Slackin off Wednesday

When my alarm went off this morning, I literally couldn't get out of bed. I changed my alarm to an hour later, my normal out of bed time, and skipped my morning swim. I figured I'd do it in the afternoon. You know what? I didn't. My body told me I needed the rest, so I took it. You've gotta do what you've gotta do. I'll do the swim tomorrow after TNT since I did a couple of bike rides earlier this week.

Tough Tuesday

Today's track workout was 10x200s. It was TOUGH! S and I kept a pace of :49 to :53 for each 200. The :53 was by far our slowest, and was the second one we did. By the 10th one, I was exhausted! But, I guess that's kind of the point, push until you can't push any longer. The weather was beautiful, the humidity was perfect (read: not there), and I was feeling motivated.

TNT was good tonight too. I was a bit tired, but nothing too bad. Pretty normal weight lifting workout. I'm finding that some of the people are ubber lazy, which I hate. T's birthday is Thursday, that'll be a fun workout!

Spin class was another tough workout! We did long, hard hills today. 3 1/2 minute hills... 8 of them! The last 3, my hills weren't as steep as D probably would've liked. My legs were still pretty tired from the morning workout.

After spin class, I was walking by one of the later TNT groups (my weight lifting group) and they were finishing up their legs. T stopped me and said "Ms .Heather! Speed squats with the group since you're passing by." I played along and said "oh, ok" He joked that he was going to put weights in my bag, to which I said "no thank you!". D walked past when I was doing them and asked what in the world I was doing, so I explained that T is my 5pm workout before her spin class. She laughed at me. It was a good ending to my crazy tough workout day!

Monday Rest... oops?

Well, I rested yesterday, so I decided to spin tonight. It was a high cadence spin for about 30 minutes. Just enough to work the legs. Love it!

This week's workouts

6 days until the Tri-Forces Sprint tri. My entire family's coming - can't wait! Here's this week's workouts to get there:

Monday
Day off (I may do an easy spin since I didn't get it in yesterday and took it as a rest day instead)

Tuesday
10 x 200 (working on form)
TNT
Spin

Wednesday
Swim - wu - 400 swim and drills; 20 x 50yd. with 20 sec. rest in btwn; Cool down - 300 kick/pull/ non free

Thursday
Bike - 90 min. ; wu 30 min/ 10 x 1 min. on 1 min. off/ cool down
TNT

Friday
Swim - wu with drills; Broken mile

Saturday
Run - Easy 4-6 miles (won't do)
TRI-FORCES SPRINT TRI

Sunday
Brick - 90 min. ride/20-30 min. run

Saturday Treadmill Run

I HATE treadmills. They are the bane of my existance. I really can't describe how much I truly hate them. Can you guess where I did my run today?

We went to J's 10 year VillaNova class reunion, so I wasn't exactly in a familiar place, so the hotel gym it was. I did a 3 mile run on the treadmill and called it a day.

Friday Swim

Today's workout was:

wu with drills; 5 x (100 swim, 100 pull, 100 kick)

I did exactly that. 200m warmup, 5 x (100 swim, 100 pull, 100 kick), and 100m cooldown.

Total: 1800m

I managed to do the entire thing, even though I was REALLY trying to talk myself out of doing the last two sets of kicks. I've decided I hate kicks, but they're probably a necessary evil.

A funny thing happened in the pool today. I was the only one in the pool when this happened. The lifeguard who is normally on duty was walking around the pool deck after having just come in from the outdoor pool. I was doing a set of kicks and I hear her say "Oh crap!"and she's down on the pool deck with her arm in the pool. I realize she dropped something in the pool and said, "I'll get it" and swam over (across the other two lanes). The manager came over when I got over to where the lifeguard was... and as I went down to get the object, I realized what it was... her phone! Poor thing. So, I told her to get some rice and to let the phone dry in it. Hopefully she did. Right after that happened, a little girl puked on the deck of the outdoor pool. It was not this lifeguard's day.

Thursday Weights

Today was a strictly TNT day. It was a pretty good, uneventful workout. I forgot my gloves at home and remembered why I wear them during the workout - OW! Ah well, just need to remember them next time.

Wet Wednesdays

Today's workout was:
Swim - wu - 400 swim and drills; 5 x 125 medium pace as follows:75 kick followed by 50 swim (:20 rest); 150 swim easy pace; 3 x 75 fast pace (:30 rest); Cool down 300 mixed strokes

I did:
Swim - wu - 200 swim and drills; 5 x 125 medium pace as follows:75 kick followed by 50 swim (:20 rest); 150 swim easy pace; 3 x 75 fast pace (:30 rest); Cool down 200 mixed strokes

Total: 1400

I was SO PROUD of myself today. My 75 fasts were all done at 1:13 or 1:14 each. That means that each 25 yd length was done at an average of 24 seconds. That's super fast for me. My 100s would've been 1:37 or so and not my normal 1:50. I wouldn't be able to keep that tempo up for long, but it felt good. I felt strong.

I ordered a few items to help in my training. 1) "Total Immersion: The Revolutionary Way to Swim Better, Faster, and Easier" (I'm very excited to read it.) , 2)"Swim Workouts for Triathletes: Practical Workouts to Build Speed, Strength, and Endurance", and 3) "The Triathlete's Guide to Off-Season Training (Ultrafit Multisport Training Series)". The first two should be here today - can't wait to get reading!

I need to find a book on cycling more confidently - as well as some drills to go out and do. The swim and bike are definitely my weak areas and I'd really like to improve them!

Tuesday Track

This morning's track workout was NOT what I expected at all. I was expecting to do some short speed work style drills. We concentrated on our running form today. Coach L was showing us information on the POSE running form. I need to do a bit more research on the topic, but it was all very interesting. Now, I feel like I need to get a "real" run in later today... especially since I'll be missing spin tonight (again).

I'll probably update this later tonight with what I ended up doing and TNT information.

Update:
I went to TNT and had a blast. I love the day after cardio week. It hurts so good. :) Many of the other members of my class didn't like it so much. Ah well... they need to actually do their cardio. You can easily tell who did their 5 days and who lied about their 5 days. Slackers. (My husband's included in that "Slackers" comment.)

After TNT, I went to spin class. I decided I'd just leave at 6:30 to change and get over to Transition Triathlon for the seminar. Spin class was great. I wish we'd have a weekend that I didn't have anything to do so that I could actually meet up with D's group. It sounds like it'd be much more fun than my current plans for this weekend!

The seminar was on mental health for atheltes. It was interesting, but not really what I expected. It was good to hear other women and their issues, goals, and mental battles with all things surrounding the sport of triathlon.

Yoga Monday

Originally, I was thinking of doing last Friday's swim today to be able to get it in. After having issues (again) with the cat and taking another trip to the vet to get medications for her, I figured it'd be best if I was home after administering the first dose. So... it's not in the cards to get this swim workout in.

I decided to do some yoga instead. My left calf is a little tight after Sunday's race and I figured it might be best just to stretch it out. I probably should've done the "runner's general" instead of the "swimmer's general" on my Yoga for Athletes DVD, but eh. I've forgotten how much I enjoy yoga. I really need to incorporate it in more. It's just a great stretch, cleansing of the mind, and generally very relaxing (even when in difficult poses).

This week's workouts

Even on race day, there's always a new set of workouts!


Monday
Day off

Tuesday
Track  - 5:15 am (You know you're in for a fun workout when there's nothing but the time listed!)
TNT - will have to do cardio before hand since I have to miss spin :(
Transition triathlon - Mental training (evening meeting)

Wednesday
Swim - wu - 400 swim and drills; 5 x 125 medium pace as follows:75 kick followed by 50 swim (:20 rest); 150 swim easy pace; 3 x 75 fast pace (:30 rest); Cool down 300 mixed strokes

Thursday
TNT
Bike - 90 min. ride

Friday
Swim - wu with drills; 5 x (100 swim, 100 pull, 100 kick)

Saturday
Run - Easy 4-6 miles

Sunday
Brick - 2 hour ride / 20 min. run

Broadlands Infitive Sprint Tri

Broadlands Infinitive Race Report

The stats:

• Race Name: Broadlands Infinitive Sprint
• Race Date: June 5, 2011
• Race Location: Ashburn, VA
• Race Distance: Sprint  (400m pool swim, 12.1 mi bike, 5k run)
• Division: F 30-34
• Total Time: 1:26:41
• Time Breakdown: Swim – 9:21, T1 – 3:15, Bike – 42:49, T2 – 2:08, Run – 29:11
• Age Group Placing: 5/14
• Overall Placing: 29/75 (women only)

Pre-race:

Race registration was online only and was fine. The race was $85. The course maps were available online and at packet pick-up. I wish they told us where parking was going to be before packet pick-up, it would’ve been one less thing to worry about. Packet pick-up for this race was pretty good. Kind of annoying because you had to bring your bike & helmet to pick-up to be checked, so everyone’s standing around with their bikes & helmets trying to walk through the line to get their packets. Also, the first table, where they checked your id and USAT membership, they had divided into 2 lines, alphabetically… except, none of us knew that! You only figured it out once you got to the table. The swag was ok, t-shirt, hat, a fizz tablet, and a lot of paper.

The race was pretty well organized. There were plenty of volunteers and officers on the course, which was great. The bathrooms at the start/transition/finish were in the pool house, which seemed to be fine. There weren’t really any pre-race activities, which was fine.

The race was at the Broadlands pool. The only thing that was a bit odd to me was the long run from the pool into transition – which was in the pool parking lot. The bike course was local roads and the run was on a neighborhood trail.

Race morning, I got up around 4:20, got dressed, ate breakfast, put everything in the car, and headed out. We got to the parking area at around 5:20. We started the walk to the transition area and then hung out until they handed out the chips, did body marking, and opened transition. I got in, set up my bike and all of the other stuff, and had plenty of time to relax. I helped our friend RH get set up as well since it was his first tri. The weather was perfect for the race – mid 60s and no rain! YEA!

There were about 200 people there, which turned out to be a nice size.

The only thing I found a little weird was that this race didn’t have the National Anthem at the start. I don’t know that I’ve ever done a race without it.

Swim:

Today’s swim was a 400m snake swim in a 50m pool. The pool water wasn’t bathwater warm, but it definitely wasn’t cold either. Obviously, no wetsuits for this swim. I probably should’ve done a warm-up in the pool since they were allowing it, but oh well. I wore clear goggles for this race. My tinted goggles seem to fog faster than any other pair I own, so I don’t know how much I’ll wear them. I did get passed by one person. The fact that it was only one person meant that those of us in that time estimation seeded ourselves correctly. Go us! I was a little disoriented coming out of the water, mostly because I couldn’t find the stairs to get out of the pool. It was a long run into transition and I got reoriented pretty quickly.

I need to concentrate on moving faster through the water in general. I’m starting to consider swim lessons or reading books about swim technique to become more efficient as well.

Bike

The course was a double loop, some hills course – and was set up much better than the one at Annapolis. When we turned the corner to come back, you didn’t have to pick your lane as you turned the corner, which was great! There weren’t any potholes to note, no food/water stops (given that it was 12 miles), and was basically a full lane of the road that was closed to traffic.

I had a car pull into the bike lane in front of me. I was glad that he was in front of me and not behind me – at least I could see what he was doing.

I need to work on tackling hills on my bike. I feel like if I can get stronger on hills, then I’ll be in a much better position. Also, I need to get more confident in my bike handling skills. It’s obvious to me that I’m not confident with my bike. I’ve got some drills I need to give a try.

Run

After making it out of T2, they had us cross over a timing mat. At some point shortly after, I realized that our run started literally as soon as you cleared the transition area where the mat was. At least this time I remembered to put on my watch! Since it was only a 5k, I didn’t bring any fuel with me. They had water on the way out to the rest of the course and then twice on the course. They also had a sports drink mix on the course too. I didn’t wear a hat – I never do, so that wasn’t an issue for this run. There was a good bit of crowd support. One mom and daughter duo even sat on swings at a playground on the trails and cheered everyone on!

It took me about 2.5 miles to feel my legs again. I obviously have been slacking on my BRICK workouts. All of my BRICKs that I’ve done up to this point, I’ve cycled at a 14-15 mph pace before hand. Being race day and having done 17 mph pace, my legs were definitely more tired this time. The hills in this race weren’t too bad, but there were a lot of them. You’d go down one and up another almost immediately. Pretty short, not too steep, but ever present.

I need to do a more BRICKs and also make sure I’m getting my longer runs in. Speed work is great, but will only get you so far.

Transitions

The transitions went pretty well. I managed to cut some time off of T1, partly due to not dealing with the wetsuit, I’m sure. T2 went well – I need to throw the watch on as I’m running out of T1. A simpler watch with pace only would be good, the whole “locating satellites” thing takes too long.

Post-Race

I felt really good after the race. My left calf (upper part of it) was a bit tense, but overall, everything felt good.

As soon as I was finished the race, I was handed a bottle of water and a smoothie. I found the table of bananas and assorted carbs. Seemed like a good spread. They were posting the results every 15 minutes or so, so that was nice. Once I figured out that I wasn’t placing in my age group (small race = possibility), then I decided we could leave. The distances were all accurate. The race officials were fair; two DQs because they only did one loop on the bike course and two time penalties for race equipment being incorrect/inappropriate.

Official race results were posted that night. No word of when the race photos will be out.

Summary and Lessons Learned

Overall it was a good race. I’m happy with my overall performance and was able to tell where my weaknesses are. I need to work on my swims (duh!) and overall confidence on the bike. Once my confidence on my bike is higher, that part of the race should be a lot smoother. I think my run was pretty strong, although I probably could’ve pushed harder.

Saturday = packet pickup

Again today, instead of working out, I gave myself an excuse. This week's been a "lazy" week. Today was packet pickup for the Broadlands Infinitive Sprint Tri. Got all of my questions answered, bike checked, numbers and shirt picked up.

Later in the evening Coach L brought over an Amazia jersey for me. Yea! Can't wait to wear it tomorrow!

Thursday & Friday

I've skipped both workouts... and really shouldn't have. Thursday's, I skipped because we were going to see Bill Cosby at WolfTrap. Worth the skipped workout, but I do feel bad about it. Friday's I skipped because my kitty needed to go to the vet. She needed to get a shot to help with some potential inflamation, so no leaving the house for a workout until my husband got home. We had dinner when he got home so no workout for me tonight.

It is Wednesday... Right?!

This morning's workout was a swim, per the usual:

Swim - wu - 8 x 75 swim (:15 rest), odds - breast/back, evens - free; 2 x 200 free medium pace (:25 rest); 100 swim easy pace (1 min. rest); 200 free - fast pace (:30 rest); 4 x 100 free - medium pace (:10 rest); cool down

I did:
200m wu; 8 x 75 swim (:15 rest), odds - breast/back, evens - free; 2 x 200 free medium pace (:25 rest); 100 swim easy pace (1 min. rest); 200 free - fast pace (:30 rest); 100 free easy (as cooldown)

Total: 1600 yds

Usually, I get to the pool around 5am and there's someone else from our group there around 5:10 or so. This morning, no one else showed up until almost 5:40! Coach L wasn't there, so I need to email her to make sure everything's ok since she said yesterday that she'd be there. It was such an odd feeling to be at practice and no one else showed up. I was glad D and J showed up so that I wasn't just chillin alone.

When I went to bed last night, I felt horrible. I even told my husband that if I got up to puke, I'd be ok, I just didn't feel well. So unlike me. I didn't get up to puke, but I probably should've forced the issue. When I woke up at 4:20, I still kind of felt like crap. Who knows what that's all about.

Given that little tid bit... my swim was just OK today. Definitely not great. I got through the workout, but I felt like I was just getting through, and not doing great. I'm glad I skipped spin last night (even though I REALLY should've gone). I'll try to hit it up tonight if I can. We'll see.