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September 29, 2008

fun swim

Now that I am in physical and mental recovery mode after my season, I get to make up my own workouts. It is kind of fun! I am so passionate about running and tris that I have developed a pipe dream of coaching on the side, so it is kind of cool to play with different ideas for my future coaching career. I think the swim workout I did this morning would be a good basis for a workout for one of my athletes. It was:
- 500 warmup
- 2 x 500, start the first one at a moderate pace for the first 250 and go slightly faster for the second 250. Then rest for a minute or so. For the second 500, start the first 250 at the pace you ended at on the first 500, and after 250 then speed up.
- 500 cool down

It was totally fun! When left to my own devices I do longer repeats so I have less breaks wherein I could talk myself into swimming less. I know that I need to work really hard on swimming over the winter, but I think I will have plenty of time for that when my maintenance plan starts. So right now I am having fun in the water and working on my technique.

I actually had a very mellow weekend for me - I actually even had a few hours to sit on the couch and read a magazine, which was amazing - but for some reason I am positively exhausted today. I think I am going to go home after work and ride for as long as I feel like it, because the weather is really nice, and then I am going to take a shower and take to my bed. There may also be pie involved - I switched my game plan for the weekend and made a peach pie instead of a blueberry pie, because they had fresh peaches at the Farmer's Market on Saturday. If I do say so myself it turned out pretty nicely! You never know how baking in Colorado is going to go, what with the altitude, but I think the crust was serviceable and the peaches were really nice. I wonder if baking is what my coach meant when he said I should engage in active physical and mental recovery?!

Posted by barb at 1:49 PM | Comments (0)

September 26, 2008

I love pie

So my brother and I have started a new tradition wherein we have dinner once a week. It is so much fun!! I love hanging out with him. And since we are related we tend to share the same taste in food which is awesome. I hate it when you want to have dinner with someone and they think it would be great to go to Applebee's or something. Um, yeah, we are kind of food snobs. Anyway, one of the best things about going to dinner with my bro is that we have both become obsessed with pie! Therefore any time we have dinner we make sure to order pie for dessert, and it is soooooo good. Last night we went to a pub near my brother's house and I was actually questioning whether or not he would be able to handle the pie as the bartender accidentally gave him a double burger (two half pound burgers on one bun. It was actually kind of revolting). He did a pretty good job with it but he seemed really full. However, like all Blakleys he displayed incredible mental toughness and was able to power through his half of the slice of pie, ice cream included. Yum!!

I guess now that my season is over this is what I will talk about - pie! I think I might put on some weight in the off season. Which is fine I guess. I just read an interview with Macca (Chris McCormack, I have no idea why he has this nickname but it sounds so cute!!) and he said that is his favorite thing, putting on weight in the off season. I figure if it's okay for a Kona champion it's okay for me.

Anyway active recovery week is fun. I went to yoga yesterday. This morning I was going to get up and swim but I ended up on the phone with my friend Laura until almost 11:00 so I slept in. Why? Because I could! I will do a short workout after work today, nothing too serious. I cannot wait to start training again. But I am trying to enjoy the lack of structure now because I know in a month I will not have the luxury of waking up at 7:00 if I feel like it. I do think this weekend I am going to ride my bicycle, the weather is absolutely gorgeous right now. And Sunday morning I have a run planned with my friend Cathy, who I have not seen in ages. I can't wait! She is gearing up for Twin Cities Marathon so I am really excited to hear how her training's been going.

The only other excitement in my life right now is that Timberman registration opens next Wednesday!! I am signing myself and my friend Michelle up that day. So exciting!! I cannot wait to do another 70.3, at sea level no less! I think 2009 is going to be the year of the half Ironman.

Posted by barb at 8:45 AM | Comments (0)

September 23, 2008

Age Group Nationals - The Full Report

I'm going to warn you, this could be long. I can really go on and on about this race and the whole weekend, they were so awesome!! I am so excited and so proud of how I did. And so glad the rest of the weekend was so much fun!

The Race Report is the meat so I am going to do this first and then regale my readers with tales of my weekend afterwards.

Pre-Race:
It was kind of cold and the bus took forever (they bussed us from a satellite parking area just outside the park, which made me very glad I used Tri Bike Transport which is the most awesome service ever). I did not get much of a warmup in - I think maybe 8 minutes of jogging - which is a little short of what I normally do but no big deal. I actually had a pretty decent spot in transition so I was pleased about that. I had a raging internal debate about wearing running socks, and I am glad I ended up on the wearing socks side of things. I am going to need new racing flats next year, my current ones require socks and as we all know every second in transition counts! I got down to the dock and put on my wetsuit and warmed up a bit in the water. Then I froze my butt off for about 10 minutes waiting to start :)

The Swim - 25:30 (1:34/100 Yards)
Well this was definitely a PR by almost 90 seconds. I never know how things are going in the water and I was sure my time would be around 30:00, because I always think that. I couldn't even start my watch because they had us hanging off the dock to start and it was kind of a logistical challenge! So I just hoped for the best until I finished. Looking at the times of the other girls in my age group, my swimming could still stand to improve a lot. So I will be working on that but I am also really proud of how much I've improved since last year. It was nice being in a smaller wave than normal, I didn't get punched in the head or anything! My sighting seemed to be pretty on as well which was nice.

T1 - 2:02
Oh my word this transition was a mess. I was freezing. I forgot how to put my bike shoes on. I dropped my bike. Clearly this is something I need to work on! But it didn't put me too far behind so that was cool.

Bike - 1:06:41 (22.4 MPH)
My bike totally rocked. I'm not gonna lie. I was in 19th according to my Awesome Equipment Manager at the end of the swim so I knew I needed to pass a ton of chicks. Luckily I think I passed 13. The bike course was definitely rolling the entire way, but considering the fact that I ride uphill a lot in the Denver/Boulder area, it was not that bad. There was only one hill (two if you count it twice as it was a two loop course) where I had to get into my small chain ring. And even that was nothing compared to Old Stage, the big hill in the Boulder Peak tri. I did seem to be just about the only girl in my age group who did not have a real tri bike and/or Zipp wheels. But I wonder how beneficial aero wheels would be on a rolling course, since they are heavier. Regardless I do want some! I recognized several girls on the bike (when I passed them) who normally beat me in the Boulder races so that was really encouraging. I kept looking back as I kind of thought this one girl would pass me back but no one ever did, so that was cool. I was worried I would burn my legs out on the bike but I really only know how to bike one way, and that is pretty hard and aggressively. So I figured worst case I would be in a decent position when I started the run and then hopefully I could hold a top 15 place.

T2 - 1:13
Another non-awesome transition. I got confused and looked for my bike in the wrong row for a minute. Then I had to put socks on which takes forever. But that's okay, it's an easy area to improve!

Run - 43:02 (6:56/mile)
Accorting to my Equipment Manager I started the run somewhere between 7th and 9th, so I was feeling pretty darned excited. Turns out I was actually in 6th so that is even better! Anyway, considering the ridiculously hilly course I am thrilled with this time. I think my splits were kind of like this: 7:05, 7:01, 6:47, 6:44, 6:38, 8:47 (last 1.2). But I don't really remember because I cleared my watch. You can tell there's a spike where this nice girl Courtenay caught up with me and ran with me for a while. I think we ran together from mile 2.5 to 4.5 or so. It really helped! Until another girl caught us and Courtenay went with her and I couldn't respond. I am so encouraged by this and I think I could run a 42:00 on a less hilly course. I did lose two places but considering the fact that at my last Olympic I ran 8:00 pace and lost six places on the run I feel like I have improved a lot!!

Overall - 2:18:25, 8th place F30-34
Wow, overall I would just like to say that I am so thrilled and happy and excited. I love my coaching program (thanks again for the referral, Beth!!) and it is definitely working really well for me. I can't wait to improve on my swimming and running over the winter after I take a few weeks of active recovery, and see what I can do next year. I still don't think I could ever go pro but I do hope I can make my program's elite team and mix it up with some awesome women in the Elite Amateur space.

I owe a TON of thanks to Randy, my amazing equipment manager and boyfriend (yes it has been a busy year, I got divorced this summer. This blog isn't really about that type of stuff so I didn't feel like sharing until I had a reason to). He spent a ton of time keeping me calm, encouraging me, telling me my place and splits, telling me how awesome my race was afterwards, and just generally being awesome and really really patient. I cannot think spending seven hours at a race is anyone's idea of a good time when they're not racing.

The rest of the weekend....
Well now I have written so much that I don't know how much I want to say about the rest of the weekend. Even my attention span can't handle it! But it was so fun. It was relaxing except for the race part and Oregon is so much fun. After the race we went wine tasting in the Williamette Valley which is absolutely beautiful and all the wineries are so hospitable and awesome. Portland is very confusing from a driving perspective but it is such a great town. It is a lot like Denver except that they have a big river and more trees. And they are definitely not on a grid system. Portland's airport has free wireless internet which is really nice. There are a ton of awesome restaurants. And no sales tax which is sweet!

That is about all. I am now in active recovery mode for a few weeks - I can't lie, I am kind of sad that my season is over, it has been so much fun!! - and then I will be starting up maintenance and applying for the elite team for MAO. Wish me luck, and thanks for reading!!

Posted by barb at 12:50 PM | Comments (2)

September 21, 2008

Preliminary Results from Portland

I have not seen the official results posted yet so I am somewhat reticent to post about this just in case, but here are my preliminary results:

8th place in my age group!!! Heck yeah!!! I can hardly believe it. My time was 2:18.25. I did not start my watch at the swim start so I was not sure what my time would be (we were hanging off a dock). However they had a nice lady who printed out results for us. Here are the splits:
Swim - 25:30 (I was in approximately 19th after the swim)
T1 - 2:02 (long run up a big hill, plus I dropped my bike and half of my nutrition because some guy stopped right in front of me)
Bike - 1:06:41 (moved up to 6th)
T2 - 1:13
Run - 43:02 (got passed by two girls. Ran with one of them for about two miles. She was super nice. She is going pro next year and dropped me like a bad habit with the other girl around mile 4.5)

Overall what an amazing experience!! It was so much fun. The course is super challenging (not so much the bike, but the run is very hilly). I was glad I had altitude conditioning on my side. I felt like just about the only person without a tri bike and Zipp wheels. But who cares, man?! I haven't decided if I want to go to Worlds next year but I do believe I qualified. However, I didn't stay for awards (I would have had to stay for like 6 more hours, blah) so I may have given up my spot by default. Since Worlds are in Australia 3 weeks after Timberman it probably doesn't make sense anyway. I am so excited and proud of myself!! I will write a full report probably after I get home.

Posted by barb at 10:47 AM | Comments (2)

September 17, 2008

Leaving tomorrow for Oregon!!

Well I am just so excited and nervous I can hardly stand it. I think flying to any race adds pressure because I am constantly thinking about the financial and time investment it's taken to go to this race - when you add up flights, bike transport, hotel, rental car, time off from work, etc., etc., it becomes very expensive to travel for a race! I am also flipping out a little about the level of competition I will face, but I just have to know that I can mix it up with those girls and start the race calm and confident. Luckily I have a 2 1/2 hour flight tomorrow on which I can visualize my race and work on the mental aspects of the competition. I feel like triathlon is way more mental, at least for me, than a running race. I am so confident about running because I've been doing it forever - but with triathlon, I think this will be maybe my 7th or 8th tri ever?

I feel confident but in ways I still feel like such a rookie. I have still not mastered (or even really attempted) a flying mount/dismount, because I would feel like such an idiot if I crashed my bike coming into transition. So I am just going to have to transition as fast as I can without all the professional-looking stunts. I also still have a road bike with aero bars so I feel like maybe the other girls will think I'm a bit less serious than them.

Anyway as you can see I am a big ball of nerves and nervous energy. I can't wait to get through this taper and race and get back into training. I can hardly believe I'm saying this but I really miss those 3000 meter swims, and I really miss lifting!! WTF. I used to hate lifting with a fiery flaming passion. Maybe the fact that I am fully jacked now makes me enjoy it more - I can see my muscles getting bigger and stronger. Or right now I can see them wasting away!

One thing I do enjoy about tapering, however, is the additional free time I have. I have had an awesome social life this week, and I get to sleep a lot and still get into work early. This morning I woke up at 6:10, did two workouts (easy 30:00 run and 1000 meter swim), and was at my desk by 8:00. How awesome is that! Tonight I have an easy 45:00 ride and then I am going to run a few errands. Since my new bike is on its way to Oregon (hopefully - this is one source of stress but you know I can't control it so I just have to stop worrying), I have been riding my old steel bike and it is so awesome. Steel is a super cushy material, it feels like I am riding around on a sofa. It doesn't even have a computer so it feels kind of ghetto but in an awesome old school way, not a lame way. Tomorrow is my travel day and a day off from workouts so I am going to sleep in until 7:00, run two errands, and then my mom is picking me up and I am making her go to breakfast. Breakfast foods are so awesome, I think it will be a great way to fuel up for the race. Then we will head to the airport and I will be on my way to Oregon!! It is really so exciting when I think about it - new state, new level of competition, all kinds of awesome stuff. As much as I say I am freaking out I am so excited to see how I can do at this level. I feel like my training has been smart (or as smart as possible with my crazy travel schedule), I have total confidence in my coaches, and I am ready to have a truly awesome race.

That is about all for today, I am going to go try not to bounce all my energy out!!

Posted by barb at 9:13 AM | Comments (1)

September 11, 2008

getting back on the blogging wagon

Wow, I have really blogged a lot this week! I think this is my third entry in the last seven days. That is quite a streak for me as recently I have been a once a week (if that) type of blogger. I guess this taper is giving me all kinds of free time!

Anyway my big A race, Age Group Nationals, is in seven days. I am freaking out!! Those girls are going to be so fast. Usually even last year when I was a tri rookie I could pretty much count on being in the top 50% in my age group in any given race. This year has been the same although I would say this year it's more like top 25%. However, at AG Nationals, that bottom layer of competitors just won't be there. So my goals are a little different - don't get out of the water last, don't get schooled on the bike, etc., etc. Luckily I will have the altitude conditioning advantage, and the fact that I am a decent cyclist and becoming a decent runner, on my side. However, I am still very freaked out by the level of competition I've gotten myself into. There are 58 girls in my age group who are signed up and looking at the list there is one girl I've beaten and a few girls who have beaten me pretty solidly this year. So hopefully I will say ahead of the one! I also wonder if there's not a disproportinate representation of Colorado chicks in my age group - 10 of the 58 are from Colorado. That is kind of awesome actually! It does go to show that I live in a really competitive area from a triathlon standpoint, which makes me feel good since I do not really tend to place at an overall level very often.

Anyway, enough obsessing over numbers and statistics. The real question for me this week, going into my final week before the race, is how do I feel? And the answer is that I feel awesome!! I feel super fresh and rested. I am pretty much bouncing off the walls. And today I get to do three workouts including a 90 minute bike!! Granted this is my last hard (meaning long) day before the race, so I may literally bounce off a few walls before next Saturday.

In my abundant free time I have been hanging out with my friends and family more which has been super fun. I am also reading a memoir by this guy who was a drunk and a drug addict for a really long time. Which makes me wonder, since I would probably say I'm addicted to training, I wonder if I could have turned out differently? Like if I were not addicted to training, could I have become addicted to drugs or alcohol? Anyway, kind of interesting. I can't really see myself as a drunk so it seems unlikely.

So in training news I had an awesome swim this morning. I am so glad I have come to love swimming, because it is ruinous for my hair, so it would suck on many levels if I hadn't. It is just so calming. And it makes my muscles feel longer and smoother. Our indoor pool at the gym has re-opened so I am actually really enjoying swimming inside these days, not that I minded swimming in the outdoor pool. But it is nice not having to worry about wind and running around outside when it's 40 degrees out. I am going to run for 30 minutes at lunch today and then after work I'll be riding for 90 minutes.

Tomorrow is an off day although I might do my Saturday swim tomorrow just because I am in a wedding on Saturday so I have to be getting my hair done at an ungodly hour Saturday morning and I have a ride as well. It is going to be a busy weekend, but it should be a fun one!!

Posted by barb at 8:48 AM | Comments (1)

September 10, 2008

oktoberfest sprint - the full report

I thought I would go ahead and post a more detailed race report since I have all my final splits, and since it will be fun to re-live an awesome day! The race was so short that I don't think even my report will be very long, but here goes.

Overall Official Time: 1:08:09, overall rank 17, second female, first in age group

The Swim - 12:16
This was a sprint swim PR of about a minute, so I felt pretty awesome about it. To the point that I wondered if the course was short! I could not get into the first wave (the elite wave) because I procrastinated about emailing the race directors so I started with all the age group women. The course was counter-clockwise which was nice as I breathe to the left. I did get hit in the head which was a first, but luckily women are just not too aggressive in the water. I felt good throughout although I did go slightly off-course towards the end. I was told by my awesome Equipment Manager/Cheerleader that I came out of the water around 11th.

T1 - 1:22
This was slow. I am glad I raced just to practice transitions. I was kind of shaky and out of it. They also had a very strange bike start which included a dirt road and running over a curb.

Bike - 32:58, 22.6 MPH
As I mentioned a few days ago, I actually had 23.9 MPH as the average on my bike computer so I think the bike course was slightly longer than the race directors thought. It was three loops which was nice as it was very flat, but there was a lot of bike traffic and as in a lot of small races people did not get the whole ride on the right thing. I think I yelled at one or two people, sorry!! I get kind of fired up on the bike. This was a great confidence builder for Oregon.

T2 - 1:08
Once again kind of slow. I don't know, my hands were cold, I just did not move that fast!

Run - 20:27, 6:36 pace
I was so excited about this I cannot even describe it. This is my fastest 5k since college. And it was at the end of a tri! I really want to find a nice little 5k to run after AG Nationals just to see if I can go under 20:00, something I have dreamed of for years and never thought I would achieve again. The course was really nice, it was on a very hard packed and smooth dirt road. There was one hill from about mile 1.5 to mile 2. Towards the middle of mile 3 I still felt really good so I tried to pick it up. I definitely think I could have gone faster! I am having some issues with my racing flats - I don't wear socks and they cut into the tops of my feet. I think if I put some band-aids on my feet for the next race it should work.

That's the race story. I have had a nice easy week of training so far as I am now in the middle of my taper for AG Nationals. I hardly know what to do with all the extra free time I have, so I am spending a lot of it sleeping! I figure the best thing I can do now is ensure that my stress level and fatigue levels are low. I've been feeling really good in all my workouts which is nice, probably because they are so short and easy! I have started talking to my coaches about what to do after my A race - I think I want to take a week off and just do whatever I want, including yoga and rest, and then get into maintenance mode for next year. It seems like tri season is so short, but hopefully next year my season will go into November. I am having so much fun with the sport right now, I hardly want this season to end!

Posted by barb at 10:07 AM | Comments (1)

September 6, 2008

2nd overall, 1:08!

That is the short version of my race report. Holy cats, it was awesome!!! What a great event. I can't wait to do it again next year. Great organization, great course (the bike course was FLAT as a pancake which was super cool), great prizes - a sweet glass in the shape of a cowboy boot and $100 off a VO2 Max test - great race overall. I don't have my official splits yet but I know I PRed on all three events - I think my swim was 12:16, I don't know my bike time but I think my average was 23.9 MPH (I wasn't kidding, it was SO FLAT), and my run was around 20:30 which is actually a post-college 5k PR. I really, really, really want to run a 5k once my season is over just to see how fast I can go now.

Once the results are posted (and once I have time) I will post a full report. But overall it has been an awesome day!!

Posted by barb at 3:48 PM | Comments (3)

September 5, 2008

remembering how to race

This is what my week is all about, remembering what racing is like. My last race was on July 20th. It is now September. What is that, like six weeks? I don't know, it seems like a lot. Anyway I am racing tomorrow, in the smallest tri I've ever done - there are only four waves! All the female age groupers are in one wave. It is going to be so cute. I kind of messed up on this one as they do have an elite wave which includes pros and anyone who thinks they can finish in the top 50 overall. Um, I probably can do that, but I didn't ask to be moved until yesterday, when it was too late. However, realistically I'd rather be in a position to pass a bunch of people than to get passed (the elite wave goes off first, and the female age groupers go off last).

Once again I have been ridiculously busy this week, so I would not say that my stress level is as low as it should be the day before a race, but I do feel that every day things are looking up more and more. In my taper for my A race I am going to work on tapering my workouts and my general life stress. I am also going to try to eat less dessert. I think I have a serious sugar addiction!

I rode my bicycle for an easy 45 minutes this morning and later on I need to swim for about 10 minutes and run for 20. I also need to go to Boulder and pick up my packet at some point, hopefully at a time when traffic is not unbearable. I am really excited to race again - I hope my training will pay off! I don't really anticipate being much faster on the swim or bike than I was in my last race but I do hope I can run at or under 7:00 pace. I was kind of stressed out by my decision to race this weekend, but I think ultimately anything that helps with my nerves for the A race is a good thing.

Not that much else has really been going on outside of training and the usual insanity of my life. I was in LA this past weekend which was super fun. I had a great time running on the beach, although my word it is humid there! I couldn't believe how soaked I was afterwards. Traveling for two weekends in a row was pretty tiring, I'm glad I don't have to go out of town again until Portland. Which I guess is only three weeks after my last trip, but it seems like a nice break. After that I also have a trip to San Francisco in October and Betsy and I have been talking about going somewhere warm for Thanksgiving. Then, because we love to plan, Michelle and I have been obsessing about where we should stay for Timberman. We are so excited, it looks like there are a ton of great options! We have very different ideas about lodging - Michelle likes cheap places and I like fancy places - but I think we have come up with a great compromise. Michelle promised me we won't stay anywhere with 'Motel' in the name, and I promised her we won't stay anywhere with 'Spa' in the name. I think this will be a great way to find a middle ground.

I think that is about all that's up this week - I am off to visualize my race, do some work, etc., etc. I will try to write about how the race went sooner rather than later.

Posted by barb at 8:47 AM | Comments (1)