Patience is a Virtue .. and my coach is making me learn it

Well, bikes are checked in, we've long since eaten dinner (de-lish if I do say so myself), my transition bag is packed, and now I sit here with that pre-race energy waiting for the gun to go off.  Soon it will be bed, though sleeping does not always come easy on these nights.  Thankfully I had a fantastic night's sleep last night, and actually each night since we left ATL.

The pre-race brick went mostly well today.  Ride felt fantastic - this is one smokin flat fast course!!  Saw Lance, waved at him, and he waved back!!! - kinda made my day.  Yes, I know not everyone is a Lance fan anymore, but I am; and not because he's doing Ironman now, either.  The run was not so perfect :) had some issues with my left hip flexor, left ham, and right knee.  All felt better by the end of it, but not exactly what you want in the pre-race brick.  I stretched it out, and I'm going with Janet's diagnosis of pre-race phantom pain :)  PMA!!

The swim was less of a swim and more of a good time jumping in the waves, lol!!  A bit crazy, and really impossible to get a quality swim out of it.  But whatever, we were in the water with our wetsuits on, and that's better than not.  We all got a kick out of the fact that after fighting our way out, and fighting our way in, I announced that we'd been at it for a full 6 minutes.  HA!  At that point I simply accepted the fact that my swim is likely to be a little long.  C'est la vie!

So.  My race plan.  I've known for some time that this race was not going to be what I'd hoped it to be when I first signed up.  The season has been quite bumpy for me so far, with illness and injury, and continuing symptoms of overtraining from last year, along with what I suspect is low iron again, though I have not yet had the blood drawn.  Brett and I decided a while back that this would be a race to try some different things and see how it went since I am not going to be a contender here in Galveston, I am simply going to be a participant.

That all sounds 'good' as you are talking about it.  Then the Coach gives you the marching orders, and things seem a little different :)  Essentially my race plan is this - Be Patient.  Yes, me.  Be Patient.  You all know how good I am at that!  More precisely be patient on the bike.  Even worse ;)  He says to me, "I know you don't like being passed, and I know your strength is on the bike.   But.  Your only job in this race is to have a good run."  Ok! After riding today, I texted Brett "it's going to be very hard to hold back on the bike...it's very fast".  His response - "lol. your mantra tomorrow is patience".   Argh.  Ok.  I know I know!!  My target is 155-160W, and if HR goes above 153 I am supposed to hold back.  <GASP>. Seriously?  Holy mackerel! I don't think I have ever raced at a HR that low.  Nay, I KNOW I have not.  Patience Patience Patience.  But then I get to give it on the run.  First loop conservative, 2nd loop turn it up a bit, and 3rd loop give whatever I have left.

So, I've been telling myself for a while that there are lessons to be learned from this race and being where I am at the moment, mentally and physically.  Like, every race CANNOT be an A race.  And, have fun.  Seems like the other big lesson will be Patience.  I could stand to learn a bit on that, no doubt ;)  ...as in tri, so in life...

I figure it WILL be very hard to hold back.  But I also figure I owe it to myself (and Brett) to stick to the plan and see what happens.  I am excited to get out there, I hope my body and my current level of stamina will be enough to get me through the race.  It's going to be a hot one, with record highs here in Galveston, and hot damn the humidity is through the roof.  But I am ready to rock with my Positive Mental Attitude.  Stay in the Moment. Be Patient. Stick to the Plan.

Good luck to all my house mates - April, Janet, James, Sylvia and Missy!

Happy Racing everyone.  PMA!
Kat

Canadiantrigirl Tweets!

Today was a great day!  We all woke up around 7ish, and after a little coffee/ensure/whateva-gets-ya-goin, we headed out for a swim in the ocean.  Found our way to the recommended beach, which had an $8 entry fee, and quickly determined that we could swim for free right beside it.  Uh, THAT was easy! Quick u-turn and a bio break at Walgreens, a confused Kat ready to drive right onto the beach (doh!), and we finally managed to pull into the free parking spots.  Of course we were the only ones there, and 4 triathletes pulling on wetsuits on the side of the road do tend to get noticed.  Moments later, a car pulls in behind, and out jumps our new Swiss friend Martin - 'hey can I swim with you guys'?  Pretty funny - I've been in that situation, athlete alone at a race trying to find a swim buddy, scouring for the other fools putting on wetsuits!  So in we went.  We can't swim at the race site, and in fact we are only able to do any practice swims on the Gulf side of the island.  It was way choppy.  Some really good big waves.  Thought I'd be nervous about that, plus the first time in open water this season, plus salt water ... surprise surprise, that PMA is working overtime!  I felt awesome!  Of course the waves totally screwed up my stroke, but I felt good.  Was very relieved.  Coming back in was almost as hard, with the waves crashing right over me!  Good news is, if I could handle these waves I am gonna be just fine on the calm side.

A good portion of the rest of my day was spent doing almost nothing, which was a weird feeling for me.  :)  Janet arrived safe and sound!  We did end up going to check in today, after JLess told me there was literally no line at registration.  I was kinda glad to get out and do something...I had a bunch of energy that was starting to get out of control.  I want on the bike, but that has to wait till tomorrow!  So off we went, and honestly it was THE BEST check in experience ever.  No lines, no waiting.  I was very good at the IM Store - I have enough stuff now that I just don't need anything but a bottle and a visor.  And I did get a cool visor - looks very American actually, and as I said to James - I guess I have to do 'American' some of the time, and where better to do it than in Texas!  lol.  We also got treated very nicely by the Bike Barn where they even gave us a Blue Moon on the house.  Can't beat that! carb up ladies :)  Also tried the Bonk Busters that IM is now putting on the course.  I have never heard of them before today.  I have to say, I was kind of impressed with them, and think I could actually take that kind of 'solid' down in a race.

So one of the things that April is teaching me on this trip is how to finally start tweeting.  HAHA!!  The queen of tweets is actually getting me on it.  canadiantrigirl is my 'handle' - is that even what you call it on Twitter?  So Brett calls me this afternoon to go over the race plan (more on that in the next post).  He asks how I am feeling, and I say pretty good actually, and he says:  "ya, seems like you are in the right place, I've been following you on Twitter'.  BAHAHA - never thought to hear those words, and April sure got a kick out of it too!!  So, here I am.  Tweeting.  Who'd have thunk it??!

Finished the evening off with a FABULOUS chicken taco dinner - yuuum yum!!!  April was head chef tonight with many competent sous chefs ... we ate out on the deck, and it was completely delish.  Perfect for the two nights before a race meal.  Tomorrow will be lighter, today I feel like I fueled my body well.

So now, off to bed soon, to the all important good night's sleep, and getting more excited for this race as the moments tick by.  PMA!!

Happy Training!
Kat

#PMA

Positive Mental Attitude ... it's what makes survivors, well, survivors .. at least according to Laurence Gonzales.  Just finished reading Deep Survival over the weekend, and among other things, he says this is one of the keys.   I reckon he is right, and, I think PMA is critical to a triathlete as well.  Let's face it - this thing is at least 50% mental.  And if you are doing it to win, it hurts.

April threw another one in there today - I don't have time for negative thoughts.  I love it!  Move over negativity, PMA is moving on in.  :)

As we recounted our journey to Galveston for James over an amazing dinner at Saltwater Grill, it was just really amazing how much positive energy surrounded us on the way.  In every state, people wished us luck.  Not surprising, as we drove through LA and MS and AL and GA, we kinda stood out with our two bikes sitting up top of the HTFU wagon.  It started in GA with a question at the gas pump - you girls must ride a lot (yep, we're actually on our way to a race) and do those wheels really make a difference (yep they sure do)..and as he pulled away in his beat up truck - 'good luck baby!'.  And just about every stop after, and believe me as good hydrating athletes there were plenty'o'stops, we got a 'good luck!'  And then there was the room number/race number 'coincidence' (see last night's blog); and our run this morning in Biloxi before we hit the road - with no intentional effort, we came to a stop at the hotel door having gone exactly 3.33 miles.  (3 is my lucky number).  It was just a great trip all around!  ... and yes we are buying lottery tickets tomorrow!

And here is what greeted us as we walked into our home for the next 5 days, hanging above the kitchen threshold:

Couldn't be more appropriate!!


And so here we are, in Galveston, ready to race.  Pretty sure we saw Tim O'Donnell in the Kroger as we picked up some groceries tonight.  Cool.  Now we are headed to bed.  We are 5 so far, with two more to come tomorrow.  Should be great.

PMA my friends.  That is what it is all about.  Be it triathlon, or Life ... positive mental attitude is where it's at.  Here's to a continuing increase in PMA, to culminate on Sunday.

Happy Training
Kat

Girls Gone Tri in Texas - Day One

Ok, so we are not officially in Texas yet ... but we are at our halfway stopping point in Biloxi MS.  Quite a nice hotel for $61 a night - 4.5 star, and quite a comfy bed.  Our destination - Galveston 70.3.  I'm driving down with April, and we are getting to spend some quality hours together :)

This will be a quick post as we are both tired and heading for sleep.  But I had to write for this reason:  interesting how little things come along to reinforce what we are thinking in our heads.  As we were standing waiting for our valet tag, April mentioned our room number - 2031.  I said what???  She said 2031...  I said, uh, that is my race number!  How bizarre.  And on opening the room key holder, here is what I saw:

Weird.  Prophetic.  Whatever you want to call it.  Point is, that is what this race is for me.  I am not where I thought I would be.  I have some lessons to learn from this race, the universe is trying to teach me something...of this I am sure.  And to see such a clear and obvious message to boot, it's just all pretty funny.  In a freaky kind of way.

So, here I go.  Here to have fun, and find myself out on that race course.

Goodnight April!

Happy Training
Kat

It's about time :)

...I started blogging again.  Can't really believe it is March!  Been thinking of this blog weekly for the last 2+ months, and I'm finally just gonna start.  Lots of new stuff going on this year, which I 'll get to in time, but really just wanted to get something out here so I get back into the groove.

Looking forward to this year, and sharing it with everyone who cares to read.  First race is in 4 weeks - Galveston 70.3.  I'm not where I had hoped to be yet for the season, with one thing after another - bicep tendonitis that kept me out of the pool for a few weeks, preceded by bronchitis that kept me out of training period for a week and reduced training for another, preceded by knee-itis that kept me from running for a full week.  Enough already - no more 'itis anything.  And suddenly here I am and the race is far closer than I can even believe.  So we are putting our heads together and figuring out our best plan, how to use this race to gather data, and so on.  New coach for me this year, after 3 great years with Chris it was time for a change.  So enter Brett Daniels.  Very excited to work with him, and see what a different approach can do for me, building on a great 3-year base.

So, 2012 race season is here, and I am stoked!  Come along for the ride.

Happy Training!
Kat