paradise

Training this weekend went well. Saturday's bike and run repeats were pretty good. In total I rode 13 miles and ran 3. The first sessions went well. By the third and last bike ride, I felt a cramp in my left calf, it kinds of felt like an electrical shock, as I was almost to the top of the hill at the end of the ride, and shortly there after the same thing happened in the right calf. I knew I was short on my salt/sodium intake, and that was probably the reason, for the cramping, so I took a salt supplement and headed out for my run, the cramping continued on the run, and I decided that I was better off turning around and seeing what happened. I went back to the transition area, stretched continued to drink water, and hope that the cramping would subside. The stretching definately helped, but under the advisement of a mentor I called it a day, and headed home.

Sunday, is now open water swim sessions, the swells are a bit crazy so instead of meeting at the ocean, we swam in the bay. It was calm and much easier to swim with out battling all those waves. I swam a half mile which is a bit longer than half of the distance I'll be swimming at my event. I'm learning how to take advantidge of my wetsuit. I was also told that the water I'll be swimming in for my event will be similar to today's water than the ocean. I was happy to hear that and realized that I'll be able to finish the swim session.

Stronger than the thoughts

What a weekend! It was a busy one in regards to my training. Saturday was had our first long bike ride. 25 miles round trip, along with a run part way around Lake Hodges. I'm not going to lie, I had my doubts. Each time I got tired, on the first leg of the bike ride and thought about how I had to go back. I made myself stop and appreciate what I was doing at that moment. There were times I wanted to quit, especially going up "damn hill". Damn hill is a steady incline uphill for approximately mile and a half to two miles. It was there wher I had the hardest time, and started doubting my ability to get to the top. I had one of my mentors Lisa riding with me, and she kept encouraging me. And as cliche as it sounds, I also kept reminding myself how Tyler, Raul, Virginina, Van, NoJo, Cousin Roy, and the many others going through their cancer treatments didn't have a chance to stop when they became uncomfortable. It didn't make going up the hill any easier, in fact it made it harder, (side note, tears don't make riding a bike up hill very easy.) I did stop at one point and walk my bike for a while, and that pissed me off. eventually the hill leveled out and I started on my way again, only to be surprised by yet another incline. Thankfully, that was the top of the hill, and all that was left was a short down hill, and then I reached the transition area, and off to the run I went. (after refueling and rehydrating myself). I walk/ran 2 miles. hit the porta potties that were there, and then started my trek back to the starting point.
The second leg of the ride wasn't as bad as the first. (there were no tears) It helped that for a while I got to ride with Jay (an assistant coach), and he was riding his bike back after falling on the first part of the ride, and was riding with missing low gears. It was also good to talk to someone who had also lived in CT for a while, and we compared notes about the differences of CT and CA. He also complemented me a few different times on how (even though I wasn't going fast up hill,) I never slowed my cadence down (speed of pedelling) uphill. It made me feel like I knew what I was doing.
After that crazy bike ride, I swore my thighs were on fire and were going to make walking a bit difficult for me. So I had planned on using some of my marathon training and stop at the store for some ice (and chocolate milk) and take a nice cold ice bath once I got home. However, it turned out that we were right by the water, and myself and a few others decided to take a plunge in the ocean. It was cold! but once our feet became numb it was great. It was also a good indicator of what would be in store for us on Sunday.
Sunday was our first open water swim with our wetsuits. All I know, is that I am forever in debting to the person who invented wetsuits. It's amazing how those things work. Our open water swim was difficult, each time I put my head in the water (with my goggles on) I couldn't see anything, and it was difficult to swim with out seeing. I've gotten so used to wearing my goggles and seeing where I'm going in the pool. So I kept my head out of water, Which by the way is completely useless and makes swimmer in the water a gazillion times harder. We swam out to some of our support staff hanging out in kayaks in the water. And then swam back. We had to find some buddies to swim with and stick with while out in the water. So in order to push myself a bit I stuck with two others that were a bit faster than me, and I attempted to stay with them for as long as I could, and really I didn't do to bad. We did that twice, and then we got to "play" in the water, the coach wanted us to try to catch a wave and have it bring us in. Needless to say, body surfing for this east coast gal isn't so easy.
As I continue to put myself in situations that are outside my comfort zone, I learn how important it is to not let the negative thoughts that creep so easily inside my head to get to me. I am stronger than those thoughts!

Mystery Solved and Jacket received

Today was my first brick workout (a run and then bike), and I have to say, I was nervous for the few days leading up to it. Part of the nerves came from not being where the coaches schedule says I should be with my running mileage;
I know, I've been training, but my shins have been a major area of contention for me since I started with marathon training in 2006. However, I think I've solved the mystery of the hurting shins. While running last Sunday, I realized (I'm not sure how) that I was running with my toes bent as if grabbing the bottom of my shoes. So surprisingly when I stopped doing that, I was able to run with out pain. I concentrated on keeping my toes straight the next time I ran, and.....No pain!! Who knew it was such an easy fix. Instead of dwelling on the if only I knew that when.... I focused on the positive this should make running easier and I should be able to get myself up to a 10K distance by the time of the event. Yay me!!
But I was still nervous, I was nervous about letting myself down and not being able to finish my training session today, and secondly letting my coach down. He has set expectations for us, and expects us to use our full potential. That is something that has always been expected of me, and I don't like letting others down, especially myself by not using that potential (Yes, mom, I've used the "P" word, and admit that I'm not successful when I don't use my full potential). But I then realized that I've been dealing with issues and that the schedule is to be used as a guideline for what we should be doing, and that each of us are at different levels and that even though I'm not at the top of my game, I'm a heck of a lot higher than I was when I started this thing back in November, and now that the mystery of shin pain has been solved (hopefully), I should be able to get to the top of my game, by race day (March 27th).
So, after all the TNT particulars were discussed, off we went to do our first of many run repeats. We were running approximately 1.5 miles up to 6 times (depending on speed). so off I went with the team, keeping towards the back of the pack, so I didn't start out to fast, and burn out before I finished, and had to head out on my bike for the first bike repeat. So, I did great for the first .5 mile. I kept my pace steady, concentrated on keeping my toes straight, and then at the turn around, I hit the sand portion of our run. All I have to say was OUCH! I automatically felt my toes bend, and the shins start yelling at me. But I kept going for a while, I did start walking thinking that might help, but it didn't. Thankfully, I found a stairway back up to the pavement, and started back. Unfortunately the damage was already done. My shins were unhappy, and were letting me know. Running at this point was out of the question. so I walked back to the starting point, and transitioned to get ready for the first bike session.
Now that's where it gets real fun! A few weeks back we learned how to change out bike tires. Well, ever since I took the back wheel off my bike, the wheel hasn't been working well. So last night, I went online downloaded the manual for my bike, and attempted to get it inline and ready for the ride. I got it to work, and by the time I was ready to go out and ride with the team, I did a quick loop around the parking lot to make sure things were working properly. They seemed to be. Well, I was wrong. As I got close to the mount line (where you are allowed to get on the bike in a tri), I started pedaling and the next thing I knew my bike tired stopped and I started to go forward over my handlebars. Thankfully, I caught myself and I did NOT fall. But I did get a "good save!" from a few of the mentors. After checking out the bike, I did a few laps around the parking lot again, and off I went. I felt the bike dragging a little, but I figured the break was probably rubbing against one of the tires, but I chalked it up to resistence training and I'd look at it again when I got back. Well, towards the turn around point, there was a nice hill, that I was getting ready to go up, and sure enough as I put more pressure on the pedals, I almost found myself going over the handlebars again. Obviously something wasn't right. I walked the bike up the hill, saw Coach at the turn around and had him check it out. He noticed a few things that could be causing it, but gave me the ok to head back with the team, and with two mentors by my side, I trudged back, and was quite happy with finishing. Coach then worked on my bike while I went out for my second run, and did a little tune up and then gave me the clean bill to ride. Unfortunately, plans being made previously prevented me from going out for that second ride, but I'll see how it goes this coming weekend. We're scheduled for a 24 mile bike and 5 mile run this coming Saturday, and our first open water swim on Sunday!! yikes... time to find a wetsuit!
See you next week. I hope.......

And the Jacket:

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Happy New Year! I hope that 2011 brings you and your family happiness and joy.
Training has been going well. Although I have not had any training sessions with my team in the last 2 weeks, I have been keeping up my training. I've been getting my training done in the gym. I have to admit, I've been enjoying sleeping in on the weekends for the last 2 weeks, and I'm not looking forward to waking up at 5:30 this coming Saturday, but I am looking forward to seeing my teammates again.
And I hope I'm not jinxing myself. I went to the gym today for a run, and I don't know what happened, but I had no pain in my shins. I also increased my distance by double, and now I have 3 months to increase the distance by half again.
This is short and brief. Thanks for reading!