lets start with last monday...
i was supposed to do the masters swim workout and then a track workout. but i could hardly walk up stairs. i got up for the swim but when after the 1200yd warm up the coach said, ok 4x500 i said hahahaha and said ok how about 1x500. so that is what I did with a 50 cool down tacked on the end.
the track workout got moved to tuesday and wasn't even on the track. i did it while running around seward park. i set my garmin to what i thought might get me to what I was supposed to do and i got pretty darn close, if the distance was actually what it was supposed to be. i did 4x400 with 400 rest between plus a mile at the end. the 400s were descending 1:45 to 1:35 and I actually sort of pulled it off this time, with the mile supposed to be 6:59 but that came in at 7:10. i was still pretty happy because it was windy as hell and who really knows how far I went for any of it. Wednesday was an hr easy on the trainer while I watched some bride wars and thursday was a 20 minute swim. since i totally wussed on the LUNA swim on Tuesday out in Lake Washington, I braved Beaver Lake with Leslie. It was actually quite pleasant and only once did I think about there being an earth quake with the earth under the lake opening up and sucking us down. i am so over dead bodies and sea creatures. i have moved on to earth quakes. duh.
early saturday we packed up the kids and headed to yakima. When we got there it was about 85 degrees and super sunny. We went for a 45 minute run and it was hot. and we didn't really know where we were going so we wound up being out for 50. Thankfully we took a water bottle but I went through the whole thing. Then we jumped on the bikes and rode for 30 minutes but actually wound up out for 34 but who's counting. Its so beautiful out there on all country roads and with the sun and all it was super nice. then we just relaxed the rest of the day. i soooo wanted to sit in the sun and soak it up but knew it wouldn't be the best idea. food choices for lunch (taco bell) and dinner (hot dogs and baked beans) were not ideal but since we are so bad about nutrition anyway it wasn't too disruptive. plus we made sure to have a really good dinner friday night anyway.
i got into bed around 9ish and i was ready and tired. i slept terrible and was wide awake at 3:30 but still had another hour. i fell back asleep and then was up with the alarm went off. we were on the road by 4:30 since my alarm is actually 10 minutes fast and the sun was already coming up. it was about 60 degrees and beautiful out.
so we drove the almost 3 hrs to walla walla. i had PB&J at 6am which is standard race morning breakfast for me. in walla walla we stopped at the albertsons for a potty break and so eric could get coffee at the starbucks there. good lord i was feeling sick at albertsons. every where I turned i saw something that was going to make me hurl. not sure what that was about but it did concern me. i couldn't get out of there quick enough and was happy to get back on the road.
we got to the race site and i picked up my registration. one thing the onionman is good for is the schwag. they gave us red fleece beenies and tshirts this year. last year they gave towels that I use every time I go swimming. hooray!
It was WINDY. i was fine with that although worried about how the wind would affect the swim. I knew everyone would be in the same boat and was just happy it was not raining like last year. eric wasn't racing but he put on his wetsuit and i sat in the car and watched him swim the course - two loops of a big triangle. he said the wind wasn't an issue so i was a little releived.
the pre-race meeting went long but i hurried down to the water and got in for a bit. i was supposed to do a 10 minute warm up - something I have never done for a triathlon and certainly never would have chosen on my own to do in the water. not sure if it was 10 minutes but i got out there and felt pretty good and was happy the water temp was nice. then i stood on the shore waiting for the race to start.
i usually line up way in the back, like backest back but everyone was so spread out left to right that i just kind of got up in there and we were off.
i haven't ever been in the mix of such an aggressive start so I was a little taken aback by all the people clawing on me. i got kicked in the head but kept my goggles so i was happy. it was pretty exciting and not once during the swim did any of my totally irrational fears of swimming cross my mind. i did wind up doing way more breast stroke than i had hoped because every time I would get kicked or grabbed it threw me off a little and i used it to recover. i haven't ever been in a race where I've had ppl on me the whole race. i was pretty stoked when i didn't get lapped and all in all the swim was pretty good. eric watched from the shore and one poor woman didn't realize it was a 2 lap course. she came all the way back to shore and was sent back out for lap 2. that would suuuuck.
swim time was 34:42 compared to 41:42 last year. top guys were finishing in about 21 which was the same as last year so the course must have been pretty much the same.
t1- in the past i didn't ever work very hard in the swim so i could jump right out of the water and book it to transition. but i was pretty beat coming out and we had to run uphill. i ran but it was slow. transition time was 2:29 compared to 4:53 las year (yikes! but i did put on arm warmers and a vest last year, too!)
instantly i caught about 5 people within the first mile or two and then i kept passing people, but only two in my age group. i got passed by an old dude on a fancy bike on the way out. i continued to pass a ton of people. the bike course is amazingly beautiful. all up hill but beautiful. the way back is all down hill and although I was in my big ring, pedalling the whole time and in my aero bars, i got passed by probably another 5 dudes. about 5 miles from the end two girls from the younger age group passed me but then I passed them back when it flattened out and we started up hill again. my quads were tight to start out with but felt ok after a while but my knees were aching. i think my aero position might be off. i meant to have two clif shots but one fell out somewhere so I had to ration the one I had. i had 1/2 at like 20 minutes in and then the other 1/2 at some point after that I can't remember. i drank most of my bottle of LUNA Sport Elecrtolyte Splash Pink Grapefruit, the best stuff ever.
nothing new on race day, right? ok, so yeah, i have worn my tri shorts to ride on the trainer and in a mtn bike race but hadn't worn them for an extended period of time and definitly not in aero position. i had a few issues but nothing seemed too horrible i hoped!
bike time was 1:19:36 compared to 1:26:04 last year. i moved up 30 spots overall after the bike. i thought I would do better than that but i imagine most of that time was made up on the uphill and i did feel pretty good the whole time.
t2 - 1:10 compared to 1:15. i dug around to find that missing clif shot and my pony tail holder (curses to the fantasy hair!!) next time i'll put it on my wrist and likely tape the clif shots to the bike.
oh the run. i was dying. i had to pee and it was about 8947235602 degrees out. i got a mile in when i hopped into the bushes. same thing happened last year but i held it then and i was super uncomfortable.
the run starts on a dirt trail but then changes to a paved bike path along a river or something.
i saw a giant snake, prolly 3-4 ft long cross in front of me. i am seeing snakes constantly this year. at about 3 miles I felt pretty good. i was just running along passing people. i did get passed by those two girls from the end of the bike and one other super speedy runner girl from the younger age group. i think i was passed by one guy but i passed more people, too but only one from my age group. i walked through the water stop at mile 4 and then through a giant shade patch later in mile 5. i knew the last mile was back on the dirt trail and had a lot of uphill. i remember walking those last year but i ran them all this time. and i passed another girl in my age group! almost to the end i started to run really hard and passed probably another 2 or 3 but i was running so hard that all i wanted to do was stop. the finish line was in sight and all i wanted to do was walk. it took everything to not stop before getting to it.
run time 51:27 compared to 55:01. i moved up another 20 spots overall after the run. really, that's not too far off my 10k pr of 49:44, but I think I could have run harder. i would not have passed on stopping in the bushes though.
total finish time: 2:49:25 compared to 3:08:56. my main goals of the race were to be under 3hrs, have a faster swim and hopfully not be slower anywhere else. i am quite happy with how things turned out. and i came in 3rd in my age group was a super pleasant surprise. top woman overall was about 30 minutes ahead of me.
another thing about the onionman is the awesome bbq after the race. since i had placed, which was shocking and exciting i changed into podium attire and we stuck around for a bit longer. i picked up my prize, a glass onionman mug and then we jumped into the car for the 3hrs back to yakima.
after a quick dinner we loaded the car with the rest of our stuff and the kids and were off for another 3hrs. the kids were asleep instantly and stayed asleep until maybe 30 minutes before we got home. when we got home they put on their pjs and jumped into bed. they had had a crazy day of Yakima sun and breathing fresh country air.
what a great day!!! today was a nice day of relaxing. it was beautiful out but i spent the whole day indoors, what was i thinking??? idaho is soon. i am pretty excited. i was kind of nervous about onionman because i had some goals but for the idaho race I really have no idea what to expect and really just want to go and have fun! i think i will!
Monday, May 25, 2009
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
dude the time is flying.
that friday i had a rest day which i needed. i have been a bit tired and work has been nutty and such. saturday we got up to take eric to the cougar mtn trail run race, it was the first of the season, a 5 miler. i wasn't so sure i wanted to go hang around but we went and it was fun. the kids and i hiked up the dirt road a while and stood with hands out for slapping right before the ppl went into the single track. lots of people headed over to slap the kids hands which made them happy. then we went on a hike! and saw a snake!! mind you i had seen a snake the previous saturday on my run right there in the neighborhood. i don't dig the snakes very much. but we saw one and it was slithering away. eric did really well in his race! he is a really fast runner!!
then we went rigth to the ferry boat in mukulteo. i got all suited up and then all of us and my bike walked onto the ferry. when we got to the other side eric and the kids walked around and went to the beach and stuff and i headed over to the race site. it was supposedly only 3 miles away but turned into 5 somehow. and it was all uphill! but i got there, talked to some of the LUNA chix, too. the mtn bike team was having a clinic with LUNA Pro Katerina Nash and they were on break when I showed up. then i went out for a lap. there were 3 sections I couldn't ride on first attempt. two of them I made 2nd attempts and one of them i cleared. it took 40 minutes to do the lap and i said - oh no, its going to be a looong race. then back to the ferry. eric and the kids were already on so i just rolled on in, too and we headed home.
sunday we woke up leisurly and left the house at 9. we got to the ferry and took the car on it this time. we drove to the race site and parked in bfe. we all walked over to registration. eric got registered and then registered the kids. then i chatter with a few people and registered, too. i was worried about the race because it was really warm that day and my race wasn't until 2. it reminded me of back when i stopped raceing long time ago - i was dnf'ing all the time because i would have been in the sun all day then was totally spent by the time my race came about. so i figured there was a 40% chance I might not race. but i registered so at least then i knew i would start the race. the kids race started and sara helped sirus and i helped seamus. they have a good race for the kids here, its actually pretty long and quite challenging but seamus was awesome, and sirus rode his big bike. there are these giant sand hills and i guess sirus wouldn't get off his bike and walk up and over like the other kids so eric and sara had to push him up and then pull him over. pretty funny. then eric's race was off. i feel bad because the kids and i spent most of eric's race chilling in the car or chilling in sara's tent. we didn't hand off water bottles and only did a little bit of cheering.
about an hr before my race i went to get changed. sara and amy said they would watch the kids, so i did a quick 10 minute warm up! where i saw another snake! then back to hang with the kids. and then eric finished his race and took over. i went to the bathroom one last time and while in line threw up a little in my mouth. wtf was that?
then off to the starting line. then we were off. i was about 5th off the bat. its a long straight start then kind of heads off and up. i went past two people, maybe 3. then we hit that first sand hill - the one that in my pre-ride i couldn't get over for some reason. the girl infront of me stopped and kind of fell at the top and so did i. i grabbed my bike and ran down the other side. doing so i gave up those two spots again. i think i was in 4th. then it was go go go. i took another spot and then i don't know what happened. one of the girls broke her chain. so now i was in 3rd. i was right on 2nd place for most of the race, occasionally going back and forth with her. we passed a ton of the men, which was pretty exciting. i was working hard but really time (other than those first 5 or so minutes) did I feel like stopping or even letting up. i did think about how i might bail on my run after though. but i kept going. then the girl i was battling with started having some mechanicals. she was faster then me on the descents but i was faster on the uphills. and next thing you know i was in 2nd. i held that for 3/4 of the last lap maybe? and then it was over. i went to the car and changed my clothes and said, ok, maybe i'll just run for 15. but i wound up being out for 38. i started out on the dirt road then wound up on the course. it was pretty fun although I did walk a few of the hills. while i was gone seamus acceted my 2nd place award for me which I would have liked to have seen because she is so darn cute.
then we finally headed out. the line for the ferry was 1:30 so we went to DQ and i didn't even get a blizzard! i was blown from the race and it just sounded terrible. we decided to drive the long way around and go over deception pass which was really pretty. the kids fell asleep quickly but seamus eventually woke up and told us all about how going on th ferry would have been quicker. she cried and cried and when I tried to console her she said she just needed to cry for a little bit. so she did and then she was done.
i was so happy when we got home but we still needed to unload the car and get everyone into the bathtub since they were DIRTY.
then we went rigth to the ferry boat in mukulteo. i got all suited up and then all of us and my bike walked onto the ferry. when we got to the other side eric and the kids walked around and went to the beach and stuff and i headed over to the race site. it was supposedly only 3 miles away but turned into 5 somehow. and it was all uphill! but i got there, talked to some of the LUNA chix, too. the mtn bike team was having a clinic with LUNA Pro Katerina Nash and they were on break when I showed up. then i went out for a lap. there were 3 sections I couldn't ride on first attempt. two of them I made 2nd attempts and one of them i cleared. it took 40 minutes to do the lap and i said - oh no, its going to be a looong race. then back to the ferry. eric and the kids were already on so i just rolled on in, too and we headed home.
sunday we woke up leisurly and left the house at 9. we got to the ferry and took the car on it this time. we drove to the race site and parked in bfe. we all walked over to registration. eric got registered and then registered the kids. then i chatter with a few people and registered, too. i was worried about the race because it was really warm that day and my race wasn't until 2. it reminded me of back when i stopped raceing long time ago - i was dnf'ing all the time because i would have been in the sun all day then was totally spent by the time my race came about. so i figured there was a 40% chance I might not race. but i registered so at least then i knew i would start the race. the kids race started and sara helped sirus and i helped seamus. they have a good race for the kids here, its actually pretty long and quite challenging but seamus was awesome, and sirus rode his big bike. there are these giant sand hills and i guess sirus wouldn't get off his bike and walk up and over like the other kids so eric and sara had to push him up and then pull him over. pretty funny. then eric's race was off. i feel bad because the kids and i spent most of eric's race chilling in the car or chilling in sara's tent. we didn't hand off water bottles and only did a little bit of cheering.
about an hr before my race i went to get changed. sara and amy said they would watch the kids, so i did a quick 10 minute warm up! where i saw another snake! then back to hang with the kids. and then eric finished his race and took over. i went to the bathroom one last time and while in line threw up a little in my mouth. wtf was that?
then off to the starting line. then we were off. i was about 5th off the bat. its a long straight start then kind of heads off and up. i went past two people, maybe 3. then we hit that first sand hill - the one that in my pre-ride i couldn't get over for some reason. the girl infront of me stopped and kind of fell at the top and so did i. i grabbed my bike and ran down the other side. doing so i gave up those two spots again. i think i was in 4th. then it was go go go. i took another spot and then i don't know what happened. one of the girls broke her chain. so now i was in 3rd. i was right on 2nd place for most of the race, occasionally going back and forth with her. we passed a ton of the men, which was pretty exciting. i was working hard but really time (other than those first 5 or so minutes) did I feel like stopping or even letting up. i did think about how i might bail on my run after though. but i kept going. then the girl i was battling with started having some mechanicals. she was faster then me on the descents but i was faster on the uphills. and next thing you know i was in 2nd. i held that for 3/4 of the last lap maybe? and then it was over. i went to the car and changed my clothes and said, ok, maybe i'll just run for 15. but i wound up being out for 38. i started out on the dirt road then wound up on the course. it was pretty fun although I did walk a few of the hills. while i was gone seamus acceted my 2nd place award for me which I would have liked to have seen because she is so darn cute.
then we finally headed out. the line for the ferry was 1:30 so we went to DQ and i didn't even get a blizzard! i was blown from the race and it just sounded terrible. we decided to drive the long way around and go over deception pass which was really pretty. the kids fell asleep quickly but seamus eventually woke up and told us all about how going on th ferry would have been quicker. she cried and cried and when I tried to console her she said she just needed to cry for a little bit. so she did and then she was done.
i was so happy when we got home but we still needed to unload the car and get everyone into the bathtub since they were DIRTY.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
i'm bopping my head
to motley crue on bones. WTF. i do love me some tommy lee though although they aren't giving him nearly enough screen time..
on saturday eric and i had the rare opportunity to get out and go mtn biking together. just the two of us. we went out to fall city. i hadn't ever been there but eric has been a ton. it was perfect for what I needed to do that day but i prolly won't go there on a fun girls ride ever. there was a ton of road climbing. a ton. which was good because i was able to work hard and get up that hill. and there was a fun uphill single track climb with switch backs that we did twice that i was pretty happy i made it up in my middle ring! the parts that were single track were really fun and pretty technical so i got to work on my skills. there were some tricky decents and a few totally sketchy down hill switchbacks that i did not do but i did do one that was pretty tricky so i was pretty happy. it was a ton of fun. mark from work and his wife were watching the kids so we rushed home so they could go about the rest of their day. the kids looooved them. sirus has named mark as one of his boyz. hopefully we can get them to baby sit again! then off on a 20 minute run real quick.
then we all got dressed up, except sirus, he wore shots and a ghost shirt, and went out to dinner to celebrate mother's day. and i got trashed and ate a TON. it was sooooo good. so good and exactly what i needed. the kids were a ton of fun ad it was a great evening.
sunday was a rest day and mother's day! the kids brought me cards and breakfast in bed. eric took the kids to pick out cards. he showed them where the mother's day cards and said they could pick out any they wanted. sirus picked out one with some candy on the front and when you opened it it played that son "i want candy." he loved that card and would open it and wiggle his funny little dance. thats all great and all except on the inside of the card was a dude in a banana hammock!! pretty funny. eric said he tried to get sirus to change his mind but he really wanted that one. the kids and i went and got them some new summer clothes and then we went and got them some hair cuts. waaaay cute!
monday i couldn't want up in time so i missed masters. i need to stop that but xtie meet me at mercer island. i did a pretty hard workout and am sticking to my thought that its a meters pool. i didn't get home until almost 10. ugh.
tuesday was our very first LUNA ride - so fun!!! i showed up early and went out for 40 minutes first on my own since i had a workout i needed to do. then all the girls showed up and we headed out on the sammamish river trail and up and around the hollywood hill loop. wow! that was fun! i only managed 3 of the 5 zn 4 efforts i was supposed to do but I did go 20+ minutes longer than I was supposed to. once again, I didn't get home until late, this time after 8.
but on wednesday i was able to get up for masters. part of what got me out of bed was that i knew I wouldn't have to go again until monday. i am not very swim motivated right now. but i wore the hamburger suit and had fun. i realized 1/2 the battle is getting out of bed and the other 1/2 is getting in the water. the actual workout isn't a battle, its generally fun and i usually like it.
that night eric dropped the kids off at my work and we hung out there for a little then the 3 of us went to sirus's favorite place ever, red robin. he wanted a hangaburger (as he calls them) with a side of corn dog. we had fun. they were both really good and i was happy to spend the time with them. it seems like i just don't get to do that nearly enough.
after they went to bed i did a 45 minute run on the treadmill and was finally done at 9pm. these lte night workouts are not the best.
today i was worried about the track workout. i was excited but worried. this morning i had an egg sandwich at home but while i was driving to work i was so starving still that i went to starbucks and got a scone. i just knew i would never make it until snack time. we had some out of towners in the office so we went to lunch and i chowed down on the awesomest firebread pizza ever. but yeah, it was too much and it made me kind of dehydrated and burpy the rest of the day. all this helped add to the not so sure about the track workout. amy met me at the house and we ran down to the track. i was to do 4x1200 with the first in 5:20 and the last in 5:05, each with a 3 minute lap in between. lest just day i did 4x1200 but not how it was supposed to go. first one was 4:59 and the remaining 3 were 5:20. ??? that and i almost left it all out on the track. ugh that wouldn't have been pretty. i am happy with how hard i went but not happy with how i don't know how to pace. i guess that is a skill i will have to learn.
tomorrow is a rest day although I am supposed to do some core work. then OMG i just looked at my schedule, and I am just like yikes! saturday is a 50 minute pre-ride, sunday is a mtn bike race followed by a 40 minute zn3-4 run. then monday i have masters swimming and another track workout! its not as long, only 4x400s but the are fast and followed by a 1 mile! and then!!! on tuesday i am doing an open water swim in water that is supposedly only 46 degrees. yikes! wish me luck but really i might bail on the open water swim!
on saturday eric and i had the rare opportunity to get out and go mtn biking together. just the two of us. we went out to fall city. i hadn't ever been there but eric has been a ton. it was perfect for what I needed to do that day but i prolly won't go there on a fun girls ride ever. there was a ton of road climbing. a ton. which was good because i was able to work hard and get up that hill. and there was a fun uphill single track climb with switch backs that we did twice that i was pretty happy i made it up in my middle ring! the parts that were single track were really fun and pretty technical so i got to work on my skills. there were some tricky decents and a few totally sketchy down hill switchbacks that i did not do but i did do one that was pretty tricky so i was pretty happy. it was a ton of fun. mark from work and his wife were watching the kids so we rushed home so they could go about the rest of their day. the kids looooved them. sirus has named mark as one of his boyz. hopefully we can get them to baby sit again! then off on a 20 minute run real quick.
then we all got dressed up, except sirus, he wore shots and a ghost shirt, and went out to dinner to celebrate mother's day. and i got trashed and ate a TON. it was sooooo good. so good and exactly what i needed. the kids were a ton of fun ad it was a great evening.
sunday was a rest day and mother's day! the kids brought me cards and breakfast in bed. eric took the kids to pick out cards. he showed them where the mother's day cards and said they could pick out any they wanted. sirus picked out one with some candy on the front and when you opened it it played that son "i want candy." he loved that card and would open it and wiggle his funny little dance. thats all great and all except on the inside of the card was a dude in a banana hammock!! pretty funny. eric said he tried to get sirus to change his mind but he really wanted that one. the kids and i went and got them some new summer clothes and then we went and got them some hair cuts. waaaay cute!
monday i couldn't want up in time so i missed masters. i need to stop that but xtie meet me at mercer island. i did a pretty hard workout and am sticking to my thought that its a meters pool. i didn't get home until almost 10. ugh.
tuesday was our very first LUNA ride - so fun!!! i showed up early and went out for 40 minutes first on my own since i had a workout i needed to do. then all the girls showed up and we headed out on the sammamish river trail and up and around the hollywood hill loop. wow! that was fun! i only managed 3 of the 5 zn 4 efforts i was supposed to do but I did go 20+ minutes longer than I was supposed to. once again, I didn't get home until late, this time after 8.
but on wednesday i was able to get up for masters. part of what got me out of bed was that i knew I wouldn't have to go again until monday. i am not very swim motivated right now. but i wore the hamburger suit and had fun. i realized 1/2 the battle is getting out of bed and the other 1/2 is getting in the water. the actual workout isn't a battle, its generally fun and i usually like it.
that night eric dropped the kids off at my work and we hung out there for a little then the 3 of us went to sirus's favorite place ever, red robin. he wanted a hangaburger (as he calls them) with a side of corn dog. we had fun. they were both really good and i was happy to spend the time with them. it seems like i just don't get to do that nearly enough.
after they went to bed i did a 45 minute run on the treadmill and was finally done at 9pm. these lte night workouts are not the best.
today i was worried about the track workout. i was excited but worried. this morning i had an egg sandwich at home but while i was driving to work i was so starving still that i went to starbucks and got a scone. i just knew i would never make it until snack time. we had some out of towners in the office so we went to lunch and i chowed down on the awesomest firebread pizza ever. but yeah, it was too much and it made me kind of dehydrated and burpy the rest of the day. all this helped add to the not so sure about the track workout. amy met me at the house and we ran down to the track. i was to do 4x1200 with the first in 5:20 and the last in 5:05, each with a 3 minute lap in between. lest just day i did 4x1200 but not how it was supposed to go. first one was 4:59 and the remaining 3 were 5:20. ??? that and i almost left it all out on the track. ugh that wouldn't have been pretty. i am happy with how hard i went but not happy with how i don't know how to pace. i guess that is a skill i will have to learn.
tomorrow is a rest day although I am supposed to do some core work. then OMG i just looked at my schedule, and I am just like yikes! saturday is a 50 minute pre-ride, sunday is a mtn bike race followed by a 40 minute zn3-4 run. then monday i have masters swimming and another track workout! its not as long, only 4x400s but the are fast and followed by a 1 mile! and then!!! on tuesday i am doing an open water swim in water that is supposedly only 46 degrees. yikes! wish me luck but really i might bail on the open water swim!
Saturday, May 09, 2009
i tell time by which workout i've completed
so my jaw is still hurting which is shit to the power of bull. i hope it goes away soon because its on the old side of things. last saturday we did a swim clinic. i was helping to run it and i even gave someone some helpful advice! i was super excited to help out since we had hired my old neighbor that had helped me with my stroke a few months ago and she is awesome. it was also interesting to stand on the pool deck and watch the people swim. it gave a new perspective of when the swim coach stands there and talks to me in masters. it wound up getting warm and sunny and the water looked really nice, i was ready to jump right in but of course did not.
right after a few of us met up at sseatac to preride for sunday's race. it instantly starting dumping down cats and dogs and we were soaked. in a matter of minutes there were huge puddles every there. i was worried that it was going to turn into a repeat of the previous week. the course wasn't marked but a guy we were with had an idea of what it might be. both he and amy did my 3 minute intervals and then we were headed out.
sunday we got up and hung around waiting to head to the race. we gathered everything up, got there, registered and then seamus and sirus raced in the kids race! they did great! i also found amy who came in 2nd and sara who had raced her first ever race! then i headed out to warm up. i started out on a lap and was just riding along stepping up the pace a few times. the course was a lot like what we had done the day before. i didn't want to be out too long but wound up out for 25 minutes. went to staging and the race start was delayed 1/2 hr. long story short, i had a terrible start and went into the single track close to the back but i gradually passed people as time went on. i felt like i was riding fast which was awesome! it was pretty warm out, about 63 which is pretty warm for us right now and i went through my entire bottle of drink. i could have used more. i finished up in 4th not too far off 3rd and 2nd. i had convinced lisa to go runnign with me, so we put on our shoes and headed out for a 1/2 hr. i was dying. although I kept thinking about the run while I was racing, I tried to not let it affect how hard I went during the race. but the run was tough. it was all slightly downhill for the first half then we turned around and came back up hill.
as soon as we got back i changed my clothes, no stretching allowed and headed into down town seattle to see walking with the dinosaurs. totally bad ass and very cool. the kids loved it. the next day they went through their dinosaur toys and picked out all the ones they had seen at the show.
monday was a rest day. work i think was uneventful but i really can't remember. tuesday i did a 1/2 hr swim at lunch time which was actually pretty nice. i was supposed to go easy but i went hard and i spent most of my time practicing breathing on the left. later at the end of the day i did a 1/2 hr run on the treadmill. i haven't been on the treadmill in forever so I was pretty suprised that i kept an 8:34 pace while staying in zone 2. whoohoo!
when i got home eric had made some awesome mini pizzas. we ate about 100 of them. that night i was exhasted so i went to bed early only to wake up 2 hrs later with my neck in extreme pain, my quads and hammys aching, my feet killing me and just overall oveheating. i made my way to the freezer, grabbed some ice packs and got back in bed. i was instantly asleep again, al cuddled up with the ice. i was wide awake at 4 but waited until 5 to get up. it had been raining all night and was still pouring so i opted for the indoor pool. i did my own workout again, practicing left side breathing. i was supposed to do the wednesday night race but since i felt like such ass i did a 50 minute zn1 spin on the trainer later that night. eric too had felt like ass so we think maybe the pepperoni or maybe the ham we put on the pizzas was bad. eric did suggest that maybe we just ate way too many of them. no that couldn't have been it.
i had been waiting al week for thursday - my very first track workout. i was to do 15' warm up, then 3x1 mile in zn4 with 1 lap rest inbetween and then 15 minute cool down. the fast runner guy at work suggested a track right by our house and even gave me some tips to get through the gate if it was closed. i headed out from the house and ran down there in zn 2. it took about 13.5 minutes so i went around the track and stopped at the bathrooms. i stopped the clock until i was almost at the line and then i was off on my first 1 mile. i had no idea what to expect. i started out going strong and it took a bit to get up to zn4. but i got there and was done with lap 1. the guy at work predicted 2minute laps. i did that first one in 1:27. i instantly did the math and was like - NO WAY! then i started hitting zn5 and my arms felt heavy and were going to fall off. i backed off since i was supposed to stay zn4. the laps flew by although they never again were as fast as that first one. I finished the mile in 6:57. then i slowed waaay down to rest. i was going sooo slow but i was so happy to do it. runner guy suggested that my rest should last about 1/2 the time of my mile. my coach said to only do one lap, so that worked out to some slooow laps. it all worked well because by the time I started the 2nd one i was ready to go. once again, it look almost 1/2 lap to get to zn 4 but then i stuck there pretty well, hitting zn5 occasionally so I had to drop back. the sky was getting dark and it was starting to get a bit windy so I was getting concerned but i finished in 7:06. rest rest rest with a trip over to the water fountain. then off for the 3rd one. look me 1/2 lap to get to zn 4 but i don't think i ever hit zn 5 this time around. the middle two laps were super windy, the one time on the straight away i was convinced i wasn't moving anywhere. but the laps still went by quickly and i was done in 7:09. rest rest rest and the thought of asking eric to come pick me up crossed my mind. i was shot and my legs and knees hurt. but i headed home and i felt pretty good. funny thing is that the whole thing took 1:00:35 and i went 7.00 miles. how'd that work out so well?
friday's swim went well although we did sprints. when i told the swimmer guy at work that we were doing 75yd sprints he looked at me funny and said that sprints are normally like 25yd. well, we were doing 75 and i was dying. i was a little frustrated because i had counted up my yardage and thought I had only done 1900 and was totally beat. but when i finally got to write it all down it came in at 2400 so i felt way better.
and NOW its saturday, SUNNY and eric and i are heading out mtn biking later today!
right after a few of us met up at sseatac to preride for sunday's race. it instantly starting dumping down cats and dogs and we were soaked. in a matter of minutes there were huge puddles every there. i was worried that it was going to turn into a repeat of the previous week. the course wasn't marked but a guy we were with had an idea of what it might be. both he and amy did my 3 minute intervals and then we were headed out.
sunday we got up and hung around waiting to head to the race. we gathered everything up, got there, registered and then seamus and sirus raced in the kids race! they did great! i also found amy who came in 2nd and sara who had raced her first ever race! then i headed out to warm up. i started out on a lap and was just riding along stepping up the pace a few times. the course was a lot like what we had done the day before. i didn't want to be out too long but wound up out for 25 minutes. went to staging and the race start was delayed 1/2 hr. long story short, i had a terrible start and went into the single track close to the back but i gradually passed people as time went on. i felt like i was riding fast which was awesome! it was pretty warm out, about 63 which is pretty warm for us right now and i went through my entire bottle of drink. i could have used more. i finished up in 4th not too far off 3rd and 2nd. i had convinced lisa to go runnign with me, so we put on our shoes and headed out for a 1/2 hr. i was dying. although I kept thinking about the run while I was racing, I tried to not let it affect how hard I went during the race. but the run was tough. it was all slightly downhill for the first half then we turned around and came back up hill.
as soon as we got back i changed my clothes, no stretching allowed and headed into down town seattle to see walking with the dinosaurs. totally bad ass and very cool. the kids loved it. the next day they went through their dinosaur toys and picked out all the ones they had seen at the show.
monday was a rest day. work i think was uneventful but i really can't remember. tuesday i did a 1/2 hr swim at lunch time which was actually pretty nice. i was supposed to go easy but i went hard and i spent most of my time practicing breathing on the left. later at the end of the day i did a 1/2 hr run on the treadmill. i haven't been on the treadmill in forever so I was pretty suprised that i kept an 8:34 pace while staying in zone 2. whoohoo!
when i got home eric had made some awesome mini pizzas. we ate about 100 of them. that night i was exhasted so i went to bed early only to wake up 2 hrs later with my neck in extreme pain, my quads and hammys aching, my feet killing me and just overall oveheating. i made my way to the freezer, grabbed some ice packs and got back in bed. i was instantly asleep again, al cuddled up with the ice. i was wide awake at 4 but waited until 5 to get up. it had been raining all night and was still pouring so i opted for the indoor pool. i did my own workout again, practicing left side breathing. i was supposed to do the wednesday night race but since i felt like such ass i did a 50 minute zn1 spin on the trainer later that night. eric too had felt like ass so we think maybe the pepperoni or maybe the ham we put on the pizzas was bad. eric did suggest that maybe we just ate way too many of them. no that couldn't have been it.
i had been waiting al week for thursday - my very first track workout. i was to do 15' warm up, then 3x1 mile in zn4 with 1 lap rest inbetween and then 15 minute cool down. the fast runner guy at work suggested a track right by our house and even gave me some tips to get through the gate if it was closed. i headed out from the house and ran down there in zn 2. it took about 13.5 minutes so i went around the track and stopped at the bathrooms. i stopped the clock until i was almost at the line and then i was off on my first 1 mile. i had no idea what to expect. i started out going strong and it took a bit to get up to zn4. but i got there and was done with lap 1. the guy at work predicted 2minute laps. i did that first one in 1:27. i instantly did the math and was like - NO WAY! then i started hitting zn5 and my arms felt heavy and were going to fall off. i backed off since i was supposed to stay zn4. the laps flew by although they never again were as fast as that first one. I finished the mile in 6:57. then i slowed waaay down to rest. i was going sooo slow but i was so happy to do it. runner guy suggested that my rest should last about 1/2 the time of my mile. my coach said to only do one lap, so that worked out to some slooow laps. it all worked well because by the time I started the 2nd one i was ready to go. once again, it look almost 1/2 lap to get to zn 4 but then i stuck there pretty well, hitting zn5 occasionally so I had to drop back. the sky was getting dark and it was starting to get a bit windy so I was getting concerned but i finished in 7:06. rest rest rest with a trip over to the water fountain. then off for the 3rd one. look me 1/2 lap to get to zn 4 but i don't think i ever hit zn 5 this time around. the middle two laps were super windy, the one time on the straight away i was convinced i wasn't moving anywhere. but the laps still went by quickly and i was done in 7:09. rest rest rest and the thought of asking eric to come pick me up crossed my mind. i was shot and my legs and knees hurt. but i headed home and i felt pretty good. funny thing is that the whole thing took 1:00:35 and i went 7.00 miles. how'd that work out so well?
friday's swim went well although we did sprints. when i told the swimmer guy at work that we were doing 75yd sprints he looked at me funny and said that sprints are normally like 25yd. well, we were doing 75 and i was dying. i was a little frustrated because i had counted up my yardage and thought I had only done 1900 and was totally beat. but when i finally got to write it all down it came in at 2400 so i felt way better.
and NOW its saturday, SUNNY and eric and i are heading out mtn biking later today!
Friday, May 01, 2009
whole freaking thank goodness its friday
and damn this beer tastes good. i haven't had a beer in probably a month. ok, thats exagerating a bit but its been a while.
where did i leave off. i have been busy. not so sure about the whole training thing. i know i am tired and i have been training hard but at the same time since the volume seems so low i wonder what the heck. after the only soso swim i sent my coach an email telling her i was a little discouraged blah blah blah. she was just like, why, that doesn't make sense. i got over it and had a great run on tuesday and hr at 8:31 with 1' in the mid 6's and 5x4s starting at 7:42!! but going up to 8:25 on the way back while I was all running into the wind. still i was pretty stokes. wednesday i did the mtn bike race and had a TON OF FUN. i had woken up really really tired so i only did a 1500y swim. i was dragging. i was worried how the race would go but it was awesome. i was riding so well, even hanging onto the men for a bit. i was so stoked. thursday was a rest day thank the goodness since i needed it but really i didn't get much rest out of it. i was stressed all week about work. not the work week we were in but the work week we were headed to, so i think it was affecting everything and making me more tired. friday i woke up t swim and was so tired i could barely stand it. so i went back to bed. in a few hours i woke up again, emailed into work and then went back to bed. i stayed in bed until 2pm. not all of it was sleeping, some was just laying there looking out the window watching the pollin fly through the air but all of it was relaxing, or at least trying to. around 2pm i got up and went outside with eric and the kids. it was warm and sunny so i layed down on the driveway and just layed there for prolly another hour or hour and 1/2. i send a note to my coach that i slept through the swim and i would go later. 8pm to be exact since lap swim is so freaking late. she asked if i needed a workout and i said no i had one unless (mistake #1) she had one she would like me to do. so she sent me a 2200yd workout and wanted me to time my repeats and what not. i said that was do-able. a little later she emailed again asking if i normally did around 2000yd to which i replied (mistake #2) well actually we normally do 2400-2500 but as much as 3000 to which she replied wit ok, good, go ahead and add another 400. doh!! but i was ok with that. xtie met me at the pool on mercer island and we got swimming. the pool seemed loooong. i was happy with my times, although they weren't super long.the 400s were just under 7', the 200s just over 4' and the 100s around 1:55 but i was taking a ton of rest. i was convinced that the pool was in meters but two different life guards said it was yards. i got home at what felt like midnight.
saturday we loaded up the kids and the car and headed to ephrata for a bike race. as soon as we got there i did a lap of the coarse followed by a 30minute run. i missed a turn and spent about 4 miles on a gravel road, with about 2 of those miles into a crazy ass headwind. once on the single track it was pretty fun until i got to the total sketchy parts. the parts where the trail was like 6inches wide, off camber and the one side dropping off a total cliff. yeah and then it started to rain and i was pretty positive there was going to be a flash flood right there on that mtn side and i was going to drown out there by myself. luckily i managed to get myself back to where eric and the kids were and i headed out on my 30 minutes zn2-3 run. i managed 8:17 pace at the very bottom of zn3 so i was pretty stoked.
then the kids did a kids race
and we watched eric race short track and finish in a very awesome 4th. back to the hotel and then up early the next morning. i had a rest day!! which involved some hiking around with the kids and watching them play at the park. 
it also involved a super crappy food day, OMG its amazing that i am even alive. check this out:Breakfast: Sausage McMuffin with Egg - McDonalds #1
Breakfast : walmart donut from the hotel's "continental" breakfast
Lunch: Oreo McFlurry - McDonalds #2
Lunch: Whopper Jr - Burger King
Snack: Pecan Cluster Blizzard - Dairy Queen
Dinner: spagetti - made by eric, OMG real food!!! what a day
monday was the start of REST WEEK which was good because it was also the start of HELL WEEK at work. i slept through swimming AGAIN so i went to the redmond pool at 8pm. and OMG i will never do that again. i was only supposed to do 1/2hr which is all i did. the floor in the locker room was sopping wet and there was a weird grey gooey film in the corners. gross!! i got changed and headed to the pool. there must have been 50 people there on a monday night at 8pm. wtf!! most were in the shallow area for public swim but there were prolly 15 or so in the deep end doing water arobics and boy can they get the waves going! other than the fact that i could see the bottom, i may have well been in open water. nutty. i was in my own lane for a long time until i got to the deep end and as I was grabbing the wall to turn around, and older, heavier lady in a really skimpy swim suit jumped over me and totally cannon balled right in front of me!!! and then what I imagined was her daughter pushed off and the two of them swam down my lane side by side. i hung on in disbeleif. when they got to the other end they turned around and headed back, side by side again. i was so confused. so i moved over two lanes and swam with some dude. when i went to the locker room, i hung my towl on one of the hooks and went to take a prison shower. a lady and her teenage daugheter both came in and hung their wet ass shit on the hooks on either side of my towl when there were probably 10 other empty hooks further away. they then each went into the bathroom stalls to change their clothes. i don't think i will go back there.
tuesday was an easy zn 1 run, wedensday i finally got my ass out of bed to get to masters and had an ok swim. thursyda was my birthday which i totally kept a secret from the people at work but the kids had a suprise bday party for me at home and then a luna triathlete sack person bday cake. so fun! today i had an awesome swim hitting 1:40s for my 100s and :20s for 25s! i couldn't beleive it. makes me think that the people at mercer island don't know how long their pool is. then i had a busy but good day at work. i gave a good presentation and it was warm and sunny. ah and now i had some birthday cake, drank a beer and amd chilling in my brand new snuggie with the kids. i do have the jaw pain though, it got really bad yesterday and today, i think an affect of the stress, but hopefully it will go away and won't last the two months it did last time.
i have a pre-ride tomorrow, and am assisting at a swim clinic and then a mtn bike race on sunday followed by a 30 minute zn3-4 run! yikes!! thats going to be exciting!
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