Friday bike ride from Chicago to Lake Geneva 6/28

My plan is really getting intense these days and this weekend included a 7 hour bike ride. I'm not sure where my coach expected me to do it, but since I was going to be headed to Lake Geneva with friends this weekend, I got the crazy idea that I would ride my bike there. 

I took the day off of work on Friday since the weather over the weekend was going to be tentative again. On Thursday, I spent a good amount of time on the Internet mapping out a route from my apartment to Corey's house in Fontana, WI. It was going to be somewhere between 80-90 miles and I assumed I'd hit the 7 hour mark. 

I was also concerned about having SAG support...  My mom said she'd meet me with water at the Wauconda Village Hall which would be around mile 37-39 and hour 3-4. I wasn't exactly sure because the route from the city to the suburbs was the most difficult with morning traffic and traffic lights. I also worked to get two official bike path/trails included (Des Plaines and Prospect Heights) in the route and wasn't sure how they'd play into it.

I left home around 7am or just before and arrived at check point #1 at about 10:15am. I went from the Lakefront to Howard to Milwaukee to the Des Plaines River Trail.  Around the curve at Howard, I had a minor detour because it didn't look like you could go over the highway and got alternate directions from a del lower biker/commuter. 

This trail was flooded where I could continue north so I went west on Lake/Euclid and connected back to the Prospect Trail. 

The trails had a lot of cover with the trees and they were dark and damp. I did see a few joggers and bikers along the way. It was also flooded in a couple areas and twice I had to carry the bike over two fallen trees and one set of train tracks. I didn't feel super comfortable just because it was pretty empty and only one path- and I didn't know where I was going- so I didn't feel entirely safe since I was solo. 

Then my mom was close to Wauconda and had agreed to meet me at my first check point at 10:15am. Michael was supposed to be there with all my support stuff (extra clothes, food water, sunscreen) but he ran out of gas, left late and hit traffic. Thankfully my mom made it!!  I went to the toilet, cleaned up, filled up my water bottles, and cleaned off my bike (it was a mess from the water and stuff in the forest preserve). 

Then I headed out towards 176 and Crystal Lake. It was on 176 where I had a close encounter with a Hummer 3 and one lane with road construction and I almost went off the road, but otherwise I didn't have too many issues. Michael made it to meet up with me around mile 46. I literally saw him pass me in the street in my own car and was screaming (not surprisingly he was totally clueless to this!). I had to call him while riding to tell him to pull over. 

When we met up, I changed out of my soaking wet socks and changed tri shorts (thank god!)  The seams were totally digging into my business and I also put more lube on my booty. 

We set a meet up place for about 10-12 miles ahead and I estimated it'd take between 35-50 minutes and we met at S Rose Farm Road which was in the area where the roads cleared up.  Blog shout out to the guy in the red truck that hung out his window at mile 53 and yelled, "keep doing whatever you're doing, honey because its working!"  I need that push heading into a lot of very solitary time. 

We met up again another 10 miles away at the Johnson/Hebron intersection and finally again, Michael drove ahead and when I caught up with him, I waved him on the keep going. 

When I knew I was about 9-15 miles away from the lake house was when I hit 7 hours. Instead of jut finishing up, I decided to keep riding. I figured that another hour was probably okay since I hadn't been much in zone 4 (what the plan called for) and I really wanted to ride door-to-door. 

When I got to the directional for Lake Geneva or Walworth, I was super excited. A cop drove by and gave me a huge shout out- I found out later he had asked Michael (parked) if he needed anything and MB told him what I was doing). The last 2 miles were rolling hills and then I was home free!

When I got to Corey & Tim's place, Michael gave me a high five and then I changed to my running shoes and headed out for a 25 minute "run" which was really a trot more than anything. Tim wasn't at the house when I finished so we went directly to Gordys for some food!!!

By the time we got back, Time and Mike hug out while I took a long, cold shower and cleaned up. 

It was a great day and a big accomplishment for me!!  Actual ride time was 6:49 and i didnt even hit zone 4- this makes me happy!

Statistics and facts to follow in another post!

 

Obstacle #1 on the Des Plaines River Trail

Obstacle #2 on the Des Plaines River path. Until another biker showed up, I was seriously confused. You have to carry your bike up and over an ACTIVE train track. It doesn't seem safe. 

I had to take this selfie around mile 70!  My adrenaline got going again afterwards!

About 5 miles from the finish

The view most of the time outside of the city... Corn, clouds and some trees

Thursday- 10 miles on the treadmill. 6/27

Since the weather's been so shitastic, I planned to do a pretty long run on the treadmill. It did rain Thursday evening and I was glad not to be caught in the rain. 

I also love watching cable tv since we don't have it at home and got 2 hours of E! News and Bravo housewives and the Kardashians. :)

The run lowdown was this:

-32 minutes of warm up

-6 miles at 10:45-11:0min/mile with a 1 minute walk recovery in between

2 miles at 9:45-10:00min/mile with a 1 minute walk recovery in between. 

I was sad after I (mis)read the plan thinking it was 6 miles total and not 8 so I'm not going to lie that the last 2 miles were a real bummer. At the end of the day, I think I ran between 9-10 miles with the warm up. 

Wednesday morning (gym) yoga - 6/26

I had never taken yoga at my gym but it fit nicely into my schedule so Wednesday morning was the day to do it!

Left the house at 5:30am during what felt like a tore rial downpour- using my rain jacket to cover my silk dress (poor choice of dress on a rainy day!) and of course, was parked a block away. By the time I got to the gym, I was soaking wet. 

Went to the yoga studio and set up... The teacher introduced herself and asked if I'd done yoga before.  Very nice gal. 

I ended up loving her sequences!!  I tried to make mental notes for when I start to teach again but if you asked me now there's no way I'd come up w much. She incorporated a LOT of planks in her workout, which my coach would love, but I struggled with initially. 

In the end, I had a great strength and stretch- she even adjusted me a few times which was awesome!

Tuesday bike/run brick 6/25

Tuesday, I had a bike/run brick scheduled in my plan (60/90 minutes). 

I decided to go to a gym spin class for the hour ride so I could utilize the treadmill afterwards. 

The participants in the class were minimal and I tried to follow my plan as far as the heart rate zone targets went so I probably looked like a total asshole. After the class, I changed and realized my energy level was non-existent so I literally walked to the food room and bought a snickers bar which I ate while walking on the treadmill a d watching bad tv. 

After 30 minutes, I decided eating on the treadmill and walking wasn't even good enough to keep going so I decided to call it a day and went home. 

Bad workout. I guess it happens but it's annoying. 

I'm *that* girl

I ate a snickers bar while walking on the treadmill AT THE GYM after work. 

If someone didn't take a sneak picture (I would!!) and post it on Facebook, I'm heartbroken. The guy on the treadmill next to me kept looking over. 

Snickers really does satisfy!!!!!

Custom Fan support t-shirts!

I'm not going to lie, THIS would be AWESOME to see on friends and family during the race!

I know so many people that have full-on matching shirts to support their loved ones during these races, but since MB doesn't read this blog and since he is not really one to organize these types of things... I'm guessing it's not going to happen unless my mom organizes something.  Years ago for one of the Chicago Marathons I ran (I think in 2008?), she ironed on stuff for t-shirts for her and my sister- it was cute.

They have a bunch of race-specific "support crew" t-shirts that can totally be customized!  Look at this, even!!

Monday, the open water swim that wasn't 6/24/13

Despite asking if the open water swim at Ohio Street beach would be cancelled Monday night and even after reading the weather update that there was a 40% chance of thunderstorms AND even knowing that there were currently storms in the suburbs, we braved the hour-long CTA commute to get down there during rush hour.

We had spent the majority of the day at Skokie Hospital for my father's bionic knee surgery (knee replacement) and just made it home in time for a very late lunch and leaving for practice.

We got there about 30 minutes early, so I locked up my stuff and changed into my wetsuit.  I wasn't sure if I'd be doing drills with the other gals, but wanted to get into the water and get used to the wetsuit again- I hadn't had it on since the late summer of last year.

I managed to get myself into it and walked to the water's edge when the rain started and so did the lightning. Awesome!

After a few minutes of thunder and lighting, the clouds rolled in very, very quickly and very dark.  We trotted over to the food service beach area to stand under an awning at the hotdog stand; honestly already soaking wet.  We watched the clouds roll in and out in a matter of about 15 minutes.  This was fine at this point since it wasn't even 6:30, so we were ahead of the game.  Unfortunately, even when it stopped raining and stopped thundering, it continued lightning.  Michael approached the lifeguards to ask the rule about getting back in the water and they said it was 45 minutes from the last bolt.  Well, that essentially put us at dark so we stripped down and changed (again, I practiced getting OUT of the wetsuit!) and headed back home.

I guess the good news was that we got home in time to see the Blackhawks in the middle of the first period.  I just climbed into bed and put on Saturday night's "Mad Men" finale on my iPad and didn't even eat any dinner!  Michael called me into the living room when there were only a couple minutes left in the game; when we had scored our second goal and there were less than 2 minutes left.

Blackhawks capture the Stanley Cup in Boston 2013

I was really disappointed that I couldn't get a workout in last night (I would have just done something yesterday morning, like I had originally planned, but thought I've been light on swimming lately), but it is what it is.  I am well rested for my 2.5 hour workout Tuesday!

Sunday: 1/2 marathon + Swedish Days ride

We had a relatively late night at my cousin's engagement party seeing I had ridden almost 4 hours and then driven 3 hours home... I think we got home around 10:15pm and I was asleep with my stuff set out by 11pm.  

I had to get up at 5am for the Chicago Women's 1/2 Marathon to get downtown.  I decided to drive since I had to make up the last 2 hours of the ride I didn't finish in Madison the day before and was planning on heading out to Swedish Days after that to try and meet up with some Max girls who were going out there earlier.

 I was a total amateur on the parking and just decided to park at the Millenium Garages.  $30.  I could have just parked and plugged a meter a few blocks away since I was going to be done by 9am.  I guess I paid for the convenience...

So, I got down there around 5:45am and walked to the start.  After a quick stop at the port-a-potty and then a water, I just sat on the curb until people really started lining up.

I started in the 11:00 minute mile group since that was my race plan... I was supposed to do the following:

Miles 1-2: 11:00min/mile

Miles 3-5:  10:30min/mile

Miles 6-9:  10:00min/mile

Miles 10-11:  9:30min/mile

Miles 12-13:  9min/mile

+walk for one minute after every mile and through every aid station

I thought this was an ambitious plan, but figured I could do it since I have been running faster.  I guess I started a bit too fast; I have to check my Garmin and upload.  It's weird because I have the lap pace on my watch and it was in the 11 minute range (some seconds higher and some longer), but when it auto-lapped at the first mile, I had run a 9:30ish mile (I don't remember exactly) and despite watching the watch again for the second mile, I think it was close to the same:  both on the watch and in result.

Between miles 2-3 I felt awful and I can only chalk it up to being dehydrated and it being so hot (it was event alert "red"- extreme caution).  It was the first time in my life that I really, truly thought of turning around and DNF'ing (did not finish).  I stopped and looked back and thought, "The startline is so close, you can just turn around and end this", but then I thought "How are you ever going to finish an Ironman if you can't fight through a 13.1 mile run?!"  So, I basically threw the race plan out the window as far as paces and just ran until I needed walk recovery and then ran again.  I drank at every water station and wished I had brought a goo or drank some CarboPro that morning....  At mile 9-10, I even tried a Gu (mocha with caffiene) for the first time in my life.  This is NOT recommended but since I was almost done, I said, "What the heck?!"  The main problem with this was that there wasn't water for another mile and taking those without water is generally really difficult (is it just me?!).

At the end of the day, I finished in 2:27:10 which is over and 11min/mile.  The plan was to finish in 2:15 or sooner.  Oh well.  I finished.

After the run, I ate some of the treats and had some water and sat for a few minutes.  I was ahead of my estimated schedule to get to Burlington, IL for Swedish Days but I didn't want to sit too long knowing I was going to have to sit in the car for an hour to get there.  I left the $30 parking lot and headed out there on I90.

On the way, I stopped at the the overpass to wash my face, use the toilet and change into a clean top and fix my ponytail.  I got a Starbucks and two soft tacos at 10am.  It sounds gross, but they were delish!  I knew I needed some food since I was going to ride for 2+ hours when I got there.

I got to Central High School at about 11am and went to sign up/in.  The lady at the tent said that registration closed at 9:30am.  I was a bit freaked, but I said that I had a friend who asked about me coming around now when she got there at 7am and she got the thumbs up.  The lady called to another guy who knew exactly who I was and said I was okay!  He took me to a table to show me a route since the first sag area was closing around 1pm and he wanted to make sure I got somewhere with food.  This was good because after he gave me the map, I decided to ride the 62 mi course backwards to see if I could run into Marni, Monica, Julie and Christa.  It was pretty hilarious that all the other riders I'd pass gave me quizzical looks since I was the only person "riding the wrong direction".  Anyway, I figured that I'd get to the open sag/food stop this way in any case.  It was somewhat difficult to keep reading the map and checking the ground markings in the opposite direction, but it all worked out.

After about 15 miles, I rode right by Marni and yelled her name.  She and Christa were riding together. They had already put in 30-40 miles so they weren't going too fast.  I turned around and caught up with them.  I had been looking for Monica, since I saw a photo post of her on Facebook and knew what top she was wearing.  We all stopped at the next stop sign and caught up as a group.  I had already ridden almost an hour solo, so I was in a good position to take a goo and ride back with them. Even if I had to make up a 1/2 hour solo at the end, it was worth doing the same route to ride and chat with people I knew!

There really weren't many hills and they weren't more than 3-5% which was a welcome change from yesterday, but I still needed to ride with more intensity (zone 4 for 40 minutes), so I would often slow down and wait for them all to pass me and use the motivation to catch up to the lead rider (generally Marni) and hit my zone 4.  I still need to upload my Garmin information, but I did at least 25 minutes of zone 4 (I hope!).  On some of the flats I was hitting 23mph and the easy rolling downhills almost 30.  I was feeling good and could have kept riding had they had more to do.  

We got back to the high school and I had about 5-10 minutes more to ride and just called it a day.  Had an icecream, a watermelon slice and some water and hit the road.  They went to Culver's for lunch, but since I had already had the tacos, I felt okay and wanted to get home sooner rather than later.  They had done 68 miles so they were starving that at point!

An Epsom salt bath was calling my name!!!

                                  Post-ride group picture

  Me                  Marni         Monica              Julie              Christa

Saturday: the 6 hour Madison ride that became the 4 hour ride

I woke up at 5am to get up and get ready for my 6 hour ride on Saturday and it was storming all night... It was still storming and raining when I got up too.  I sat in bed until about 5:30am wondering what I could do, looking at CompuTraining class times and considering driving back to Barrington to ride.  I also posted in the IM Facebook forum to see if anyone else was riding and wondering what to do.  I was only really nervous because I was riding solo and you do go into the middle of nowhere... my friends were around, but busy, if I had any issues.

Eventually, I decided to drive over to Jenny and Don's in Verona to park my car and see what the weather was like over there.  I had planned to park at their place because it's almost along the ride route and they were going to let me shower afterwards before I headed back to Chicago for my cousin's engagement party.

The weather was pretty much the same near them but it was just misting rain and overcast.  I wasn't sure if more inclement weather was on the way, but I had decided I would at least try to ride one loop and if it got really bad, I'd just turn around or call friends (knowing I'd have to wait quite a bit).  I set off...

My bike only has two water bottle cages right now and so I had 6 bottles prepared, 4 in the car, basically one for each hour.  They were filled with 250 calories of nutrition (CarboPro) each and I had a vanilla Honey Stinger for each hour.  I hoped this was a good amount of nutrition and that I'd get back to my car within 3-4 hours to change out the water bottles.  As it turned out, I just rode from Don and Jenny's to fireman's park and then one loop.

As it turned out, the loop -despite the rain- went much better than the first time in May!  Yippee!! I began to think "I can do this!!".  I finished in about 3:40 and that was with a stop every hour to eat and stretch and get back at it.  I was most afraid of Witte Road since it was so hellish the first time, but this time it felt just fine!  I think my bike handling skills are getting better and I knew more how to shift, etc.

What was more difficult or scary for me what North Birch Trail since it was very went and all gravel.  This was a slow climb for a couple miles (or at least what seemed to be a couple miles).  I need to work on that the next time I'm in Madison (July 4th weekend).

It was too bad that I didn't feel okay continuing the ride to complete my first 6 hour ride but the last hour-ish was very hard downpour and the rain even "hurt".  Not to mention, I only saw about 7 other riders the whole morning so I was still a little nervous.  I got back to Don and Jenny's, showered up and then headed home.  As per usual, the weather was pretty much cleared up by the time I started my drive back to Chicago!

Friday 1 hour strength

Friday was supposed to be swim and strength... I just couldn't bring myself to swim and do an hour of strength before work!

Instead of doing strength and lifting on my own, I went to a gym strength class before work. I hadn't done this class before (if you read regularly, you know this already!) and it seemed to for the bill. There was no cardio involved and we used hand weights and bars with weights. Since I have no clue my capacity or strength when it comes to this- or more importantly how fatigued my muscles would be for Saturday's 6 hour ride, I took it easy and got the 3 lowest sets of weights. Even thought the workout plan called for 1 hour, I think this 45 minute class was way more efficient. 

After the workday, I headed up to Madison (via the Huntley outlet mall!!) to grab a fish boil (YEAHHHH!) at Avenue Bar and then went over to John & Polly's to eat & crash. Polly was out of town, but John and I caught up over food (he asked me to get him a fish fry). It was really nice; I haven't hung out w John in ages and he seemed quite happy and content. Good to see in friends!!!

The saga of the bite wound

Still using steroid cream. Still itches. And I'm still worried about a scar!  It's finally scanning over in the worst area (& I feel like it's a green scab- yuck. 

Tri tan... Almost (temporarily) gone!

Successfully rid myself of the ridiculous "tri tan" I was sporting. It's only temporary, I'm sure, but I'm happier!  

Update on recent workouts forthcoming! It was a big weekend!!

Slightly obsessed with this song

It's so happy, simple and also profound. 

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=Fw0oOjZydZY

Thursday - Rest day (swap)

This morning, I was supposed to get up around 5am and get to the gym for about 1.25 hours of swimming and an hour of strength.  My alarm went off and with the cat sitting on my head and her rough tongue licking my neck, I still couldn't manage to get up.

I slept in and got ready for a couple fun industry events tonight downtown.  One being Spring Fling that is put on by the John Buck Company.  Prior to that there is a hosted happy hour that I'll attend at Fulton's on the River and I also bought a ticket to the "Women in Planning and Development" summer gathering.  Of course, I bought the WPD ticket way before I had any idea it was Spring Fling- and to tell you the truth, I am shocked they weren't aware of it either.  It's likely that I'll be skipping the summer gathering.

So, that being said, my Friday rest day will now turn into an early morning swim/strength workout before I head to one of our properties in Downers Grove.  Hopefully, I can manage to get out of bed after this event or I'll work a few extra hours and just take a longer lunch to get it done a bit later in the day!  This is highly probable!!!!  :)

Wednesday, 6/19/13 90 minute bike ride

Another relatively easy workout was on the schedule for Wednesday.   It was essentially supposed to be a brief 5 minute warm up and cool down of easy spinning and then twice through 15 minutes of zone 2 criss cross, 15 minutes of zone 3 (high cadence) and 15 minutes of zone 4 (high cadence).

I got some incredibly sad and frustrating news about the health of a friend during the morning on Wednesday and I had been intending to ride on my bike trainer in the living room after work to hit the target heart rate zones, but instead when I got home, I changed and decided to ride outside and get some fresh air.

Riding on the Lakeshore Path after 5pm on a weekday in the summer is truly maddening, even for the casual cyclist.  Riding anywhere between Irving Park and Ohio Street is a total cluster.  People have no respect for the center yellow line and no sense of space.  Runners run 3-4 deep, walkers swing bags over their shoulders into the moving lane and people stop and turn- into traffic- with abandon!  So I rode in zone 2 until I hit that area and then just took it easy, weaving in between all the people, bikes and errant volleyballs from Chicago Sport and Social games.

When I got to Ohio Street, rather than fight the bridge traffic, I looped back around to head north.  I was a few minutes shy of half way.  At the beach, I saw many women from my team in their wet suits at the beach obviously practicing open water swim.  I have to admit that I was slightly miffed that my coach didn't note that in my training plan, but c'est la vie.  I let it roll off my bike- not jealous of the seasickness I experience while swimming out there with the boats!  There were about 50 people out there, most with groups, likely training groups together.

Ohio Street Beach

I need to try and get out there one of these mornings... maybe park my car down there, swim outside for an hour, and then head to FFC Union Station to shower up.  I'll have to look at next week's schedule to see if I can make that happen!

On the way back, the path was just as bad, so it was high zone 1 home.  I could tell I'm getting faster on the flats, at least.  zone 1 and 16-17mph was great.  Most of the time, I was probably going closer to 12-13 for safety's sake.  When I got home, MB had prepared a lovely dinner of pork chops, asparagus and salad.  I added some tomato/sweet onion salad to what I ate and after a few minutes of overlap, he left to coach swimming at the pool.

I went to bed 1/2 way into the Blackhawks game and he stayed up for the overtime again.  Thursday is supposed to be a longer workout....

Tuesday, 6/18- 75 minute easy run

I'm not going to lie, I don't mind up to a two hour treadmill run while I can watch Bravo or E! Channels!!

I went up to FFC Halsted for the first time after work on Tuesday for my run.  It was a gorgeous day and I certainly could have run outside on the lake, but I wanted the convenience of a locker and shower afterwards!

My cousin Shayna and I also finally figured out a time that would work for us both to catch up over dinner.  The initial plan was to head to Matilda's on Sheffield, but during my run, I realized htat I'd probably be late walking back that direction, so she agreed to meet me at Jack's on Halsted across the street from FFC.  This was a great spot for both of us since it was off the Brown and Redline stops at Belmont.

Jack's entrance

It was a long, fun dinner conversation adn I was beat afterwards!  I had two, TWO glasses of wine and they put me right to sleep.  I really haven't been having much alcohol at all- I was generally a glass of wine a few nights a week with dinner prior to April, but both my coach and my doctor (post stomach issues) told me to lay off the sauce- and I have.

Shayna gave me a ride home and I essentially passed out upon impact!

Lean & Mean

Suggestions from USAT to get leaner...  It's not rocket science, but a good reminder!

To eat a nutrient-dense diet:

1. Eat meat (see above). Meat is particularly rich in iron, zinc, and other minerals. If you don’t eat meat, make sure you are working with a nutritionist to make sure you are not missing elements key to your diet.
2. Load up on non-starchy vegetables (cucumbers, kale, radishes, bell peppers, broccoli, etc.). Make non-starchy vegetables part of every meal. Have big salads. Have steamed, grilled, roasted vegetables.
3. Get some of your carbohydrate from fruit. Many people hear carbohydrate and immediately think bread and pasta. Fruit (berries, melons, apples, etc.) is a great source of carbohydrate. Fruit is also loaded with micronutrients, much more than is found in bagels and rice, so it contributes nicely to nutrient-dense diet.
4. Eat avocados, nuts, and seeds. These fat-rich foods are also good sources of micronutrients.
5. Make water your primary beverage. Most other drinks are high in calories, but devoid of nutrients.
6. Eat mostly food (not altered by humans), not food products (made in a factory). Food (salmon, apples, cashews, etc.) beats food products (granola bars, breakfast cereals, frozen burritos, etc.) every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

And this portion that came through from USAT makes me very happy!  Since I've recently lost about 6#, it makes me happy to receive any time "savings" I can!!

1. Losing five pounds of body fat, assuming that all other factors remain the same, will improve your bike split by 1-3 minutes in an Olympic-distance triathlon, 2-6 minutes in a half-iron-distance triathlon, and 4-12 minutes in an iron-distance triathlon. (The hillier the course, the greater the time savings will be.)
2. For every pound of body fat you lose, you will take two seconds per mile off your running pace, assuming that all other factors remain the same. Five pounds gets you 10 seconds per mile. Ten pounds gets you 20 seconds per mile. That’s over two minutes in an Olympic-distance triathlon, four minutes in a half-iron-distance triathlon, and eight minutes in an iron-distance triathlon.

Monday 6/17 swim at FFC

I had 500 repeats in my plan and I really wasn't feeling it yesterday. 

I did the warm up listed (500 swim, 200 kick, 200 pull) but then decided to go a different direction:

200 pull

200 kick

200 paddles

x as long as I could keep repeating or about 65 minutes. Whichever came first!

I'm glad that I did this instead because about 40 minutes into my workout, dudes just started hanging out on the pool deck. Apparently I need to make a mental note to myself that Monday nights at FFC Lincoln Park there's a TriMonster swim class. 

Instead of just letting me swim with them, the coach kicked me out at minute 47-48 of my workout. When he gave me a "two minute warning" till their start, I said "ok" and swam another 150!  When I asked him how to join the class he was not cool (and a jerk, actually "You have to sign up and payyyy") so I thought I'd take my final 2 minutes!

Bite after 14 days.

I seriously cannot believe this thing isn't totally gone yet!!

Bite. Day 4 on steroid cream

New suit!

I love camo colored stuff & got this new suit on sale... Can't wait to wear it!!!

Sunday, 6/16 race day + 3 hour bike ride

My dad woke up with me Sunday morning around 5:15am and took me to the race start.  I was settled into my transition stuff and ready to go by 6:30am.  I had a good laugh at the gal warming up on her trainer in transition at 6am.  I mean, really!?  This was a sprint-- only 14 miles on the bike!  Anyway...

The race was an Irongirl sprint and would only last about 1-1.5 hours.  The swim was a 475ish meters (1/3 mi), then 14 mile bike, then 3 mile run in the Lake Zurich area.

With the water temperature the day before at 72F, I decided to forgo the wet suit.  This was a fine choice as far as water temp and comfort went, but now I wish I would've used it for speed and buoyancy.  My swim time was slightly pathetic, but I suppose I can cut myself some slack since it was my first time in open water in a year.  I had some issues sighting on the first 250m and did a lot of breast stroke.  Just before the first turn, the lifeguard canoe was literally IN the swim space, beyond the yellow buoys and there were about 15-20 women hanging off of it that we had to swim around...  After that first turn, I got settled into my stroke, despite no alternate breathing and it was easy to sight the big, white arc on the beach.  Time:  11:41.

The transition from swim to run was a bit long and I left some flip flops along the route.  It took me an extra couple seconds to slide my feet in and I was a bit dizzy when I was changing in transition.  I grabbed onto the rack to secure myself as to not fall.  This was a terrible transition without a wet suit.  Need to work on it.  Time:  2:35

I hopped on the bike and was cruising the first mile on adrenaline.  It was a nice bike ride, so hills, one false flat and some rollers.  I liked it.  I saw about 3-4 girls pass me on the bike, but one I caught up with and eventually passed as well.  I was pleased with my bike average speed (17.7) and time.  I felt solid on the bike. Time:  47:30

Transition 2 was fast!  I hustled in and had un-Velcroed my shoes during the last mile of the bike which must've helped!  I only had my shoes to throw on.  Time:  0:51.

Again, I started the run on pure adrenaline!  My Garmin said my initial pace was close to 8 min/miles.  I knew I had to slow down!  I ran to the first turn and then gave myself a walk break and told myself to slow down.  It's an interesting dichotomy... in a sprint you want to leave it all on the course, but I didn't want to totally bonk in a three mile run in 20 minutes.  So I started up again and was going closer to 9-9:30 min/miles.  I walked for a minute or something around the 2 mile marker and again around 2.5 miles.  Lots of gals that I passed and passed me (not too many of those, actually) commented on my "CUTE TOP!!"  I am going to order a second one from Moxie Cycling since it actually was a tri top that was supportive enough for my tatas!!   At least for a sprint... I'm going to have to try running in it for 5-13 miles to see what's up.  Time:  28:32 (9:31/mile average)

Overall time:  1:31:10.
Division place:  15/55 (top 27%- I think we had the biggest field)
Overall place 68/325 (top 20%)

I definitely have room for improvement in the sprint, but I have to keep reminding myself that I didn't "train" for this event, I didn't taper for this event and hell, I didn't even rest for it!!

Following the race, I had some snacks and rested about 35 minutes and then I drove to Algonquin- about 20 minutes away- where we normally ride hills to get in my 3 hour ride.  I started at 11am, so the sun and traffic were out in full effect.  Luckily, the majority of the roads are horse farm country, so there isn't much traffic relative to other areas of Chicagoland.

I rode about 40 miles for 3 hours around the Barrington, Barrington Hills and Algonquin area.  When I was done, I ate a footlong at Subway and headed to my parents house to pick up my stuff, relax and do some laundry.  I showed my Dad my India photos (working on a photo album!) and headed back to the city around 7pm.  MB was with his brothers all day (father's grave, golfing and BBQ) and by the time he got home- just shortly after me- I was totally passing out!

Garmin Report on  my ride including map

Saturday, 6/15: yoga & swimming

Saturday was a slightly "easier" day with two hours of low pain workouts...  I got up early for yoga at 7am at Om and then followed by swimming with the Max triathlon group.  Michael happened to be subbing on Saturday coaching so I picked him up after yoga on our way to swimming.

Yoga was great; it was SUPER humid and/or my body was really responding to the heat and working hard! I was a total sweat monster!  I literally did yoga in my bathing suit and pants... I figured I didn't want to add anything else to my laundry pile anyway!

The swim workout was pretty decent.  It was an easy 400 warm up and then a series of 200s followed by (4) sets of 50s and then a 200 cool down.  The entire workout was 3,000 yards.  I did 2,850 because I jumped out mid-200 to use the ladies room.  Am I the only person I know who doesn't pee in the pool?!?

After the workout, MB and I went to Ihop for breakfast- yum!!- and then hope to shower and pack.  I headed out to Lake Zurich to check in for Sunday's race and leave my bike in transition.  Following that, I met up with mom, dad and Aunt Jackie to see "Man of Steel" at the theater there.  Mediocre film, smoking hot Superman!!!  :)

Friday, post-work 9ish miler

After work on Friday, I headed to the gym to park so I could run along the lake.  I had a 8-10 mile run on my schedule.

It was a 5 minute warm up followed by four sets of 2 miles at two different paces (11:30 & 10:45) so it was a nice easy run and a beautiful evening.

It was the first time in as long as I can remember that I left my phone and just ran.  I started near Belmont and the totem pole and made my way down to Oak Street Beach and back.

Afterwards, I showered and cleaned up and went over to Athleta on Southport to get my packet for this weekend's triathlon.  Score!!  I got a new pair of tri shorts that have a lot of pockets and are about 6" long... I love them! Trying them out with my new Moxie tri top on Sunday.  It is really not advisable to race with new gear, but this is a sprint and I'm just going for it!

Queen K shorts

Moxie Jester Top

6/13 1.5 hour indoor ride at TCS

Since I was still waking up at 4am, I decided to do my ride indoors at Train Chicago Studios before work.  I hoped that they'd get there about 6am so I could start early, but I ended up sitting outside with my bike until about 6:15am and waiting until Jean got there.  No worries anyway, no one was riding with me, so I got in my 1.5 hours by riding a relatively flat course (Bike the Drive, Chicago) and doing my intervals.

After I finished up, I showered and got ready at TCS.  When I was done, the bike room was locked up... with my bike in it!  I ran around trying to find someone who had a key, but no one else did.  That really wasn't a big deal; I went to work and figured I'd get in touch with someone to schedule a pick up after work.

That was the ordeal... it was next to impossible to get a hold of anyone to get my bike sorted out. Eventually, it did work out in the end, and I was able to get it after work.

My second workout of the day was supposed to be an hour run.  By the time I got home, put away my bike and got dressed for my run, I was having some stomach cramping.  I told Michael I was going to lay down for a few minutes before I left.  I basically slept from 6pm to 6am the following day.  He said he came in twice:  once with dinner that I shooed away and secondly trying to help me take off my shoes, etc.  Well, apparently, I didn't want to be bothered!  I slept in my shoes, jog bra, heart rate strap (!!) and all until the next morning!

I guess that helped me get back to normal from jet-lag though!!

2 hour ride at Morton Arboretum (that became 1 hour) 6/12

Since I was working in Downers Grove, I called Morton Arboretum to find out about a day pass cost and hours to ride in the arboretum. Wednesdays are their discount days so its $8 and they're open from 7am to sundown which was about 8:20pm.

I was up early again (4:30am) but since they didn't open until 7 and that would mean I wouldn't be working until about 9:30 after commute and shower, I skipped the morning workout in favor of cleaning up, folding the laundry I did after my trip and catching up on 2 episodes of "Mad Men". 

At the end of the day, I drove over to MA knowing the weather reports weren't awesome but thought it was worth a try- plus practicing in inclement weather prepares you for races in bad weather!

I got there close to 5pm and the gate keeper let me in for free!  She said they had an event that night so they stop collecting at a certain hour and with weather on the way, she just waved me through!

I got dressed and pumped the tires and started my ride as quickly as poss ole to try and get my entire wide in before the rain. I managed to get in 1.5 loops (twice on the east side and once on the west) before the lightning was just too scary. 

When I was under the forest cover, I felt totally fine- little rain got through, there was enough light to ride and no one on the arboretum roads. However, when the forest cover cleared and I realized I was the tallest thing around on an aluminum bike, I thought better. At one point towards the end, the lightning was occurring about every 60-90 seconds and I was really scared!!  I would sprint in aero position between each clearing trying to et to the car faster. 

By the time I got back, it was totally pouring and I was soaked by the time I got my bike in the at, my shoes off and started home. My commute home was brutal- not really from traffic, but from the heavy, heavy rain. We were moving without problems until the O'hare merge at which time I decided to get off at Cumberland north and weave my way home rather than sit on 90/94 in perhaps some of the Blackhawks traffic. 

Dinner was ready for me (turkey tacos!) when I got home and I promptly passed out around 8:15pm. I'll have to make up the second hour of the ride on Sunday while I'm in Lake Zurich and after my race!!

Bite after 2 days of steroids

The steroid cream has been a god-send! The bite is so much better looking despite it scabbing (not from me or my itching!).   

It's hyper sensitive against my clothes right now- feels super scratchy (and more itchy), but I'm guessing it'll be gone in a few more days now. 

6/12/13

6/10/13

6/11 post-India swim

This morning's swim was excellent. 

I woke up at 4:30 and finished laundry and tidying up the apartment before I hopped on CTA to get to FFC Lincoln Park. 

It was a decent workout that wasn't too taxing or too short.

Warm up:

400 swim-200 kick-300 pull

Main set:

4x500 with one minute rest in between

Within each 500: 100 easy-200 moderate- 100 hard- 100 easy 

Cool down:

200 swim any stroke

I felt really good during the swim; well rested and it took less than an hour whig was great. A couple times I lost count so I think in the end I swam a few extra 50s but with last week's missed workouts I was happy to to do it. 

June 10 travel/rest day

My travel day started at 6:00pm local time in Mumbai. 

After the marathon brunch, we all went back to the apartment to relax and I packed up my things. 

Jagdish arrived and took me to the domestic airport per Jackson's direction. Thankfully, he waited a couple minutes because I pretty quickly learned that I needed to be at the international airport. My first flight was to Delhi and there was much debate on which airport was correct. (Of course the AirIndia website wasn't too helpful.)

I got back into the car and we drive about 20 minutes more to the international airport.  It was really no issue since Jagdish took me and I made sure I was pretty early for my 9:30pm flight. Some shopping, browsing, and a snack purchase and I was on my way. 

A transfer in Delhi and then the 14+ hour direct flight to Chicago!  Thankfully I was assigned an exit row seat so I was relatively comfortable and got some sleep too. On both flights I watched a TON of movies so that was cool. 

We landed about an hour early, I collected my bag & went directly to the CTA to go into work. Michael was starting later than usual, so he brought me the car and we caught up for a few minutes in my lobby before he went to work himself. 

When I was gone, I had made an appointment withy doctor for both my stomach issues and a nasty bug bite. He gave me some steroid cream for the bite (and it started helping immediately!) and sent me to Northwestern for blood tests (which have since come back negative, thankfully).  I felt pretty gross and dirty and itchy all day. No make up, crazy curly hair and leggings aren't my usual work look,but no one seemed to care- thankfully!

I made it at work until 3:30pm, then headed home and manages enough energy to do all my laundry and unpack!

Mumbai last day- 2 hour workout post-party

I was still waking up early but forced myself to stay in bed until about 8:30. Unfortunately when I walked over to Jackson's gym at 9am to get an earlier start, the gym was closed. 

When I got home, he remembered the gym opened on Sundays at 10am so I just hung out until then...

When I got back to the gym it was pumping!  Loud music and the most people I had seen there all week. 

My workout was 1 hour on stationary bike in a variety of heart rate zones, then to the treadmill for 20 minutes at a 10:30/mm and back to the bike for 45.   I had to stop after 25 minutes since we had lunch plans and I had to shower and get dressed. 

As it turned out, we were still late -because of me- and also monsoon season had started so it was tough to get a tuktuk (motorized rickshaw). Added to that, Jackson & Jacob really didn't know where the brunch was so we had to circle around a bit. 

The food was good, but we were essentially stuck there for almost 4 hours while the American Consulate ate and drink their way into a food coma.  Another day, I think I would've been happy to do it, but I didn't expect that my last day on vacation in India would be spent in a Greek cavernous restaurant while "real India" was a mere steps away!!

View from the back of a rainy tuktuk

June 8th Mumbai- slum tour

There was a workout on the books for today but we had to leave before the gym opened for out slum tour of Dharavi. 

We were asked not to take pictures when in the slum, so we got this one before we went in. Needless to say, there were tons of amazing photo opportunities that I was sad to miss!!  The tour was run by a non-profit and was excellent. 

When we got back, Jacob and Jackson wanted to prepare for the birthday celebration for Jackson and Kate and the motivation to get to the gym in between that and the party was low!!

Mutual birthday honorees

Birthday party picture, sisters

Pre-tour in Dharavi

June 7th Mumbai gym. Indoor ride

June 7th was my first bike ride in quite a while!

1:05 on the stationary with a workout I actually enjoyed as notes below. 

Kate joined me this morning and did some treadmill, elliptical, & weights from her chiropractic workout. 

3x 5 minutes zone 1 5 minutes zone 2 build 5 minutes zone 3 criss cross 5 minutes high zone 4 low cadence Cool down 5 minutes easy

Kate's first rickshaw ride- back from lunch

June 6- travel day to Mumbai

Despite the flight from Jaipur to Mumbai, there was a workout scheduled for this afternoon. 

We landed relatively early in the day and Jacob and Jagdish (their driver) picked us up and brought us to their palatial apartment. 

We immediately dumped out all out clothes and did two loads of laundry since we had pretty much sweat through all of our clothes by then!

After that, Jackson got home from work and they walked us over to their gym where they had secured me a free four day pass. 

I had an hour interval run and I was finally feeling human again so it felt good!!  I think I needed some extended rest and I think I'm tuning in to what type or length of taper I may need in August. 

Unfortunately for a couple days prior to that, I had horrible stomach issues (strangely not related to "Delhi belly" or India specifically) and couldn't workout- the extreme heats previously mentioned didn't help. 

Street shrine to Ganesha I'm Mumbai

June 2: travel day/official rest day

I gave my coach my intended itinerary before I left and I tried to outline what facilities I'd have available at each place along the way so we could continue with a reasonable plan.

June 2 was a LONG travel day...

We were picked up at 6am in Delhi and our driver took us 4 hours to Agra where the Taj Mahal is located.  We spent several hours walking around the Taj and the Agra Red Fort before getting back into the car and going the next 5 hours to Jaipur.  We really didn't think it necessary to stay overnight in Agra since we had seen what we wanted to see and thought it best to "wake up" where we wanted to be.

So this day I was "officially" not supposed to train.  I complied!  :)

Map of northern India; cities highlighted

Taj Mahal on a balmy 115F day

The Red Fort, Agra

June 1-3-4-5

I had workouts in my plan for these days, but between jet-lag and some latent stomach issues (upper GI) and the insane (!!!) heat of 115F daily, it was next to impossible to keep up.

We did walk a ton as we were in Delhi, Agra and Jaipur over these days sight seeing like crazy people!

Even when I was getting up at 5am it was 90F+ and super humid with no relief in sight.

Delhi street scene. Note the cow!

Amer Fort detail, Jaipur

View of Jaipur from the Royal (male) cemetery 

My hands w Henna designs. Loved it!!