Gearing Up for the Final Push

My time up north was great, though way way way too short.  As my Mum puts it, “this place refills your soul”… and she is right.   The time went so quickly.  Got there late (LATE) Saturday night.  Was supposed to do my long run on Sunday, but thanks to Delta, that didn’t happen till Monday...my bag was still in Atlanta on Sunday morning.  Figures too – Sunday was the PERFECT day for a long run.  Though they did have to drive my bag all the way up to the cottage.  Pretty crazy.  

So, we relaxed on the new waterfront deck (A+ btw if you are reading, Andrew).  Had a great swim in the lake, amazing how I don’t even think twice about jumping in and going now…used to take me a bit to stop thinking about what might be coming up from the depths of the water to eat me alive.  lol.  But I’ve done enough OWS’ing in the last few years, doesn’t really phase me anymore.  Even with the dark water that is Neighic Lake.  Felt like I could’ve done my loop a few more times too, which was a great feeling.  With that out of the way, we chilled with a few Caesars, grilled some fish for dinner, and watched the sunset. 

Monday came, and you guessed it, RAIN.  Of course. Lots of it.  By 11:30, I finally said to Mum that I had to run even if in the rain, because it could not wait till Tuesday.  So we headed out to the main highway, about 20 minutes up the road.  No rain there, and with the sun peeking through, it was starting to mug up.  Mum was an aid station rock star – she brought her book, and every 8km there she’d be with my water and gels.  Talk about being pampered!!  Damn.  She kept saying “I’m sorry it’s getting so hot” and I just laughed – this was nothing compared to what I’m used to!!  Had a really REALLY fabulous run.  Like, maybe one of my best runs ever.  2:45 was the prescribed time, and I ran 19.5 miles, at an overall 8:29 pace.  Rockin'!!!  And I’ll tell you, thinking about another 6 felt totally doable, which is the first time I’ve felt that way.  And it was all running – not a single walked step in there – and only stops were the short minutes at my “aid stations”.  I am definitely gonna be thinking about doing the Muskoka 70.3 next year.

my literary buddy

feeding Polka Dot

A few more swims and a mid-week recovery run, a few glasses of amaretto, playing with my chippies, some long chats and suddenly it was over.  It was really rather a shock to find it was Wednesday night all of a sudden and I had to go home the next day.  


It was great seeing Marvin & Sandy, and Kathy & Rich.  Thanks guys for the encouragement on the race…much appreciated.  And thanks to my Mum most of all, for being such a great mom.  

My Mum

One funny thing I realized about “perspective”.  I used to think Picnic Island was so far away, and swimming to it and back was a good workout (and this was just last year!)…now I look at it, and am shocked by how close it seems.  What a difference a year makes (and thousands of miles of training!).

Picnic Island...and as close as I got to the Loon this year
(see spec in middle of photo)

Yesterday was another century for Chris and me – Blazing Saddles Century, in Franklin, GA.  Let’s just say this – Chris said they should rename it to “Hotter Than Shit Century”, and that pretty much sums it up.  Damn.  98 degrees (without the humidex, and it WAS way humid too), no shade, no clouds (until mile 98)…it was BRUTAL.  Now, the route was actually pretty good – I liked it much better than some of the other centuries we’ve done this year.  Some good climbing but also some good descending.  We drove up on Friday night, and slept on the floor of the High School gym.  lol.  I think that is a first for me.  It wasn't too bad...me, Chris, and a dozen of our closest friends.  Would've been a little better if they would've at least turned off a few more lights!!  But I managed to get some sleep, and didn't have to get up quite so early on Saturday morning; it was a good option and no cost - god knows I've spent enough already! 

Yes, socks
instead of yet another tshirt!!

At any rate...we got going first thing, just before 7.  It was already hot and humid, but I felt pretty good, and my plan was to go a little easier in the beginning so I could hold more steady throughout, and to make sure I worked on the hydration side of the equation.  By the time I was 40 minutes in, I knew it was gonna be a long day.  My right glut was acting up again, and I just couldn't get any power out of it.  Pain yes, power no.  Hit the first rest stop, and stretched it out.  Worked okay for about 30 minutes, and then started hurting again.  This was to be the pattern for the rest of the day, though the "good" period dropped to about 20 minutes of okay after each stretch session.  At least I could keep going, and knew I'd need massage and Dr Sadri next week.  Calorie-wise I was keeping up, and feel pretty good about that side of things.  Hydration on the other hand...it was just so hot, I honestly could not get any more down.  I downed 5.5 bottles of Infinit at 275 calories each, and about 4 additional bottles of just water.  I simply could not fit anything more in my stomach, but it was not enough.  At the 5 hour mark, I was really ready to be done, with still 15 to go.  So, pushed on.  The first 10 in the last stretch were actually pretty good.  Had Chris in my sights for at least 3 of them.  Felt pretty confident that I'd finish up around the 5:50ish mark.  I hit 96 miles with 5 to go, and literally the floor dropped out.  I could barely turn the pedals, I felt like I was going to throw up, and though I kept telling myself to just keep going, almost there, I actually had to get off my bike at 98.5 miles in.  Finally got back on, and somehow managed to get back (thanks for the kick-in-the-gut hill at the end), and rode over to the car.  Got off, told Chris I thought I was gonna throw up, he said "the heat finally got you" and grabbed my bike.  I ran inside, though thankfully I did not get sick.  Took me a few minutes of lying on the bathroom floor and splashing water on my face to get up and going again.  Went back to the car, drank some coke, and actually went and ran. (pretty sure I surprised the shit out of Chris when I said yes, I'd run).  Knew I had to do it, no matter how bad I felt.  Who knows how I'm gonna feel after the bike in Canada, and I gotta run then if it happens - though it's unlikely I'll feel like this.  Got two miles in.  Kinda surprised me actually.  Chris had done one before I got back, so he had three.  Could've done another mile or two, but we decided to call it quits; we'll go longer on the run next Saturday - please GOD let it be cooler.

My annual pic on the deck I built
25 years ago...and the Scottish
flag of course

I did run this morning, though I am not ready to talk about that...will save that for tomorrow. 

Four weeks to go.  I do feel like I am starting to break down a bit here.  Have to admit that I really thought on the ride yesterday that "maybe I'm not cut out for this distance...should just stick to half's".  Chris says everyone feels like that.  Richard said "then you're training right".  Ha.  I told him that is what Chris would've said. 

So, time to pull it together.  Two more weeks of training.  Find a way to stay focused.  Almost there.  Finish strong.  Just focus on now.  Right now. 

Happy Training.  and keep your chin up.

Kat

one more recovery week...and I'm gonna make it a good one

Well, recovery "week" being a relative term...we're actually on a 16/5 schedule.  Many triathletes work with a 3 week build/1 week recovery cycle.  Us Masters types (aka over 40) tend to need recovery sooner than that...so we do 16 days on, and 5 days recovery.  With this being the 2nd to last build phase, it's really worn me out.  That on top of some crazy shit at work, and the emotional turmoil from my failing marriage, has made it extra challenging.  But for the most part, I'm managing to stay on track.

Last week finished up with a long run - the longest in 5 years I realized as I passed the 17 mile mark.  That's a scary thought in some ways - here I am about to do an Ironman, and at just over 17 miles I'm at my longest single run in 5 years.  But, no time to dwell on that.  The run was pretty good actually until the 15 mile mark, and then it all fell apart in the blink of an eye.  Seriously.  I was fine, and then I wasn't.  But, that's the brilliance of an out and back loop - gotta keep going!  So the 15th mile pace was pretty sad, but I got myself together, and managed to finish up the last 2.7 miles in pretty good form.  Even with much lower temps, the humidity was ridiculous, and despite ingesting huge amounts of water, I still managed to lose 2.5 pounds!  Was good to find out later that Zimm had almost the exact same experience...mile 15 just went downhill.   But then I got to spend the evening relaxing and having fun with friends, at the TSF Pool Party at Z's place.  A great time was had by all.

On top of that, last week was my longest training week ever, at just shy of 19 hours.  Damn!  That's kind of impressive, if I do say so myself.  I'm feeling it this week, though, and it is showing in my workouts.  I'm tired, and yes, I'm supposed to be tired.  But I mean REALLY tired.  Missed my recovery run on Monday, and I have to sheepishly admit I missed Masters this morning - had to get to work early, given I'm on holiday starting tomorrow.  Promised myself I wouldn't miss a workout for work again, and admittedly I did it so I could get out early, though that did not happen.  At any rate, I'll swim more than planned next week at the lake, so I'll make that up, and my ride yesterday was a little longer than planned.  I'll probably run a wee bit longer tomorrow on the brick, and I'll feel a little better about the missed workouts this week.  Did do my long mid-week run - 11.33 miles in bloody awful humidity...the amount of sweat I wrung out of my shirt was insane.  Throw in a good swim, and a few other rides, and that's the week.  Tomorrow's a shorter brick - lol - it's only 4.5 hours!! - and then I'm leavin on a jet plane to head home to Canada for 6 days.  YAY!!

So I find out from Mum last night that Toronto is 111 degrees!  I told her I wasn't impressed.  I'm supposed to be flying home to some relief from this heat and humidity!!! WTF.  The Mag will be a little better than Toronto, but apparently the lake is about 80 degrees...huh???  Sheesh, two years ago, it was so cold, I could barely swim in it - ice cream headache for the first 5 minutes.  Now I need to swim with wetsuit, and it's gonna be too hot!!  Oh well.  I'll swim anyway, just without the wetsuit, though I was looking to make this a golden opportunity to try swimming in the wettie for that long.  I don't like the wetsuit, (I know I know, I'm supposed to love it), and I need to get comfortable enough to do it for as long as I'll be swimming in the race.  That's okay - one thing at a time - get out there for 90 minutes, we can worry about the wetsuit once in Penticton.

So, have a great week...once my long run on Sunday morning is behind me, I'll be happily lounging in the lake, getting rid of my tri tan lines, replacing them with bikini tan lines...and drinking a caesar or two, and maybe some amaretto...mmmmmmm.

Best of luck to my buds Kevin, Jim, Rod, and Ilana, all racing Lake Placid on Sunday.  I know you are all gonna rock it!!  I hopefully will find some internet up there in the wilds of northern Ontario...but if not, I'll be thinking of you and dying to know how you're doing!!

Happy training, and happy happy recovering!!
Kat

Another Brick in the Wall

or in the clouds, to be more accurate!  Yep, once again riding in the clouds.

Today our tired asses rode the Gaps.  Well, actually, a Gap.  Times 3.  You guessed it - Neels Gap and Neels Gap and Neels Gap.  Mo and Z were my riding companions for the day.  Lucky Girl!!  Thanks Coach Amy for letting Mo ride along with us today.  ;)

Z and the Italian Stallion at the top of Neels

The heat wave has finally broken here in Georgia, at least till the next one comes around, which I believe is next week.  :)  So today's brick was comfortable compared to what we have been riding in.  Of course the humidity is still pretty high, and this morning's rain in Alpharetta didn't help on the run.  In fact I think we covered it all today - hot, cold, rainy, windy, cloudy, sunny, humid...

Learned a lot today on the ride.  We parked a ways off from Neels, just under 7 miles, giving us about 20 minutes of warmup on the rollers before we hit the big boy.  My goal was to see if I could go a little lighter up the first time and stay consistent over the multiple climbs.  Truth be told, I'm still not clear on my target for the race.  And while I am not 100% certain yet, I will likely not have power on my race wheels.  I could if I wanted to...could rent the TSF zipps with power (assuming they're still available)...but that throws in a whole 'nother issue around tubulars, and I'm still debating on that one.  So, at this point, I have to focus in on what my heart rate is so that I can try to replicate it in the race.  With that in mind, I decided that I'd put a HR cap of 155 on the first climb, and see where that got me.  We started the lap timer right at the very bottom, at Turners Corner.  From that point, it is a 7.5 mile, 1750 foot climb.  Actually, it is technically two climbs split up by a small plateau - the first a Cat 4 over 2.2 miles, and the second a Cat 2 over 4.2 miles.  I managed to stick to my heart rate ceiling on all but the very last push where the grade is a little steeper, and only bumped out of range for a few seconds.  I hit the top at 44:30, with an average power of 166, and average heart rate of 145.  I promptly proceeded to fall off my bike, while standing, left foot still clipped.  Nice, Kat.  Thankfully there were no other riders up there yet, so my only witness was Mo.  Been a while since I did that!!  Knee is actually a little sore and stiff, exactly what I don't need right now, especially heading into an 18 mile run tomorrow.  So will be icing that all night.  Oh, and ran into Yellow Jersey from last week's ride at the top of the mountain!  Pretty funny.


Then came the fun part!  Downhill!!  Damn I love it.  I will say I have noticed that I've lost a little of my top end speed with the compact crank, though it is absolutely worth it on the uphill.  Still managed to peak out at 42 mph.  Mo also loves the downhill, and so we raced down together, flying around those curves, banking left then right then left again; over and over.  My favourites are the ones that have the "SLOW 20 mph" posted; they're the tightest curves and therefore provide the best slingshot effect!  You do definitely have to "FAUkus" on these ones though!    (that's focus for those not versed in Mo's Italian accent).  First time down, we hit it in 17 minutes.  Pleased to tell you we managed to smoke that time with the next two descents.  16:28 in the second, and 16:07 in the third (though Mo actually beat me down the third time, so he was even faster).  

The Flying Foreigners

So back to the main point of this ride - the climbing....Second time around, I was trying to keep it about the same, without dropping too much.  Though we only ended up doing three, we were planning on doing 4 to begin with, so I didn't want to spend it all in one shot.  Hit the top here in the same time, a drop of 2 watts to 164, and an average heart rate of 147.  This is when Z tells me he wants me to get more wattage with each climb.  Ok.  So now I know.  Third time up, (still thinking we had a fourth), I hit 172 avg watts, 154 hr, and a time of 43:28.  So a minute gained, but the cost of that being a higher heart rate.  Not worth it.  I'd rather save it for the run than gain a minute on the climb.  Now, having said that, it's hard to judge by straight numbers...I was fresh the first trip up, so HR will be lower anyway.  But, bottom line, this gives me a very good, precise range to be shooting for up Richter. 

As  said, we originally had planned to do 4ish climbs, but after 3, we decided it was enough, we've had long weeks, and quality runs today and tomorrow are paramount.  Plus we still had 7 miles of rollers back to the cars, and it was more uphill on the way back.  Besides, I "accidentally" logged an extra 35 minutes on Thursday night, getting lost from Z's house back to TSF.  Yep, if there was a wrong turn to be found, I found it.  Not once, but THREE times.  Riding around Roswell with no FREAKIN clue where I was.  And the only time I haven't had my phone with me!  Anyway...

On the drive home, I realized it wasn't even noon yet.  Quite unusual to be done our long ride so early!  Before noon, yet Z and I were both yawning like a couple of toddlers past their bedtime.  Nevertheless, we got there and headed out for the run.  Always glad to have Chris run with me, as he pushes me harder than I sometimes push myself, all without really saying anything.  It had been raining while we were in the Gaps, so humidity was higher, and of course the sun decided to make an appearance.  Z used to live in the neighbourhood too, so we went his route.  Out of my comfort zone, which is a good thing, especially as we get closer to the big day.  Round the 17 minute mark, we were going up what seemed like a hill - though when I look at the elevation profile we ran, it is barely even a blip - I started feeling shaky.  It was almost instantaneous.  One second fine, next one not.  I knew I needed calories.   Downed a gel, some water, a wee sip of coke, and was off again.  Actually was really good to push myself to that moment of waiting just a little too long...get that memory imprinted into my brain so that I can avoid it in the race, or at least recognize it right away when it comes.  It did take about 10 minutes to really start feeling good again, but it did come.  So ended up running my longest run ever off the bike - 7.7 miles, and at a truly amazing (for me) 8:14 pace.  REALLY happy with that.  As Z said, 8:30 pace in the race will feel slow compared to this, so it's all good.   My coach is the best.  :)

So, a really great training session today, with two really great guys.  Lots learned, all critical to my success at IMC.  Missed Kevin and James today, and Jim too, hope you guys are tapering up well, and can't wait to track you (along with Rod and Ilana) NEXT WEEK!!!!  Man, it's gonna be a TSF explosion at Placid!

Happy Training!!
Kat

Are you Crazy???

This was asked of me by a random guy driving by as I ran at noon today - the heat wave we've been having here has not yet let up.  Crazy? Well, yes, I believe that fact has been clearly established - I am training for Ironman.  And in a Georgia summer no less.  However, I take solace in the fact that I am not as crazy as some.  Yes, I am talking about one of my amazing teammates, Jen Vogel, mentioned in my last blog post.  And Yes, I have an athlete crush on her - how could you not??  ;)  She finished Badwater (http://www.badwater.com/) yesterday in 29:42...yes twenty nine HOURS and forty two minutes.  Of straight running.  Through the desert.  And up mountains.  from the lowest point in North America (Death Valley) to the highest (Mt Whitney).  for 135 miles.  and 13000' of climbing.  No, not in a car or even on a bike...on her feet.   Like, seriously, who thinks of this shit?  And then, who thinks they can possibly do it?  Well, I guess people like Jen.  She was the 2nd female, 8th overall, and had the second fastest climb up Mt Whitney ever.  One of only a handful of women to come in under 30 hours (not this year, EVER).  To even be invited to do this race is a huge accomplishment, but to do it in that time...Damn!!  She's the biggest Bad Ass I know.

Tracy and I had a conversation about the incomparable Jen Vogel this morning as I was deftly putting off the main set in the pool  ;)  'Is it inspiring or just plain crazy??' she asked.  Yes!  was my answer.  It is both inspiring AND crazy.  'I can never imagine doing that, but that's the beauty of it - these people can!  And then they do it!!' I told her.   And isn't that truly the most amazing part of it?  Imagine where this world would be without that kind of human spirit - of the willingness to imagine crazy things and then do them.  Or better yet, imagine where it would be if we all embodied this kind of self-belief - I mean, WOW.  Lose the self-limiting beliefs and just go do shit!  I recently learned that Jen has had this as her goal for the last 10 years (I think it's 10).  And she just went about getting it done.  Now that's something that is truly inspirational...even if it is crazy.

So, ya, it's hot.  But hey, it's only  "93/feels like 99" today.  ROFL ... that's a lot cooler than the last few days when it was "feels like 112".  Ya.  FRREAKIN NUTS.  And, surprisingly, you'd think at that point, it's just 'damn hot', but it *really* did feel better.  (...all relative...).  Why the HELL were you running at noon you ask?  Well, several reasons:

1. Coach made me.  tee hee.  Well, he certainly put two workouts on the calendar for today, one of which was Masters swimming, and that time is fixed, in the AM.  Inherent implication is that the run happens later in the day. 
2. I had a last minute meeting put on my calendar by our head honcho at work...from 6-7 pm.  So, now I had to rearrange my workouts...if I'm gonna do the run, it's gotta be midday.
3. Temp was only gonna get worse. End of the day is just hotter and more humid here in the land of asphalt.  The radiant heat is a killer.
4. There is a part of me that after Sunday, wanted to re-prove to myself that I could do it in the heat.  It was actually Jen who said to me when I told her I was worried about potential heat in IMC, because I can't run in the heat - "No, you DO know how to run in the heat.  If you've been running here, you can run in the heat.  You just gotta remember that."  Part of the human condition I guess - we sometimes take bad experiences as more valid than good ones, until we train ourselves otherwise.  I realized she was right.  Now I know this could have backfired, but regardless I had to run.

So I ran.  And I actually felt GREAT.  I know, sick.  No walking involved.  A lot of water involved.  Drank 98 oz over the 9 miles that I ran.  I'm still way dehydrated from Sunday...can't catch up no matter how much I drink it seems.  So no aid stations today - fuel belt, with the big bottles, and refill each loop.  When I started out, I just figured whatever pace it was, it was.  If I could get it under 10, that would be great in this heat.  As it turns out, I did it at an 8:52 pace, far exceeding my expectations.  In that heat, I think it's stellar.  

So thanks Jen for being my inspiration to get out and do it today.  And congratulations on such an amazing accomplishment.  

Happy Training, and stay hydrated

Kat

Running on Empty

Literally and Figuratively.

Last week should have been a welcome respite from all the hard training I've been doing.  On one hand, it was, with two days off (and a missed workout...).  However, a terribly timed, though seemingly inevitable, emotional upheaval on the other hand, made it a very tough week.

Mid week workouts were good.  Had a helluva rain storm on Thursday's ride, a good half hour in pouring rain.  My helmet got a good cleaning - literally thousands of miles of sweat getting rinsed off - straight down my face - nasty nasty nasty stuff.  Saturday's run was good.  It was shorter, but slightly tougher - the 10 mile stepup.  I felt good though, and was happy to have the full day on Saturday to putter around the house getting things done and tidied that have been left untidied for far too long.

Sunday was another century brick on the books.  Kevin, Z and I were scheduled to do the Hospitality Highway Century.  They actually close down the 400 for a half hour while we all bike up one exit.  I don't know exactly how many riders there were, but it looked like possibly thousands.  Perhaps I exaggerate, but  certainly hundreds, and easily more than one thousand.  We were up at the front, and here is a shot I took of just ONE column of people.  This was an early ride due to the 400 closure - 630 start, and you had to be checked in by 6.  Ya - nice - finally have a ride that is literally up the street, and I still have to be up at 5 am.  WTF.

Anyway, off we went.  It was cool riding the bike along the 400, I will admit.  Only lasted a few miles of course, and then we were into the real ride.  Jim and Rod had both warned me that this was a sick hilly ride.  If nothing else, this ride convinced me that I would rather climb stupid-ass steep mountains, than this crap.  I hate rollers.  The temp was not as bad as it could have been in the am - thanks to overcast skies - though it was pretty thick out there with humidity.  I don't know what the recorded humidity was, but it felt worse than Peachtree where it was 78%.

First three hours, I felt pretty okay, and then it all went downhill from there.  I started to feel weird, just not right.  I tried to figure out what was going on.  I took down some more calories, maybe I hadn't been keeping up too well.  By 3:30 I just wanted to quit.  This is the first time I've really felt this way on a ride, at least to this extent.  Everything kinda hurt, and I was not feelin it in any way.  Of course I pushed through that, and kept going.  I'd sort of hooked up with another rider, guy named Chris in a yellow jersey.  We passed each other a few times, chatted.  Finally he introduced himself, said he felt less like a stalker if I at least knew his name!  lol.  Anyway, I lost him for a while there, and then pulled in at a rest stop.  Was not feeling good.  Took some more salt, and a few more advil.  Definitely one issue was that I didn't take my advil before I started, and my neck was just killing me; I've found that just zaps my energy to an extreme.  Gotta take em before I start so it never gets to this point.  Yellow Jersey was there, and we took off together.  I said to him that I was really flagging, not sure what was up, my nutrition, what.  I tried to down a bunch of calories and see if that would help.  Lost him again on a hill, and was riding by myself for a while again.  Finally at 4:16 into the ride I just lost it.  Had a meltdown.  Pretty sure it was the overwhelming emotional shit I've had going on this week, and finally with my body just so tired, I couldn't hold it back anymore, and it just poured out.  Thankfully I was by myself.  HA, wouldn't that have been a show for Yellow Jersey if he'd been around!  And yes, no doubt this stress contributed to my weariness in the first place.

After these 3-4 minutes of blubbering, (and yes I kept riding through it), I actually started to feel a little better.  And good thing too, since Mountain Park was up next.  Managed to get through that, and pretty well too I might add.  Watched several guys weaving across back and forth to get up some of those hills, but I powered right up them.  Still felt that I was going to pull in around five and a half hours.  That was not to be, and it was 5:55 before I rolled in, still not sure where that 20ish minutes went.  Have to say, this was a really tough ride.  Compared to others we've done this year, it looks like nothing and the elevation profile would shrink to a blip on the screen next to the mountains we've climbed.  But there is no flat here, it's all up and down.

The elevation goes from 900' to 1250', so nothing that looks so bad on paper, especially when I've been doing 900' to 3400' and 5400'...so why is this so tough?????


I pulled around the corner to the finish, and Z was standing there waiting.  I think he was pretty worried I was gonna start crying right there.  Poor guy.  "I really struggled" I said.  "I didn't even get a 'Damn!' so you must be really tired" he said.  And we still had to run.  AND they had no coke.  WTF.  A ride like that and you have NO COKE???  People.  Get your shit together.  And of course I did not bring my own, because this was an organized ride.

So we drove down to the river to do the run.  By this time, it was full sun, and 94 degrees, and like I said, about 127000% humidity.  I had no water, no gels, I just wasn't prepared.  Why you ask?  I have no good answer for that.  Except that everything happens for a reason, and clearly there was a lesson to learn here.  We headed out, and I was able to keep up with Z and Kevin for the first 3 miles.  Not too bad at about an 8:40 pace, but goddamn it hurt like a MF.  I hit that 4th mile, and I had to stop.  And that was a mistake.  I've always heard people say that, but generally speaking, I haven't experienced it.  I did in this 4th mile.  I walked a tenth of a mile, then ran, and made it a third of a mile, and had to walk again, and I watched my pace drop and drop and drop.  When it hit 10:00 pace, I was like goddammit get your ass running.  So I made it back to the car.  No way was I doing more.  HA!  Told Z I was completely out of gas.  Got a coke (thanks Z), downed it.  Z was like "well, it's gonna hurt!" I'm like "I know that but it's gonna hurt like this at mile freaking 3???"  No way can I do that.  He just looked at me and said, I want you to know what it's gonna feel like to be out of gas, and keep running, and then feel the sugar rush, and keep running.  Talk about running on empty.  So we did.  I only made it another 1.2 miles, but I did it without walking, and am so grateful Z was there to keep me going.  The scary thing was that I had stopped sweating.  I realized it as we turned around.  Not good.  Funny, even before I got home, I wished I had run another mile.  Just to prove to myself that I could do it.

I got home, ate, took an ice bath, put on my compression gear, and passed out on the screened porch off the master, with Topaz at my feet.  I don't think I've been this tired after any workout so far this year.  This really took it out of me.  And I was so sore - worst of the year I'd say.  Woke up, put the ice packs in my 110% compression gear (LOVE THESE btw), and lay there for another while.  Went to my metalsmithing class (so tired I almost didn't, which says a lot about how tired I was).  Came home, ate again.  Woke up this am still pretty sore.

As I showered this morning and reflected on the weekend, I realized something.  I've often said: as in triathlon, so in life.  My lessons and epiphanies in training are often a mirror for the things I need to learn in life.  I realized that I have been running on empty for a long time.  Longer than most people would tolerate.  Been filling other people's tanks, but neglecting my own.  Time to change that.

I've got 7 weeks to go.  This was a tough, tough weekend.  But that's good - wouldn't really be prepared for Ironman if I didn't have tough weekends, right?  I clearly need to increase my water intake on the bike.  Calories are okay - though possibly a little low this ride, but the water is a problem.  1300 calories in Infinit, and that's it, not counting the coke.  Although I did start the ride with more calories than ever before - took Jim's suggestion for Odwalla Superfood - so almost 500 calories in before the ride.  I usually can only swallow a banana, so I started out in a better position.  No plain water, and maybe that's one of the mistakes.  I'm still not peeing on the bike at all, and so this is not good.  I lost 5 pounds during this workout, and that's with consuming about 170 oz of fluid.  Now, no doubt it will not be this hot, nor certainly this humid, in Penticton.  This will leave me in an advantaged situation.  That's always good.  And if it does happen to turn out to be one of those "hot years", at least I'll be prepared.  I'm learning a lot about my nutrition needs.  This will be critical to my success in August.

I look at this picture that Kevin snapped of me as we "hurried up and waited" yesterday morning.  I was feeling good and that's quite a smile on my face...not to be seen again that day.  But, that was yesterday, and this is today.  It's still freaking hot, and still freaking humid, but I went out and did my recovery ride with a new smile on my face, because after all - what's 94 degrees when my bud Jen Vogel (http://jenvogel.wordpress.com) is out there in 130 degrees plus running 135 miles through the desert and up mountains to complete the world's toughest footrace.  Damn she is Bad A$$.  My hero.  So HTFU.

So, with another 18.5 hour week in front of me, all I have to say is - I'm ready to tackle it, and please please please let's ride the Gaps on Saturday.  No more stupid little hills...at least for a few weeks.

Happy Training
Kat

It's All Relative

It's funny to think how far I have come sometimes.  I mean seriously, never in a million years did I ever think I'd be sitting where I am as it relates to athletic ability or even athletic interest for that matter.  I'm certainly no rock star, I'm just a regular girl who never was an athlete, and suddenly finds that I can actually be reasonably competitive if I work at it.  If my blog gives nothing else, I hope it gives the certain knowledge to anyone looking for it that if you want to do something, you only have to put your mind to it and act on it, and in so doing, make it possible.  Just do it.  Yep, Nike sure got it right with that one.

This morning was the 41st running of the Atlanta Tradition called the Peachtree Road Race.  It's a 10k race, held on July 4th every year.  This is the largest 10k race in the world - 60,000 people.  And likely 100,000 cheering on the streets.  Unless you've done the Peachtree, you really can't imagine what that looks like.  It is truly mind boggling.  When we left the park, almost 2 hours after I finished, and we looked back at the finish line ... it was still a huge mass of people running in.  No gaps.  Anywhere.

So my instructions, received by text when I reminded Chris last week that I was doing the Peachtree, were:  OK, take that easy...just make it a recovery run, DO NOT race it!

That was fine with me.  As we headed to the movies yesterday afternoon (go see Larry Crowne btw, best movie I've seen in a while, LMAO), I wondered what pace that looked like.  I've done the PTRR 3 times (I think), but I haven't done it for the last two years.  Where I am right now, my 10k race pace is close to 7:30...my long run pace, depending on the weather, ranges anywhere from 8:00 - 8:45 usually (with some exceptions I'd care to forget).  So I figured, okay, I'll plan on an 8:15-8:30 and see what that feels like.  And it occurred to me that even at a long run pace, this would be my fastest PTRR by a long shot.

camera held above the crowd
but still caught me!

Well, long story short, I showed up this morning, felt good thanks to my ice bath yesterday, set out to run at a recovery pace...and despite 78% humidity in Atlanta, finished at 49 minutes, having run a 7:45 pace.  And in fact several times I made myself slow down as I looked at the garmin and thought "man, Chris is gonna kill me".  But I felt great.  At no point during that run, hills and all, did I feel bad in any way!  And I don't know if it was just the atmosphere and all the people, but I've never had 6 miles go by so quickly.  It was actually fun!  And that was the point of this race.  I had fun, and I got my t-shirt.


Oh and one interesting thing - both my Garmin and Z's registered 6.35 miles!!!

We met up with Z and had a few beers after to celebrate the beginning of our recovery week, and then headed home.  And per strict instructions, I am resting, doing virtually nothing.  And I don't plan on doing anything that is not precisely in my training plan for the week!!

Everything is really relative - in life as in training.  I love seeing the progression over the years.  At one time a 10k was a huge deal for me.  And then I started doing longer runs, and I realized about two years ago, that I could really just get out of bed and run a 10k without really thinking about it, though my time was certainly a lot slower.  Now I do them in PR time and barely feel winded at the end of it.  It gives me huge encouragement to think what I'll be able to do in another two years as I continue to bring my fitness and health to ever reaching new limits.  It's so exciting!

So just get out there and do it.  Who cares how long it takes you to run a mile.  Next year it will be faster if you stick with it, and the year after, faster still.  And pretty soon you'll be able to look in the mirror and say, wow - look at what I can do!

Happy Training!
Kat

Ridin' with the Boyz

What a week!  Over 18 hours of training logged - WOW.  I did it!  Longest week ever.  Now I start a recovery week - hard earned too - meaning a mere 12ish hours of training!  LOL.  I remember when that was a big week.

Yesterday we did a great ride in the Gaps.  For all my homies (aka those back home in Canada) these are mountain passes in north Georgia.  Some serious climbing to be found here.  Very popular with serious cyclists, and home of the famous Six Gaps Century held every September.  I've only ridden in the Gaps once - that was the Brasstown Bald century in May.  In that ride we did two of the Six Gaps, plus Brasstown (harder than the 6).  The plan for our ride yesterday was to do 6 climbs, but doubling up on Neels Gap, leaving out Hogpen from the Six.  Neels, Jack, Unicoi followed by a bunch of shit we like to call rollers followed by Neels, Wolfpen, Woody.  Here's the profile from my garmin:

Drove up just past Dahlonega and pulled off in a random spot on the road, got the bikes set up and took off.  Nice and early still, before 7.  Here's Jim and Kevin at the start, still looking fresh.  :)  Damn, it was still cool, might almost say cold, as we took off downhill on our way to Turner's Corner to start up Neels for the first time.  I was excited to get to this one...as I've said, it is a good replica of the first mountain climb at IMC, if not a bit tougher.  Of course, I didn't know where the hell we were really, didn't know when we started that we were heading up Neels...  I felt really good, going up, and really was focused on my heart rate.  As Chris reminded me about a week ago - it's not about the power, it's about the heart rate zones.  Check.  So though I looked at the speed, and looked at the power, it was more out of curiosity and data gathering to see what I could do holding my target heart rate.  Since we were going to be doing Neels twice, I was going to get some good comparative data out of the day.  This first run up I tried to keep the heart rate around 160.  This is a mid-high zone 2 for me, and a good target to see how I can hold up over a long tough ride.  To be honest, I'm really not sure where Neels officially starts...if I look at Mapmyride it shows it split into two sections.  The steeper second section is just over 4 miles at a 5% grade, according to their calculations, and they consider it to be a Cat 2 climb.  I felt GREAT after we got to the top.  I was certainly the last up, which would be the tale for the day as usual, but I don't think by too too much on this first climb, and I managed to pass several people.  Once at the top, I looked at Chris and said - was that Neels?  He says yep, that was Neels.  Woohoo!  Ok!  So I'm not scared of Richter now!  

After a rather prolonged "rest" stop for they guys, we continued on.  And oh man!  The glorious reward of the downhill!!!  Damn I love it.  Jim does too, and we sped down that mountain together.  Despite the fact that Jim is much bigger than I am, I somehow do manage to really bust out those downhills.  Passed by the road to the cabin where we got stranded at Christmas for several days with all the Georgia snow, and on to Jack's.  I don't really like Jack's.  It seems so much harder!  And yet the map does not support that.  Then Unicoi, which honestly I think was my favourite climb of the day.  And second favourite descent.  

Despite several in the group wanting to stop for a waterslide on the river, Coach would not let us.  ;)  We filled up on fluid though, and headed back to the "start".  This meant going through a shitload of rollers...just gotta say - I'd rather climb mountains than ride through those freaking rollers.  Hate them.  They really take it out of me.  That was all we did on that century last weekend, and you know, you just never can get into a rhythm.  The guys definitely waited for me on that section - don't know for sure, but I'd guess more than on the actual climbs.   I'd been feeling really great after the first 3 climbs, but now was definitely starting to feel a little tired.  

So.  Neels the second time.  It was definitely harder, but I still did it, and it turns out not all that much slower.  Couldn't keep my heart rate up quite to the same level, and the power dropped too.  But I made it up, nonetheless.  This is me at the top of Neels the second time around - and can I just say, I'm pretty sure the temp was a good 30 degrees higher than the first time too.  

First time: 177 avg watts (holy crap), max 295 watts, avg HR 160, avg cadence 79

Second time: 142 avg watts (dang), max watts 289, avg HR 149; avg cadence 69

Interesting comparison.  One might say I went a little hard on the first one.  177 average watts is pretty high for me.  One would probably be right.  :)  Ah the endless learning that comes from all these training rides!!  Most surprising, given the contrast in power, 28 minutes vs 31 minutes - not all that different.  

Speaking of cadence - I switched over to a compact crank, and this was my first shot using it.  And Holy Smokin Cadence Batman - what a difference!!!  Not only did I have gears left going up Neels, look at my average cadence going up that mountain.  Compare and contrast to recent similar rides, when I have seriously been down into holding 35-40 rpms going up these mountains!  What a refreshing difference.  My speed was up, my cadence was up, and I am saving my legs for the run because I'm not spending hours mashing the gears.  Thanks to my main dude Curtis at www.cannoncyclery.com for getting that ordered and put on in short order!  You rock Dude!!  I love it, and it is going to make a huge difference at IMC.

After a short stop, and another freaking great speed-fest down Neels, we headed onto Wolfpen.  This was a tough climb, and I have only one thing to say about it - that is a total bullshit downhill on the other side of that.  It sucked!!  However, redemption was provided with a short and comparatively easy climb up Woody and the best downhill of the day.  Curves and turns are wicked crazy, but holy mackerel, it was AWESOME.  According to my Garmin, I averaged 30.3 mph for 10 solid minutes coming down that gap.  Peak speed of the day was 45.2 mph.  AAAWWWEEESOME!!!!

One thing I did get right, or closer to right, today was my nutrition.  Again, using the Infinit - 1500 calories today.  I also tried the baked potato - and though I didn't eat much of it, it went down well, and worked to stave off the minor hunger pangs perfectly.  And my stomach tolerated it well.  Drank more water today than any other ride - I think about 130 oz if I calculate (and remember) correctly.  Biggest difference for me today - I remembered to start early.  I often find that I am not taking in enough in the first hour, and then find myself in a deficit situation - and once you are there, it is REALLY hard to get out.  Oh, and some coke!  Damn that stuff really works.

Thanks as always to the guys for letting me hang with them and waiting a few minutes while I try to keep up.  Here are my boyz from Saturday...you guys are amazing, and thanks for making me faster.

Oh, and can I just say - look at our shiny new cycling kits!!  They finally came in, and I have to say, although mine is WAY too big (I'm swimming in my small jersey), it was really cool to all be out there in our kits.

So today was my longest run of the year, and the final training session before I get to Recovery Week.  First mile sucked.  I told myself I had 2:15 to get done, so I needed to get my head out of that space.  By the time I hit a mile and a quarter, I had myself turned around.  Thought about Heather doing her Ironman in Austria, and with some quick calculations on time difference, thought at this time she is probably about to start her run.  That actually helped me get through, though I turned out to be wrong on my knowledge of what time zone Austria is in.  (Heather rocked her race by the way! Congrats!!).  

Decided today that I would move out of my comfort zone, and take Chris's advice to do some long out and back runs to more closely mimic IMC.  I did (almost) 16 miles today - an out and back route x2.  No stopping today, with the exception of my "aid stations" which I set up every 2 miles or so, again, trying to mimic what I plan to do in the race.  Certainly had a few out loud conversations with myself, that sounded a lot like "Ok girl, only 1:15 of running (...45 more minutes...12 more minutes) stands between you and a Recovery Week...let's go!"

Overall pleased with the run.  First half slower than I'd like at a 9:05 pace, but the second half pretty good at an 8:27 pace, for about 7.5 miles.  Very happy with my negative splits these days - this will reap dividends come race day.  Overall 8:47 pace for 16 miles.  Given this is a long run at the end of a long hard build session, I'm happy with this.  Definitely humidity continues to be a factor - though I went out early, and the temp was only 73 when I finished, I literally left a puddle on the pavement when I stopped at the car.  I'm not exaggerating.  THAT is how humid it is.  It is ridiculous!

So, here I come Recovery Week!!!  YAY!!!  A beer with the coach tomorrow after the Peachtree, and then lots of sleep for me!  Gotta work hard at resting up this week.  Don't forget kids - rest is just as important as training.  (see I do listen).

Happy Training and Resting!!

Kat

Quantitative Analysis - the bike

Ok.  I can't help it.  I realize it is a sickness, of sorts.  lol.  But in my defense, a) I'm a project manager, and so I naturally do a lot of numbers and analysis; b) I'm a triathlete, and let's face it, we're all obsessed with the numbers - it's hard to avoid it even if you wanted to; and c), as Richard pointed out on my last post, and none of you would disagree, I'm a Type A with capital letters.  So I was pretty much in Quant Heaven (Dr. Buff would be so proud) when I found this elevation profile for the IMC bike course:

So, yep, you guessed it.  I **obviously** proceeded to break it down into little bits.  Duh... Wouldn't you?  (don't answer that).  I looked at how much time to do each section, based on distance and grade.  Based on recent rides.  The number I came up with did not please me.  "Well that is just not going to be good enough" I said out loud as I added up the numbers in excel (yes, excel...shut up).  As I have said several times - No Damn Way am I having a bike that is more than 6 hours. 

Now Chris seems to be very confident that this is very doable for me.  And I'll admit, that 18.6 mph (what it would take to finish bike leg in 6 hours) is seemingly very doable for me.  But hello!  We're talking about climbing MOUNTAINS.   My best bike was Augusta last year, half ironman, at 21.1 mph.  And granted I've gotten stronger this year.  But Augusta might be considered flat as a pancake when compared to IMC.  And yes, I realize I 've been climbing mountains in training, and yes, mountains that are harder than IMC, but I'm fricking slow as molasses on them, and hence my "I am just going to have to get faster because no damn way am I have a bike split that is more than 6 hours" recent mantra. 

So as I said, the numbers didn't please me.  David was sitting in one of the living room chairs the other day, and picked up a piece of paper with all the numbers on it...all in a column: distance and time to do it...and asked me what it was.  I'm like "it's nothing"...I get a look..."ok.  I was figuring out how long I think it might take to do the IMC bike course".  And then as he starts to look at it (not that he could make any sense of it really) I said "just give that to me...those numbers are no good anyway".  And I ripped it up.  Because dammit, my bike split is going to be 6 hours or better.  And that's that.

So this weekend we are riding the Gaps.  6 Climbs.  Twice up Neel's Gap.  I am actually really excited about this, because Neel's is a very very close replica of Richter Pass.  So my time on that will be a reasonable predictor of what I can do on Richter.  Now of course, I am tired, with all the training.  So I can't make a 1:1 comparison...but I can get an idea.  So Saturday will be a good measuring stick for me. 

On a good note - I finally had a good run again.  I was seriously starting to think this was not going to happen till the race and that I'd just have to slog through a whole lotta awful runs.  This morning's (yesterday's now that I am finally getting this posted) 10mile step-up was awesome, not in the least due to some cooler temps (hilarious that I now think 72 degrees is cool), and considerably lower humidity.  This workout has you run 3mi warmup, 3mi @zone 3HR, then 3 miles @zone 4-5a (ouch) and 1mi cooldown.  Managed to pull in an overall 8:15 pace for the 10 miles, with the 3 key miles at a suh-weeeet 7:28!!  Hooray! 

So, got a big weekend in front of me, and I am actually psyched about it.  I'm especially psyched that next week is a recovery week. 

Happy Canada Day!!!!

Happy Training!
Kat