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July 31, 2007

Bat Be Gone

Well our bat friend didn't come back last night (at least that we know of - Roxy spent the majority of the night under the bed so I'm not too sure how she thought she was going to keep a look out for bats!). I'm really hoping, as Meghan suggested, that our bat decided that our house offered up too much harrassment and that he'd rather find somewhere nicer to set up camp!

Otherwise, we're getting a bat-hunter. I'm counting on you PJM! :)

As for training, today is a day off. Although once I get my friend's race wheels set up on my bike I might need to take a spin around the block for a test drive.

And in other news my first half IM is only 4 days away! It's supposed to be a hot one in Michigan on Saturday. Not my favorite weather but I'm sure I'll be okay. It just makes nutrition and fluid all that more important. No nausea allowed! I'm very excited though. I feel very much like I did before my first marathon. I really don't know what to expect but regardless it will be a PR! ;)

Posted by beth at 2:33 PM | Comments (1)

July 30, 2007

Bats in the Belfry

O and I seemed to have developed a bat problem. It wasn't apparent that we had a bat problem until approximately 3:25 am this morning when Roxy was pawing at my head in excitement. She had spotted a bat and wanted to let us know. That's how is all started at least...

Upon noticing a little black thing scurrying up our curtains I poked O to wake him up. In his grogginess he grabbed some tissues from the bathroom. He apparently thought Roxy and I were cowering in the corner because there was a bug on the wall. No my friend, that was no bug.

When our little bat friend took off flying across our bedroom I had had enough. I flattened myself and crawled out of the bedroom. O, now very much awake and aware of the fact that he was going to have to catch this bat, evacuated as well and slammed the bedroom door shut as we all clamoured out. This was getting serious.

Roxy and I shut ourselves up in the office while O proceeded to dress himself in what I can only assume was bat catching gear. He had on big gloves, a long sleeve shirt, a winter hat, a big towel around his neck that was tucked into his shirt... It was about this time that he started to sweat profusely. It is, afterall, about 85 degrees in the 2nd story of our house. I didn't know whether to cry or laugh.

I hear him banging around in the bedroom daring the bat to come out. No luck. He went through the closet, the curtains, the bed. We even set Roxy loose to see if she could sniff the bat out again. Again, no luck. We convinced ourselves that wherever the bat had come in, it had now escaped. At least that's what we hoped. The problem though was that it was now about 4:15 am and I get up at 4:45 am. Try as I might I just laid there (along with O and Roxy who were also obviously not sleeping) until my alarm went off. And a major grump I was getting myself to the pool!

O offered to drive me into work so I could take a nap and catch up on some sleep. Great guy isn't he? I tell you - if you can't be a teacher yourself, the 2nd best option is to be married to one. You reap wonderful benefits. :)

Regardless, I sent O home with orders to research bats and to check the attic for evidence of further bats (did you know a group of bats is called a colony?). Around lunch time I open up my email to see a message from O entitled "bat removed"!

In his own words:

"Well, I found the bat. I was looking for a suitable baseball hat to wear for my attic adventure and found him sleeping underneath my old Toledo Mudhens hat (it, along with a few others, got thrown away). After screaming and regaining my senses, I got my "gear" on and trapped it in the shoe box. I went outside and flung the box out by where we put our garbage on collection days. The bat went flying into that vine-like thing along the fence."

Bat problem solved! O went on to tell me about his trip to the attic (which we NEVER go into) and his further internet bat research. We are hoping our little friend got lost due to some faulty sonar last night and doesn't really live in our house. I told Roxy she is going to have to keep on look-out tonight for more bats but she's already sleeping on the bed. Some guard dog she is! Although I have to give her props for alerting us to the bat last night.

Life never is dull... :)

PS Besides bat-hunting and going to work I did fit in a 2000 yd swim this morning and a 1 hour moderate ride on the trainer tonight. We also picked up some jazzy race wheels from my friend tonight, including a Zipp disc wheel. I may not be fast but my bike sure is going to look the part... :)

Posted by beth at 9:30 PM | Comments (5)

July 29, 2007

Not Much to Report

Taper time makes for a boring blog you know? This morning only a short 35 minute easy run with O. We would have taken the pooch but it was 70 degrees and humid as all get out. These are NOT her favorite conditions. It's weather like this that causes her to run like a mad dog for about 5 minutes and then plop down into someone's yard and refuse to move another step. Contrast that to the fall or winter when it's cool and clear and she'll go 15 miles and then look disappointed when O and I stop. Go figure...

Anyway, check out my website. We added some pics. Nothing that probably hasn't already been on my blog but oh well. :)

Posted by beth at 4:41 PM | Comments (1)

July 28, 2007

Two Hours

The number for today seems to be two hours - I did a 2 hour ride this morning and I just got up from a 2 hour nap! How's that?! I seriously think I would win some sort of napping contest. I'm really good at it. Although O would give me a run for my money. He's even better than me...

I started my ride around 8 this morning. Nothing exciting in particular although it was a pretty good ride. My quads are a little on the tired side but that will be taken care of over the next week with my easier taper workouts! It was SOOO humid though! Several times I thought it had started to rain when really it was just the heavy damp air that I was riding through. Ahh...such is the life on the east coast in late July! :) (although I know it's worse in the south - I'm sure where my parents live in SC you probably couldn't breathe this morning the humidity was so harsh!)

Regardless, when I got home I tooled around for about 30 minutes before O and I headed off to the pool. I had a 3000 yd workout that involved a mixture of things (8x150, 3x200 pull, 10x50) which is just the kind of workout I like. I felt good swimming too. Can't ask more than that!

After we got home from the pool O and I ate lunch and watched today's time trial on le Tour. What. The. Heck?!?! I can't get over how fast they ride. It's one thing when they are all riding together and working together but today was a time trial. Just them and their $15,000 bikes and averaging about 32-33 mph over 34-35 miles! AHHHH!!! Love looking at their bikes though. Absolute insanity.

Next up was a shower and some stretching and then the 2 hour nap. I started watching an ITU triathlon on tv but just couldn't keep my eyes open. O and Roxy couldn't either. I woke up at one point (only to fall right back asleep) to find the pooch using me as a pillow! :)

Anyway, I've got some stuff to accomplish this weekend but not much and that makes me happy. It's just these sort of weekends that I like the best - enough to keep me busy but not too much to not have time to relax, rest and recover.

I leave you with a picture from my last race. O's mother is quite a good picture taker! :)

Posted by beth at 4:06 PM | Comments (1)

July 27, 2007

One Hour

I went on an hour run this morning. O joined me for about half of it. He has 2 softball games tonight and he ran a pretty hard 10 miles yesterday with his cross country team so he wasn't up for the full run. Regardless, it was a nice run on a nice morning. My HR is definitely back to normal which makes me happy. On more than one occasion I had to push a little to get it back up into the 140s! That makes me real happy!

So that's my training for the day! I feel like my workouts have been going well and my body really is starting to come around so my excitement is definitely building for my first 1/2 IM next weekend. It will be here before I know it! I'm not sure if I need to be afraid of the distance or not. I've certainly swam longer than 1.2 miles, biked farther than 56 and ran more than 13.1 but all together in a row? That could prove to be a bit more challenging. :)

Hope everyone has a great day and a great start to their weekends!

Posted by beth at 11:24 AM | Comments (1)

July 26, 2007

Full Day

Man has it been a busy day!! And I even had the day off work! Lots of good training today though and odds and ends around the house too.

Since I didn't have to go to work I slept in until around 7 and then got up, stretched, ate some breakfast and then headed on my merry way for a 2:30 ride. And what a great ride it was! Nothing special in particular - I just felt good and it was a nice morning and I was just enjoying myself in general out there. There was a lot of traffic (what - people have to go to work around here or something?!) but other than that I have not a single complaint.

After a shower and some stretching and lunch I got busy on my task list for the day. I'm proud to say I got through all of it before I headed over to the YMCA around 4:30 for a quick 2000 yd swim. Then home from the swim to head out into the 84 degree temps for a run! Thankfull the run was only 35 minutes so even though it was pretty toasty it wasn't too bad. Besides, I could very well be starting my half marathon (aka the run portion of my half IM) next weekend in 80 degree temps so I might as well get used to running in some heat!

Regardless it's back to work tomorrow but then a nice two day weekend off. Ahh...such is the life!

Posted by beth at 7:33 PM | Comments (2)

July 25, 2007

It's Official...

...I look like a thug in my passport photo.

But at least I have my passport! I was worried about that whole thing...but it came in the mail today so I'm good to go. Germany here I come!

In other news I had the day off from training today. Taper time. I have a longish ride tomorrow and then a short run and swim.

Not too much else going on today. Very boring I know. :) Good night all!

Posted by beth at 9:40 PM | Comments (0)

July 24, 2007

Pool Pandemonium

Madness at the pool today. This is why I like swimming at 5:15 am - at that point in the morning not too much could have gone wrong yet. Plus, little kids that just ate hot dogs usually aren't swimming around that early...and then yaking up their dinner. UGH.

O and I got to the pool kind of late so I was already in a hurry. Imagine my dismay when I saw the lock and chain on the pool door - closed for some supposed thunder under 6:30. Okay - I can deal with that as it was around 6:20 already. 6:30 rolls around and Mr. Lifeguard is still reading his book (later identified as the newest Harry Potter) at pool side and not looking like he is going to open the pool any time soon. O goes to inquire. More supposed thunder and now the open time is pushed back to 7:00. Seriously dude - do you know how much I still have yet to get done today?!?

O and I stood around for a while trying to decide what to do but by the time we were done debating it was 6:45 and we decided to just stick it out. I really wanted to get this workout in today.

At about 6:50 the natives started to get restless. Mr. Lifeguard started to look a little fearful. He was about to have a coup.

6:55 pm and Mr. Lifeguard is started to get verbally abused. Open the door or else! He relents, puts down Harry Potter and we all rush in. Now everyone is scrambling over lanes. O and I hop in a lane and I get going. Thankfully I only had a 2500 yd workout.

Just as I'm finishing my warmup I notice chaos in the corner of my eye. Yep - Little Miss Hot Dog just threw up EVERYWHERE. I'm convinced we are going to get kicked out of the pool. My mantra becomes I WILL FINISH THIS WORKOUT TONIGHT EVEN IF THAT MEANS DOING MY 100s IN THE PUDDLES OUTSIDE! But luckily she threw up on the pool deck and not in the water and we weren't evicted. I push onward into a set of 15x100 on 1:30, although in all the mess and distraction I'm pretty sure I did 16x100. :)

Either way when it was all said and done I got my swim workout in and I actually felt pretty good. I was getting some nice comfortable 1:17-1:19 100s on 1:30 and feeling happy. O got a nice workout in too - 1000 yds total.

Also today - a track workout this morning in which I felt really snappy. Not sure if it was the day off yesterday or just feeling better again but I was recovering fast and my legs felt good. It wasn't that hard of a workout of course...but still. The main set was 1x4000 of straights hard and curves easy (splits - 6:45, 6:32, 3:15).

And before the pool debacle a workout on the bike this afternoon (on the trainer due to rain/storms) with the main set being 3x5 minutes hard w/2 minutes rest. I didn't feel as good on the bike but I was trying to push bigger gears than usual so that could have been why.

And that, in a nutshell, was my day. :) I did go to work too. Oh, and I ate a burrito for lunch. I heart burritos.

Good night everyone!

Posted by beth at 9:27 PM | Comments (0)

July 22, 2007

Finally

I'm happy to report that I think I'm finally starting to recover from my accident almost 2 months ago! Of course I've been training since then and even raced 2 times! But it wasn't until this weekend that my heart rate and my training paces are starting to get back to normal...as in slightly close to where they were BEFORE I was hit. As in my fitness is finally starting to come back around and my body is finally starting to respond well to training again. Whew! Finally! Just in the nick of time because I gotta tell you - not only was I getting frustrated but I was also getting a little worried!

Case in point was this morning's long run. Prior to truck smashing me I was running long runs at about 7:45-8 minute pace with my HR in the high 140s (not allowed to go over 153) and feeling great. Just two weeks ago I did a long run where I had to run closer to 9 minute pace to maintain that same heart rate! Wrong direction my friends! I was also cycling slower, feeling like junk in the water and fighting with my HR on just about every training adventure. I could maintain just about the same type of times on my harder workouts but not without putting out much more effort and needing more time to recover!

O had to reassure me on more than one occasion that I just needed to be patient. And finally, this weekend I feel like things are starting to come around. My long run was again back around the high 7s to low 8s pace with my HR in that high 140/low 150 range and my ride yesterday was back at my normal long ride pace with HR within my range and boy does that make me really happy! I truly think I underestimated the effect that the accident had on me. I was so bent on getting back to racing I didn't quite take the time to understand that not only was my body under a lot of stress trying to heal itself and get back into training but my LIFE was under a lot of stress dealing with all the "stuff" regarding the accident, not sleeping enough because my ribs hurt too much, not having my normal time to rest and relax...etc...

But now I'm feeling on the up and up. Very, very good deal. And pretty good timing too because I've got some races to race!

Week summary (I feel like I've been forgetting to do these lately...)

Sunday - Pittsburgh Triathlon
Monday - 500 yd easy swim in am
Tuesday - 30 min easy spin/15 min easy run in am, pushups/situps
Wednesday - 4500 yd swim in am, 30 min easy run in pm
Thursday - ~8 miles in am w/3x1600 on track, 1:45 ride in pm, core/feet exercises
Friday - 3500 yd swim in am
Saturday - 3 hour ride/30 min run brick and 3500 yd swim in am
Sunday - 1:25 long run in am, 1 hour easy spinning in pm

Posted by beth at 6:40 PM | Comments (1)

July 21, 2007

Wired to Win

Instead of cleaning the house O and I went to the Imax theater downtown to see this. It was so cool! I have to admit though - watching the cyclists race down the side of mountains occasionally made me sick to my stomach. I needed my ginger root! :) In the movie they talk about different parts of your brain and how it all works and what parts control what we do. There is some discussion on motivation and why some people are "wired to win" and others aren't. It really made me wonder - what makes some people strive to do what they do while others could care less? I guess it's all in the neurons! ;)

Regardless, we also went to Qdoba and Dairy Queen for dinner/dessert and this quite possibly defines a perfect day for me. :)

Posted by beth at 8:07 PM | Comments (0)

He Can Swim!

Swimming has never been O's strong point. For a guy that is good at EVERY sport (baseball, soccer, football, tennis, running, basketball, etc...) I was always surprised at how bad of a swimmer he was. A fish he is not - even worse than me.

But lately he has been coming to the pool with me. And it's kind of fun! Today while I was doing my 3500 yd workout he swam a full mile! A new PR (by a lot), with many more PRs to come. Now all he needs is a bike and I have a bona fide training partner on my hands. He can definitely out-run me and I assume once he got some cycling under his belt he could probably out-ride me. Swimming would be the chink in his armour but it would definitely make for a good race... :)

Anyway, before our swim at the YMCA I rode for 3 hours (~55 miles) and then ran 30 min easy off the bike. It's been quite the morning of training! The ride/run this morning was awesome - the weather has never been so good! I started around 7 am when it was still in the low 50s(!) and not humid! It got up to the high 60s by the time I was running but that is still some pretty amazing weather for the middle of July. Definitely not complaining.

Regardless, I'm pretty sure it's just about time for a nap now... What a life! :)

Posted by beth at 2:52 PM | Comments (1)

July 20, 2007

More Yardage

This morning I hit up the YMCA for some pool time. 3500 yds total with a very short, yet intense main set that basically involved 6x100 all out. It also involved 6x50 kick hard which probably hurt more than anything else. My legs are tired from yesterday's efforts and usually get a break during my swims. Today not so much. And they seemed none too pleased with me. But they will get over it. They always do.

That was it for the day other than work of course and then a trip to the chiropractor.

Tomorrow is a longish brick - 3 hour ride/30 min run and then a swim. I'm armed and ready to go tomorrow with my anti-nausea regimen that I'm going to try next race day. They include ear plugs for my swim, ginger and some NUUN in my water (along with my usual MarkAllenOnline Fluid Energizer and assorted gels/clif blocs/etc... for nutrition). I know it seems like a bit much but I'm willing to try anything to make the nausea stop...and if that means ear plugs, extra electrolytes and ginger capsules well than so be it. Of course I will have no idea if any of this actually works because I NEVER get nauseated during training but at the very least I'll be able to make sure it doesn't adveresly affect me. As the saying goes...never try anything new on race day!

In other news I think I've brokered a deal with my cycling friend such that I can borrow his Zipp 404 race wheels for my next two races - Steelhead in August and Worlds in September. It's not really a deal because he's getting nothing in return for my use of his wheels, but he is so kind and willing to help me in any way he can to see me succeed. I was thinking the other day how lucky I am to have him and so many other people in my life that genuinely care and want nothing in return for their support. Very, very, very blessed in that way.

Regardless, I really can't wait to get my hands on those wheels because...well...race wheels just make you feel fast. I used them most of all last year but haven't raced yet with them this year so I'm pretty excited. And trust me when I say, I'm willing to take all the help I can get... :)

Have a great weekend everyone!

Posted by beth at 8:12 PM | Comments (1)

July 19, 2007

Raining on my Parade

I'm all mixed up today. During most of the hours in which it was NOT raining outside, I was inside. But during the hours that it was raining (hard) outside I too was outside. Urgh.

Case in point. I knew it was going to rain this afternoon/evening but I really, really wanted to go outside for my 1:45 ride. This is probably the first time since my accident that I actually looked forward to riding outside too! So I got all my gear, got my bike ready, and off I went. About 10 minutes in it started to sprinkle. But I'm okay with sprinkle. And then a little harder. And a little harder. Until about 20 minutes in when it was raining so hard I couldn't see. The splash from the cars and trucks passing me was insane and the amount of water on the road was starting to appear very flood-like. And all of a sudden I really didn't want to ride outside anymore. It slowed for a bit and I thought I'd be okay but then the hard rain started up again and I conceded. I could manage 30 minutes in this but a whole 1:45? I don't think so. So I stopped and called O to come pick me up. At the same time I turned around and started back towards home. By the time O and I met up it had stopped raining. Of course. I questioned my decision to stop but I knew it was probably going to start up again and so we drove home and I rode the last 1:15 I had remaining on the trainer as I watched it rain not a single drop more out the window. ARGH!! Oh well. What can you do?

This morning I had a track workout in which it was also raining. It didn't rain hard though and it didn't rain for the whole workout so I can't complain. I'm looking forward to a little sun tomorrow. :)

The track workout consisted of 3x1600 and then some hard striders at the end on the football field. It was very muggy and windy and already up into the 70s even early in the AM so the weather wasn't ideal but we got through it! O did the workout with me. We ran 6:00, 5:55, and 5:52. My goal was 6 min pace so I was happy. I am definitely still feeling the workout in my legs though. And between the track workout this morning and the riding this afternoon, I can't get enough fluid in me!

I can't believe tomorrow is Friday already! This week has gone very fast. Not that I'm complaining though... :)

Posted by beth at 7:23 PM | Comments (0)

July 18, 2007

Title Block Returned

It seems as if it's been a while since I last swam 4500 yds with a main set of 3500 yds. That a long way for a land-lover such as myself. But nonetheless that was my workout this morning. And it wasn't too bad. I can't say that I swam incredibly fast but I worked my way through it piece by piece and before I knew it the workout was over. Whew!

After what seemed like an incredibly long day at work, I went home and O and I ran 30 minutes easy. I feared that it would be really hot and humid but it wasn't too bad, mostly because we were running easy and relaxed and it was very overcast.

And now it's time to sleep because I feel...well...incredibly sleepy! Good night all!

Posted by beth at 9:20 PM | Comments (1)

July 17, 2007

Light Training

The past couple days have just been some light training to recover from Sunday's race. Monday was an easy 500 yd swim (all of about 8 minutes in the pool :). And this morning was a light 30 minute spin on the trainer and a 15 minute jog. I'm feeling recovered. :)

Tomorrow it's back to business. 4500 yds in the pool in the morning and then a light run in the afternoon. Thursday brings a track session and a moderate ride. Friday a hard day in the pool. Saturday a long ride/run brick and more pool... You get the idea.

In the mean time I've been doing some research on nausea and open water swimming. Until proven wrong I'm going with my theory that my nausea is related to a sea-sickness of sorts. Per a suggestion of my buddy I'm going to try some tincture of ginger and also the ear plugs (per my coach's suggestion). Of course I'll be experimenting with all this PRIOR to my next race day. :)

Alas - I think Roxy has stolen my sock AGAIN and I must track her down before it's trashed! Good night all!

Posted by beth at 6:21 PM | Comments (0)

July 16, 2007

Judy Flannery Memorial Fund

Great news! I applied for a scholarship available through the Judy Flannery Memorial Fund that helps defray the costs of traveling to a world championship event (short course triathlon, long course triathlon, duathlon, etc...) and today I found out that I will be receiving some financial assistance! I mostly tell you about this because I want you to read about Judy's amazing story. I feel very blessed to be chosen and now have EVEN MORE motivation to race hard and tough in Hamburg!

PS Thanks for your encouraging comments re: the Pittsburgh Tri. Regarding the nausea my coach suggested ear plugs (as in it's a sea sickness problem) and I think that's brilliant! I will definitely give it a try (and really hope that it helps! :).

Posted by beth at 8:32 PM | Comments (1)

July 15, 2007

Pittsburgh Triathlon Mini Race Report

Tonight, only the short story about today's race! I was 3rd overall, so disappointed not to qualify for the Best of the US race (I was actually the 2nd PA female though so I'm an alternate in case the 1st person doesn't want to go - fat chance!). I was pleased with my swim (my fastest yet) and my bike was relatively solid as well. But nausea struck again on the run and I suffered with it greatly. I did not have to stop to throw up though so at least it was an improvement on my last race in Portland! I did slow down significantly on the run though. My run split was 39:20 which would have been superb if it was actually 10K! But unfortunately due to construction the race course was changed and shortened some and was only 9K. UGH!

Results can be found here. Of note is that included in the swim split is a long run up from the river to the transition area (the mat was up by the entrance to transition). I glanced at my watch as I was just out of the water and my watch read 22:45! I've never dipped into the 22s before so I was pleased to see that. Overall my assessment is - better than last race but still not quite good enough. I must figure out this nausea! I do feel like slowly but surely my fitness (and confidence) is coming back around again after my accident. Slower than I'd like of course, but nevertheless, still coming.

Some pictures my mom took at the race:

Getting started on the bike.

Finishing the run.

Posted by beth at 9:06 PM | Comments (8)

July 13, 2007

Home Town Crowd

This Sunday I'll be racing in the Pittsburgh Triathlon and I'm very much looking forward to it! Here's why:

1) No travel! While I very much enjoy going to new places and seeing new things and I think traveling is fun, after the Philly Airport Debacle of June 2007 I'm also very much looking forward to sleeping in my own bed and KNOWING my bike will be here and ready to go Sunday morning. :)

2) I already know the course! They haven't changed anything from last year and so for the first time every in my triathlon career I will be racing a course I'm (somewhat) familiar with. This is the only time this year that I will be doing a race I did last year so I'm going to enjoy it and also be looking forward to making some comparisons to last year's performance.

3) This year's Pittsburgh Tri is serving as the Pennsylvania qualifer race for the Best of the US Amateur Triathlon in Florida in October. If I am the first female across the line from PA I will get to compete in the Best of the US race which selects one male and one female from each state. Pretty cool!! Of course there will be some stiff competition out there for this very reason - again another thing to look forward to!

4) But probably the biggest reason of all that I'm looking forward to this race is...well...because it's in Pittsburgh and that's where I live!! I will definitely have the home town crowd advantage and I'm so looking forward to racing with other triathletes from the area that I know and of course having some fan support in the form of family and friends! O's parents will be there, one of my cycling buddies is going to be out on the bike course yelling his head off, O will be there (duh?!?!) and even my parents are coming all the way from South Carolina to watch! This is a VERY GOOD DEAL! I'm picking my mom up at the airport today and my dad (who is currently working on a project in West Virginia) will be driving up as well. My parents came to watch me do my very first every triathlon when I pretty much had absolutely no clue what I was doing (not that I know that much more now...but still...) so I think it will be interesting to for them to see how far I've come.

So I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and good luck to everyone racing out there. Enjoy!

Posted by beth at 11:06 AM | Comments (5)

July 12, 2007

Good Mail Day

I had a very good mail day today. One of my best actually. I love good mail days. I especially needed it today after a rough day at work where everyone in the whole entire hospital seemed to be conspiring against me. Gotta hate that. :) Of course that wasn't reality but I know we all have days where it seems as if it is...

Anyway, back to my good mail.

Exhibit A:

New team uniforms! MarkAllenOnline takes care of their team in way more ways than one. Obviously the training and racing guidance is numero uno but I gotta say - LOVE the uniforms too. I've actually been wearing the full suit (on the left) but I received the other 4 pieces today. Lots of mixing and matching can go on there. I probably won't wear the longer tri shorts to race in (I would assume that's more for those on the team that are doing full IMs) but I'm definitely digging the combo on the far right. I think that will be my uniform of choice on Sunday.

Exhibit B:

Evidence of my first triathlon pay day (prize money from Columbia)! Incredibly exciting not only because we could REALLY use that money, but also just 'cause. I quite obviously do not do this for the money (dear Lord - if I did we'd be in some serious trouble!!) but it's still fun to be rewarded in that way.

So anyway, that was my good mail day in a nutshell. As for training - I ran an easy 35 minutes and then rode for an easy hour on the trainer this morning. This afternoon (after a 90 minute nap of course!) I did an easy 1500 yds in the pool with O. All in all a good training day. And now the pizza is ready and I must go eat it.... :)

Posted by beth at 7:16 PM | Comments (3)

July 10, 2007

My Computer is Making Funny Noises

I gotta tell ya, I'm a little worried about my computer. He's old no doubt (over 4 years which is like 95 in human years), so it comes as no surprise that he is starting to show some serious signs of wear and tear. I fear one morning I'll wake up and he'll have croaked for good. But the fact is, I'd rather have a pair of new race wheels than a new computer (actually, I could probably get about 5 new computers for the cost of a set of Zipp 808s but nonetheless I digress...) so for now, I'll be using the computer that makes funny sounds, takes about 15 minutes to open up a PDF file (wherein he is so tired afterwards he pretty much refuses to do anything else for the day), and won't play videos because that is wayyyyyy to advanced for an old man like him. Ah...such is life... :)

In terms of training, this morning I did a little 2000 yd workout in the pool and then promptly came home and threw away the bathing suit that I had just worn. I can't afford to make the same mistake of wearing that tattered old thing again! Definitely time for some new suits that haven't grown 3 sizes and that are indeed thick enough to cover the things they are supposed to cover.

After work this afternoon I did a quick workout on the bike (on the trainer) with 3x4 minutes hard to spice things up. Tomorrow is a day off, my first in two weeks (unless you count that painful 15 minutes of running the day after Age Group Nationals as a day off), which I am very much looking forward to.

Good night all!

Posted by beth at 8:40 PM | Comments (3)

July 9, 2007

Hot, Hot, Hot!

Wowsers - very hot here...at least for us Pittsburghers! Is Pittsburghers a word?

Anyway, before it go too hot (read into the 90s) O and I ran a short and sweet workout on the track this morning. I woke up feeling my long run from yesterday but by the time we warmed up to the track this morning I was feeling better. It's hard not to get warmed up in 70 degrees and sauna like humidity. :)

The workout was 1.5 miles of running the straights hard and the curves easy. I like doing this workout with O because he is quite speedy and I get to chase him.

This afternoon I had another swim lesson with Eric before he moves off to Ohio. I can't believe how much better my stroke is after working with him just a little. Now all that is left to do is actually swim fast in a race (and try not to get nauseous in the interim). I can't even remember how I used to swim. I do of course have more to learn including breathing every 3rd stroke (which would require me to be able to breathe on both sides - haven't mastered that yet). Regardless, I'm excited that one day this swim of mine might actually come around a little.

And now it's time for bed. Hope everyone had a great day!

Posted by beth at 8:45 PM | Comments (0)

July 8, 2007

Another 18 Hours in the Books

This morning O and I ran 1:50 on my favorite trail. I haven't run that long in a very LONG time. I actually felt pretty good although I would expect that since we were running very easy. Now, several hours later I am feeling it in my legs! Actually, I'm probably not only feeling the run in my legs, but my 4 hour ride yesterday, and the swim the day before and the hard intervals on the track the day before that and the... :)

This afternoon I did a 3000 yd swim workout in one of Pitt's pools (YMCA now closed on Sundays :( It went pretty well other than I seemed to be the only one in the pool that understands the rules of sharing lanes. Seriously people - DO NOT stand in the middle of my lane while I am swimming hard 50s because I will swim right over you. I am a triathlete and swimming into, around and over others is not a foreign concept to me.

And thus ended my first 18 hour training week in about 2 months (okay, maybe 1.75 months :). I would be lying if I said I wasn't sore/tired/feeling the work in my legs, but it feels great to train a little again, relatively pain free (I'm resigned myself to the fact that my ribs may never feel good again... :) This next week will be an easy one as I have a race next Sunday. Then a longish taper to my first 1/2 IM (2nd try :) at the beginning of August...

Week summary:

Monday - 500 yd swim/30 min spin on trainer in am
Tuesday - 70 min run and 63 min hard intervals on bike in am, 2500 yd swim in pm, 2x25 pushups (definitely cannot do situps with my rib pain)
Wednesday - 30 min easy run and 2 hour ride in am, core/feet exercises
Thursday - ~6.5 miles running in am w/8x400 on track, 4000 yd swim and weights in pm
Friday - 3000 yd swim in am
Saturday - 3:55 ride/15 min run brick in am, weights in pm
Sunday - 1:50 run in am, 3000 yd swim in pm

Posted by beth at 7:12 PM | Comments (1)

July 7, 2007

Pros/Cons of Group Rides

Pros:
1) riding in new places with not a care in the world as to where you are or where you have to turn because someone else is worrying about that
2) people to talk to (!)
3) when you look at your watch or cycling computer 45 minutes has passed instead of 5 minutes like when you are riding by yourself
4) drafting (!!)
5) safety is in numbers (!!!!)
6) when you stop to pee someone else can watch your bike

Cons:
1) you tell them you want to ride 3:30; they say "sure, fine, no problem"; but when 3:30 rolls around and nothing looks even remotely familiar and you ask how far away you are from the starting point and they say 10 miles -- then you get real sad
2) pure cyclists don't have any concept of what an even paced effort might be like - this could be because that's not how their races go; they do silly things like sprint up hills only to ride about 5 mph for the next mile to recover; triathletes on the other hand might ride up a long, steep hill in their small chain ring, spinning and saving the legs, only to continue on at a moderate effort once up the hill - it makes for a disconnected ride at times; when you are by yourself you can push a little when you feel good, back off when you want to and it doesn't affect anyone else

So yeah - very nice to ride with a group this morning! I was supposed to do a 3:30 ride followed by a 30 min run but it turned into a 3:55 ride with a 15 min transition run instead. :) Oh well. And I'm apparently now known as the "girl that smashed the windshield" among Pittsburgh cyclists. Word travels fast around here. Every time I meet a new cyclist or triathlete they invariably say "oh...you are the girl that.... " Oh well, I guess there are worse things I could be known for. :)

Posted by beth at 6:00 PM | Comments (0)

July 6, 2007

Death of a Blender

Our blender died mid-smoothie last night. Very, very sad. One cannot live without a blender. So O promptly went out to get a new one this afternoon. The blender that died is the first wedding gift that we got that we had to replace. I'm sure other various items are soon to follow. And that can only mean one thing.

We are getting old.

Ugh.

Regardless, today I went to the pool for a 3000 yd hard swim. I thought I was going to be dragging because I had the long swim last night and then my first lifting session in about 6 weeks, but it wasn't as bad as I thought. I feel like I'm starting to get back into a good swimming groove. Even before my accident I felt like my swimming wasn't going well and then right after the accident my swimming was even worse. But I might be getting some of the swimming mo-jo back that I had all winter. I hope it's here to stay!

That was my only workout for today unless you count getting ready for tomorrow as a workout. :) I have a long (long for me that is) brick and then some lifting to do. But the brick involves a 3:30 ride wherein I'm riding about an hour and then meeting a friend to ride the other 2:30 and then I'm meeting O for the 30 minute transition run and then we'll all convene for some lunch. I'm just hoping to remember where I need to be and at what time and that I don't get a flat in the mean time that will really mess up the works. :) Good thing for cell phones you know?

Posted by beth at 8:48 PM | Comments (1)

July 5, 2007

Speed Blog

How did it get to be 10:15 pm already? That 45 minute nap after work before my swim/lift might have something to do with it... :)

Three workouts today. Workout #1 involved a track workout at 5:15 am this morning. The warmup was a bit broken up by the fact that a storm was going through and my equipment manager would not let me out on the track until 5 minutes after the last lightning sighting. He's good like that. The main set of the workout was 8x400 w/half the rest of the interval. We ran :83, :82, :80, :80, :80, :80, :78, :79 (and had ~40 seconds rest for all of them). From #6 on I was a hurting puppy. The one thing I notice more than anything in terms of my perceived loss of fitness after my cycling accident is that I definitely do not recover as fast as I used to. It will come though. Patience is my mantra.

The 2nd workout was 4000 yds in the pool (main set of 1x1000, 5x200, 10x100 and 200 kick). Haven't done that in a while and it felt really good.

The 3rd workout was lifting - yes that's right - I went back to the weight room! Had to ask around at the YMCA where it was since I haven't been there for so long. :) I lifted VERY light because I knew I would be sore from it and because I really won't get back into serious lifting until after Steelhead in the beginning of August. Good deal.

Now my bed is calling my name. Unfortunately I think Roxy has made herself quite comfortable on my side of the bed. Her little head is right on my pillow. That dog is out of control! :)

Good night all!

Posted by beth at 10:14 PM | Comments (0)

July 4, 2007

Happy July 4th!

Yeah USA! Happy birthday! :)

I had two workouts today - actually more like three but due to the pool being closed for the holiday I've done some rearranging with my week. Regardless, I sort of jammed my 2 workouts together today so that I would be done an able to properly celebrate the 4th this evening at a Shutt (O's family) get-together. Also being celebrated today at the get-together is O's birthday, O's mother's birthday and my birthday. O's family has had a birthday party scheduled for me on about 3 different occasions (seeing has how my birthday was about 6 weeks ago) but I kept having to cancel - sometimes for travel and once because I had a little wrangle with a white pickup truck... :)

Regardless, I sort of like spreading out the birthday celebrations - now I don't have to wait a full 365 days to celebrate again - just another 325 or so... :)

Anyway, I digress. This morning Roxy and O joined me for a very easy 30 minute jog. I was quite sore when I woke up this morning - mostly my arms which is probably from that 1400 yds of pull I did yesterday in the pool! The 30 minutes easy got the kinks worked out though for my 2 hour ride that I started pretty much as soon as we got back from the run. I had a very nice ride. I think every cyclist in Pittsburgh was out and about this morning! And I even ran into one of my old teammates that was headed the same way I was. We rode together for about 10 miles and I'll have to say - I had forgotten how nice it is to draft off someone! How does 25 MPH while soft-pedaling sound?! :) Anyway, I'm still a little nervous out there on the roads, especially when I'm by myself. I know I'll eventually get over it but at this point pretty much every car I see makes me nervous!

And now off to the festivities! Have a great holiday everyone!

Posted by beth at 1:28 PM | Comments (1)

July 3, 2007

The Scoop

So here's the scoop...

1) I have no idea how people travel all the time for their jobs. That trip to Portland wiped me out! I'm not sure if it was the 3 hour time difference or just the travel in general, maybe the race (after really not doing much hard stuff for a month) or the stress of the missing bike/luggage...whatever the reason it wasn't until this evening (after a nice long nap!) that I finally felt normal again. I was doing a survey online today and I think I fell asleep twice trying to get through it!

2) Today I did 3 workouts - an easy 70 min run, an easy 2500 yd swim and then a 63 min trainer workout on the bike. The bike workout was rough - I just did not have the legs to push big gears today. But I did the workout right after the run so that was probably part of it. Regardless, it felt great to put some work in. I just feel like it's been such a long time that I've really trained hard - and in truth it has been! The last time I really had a big week was in the middle of May since I was first tapering for Eagleman/recovering from Columbia and then the accident, and then NO training and then light training to get back into it and then a small taper for Portland! I'll probably get my fill this week though! And then more taper for Pittsburgh Tri...

3) My husband is playing PacMan on his computer. He found the game online solely to prove me wrong that indeed PacMan does make a noise when he munches on the little pieces in the game. I can only shake my head in wonder.

4) I sent away for my passport yesterday! That's very exciting for me. I had a passport a long, long time ago when I took a trip to England in high school. Unfortunately to renew a passport you had to have been at least 16 when you got the first one. I think I was about 13 or 14. Darn. So not only did I have to pay the full fee for the dang thing but I also had to pay for the the process to be expediated since I need it by Sept. Ugh.

5) Happy 4th everyone! :)

Posted by beth at 8:46 PM | Comments (1)

More Pics - Race Day

My friend (who also raced) and I before our warmup.

And away we go!

And one picture of Roxy because she is so cute. When I picked her up from "Doggy Camp" yesterday she had gotten a bath and a bandana around her neck. I will never know how they successfully got that thing on...or how I managed to keep her from eating it all morning until O got home to see it.

Posted by beth at 2:09 PM | Comments (1)

July 2, 2007

The Proof is in the Pictures

Still in a jovial mood at the Pittsburgh Airport before the travel badness began. (by the way, it has no been confirmed via several others that the Philly airport really is the root of all evil, as is US Airways)

Me, the Friday night before the race racking my bike in transition and just really, really happy to have a bike at all.

O and I with the pretty race course behind us. (it's okay to comment on my gnarly eye - the scars from my accident are definitely still present!)

more to follow...

Posted by beth at 7:52 PM | Comments (2)

Age Group Nationals Race Report

After the drama of Thursday and Friday morning, Friday afternoon started to feel a lot more normal in terms of race preparation. O and I put my bike together as soon as he got back from the airport Friday and then headed directly to the course to get some training in.

One thing I must say - Portland is beautiful. The race site was something you'd see on a postcard (pictures to come) - beautiful green colored water in the lake (pretty green, not slimy green), huge pine trees that lined the roads and hills, lots and lots of hills.

The bike course was 2 loops of which I did one of on Friday to check it out. And then I jogged an easy 15 minutes with O on the out and back run course. And then I pulled on my wetsuit to try out the water in the lake. It was cold at first but then almost perfect temperature wise after you had been in for 4 or 5 minutes. It was a great championship course - very challenging in my opinion because of the hills on both the bike and the run.

On race morning I was pretty nervous. I felt like I was about to do something I had never really done before - which was silly considering I've definitely done this before. This was different though in the sense that I hadn't ever competed at this level, with some pretty big names as far as amateurs go. And you can always tell by the bikes. Nobody was messing around today.

My wave went off at 8:12, pretty much right in the middle of things. Before my wave were several waves of older athletes and then the 24 and under group and then us - 25-29 year old women.

The swim was okay. It was very rough at first - the group I was swimming in almost went to the left of the first buoy when we were really supposed to be going to the right. I was sort of on the outside so when the gals on the inside realized what was going on, we all got crushed on the outside as they scrambled to get around the buoy on the correct side. I looked up when the mele started and heard one of the kayakers yelling "to the right, to the right" and then realized what we had done. It got a little ugly for a while, people pulling and pushing and trying to swim where there was no water. But a few minutes later we had all gotten it figured out and I was swimming in open water again. It seemed like it took forever to get to the turnaround (the swim was like a big rectangle) but then when I finally made the turn to head home I got in a real good groove. I felt strong and relaxed for the first time and started to catch a few swimmers in front of me. That lasted for about 400 meters before I started to feel again like the finish would never come. The swim isn't the most fun for me, I'll definitely admit that, but I will say this swim was better than in Columbia.

In the results several people did not have accurate swim splits and I was one of them. I did glance down at my watch though as we were running up to the transition area and it said ~24 minutes meaning my swim was roughly equivalent to what I did at Columbia. I'll take it.

Nothing exciting happened in T1 - got my gear and headed out on the bike course. Of the 3, the bike went the best. It was a very hilly course and seeing as how it was 2 loops you got it twice! But hills are probably better for me than not, so I can't complain. I felt relatively strong although I could feel the nausea that had plagued me in Columbia creeping back in. Regardless, I was able to push pretty hard on the bike. My split (1:10:13/21.2 ave MPH) was pretty average when compared with the rest but it was actually superior to my split at Columbia on what I considered to be a harder course. One thing that was challenging for me that I haven't yet really encountered was a lot of traffic on the bike course. Because I was one of the middle waves and because the course was 2 loops, there were lots of people out there with me! It was good in a sense that I always had someone to go after but I was also quite concerned with inadvertently drafting and getting busted! There were lots of race marshalls out on the course looking for just that!

Regardless, back into transition and out onto the run course and pretty much right away I knew today wasn't going to be a good running day. My nausea instantly seemed much worse once I started running and my stomach was all jarred about.

Coming right out of transition there is a pretty steep hill to climb and I felt like I was walking I was running so slow! But once I got out onto the road I started moving a little better. I got through the first mile not feeling great but not feeling too badly when my nausea finally reaching it's height. I stopped somewhere around 1.5 miles to throw up. I felt a little better afterwards which lasted about 400 meters when another wave of nausea hit and I had to stop again. It was at this point that I considered dropping out. I just didn't know how I was going to get through another 4.5 miles with my stomach playing tricks like this. I stood on the side of the road for a bit with my hands on my knees and watched as people streamed past me. And then I talked myself into walking a little bit up the road and then I started jogging again. And then finally started to push some to run just a bit harder.

Because you know what? Dropping out of races is not what this sport of triathlon is about. More than any other sport that I've ever done or ever watched or ever heard of, triathlon is about perservering. And I think it's that way because SO MUCH CAN GO WRONG. And so much does go wrong - even for the very best of athletes. Swimmers go off course, the water is rough, you lose your goggles in a slugfest to get to the buoy first. Then you can't find your bike in transition, your helmet refuses to snap, you get a flat or you drop your chain. You fight nausea or cramping but you continue to push on because also very important in triathlon is the fact that ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN. I knew if I could just get through the final 4 miles somehow I still had a chance to get myself to Germany.

And that's exactly what I did. It wasn't pretty. I could probably run 10K faster in training on any given day. I wanted to cry every time another hill would appear but truthfully the downhills were worse because my nausea returned with a vengence any time I started to open up my stride a little. I don't know if I have ever been so happy to see a finish line in my life. But I made it. And I am so, so, so, so happy I didn't drop out because I was 15th and they take 16 to Worlds.

It certainly wasn't what I had hoped for and dreamed of at the beginning of the season. I really wanted to have a huge race here and finish in the top 3 of my age group. I was far from that on Saturday for sure. I could beat myself up for running so slow, for not pushing harder on the bike, for not getting out of the water a minute or two faster. I could get down by the fact that the winner in my age group was over 10 minutes ahead. But reality is the fact that lots of things went wrong for me starting June 1, but I still hung in there and I still fought as hard as I could and for that, I am proud of myself.

So I am going to Germany in September with an amazing group of athletes and I simply cannot wait. I was truly inspired at the awards ceremony when they handed out the awards first to the older age groups where women the age of my grandmother and mother absolutely amazed me with their performances on a brutal course, and then to the younger, faster women who raced to times I didn't think possible for amateurs on those hills. I was definitely surrounded by people who only made me want to work harder and push more because there is a lot more to aspire to in this sport. And even though things don't always go right, it's still worth every little bit and more.

Posted by beth at 11:39 AM | Comments (2)

July 1, 2007

It Wasn't Pretty But...

I still qualified for the Age Group World Championships in September in Hamburg, Germany! :) Full race report to follow of course but the short story is - rough swim (wouldn't expect any different), okay bike and then really rough run wherin I stopped to throw up not once but twice - yes twice! As you might surmise, I felt quite sick on the run. And my split showed it. I even considered dropping out after I threw up the 2nd time but I talked myself back into continuing on because I knew I still had a chance to qualify. Good thing I did! Now hopefully by the time Worlds rolls around in September I'll be back to full strength and better able to compete with some of the best amateurs in the world. That is if my bike actually makes it to Germany on time... :)

Posted by beth at 12:23 AM | Comments (6)