Mmm, humble pie!

I love riding my bike. I've been riding the Tobacco Trail to work a couple days a week and I really like that. Getting in a workout AND getting out of traffic -- it's like heaven to me!

Honestly, I am the worst person ever to have to commute an hour each day. I get so cranky when there's traffic and by the time I get home, my blood pressure is probably in the stratosphere and I'm all fired up from having spent 30 minutes yelling at people for being stupid, even though they haven't really done anything wrong and I'm just being cranky because I don't want to be stuck in the car and there's nothing I can do about it.

So, yeah, any time I can get out of the car is a good thing for me. I just wish I could ride the whole way from my house, instead of having to drive for 10 minutes and get out of my car.

Randy and I went out for a ride last night. We did, for the first time, the ride that originally motivated me to want to start road biking in the first place. We cruised out of Carrboro, took this rolling route through the country, green fields stretching out at either side. At one point on the route, you have to pass a dairy farm with its very own country ICE CREAM store! (Fortunately, we were riding at 9am, so the store was closed. But I plan to be wreaking some nutritional havoc on an evening ride in the very near future.) The whole ride is smooth, rolling hills and it was a perfect day for riding and I was so happy.

For the first half of our ride, though, we accidentally ended up in the middle of the Powerman NC duathlon. Oopsies. So we were just cruising along amidst all these people wearing numbers and riding for dear life.

Randy keeps insisting that I learn to draft, even though I don't like it because a) it kind of freaks me out to be six inches from his back wheel and b) I want to get a workout and having him drag me up the hill kinda defeats the point, if you ask me. But he insisted, so we practiced that for a while. At one point, we were chugging up a hill and this lady in the race rode up next to us and started yelling at me!

"You're DRAFTING!!!!" she accused. "THAT'S NOT ALLOWED!!!!!!!"

I just looked at her very calmly and said, "Well, I'm not racing." And then returned to chugging up the hill. But it gave me an excuse to not have to practice drafting, as I told Randy, "I don't want to lower the racers' morale by making them think someone in the race is cheating." Hee.

Later on, though, I found myself very quietly drafting him up a big hill. Funny how easy it is to stop protesting when you are nearing exhaustion.

Because riding with Randy is HARD! He's a good rider and he's not afraid to say it. He always pushes me way harder than I would push myself, which is good. Usually. But sometimes I end up working harder than is good for me. Usually, I just suck it up. But not yesterday. Because yesterday, I made the mistake of wearing my heart rate monitor, which meant I knew exactly what kind of damage I was doing. And at one point, I looked down at my monitor and saw that, even with drafting, my heart rate was kicking at like 187. And I had to swallow my pride and say, "Baby, you go ahead. This is too fast for me."

I hate that!

(And a quick swimming note: I'm now swimming 100s consistently under 2:15. I know that's not nearly fast enough. I won't feel comfortable until I'm swimming under 2 minutes. Which means that I'm back to drilling every workout before I start trying to log the laps. Learning curves are no fun!)

Little Miracles

I cut 20 seconds off my 100m yesterday. It was kind of like a little miracle.

The main set was 8x100 and it went a little something like this:

2:29, 2:33, 2:28, 2:28, 2:23, 2:17, 2:16, 2:13 (And I was tired on that last one!)

So what happened? In the middle of my fifth set, something happened. I recovered my right arm, reached, pulled...And all of the sudden, I was pulling against something. Instead of just kind of sliding through the water, my palm caught it and stopped and I pulled and my body went whoosh.

And then I did it with my left hand. And then I did it again. And there I was, climbing that storied water ladder up and down the pool.

I'd read all about how to do the proper catch and how it should feel like you're climbing the rung of a ladder. But I'd never really noticed it in my own swimming. Until yesterday.

Of course, as soon as I discovered that, I was so excited that I promptly forgot everything else I learned about swimming and proceeded to sloppily propel myself up and down the lane. But, even so, I still managed to get progressively faster with every single lap.

I was tempted to push it further, but I know enough by now to stop while I'm ahead.

I've been cheap about the thought of getting a swim coach, since I've already dropped well over a grand on this little sprint triathlon. But I think even for a lesson or two or a stroke analysis, it would be worth it. I've got a call into some places, but I've received more than one enthusiastic endorsement for Dave and Monette Williams, so I might give them a call, even though it means shelling out a little more than I planned.

You can't put a price on proper stroke mechanics, though. Right?

I rode to work for my bike workout this morning. I really like riding in. Especially with the whole astronomical gas prices issue. I wish I could ride in all the way from my house, but halfway isn't bad. It takes me about 12 minutes to get to the American Tobacco Trail parking lot, versus about 30 minutes of driving into work. Every little bit helps -- and it helps my body, my car, the environment and my wallet. Nothing to complain about there.

Workout
Biking, 30 minutes, 6.5 miles
Max HR: 184
Avg HR: 161

(Oopsies. I was supposed to stay between 145-155. I hate heart rate training. Do I really have to do it? Do you guys do heart rate training? Is it really worth it to keep things pegged so slow? I want to SWEAT, dammit!!)

I've been a little lazy on the blogging, but I've still been training steadily.

On Saturday, I attended a swim clinic at the YMCA. Which was, I'm sad to report, kind of a disappointment.

I was really hoping to get some feedback on my stroke and some suggestions on how to improve my swim.

I didn't really get that.

First off, almost every single piece of advice the guy running the clinic gave was exactly opposite everything I've learned from Total Immersion and the research I've done.

For example, TI says that balance is the key to not sinking in the water. The guy who ran the swim clinic said that kicking was the number one thing.

TI says that, if you want to swim faster, the answer is NOT to kick faster and move your arms faster. This guys stressed that you need to be able to kick real fast if you want to be a strong swimmer.

Finally, everything I've read suggests that you should maximize your time in the gliding position, with one hand extended and streamlined. This guy said that you should never, ever use the gliding position because that is just a time-costing rest that you shouldn't need.

But that isn't even the issue I had with the whole thing. Different schools of thought have different approaches to technique and I don't know enough to say which is the right one.

The clinic consisted of us sitting in the bleachers while he gave a little mini-lecture about consistency and power and then we hopped in the water.

Where he proceeded to give us a bunch of drills to practice. So he'd say, "Okay, the next drill is where you swim with your fists" and would talk a little bit about why you do that. And then he'd make us swim 50 with our fists.

But then, instead of giving people feedback on the way they performed the drill, he just moved on to the next one.

Which wasn't anything I couldn't have gotten from a book or the research I've been doing.

So now I'm thinking more seriously about sucking it up and paying for individual lessons. There's no replacing the chance to really have someone focus on my specific issues and give me undivided attention. And who doesn't love undivided attention?

The good news from the weekend is that I went out on my new bike for the first time and it is super duper amazing! Love it! I was only planning on going out for an easy 30-minute ride, but somehow we ended up doing 16 miles. And I loved it!

Today, though, I missed my first workout since I started training. ): I was supposed to have a 45-minute ride this afternoon and I wasn't prepared for the rain. Randy is going to get a hold of a trainer for me, but he hasn't yet. So I just didn't ride. But I figured that I did above and beyond yesterday, so I don't feel too badly.

The swim this morning was just okay. I was feeling really discombobulated from the swim clinic on Saturday and trying to take the good things I learned there and meld it with the things I've learned in the last couple of months.

During tomorrow's swim, I think I'm just going to back out and focus on swimming intuitively and swimming to figure out what works best for me in the water, instead of trying to swim according to someone else's rules. We'll see how that goes.

Cruisin'

I am in an AMAZING mood today. Not for any specific reason, I just am.

Maybe it has something to do with my bike ride this morning on the American Tobacco Trail.

It was perfect. The path is a perfect rolling smooth ride and the trees are all leafy so you can't even tell you're in the middle of the city. And the air this morning was crisp, a little on the cool side, but full of whatever it is the air gets full of when you go outside and take a deep breath and say to yourself, "Man, I feel GOOD!"

When I was finished up and stretching my quads, I reached down and poked one. And it felt really hard. That made me happy. It's good to feel strong.

Workout:
Biking: 30 mins, 7 miles, avg. HR 149bpm

Hydration:
72oz

Going the Distance

This morning, I swam 750 meters.

Without stopping.

Which just happens to be the length of the swim leg of my tri. Woot for me! That's a pretty big jump from my previous high, which was yesterday's 200. The goal today was to swim 200 as well, but I felt so good at the end of it, I figured I'd keep going to 250. And I felt so good at the end of that, I figured I'd do 375, so I could say that I swam half the race distance. When I got to 375 and still felt as good as I did at 25, I figured, "What the hey?" And then I swam the whole damn thing.

I just got into the groove and I was gliding and stroking and really not winded or out of breath at all. I probably could have gone 1000 meters, but I figured that wasn't really the point, so I stopped at 750.

Now I didn't do it quickly, but I did it. Maybe it's a small thing, but it makes a world of difference to me knowing that I can successfully complete the race distance 16 weeks before the race. Because that means my training from here on out doesn't have to focus on facing the fear that I won't be able to swim that far, but can focus on being stronger and smoother and faster and more rested out of the water.

Today is a fabulous day!

AM Workout
Swimming: 1550 meters

300m warm up
5 x 100m w/ :15 rest between
750m

PM Workout
Running: 20 min., 10:30/mile, avg. HR 142

I'm still averaging a pitiful 10:30 per mile, but the good news is that I'm now averaging that while staying within my aerobic heart rate zone. I can guarantee you that, in the past, I've made 10:30 but strayed into the 170s in terms of heart rate.

I can feel myself getting stronger and faster. My resting heart rate is down to 156/157. And it just all feels easier.

I'm still trying to get used to the twice-a-day training schedule. The afternoon workout is awesome once I get out there, but when I'm sitting at my desk thinking about doing it, it sure doesn't sound so awesome to me.

But, oh boy, as soon as I get going, it's like heaven. All my cells are singing and my heart is happily thumping along and the music is playing and my legs are pumping and I just feel so freaking vibrant. I love it!

Hydration
90oz

Monday, Monday

My first "official" day on my new training schedule. It sure is a lot easier to have someone else do the thinking for you, even when the thinking involves working out TWICE every day.

It shouldn't be too hard to manage though. I figure I can always get the swim in before work and then I have both lunch and after work to fit in the run or the bike.

I finally feel like I'm really on my way to training for this thing. But of course I'm already thinking of some other races...Any suggestions on what might be a good follow-up this season to a sprint on 7/29?

On Thursday night, I ended up accidentally staying in Barnes and Noble for two hours reading Dean Karnazes's Ultramarathon Man. It got me super inspired and excited to train and then my mind started wandering to dangerous places. Dangerous, dangerous places. Anyone care to join me in 2009?

AM Workout
Swimming: 1000 meters

In which I swam 200 of them without stopping. Thank you very much. That now means I can successfully complete 27 percent of the race distance. And without even being winded. I've just tried to focus on being really smooth and slow and comfortable and I continually repeat, "I will not practice struggle. I will not practice struggle." That helps a lot.

PM Workout
Bike, 30 minutes, stationary cycle
2 x 10 pushups
2 x 25 situps

My bike wasn't ready yet, but tomorrow, tomorrow it will be mine. Yay!

-----------------------------------

My new bike is here, but Randy is having someone at work put it together. He thinks it'll be done and ready today, but I don't know if I should count on that. I might do 30 in the gym, just in case.

I got a look at it and it is, as Randy says, "a screamer." Y'all should see the wheelset on this thing: Ksyrium Elite and it is fan-cy.

The bike was also way more than I should be spending, but I don't care! I can't wait to take her out and get to know her a little better. Woot!

Hydration
106oz

Now we're getting somewhere

I finally got tired enough of my random training program that I went over to TriNewbies and got hooked up with a structured, 18-week intermediate training plan.

The guide says that this plan is really intended for people who have already completed a triathlon and are ready to get competitive, but I figured it would work just as well for me. I'm not worried about being super competitive, but I do want to train at a higher level than most of the beginner programs, which usually are only about 10 weeks long.

So this will be perfect. And it's right about where I am already right now. But with one added caveat.

The heart rate monitor.

I love the thing and hate it. Love it because I know how important it is to successful training and hate it because I just want to get out there and go.

Especially with the running, my heart rate is way higher than it should be. And rather than just ignoring it, I've decided to use my heart rate monitor the way it was intended.

I will run in my aerobic zone (150-160bpm). Even if that means I have to run at 3.4 mph. Even if it means I have to walk. Because there's no shame in walking. And I'm starting to understand that walking a little here and there will lead to better results that running myself wobbly.

Same thing with swimming. The plan calls for 1000meter workouts to start. I've been swimming 1750-2000. I may pull back to the 1000. Or I may pull back a little bit more. Whatever it takes to stay strong and keep building endurance.

The challenge for me has never been the physical exertion training requires. For me, it's learning when to push and when to take it easy and knowing that starting slow and building is always smarter than charging 110% from the gate.

Workout
Running, 35 minutes, 3 miles

Hydration
48oz

Rest Days are Fun

Training does funny things to your head. These days I have to talk myself OUT of working out instead of having to perform miracles to get myself going.

I know resting is good for me and crucial if I want to make any progress. But I don't have to like it.

I knew yesterday that I couldn't swim today. My muscles felt tired and blah and I just didn't have any energy in the water. But I was still planning on biking today.

Then I woke up this morning. And just didn't want to move. It was 6am and my body said, "Screw you, I'm not getting up. Neener neener." So I slept in, all the way until 7:45am. Woo!

I went to Whole Foods for lunch, then walked around Duke campus for about 10 minutes afterward. Being in the sun and just strolling along was nice and I got a lot of the same calming benefit I get from exercise.

I need to structure an actual training plan. So far, I've been going by feel and doing whatever I'm in the mood for each day. But I don't feel like that's the smartest way to build my endurance and strength.

The only problem is that all the sprint training plans seem to be geared kind of low for me. A lot of them start with swimming or running for 15 minutes and biking for 20 minutes. I'd go insane if I had to get in the pool, then get out after 20 minutes.

Any suggestions? Maybe I need to be training for a longer race.

Ha! This stuff is addicting and I haven't even done my first race yet.

Workout
Rest day

Hydration
96oz

Afternoon Delight

Went for a run at lunch. Lately I've been trying to get out and run outside instead of just pounding away on the treadmill.

Since I swam this morning, I decided to keep it easy and just went for two miles. The first mile, I didn't worry about the HRM and the time was 10:30. For the second half, I devoutly followed the HRM and tried to keep my heart rate in the 60-70% range, even though it meant (gasp!) walking for a few minutes.

I've done a bunch of research on the heart rate monitor training, but I'm just not sure. Based on my age, my 'moderate' range is from 136-154 bpm. I don't know about anyone else, but as soon as I'm running, no matter how slow, my heart starts kicking into the high 150s. So to keep in range and actually call it running, I end up shuffling along at a pitiable 3.5mph, even though I don't really feel like I'm working. When I get into an RPE of 6-7, though, my heart rate is more like 165-170, which, according to the HRM is badbadbad. I need to do a maximum heart rate test, but lately, the idea of running until I want to drop just doesn't sound that good to me.

Tomorrow is an indoor ride on the spinning bike at the gym. Hopefully it's one of the last for me!

Panda Eyes are Hott

Rather than continue to bore everyone with an exhaustive rundown of my nutritional intake, I've stuck a link up on the right to my Fitday page. That way, if you're really interested, you can go see all the gruesome details of my eating habits.

I can never decide if tracking my nutrition is good for me or bad for me. The thing I like about it is that it forces me to pay attention to what I'm putting in my face. The bad thing is that I feel like I end up thinking more about what I'm eating, to the point where I think about food MORE than I usually do, which usually results in me wanting to eat more of it. And always thinking about food is kind of lame.

Anyway, at least my exercise isn't an issue. You'll still have to suffer through exhaustive run-downs of my workouts and hydration level. Because I know how to entertain.

I went swimming again and did the same workout as yesterday. You know, the one where I crowed about how smooth I was, how balanced? Yeah. Maybe all the mucus in my head yesterday redistributed my balance, because today it was back to the same old, same old. Really, I think I should have taken today off. My shoulders are kind of tired and it was the first time I didn't look forward to jumping in the pool.

But I still have so much to learn! It's hard to take a day off when I know how far I have to go. The good news is that there's a stroke clinic at my local Y on the 15th, so I will definitely hit that up. It'll be nice to have someone tell me everything I'm doing wrong, rather than just flailing around, knowing that I'm doing stuff wrong, but not really knowing exactly what to do about it. Yay!

I'm planning on running at lunch today. I wanted to yesterday, but I had too many meetings.

Is it weird that I'm looking forward to doing more double workout days? I just have so much stress and it feels so good to exercise. Nice to get everything off my mind and just follow along with what my body is doing.

Speaking of stress, I have a meeting in 15 minutes with a client to present my first TV campaign. Which is awesome. Except I have hardcore panda eyes from my swim goggles as well as a highly attractive line across my forehead, brought to you by my swim cap.

I love training!

Workout

Swimming: 1 hr, 10 minutes

Warmup:
4 x 50

Drills:
4 x 50 balance
2 x 50 side balance, right
2 x 50 side balance, left
4 x 50 single arm pull, right
4 x 50 single arm pull, left
4 x 50 double arm pull

Ladder:
50, 50, 75, 100, 75, 50, 50

Cooldown:
6 X 25

Hydration:
74oz

Balance and Lack Thereof

Great swim workout today:

5x50 warmup
4x50 balance
2x50 side balance, right
2x50 side balance, left
4x50 single arm pull, right
4x50 single arm pull, left
4x50 double arm pull
Ladder: 25, 50, 75, 100, 75, 50, 25
4x25 cooldown

Total: 1750m

The balance drills really helped. And I can totally see how far I've progressed since last month when I first started swimming. I'm beginning to have hope that I'll actualy be able to do the swim portion of the race without drowning or completely panicking.

Nutrition, not so great:

6:30a: 2 slices double fiber toast w/ PB
10:00a: 1c oatmeal w/ 1 apple
12:00p: Salad w/ peppers, tomato, blackberry, almonds; 2T vinaigrette
1:30p: 1c low-fat eggplant parmesan
2:30p: 1 slice cheesecake
3:00p: 2 pieces Riesen candy
3:30p: 4oz nonfat yogurt, 1 apple, 1/3rd c. Kashi GoLean
5:00p: Large chocolate chip cookie
7:30p: Chips and salsa; 2 bean and cheese tacos (w/ corn tortillas, ff refried beans and 2% cheese)
8:30p: Skinny Cow Ice Cream Sandwich; 4 Mini Merengues

Hydration: 16oz

I wish I didn't love sugar so much. But, oh, I do. If only I could get my eating as balanced as my swimming is starting to become.

In great news, I think Randy ordered my bike today. So very soon I'll have some sweet wheels! (And I just noticed the unconscious sugar pun. This is a problem!)

When Allergies Attack!

I've never been a particularly allergy-prone person. Usually I cavalierly bop through allergy season with nary a sniffle.

Though you sure wouldn't be able to tell by the way I've been carrying on for the past two days. Intense fits of violent sneezing, an itchy, runny nose, even my throat itches.

It is an amazing day today and I was planning on enjoying it with a long run. But seeing as I can't even sit in the yard without misery, I think I'll have to shelve that plan.

I sat at Weaver Street Market and worked for a while today and rode the old beater bike up there and back. And I'll do some strength training later tonight. But those things don't really make up for the fact that I can't go outside and play. Meh!

Gimme Some Wheels!!

Soon, oh yes, very soon, I will have my bike. And thanks to the power of a boyfriend in the industry and a beautiful thing known as a pro deal, I'll have a pretty darn nice bike:



The Cannondale R1000 Feminine

Ah yes, a bike just for me. I'm so used to riding Randy's old hand-me-down mountain bike that I can't even imagine owning something that's actually fitted to me. I can't wait!

Only two questions:

1) Triple crank or compact double? (I'm leaning toward the triple because, hey lots of gear options are good, but am wondering how much better the shifting is on the compact. Any thoughts?)

2) Blue or black?

Slow Down to Speed Up?

The more I swim, the more I realize it's completely counterintuitive to my usual way of approaching things.

Every lap, before I begin, I tell myself to take it slow and steady, relax and in the words of Terry Laughlin, "refuse to practice struggle." And every lap finds me thrashing around, unconsciously trying to windmill my arms faster and faster, frothing the water with my legs and not really getting anywhere.

No wonder I'm exhausted when I get to the end of the lap.

At the end of my swim today, I told myself that I was going to swim 100 meters as slowly as I possibly could. And that's what I did.

But here's the weird thing. Though I was consciously swimming as slowly as I could manage, my speed through the water actually seemed faster and smoother than when I was doing my usual get to the other side as fast as you can strategy. I finished the 100 and swam another 50, just because I could. I probably could have gone farther, but I wanted to stop while I was ahead.

Next time I get in the pool, my goal will be to bring that slower is better mentality to every lap, taking my time and moving as slowly as I can. It feels amazing to slip through the water, sleek and smooth and relaxed.

Workout
Swimming: 1000 meters

Nutrition
8:30a: Egg whites w/ mushrooms, tomatoes, peppers, salsa; 1 slice high-fiber wheat bread; .5c tea w/ Splenda
11:30a: Pria bar
1:30p: Big salad from Weaver Street w/ cukes, chickpeas, tabouli, lentils; 1/4 small baguette; 2/3rds Vegan Double Chocolate Cookie
5:00p: Grande Coffee Frappuccino

Hydration
32oz