The Big One, Part I

I knew this weekend was going to be big. Probably my first clue was Jennifer putting "BIG WEEKEND" into Training Peaks. Also her advice that I take Friday off of work. When I first saw this weekend in my training plan, I was scared of it. But as I got closer, I kind of started getting excited for it, and anxious to see how it would turn out.

Two days down, one to go. Friday's Longest Swim Ever (5000 yd) was good, followed by a nice, uneventful 10 mile run. Today was an 80 mile bike, which I almost cut short but I'm glad I didn't. I rode with New Training Buddy Shannon again today, and I'm grateful for that because he's the reason I didn't stop after our first 63-mile loop. I know I would've regretted it. It was a WINDY day but we hung in there.

And got water at the same gas station as last week, and wished to jump into the same ice machine again:


Then this evening, sporting the compression socks, went out to the Greek Festival and ate gyros, yum.

Tomorrow's brick extravaganza? Bring it on!!

Milestone Weekend

Two significant firsts this weekend- first time going over-distance on the bike, and my first 20-mile run.

I was lined up to ride with a guy I had met on a group ride a few weeks ago who is also doing CDA, which was great news since everyone else I know is training for short-course races right now. I know it's important to get a lot of solo riding time to simulate race conditions, but I really just couldn't imagine doing my scheduled 110-miler on Saturday all by myself. I think in the race it'll be different too- I won't be riding *with* anyone per se, but there will be people all around, for most of it anyway. And it's not advisable safety-wise to ride alone on the route I take either. I did do my 100-miler alone and it went well, so I do have that.

Anyway, even though we had made plans to ride together, I was worried it wouldn't end up happening. He was scheduled to be on call for his job so the possibility was there that he wouldn't show up. So when the group was getting ready to roll out at a few minutes to 7 on Saturday morning and I didn't see him, I was bummed but not totally surprised. We started out, the group promptly dropped me as I knew they would since they do their shorter ride much faster than my long-distance pace, so there I was 10 miles into it and looking at 100 more miles of solitude. That also meant I probably had to stay on the 25-mile Hayne Blvd loop, since getting on and off I-510 (to get to the rest of the loop) is something I wouldn't do alone.

Then up ahead, I see a bike coming back down the road towards me. It's Shannon, my riding buddy! He said he started off with the group, figuring I was with them (it's a big group), then Coach Kevin told him I had been looking for him and was probably a little way behind. So he doubled back to find me. Awesome! I was really relieved. We settled into a steady rhythm and got to chatting. At first I felt a little awkward thinking about the fact that I was about to spend 7 hours of one-on-one time with someone I'd only met once. But it worked out really well- he likes to talk, and I like to listen :) (OK so maybe I like talking a little bit too, hehe) He was really considerate about going my pace and not pushing it, which I really appreciated. 110 miles of that would have been annoying, to say the least.

We made a gas station stop at 100.9 miles for some MUCH NEEDED ice cold water.

If that ice maker hadn't been padlocked I think we both would've hopped into it at that point. It was HOT out. I tried to lay up against it while Shannon was inside buying the water, but it was too well insulated so it wasn't cold on the outside. Bummer.

The cold water was amazing and really reenergized me. I joked with Shannon that hey, I'm feeling great, why don't we do another loop while we're at it?? Then when we were a few miles from the parking lot he said, "hey, let's go run a marathon!" Even though we laughed about it, part of me was thinking, holy crap I AM going to do that, and not too long from now!!

The best part about the ride though was that the thunderstorms that had been threatening all day started coming down JUST as we were pulling into the parking lot to finish the ride. I got Stella packed up and got in the truck before it got too bad, and then drove home in crazy torrential rain. Perfect timing! The other best part of the ride? Our 110-miler ended up being 114! I guess four miles isn't too big of a difference at that point, but knowing that I covered more than the IM race distance is a huge mental boost!

Saturday night and Sunday morning were AWESOME. Since I was instructed to do my long run later in the afternoon to simulate race conditions and to give me more time to recover from the ride, I actually got to SLEEP IN on Sunday morning! I can't even remember the last time I did that! It also meant I got to go out to dinner, at a real restaurant, like a real normal person, on Saturday night! Add that to the list of "Things I Didn't Realize I Would Appreciate So Much Before I Started Training For Ironman".

Sunday's run was another milestone- my first time doing 20 miles. I figured out a 5-mile loop route so I'd be able to refuel often enough at the truck. I was halfway through my first loop when I remembered why my legs were feeling kind of tired- "Oh right, I biked yesterday!" I got really lucky on the run with the weather. I just missed the thunderstorms again- I started after they were over this time. Usually that would mean that I'd be running in the post-summer-rain steam bath, but it cooled off quite a bit after the rain so the weather was actually kind of nice. The best part of this workout was that I conned one of my friends into meeting me out there to run the last loop with me. I was feeling pretty good, but having the company was still a definite boost.

When we were in the last mile, I started thinking about the progression of my long runs. I remember back when my long run was 12 miles, that miles 11 and 12 had been pretty painful. But that as the distance had gotten longer, it was still just the last two that were tough. So yesterday, it was 19 and 20 that were a little tough and 11 and 12 were no sweat. Isn't it cool how the body adapts? And this morning, I do feel a little bit creaky and sore, but way better than I remember feeling after that first 12-miler. So not only am I able to go longer, but it seems like I'm recovering faster. I'm fascinated by this, in a science-project kind of way.

(Speaking of science project, you should have seen my kitchen when I was trying to prepare my nutrition for this weekend! "OK if I want 600-800 mg of sodium per hour, 150 cal from my drink and 100 from solids, 32 oz of fluid per hour, and I'm going to be out there this long...." Mad scientist territory, for sure!)

So one more big weekend is in the books. Two more left. And because these last two are the biggest, I get TWO days off this week and next! Woot! After anxiously anticipating this month of workouts for so long, it feels really good to be in the middle of it and actually making it.

Week's totals (5/11 - 5/17):
Swim- 8600 yards
Bike- ~145 miles
Run- 30.6 miles
Total Time- 17:06

Becoming...

Made it through another tough weekend. Three more Build weeks before starting my taper. Weekends used to be a time to rest and recuperate from the long week. Now, the weekdays are my downtime that I use to recover from/prepare for my weekends! I actually get up earlier on Saturday and Sunday now than I do during the week. Sleeping in? What's that? I vaguely remember something like that, it seems so long ago...

This weekend ended up being tougher than I thought it would be. I knew Sunday's long brick was going to be a challenge and I'd been psyching myself up for that. I figured the long bike on Saturday would be OK since it was shorter than the previous week's long ride, which had gone well. So when I could tell within the first few miles that Saturday's ride was going to be a struggle, I wasn't quite prepared for that. Nutrition and hydration worked out fine, the wind was there but it wasn't terrible, I just wasn't feeling it. My legs were tired and I was sleepy-tired too. I remember when A told me how he crashed his bike on the levee a year or two ago. He was training for either Ironman or Ultraman, was on a 6+ hour ride, and fell asleep while riding and crashed. It was a funny story but I really didn't "get it" at the time. Well, I get it now! It didn't happen to me but it was close a few times.

I was bummed out that the ride hadn't gone very well, because it worried me that maybe I was doing something wrong. Was I eating right? Sleeping enough? Getting enough sleep has been a struggle for me for a long time but I'd actually done pretty well that week leading up to the ride. Then I thought, well, I *am* in the biggest month of training right now, doing the most volume I've ever done- maybe I'm supposed to feel a little bit like this? Maybe I just have to get myself through these next few weeks, and then I'll get a bunch of energy back during my taper. Or maybe it was just "one of those days".

An interesting thing occurred to me as I was biking/running this weekend though. I was thinking about the tough time I was having and I was mentally going over the next few weekends' workouts, trying to imagine what it would be like and how I'd get through them. I admit I was (and am) a little intimidated. Then I thought, wait a minute- if I can get through these next few weekends of training, I CAN do Ironman. I'm doing approximately an Ironman or more over the course of the weekend each of the next three weeks. So if I can do that three weekends in a row, with no taper and while still doing my regular weekday schedule of training and work, hey- I can handle CDA! Wow, what a thought. It was one of those light-bulb moments. My ratio of excited:terrified for June 21st just jumped up on the side of excited. It's going to be a LOT of work to get there, and it's going to be a ton of work once I do get there, but for the first time I think I actually feel like I might show up prepared. Yes, I know my coach has told me over and over that I would be, and yes Jen I do trust you! But you know me, if I'm not worrying about something, check my pulse.

The sleep thing is going to be my biggest challenge over these next few weeks. I know that if I can get my body enough rest, the workouts can only feel better. So far this week I've slept more, but still not enough. It's a start.

Last week's training totals (5/4 - 5/10):
Swim- 7960 yards
Bike- ~125 miles
Run- 28.9 miles
Total Time- 15:18

Run Naked!

Ah, those hot, still, sultry New Orleans nights. When the temperature doesn't go down just because the sun does. Summer is just about here. A perfect night for a naked run. It was my first "no gadgets" run in a long time, and I was excited as I put on my run stuff and left the HRM strap behind. Since it was a short easy run, and because I was so into the naked idea, I even decided to... are you ready for this? go WITHOUT my calf sleeve! I'm not trying to wean myself off of it per se, but I am interested to know if I actually *need* it or not. A few minutes into the run, I started getting a funny feeling in my shin. Stopped and stretched and it went away. Phew! It was probably a complete mental thing anyway.

I had to laugh at myself as I walked out the door. As I was stepping outside, I had a brief moment of, "wait, how do I do this without my Garmin??" I quickly reminded myself that you run with your legs, not your wristwatch, and all was well. It felt GOOD actually! Liberating! Running without the calf sleeve, I felt like a little kid trying to get away with something just so slightly naughty. And after just having a good swim workout where I surprised myself both with my times and with how good it felt, I was definitely enjoying my night. So, try it! Run naked! You'll like it :)

In other news, I did my first century ride on Saturday! 100 miles, in the bank! Coach Kevin rode with me on the first 25-mile loop, but he and the rest of the GNOTri crew were racing Crawfishman the next day so the other three loops were all by my lonesome. I didn't plan ahead very well and found myself out of water on the third loop with no money to buy more. I stopped at a convenience store that I figured would have a fountain soda machine that I could get water out of, but no luck. They didn't have one. And there's not much out there on Hayne Blvd so options are limited. So I was totally thrilled when, just as I was leaving to find another place, a nice lady offered to buy me a bottle of water. She went in to the store, leaving me with Stella outside, and brought out a big bottle for me a minute later. Thank you, nice lady!!

In keeping with the "longest-ever" theme that my weekends have become, I then did my LRE (Longest Run Ever) on Sunday. Three loops, with some speedwork on the last loop. Although I was tired by then, I was excited to do some faster intervals since it means my coach must be pretty happy with my base level at this point which is encouraging. Both the ride and the run definitely felt long, and it was hot for the run, but really I didn't feel too bad. Also encouraging.

Unfortunately I had to miss Jazzfest, for the first time since I moved here. Where I was running in City Park, I was able to hear some of the music drifting out of the Fairgrounds, and I saw lots of people walking and biking over that way. So at least I got to share in the excitement a little bit :)



Last Week's Training Totals (4/27 - 5/3), Swim-Focus Week:
Swim- 10500 yards
Bike- ~135 miles
Run- 21.5 miles
Total Time- 16:01

IM CDA Training Camp For One

I've been back from CDA for days, but just getting the chance to write about it now! What an awesome trip. I am SO glad I went. George the swim coach gave me crap about it, saying basically that he thought it was a silly idea, but I don't care. It was really important to me to be able to see the course before I got there for the race. I think that alone reduced my anxiety factor by about a hundred. Which means it's still at around eight zillion, but hey that's just how I roll.

I was really anxious to see just how killer the hills would be. I had gone back and forth in my mind between "OMG I'm never going to be able to make it" to "maybe it will be kind of fun?" and back again. Coach Neil did say that CDA didn't have anything as scary as Nasty Grade on the WF course, but I didn't know if he was just trying to boost my confidence.

There was a bit of a setback- at the last minute my training buddy couldn't go and I had to scramble around to find someone to go with me. My good friend Mick was sooo gracious to offer to go with me a different weekend even though he really didn't have time for it, but for my schedule this weekend really worked out best. Luckily, after some convincing/coercion/bribery I had Erik lined up to be my sherpa and SAG wagon driver. Phew. Got Stella packed up and I was on my way.


Sing with me now- "It's my bike in a box..."


First impressions- wow they aren't kidding when they say this place is beautiful. That barely begins to describe it. Mountains, trees, lakes, well-kept small-town city blocks, friendly people, sun and sky as far as you can see. Just walking around the town and breathing the crisp air was getting me excited for June 21st.



After settling in at the house on Friday afternoon (if anyone needs a place to stay when visiting CDA, I'll give you the name of the people whose house I rented- fantastic!) and putting Humpty Dumpty, I mean Stella, back together again, it was time for an easy spin ride of the run course. Erik came along, riding one of the bikes the people left for us in the garage. The run course winds through town, zigzagging through the city blocks down to the lake and then up to the Centennial Trail, which runs alongside a main road and winds up down next to the lake again. Almost the whole way on the Centennial Trail, you've got the lake immediately to your right (left on the way back) and you can look out at the mountains and forests on the other side, the misty clouds hanging in the trees, the boats on the lake. Gorgeous. Then the rest of the run is through town, where you can look at the nice houses and cute shops. Much better than my usual run on the levee down here, where the view practically never changes. A trip to the grocery store to get some food for the weekend rounded out the day. Day One- success!

Saturday, the plan was to ride a loop of the bike course (it's a 2-loop course, like the run) then run an hour on the run course. Since I was by myself, the temptation to sleep in was strong but I knew I didn't want to be going until late so I got out there around 9am or so. It was chilly!! Leg warmers, arm warmers, jacket, and gloves were very necessary. I piled my extra water, SE concentrate, extra food, pump and assorted other goodies into the rented Vue (which was a trooper all weekend) and took off. The plan was to meet Erik for the first refuel/map check on the way out of town, about 45 minutes in. I only had two maps. One was the course map from the IM CDA website, which had the route on it but not all the street names. The other wasn't even a map but a list of all the streets you had to turn on. I didn't think to print out two copies of each and there was no printer at the house, so Erik took the route map and I took the street list. Over the course of the ride we met up several times to compare maps and make sure we were still going the right way.






For the first 15 miles or so, the course was flat and I was just spinning easy. So far, so good! I saw some other bikers out and I wondered if they were locals or if they were doing the same thing I was. Or maybe both. After heading north and getting out of CDA proper, I entered Hayden/Hayden Lake area and got my first taste of the hills. A few SCR climbs but nothing bad yet. Approaching Hayden Lake, the roads and scenery started reminding me a lot of the Finger Lakes region of New York, back up at home. There were the cottages along the shore, narrow winding shady streets and awesome views across the lake to the other side. I wanted to stare out at it but quickly realized I better keep looking at the road. I turned onto English Point Rd and started going down, down, down. It was kind of nice going downhill, but all I kept thinking was that every foot I went down was another foot I had to eventually climb back UP! From looking at the route map and profile, I knew that the big hill, called The Wall, was coming up soon. I was nervous but not panicked like I was at WF, for whatever reason. A few more SCR climbs and then I turned a corner and found myself on a pretty long, fairly steep climb. I got down to my easiest gear and cranked up it. Towards the end I stood once, then sat again, and wow I was at the top! Was that it? The Wall?? No way! I didn't even feel like crying! I met up with Erik at the parking lot of the trailhead at the top of the hill, refilled, and headed off again. Made the turn on to Lancaster and started down a sweet downhill. I settled into my aerobars for what I figured would be a nice rest to catch my breath and get my legs back under me. Came around a turn and was smacked in the face by what seemed like a vertical wall of road in front of me. Holy Crap! Oh well, just suck it up and pedal, I told myself. It turned out that as I came up on it, it really wasn't as impressively vertical as it seemed from far away. It was tough, but I didn't even have to get out of the saddle once. There was also a small stretch near the top where it leveled out slightly before continuing to rise, giving me a nice little mini-break. A lot of the hills on the course turned out to be that way.

For a while, the course was pretty similar to that. Some climbing, some flats, some downhills. Nothing killer, but they did keep coming. I counted at least 7 SCR climbs, about half of them requiring my easiest gear (I'm riding a 27 cassette right now). The toughest roads, after English Point, were Dodd, Rimrock, and Hudlow. There were also a few technical parts where you had to make right-angle turns right off of a downhill. If it rains, some of those might be sketchy. After turning back onto Government Way, the road that leads back to town, I was back in the BCR and stayed in it the rest of the way. So almost all of the climbing is in the middle section, and you get a nice breather at the end of the first loop and beginning of the second before you have to start climbing hard again.








Back at the house, I was fairly tired but thrilled at how bad I DIDN'T feel! Quick change and then out to run. Erik took (another) one for the team and accompanied me on a bike. An hour later and wow, my first training day was done! And it was only around 3:30! We went out to dinner that night at a pretty nice restaurant in town called Brix, then I turned in to get some sleep before an even bigger day on Sunday. Day Two- success!

Sunday came around, and due to not feeling so great after waking up I ended up getting started later than the day before even though I'd wanted to start earlier. Oh well. I took some advil and lay around for a while, then was good to go. The agenda for the day was another loop ride then a two hour run. The ride this time went even better than last time. We didn't have to stop as often because we pretty much knew where we were going. It was definitely hard work, but knowing what to expect did help a lot. Coach had said that today was going to be tough, so I did have some worry in the back of my mind about the run even though I was feeling fine so far. Nutrition and hydration worked fine, as it had the previous day. I'm really happy with my nutrition plan. I didn't take too many Endurolytes though because it was pretty cold and I wasn't sweating excessively.

Back at the house again, time for the second half of the brick. I was tired, but not dying. Erik again graciously volunteered as my gel-flask-and-Endurolyte-holder for the run (or at least succumbed to my guilt trip). I kept waiting for something to happen, like my legs to totally die or to hit some kind of wall or something, but it never did. I had been envisioning today to be a day of gutting it out, getting some really hard training in the books, but I ended up just having another nice run. The weather wasn't perfect, it was cloudy and rained a little, but I was feeling fine. After both of the bike loops, I was feeling OK but not sure about being able to do another one. After almost an entire run loop, I was definitely feeling like I could do another. I took that as a pretty good sign.

And then, I realized- I had made it through my weekend! Still standing! And I didn't even cry once! Day Three- success!! I felt SO much better now that I had a pretty good handle on the bike and run courses. Even the tough parts didn't seem as scary now because I had done them and knew what to expect. And even just walking down the streets of CDA, knowing I've been there before and recognizing the sights, is going to have such a calming effect on me come June. And at that point I will need ALL the calming I can get. I'm still partially terrified, but I think I can say that my excitement is actually starting to outweigh my terror. And for me, that's huge! It would've been nice to be able to get in the lake, but the water's still in the 40s so that didn't happen.




Weekly Training Totals (4/20-4/26):
Swim- 7150 yards
Bike- 135 miles
Run- 28 miles
Total Time- 16:31