Yoga... In India!

After an hour delay and a hellish stress to  get on the plane, 13 hours later, I'm in India!!

I'm going to do some yoga in our hotel's yoga room while Kate gets a massage. :)

When I arrived, they put a bindi on my forehead and strew marigolds around my neck. Pretty cool stuff.

Monday, 5/27

Monday was supposed to be a bike/run/bike/run brick for 3.5 hours. 

I was still feeling a bit tired so I cut it short by an hour and did it at the gym on their bike/treadmill. Since I "slept in" until 8-9am I got a late start and the weather wasn't fabulous. 

I could've spilt up the bike/run bricks into two but with the cleaning, packing and work I had to do, I didn't want to take up more coordination and travel time. 

I am looking forward to this trip -despite having to workout while there- I just need some down time!!

Wednesday morning swim 5/29

I was still feeling pretty tired but planned to go forward with my Wednesday workouts. 

My coach's told me to do the "B" swim and thankfully it was an easy workout and the yardage was low. Despite this, I actually only swam for about 45 minutes and did t even go the full yardage. I wanted to pump out a bunch of work since I was leaving Thursday (the following day) for India. 

Wednesday evening: 2 hour bike 5/29

The weather was gorgeous on Wednesday which meant that there was no way I could a long ride outside!  Unfortunately, nice weather equals thousands of clueless people on the Lake Shore path. 

Instead, I decided to try two back-to-back spin classes at the gym.  They were both 45 minutes and I hoped I could ride the warm up longer before the classes started so I could make up the time. 

The parking garage computers were down and so collecting my car took a lot longer than I had planned but thankfully I made it in time. The first spin class was perfect because it was interval training. I was supposed to start with 20 minutes of zone 1, 10 minutes of zone two and then go between high and low zone three every four minutes with opposite cadence. I didn't really do 4 minute sets but was able to go between high and low 3. I kept pedaling when the class emptied out and a few of us stayed for the second class. 

This second class didn't go as well as far as zones go since it was basically a slow uphill climb. On the positive side, I really need to work on uphold and so I spent a lot of the class fatiguing my quads standing in the climb. My heart rate zones were lower but I think it was good climbing work. I was happy to get in the full three hours on Wednesday. 

Tuesday vinyasa yoga, 5/28

Tuesday's yoga was nice because I skipped an AM workout. My delta was 18- increased- so we thought it better to take some extra rest.

Beth reintroduced me to several IT band, knee, hip, and quad openers that I should really do more of!  Cow face!!!  Impossibly painful in the best way; obviously I needed the stretch.

One hour of strength and stretching this Tuesday was exactly what the doctor ordered!

Thursday run... that became rest 5/30

I was supposed to get up early and do what appeared -from the plan- to be an easy 90 minute run. I got up early with MB but wanted to get some laundry done and finish packing before my flight. 

I had initially intended to work from the office, but decided to work from home since I would lose less time in transit. 

So, instead I worked from home until about 11am when I called a cab and headed to the airport. 

Sunday hill ride 4.5 hours 5/26

Sunday morning was brutal getting up at 5am. Unfortunately I wasn't able to sleep in at all over the holiday weekend and it was a huge bummer. 

I met up with the Max girls training for the half ironman plus a few other random individual athletes. We started the ride in Barrington/Algonquin area at Presidential Park which takes over an hour so I was in the car with my gear by 6am. 

Apparently we were going to do a similar but different route and I went along with the group. At one point there wasn't anyone behind or in front of me so I turned right where I lee to go and lost the group not was okay anyway because I really didn't feel like riding with anyone that day and wanted to think and not compare myself to others (& get down on myself again). 

I did a couple loops on my own and then managed to meet back up with everyone for a couple ups and downs on the hills before their group was done with their two hour ride. 

I went back to the parking lot, went to the toilet, refueled with water and nutrition and then set out again. I came quickly across another group of ex-Max riders with one having bike chain issues.  I did what I could to help (not much) and then started back up with a couple of them. I was staying in my lower zones and they were pushing ahead, so I just let it happen and ride a new wider loop. There were some unexpected hills but a lot distance was flatter. I was feeling better on the Barrington hills which I hope translates to Madison!

Following my 4.5 hour ride, I swung by my parents' house which wasn't far from it. The sun was out by then and I thought it'd be a good idea to wash my car in their driveway. My dad and mom came out to help me detail the interior of the car. It looked so great inside!!!  Then I stopped at Deerpark to return a couple items and drive home. 

Let's just say that by the time I got home that afternoon, I did three loads of laundry and totally and completely passed out at 6pm. I slept through the night until about 8am. 

Solider Field 10mi Saturday, 5/25

I think this is the third time I've done the Soldier Field race. The first time I was new to Chicago and was probably their first year holding the race. I did it with my friend Jennifer and we just assume we could stop after a 5K but stopping there left you in the middle of nowhere, so we ended up walking the rest. 

This year my coach wanted to use it as a time trial so I could stop running on heart rate zone and start running on pace. 

The first 3-4 miles I did pretty well and believe my paces around 9:23. at around mile three I stopped to go to the bathroom-- I had gone before the race but the wait in the corrals was quite long. There was no way I could hold it for 10 miles. My pace felt pretty good until about miles 5-6 at which point I thought I needed to slow down a little and do some run/walk.  I had also forgotten my coach's direction to walk through every water station, which may have contributed to my slight decline. 

Allowing myself to run walk felt better, although I did notice that it slowed a bit. I was disappointed that I allowed and found myself walking a little bit more between miles 8.5-9.5 but just kept pressing on. Mycogen estimated I would finish in 1:45 and all I wanted to do was prove her wrong!  I knew I would be satisfied if I finished around 10 minute mile (although I wanted to finish faster) And it would be a good pace for her to set my running a zones at. 

In the end, I did finish in exactly 1:40. I'm not gonna lie, it bothered me that everyone I knew doing it went faster than me.  I'm not sure how many minutes or seconds the bathroom break cost me or if I would've done better not thinking about having to go to the toilet for the first 3 miles. I guess at this point,it  is what it is, and I hope that I'm faster by September. 

5/24 Rest day/Golf Outing

Friday ended up being a long day because I went to a work golf outing. Yes we used golf cart and I didn't even play all the holes but it still wasn't exactly "rest". 

It also happened to be freezing outside- cold enough for a hat and gloves So it probably wasn't as fun as it would have been otherwise. At about 3 o'clock when we were done and the banquet was starting, It was time for me to head back downtown. I needed to pick up my packet for the Soldier Field 10mi and new traffic would be a mess. 

It took me an hour and a half to get to Fleet Feet in Old town and by the time I got home, I was pooped!  We had to leave around 7:30 to get to a going away dinner for one of Michael's friends. Unfortunately for me the prerace meal with Mexican...   This presented a problem for me sometime not supposed to have carbs sugar or alcohol and Mexican happens to be one of my least favorite cuisines. I ended up getting fajitas without the fajita & did have one Margarita & a handful of chips and guacamole. 

I left around 10:15 since I had to get up around 5am. It was a very, very long day. 

5/23 Thursday Corporate challenge

Thursday I participated in the 3.5 mile Corporate Challenge at Grant Park. 

My coach wanted to make sure I took it easy due to all the training happening the following weekend so she strictly told me to run around an 11 mile pace. Although I wanted to run as hard as I could, I followed her directions. I had a nice easy run with coworkers And finished at a 10:23 pace- I opened it up a bit at the finish. 

I was supposed to lift for an hour on Thursday as well, but by the time I got back towards home it was 9 PM and I was tired and ready for bed. I thought I might get that done on Friday but did take Friday as a rest day. 

Wednesday. 2 hour bike indoors 5/22

With the weather so random, I decided to ride indoors at Train Chicago. I was able to ride the Galena course again inside and then road some of Highcliff course to make up the two hours. 

I was able to "beat" my Galena time indoors by about 10 minutes and then rode Somewhere between six and ten miles of Highcliff. All in all, I rode almost 30 miles. 

It was nice to see if you people I haven't seen in a while at TCS too. I will be riding there at least once next week before I go out of town. 

Wound care

This is what I shopped for on the Saturday night of the holiday weekend.

It was awesome to chat with the attractive pharmacist about my saddle sores. 

Praying to God that one or some combo of these helps subdue some pain of my 4.5 hour Sunday ride. 

This is a fun Saturday night!

Tuesday night - Baptiste yoga, 60 minutes

Tuesday yoga is on the regular, so there was nothing particularly remarkable about it other than my almost complete and utter lack of flexibility in my legs.  I am always feeling fatigued in my joints and quads in this class so I feel like quite a woos and weakling!!

One thing that did occur is that I was able to hold crow pose longer than ever and even bring my feet towards my butt.  I was proud of myself for this!  At least some muscles are getting stronger!  Michael has noted recently that my back "looks jacked" and said so again when I asked him to take that sunburn picture I posted this week.

Crow pose

The other thing, was that Beth described how to get into side crow in such a way that I was actually able to get it!!!  For a spit second I was completely balanced on my right side on my left arm with both legs (instead of cheating with my hip on my right arm too!)  I WAS SO PSYCHED!

Side crow- here you can see that the balance is all on one side

Beth also set us up for some inversions, which always generally make me happy (!!), but I just thought I was too tired and didn't want to injure myself.  I played a bit with dolphin pose to work on my arm strength, but otherwise, I was afraid I'd collapse my neck and shoulders, so I shied away from it.

Dolphin pose- inversion prep

Monday Workout #2 - Swim

After work, I headed to FFC Lincoln Park on North Avenue for my swim.  I stopped at the Gap along the way since I'm looking for some maxi-dresses for our trip to India next week.  I ended up getting these two dresses before hitting the gym, while they aren't maxi-dresses, I think they'll do for this trip and other stuff too!

This one is coming to India!

I ended up returning this one

After that, I got ready for a pretty simple swim.  There were a few people in the three lane pool, but they were just finishing up their swims.  I waited a bit and then got a lane to myself since they can be shared, but they're somewhat narrow.

After about 15 minutes, I was the only one left and a dude was getting out of the pool.  Nothing too odd about that, but after he got out, he stood in the open shower in the pool area for about 10 minutes.  This was still okay with me since there were other people there, hanging out and enjoying the sunshine.  What's great about that pool is it is on the top level with a few of the whole city and a lot of people let themselves relax there after their swims.  Also, down the pool corridor towards the elevator, there are the steam and saunas that are shared/unisex at that FFC.

Anyway, after some time, the guy goes "away"... and a few minutes later when it's just me solo swimming laps in the pool, comes back for his 5 minute (prolonged!) shower.  He then leaves again and does this several times.  Maybe he's just going from sauna/steamroom to the shower, but it begins to freak me out being the only person in the pool and after several back and forth, I stop my swim and sneak out while he's in one of the steam or sauna rooms.

My gut had a scared and strange feeling so it seemed best to quit while I was ahead.  I did about 1/2 the swim workout or 1600 yards.  It felt good to swim after all the running and biking this weekend so I'm glad I got at least about 20-30 minutes in the pool.



 

5/20 Monday lunch run-60 minutes

Seeing I had no afternoon meetings on Monday and it was 87 degree F, I decided to go for a run over lunch.  Again, this was going to be a an easy zone 2 build run for 60 minutes.  Since the first five and last five minutes were walking, I thought that would cover me getting from the office to the Lakefront.

It was a GORGEOUS day and I was hardly bothered by the tourists!  I just stopped my watch each time I had to stop at the stoplights getting to the lake and I wasn't running then anyway.

Band shell

New outdoor art near Harris Theatre

 I jogged from Randolph through Millennium Park, around the Cloud Gate ("Bean") and the Harris Theatre and open bandshell towards the BP Bridge.  Unfortunately, the bridge was closed due to the construction of the new Maggie Daley Park, so I turned around and jogged through the Prairie Grass and Lurie Gardens towards the Art Museum.


Then I swung back towards the lake and ran to LSD and the Yacht Club.  I ran south down both paths; weaving between the bike and then jogging closer to the lake.

Buckingham Fountain

When I got to the Museum Campus, I swung back west towards Grant Park, crossing under the overpass and towards Buckingham Fountain.

New sculpture near the Shedd Aquarium

After going through that portion of the park, I came back to Jackson (?) and the Art Museum and made my way back to Randolph via the east side of the band shelter (near the bike rentals) and back to work.

Band Shell from the East at a funky angle

My hair in a pony tail and some perfume and I finished out the rest of the day!

Sunday, 5/19- no rest for the wicked...

On Sunday, we got up early (albeit not TOO early) and all had various rides in our plans.  I was to ride very easy in heart rate zones 1-2 mostly which can be difficult on hills like there are in Galena.

We set off around 7:30am for a three hour ride...  I was the slowest of the group of people that weekend and so they just waited for me at each major turn in our ride.  After about 45 minutes, my chain dropped, so I had to take care of that (this time, thankfully, I unclipped quickly and didn't bite it!) but unfortunately, it was on a steep hill up.  I couldn't get my momentum going very well and at the same time I noticed that my breaks were dragging on my front wheel.  I had to stop again and then just was too nervous since the rain had started.  I walked most of the way with my bike in tow to the top of the hill and by that time the rain was really coming down and there was thunder and lightening.  I'm not willing to die for the sport of triathlon, so I said that when we got to the loop near the rental house, I was going to go inside.

We all decided to head to the house and try and wait out the storm.  Michael had left with the car to head to Galena proper for breakfast and coffee already.  I texted him to come back and that I was going to clean up and we'd leave early.  I wasn't willing to wait for a storm that might not end and I was crabby already.

We hit the road to his mother's house and got there a few hours later.  Initially, I was going to go home and ride on my trainer, but by the time we got to Lombard, it was a beautiful day and his family suggested that I ride on the Prairie Path.  I had never done that before, so I went out for a beautiful (and mostly flat) ride from Lombard to West Chicago.

Prairie Path in Wheaton, IL

I took the Great Western Trail back to Lombard.  Bad decision:  it was really boring and not covered by any trees at all and pretty "desolate" compared to the action on the Prairie Path.  It seemed like I was just riding along an old train track or along where all the electrical power lines in that area run!  It was nice that at every major street intersection, there was a map, so I knew I was going the right way back.

Great Western Trail Map

I rode for about 20 miles in that Lombard area, so I got my entire 3 hour + ride in on Sunday.  When we got home, I still had an hour swim in my plan, but by that time, I had to unpack the car, do some laundry and then go to a condo board meeting, so the swim was skipped!  Unfortunately, I also had to miss plans with two different girlfriends since we were in the car for about 4 hours on Sunday.

A portion of the desolate trail

5/18 Galen Duathlon - my first duathlon!!

Saturday morning, we got up and piled into my little Rav 4 to head to the race.  About half of us were doing the du and have the tri.

Michael dropped us at transition 2 (this was a point to point race, so you had to leave stuff in two locations) and then we took the shuttle to the start/transition 1.  (Truthfully, not my favorite way to run a race since we also had to figure out how to get home and get all the stuff home too!)

2013 Way Finder's Race Guide

I was excited that I didn't have to swim with this one or worry about a wet suit and all that other gear.  Our race also started at 9:40am.  The course was a 2 mile run followed by a 17 mile bike ride and then capped off with a 4.3 mile run.

The first run was awesome!  It was downhill the first mile (my pace was 8:55) and the second mile was essentially back up that same hill.  My average pace for both miles was 9:30min/mile.  According to my Garmin the run was actually longer than 2 miles (Mary's said the same thing) and I ended up running both miles in 20:24.  Then off to the bike where it was a pretty quick transition (1:25) and off to the ride.

The ride was tough, but didn't feel as tough as last year as I recall.  I did pretty well on the uphills and really rode fast on the downhills.  I didn't have my Garmin set for pace on the bike, but rather percentage grade of the hills-- I believe the toughest one was 17%.  According to the official time, the bike took me 1:17:34 and I had a decent transition to the second run as well (2:34).  I took a little more time on this transition and I was utterly annoyed with the transition volunteers who were really too close to my bike rack and in my face offering other racers water and Gatorade while I was trying to get my second set of gym shoes on!

The second run- if I can even call it that- was insane!  Out of transition, we ran on grass in a field up a little bump that to us flat-landers, was a hill! To a MOUNTAIN.  The first mile was entirely uphill.  When I rode into transition, everyone on the hill at that time was walking up it.  It was brutal- no exaggeration.  I just walked and pumped my arms and trotted a bit when my body felt okay or when it seemed to slightly flatten out.  As you can imagine, after riding for an hour and then walking straight up a hill, it was tough to get moving again.  I ended up doing a run/walk combo for the second run and my average was about 11:25min/mile.

I suppose I was happy with trying this duathlon, but I expected to finish better.  I was 81 out of 114 out of all the athletes which is kind of pathetic but after doing some thinking, I suppose I have done better in triathlons because of the swimming, not in spite of it, like other athletes.  I was 33 of 52 for all the women.

Check it off the bucket list, I suppose.

Max Multisport Athletes

Friday, 5/17- warm up/brick for race

My plan called for a small brick workout in Galena for the race the following day...  By the time we got up there and racked my bike, I was in no mood to start riding and running around, let alone swimming!

We met my college friend and amazing triathlete Erin Finnegan for lunch in Westmont since I worked in Downers Grove that morning.  She always has tempered and good advice and it was fun to see her!  Erin qualified for and competed in Kona Ironman in 2009 and this year she is pregnant with her first kid.  She still looks amazing!

Erin and me at lunch 5/19

When I went to check in, I saw that I had accidentally signed up for the triathlon rather than the duathlon.  What an idiot!  Thankfully, they were super relaxed about it and just let me switch.  It was a good thing since I didn't have a wet suit, goggles or even a swim suit with me to do a triathlon.

On our way to the rental house, we passed Mary with a flat tire; just outside the transition.  We waited with her for AAA and then flagged down a security guard to help us change it.  It was quite the ordeal since it was a huge van and we had a lot of trouble getting the spare to drop.  Thankfully it all worked out in the end.  By the time we got back to the house, though, it was late and we grilled and had a quick dinner before hitting the hay.

1st use of the emergency car kit dad gave me!

5/16 - Rest day!

Well, technically this was supposed to be a day of rest for me and as far as exercise goes, it was...

However, I brought in my second bike ride to be installed on my car to work.  I asked one of the guys in the garage if I gave him $20 if he could put it on (he's a mechanic).  He did, but we realized that when this rack was installed, the back door to my car would not open.  I drove all the way home thinking about it and thinking I could still use it for the race that weekend in Galena... but when I parked near home, I thought "That's ridiculous!  You can't even open your back trunk".  So I called REI and drove all the way back down to River North/Lincoln Park and had them remove it.  We did some more research (again) and then ordered a THIRD rack and afterwards I drove back home.  I was in the car for almost 3 hours after work on Thursday.

So much for a rest day......

Wednesday May 15, Super easy 90 minute run

I got to the gym at 5:30am only to find that I forgot my heart rate strap.  In any case, the plan called for a "super easy" run.  Basically it was walk three minutes and then easy jog (12-12:15min/mile pace) eleven times.

Nothing unusual or interesting to report on that one!  I did watch the coverage on CNN of those poor women who were held hostage in Ohio for a decade though.  Super scary stuff!

111 days, but who is counting?!

Updates on the last week's workouts and race reports to follow...

The tri season summer has begun...

Unfortunately I have the tan to prove it!!!

My life... Basically.

THIS is so true, it's insane!  

Big fans of Mizuno in our house

Ferra in the Mizuno box

90 minute Bikram yoga

I have absolutely no flexibility anymore in my knees. 

Tree pose was a joke! My knee was straight towards the mirrors rather than parallel with the side of my body- brutal pain. Fixed firm- torture. 

Wow for being such a slow biker and runner, you'd think I'd still be okay at yoga?!

You know you're a triathlete when...

This list is hilarious and it's also scary how many on this list are true for me NOW.  I can't say that I'd have experienced many 3 months ago!!

Triathlon humor

Happy birthday, Dad!!

Today my dad really hits old age as he turns 65!

Unfortunately we can celebrate with him as he's in Jolly Ol' England for work. 

Knowing him, he's probably just eating dinner and going to bed early!!! :)

Kate and I love you!  Happy birthday!!

5/13 1 hour bike: Spinning!!!

I decided to do my one-hour bike workout today via a spin class. I haven't been to one in ages and it was awesome!!!  

I kept my eye on my heart rate to try to meet the heart rate goals  set by my coach for this hour. I think I hit most of them although I may have gone couple minutes in zone four- I can doublecheck when I upload my Garmin data later. 

The spin class was a nice change from my normal bike routine.  I got a bike in the front of the class which has windows and overlooks the Chicago skyline. It was great to look out over the city while listening to some loud and fun tunes!

One of my post Ironman goals is to be spin certified and start teaching spin classes after work.  Since I finished my yoga training I've been saying I wanted to do extensions at Core Power and have the ability to teach their spinning classes. Depending on when their fall extension program starts, I may be a spin instructor by Christmas. I guess first I need to get through this goal!!!

Monday sleeping in!

I have an appointment today at a vendor's Facilty at 9:30 and normally is get up to get my workout in before work with the "extra time" but today I decided to sleep in until 7:30am and do my hour ride after work. Yeah!!!  Great choice. :)

Sunday, 5/12/13 REST DAY and well deserved! :)

Today, I was up around 8am and organized my stuff after getting home very late last nigh around 11:30pm.

After doing a few things, I curled up on the couch with my kitty lover and slept again until noon.  I cannot even tell you the last time I did that!  I was glorious!!!!!

Then, I cleaned up, picked up the house and did 3 loads of laundry.  Next, I ran some errands:  groceries at Whole Foods, shopping at the Gap and Express and wanted to look for a new AC unit but instead of totally tiring myself out, I came back home.  I unpacked the groceries, finished up the laundry and made a bunch of food for this week.  

I ate and laid around, read stuff online and slept a little bit more.  Michael was at his mother's house, so it was nice to have the apartment all to myself.  I loved it!

The "Mother load" workout.... Madison course ride 5/10/11

I had a great dinner on Friday night with some very close girlfriends and slept at my friends' Polly and John's house.  They have a great extra room that they let me use when I'm there and Polly has tons of healthy food for breakfast in the morning too!

Despite all of this, I slept like crap on Friday night.  I think it was probably nerves which also caused me massive stomach cramping and reflux so I tossed and turned most of the night.  At 4am, I got out of bed and went to the bathroom.  Afterwards, I rummaged through the medicine cabinets to try and find Pepcid but found Ibuprofen which seemed to help.

I was awake again a couple hours later (tried to let myself sleep a little longer) to get ready.  The night before, I set out all my gear to get ready.  I dressed and went downstairs and all the Westmont family was already awake.  Polly made me a recovery shake for afterwards (which was AMAZING!  Spinach, almond milk, blueberries, protein powder, and bananas) and I got my PB&Js ready for my breakfast and ride and boiled 4 eggs.  

After I got my food ready, I made my way to Middleton for the VisionQuest supported ride.  

I got a call on the way from my coach which was not wanted... I was nervous and just wanted my quiet space and just told her I'd see her there.  The 6am pep-talk was not what I was looking for...   I arrived and signed and weighed in.  You weigh in at the beginning and end of the ride to see if you finished dehydrated (I was about 3lbs less- more on that later).

After everyone signed in, the explained the rules of the road in Wisconsin (you can ride two wide on the roads), how to signal for turns and how the course was marked (red arrows the entire way).  We went out in groups so that we all didn't start at the same time.  I think I started in group two.  I didn't see my coach when I got there but I did see one other gal I knew and said hello, but we both kept walking.  I think she is someone that tries to psych other people out, so I really didn't want to spend much time with her anyway.

In sum, the course was brutal.  It was 48 miles of INSANE winds (+/-20mph head and cross winds) in 50ishF.  I really kept trying to understand how the entire course could have head and crosswinds and never a tail wind!!!!?@#!$@  

Also, there were many, many, many hills.  It is a beautiful and active course.  There is really no time to mentally rest since you are shifting constantly.  The hills went from 2-3% to 13-15-17% grade.  It's hard for me to explain riding a bike up 17% grade hill.  For me, I was riding 3mph up.  If you saw me from far away, I'd probably look like I wasn't moving!!  Going down a 17% hill without even peddling I hit 41mph.  Super exhilarating and scary if you know a turn is coming.  Speaking of turns, it felt like after every downhill, there was a turn with an uphill.  It was unrelenting.

As for the course, since there was so much wind (so much so that it pushed me several times horizontally in the road), I really didn't want to take my hands off my handlebars.  I was rarely, if ever, in aero position and I found it hard to reach down to take my left hand off the bike to get my water bottles.  All of my nutrition was in my water bottles...  I added CarboPro to both bottles and then brought two ziplock bags measured out for two more bottles.  I also used Nuun for electrolyte replacement.  Since it was brisk outside, you already start to worry about hydrating enough, but since I use one bottle per hour, it's not a lot of math to do!  I also brought a couple Honey Stinger goos.  They are basically the only goo that doesn't make me want to gag or puke.  I knew that I wasn't drinking enough calories, but literally I couldn't take my hands of my bike with the wind and hills.  I stopped at the first aid station, but only because I thought based on the street markings it was part of the course. When I realized it was only a pit stop, I just turned around and left.  I didn't need to stop there- I think it was around the 20s.

After a couple hours, I was having super negative thoughts and believe it or not, this is directly associated with nutrition.  I actually decided to pull over on the road to drink some more and eat some of the PB&J I put in my kit pocket.  I felt immediately better afterwards.

I can only recall one street name because the hill was INSANE.  It was two MASSIVE hills in sequence and I think they were both 17% grade.  Witte Road was something that will continue to haunt me until the race is over.

After another hour or so, I came upon the SAG wagon.  There were a few guys there that I kept passing and being passed on the course stopped eating their treats and taking a quick break.  I filled up bottle #1 and ate a goo.  Again, I felt way better afterwards.  My odometer said I had ridden 36 miles already and I was sad when the SAG driver told me we were only at about 34.  He guessed that with the wind, there was probably a lot of extra movement on the bike.  Yikes. 

The last 10-16 miles weren't bad.  I met a nice gal named Deanna that rode with me for about 5 miles. She'd done the race twice and had some tips.  She also wasn't a psycho about it which is rare.  She said that she wasn't in shape and wasn't training for anything and didn't want to "hold me back".  This made me laugh since I was going at a very comfortable pace.  As per usual, after some rolling hills she caught back up to me since I'm terrible at hills.  

I made it back to Endurance House after 4 hours and 10-20 minutes and 50 miles of Ironman under my belt.  I only had to ride 4 hours on Saturday, so my workout was done!  Yippee!  I weighed in and had lost about 3lbs... I had only taken one goo, 1/2 a PB&J and 1-1/2 bottles of nutrition.  Highly under what I should have taken.  I'll have to see how the next time goes and pray that the winds aren't like that on race day!

After I was done, I went to Cost Plus World Market for a couple gifts for the friends who let me stay over, grabbed lunch at the Free House (yum!) including a delish $5 Bloody Mary, and then headed to my other friends' house to take a shower and chill a bit before driving back to Chicago.

Yesterday, could have been the longest day ever, because I went directly to my parent's town to take my mom to "The Great Gatsby" for Mother's Day.  Thankfully she understood how much rest I wanted to get on Sunday.   :)

IMWI 1.  Shannon 0.  I'll be backkkkkkk!!!!!

Swim time trial and run in Madison

I drove up to Madison after work on Friday to be there for Saturday's course ride.  My coach wanted me to swim a time trial...

I explained to her that swimming has basically just one speed for me:  go speed.  I swim hard-ish when I have bursts of energy, but otherwise, I just try to swim steady.  I find time trials incredibly stressful in the pool and I'm not sure I can mentally push myself to go "faster" since I'm still figuring out how I'll feel swimming that long.

In any case, I bought a day pass for $20 to the Princeton Club on the East side to swim and run.  When I got there the lanes were full since a class just ended, but it eventually thinned out.  I was to swim two 2,000 with :30 second rest in between.  I started right off the bat, no warm up or anything and just swam laps until I hit the first 2,000.  Around the half way point, I looked at the lane next to me and thought I saw someone with shoes.  After a few more laps, I was right... an older lady was dancing her way up and down the lane with shoes on.  I'm not sure the point of that, but I found it amusing and annoying in varying moments of my swim.  

After the first 2,000 and first 50 minutes, I took my quick break and started again.  The second 2,000 only took me about 30 minutes and I felt like I could have kept swimming.  I had to do some google adjustments (I think I really need a better fit since I ALWAYS have to adjust them and it's going to be virtually impossible during the race.) so I paused for a couple seconds here and there.  During the second 2,000 fast swimmers (2 dudes) took up the lanes next to me.  They were some great motivators at moments.  I thought a lot of life during that 1:30 in the pool and also stressed out that someone was going to ask me to share the lane (they were VERY narrow and NO ONE was sharing) since I picked the lane that was smack in front of the sign saying you should keep your swims to 30 minutes if people are waiting.  There were also a high number of people in the nearby hottub.

After the swim, I was pleased and did a quick change to get on the treadmill.  For the first 15 minutes on the treadmill, I thought I was going to throw up or something.  I had a lot of reflux and I've been having some issues with that. I couldn't recall the run for today, so I just repeated Thursday's run and went about 45 minutes.  I had to jump off the treadmill to get in the shower and get ready for dinner with Madison friends and those 15 minutes definitely took precedence over a few more on the treadmill!!!

Hour run before work + coaching meeting 5/9

I had a simple run before work on Thursday and it was a run that was easy for me to remember and relatively easy.

It was 60 minutes of the following:

5 minutes walk

5 minutes easy jog

5x:

2 minutes z2

6 minutes z3

1 minute walk

and any left over time, walk to finish.

After work, I stopped by an open house and had a glass of wine before meeting my coach to discuss the last month of training.  We talked about a lot of things but one of the main things I wanted to discuss heart rate zone running.  I have had a lot of issues with heart rate monitoring while running.  I don't think it works with my regular and favorite jog bra since there is a zipper in the front against the transmitter.  I pretty much refuse to sacrifice my chest for this race too, so I'm not changing it!  I have pleaded with my coach to provide me with pace zones to train with rather than HR data.  I basically told her leading into this meeting, if she couldn't get on board with paces for running, then we'd need to re-evaluate our relationship.  She said that she was okay with paces and provided me them.  I told her they were too slow, but again she refused to listen to me.  This is really a sore point of contention for me with my coach.  I wore a different jog bra on Friday and the HR zones came through okay- so I'm happy to say that I was right about the bra AND about the zones being to low.  

I know that a teacher or a coach does know a lot about the sport, etc, but no one knows me better than me.  Period.

5/8 Make up balance of Tuesday's bike ride and personal training session

I got a free personal training session by joining my gym so I decided to use it one morning when I had a strength workout in my plan.

I got to the gym pretty early and jumped on a stationary bike for as long as I could before our appointment rather than a brief 15 minute run to warm up.  I think I rode about 35 minutes before Kendra got to the gym for our appointment.

Kendra was also a triathlete and really understood what muscles I need to strengthen to be more successful in multisport.  In between each exercise, she had me doing plyometrics to increase my heart rate for a few minutes and then back to lifting.  She said this simulated transitions and hard pushes in the race.  It was really useful for me to have a trainer show me what to do and how to properly use the machines.  I never use any of the weight machines and now I know exactly what I can use to get strength in for lats, tris, bis, quads, and hamstrings.  Everything was pretty simple and I feel confident with the settings and such.  I think I may go back to her at some point, but for now, I want to see what I can remember for my next strength workout.  I can do a bunch of arm things with the TRX machines now at least.

The following day, I could really, really feel my lats all day so I think she got the job done!  I also worked my core pretty hard with sit-ups from the hanging bar and crunches on this thing where you rest your arms/elbows.  If I can find a photo online of a few of the machines I will add to this post!  I don't know any of their names!

Here's also something I will be referencing on Saturday!!

Tuesday 5/7 1:15 bike ride in morning. Massage after work!

I was supposed to ride for 2 hours before work, but since I got up and on the bike at 5:30am, the full two hours was not possible.  I rode for 1 hour and 15 minutes and then thought I'd finish up after our management meeting on Tuesday night but before my massage!

I got a $25 gift card for my birthday from the gym and decided to use it!  :)  The massage was the highlight of my week despite the fact that it was incredibly painful.  Holy cow, she found knots that I didn't even know existed.  She started to work on my back, but pointed out that my hamstrings and butt were so tight that she would have to start there to release the tightness in my back to even have any benefits there.  Needless to say, after that this week, I felt like a million bucks.

Well worth it!!

5/6 strength and run + a quote

"You have exactly one life in which to do everything you'll ever do. Act accordingly."

Colin Wright  - http://exilelifestyle.com/about/

I decided to try a class at the gym tonight for my strength workout called "Chisel".  It seemed to be very little aerobic workout and mostly lifting per the description.  Since I seem to either cheat or skip strength, I thought this might be a good option for me.

The class started with some jumping jacks and running in place and then went into the lifting.  Thankfully, I spoke with someone helpful before the class who told me to grab a few different weights and a pole too. I used the lightest weights most of the time, but when the instructor said "grab your heavy weights", I did!  MY heavy weights were only 5lbs each.  My bar was 9lbs.  There were some interesting moves with the bar and my hamstrings definitely felt it!

Afterwards, I ran for an hour on the treadmill.  That was a poor decision because I was already really tired!  I should have run first and then lifted, but the timing of the class aligned well with the end of the workday and the commute to get there.

Sunday, 5/5 Private Pilates

Too bad I seem to wake up earlier on the weekends these days than to get into work...

I had my last free private Pilates lesson with Joy at East Lakeview FFC on Sunday morning at 7:15am.  I wanted to try and get my workouts out of the way so I could enjoy the day with Michael.  For his birthday, I surprised him with tickets to "Big Fish" from the Broadway in Chicago series.

Joy is a coach and triathlete herself and she really knows how to help me strengthen and stretch out.  She is signed up for Ironman Arizona for her second attempt this year.

Pilates is amazingly simple and deceptively difficult.  I am always surprised what looks simple and easy and is incredibly challenging.  She uses the reformer, Cadillac, and a variety of other primitive devices to help me strengthen and lengthen my muscles.   Of course, after my ride yesterday, I was super tight in the hips, legs and hamstrings.

The exercise below was super hard due to my fatigued muscles!

Afterwards, I was supposed to swim for an hour- which actually probably would have felt good- however, I didn't want to have to wash my hair again for the show, so I thought I could bring myself to do it afterwards. No dice.  We went to birthday brunch and then to the show and afterwards, I couldn't stay awake until 8:30pm!  I was beat!!

Saturday, 5/4 Indoor ride

My scheduled workout for Saturday was flipped with Sunday since Sunday was Michael's birthday.  Due to the weather reports, I was concerned about getting in a full FOUR HOUR bike ride (eik!) so I scheduled a double at Train Chicago Studios.

My ride started at 7:30am (early!) and I asked them to upload the Ironman Wisconsin course so I could experience it a bit.  They set me up with this super cool program called Racer Mate where the video corresponds with the terrain.  So basically, you are watching a screen at the pace you are riding.  The technology they have is truly amazing!!

For those that don't know the difference between an indoor vs outdoor ride, I would say indoor is much more painful from a seat perspective.  Outside, you are getting up and off your saddle for bumps and wind while indoors your lady bits are subjected to the saddle for the FULL FOUR HOURS.  Numbness and pain do occur, yes.  It can be brutal.

For the first two hours of the ride, I sat next to a guy named Michael W who was a great cyclist.  We chatted about our lives and family and interest in cycling and he carried me through the first two hours.  The program is also interesting in so far as the fastest rider "controls" how long you're in the hills... meaning, I'd experience the hills when he'd hit them (he was a faster rider than me).  So the good thing was that I still hit the hills, but perhaps wasn't in them as long since he could summit faster than me.  The other fun part of the video is actually "rode" through areas I recognized   my friends Don and Jenny live along the route, so I waved when I passed them.  :)

I'm not sure how I describe this makes a lot of sense if you haven't used this technology, but in the end, he only rode for 2 hours.  After that, the video holds frozen until I caught up to where he stopped (I think he was at mile 28 and I was at 24).

Around that time, Carrie showed up to ride about 45 minutes with me.  Again, it was nice to catch up and have someone to share the pain with...although it was unfortunate for her that she arrived right when we were heading up a pretty substantial hill (about 17% grade).  She unplugged until we got to the top and then continued to ride.  This time, I was in pole position, so she experienced the hills how I climbed them.  After her time was up, I basically had another 1 hour and 15-25 minutes or so to finish.  When I came up to 4 hours, I decided I would ride to hit 50 miles.  I think I was about 2.5 miles short and of course, those last 2.5 miles were a mental challenge.  I was fighting the "you only have to ride 4 hours" mentality with trying to work on my mental toughness and go to a number beyond what was required.  I'm glad I did it and I was only on the bike for another few minutes.  It was worth it.

After my bike, I had to run for 30 minutes.  I haven't done a brick that intense for some time and the reminder of the lactic acid in my legs was a good one!  The long video ride of Madison was good mental preparation for my ride on the course next Saturday.  I am going to do just 40 miles and see how it compares in real life.

Also, Carrie said she has some additional rides that she isn't going to use that I could have so I may take her up on that and ride the course a few more times indoors in the next month or so.

Friday- day off 5/3

Friday's tend to be my day off (even though I actually have the most flexibility with workout times as they relate to work!) since the longer workouts seem to occur- understandably- over the weekends.

After last nights, run, I called Athletico in Andersonville in the morning to see if anyone was available that afternoon for that injury screening.  Luckily someone could take a look in the late afternoon.

I went over to see Mike who didn't seem to think there was a bone chip or break.  He thought that the bone was probably bruised or the ligaments bruised or whatever.  He suggested shorter runs and icing after workouts in the short term and I'm supposed to give him a call later this week to check in and let him know how it's feeling.  If it feels the same, I'll probably go to the orthopedic doctor for an x-ray or MRI to confirm it's all good.

Friday night, Max MultiSport had a tire changing clinic at Element Multisport that I really should have attended, but I needed some downtime from triathlon so Michael and I headed to Evanston for dinner and a movie.

Thursday, 5/2 1:45 run

After my run on Thursday was when I decided I needed to honestly go to Athletico to see a physical therapist for a free injury screening...

I had a somewhat difficult run in my plan.  Difficult because I don't really like to run and there was a substantial amount of time I was supposed to be going fast (for me!) and in heart rate zone 4.  My ankle had been hurting this week after my bike fall when I turned it inward and a few other angles (pain level 4/10- so more like general discomfort).  After running for 1/2 the time, I actually started walking.  Something just didn't feel right.

I completed the hour and 45 minute "run", but didn't follow the plan.  Part of what this training is teaching me is to keep going when I want to quit.  There is a very compelling desire after a certain number of hours working out- especially after a long day at the office (or whatever else it may be) to want to stop and I'm learning to fight this "lazy" urge.

Wednesday, 5/1 90 minute bike- "recovery"

It's still funny to me to read a workout posted in my log that says 1 hour and 30 minute "recovery" bike ride. RECOVERY?!  Who sits and rides a bike for that long to recover?!

I still feel like a very normal person trying to accomplish something I think extraordinary... this is one of those moments that reinforces "normal" versus Ironman regulars to me!

I can't recall if I did this workout on a stationary bike at the gym since it was low heart rate zones or if I was on my own trainer in my living room.  I think I was at home and Michael and I were watching "The Voice"... he on the couch and me on my bike.

You do what you have to do!!

Tuesday, 4/30 Yoga

On the regular... my hour of Tuesday yoga was much needed after the training camp weekend!!

My hamstrings, IT bands, quads, hips and general lower body are super tight.  Pigeon is so flipping painful!!

Grabbing my back leg like this photo is next to impossible with my own hand... sometimes I can do it with a strap, but not without FEAR!  :)

Galena Training Camp, Sunday 4/28

Sunday morning, we all up and ready by 8am again for another group ride.  This was to be another 2 hour ride through some more challenging hills.  Initially we thought we wanted to ride the Galena Triathlon course, but the logistics to get out and back with all the bikes would require we load into cars and bring bikes to do it.  Instead, after a group vote, we decided to spit up between those who would ride in the territory and those who would ride the course.  My coach suggested I stay in the territory since I'd have to ride again after the course (the course wasn't long enough for my planned ride that day).  Plus, part of our ride on Saturday unknowingly included part of the course that changed from last year, so I was satisfied with my knowledge or lack thereof of this year's course.  It's a "C" race for me and I'm doing the duathlon, so I really didn't care anyway.

This time, those of us staying in the territory would be riding a loop that included Eagle Ridge and a waterfall.  It was challenging and I decided my goal of the ride would be to stay in zone 3 while climbing hills.  Needless to say, this meant that I wasn't exactly a leader in charging up the hills, but instead of letting my competitive nature take over, I tried to stick to my goal.

After coming down a fun hill around the waterfall, we circled around to our right and approached another hill.  I'm guessing it was about 11-13% grade.  It went straight up and near the top circled left.  There were trees lining it and the random car or two every once in awhile.  I used my momentum on the downhill (I actually pedal on the downhill to help propel me up the up!) and began shifting quickly when I hit about 5% grade.  Unfortunately, my chain cross-chained and dropped... at which point, I began rolling backwards down the hill and frantically trying to un-clip.  When I realized that I was picking up speed rolling BACKWARDS down a hill and was still unable to un-clip, I bit the bullet and rolled left.

My bike was fine and thankfully I had my helmet on good and tight.  I hit my left wrist, shoulder and head-- all were fine.  I was a bit scared about my left wrist, but I hustled to get un-clipped and out of the road!  I heard someone outside our group ahead of us call out to the other riders that had passed me "One down!  You've got one down!".  I scurried to the side of the road and examined the damage.  I had gloves, long pants and a jacket on, so I really didn't have an road rash which was great.  After summitting the hill, I decided to go back to the house-- I was just a little bit freaked out.  I have broken that wrist before and so I wanted to ice it.  I went back with Shauna who is still recovering from a previous injury herself and happens to be a physical therapist.  She checked it out and gave me the thumbs up.

We sat with our ice packs in the sunshine for a bit until the group came home.  Eventually, I went out for another run/walk in the golf course.  I felt like I wasn't utilizing the camp enough...

The strangest thing about the fall, is that I actually may have injured my right ankle.  I realized later that it really didn't feel right.  I think the impact with my bike and the fact that I was still clipped in may have caused some bruising to the bone or ligaments.  (I went to have it checked at Athletico later and they didn't think it was broken.  I am icing after workouts and doing shorter runs for the next week.)

Galena training camp Saturday, 4/27

After work on Friday, I drove out to Galena for a short weekend training camp with about 9-10 other athletes to ride and run in the Galena, IL  hills.

View on the way there...

The area is quite beautiful and we stayed in a private home in the Eagle Ridge Territories.  Anyone who has been to Galena has heard of this area and knows the area for it's beauty, seclusion and golf courses.  Anyone who does cycling or triathlon knows it for its hills!!  There are areas where the hills are 17% grade and they're tough.  Most of them are short, but some are longer, slow rides up and down.

We didn't train together on Friday night (plus it was an off day for me) so we made dinners and all arrived at different times and got settled.

Saturday morning, we woke up for a group bike check and two hour ride.  I think we rode about 20 or so miles in the hills.  The slowest I went was 3.6mph and the fastest was 41.6mph!!  Consider tooling up a 17% grade hill, but then being able to FLY down one!  I love it but some of the other ladies were scared.  I feel like the downhills are true rewards for the up!

After our ride, we got back to the house, changed and went to lunch in downtown Galena.  Believe it or not, I'd never been to the downtown-- just to the territory last year for the Galena triathlon race itself.  The downtown was cute and I would have loved some time to walk around, window shop and experience it, but alas we were 12 people trying to find a place that would take us for lunch and it took some time.  We landed at the local brewery which made my no carb diet difficult!!  Lunch really wasn't that great and a plate of lettuce just doesn't seem a good 'reward' for all that work.

After lunch, we went back to the house to change and do some strength and stretching orientation for about an hour.

Then the group went to do some hill work for about 35-45 minutes and I went for a run through the golf course for an hour (I had an hour run on my plan).  Here's what I saw:

After our runs, many of the gals jumped in the hot tub (I abstained- my body does better after workouts with ice baths rather than hot water) and then we all cleaned up and rested and had a group BBQ meal for dinner.  I may have been the first to bed (I took advantage of uninterrupted sleep out in the country!!) and we were up and at it again on Sunday.

Time for some new riding gloves

Holding on for dear life or riding a lot? I'm not sure which!!!