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August 31, 2006

Back to School

ARGHH!! It's back to school for me today. And I gotta tell ya, I'm not looking forward to it. I don't know if I'm just getting sick of school or if it's because I got out of the groove this summer by not taking a class. Either way I'm hoping I snap out of it. Soon. Because whether I'm ready or not, here it comes! :)

Swim workout this AM:

3400 yds total (1000 yds warmup, 400 yds cooldown)

20x100 as:
2x100 on 1:50
2x100 on 1:40
2x100 on 1:50
2x100 on 1:35
2x100 on 1:50
2x100 on 1:30
2x100 on 1:50
2x100 on 1:25
2x100 on 1:50
2x100 on 1:20

The last 2x100 on 1:20 were kind of rough - I just got through them by the skin of my teeth! I survived though. Swimming hard on very little rest is what's toughest for me. I got lots of practice today. :)

Back to work. And then school. But then a 4 day weekend AND my mom is coming to visit! Hoo-ray!

Posted by beth at 11:25 AM | Comments (1)

August 30, 2006

Some Running

This afternoon when I ran it was fall. Leaves on the ground, cool and windy and overcast. Football game (albeit junior high) going on at the stadium. There's no turning back now! (except I know we'll have at least one more day of 85+ degree temps - always happens).

I ran easy today with some striders and bounding thrown in for good measure. 34 minutes around town, stopped by the track for 8x20 seconds alternating striders and bounding, 12 minutes home for 46 minutes total. Simple as that!

And now it's time for a shower and some laundry. And then dinner. Can't forget dinner!

Posted by beth at 6:06 PM | Comments (0)

Embarrassing!

Tuesday morning swim workout:

3300 yds total (900 yds warmup, 400 yds cooldown)

40x50 as:
1x50 free on 1:10
1x50 back on 1:10
1x50 breast on 1:15
1x50 free on 1:05
2x50 free on 1:05
2x50 back on 1:05
2x50 breast on 1:10
2x50 free on 1:00
3x50 free on 1:00
3x50 back on 1:00
3x50 breast on 1:05
3x50 free on :55
4x50 free on :55
4x50 back on :55
4x50 breast on 1:00
4x50 free on :50

Shoulder felt fine on the backstroke but there wasn't as much as last time. I still really hate breaststroke. Okay, now I'm done complaining. :)

Tuesday evening crit:

Let's just go ahead and fast forward to the end where I sprinted like mad and won! OH WAIT - I still had one lap to go! No wonder I dusted everyone on the sprint - they knew we had 1 lap to go, I however did not. I sat up and was looking around. Why is everyone yelling at me?! And then - oh yes - the heartache of realizing I wasn't done. I took off like crazy and then sprinted again with all I had left and...I got 2nd. Someone nipped me at the line. URGH!! I was very frustrated with myself but in my defense it was very confusing - 3 of us had lapped the rest of the field and so who was on what lap had everyone frizzled - the lap counters included. Oh well. Worse things have happened in this world. :) I did average 24 MPH, my fastest crit yet. And it was a very good workout - I had to attack like a gazillion times for the 3 of us to breakaway. All is well, but chances are I will NEVER live this one down. :)

Back to work! This afternoon - a run. Hope everyone is having a great day!

Posted by beth at 11:19 AM | Comments (0)

August 28, 2006

New Goggles

Every time I try to type goggles, I type google instead. It's very interesting. I definitely type google more often than I type the word goggles but you think I would be able to get it right when I'm trying specifically to do it right. What if you googled goggles? That would just be crazy.

Anyway, the point of all this is to tell you that I bought new googles...er...goggles today, a fact that I'm sure you are so interested in, you can barely stand it. My old ones fog up so bad I just can't take it. I know this will eventually happen to all goggles (I did it right that time!), so I got myself a new pair today. I'll get to try them out tomorrow morning.

Today after work I took a little bike ride that involved riding easy for 25 minutes or so, then 6 minutes hard, then the rest of the ride easy. On the 6 minutes hard I was riding slightly uphill on a long straightaway. I averaged 24 MPH. I wish I could do that for a whole race (and then run a 10K in 36 minutes...I'd be golden if I could do that :). Anyway, it was a good ride. In the end I rode for a little over an hour (1:04) for a little over 20 miles (20.5). I miss riding my tri bike. It's such a hard choice because the road bike I ride is a much better bike with much better components and a better wheelset so I love it, but when I ride it I miss my aerobars. Clearly the solution is to buy a better tri bike so if anyone wants to donate to the Beth-needs-a-P3-Carbon-Cervelo fund, go ahead and donate away. :)

Off to pay some bills...

Posted by beth at 7:45 PM | Comments (8)

August 26, 2006

Rolling Along

No swimming, no running today, just riding. Loved it!

I went on the Trizilla team ride this morning. I really enjoy riding with those guys. Much like when I first went to Penn State and had this whole group of really great athletes to run with, I love riding with a nice group. Especially because I can draft off them. Well okay, I have to draft off them at times just in order to hang on. But I can get them up the hills. That's where my size becomes a huge advantage. :)

We went for 2 hours this morning, a little over 38 miles. The ride we did is pretty hilly, rolling at times but also has about 5 sizeable hills. My legs are tired and ready for a day off tomorrow but I felt strong. It was a lot hotter and muggier than it has been. I sucked down my bottle of Gatorade within the first 15 miles and then was half way through my water when we luckily stopped for more water around 25 miles.

And thus finishes another pretty big week (for me):

Sunday - 50 minutes running w/5x3 min hard, core/feet exercises
Monday - 45 minutes easy running
Tuesday - 3550 yd swim (off stroke) in am, 15 mile crit (28 miles total riding)/31 min run in pm, 2x25 pushups/2x100 crunchers
Wednesday - 45 minute run w/4x3 min hard, core/feet exercises
Thursday - 3300 yd swim w/16x125, 2x100 crunchers (skipped pushups because of my sore shoulder)
Friday - 3500 yd swim w/(4x200, 2x400, 1x800) in am, 21 mile ride/25 min run in pm, core/feet exercises
Saturday - 38 mile ride, body weight circuit x 2
Sunday - off

Posted by beth at 2:27 PM | Comments (0)

August 25, 2006

Covering My Bases - Again

Today I swam, biked and ran. I'm starting to feel like a broken record.

I started things off this morning at my YMCA for a little pool workout. It was one of those mornings where your alarm goes off, you wake up, and you have no idea where you are or what you are supposed to be doing. Um yeah. I was hurtin' a little. But after blasting the music in the car on the way over to the YMCA I was a little more awake. Hey, you gotta do what you gotta do.

3500 yds total (800 yds warmup, 300 yds cooldown)
4x200 on 3:45
2x400 on 7:15
~1:30-2 min rest
800 hard (11:50)

My goal for the 800 hard was 12 minutes flat (1:30/100 yd) so I was pleased with the 11:50. I did this same workout July 10th and did the 800 in 13:09. I was swimming meters then and yards now so the two aren't comparable but even if you try to convert the one to the other, I think the 11:50 is still a superior time. Regardless, the wing was feeling pretty good although my arms were definitely tired.

Next up, work - and lots of it! Lots of patients to see today. But that's good. Kept me busy and kept me out of trouble. :)

When I got home from work I was actually somewhat motivated to get started on my 1:30 brick. Usually I'm not so gung-ho, as in my bed seems much more inviting than my running shoes. But today I was feeling ready to go so go I did. I looked at the mail, changed while O pumped my tires and off I went.

My legs felt like lead at first on the bike but I got in a nice groove and was feeling pretty good after about 5 miles. I don't know when it happened but somewhere along the way I got really comfortable down on my aerobars. I used to get up out of the aero position any time I went down a hill of any size, or down a hill that curved. Now I only seem to get up when I'm going uphill and need to get up out of my seat. I was going 34 MPH downhill in my aerobars and didn't think anything of it! That is NOT how I used to be. Anyway, I'm not complaining. I need all the help I can get on the bike, aerodynamic edge included. :)

I rode for just under 21 miles (20.85 to be exact) in just over 1:05 (1:05:10 to be exact) and then got off my bike, got into my running shoes and took off on a little run with O. He has a 20 miler tomorrow so him and I just sort of jogged along. We ran for 25 minutes.

And that was enough for me. Tomorrow - the team ride. Sunday - off! :) Life is good indeed...

Posted by beth at 8:50 PM | Comments (1)

August 24, 2006

Repaired Wing

My wing (aka shoulder) is feeling better. Actually it's still kind of sore and achey but I did my swim workout this morning just fine. The freestyle stroke arm motion doesn't seem to bother it (other than making it a little more tired/sore) but the backstroke motion - that's where it hurts. Simple solution to that problem - JUST DON'T DO BACKSTROKE! :)

Today's training involved a swim this morning and that's it. It was nice to come home from work and not have anything else to do training wise. I could get used to that. :)

3300 yds total (900 yds warmup, 400 yds cooldown)

4 sets of 4x125 yds on 2 minutes as:
1x125 (100 moderate, 10 sec rest, 25 hard)
1x125 (75 moderate, 20 sec rest, 50 hard)
1x125 (50 moderate, 30 sec rest, 75 hard)
1x125 (25 moderate, 40 sec rest, 100 hard)

I moved to a faster lane today and WHOA doggie were we moving! Well, I should say "they" were moving. I was more just hanging on. I definitely didn't get all that rest but that's okay. I know swimming hard on short rest is what will make me faster. It's just a matter of doing it.

The swim coach gave me a suggestion today - keep my eyes down some - and as simple as that sounds it really seemed to make a big difference. It really effected my body's position in the water, kept me on a flatter plane instead of angled up. Now if I could just learn how to do flip turns... :)

Regardless, I am home now and soon to be making dinner. O is out running and so my job is to have dinner ready when he gets back. Watch out - me in the kitchen can be a scary thing! :)

Posted by beth at 5:32 PM | Comments (3)

August 23, 2006

Broken Wing

My shoulder hurts and I actually care! When you are a runner a sore shoulder doesn't mean much to you. When you are a runner a sore shoulder means you slept funny. When you are a triathlete a sore shoulder is trouble! When you are a triathlete a sore shoulder means that that evil backstroke that you probably did wrong lap after lap on Tuesday is making your shoulder ache. Doh! :) It actually isn't too bad. It was really sore when I first woke up this morning but seems a bit better now. We'll see how it feels tomorrow when I swim. I'm hoping freestyle won't bother it too much.

This afternoon after work I ran. 45 minutes total, 17 minutes warmup, 4x3 minutes hard w/3 minutes jogging rest, 7 minutes cooldown. I was supposed to get my heart rate up pretty high but just like Sunday I couldn't manage it. I've decided that to get my HR up really high I need to (A) be in a race, (B) run uphill, (C) bike and then run (HR gets up there on the run part) or (D) be near a power line - never knew my HR could get up to 253 did you? :)

Regardless today marks the 6th consecutive day in a row that I've run. I haven't done that for about 14 months. And although my legs are protesting some my feet feel about the same. I still have plantar fasciitis no doubt, but it seems to be to a managable point. What a blessing! My coach wanted to push the running a little and see what we could do. Seems like my feet responded well. Now we know. I run again on Friday but then not again until Monday at the earliest. Tomorrow - trying out my broken wing in the water...

Posted by beth at 9:19 PM | Comments (2)

August 22, 2006

Covering My Bases

Today I swam, biked and ran. That about sums it up! Nevertheless, I'm not one to be brief, so here goes the detailed story...

AM swim: off stroke day - you know how I love it! (note sarcasm)

I wasn't feeling it in the pool this morning but once we got started I was fine. 3550 yds total, 900 yds warmup, 400 yds cooldown.

3 sets of 10x75 yds on 1:30 as:
4x75 yds IM (free, back, breast)
3x75 yds back (descending)
2x75 yds free (thank goodness)
1x75 yds back (hard)

If I haven't mentioned it before, those other strokes...yeah...they're hard.

PM crit:

Try as I might I couldn't break away tonight. Trust me, it wasn't for a lack of effort on my part. I kept attacking but I didn't get any help tonight. Definitely not strong enough to lap the field by myself. So it was lots of hard riding and then a sprint at the end that resulted in a 4th place finish. I'll take it. Some of those girls can sprint like you would not believe. I just wish they would work harder during the race to pull some!

PM run:
As much as I was hurting during the ride I started running right after and felt fine. That, I think, is what we're aiming for here. Now granted I was running easy. I did 31:15 and then called it a day. I actually didn't even realize I was supposed to run also today until about 4:38 am this morning when I checked my workouts for the day one last time before leaving for swimming. Good thing - it would have been hard to run in my cycling shoes.

Now, I am very tired. Just a run tomorrow. Thank goodness. Good night!

Posted by beth at 11:33 PM | Comments (2)

August 21, 2006

Fall Indeed

Back in the day when I used to go to work (yes, that's right - I have ANOTHER day off today!) I had a discussion with my co-workers about when fall starts. Of course there is the objective day that fall "technically" starts (Sept 23rd this year?) but I mean when does fall really start. Some suggested when the leaves start to change, some said when you have to start wearing jeans instead of shorts. Some offered the idea that October = fall. But I submit to you my theory...and that's the theory that fall is starting right NOW. After my run this morning I couldn't be any more sure that my theory is true.

Evidence #1 - Today I went for my run at 11:10 am. This is not something one does in the summer unless one has no other choice. Granted I wore shorts and a sports bra however I wasn't hot. There was no humidity. It was around 70 degrees. It was the middle of the day. That, my friends, is fall.

Evidence #2 - I ran past the HS track and (1) saw the football team practicing, (2) heard the cheerleaders doing their thing and (3) heard the band. That, my friends, is fall.

Evidence #3 - O went to work today. He is a teacher. That, my friends, is fall.

Evidence #4, 5 and 6 - I've now read about 5 college cross country team previews. The Steelers have played twice. We may finally turn off our AC. That, my friends, is fall.

And I couldn't be more excited. I love fall. And although fall doesn't have any of the same meaning to me as it once did (a new school year, a fresh cross country season, etc...) I still get the same "feeling in the air" when fall rolls around. I wonder if that will ever stop. I'm guessing not.

Anyway, today I ran easy, 45 minutes, trying to keep my heart rate down. I felt like I was jogging (which isn't a bad thing) but when I did a lap on the track to check my pace it was about 7:30. That isn't my definition of jogging. Regardless I felt okay, legs a bit fatigued but otherwise good. That's it for today.

In other news, I'm fairly certain that I could live off of Lime Tostito Tortilla Chips. They are so dang good! I would need to take a multivitamin (you know...so I didn't get scurvy and whatnot) but otherwise I think I would be good to go.

In other, other news, my arm is finally starting to become a normal size again. I got bit by a very bad bug on Friday and my arm swelled up like a balloon. Must have been a bee because I'm allergic to those suckers. It actually hurt pretty bad but I don't need my left forearm for too much so it wasn't bad. I've gotten stung on my ankles before and that was bad juju because they were so swollen I couldn't get running shoes on! Anyway, I was wearing my watch on about the 5th hole instead of my usual very top hole (and it's still too big) but now I'm up to about the 2nd hole. My arm no longer feels like it's been in the oven (it was so hot before!) and it's not too itchy either. I think I'm on the road to recovery.

And now that I've successfully procrastinated writing the paper I need to write for a good 30 minutes, I think I should get a move on... Or maybe I might go get some more Lime Tostitos first? :)

Posted by beth at 1:58 PM | Comments (4)

August 20, 2006

Today + Summary

This morning before church O, Roxy and I headed over to the high school to run a workout. Because O had just raced yesterday him and Roxy took it easy while I did 5x3 minutes hard w/3 minutes rest. I was supposed to get my heart rate up to 190. Um yeah - that was NOT happening this morning. I couldn't get my HR up past the high 180s despite the fact that I was running really hard. It's odd. I was running easy after my ride yesterday and my HR was up in the 180s and today I was busting and I struggled to get it up there. Oh well. I did the workout and that was that. With 16 minutes warmup and 7 minutes cooldown it was a 50 minute run total.

Summary for the week:

Sunday - North Park Tri (700 m swim, 12 mi bike, 5K run)
Monday - off
Tuesday - 3300 yd swim (off stroke day) in am, 32 mile riding w/15 mi crit in pm, 2x25 pushups, 2x100 crunchups
Wednesday - 45 minutes easy running w/8x20 sec bounding/striders, core/feet exercises
Thursday - 3300 yd swim w/40x50 in am, 45 minute easy ride in pm, 2x25 pushups, 2x100 cruchups
Friday - 3500 yd swim w/9x300 in am, 47 minute easy run in pm, core/feet exercises
Saturday - 35 mile ride/30 min run brick, body weight circuit x 2
Sunday - 50 minute run w/5x3 minutes hard w/3 minutes rest, core/feet exercises

It was a pretty big week for me. I actually ran over 20 mi/week for the first week in probably about a year. Definitely doesn't sound like much but in addition to the other stuff I was pleased with it. I wouldn't say I'm confident with my running yet but I'm at least starting to feel a little bit more like a runner. And the best part of all is that my feet aren't getting worse. In fact they are pretty status quo! :)

Posted by beth at 8:13 PM | Comments (1)

August 19, 2006

Feeling Good

I had a good brick today. Very good. Part of it, I'm sure, is because I'm not racing again for a while and I didn't feel like I had to hold back at all.

It started with our Trizilla team ride this morning. We had a nice group but there were no other women and that sometimes scares me. Those guys can hammer. Luckily we were riding in an area that I'm very familiar with so if I got dropped I would know how to get back home. :)

Dummy me forgot to look at my bike computer when we got back (and I rode the road bike that stays at the store so I can't look now) but we did about 35 miles in under 1:45. I was able to keep up and even did a little pulling of my own on the way back. I had to work, not too much coasting today, but I felt good. I sometimes think I missed my calling as a cyclist. I'm built more like one and less like a runner. Regardless, I enjoyed myself out there.

When we got back and it had only been 1:45, I asked Coach J if I should run for an hour or ride more and then run less to complete my 2:45 brick. He told me just to run for 30 minutes or so - shorter brick but we had ridden pretty hard so that's okay. First though we practiced some transitions in the parking lot. I'm talking about serious transition practice - getting in and out of your shoes while riding - none of this stop, sit down, put on your shoes and then start moving. It was kind of scary but with practice I think I might be able to manage it. No doubt it will help cut down on transition time but you'd have to be good at it for it to make a difference (and not fall off your bike in the interim... :)

Next up the run - 30 minutes easy although I felt pretty good so I pushed a little. I'm always surprised how good my legs feel after riding. When I first started doing bricks I remember them feeling like lead when I started running but I don't get that feeling so much anymore. It's probably just a matter of getting used to the feeling. Anyway, the run felt good. My heart rate was a little on the high side but I didn't feel like slowing down to get it under control so I didn't. It was only a half hour anyway.

And that was this morning! Now it's time for my next workout - a nap on the bed with Roxy and O who ran in his high school alumni cross country race this morning! He ran very well - better than I expected given the fact that he is training for a marathon and not a 5K. His team also won their softball game last night to keep themselves alive in the playoffs. One more win and they will be the champions. A very good weekend for us indeed!

Posted by beth at 2:56 PM | Comments (1)

August 18, 2006

Bad Bug!

I had a very nice run this afternoon...except for one bad little bug that stung me on my arm. He was very bad. My arm still hurts! I pulled out his stinger but maybe I didn't get the whole thing out. Yuck. This happened to O about 2 weeks ago and he had some sort of allergic reaction wherein he got welts all over his body. I started calling him Bug Boy. Now I think I'm getting my payback. :)

Regardless, my run was good. I ran 45 minutes on trails, the high school cross country course x 2. It was nice to run on some real trails, although I had forgotten how hilly their cross country course is! I felt pretty good. I was a little worried I might feel some ill effects from lunch - O and I hit up the Pizza Hut lunch buffet - but my tummy was just fine.

Time to go cheer on O's softball team! Have a great weekend everyone!

Posted by beth at 4:50 PM | Comments (1)

Highly Recommended

I highly recommend taking days off work. You can sleep in. You can putz around. You can write your blog entry at 10:30 in the morning. You can do whatever you want! It's great. :)

O and I were going to take a trip to Indianapolis this weekend so I took today and Monday off from work. The trip had to be cancelled for several reasons, first and foremost being the fact that O's softball playoffs were supposed to be over by this point in the summer but are not. Big game last night, big game tonight. You can't be missing games at this point. Reason #2 was that I was going to do a race out there but being that I have raced the last 3 weekends, I really didn't mind not racing again this weekend. So instead of driving out to Indiana we are taking a mini trip to Happy Valley, leaving tomorrow afternoon after O competes in his HS alumni cross country race and I do my 2:45 brick. Problem solved. Regardless, I'm not sure why I'm writing about all this other than to explain why I have two days off work, a fact that most everyone could probably care less about. Needless to say, I'm rambling again... :)

This morning I slept in until 6:30 which netted me 8.5 hours of sleep. So very nice. I drove over to the YMCA and did a pool workout first.

3500 yds total (500 yds warmup, 300 yds cooldown)

9x300 as
3x300 on 5:45
3x300 on 5:30
3x300 on 5:15

It was a nice set of longer (for me) intervals. And even though the pool is warm at my YMCA, I love the people there! They are all older and they all have stories to tell. The guy swimming in the lane next to me told me how he always used to swim in the river (which river I'm not sure), against the current to make himself stronger. And a lady in the locker room told me a story about buying 150 pounds of chocolate for her son (who happens to make candy for a living - once she told me that the story made MUCH more sense :). These people are great. And I always get my own lane too. :)

Regardless, I best be moving along. I have a run planned for later today on some trails and then tonight I'll be a spectator at O's game. More later...

Posted by beth at 10:10 AM | Comments (0)

August 17, 2006

I Can't Count That High

This morning's pool workout involved 40x50. I kid you not, I moved to a faster lane for the sole purpose of NOT having to lead the workout and therefore NOT having to keep track of 40-50s. Craziness. I can't even keep track of workouts that involved 10 of something.

3300 yds total (1000 yds warmup, 300 yds cooldown)

40x50 on :50 alternating hard 50s with easy. This essentially turned into 20x100 on 1:40 because we'd leave for our easy 50 right after we finished our hard one and then take our rest. It was a good workout. Like I said, I moved to a faster lane which I've decided I need to swim in all the time (I was being a bit of a baby not doing this earlier). I did have one moment of panic when one of the guys from the REALLY fast lane moved in with us. Oh boy. But everyone kept things under control.

Then I went to work and was dreadfully unmotivated. You would think I would have been rearing to go...get my work done and then go home for a nice 4 day weekend! Not so my friends. Quite the opposite. I couldn't get my lazy bones moving. But I eventually saw all my patients and drove home.

Next up was a nice and easy ride. 45 minutes in zone 1 and 2, mostly zone 1, on a flat course. I rode my tri bike. It was a nice afternoon. My legs were tired though. They did not want to push hard. This I can understand; afterall, they've had a long week so far!

Finally I leave you a picture of me from this weekend. I'm riding my all time favorite BMC road bike. I'll have to admit I missed my tri bike given the fact that I was actually doing a triathlon, but the BMC did just fine Sunday.

Posted by beth at 7:39 PM | Comments (3)

August 16, 2006

Zone 1 Running

Much of triathlon training seems to be based on heart rate "zones". How you figure these zones out is still somewhat of a mystery to me. Mine are based on my average heart rate for very hard efforts (a hard tempo and one of my crits) - I have them figured out for running and cycling but not swimming. I just swim hard every time I swim. :)

Anyway, today's run was supposed to be 45 minutes of zone 1 running, the easiest zone there is. This means I had to keep my HR under 160. Nice. :) But the odd thing is, I could easily run 7:45 to 8 minute pace today and my average HR was 155. What's up with that? Part of it has to do with cooler temps I'm sure but I was expecting to have to run easier. Oh well. I'm not complaining! :)

My run today was on the trail - 35 minutes easy and then 8x20 seconds alternating striders and bounding drills followed by another 10 minutes easy. My legs are a little on the tired side but otherwise I'm feeling pretty good. Tomorrow some swimming and some cycling. The good news? I have Friday AND Monday off work. Yes, that's right, I'm staring a 4 day weekend in the face! I also happen to be staring at a rather large pile of laundry that needs to be folded...so I best get moving...

Good night everyone! :)

Posted by beth at 9:36 PM | Comments (1)

August 15, 2006

IMs Are Hard

Holy cow do I NOT like doing other strokes other than freestyle! It's most likely because I am not doing them right but they tire me out and slow me down like you would not believe. Unfortunately today was off-stroke day and we had some bad juju IMs to do. I don't even do butterfly and I still stink! Either way, I'm sure they make me stronger...right?! :)

This morning's swim was 3300 yds total including 1000 yds warmup and 300 yds cooldown. The main workout was:

5x50 yds
100 IM
5x50 yds
200 IM
5x50 yds
300 IM
5x50 yds
400 IM

And the 50s went like 25 fly/25 back, 25 back/25 breast, 25 breast/25 free, 25 free/25 fly and then an easy 50 free. All my butterfly was substituted with free. And let me tell you, that 400 IM still kicked my butt!

Fast forward to tonight's crit. It was great. It took me about 10 laps but I kept attacking and attacking and attacking and finally broke free with my teammate K and we worked together to lap the field. I have to say, that's really fun to do. We are not necessarily better cyclists but if you're tough out there you will do well. Anyway, I had to really work hard to break away but once we were away and taking turns pulling each other I could relax some. We rode in together but they had to give someone the win so K was deemed winner. And what a killing we made on the primes! They usually have 2 or 3 primes at most but tonight they had a prime for EVERY lap! And it was money and chocolate PowerBars. Kim and I took home lots of goods! :)

And now I'm tired and want to sleep. No time for revealing in a win. Tomorrow it's back to business and a run. At least running doesn't involve the butterfly stroke!

Posted by beth at 10:17 PM | Comments (1)

August 14, 2006

Thanks and the Week Ahead

Thanks to everyone for your comments about my race Sunday! You guys are the best! It's like we are a great little team and encourage each other on. I don't mean to sound sappy but I really do feel so blessed to have so many people support me. My fellow bloggers, my Trizilla teammates, the people I swim with on the masters team and of course my family and O (the biggest supporter of them all!).

Anyway, I had a day off today. I wasn't nearly as sore from yesterday as I was from the Olympic distance tri the Sunday before but it was still nice to give my body a break. It's kind of strange not doing any training before work and then coming home and...still not doing any training. I'm glad I don't do that too often. I think I would get to liking it too much. The call of the couch and the tv is a powerful thing my friends...

I did get my training schedule for the upcoming week. Brutal. I kind of wish I was racing because then I would at least get an easy day in there for pre-race! :) Seriously though, I think I will be fine. Just need to take one workout at a time. Along those lines, I have to pack for workout #1 tomorrow, my swim! :) Good night all!

Posted by beth at 7:49 PM | Comments (0)

August 13, 2006

Week Summary

Sunday - Pittsburgh Tri (1500 m swim, 25 mi bike, 10K run)
Monday - off
Tuesday - 2000 yd easy swim (am), 15 mile crit (32 miles total riding) in pm, 2x25 pushups, 2x100 crunchers
Wednesday - 45 minute run w/20 minute up-tempo, core/feet exercises
Thursday - 3300 yd swim w/8x25,8x50,8x75,8x100 in am, 45 min run w/4x1:30 hard in pm, 2x25 pushups and 2x100 crunchers
Friday - 30 min easy ride (~9 miles) w/15 min easy run-off, core/feet exercises
Saturday - 23 mile cycling followed by 1000 yd swim
Sunday - North Hills Tri (700 m swim, 12 mile bike, 5K run)

Posted by beth at 6:14 PM | Comments (0)

North Hills YMCA Triathlon

This morning when my alarm went off at 4:30, I felt like I was getting up and going to work. Since I had Friday and Saturday off my weekend already felt like it was over. I usually get up around that time for work...it was a weird feeling! I hopped in the shower and then stretched, just like any usual Monday....but then...I put on my bathing suit and all similarities ended! :) (you know, I don't really wear my bathing suit to work...I don't usually anyway... :)

Instead of work I was doing something much more fun (although slightly more painful)...the North Hill triathlon. O and I made the 35 minute drive to the park where the race was and got out of the car to very cold temps! It was in the low 50s this morning which at this point in the summer is pretty nippy. I was shivering like crazy. It didn't help that I had shorts and sandels on but hey, I'm so used to hot weather I don't even know where my sweatpants are! I stood around cold for a while and then eventually got my packet, chip, body marked and all my gear set up at the transition area. I warmed up on the bike course with one my teammates E who has done this race before. He showed me the bike loop that we'd be doing 5 times in the race. It was pretty nice, flat and some downhill with one hill that didn't look that big but was kind of tough during the race. I jogged around some and then it was time to get in my wetsuit. Yes, I wore a wetsuit in a pool swim. I didn't even think that was allowed but my coach said to bring it and wear it and indeed about 1/4 of the other racers did the same! Strange! But it was actually pretty nice because as I mentioned it was a cold morning and the water (as it's an outside pool) felt quite chilly!

I was in the first heat of swimmers which was about 50 people (very big pool). They seeded everyone based on their estimated finish time with the fastest people in the first heat. Of course you can never be sure but the winners should have come out of that first heat so if I wanted to win I had to make sure to win my heat (obviously) and then I would probably be safe. We started the swim and it was fine. The swim usually goes pretty fast for me. 700 meters and as I was getting out of the water my watch read about 11 minutes flat. I was the first woman out of the water. The time that will actually show up as my swim time will be a lot slower though because it will include T1 and let me just say...my first transition was terrible! I couldn't get my wetsuit off and then I couldn't get my socks on and then when I did get my one sock on it was backwards. ARGH! I eventually got on my way though and still managed to be the first woman out but with 2 other women right on my tail.

The bike was good. My legs felt kind of tired and my heart rate was high but my heart rate has been a little higher all week, likely because I'm still a little on the sick side. O was standing on the hill and each time I would go by he would tell me about how much time I had on 2nd place. The first time around was 20 seconds, then 20 seconds again, then 20 seconds again. Uh oh - I wasn't putting any distance between us! I thought I might but I never really did. When I came out of T2 though O told me I had more like 50 seconds - her T2 must have been as bad as my T1!! :)

Anyway, so started the run - with me running scared. The run was tough too. All on trails and not fast trails either. We're talking rocky, turny trails with very big downhills and what seemed like even bigger uphills. And the surface was sort of a loose gravel, loose dirt/sand mixture. As I was running I was pretty sure this was going to go down as my slowest 5K of all time. And I was right - 22:25! Oh my! But luckily it was enough to keep me ahead. I ended up winning by about 1:30. My overall time was 1:09:01.

And that's that! I was pleased to win, even though I know it's just a small race. I had a lot of fun. It was a Senior Games qualifier so it was neat to watch some of the older generation compete hard! All in all I good day's work.

Now I am done racing for a little bit and that's okay with me. Three weekends in a row was tough even though two of those were sprint distances. More than anything the ritual of getting all your gear ready, getting up so early, etc... wears you down! And I think O is ready for a break too. Being someone's equipment manager requires a lot more if one is racing in triathlons vs just running races. :) So I'm looking forward to some good training for the next couple weeks and then maybe one more race in September. We shall see what the future holds...

Posted by beth at 5:00 PM | Comments (9)

August 12, 2006

Pre-Race Workout (again)

I guess when you race every weekend you feel like you are always packing and then unpacking your race gear. I'm starting to get that feeling. I should just leave it in the car. :)

This morning I went on the Trizilla team ride, although a shortened, easier version since I'm racing tomorrow. Luckily a lot of the guys are racing tomorrow too (cycling races that is, not triathlons) so everyone was sort of taking it easy. I rode about 23 miles in 1:11 or 1:12 on a really nice flat course. It was absolutely beautiful outside. I felt like riding forever but unfortunately that would probably not lead to a great performance tomorrow. :) When I got back to the shop I packed up the bike pretty quickly and headed to the YMCA for a quick swim, 1000 yds easy, only about 20 minutes. I incorporated 5x25 yd accelerations, sort of like swimming striders. :)

And that's the training for today! Tomorrow the race, Monday off (?). Sounds like a plan!

As for now, I'm stuck in the basement of our house. We got our carpets cleaned this morning (much needed!) and so they are drying and we are not allowed to walk on them. Good thing for O's wireless connection so I can be on the internet! :)

Posted by beth at 1:45 PM | Comments (1)

August 11, 2006

Quick Brick

Does that title rhyme? I've said it a few times aloud and I can't tell if it does or not. I don't think it does, I think the words just sound alike.

Anyway, I did do a short little brick this morning, that is after I got up from sleeping for 9.5 hours. Yep, that's right, I almost hit double digits! And boy did I need it! I still haven't kicked this cold. In fact last night was sort of a bad night for sleeping, I was up coughing and not able to breathe through my nose, but 9.5 hours of sleep will go a long way to help matters I'm sure. Clearly I need more days off from work so I can sleep in more often. The way I see it, that's the only option. :)

So the brick this morning was 30 minutes on the bike, 15 minutes running. That's it. Thank goodness. Other than my cold I have a very sore right calf and just feel beat up. I'm not complaining, I'm not making excuses, just stating the facts. :) I think I'll feel better after today. Regardless I took it very easy on both the bike and the run. My average heart rate for the 45 minutes was 139. That goes to show you just how easy I was taking it. :) I can get my heart rate up to 139 just sitting here typing if I wanted. :)

As for the rest of the day, we have some grocery shopping, ironing and softball watching on tap. O has a big playoff game tonight. I'm excited to see him kick some butt! Tomorrow I'm going to do part of the team ride (not the full thing since I'm racing Sunday) and a little swimming. And then Sunday's race is a 700 meter swim, 12.5 mile bike and 5K run. The swim is in a pool but a very nice, long, outdoor pool. I got the lane/wave assignments today and I'm in the 1st wave (thank goodness) with 3 other people in my lane (all guys for some reason). That could get messy. The bike is apparentely very "technical" (lots of turns and whatnot) so coach wants me to ride the road bike. I never protest to riding the BMC! And then the run is apparentely a very tough "trail" run. The run record (they have an overall course record and then a record for each sport) is 21:43 by a very accomplished (read - she has qualified for the Olympic Marathon trials) runner. I don't know what that means for me other than I could have a very painful finish. I guess I wouldn't have it any other way... :)

Posted by beth at 1:10 PM | Comments (2)

August 10, 2006

Awesome Video

You HAVE to go to this website and watch the video. I have read about Dick Hoyt and his son Rick before and knew of their exploits at the Boston Marathon, but it was only within the past several months that I realized they also did an Ironman together. An Ironman! Great video and with one of my all-time favorite songs playing in the background...

Posted by beth at 8:52 PM | Comments (0)

Swim and Run

Yes, I know, that title is in contention for the "World's Most Boring Blog Entry Title" but my brain is more uncreative than usual this evening. Bear with me. :)

This morning I headed to the pool. When I woke up my cough was a lot looser, exactly what I was waiting for! That feels much better than a dry, sore cough. Anyway, I think my cold is getting a little better. I have tomorrow off work (for working July 4th) and so that means lots of sleep. Can't beat it! :)

Pool workout: 3300 yds total (800 yds warmup, 500 yds cooldown)

4x25 on :30
4x50 on :55
4x75 on 1:20
4x100 on 1:45
~1 minute rest
4x100 on 1:45
4x75 on 1:20
4x50 on :55
4x25 on :30

I like swimming 25s. :)

When I got home from work I had a run scheduled. Instead I layed on our bed for a while. That is until Roxy started walking all over me wanting her dinner. Dumb dog! It got me up and moving though. I headed to the trail (again) and did my 45 minutes of running, 20 minutes easy, 4x1:30 hard w/3 minutes rest, 10 minutes easy cooldown.

My body feels a little beat down but when I'm actually training I don't feel too bad. This seems to be a relatively tough training week despite my race Sunday which I'm sure is made as such for a purpose. For one, I got a really easy week last week. Can't have too many of those in a row. :)

I sometimes try to imagine what Ironman training will be like at it's peak. Much tougher than what I'm doing now for sure. But I also think less intensity. Volume increase, intensity decrease. I hope anyway, because I'm not sure I could handle more volume at this intensity! It will be interesting for sure...

Posted by beth at 7:30 PM | Comments (0)

August 9, 2006

A Cold in the Heat

So I think I have a little bit of a cold. It's in my chest right now. But I'm not able to cough too good so it just kind of feels like it's hovering in my throat. Yuck. I actually didn't feel too good at all this morning when I woke up but have been feeling progressively better throughout the day. I left work a couple hours early so I could come home and take a nap. I wouldn't have done that usually but I had all my work done and all my patients seen so sleeping at home seemed more useful than just sitting at work and wasting time.

I slept for about 2 hours when I got home and felt considerably better when I got up. I decided to still do my run which sometimes helps when I have a cold because it loosens up the congestion. It was a nice day too, in the mid 80s but low humidity. That feels like a dream after so many days of 90+ temps and 100% humidity.

Anyway, O and I drove to the trail to run. Again we weren't doing the same workout but it was nice to have someone there still. My workout was 18 minutes easy warmup, 20 minutes up-tempo while keeping my heart rate in zone 3 (170-178) then 7 minutes easy cooldown for a total of 45 minutes.

When I started I was feeling a little still and ugly but I loosened up and actually didn't feel too bad. My feet are still feeling beat up, both my PF and my blister/chewed up soles from the swim-bike transition. Other than that though I felt pretty good! The up-tempo part was fine. I actually had to slow myself down several times because my HR was getting up into the 180s so it was more of a smooth, controlled effort. I timed one mile during the tempo interval at 7 minutes flat.

And that was it for the day. Tomorrow, swim and run. Friday bike and run. Saturday bike and swim. Sunday all 3. :)

To tie up some loose ends...

My summary from last week that I never got to but still want to add for my own sake. It's easy for me to look back on what I've been doing this way. I doubt it's interesting to anyone else!

Sunday - off
Monday - 3300 yd swim w/(500,400,300,200,100 and then hard 500), core/feet exercises
Tuesday - 15 mile crit in pm (~30 miles total riding), 2x25 pushups and 2x100 crunchers
Wednesday - 15 miles easy cycling (small chain ring)
Thursday - 3300 yd swim w/20x100 in am, 45 minute run w/4x1:30 hard in pm, 2x25 pushups and 2x100 crunchers
Friday - off, core/feet exercises
Saturday - 1000 yd swim easy, ~9 mile bike, 15 minute run at race site
Sunday - Pittsburgh tri (1500 meter swim, 25 mi bike, 10K run - 2:18:39)
Monday - off

Also, my official splits from Sunday:
swim - 24:46
T1 - 1:39
bike - 1:07:35 (22.1 MPH)
T2 - 1:15
run - 43:26 (7 min pace)

My swim time wasn't as fast as I thought but I think that's because the mat for the transition was up the hill some (ie you had to run up out of the water and then some to "stop" your swim time) because I KNOW my T1 was not 1:39. That means I would have run the quarter mile up to the transition area at 6 minute pace, plus got into my bike gear and off on my bike. Trust me, my transitions aren't that good. :) On a positive note my bike time was faster than I thought. I'll take a 22 MPH average any day! :) As compared to the winner, she actually had a 6 minute lead on me coming out of T2 but still beat me be 40 seconds. This of course means she's not a very good runner. Of course this also means that she's a very good swimmer (got out of the water 3 minutes before me) and cyclist (3 minutes faster there too). Very interesting - always something to work on! :)

Posted by beth at 8:58 PM | Comments (3)

August 8, 2006

Back to Business

So after some easy days, a day off, a race, another day off, it was back to the routine of training today!

This morning I headed to the pool. I was instructed to take it easy though and not really do the workout given but just swim an easy 1500-2000 yds. And that's exactly what I did. I was still pretty sore when I woke up but I think the swim helped. I moved over to the slowest lane and just took my time working through the yardage. I did 2000 and then called it a day.

I think the swim must have helped me loosen up because I felt much better at the crit tonight than I thought I was going to! The weather has also cooled considerably with almost non-existent humidity so I'm sure that helped some as well. Regardless I was pleasantly surprised to feel some fresher legs as I warmed up on the track. Tonight K and I had a new teammate to work with - P, a long course triathlon specialist. She's qualified for Kona twice in...um...two trys. Yeah - she's awesome. And her bike splits are wild, it's her strongest sport I believe. So I was excited to race with her tonight, although it was her first crit, her first time riding with a group, her first time on a road bike, etc...

We had the plan of trying to break away which we tried several times but couldn't quite do. I think with her not quite sure how things worked it was kind of hard. We actually did drop quite a few riders but weren't able to shake 2 other girls. They hung in there with the 3 of us and of course didn't do much work up front. We hammered as hard as we could though and actually ended up with the fastest time yet to date. Regardless it did come down to a sprint between the 5 of us and I got 3rd. The two non-Trizilla girls went 1-2 which isn't surprising because they just kind of hung out while we did all the pulling up front. Great workout though and lots of hard riding. I'm already looking forward to next week. :) All in all I rode about 32 miles with warmup and cooldown. That really adds up fast!

And so now the day is almost over! Tomorrow is just a run. Oh, and I signed up for another race this weekend. I wasn't going to since I raced the past 2 weekends but it's a close one and coach wanted some of us to do it so I entered. My workouts for the week indicated that he's not placing much importance on the race (which is on Sunday) since there is a non-existent taper, but it should be fun and some added experience in the bank. I don't feel nearly as much pressure as I did last weekend. Good deal!

Good night all!

Posted by beth at 8:52 PM | Comments (1)

August 7, 2006

Funny How Things Work Out

First of all, I would like to thank everyone for their very nice and very encouraging comments! I appreciate it! If I need a little pick me up I can always count on you guys. :)

I don't have any training to report on today. I had the day off and boy did I need it! I was super sore today when I woke up (and still am). K and I were discussing what we thought made us so sore and we both determined it was the hard running. Funny thing that running... :)

Regardless, I wanted to comment today on a comment that Alison had on my entry about yesterday's race. She said "I think the PF might turn out to be a blessing in disguise!". Boy Alison - I couldn't agree more! :)

I think it was about 6 weeks ago, I was just thinking about the triathlon races and the training and for the first time in my whole entire life I was actually happy that I was injured. I was happy that the PF wouldn't allow me to run like I wanted. Happy that it bugged me long enough to push me into another sport. Very happy that I can still run some but happy that I can't run too much. It was a weird feeling for sure but it was really how I felt. I haven't felt this excited about sport, this hungry to win, this disciplined to train hard and correctly for a long time, maybe not even since late high school, early college. And I'm just thrilled about it. Absolutely thrilled.

The funny thing is this whole experience has been one of the most telling lessons God has ever taught me. A year ago at this time I was so frustrated and sad and just disgusted with my feet...and it only got worse over Sept/Oct/Nov to the point where I just gave it all up altogether. And at the time I knew, knew without a doubt, that God had a plan, He would use me how He wanted to use me, not how I thought I wanted to be used. I knew that His plan was much better than any plan I could think up. I knew I had to have just a little faith and He would be faithful to me. I knew that in all the times I didn't know what to do, didn't know where to go, was scared and felt lost that He would direct me. See I knew all that. But knowing something and living something in confidence are two different things. When I finally decided to let go of the struggle I was waging with my feet, started to open my mind a little to other possibilities, started to give up the control I thought I had, that's when the simple idea of triathlon popped into my head. It took me a while but I finally got to that point this past winter.

It's funny how God works.

I've been in the situation before. Choosing to leave my PhD program was another scary move where I really had a hard time seeing how it was all going to turn out. But it did. And I couldn't be more thrilled.

I'm sure it will happen over and over again in my life - I think I want to go in one direction and God wants me somewhere else. Things aren't working out and I'm frustrated. Hopefully as I age and become more mature I can realize it sooner than later. It would save a lot of worry. Good thing God is patient. He has to be with hard-headed people like me. :)

Posted by beth at 8:07 PM | Comments (1)

August 6, 2006

2006 Pittsburgh Olympic Distance Triathlon

First of all, I have to admit I've been remiss in mentioning that this past August 3rd was my 2 year blogging anniversary! I totally didn't remember but realized after reading Becky's blog, that my date had probably past. A lot has happened in the past 2 years. For one, I changed sports. Oh well, gotta take what life throws at ya right?! :) Regardless, many thanks to Alison for putting up with me for so long! She has hosted this site for all of us running-blogs.comers with absolutely no work on our part (other than writing our own entries). Hmm...maybe Alison would start writing for us too? :)

Moving on - the race today was awesome! It was my first taste of (1) a longer race and (2) some serious competition. I always like telling the short story first for those that don't feel like reading a novel, so here it is - I was 2nd overall. My time was 2:18:39. My (VERY) rough splits were 23 minute swim, 1:12 bike and 42 min run (no official results yets). I was super happy to get under 2:20 when I really didn't even expect to get under 2:30 but I ALMOST caught the winner and so I was kind of disappointed not to win. She ended up beating me by about 40 seconds but she started the run about 5 minutes before me - if only I had a couple more miles! Then again, I really didn't feel like running a couple more miles, so perhaps I should just leave well enough alone... :)

The long version of the story starts in the water - the very yucky looking water of the Allegheny River. When I was swimming I didn't notice trash floating around but there was definitely some nasty looking stuff floating around the water where we got in. Can you say prophylactic antibiotics?! :) Anyway, I really wanted to have a great swim and so I positioned myself in the front and had the plan of trying to stay with a woman I knew was a very good swimmer. That plan worked, kind of. The problem was when we got to the turn around and started catching the wave of guys before us things got all bungled up. I lost sight of her and had to just start focusing on moving in the right direction. Still I felt strong. 1500 meters of swimming seems like a very long way when you just look at it straight out but it honestly went by pretty fast. About 1/3 of the race was against the current and the other 2/3s with the current and so that has to explain why I swam around 23 minutes. I honestly thought my time would be more like 26 or 27 minutes. Either way I wasn't complaining. I can laugh about it now but I was none too pleased to fall flat on my face not once, not twice, not 3 times but 4 stinkin' times as I tried to climb out of the water!!! It was so rough! The mat was all slimy and people were trying to climb out like crazy. It was probably pretty funny to watch. I was so disgusted I vowed to climb out on my knees if I fell again but luckily the 4th time was a charm and I got out to start the relatively long run up to the transition area. O was at the top of the hill entering into the transition area and told me I was in 4th place. Excellent. I'll take it!

T1 wasn't anything too exciting just got on my gear and got on my way.

The bike course was more challenging than I thought. It was 2 loops of basically uphill for 6 miles, downhill for 6 miles and one flat mile to hook you around so you could do the loop again. I thought I knew what the uphill part was like - up yes but more of a gradual grade that I could maintain a steady pace of maybe 17 or 18 MPH on. Um no. The first time up wasn't so bad but the 2nd time up I was hurting. I got into my small chain and spun and actually didn't do too bad but was going more like 14 MPH. Ouch. Luckily you could more than make up for it going down the other side where I pretty much got in my biggest gear, got down into my aerobars and flew. I think my top speed was about 34 MPH but I would say I was mostly going 28-30 MPH down the hill. The bike went pretty fast. I must have passed one woman but it was really hard for me to keep track of who was where since you didn't know who was on what loop. Regardless I got off the bike and through T2 and as I started the run I saw O again who tells me I'm now in 3rd place and the 2nd place woman is 1:30 ahead of me.

Now begins the run. I really have a love hate relationship with the run. You see even though I don't feel like it sometimes the run is my strongest event. And so I should love it because it's my chance to catch all those really good swimmers and powerful cyclists. Triathletes come in all shapes and sizes but you can usually tell who the runners are. Regardless, the hate part of the relationship exists because...well...the run really hurts. Your body is not happy with you at this point in the game and now you are asking it to do what I consider the most physically demanding of the 3 sports. In the few triathlons I've done I get to the run and repeat to myself over and over - you are a runner, you are a runner, they are not runners, they are not runners - which helps but is hard to convince my tired body of.

Anyway, when I started the run I actually didn't feel too bad. I started focusing on the men in front of me and trying to pick them off. And then, about 10 minutes in I saw the 2nd place woman. She is the really good swimmer I was trying to keep up with earlier but not the strongest runner so I knew I had a chance to catch her. I did and when I did I tried to go by hard so she didn't have any notions of going with me. When I say I was going by "hard" realize that my pace was probably hovering around 7 minutes/mile or a little under - not exactly what someone running a 10K running race would consider hard! Regardless, she didn't go with me thankfully and was actually very encouraging. At this point I had no idea where the 1st place woman was so I tried to keep pushing, keep trying to catch guys and when men passed me, tried to go with them. Around 3 miles the runners double back on themselves and I got a look at how far ahead the leading woman was. It looked to be about 2 or 3 minutes but she looked pretty strong. Ugh. And then with about 2 miles to go I started to seriously want to sit down for awhile and put my feet up. Big difference between the sprint races I've been doing with 5Ks on the end and this one with a 10K on the end! I just kept trying to push and push and push. I still couldn't see 1st place. Good thing the race was almost over because things were looking ugly. Little did I know that I really was still gaining on her. With about 400 meters to go I finally saw her again ahead of me! Too late at that point though. She ended up beating me by about 40 seconds. I really wish I could have got her but I also know I ran as hard as I could! I think my run split was around 42-43 minutes which I will not complain about. I was aiming for 45.

And that was that. I felt pretty sick after the race which isn't such a surprise because I usually feel sick after running hard for anything longer than 5K. I sat for a while with O (who is the best support crew ever!) and was eventually able to get a piece of sandwhich down. K, my teammate got 4th place overall and my other teammate E crushed the men's field to win in 1:56. It was a good day for Trizilla! We stayed for the awards which were these really neat hand crafted trophies made out of bike gears. Then O drove me home so I could clean my crusty, nasty self up. I feel much better now although my feet are ripped up from the swim to bike transition and I have developed quite a blister on my heel. I'm sure I'll be sore tomorrow but Coach already told me I get another day off tomorrow! Yeah for days off! :)

And so I leave you with a picture of me and winner getting our awards with the Pittsburgh skyline in the background. Thanks for reading!

Posted by beth at 4:02 PM | Comments (8)

August 5, 2006

Nervous = Good

I've been into equations lately for my titles - I thought I would stick with it today. :)

So yeah, I'm really nervous for tomorrow. But that's a good thing. To me that means I really care about it. I really haven't been this nervous for races since college which means I probably didn't care enough about my post-collegiate running. I think I'm babbling again. I've been doing a lot of that lately. Did I say I was nervous? :)

The good news is my throat is feeling better. Must have been the 3 naps I took yesterday combined with sleeping 9 hours last night. I still have some congestion in my head/nose but if that doesn't get any worse I don't think I'll notice it much tomorrow.

This morning around 8 I headed to the pool to do a nice and easy 1000 yds. I went to my YMCA which I literally haven't been to in months. I was there just about every day in the winter and early spring but since I've been swimming at Pitt and riding outside I haven't used it. Guess what? It hasn't changed at all. When I walked into the pool the 4 people already there are the same 4 people I would see every single Saturday I swam in the winter. I love it! We all kind of waved at each other. Very fun. :) Anyway, I swam 500 yds easy and then for the next 500 yds I would swim the first 25 yds of each 100 hard and the rest easy for some "race pace" accelerations. Not that I know what my race pace for swimming is. In open water I just go as hard as I can and hope I stay on the right course. Coach told me to find someone swimming about the same speed as me and try to draft off them (legal only in the swim portion of tris) but that's easier said than done. Especially because I don't know what I'm doing.

Fast forward to about 11 am when O and I headed downtown to where the course is for packet pick-up and bike checks. I met my teammate K down there and we rode for about 30 minutes easy and then ran 15 minutes easy with 2 striders. I feel good. I feel ready. I'm just so dang nervous! Deep breathes!

After our little mini-brick we stood in the long line to get our bikes checked and got our packets and race numbers and all that stuff. This is much more serious than any tri I've done. My helmet has a number, my bike has a number, I have about 5 numbers for myself. No messing around! We checked out where the swim started and ended. Nothing too exciting other than the fact that there is going to be a long run from the river up to the transition area. My feet hurt just thinking about it but truthfully that goes pretty fast in my experience. I probably won't think much about it. Coach told me I really had to run (no leisurely jogging!) to get up to my bike. I usually have such an adrenaline rush at that point that I don't think that will be a problem.

And so that's that! Now I'm going to try to find something to keep my mind off the race for the next 6 hours or so until I go to bed... :)

Posted by beth at 3:23 PM | Comments (2)

August 4, 2006

Flooding = Lots of Sleep

So I woke up this morning with a sore throat. I don't feel too bad, just the throat. Okay, I can deal with that. Then I walk downstairs in the basement to feed Roxy and find that our basement (which is separated into 3 different areas) is flooded in 2 of those areas. Flooded might be a bit misleading - there wasn't that much water - but it was enough to be a problem that needed taken care of right away. Our basement is already a little on the wet, musty side and it didn't need to get any worse.

Hmmm...what to do? I consulted O who was pretty worried at first. Definitely need to clean up water right away he says. The good news is is that I think the water came from an overflowing toilet (there was a water main break early in the week near our house and we had no water for about 8 hours - coincidence?) rather than a major structural problem or plumbing problem. That's at least what we are hoping. Regardless, the bad news was, the clean up effort was going to take longer than originally thought. And so neither of us went to work. O can actually work from home (which he did for about 4 hours) but me - I just called off. :) I hate calling off but I also didn't want yucky water sitting around in our basement making things all gross and whatnot.

In the end we got things mostly cleaned up. It's still a little wet down there but we are using fans and the dehumidifier as I type to dry things up. I think it will be okay. And now our basement is a lot cleaner than when we started.

In the mean time my throat is still sore but (other than cleaning up the basement) I've done nothing today but nap and rest and relax. Lots of sleeping that will hopefully nip this in the bud! I have a big race coming up - no time for being sick! It was nice that I had the day off from training too so that I could totally rest.

And so that's my story for today. :) I have a little swimming, cycling and running to do tomorrow in preparation for Sunday's race. I was just reading the race instructions for Sunday and I saw that all women start together. Ugh. That might be a brutal swim, in the river no less. But that's also good because then I know exactly who I'm racing and where I'm at. When I complain about harsh swimming conditions Coach J tells me to wait until Ironman when all 2000 entrants start together. Oh. My. God. As if swimming 2.4 miles in open water isn't intimidating enough!

Hope everyone has a great start to their weekends!

Posted by beth at 6:08 PM | Comments (2)

August 3, 2006

And More Running Too

So as not to leave running out of the picture, O and I went for a run after we got home from work today. It was hot, no lie, but not as bad as I expected. I have to at least be a little acclimated to this awful heat by now. Plus a storm was rolling in so the skies were dark and the sun was hiden. That helped a lot.

O and I had different workouts, me some pickups and him a 3 mile tempo. I definitely had the better end of the deal. :) But we started together and finished together so I was happy to have a partner in crime!

My workout was 45 minutes total of running, 20 minutes easy warmup, 4x1:30 min hard (but not all out) w/3 minutes jogging rest, 10 minutes cooldown; just a little something to get the legs moving.

I actually have tomorrow off! (not off work but off training) I'm not going to know what to do with myself. I'm thinking sleep in a little, nap when I come home, you might notice a theme here... :)

Posted by beth at 9:44 PM | Comments (1)

More Cycling, More Swimming

Starting where I left off - yesterday no morning workout, just an afternoon of easy cycling, mostly in my small chain ring. Good deal. I can handle that.

I got an email midway through the day from my coach who wanted me to bring my bike in to exchange the wheels I have for the wheels on the road bike I ride. My wheels are just the standard ho-hum wheels (that came with the bike). The road bike has Flash-Point wheels. I don't know much about the difference other than I can really feel a difference when I ride. Smoother and faster. Of course those wheels are $$$ (but not nearly as expensive as their parent Zipp wheels) so I continue to ride with what I have. Luckily I have a coach that owns a triathlon store, takes pity on me and offers his fast wheels for big races such as what's coming up for me this weekend. :)

I think I'm babbling again.

Regardless, I stopped by the store to get said wheels put on before I rode so that I could try them out. It was a more difficult process getting the wheels on than I thought. My bike apparentely has a 9 something cassette while those wheels had a 10 something cassette. Clearly I don't know what I'm talking about. I will say though, I know 10x more than when I started.

When the wheel business was taken care of I got on my newly upgraded bike and rode for 15 miles easy, small chain ring mostly. I felt good (and fast!) with the new wheels. I actually stopped at the oval (where the crits are) and watched some of the men's races. In the race I watched, my Trizilla teammates went 1-2. Good deal.

Fast forward to this morning when I went swimming in the little baby pool. I can't even believe how short and small it feels. I have a feeling the 50 meter pool is going to feel really long again once we are back in there. Anyway, the workout for today was 20x100 yds as:

4x100 on 1:40
1x100 on 1:25
3x100 on 1:40
2x100 on 1:25
2x100 on 1:40
3x100 on 1:25
1x100 on 1:40
4x100 on 1:25

I felt pretty good. I swam up a lane again. I think I should probably stay there because it will make me a faster swimmer. I swam 3300 yds total with a 900 yd warmup and a 400 yd cooldown.

A lot of people at the pool this morning were talking about the tri I'm doing this weekend. It's the only big one in our area so just about all the triathletes that I swim with are doing it. I'm really starting to get excited (and nervous!) for it. Should be a great time!

This evening I have a run on the docket. Nothing too big or exciting although it's still hot and awful here so I'll have to be sure to not go crazy!

Posted by beth at 1:10 PM | Comments (0)

August 1, 2006

Bringin' It!

So Coach J loves to say "bringin' it". As in..."you better be bringin' it up at the track tomorrow" or "Eric was really bringin' it today", etc... You'd really have to know him to appreciate it but it's really become my favorite saying. Although I'm not into cocky athletes and putting on a big show - I pretty much keep my mouth shut at the track and don't say a word - there is something about the attitude cyclists have that I really love. They are arrogant no doubt. It's such a big difference from just about every runner I've ever known. Not that runners aren't confident, but it's more a quiet confidence. Anyway, I'm really not sure what I'm babbling on about or what my point is other than the fact that tonight when I was riding in the crit I was thinking "bring it!" :)

The short story is - I won my first crit! It was a hard fought battle and I'll have to admit, as quiet as I like to be I was pretty pumped to win.

The long story is - 3 laps into the race I took off and my teammate K and another girl S came with me. We broke away immediately and the rest of the field let us do it. We took turns pulling the entire race and eventually lapped the field. It was a hot day (95 degrees and HUMID!) and I don't think the rest of the pack wanted to work because of it. I felt like hammering. I always feel like hammering on the bike though. So hammer we did. Trouble is we got a little messed up when we lapped the field with about 6 laps to go because they all came with us. And then our nice little system of taking turns leading got screwed up. At this point Coach J was just yelling for us to settle in the pack and get on someone's wheel and that was exactly what I did. No more working until the sprint! The interesting thing about these crits is that when someone gets lapped they just jump in with the rest of the field...and will eventually go a lap short, very unlike running. Regardless this meant that when it was time to sprint the whole field would be sprinting, not just the 3 of us that were ahead. So one lap to go and people are getting antsy and I'm real anxious but stay put. On the backstretch people start to go a little, again I wait. Coming around the final turn though I just went as hard as I could - big gear and turn those pedals over fast! Bringin' it! And somehow I ended up winning and K was 2nd. I was just so thrilled that after 5 or 6 races of getting outsprinted or out-ridden we finally did well.

So now the mark will be on our back. I'm guessing the field won't let us get away now. Plus the field was smaller today and I'm sure that played a role in them not bridging the gap up to us. Regardless, if I can keep riding hard like that I won't worry too much about winning, just about getting in that hard effort that makes 20 MPH in a tri feel much easier!

Good night all!

Posted by beth at 10:47 PM | Comments (4)