two-a-Day of the Year!

Man, it's only Tuesday and I can tell that I'm going to be TIRED after this week of training. Makes me wonder how I did 12-14 hour training weeks for Tinman last year. Thank God it's only January - gives me time to get back up to that fitness level!

Anyway, last night's Karate class was pretty good. We started off with the black belts working bo kata, which rocked. I hadn't picked up my bo in ages and it was a nice surprise that I really wasn't too rusty. Impressive considering I really have to work hard at that weapon. (I'm a sai kind of girl.)

This morning I did another quick, easy 2.5 mile run on the treadmill at a 9:30 pace. STILL no IT band pain, so I'm hoping to up it to a full three miles next week.

At noon I did an equally short, easy session at the pool. I was still embarrassingly, ridiculously slow even for me, but I upped my long sets to 400 (10:27 and 10:34 - YOUCH!)and did a couple sub-2:25 100's. A total of 1200 yards in the same amount of time (35 minutes) as I did 1000 yesterday, so an improvement. I just pray I can get back to the swim form I was in back in October. My swimming just never recovered from that trip to Phoenix last November.

So...first two-a-day of 2011 has been completed. They were both short and easy, but it's a start.

Outdoor Bike! Pool! Running! AWESOME!

Oops...already lost a couple days of updating. In all fairness, it's been CRAZY. I have been training though.

Saturday Dr. Z. and I did indeed get outside for another (for me) seven miler on our mountain bikes. It was a blast. I would have taken mud pictures, but we just didn't get as messy as I did the day before. AWESOME!

Sunday, after a long day of shopping up in Plattsburgh it was time to hit the treadmill. I upped it to a 9:31 pace, which I was able to hold for 2.5 miles with absolutely no IT band pain. AWESOME!

The pool re-opened from semester break so I hit it as soon as they opened today. I expected to be even slower than usual (a.k.a. Bricks and snails go flying past me in the next lane. My 300 yard warmup took 7:50. Yep, almost a 2:40 pace. Admittedly I was warming up and nowhere near trying hard, but damn.

Speaking of warming up, the water was cold. I mean "Take five minutes to even get in and then have your breath taken away when you put your face in cold." Once again, DAMN!

I spent the rest of the time doing 300 pull buoy/100 drill to try to get my feel for the water back. After I had completed 1000 yards, Dr. Z. said he was done. (He had wanted to go longer but wasn't feeling well and exhausted.) He was willing to wait for me, but stopping made me realize I was already sore. Can we say out of shape? At least I wasn't fatigued. AWESOME!

Tonight Karate starts back up after being closed all last week for the holidays. AWESOME! I'm also hoping to hop on the trainer for about a half-hour...not so awesome.

Back in 2011!

Happy New Year Everyone! Hope it was good. I know I really neglected my blog last year, so am hoping to do better this year.

To kick things off, I have some great mud photos. We're experiencing a winter thaw, so Beast has been dusted off and taken outside.

Front View:



I think I have mud in my teeth.

Even more impressive, the back view (and not just because of my fine Cuban ass...hahahaha...)



I literally had mud in my hair. Took forever to wash out.

Well, it's warm again today, so another bike ride might be called for. If I get out there, it'll mean that I made it through January without missing a month of outdoor riding, a true accomplishment up here in the tundra.

Back from Phoenix

I did manage to get a couple bike machine workouts and even a short hike in while in Phoenix, but am glad to be able to get back to regular training. Pity that didn't happen. Heh. Beautiful 60 degree weather (a true rarity up here this time of year) meant that all indoor training had to be scrapped for outdoor activity.

Friday was a total throwaway - I left my hotel room at 5:45 am MT and arrived home at 8 p.m. ET. A truly long day, especially since I barely slept the night before.

Saturday Dr. Z and I went for a hike. Well, more like a walk in the woods - we walked to the base of Scarface Mountain and back - a total of about 3.4 miles.

Sunday it was time to try out mountain biking again. We did a slightly harder route, and I did fairly well considering it was only my second time ever. I even jumped my first log!

Pictures of the weekend will be coming soon. In the meantime, enjoy this picture of me hugging a ginormous cactus while on my hike on Thursday.

ANOTHER swim breakthrough!

Today's swim workout was a nice long warmup followed by a 1000 yard time trial. I've been having some serious breakthroughs lately so I was psyched to see how I stacked up.

I started with a nice easy 300 yards to warm up. I felt stiff and sore from yesterday's strength training, but kept it easy. Was shocked to hit the wall in 7:13.

Next was 6 x 50 hard with 15 second recovery. The slowest was 1:07. And this is was with no one to pull me along, which is always a problem for me.

So, after 600 yards and then a full minute recovery, it was go time.

I decided to bust for all I was worth. At one point I wasn't sure if I was at 300 or 350 yards so I checked my watch. 6:50, which could only be 300 yards. Holy shit. I was fully in the hurt locker, but tried to hold on. Wanted to quit so badly, not being used to pushing myself on the swim for that long, but kept at it and finished in...are you ready for it?

23:50. Holy FUCK. 2:22/100 pace.

Now, any swimmer or even triathlete would laugh at that, I know, but that is a HUGE breakthrough for me. Just a month ago 25:00 would have been a breakthrough. I even double-checked to see what the pace would have been for 950 yards in case I missed a lap, but that would have been 2:30/100 even and I was definitely hauling faster than that.

I was supposed to do 3 x 200 at that new T-pace afterwards, but I was SO shot that the first one was 5:00. That (and having to leave for a meeting) told me it was time to go. However, I was more than happy to have left it all out there for the time trial. I'll take that over being able to do the post-work any time!

First Mountain Bike Ride! FUN!

I thought that my previous spin with Beauty before putting her on the trainer was going to be the last outdoor ride of the year, and I was grateful even for that - October rides are rare up here in the Far North.

However, the weather gods smiled upon the Northeast and it was 70 and sunny. Both Dr. Z and I wanted to ride bikes tomorrow, but Dr. Z was stubbornly adamant about off-roading instead of a nice ride on River Road (my first choice). I do own a mountain bike (Beast), who was never seen dirt while I've owned him, so I grudgingly agreed to try out off-roading if we kept to EASY PEASY PUSSY trails.

Well. Not only did Dr. Z keep his word, leading us down wide grass paths and glorified dirt roads, I actually had a BLAST and didn't fall off my bike once! If you had told me I would be able to do even an easy mountain bike ride back in June when I was worried about hydration during Tinman because I COULDN'T EVEN GET MY WATER BOTTLE FROM THE CAGE, I would have thought you were insane.

So, I'm not giving up my half-century rides on wide highway shoulders anytime soon, but I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed mountain biking.

Coach Wanted

Okay, I'm putting this out there. After this disaster of a season, I am seriously considering hiring a coach. I'd prefer someone local that I can work with in person, but am willing to work with something remotely if they're the right fit.

Any recommendations are most welcome.

Thanks!