here is chaz's report of how he kicked chesapeakeman aqua velo's butt over the weekend. way to go, chaz!
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In training for my first Ironman, I couldn't have picked a better warmup race than the Chesapeakeman Aqua Velo, which comprised the first two legs of the Chesapeakeman Iron-dstance triathlon. I got the 2.4-mile swim and 112-mile bike race distances under my belt, experienced the different transition style in Iron races from other triathlons, and gained confidence through a strong performance.
It was a small race - about 300 signed up for the full race and the Aqua Velo, combined, and only 224 toed the starting line. So there was an intimate feel as the bus dropped us off at the swim start in Cambridge, Md., the T1 changing tents and bike racks illuminated out of the surrounding blackness of the Choptank River by a couple of floodlights. There wasn't much point to arriving 90 minutes early, so other than using the facilities and checking the bike, sodden from overnight rain, I mostly sat and obsessed over what the race would be like.
I pulled on my wetsuit (right side out this time) at 6:30, just as the rain started to fall. By the time I entered the water at 6:45, the rain was steady - when the gun went off at 7, it was a downpour. On the other hand, there was light, if no sun, so we could see the buoys stretching into the distance for the two-loop swim around a bay that empties into the Choptank.
I took my usual approach, starting near the back and setting a deliberate pace. I kept up with the pack better than I have in the past, which made sighting less of a challenge. I was kicked in the head once. On the final turn of the first loop, into the river on the straight shot back into the start/finish, there was significant chop, making frequent sighting a necessity. Upon completing the first loop (in exactly 800 breaths), I checked my watch and was delighted to see 41:52, matching the fastest I've ever done 1.2 miles in a race (three weeks prior at Diamondman, it took me an awful 47 minutes). Thus inspired, I stroked through the second lap, shaking off at one point a persistent draftee (by the hundredth time his hand hit my foot, I was seriously considering kicking him in the head. Instead, I moved over). I managed the second loop in 795 breaths, and crossed the mat into T1 at 1:24:52. That's only three minutes slower than I do in the pool. Could the course have been short? No - when I got into the changing tent, it was FULL. I was in the main group!
(My swim ranked 49th of 89 Aqua Veloers, and 125th of 224 including the tri competitors. Add in the swim-only competitors, and I was 139th of 248.)
T1 was a new experience. Grab the bag containing bike gear, head into the tent, strip down and change clothes with dozens of other competitors and not enough chairs. I took my time, as usual, feeling a bit dizzy from the swim and not having packed my bag properly - next time, items will be ordered so I can rake things out as I need them, rather than dump the contents out and root around. A final complicating factor was that I was breaking in a Garmin Forerunner 405, upgrading from ny dead 305, which died Thursday evening, meaning I bought the 405 Friday. Not ideal. I took 14:30 to get through transition, which ranked 10th from slowest among tri and Aqua Velo competitors!
The rain had slackened during the swim, but started again in earnest as I began the bike. I took it easy to start, navigating the first few turns carefully to gauge the slickness of the roads, and generally stretching out. By mile 4, my aggregate pace was better than 20 mph, where it would stay for the duration.
I confronted an equipment problem right away. I'd changed the armrests on my aerobars a few days ago, because I'd broken the plastic armrests in training. The metal armrests I installed were curved, and forced my shoulders to hunch much more. That would prevent me from staying in the aerobars for more than five miles at a tim, and I needed to take more frequent breaks from the aerobars as the race progressed. Two days later, my shoulders remain a bit sore.
Fueling went well. I ate half a Clif bar every half hour, then interspersed a banana on the next half hour. I drank with abandon, even though the near-constant, frequently downpouring rain made it impossible to tell how much I was weating. (The temp was low 70s and humid.) So I drank six 24-ounce bottles of Gatorade High Endurance and three 24-ounce bottles of water, and ate four Clif bars and three bananas.
The course involved a 14-mile sojourn to a 48-mile loop that we did twice. The loop went through Blackwater Wildlife Refuge and was utterly flat - even the few bridges involved inclines of literally two or three feet. That made regular stretching a necessity, and coasting an impossibility - perfect training for Florida. The rain varied throughout the ride - no rain for maybe a quarter, light to steady rain for half, and pounding, slap-hard-against-your-helmet rain for the remaining quarter.
That, and the previous three days of rain, led to a singular road condition I've never experienced before. A one-mile stretch of road about 12 miles from the end of the loop was completely submerged in up to - no joke - six inches of water. At certain points, feet and pedals went underwater with each pedal stroke, making for gym-like biking resistance. It wasn't hard to get through - even when cars coming the other direction caused wakes onto my side of the road - but it was a new one.
My strategy was the same as usual - see a cyclist ahead of me, pick him or her off, don't get passed - but I had to be more patient given the longer distance. I learned that early. In mile 11, I passed three cyclists at once, one of whom was passing the other two. He passed me back within a mile. I kept him in my sights and re-passed two miles later. He passed me again within a mile, and eventually disappeared up the road.
I passed him for a third time in mile 60, and he stayed passed.
I was passed by three other cyclists, all in the first half. I'm sure I eventually passed two of them back; the other I'm not sure of. Otherwise, it was the usual pass-fest, only wetter and more deliberate - I tailed some cyclists for five, eight, 10 miles before reeling them in.
I felt my pace flag near the halfway mark, so after getting through the submerged road for the first time, I figured I'd air it out for the last 12 miles of the loop, before picking up the special-needs bag. That went well, and after stopping to reload my Clif bar and banana stash, I was strong for the second loop.
I stayed in the small chainring for most of the first 64 miles - which I had the confidence to do thanks to a century ride I did last week almost entirely in the small ring because the cable controlling the ring was badly frayed. I had it replaced this week, so when I felt strong late, I put it in the big ring for the last 14 miles and let it rip.
I finished the bike leg in 5:28:45, for a 20.4 mph pace. That ranked 10th of 89 in the Aqua Velo, and 21st of 224 including the triathletes. Given the conditions and my relative lack of taper, that seems like a replicable result in five weeks' time.
My overall time of 7:07:48 ranked 21st of 89 in the Aqua Velo, and 46th of 224 including the triathletes. Most pleasantly surprising of all, I carded a second-place finish (of 12 Aqua Veloers) in the 35-39 age group (the AG winner beat me by plenty, so my ridiculous transition didn't cost me unduly). I see no evidence on the event Web site that there were age group awards for the AV, but this still qualifies as easily my best race result.
Apparently, swim-bike-done suits me better than swim-bike-run. Nevertheless, on to Ironman Florida!
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Saturday, September 27, 2008
what's in a name & USMMA 5k race report
our team name is "thph" = "tri hard play harder" but perhaps it's "phth" = "play hard tri harder." regardless, we're going to have the best cheers and team photos, sticking our tongues out like the mature adults we are. maija's new name is fb = "fast bunny," a synthesis of the messaging on her fun swim suits, although i'd like to think fb = "funny bunny." interestingly, my creative nickname in high school-and my anonymous older brother will laugh to remember this -was esther-bunny. fyi, we don't really call each other these acronyms in real life (how odd would that be?), i just use them for typing ease b/c outside of working out, i'm quite lazy.
speaking of lazy, it was not that hard for fb to talk me out of thursday's intended track workout as i am just as excited about doing them as i am about doing my 3-hr round trip commute. when i asked if i could do a long run instead, she said ok but so long as it is 45 mins max. so i sort of listened to her and decided to forego the track workout and did a 2:00 long run, aiming for roughly my 1:30 long run pace. it was a fantastic run, about 1:01 in one direction, including going down one very long slope and 0:59 back, going back up that very long slope. i have been kind of hard on myself about the bike and swim, so it felt great to run and listen to music and not give myself pressure to beat any time. fb was right about her warning that i would be sore afterwards, though, but i guess i needed to learn from experience.
friday, i did fb's recommendation of 40 mins easy w/ 6x30-sec race pace. since the weather was absolutely awful i had to use the dreadmill, but i found that it was easier to push myself on the race pace. then on to columbia swim, the last swim of the season. i was feeling kind of stressed out so my swim felt slow and out of breath, and i practiced telling myself "cool as a cucumber" and "i can do this." the mental exercise in itself is pretty tiring for me, and i am looking forward to post-bassman when i will focus more on running for philly marathon before starting the training program for imlp.
A and i went to A's 10-yr college reunion at the USMMA (US Merchant Marine Academy) in long island today, and typical A-style, we arrived at 6:30 a.m. for the start of the 8:00 5-k race. i had a fantastic time getting a taste of A's college life and am very glad i did not attend this school. they treat the freshmen so roughly, i don't think i would have lasted more than a month! everyone has to wear a pressed and clean uniform all the time (fyi, i still don't know how to iron, nor do i own an iron), and the freshmen always have to walk 6 inches from the curb and say "good morning ma'am" and "good morning sir." in A's day, the freshmen also had to clean all of the barracks, including bathrooms, for themselves and the upperclassmen. i'm sure A can give the full run-down but he has generally good memories of the place, as i believe it gets better as you get older and in charge, and since he had some good friends there. the campus was beautiful and right next to the water, and the people were incredibly polite.
as noted copious times before, i was dreading this 5k, and looking forward to it even less when i saw how few people there were who were running. there were about 20 people, and i was thinking, oh great, i'm going to be last and it's going to be so embarrassing! on top of that, the race director was giving course directions verbally and i am horrible with directions. so off we went, me not being sure at all where to go but not that worried as i thought i'd just follow A from a distance.
mile 1: 6:55 which was my best mile time ever and included a slight uphill. there were about 6 of us in the front, A doing super and 2nd in the lead. A had introduced me to his friend matt and matt's wife jackie earlier, and jackie looked pretty buff and said she trained all the time on hills in humid south korea, so i was slightly intimidated. jackie, matt and i kept switching places until mile 2 when my shoelace came untied and i uttered a profanity before hastily fixing it. i was very focused on breathing ok, keeping up what i thought to be a sustainable 3-mile pace and not trying to get overwhelmed by the whole event. every time jackie passed me, i'd say "nice job" and when i passed her she'd reciprocate. i had decided that the person running in front of me would be virtual sb and was trying to catch him. A's heart rate suddenly shot up so he had to relax a little bit. toward mile 3, i was starting to feel nauseous, and i thought, good sign, b/c we're almost done. my lungs were hurting a little and my heart was beating fast but fb had said i needed to get used to that feeling, so i didn't worry about it much. the person i had thought was virtual sb was slowing down, and i thought, that can't be sb! he's slowing down! i believe i was actually a little annoyed that that was happening. jackie passed me again and i was thinking, it's alright she'll beat me, but then i saw fb-in-my-head yelling at me, "go go go! beat that girl!" i thought, if maija thinks i can beat that girl then i will! so i did, and the rest of the course was almost 1 circle around the track. i kept thinking jackie was right behind me so i pushed it til the end, and when i heard 24:16 i was a little surprised b/c the time sounded a little long. people were talking about how we had missed a turn and A, with his trusty GPA, said that we had actually run 3.4 miles. so 24:16 on 3.4 miles is a really good time for me and i am happy with that. on top of that, i got 4th place overall and 1st place girls! it was my first time i had gotten a 1st place medal, and A's class of '98 won first place as a group. when the race guy announced my name, he said, "for first place girls... esther lee-salazar!" i thought that was so cute (and embarrassing)!
i didn't know i'd ever admit this but i'm quite grateful for the track workouts b/c i can get an idea that it is possible to go a certain pace. while it was great doing interval runs w/ fb once to get a taste of trying to chase someone in real life, i also appreciate doing track workouts alone b/c then i can push it more when i am running with people. i still am not a fan of 5k's though.
today can be considered an easy day, i guess, since it was only a 24-minute run plus some pushups. the plan for tomorrow is to have a bike w/ high cadences and try to find the tappanzee bridge before it gets rebuilt. then track workout on monday, and not too sure about tuesday to thursday since swim is over for the next 2 weeks. fb reminded me of the need to taper before bassman half (oh yeah!) so friday will be an off day and saturday will be ridiculously easy day. bassman should be relatively flat so i will concentrate on technique and staying cool and still doing my best.
speaking of lazy, it was not that hard for fb to talk me out of thursday's intended track workout as i am just as excited about doing them as i am about doing my 3-hr round trip commute. when i asked if i could do a long run instead, she said ok but so long as it is 45 mins max. so i sort of listened to her and decided to forego the track workout and did a 2:00 long run, aiming for roughly my 1:30 long run pace. it was a fantastic run, about 1:01 in one direction, including going down one very long slope and 0:59 back, going back up that very long slope. i have been kind of hard on myself about the bike and swim, so it felt great to run and listen to music and not give myself pressure to beat any time. fb was right about her warning that i would be sore afterwards, though, but i guess i needed to learn from experience.
friday, i did fb's recommendation of 40 mins easy w/ 6x30-sec race pace. since the weather was absolutely awful i had to use the dreadmill, but i found that it was easier to push myself on the race pace. then on to columbia swim, the last swim of the season. i was feeling kind of stressed out so my swim felt slow and out of breath, and i practiced telling myself "cool as a cucumber" and "i can do this." the mental exercise in itself is pretty tiring for me, and i am looking forward to post-bassman when i will focus more on running for philly marathon before starting the training program for imlp.
A and i went to A's 10-yr college reunion at the USMMA (US Merchant Marine Academy) in long island today, and typical A-style, we arrived at 6:30 a.m. for the start of the 8:00 5-k race. i had a fantastic time getting a taste of A's college life and am very glad i did not attend this school. they treat the freshmen so roughly, i don't think i would have lasted more than a month! everyone has to wear a pressed and clean uniform all the time (fyi, i still don't know how to iron, nor do i own an iron), and the freshmen always have to walk 6 inches from the curb and say "good morning ma'am" and "good morning sir." in A's day, the freshmen also had to clean all of the barracks, including bathrooms, for themselves and the upperclassmen. i'm sure A can give the full run-down but he has generally good memories of the place, as i believe it gets better as you get older and in charge, and since he had some good friends there. the campus was beautiful and right next to the water, and the people were incredibly polite.
as noted copious times before, i was dreading this 5k, and looking forward to it even less when i saw how few people there were who were running. there were about 20 people, and i was thinking, oh great, i'm going to be last and it's going to be so embarrassing! on top of that, the race director was giving course directions verbally and i am horrible with directions. so off we went, me not being sure at all where to go but not that worried as i thought i'd just follow A from a distance.
mile 1: 6:55 which was my best mile time ever and included a slight uphill. there were about 6 of us in the front, A doing super and 2nd in the lead. A had introduced me to his friend matt and matt's wife jackie earlier, and jackie looked pretty buff and said she trained all the time on hills in humid south korea, so i was slightly intimidated. jackie, matt and i kept switching places until mile 2 when my shoelace came untied and i uttered a profanity before hastily fixing it. i was very focused on breathing ok, keeping up what i thought to be a sustainable 3-mile pace and not trying to get overwhelmed by the whole event. every time jackie passed me, i'd say "nice job" and when i passed her she'd reciprocate. i had decided that the person running in front of me would be virtual sb and was trying to catch him. A's heart rate suddenly shot up so he had to relax a little bit. toward mile 3, i was starting to feel nauseous, and i thought, good sign, b/c we're almost done. my lungs were hurting a little and my heart was beating fast but fb had said i needed to get used to that feeling, so i didn't worry about it much. the person i had thought was virtual sb was slowing down, and i thought, that can't be sb! he's slowing down! i believe i was actually a little annoyed that that was happening. jackie passed me again and i was thinking, it's alright she'll beat me, but then i saw fb-in-my-head yelling at me, "go go go! beat that girl!" i thought, if maija thinks i can beat that girl then i will! so i did, and the rest of the course was almost 1 circle around the track. i kept thinking jackie was right behind me so i pushed it til the end, and when i heard 24:16 i was a little surprised b/c the time sounded a little long. people were talking about how we had missed a turn and A, with his trusty GPA, said that we had actually run 3.4 miles. so 24:16 on 3.4 miles is a really good time for me and i am happy with that. on top of that, i got 4th place overall and 1st place girls! it was my first time i had gotten a 1st place medal, and A's class of '98 won first place as a group. when the race guy announced my name, he said, "for first place girls... esther lee-salazar!" i thought that was so cute (and embarrassing)!
i didn't know i'd ever admit this but i'm quite grateful for the track workouts b/c i can get an idea that it is possible to go a certain pace. while it was great doing interval runs w/ fb once to get a taste of trying to chase someone in real life, i also appreciate doing track workouts alone b/c then i can push it more when i am running with people. i still am not a fan of 5k's though.
today can be considered an easy day, i guess, since it was only a 24-minute run plus some pushups. the plan for tomorrow is to have a bike w/ high cadences and try to find the tappanzee bridge before it gets rebuilt. then track workout on monday, and not too sure about tuesday to thursday since swim is over for the next 2 weeks. fb reminded me of the need to taper before bassman half (oh yeah!) so friday will be an off day and saturday will be ridiculously easy day. bassman should be relatively flat so i will concentrate on technique and staying cool and still doing my best.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Soooo tired...
It's not pining, it's passed on! This parrot is no more! It has ceased to be! It's expired and gone to meet its maker! This is a late parrot! It's a stiff! Bereft of life, it rests in peace! If you hadn't nailed him to the perch he would be pushing up the daisies! Its metabolical processes are of interest only to historians! It's hopped the twig! It's shuffled off this mortal coil! It's run down the curtain and joined the choir invisible! This.... is an EX-PARROT!
I am running on fumes right now. I would love to bike for 1hr tonight if the weather holds, but I might just skip it. My training so far this week:
Monday - Swim: 1,600m at a steady pace, run: 5mi hills
Tuesday - Swim: 2,000m drills and fast, run: 10mi
Wednesday - Swim: 1,600m at a steady pace, run: 5x1,000m (3:59, 3:59, 3:58, 4:12, 3:59)
Thursday - Run: 16mi in 2:20
Tomorrow morning, I''ll go for a swim and an easy 45min run on my favorite hilly route.
This Saturday I get to see a bunch of my college buddies that live all over the country. I'll use the 5K race to confirm my heat rate settings. After 3 readings, my resting heart rate is 45bpm, and my max heart rate is 195bpm.
On Sunday, I'll go for a 2 or 3hr bike ride, followed by a 30min brick. Then I'll be tapering next week for the Bassman 70.3.
Monty Python's Flying Circus
I am running on fumes right now. I would love to bike for 1hr tonight if the weather holds, but I might just skip it. My training so far this week:
Monday - Swim: 1,600m at a steady pace, run: 5mi hills
Tuesday - Swim: 2,000m drills and fast, run: 10mi
Wednesday - Swim: 1,600m at a steady pace, run: 5x1,000m (3:59, 3:59, 3:58, 4:12, 3:59)
Thursday - Run: 16mi in 2:20
Tomorrow morning, I''ll go for a swim and an easy 45min run on my favorite hilly route.
This Saturday I get to see a bunch of my college buddies that live all over the country. I'll use the 5K race to confirm my heat rate settings. After 3 readings, my resting heart rate is 45bpm, and my max heart rate is 195bpm.
On Sunday, I'll go for a 2 or 3hr bike ride, followed by a 30min brick. Then I'll be tapering next week for the Bassman 70.3.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
taco night!
after an arduous day at work, there is nothing better than dinner waiting for you at home. i was exhausted by the time i got home at 8 last night, and A had made tacos for dinner w/ grilled chicken and steak, salsa, corn, rice, veggies, cheese..mmmmm! the way to my heart is through my stomach.
on to the less important stuff. yesterday's workout was meant to be "moderate" to recover from the ride on sunday, so i swam at the bridgewater pool before jetting off to a 2 hour commute. i joined A's 4:45 a.m. crowd and then worked on 500, 400, 300, 200, 300, 400, 500 negative splits b/c i didn't have much motivation so i figured negative splits would force me to put in some effort. negative splits are fun b/c you can spend the first half focusing on technique and the 2nd on applying that to speed. then sb joined and we did a couple 100 n/s until cm showed up and warmed up. unfortunately i could only do 1 set w/ them but it was enough to give me a refresher in how fun it is to swim w/ team THPH. it's really nice to work out with people who are mutually encouraging and who aren't trying to beat you (and whom you're not trying to beat) at every lap. no egos at the pool, please!
this morning, i had planned on doing a track workout but just didn't feel up to it since the pumpkin ride last sunday, so i'll do it thursday when there is no rush to make it to master's swim. so instead, i ran intervals, 3x5:00 w/ 2:00 break, 2x5:30 w/ 2:00 break. the first few sets were hard but i had a hard time pushing it for the last few sets. i imagined cm zooming ahead of me but couldn't be bothered to even try to catch up to her. since this saturday i am doing my first 5k in over a year, and thursday will be a track workout, i figure two heart attacks per week is enough. note to self: don't eat breakfast until after running.
then onto columbia swim. i love sleeping on the bus/subway! now i can get two naps a day. today i overslept my bus stop, and only woke up when someone i had never seen before tapped my shoulder and told me i had missed my stop. i guess he had seen me get off there many times before..i thought that was so nice of him! (and kind of creepy.)
the lanes are getting full! today we had 6 in a 25yd lane, and we were all taken aback by our workout b/c the interval times looked like they were for much faster lanes (e.g., 100s on 1:30 where my PR for that pool is 1:26). thank goodness we decided to add 5 seconds to each interval or else that would have been an oxygen-less workout. since i had swum in a 25m pool on saturday and monday, i didn't accurate gauge flip-turn time and slammed my hell onto the top of the pool wall.. twice! i am still limping slightly but i just find it amusing.
the people in my lane are generally pretty fast at the longer distances and not as fast on the shorter ones and on the strokes. it is kind of like the opposite of bridgewater for me, b/c at this pool i'm one of the slower ones for the 400s and above but faster on the 100s and strokes. one lady (who was zooming on the 300s and 400s incidentally) actually complimented me on my non-free strokes which i found very surprising considering my backstroke. then suddenly everyone but me left at 7:35, and my times unsurprisingly slowed down by 5 seconds. it's interesting how much faster you can go when you feel like someone is trying to hunt you down!
workout: 1x100 free, 1x100 i.m., 2x25 easy. 200 free, 2x100 i.m., 2x25 easy. 300 free, 3x100 i.m., 2x25 easy. 400 free, 4x100 i.m. 2x25 easy, 300 free, 3x100 i.m. 200 free. i had a lot of fun on the i.m.'s, esp during fly.
so next race is 5k this saturday at A's 10-year reunion. i am definitely not looking forward to this one... in fact i believe i'd rather ride 62 miles than run 5, but i think it would be good to practice. then the bassman half is the week after, and then the philly marathon is the saturday before thanksgiving. i'd really like to run philly so the post-bassman plan is to cut down on biking/swimming to twice per week each and run more, preferably according to some schedule. this whole idea of thinking before deciding to do something is a pretty new thing for me!
on to the less important stuff. yesterday's workout was meant to be "moderate" to recover from the ride on sunday, so i swam at the bridgewater pool before jetting off to a 2 hour commute. i joined A's 4:45 a.m. crowd and then worked on 500, 400, 300, 200, 300, 400, 500 negative splits b/c i didn't have much motivation so i figured negative splits would force me to put in some effort. negative splits are fun b/c you can spend the first half focusing on technique and the 2nd on applying that to speed. then sb joined and we did a couple 100 n/s until cm showed up and warmed up. unfortunately i could only do 1 set w/ them but it was enough to give me a refresher in how fun it is to swim w/ team THPH. it's really nice to work out with people who are mutually encouraging and who aren't trying to beat you (and whom you're not trying to beat) at every lap. no egos at the pool, please!
this morning, i had planned on doing a track workout but just didn't feel up to it since the pumpkin ride last sunday, so i'll do it thursday when there is no rush to make it to master's swim. so instead, i ran intervals, 3x5:00 w/ 2:00 break, 2x5:30 w/ 2:00 break. the first few sets were hard but i had a hard time pushing it for the last few sets. i imagined cm zooming ahead of me but couldn't be bothered to even try to catch up to her. since this saturday i am doing my first 5k in over a year, and thursday will be a track workout, i figure two heart attacks per week is enough. note to self: don't eat breakfast until after running.
then onto columbia swim. i love sleeping on the bus/subway! now i can get two naps a day. today i overslept my bus stop, and only woke up when someone i had never seen before tapped my shoulder and told me i had missed my stop. i guess he had seen me get off there many times before..i thought that was so nice of him! (and kind of creepy.)
the lanes are getting full! today we had 6 in a 25yd lane, and we were all taken aback by our workout b/c the interval times looked like they were for much faster lanes (e.g., 100s on 1:30 where my PR for that pool is 1:26). thank goodness we decided to add 5 seconds to each interval or else that would have been an oxygen-less workout. since i had swum in a 25m pool on saturday and monday, i didn't accurate gauge flip-turn time and slammed my hell onto the top of the pool wall.. twice! i am still limping slightly but i just find it amusing.
the people in my lane are generally pretty fast at the longer distances and not as fast on the shorter ones and on the strokes. it is kind of like the opposite of bridgewater for me, b/c at this pool i'm one of the slower ones for the 400s and above but faster on the 100s and strokes. one lady (who was zooming on the 300s and 400s incidentally) actually complimented me on my non-free strokes which i found very surprising considering my backstroke. then suddenly everyone but me left at 7:35, and my times unsurprisingly slowed down by 5 seconds. it's interesting how much faster you can go when you feel like someone is trying to hunt you down!
workout: 1x100 free, 1x100 i.m., 2x25 easy. 200 free, 2x100 i.m., 2x25 easy. 300 free, 3x100 i.m., 2x25 easy. 400 free, 4x100 i.m. 2x25 easy, 300 free, 3x100 i.m. 200 free. i had a lot of fun on the i.m.'s, esp during fly.
so next race is 5k this saturday at A's 10-year reunion. i am definitely not looking forward to this one... in fact i believe i'd rather ride 62 miles than run 5, but i think it would be good to practice. then the bassman half is the week after, and then the philly marathon is the saturday before thanksgiving. i'd really like to run philly so the post-bassman plan is to cut down on biking/swimming to twice per week each and run more, preferably according to some schedule. this whole idea of thinking before deciding to do something is a pretty new thing for me!
Monday, September 22, 2008
Where are the pumpkins?
I have had so much fun playing with my heart rate monitor during the past week. The geek in me just loves to look at the results following the workouts, to the point that I am in a hurry to get home to download the results to my laptop. And I still have to find out so much more about it, to set all my workouts to the desired intensity levels. But I'll resist the urge to post any graphs, at least for the time being. I still have to confirm this, but after two readings, my resting heart rate is 45bpm (beats/minute). I'll take more readings to confirm this.
Another advantage is that it is so easy to keep track of my workouts. Last week, I increased my weekly running mileage to 50mi, to start to get ready for the Philly marathon. I'll drop that this week and the next, as a taper for the Bassman 70.3, but I should be doing at least 50mi weekly during October and the first week of November. I hope to do a PR in Philly, hoping to be smarter about fueling during the race. I have been concentrating on fueling during my long runs and rides, and I do feel much better than if I was not.
Yesterday, E and I did the Pumpkin Patch Pedal century bike ride. We had done the 62mi ride last year, and we liked it. For the century, they extend the ride by taking us to some county roads with a lot of fast moving traffic, and nothing scenic to look at. There were no pumpkins there, or nothing else for that matter, except for cars going at 50+MPH, so that portion was not very enjoyable. I was quite disappointed by this.
As for the ride, I felt really strong throughout. There was no pain, and my legs always had a lot of spring to them, taking hills strongly, and using the descents to pick up speed. My heart rate did not go above 155 at any moment during the ride. E was not having such a good time, but she did great for the first 50mi, until her legs started to hurt. Still, she soldiered on. Then she stopped at mile 90, but after calming down, she finished strongly. I feel bad, because I could have been a better domestique after the rest stop at mile 80, but I made sure to keep her front wheel right behind my back wheel for the last 10mi, to cut the wind for her. Good job hon!
Also, like I pointed out to her, that road where she stopped is not good to us. Last year, for the Pumpkin ride, I crashed on that road. Earlier this year, for the Farmlands century ride, she crashed on that road. So something bad was bound to happen there. The people from the house whose lawn we stopped at were very nice, so that was the only good thing that we ever encountered in that road.
This morning we went to the pool at 4:45AM. She is back to normal, because she was swimming really fast. I was just doing a mile at a steady pace. After that, I ran 5mi on a hilly course. I do not feel tired or sore from yesterday's ride. That is good!
Another advantage is that it is so easy to keep track of my workouts. Last week, I increased my weekly running mileage to 50mi, to start to get ready for the Philly marathon. I'll drop that this week and the next, as a taper for the Bassman 70.3, but I should be doing at least 50mi weekly during October and the first week of November. I hope to do a PR in Philly, hoping to be smarter about fueling during the race. I have been concentrating on fueling during my long runs and rides, and I do feel much better than if I was not.
Yesterday, E and I did the Pumpkin Patch Pedal century bike ride. We had done the 62mi ride last year, and we liked it. For the century, they extend the ride by taking us to some county roads with a lot of fast moving traffic, and nothing scenic to look at. There were no pumpkins there, or nothing else for that matter, except for cars going at 50+MPH, so that portion was not very enjoyable. I was quite disappointed by this.
As for the ride, I felt really strong throughout. There was no pain, and my legs always had a lot of spring to them, taking hills strongly, and using the descents to pick up speed. My heart rate did not go above 155 at any moment during the ride. E was not having such a good time, but she did great for the first 50mi, until her legs started to hurt. Still, she soldiered on. Then she stopped at mile 90, but after calming down, she finished strongly. I feel bad, because I could have been a better domestique after the rest stop at mile 80, but I made sure to keep her front wheel right behind my back wheel for the last 10mi, to cut the wind for her. Good job hon!
Also, like I pointed out to her, that road where she stopped is not good to us. Last year, for the Pumpkin ride, I crashed on that road. Earlier this year, for the Farmlands century ride, she crashed on that road. So something bad was bound to happen there. The people from the house whose lawn we stopped at were very nice, so that was the only good thing that we ever encountered in that road.
This morning we went to the pool at 4:45AM. She is back to normal, because she was swimming really fast. I was just doing a mile at a steady pace. After that, I ran 5mi on a hilly course. I do not feel tired or sore from yesterday's ride. That is good!
Sunday, September 21, 2008
defeated by a century
saturday's swim was fun! i did cm's workout that she gave me last week:
200m wu
200m IM
200m-25m fly, 25 free, 25m back (DO IT!), 25m free, 25m breast, 75m free
2x300m-{100m IM, 100m free, 100m stroke choice} w/ :20 rest
2x{100m fly, 4th 25 fast :15 rest
100m back, 3rd 25 fast :15 rest OTTER STYLE
100m breast 2nd 25 fast :15 rest
100m free 1st 25 fast :15 rest
200 free RACE IT LIKE A CRAZY PERSON!!!! :20 rest
150 choice FAST LIKE A BUNNY (if bunnies swam fast) :30 rest}
100m free, 4th 25 fast :15 rest
100m free, 3rd 25 fast :15 rest
100m freet 2nd 25 fast :15 rest
100m free 1st 25 fast :15 rest
200 free RACE IT LIKE A CRAZY PERSON!!!! :20 rest
150 free FAST LIKE A FISHIE! :30 rest
250m cd or join SB and I for our easy swim
3700m+
when i read this workout over before doing it, i did a double take on the 100 fly. 100 fly?! i'd only done it in a 50m pool and then super slowly. i tend to heat up and get tired really quickly on fly, although i love it, so during those i remember thinking, "cool as a cucumber"and picturing a cucumber doing fly. i had actually brought an underwater disposable camera left over from my england trip, and was looking for the hairball but only found the baby hairball. after the swim i went for a ridiculously easy 30-min jog b/c the weather was awesome but i didn't want to do any running that i'd regret during the ride the next day.
today's ride was the pumpkin patch pedal, 100 miles. A and i showed up at the park at 7 a.m. in the freezing cold and saw chaz only at the beginning of the ride, which i knew would happen. he glided past us as if he was floating. that was the last we saw of that monster cyclist, and didn't even see him during the break!
the weather for the whole day was perfect and it was the perfect way to enjoy the day. it was funny that the only thing i remembered from last year's pumpkin patch pedal (we had done the 62 then) was that it was hilly, but it wasn't hilly at all. A was a gentleman as usual and didn't go too far ahead of me. we did 50 before taking our first rest stop and hung out for a few minutes with cyclists who enjoyed sharing war stories about their rides, that went something like, "i just did such-and-such a ride, 500 miles with 100 hills, backwards, without shoes."
from mile 50 onward, my quads felt like they were burning, kind of like how they feel when you're finishing up a set of squats, except they just never stopped burning. i was feeling really frustrated b/c i kept slowing down and felt bad for slowing A down although he never complained. i kept switching to a higher gear and then trying to go harder but couldn't keep the cadences up so had to go lighter again..then to try to compensate for going on a lighter gear, i'd pedal faster but that just made me feel like acid was going up and down my legs. we stopped for another break at the 80 and i tried to assuage my misery with apple and pumpkin pies. i was feeling foolish b/c i had done a century once before and although i was mashing at the time, at least i had done it! only 20 miles were remaining so i thought it was doable. time passed slowly and to entertain myself and to make sure i wasn't mashing, i kept counting my cadences. my legs were still feeling awful, and i tried to have a positive attitude about it, telling myself that this was a good workout for my legs and not to think about speed, but to enjoy the day. on mile 90, i had a mental meltdown and couldn't stand my legs hurting anymore; i suddenly wanted to throw up and was having a lot of trouble breathing, and my helmet was feeling very tight around my chin. i stopped, threw my helmet on the ground and started crying b/c i felt awful and then i felt silly for feeling awful. A turned around to help me chill out, whereas, come to think of it, if it was the other way around (and i can't ever imagine it being the other way around) i might have said something to him like, "man up!" i am so glad he is such a patient guy. the people whose house i stopped in front of came outside and were incredibly nice to give me cold water and shade. A offered to find a car so i didn't have to finish the ride but i really wanted to finish. the last 10 miles were ok, particularly b/c A stayed closer in front of me and was highly encouraging. whew! afterwards we celebrated at my favorite salad place, mcCarthy's. total time = around 6:14, my average pace = 16.2. the last 100, average pace = 16.7 and i had hoped to go above that.
since #1 goal for the ride was to keep cadences up b/n 80-85/minute, and goal #2 was to finish at a decent time, i was glad to have at least accomplished goal#1. still, i am pretty aware that a lot of progress needs to be made, in the biking area especially, before imlp. i'm so glad we have 10 months to go!
200m wu
200m IM
200m-25m fly, 25 free, 25m back (DO IT!), 25m free, 25m breast, 75m free
2x300m-{100m IM, 100m free, 100m stroke choice} w/ :20 rest
2x{100m fly, 4th 25 fast :15 rest
100m back, 3rd 25 fast :15 rest OTTER STYLE
100m breast 2nd 25 fast :15 rest
100m free 1st 25 fast :15 rest
200 free RACE IT LIKE A CRAZY PERSON!!!! :20 rest
150 choice FAST LIKE A BUNNY (if bunnies swam fast) :30 rest}
100m free, 4th 25 fast :15 rest
100m free, 3rd 25 fast :15 rest
100m freet 2nd 25 fast :15 rest
100m free 1st 25 fast :15 rest
200 free RACE IT LIKE A CRAZY PERSON!!!! :20 rest
150 free FAST LIKE A FISHIE! :30 rest
250m cd or join SB and I for our easy swim
3700m+
when i read this workout over before doing it, i did a double take on the 100 fly. 100 fly?! i'd only done it in a 50m pool and then super slowly. i tend to heat up and get tired really quickly on fly, although i love it, so during those i remember thinking, "cool as a cucumber"and picturing a cucumber doing fly. i had actually brought an underwater disposable camera left over from my england trip, and was looking for the hairball but only found the baby hairball. after the swim i went for a ridiculously easy 30-min jog b/c the weather was awesome but i didn't want to do any running that i'd regret during the ride the next day.
today's ride was the pumpkin patch pedal, 100 miles. A and i showed up at the park at 7 a.m. in the freezing cold and saw chaz only at the beginning of the ride, which i knew would happen. he glided past us as if he was floating. that was the last we saw of that monster cyclist, and didn't even see him during the break!
the weather for the whole day was perfect and it was the perfect way to enjoy the day. it was funny that the only thing i remembered from last year's pumpkin patch pedal (we had done the 62 then) was that it was hilly, but it wasn't hilly at all. A was a gentleman as usual and didn't go too far ahead of me. we did 50 before taking our first rest stop and hung out for a few minutes with cyclists who enjoyed sharing war stories about their rides, that went something like, "i just did such-and-such a ride, 500 miles with 100 hills, backwards, without shoes."
from mile 50 onward, my quads felt like they were burning, kind of like how they feel when you're finishing up a set of squats, except they just never stopped burning. i was feeling really frustrated b/c i kept slowing down and felt bad for slowing A down although he never complained. i kept switching to a higher gear and then trying to go harder but couldn't keep the cadences up so had to go lighter again..then to try to compensate for going on a lighter gear, i'd pedal faster but that just made me feel like acid was going up and down my legs. we stopped for another break at the 80 and i tried to assuage my misery with apple and pumpkin pies. i was feeling foolish b/c i had done a century once before and although i was mashing at the time, at least i had done it! only 20 miles were remaining so i thought it was doable. time passed slowly and to entertain myself and to make sure i wasn't mashing, i kept counting my cadences. my legs were still feeling awful, and i tried to have a positive attitude about it, telling myself that this was a good workout for my legs and not to think about speed, but to enjoy the day. on mile 90, i had a mental meltdown and couldn't stand my legs hurting anymore; i suddenly wanted to throw up and was having a lot of trouble breathing, and my helmet was feeling very tight around my chin. i stopped, threw my helmet on the ground and started crying b/c i felt awful and then i felt silly for feeling awful. A turned around to help me chill out, whereas, come to think of it, if it was the other way around (and i can't ever imagine it being the other way around) i might have said something to him like, "man up!" i am so glad he is such a patient guy. the people whose house i stopped in front of came outside and were incredibly nice to give me cold water and shade. A offered to find a car so i didn't have to finish the ride but i really wanted to finish. the last 10 miles were ok, particularly b/c A stayed closer in front of me and was highly encouraging. whew! afterwards we celebrated at my favorite salad place, mcCarthy's. total time = around 6:14, my average pace = 16.2. the last 100, average pace = 16.7 and i had hoped to go above that.
since #1 goal for the ride was to keep cadences up b/n 80-85/minute, and goal #2 was to finish at a decent time, i was glad to have at least accomplished goal#1. still, i am pretty aware that a lot of progress needs to be made, in the biking area especially, before imlp. i'm so glad we have 10 months to go!
Thursday, September 18, 2008
big bro's learn-to-sleep class
my anonymous older brother keeps telling me to sleep more, like him. he even gave me a demonstration when he came to visit. although it pains my ego, he has a good point. on wednesday, i did a 45 min easy ride on the trainer and then went to columbia swim. i thought i would have a lot more energy at swim than i did yesterday so was a little offended when Alpha Male said i was "a little off." for some reason i was last in line on the 1x1200, but i was motivated by her comment and was towards the front for the 8x100 free. i was happy to see my friend dawn who came back from watching her son as one of the announcers for the u.s. water polo team. next week is the last week of swim before a 2 week break, then new times will be tues, thurs and fri 6-7 a.m., so i need to figure out a revised training plan.
then wednesday night i only managed to sleep 5 hours (for some people, a.k.a A) that is a lot but i definitely learned that biking while tired is frustrating and slow. i think i can swim and run ok tired but when i was on the bike, my eyes thought i was still in bed. i had a hard time keeping the cadences up doing the 5x10 race w/ 5 min easy in between, and it didn't even feel like "race pace" so i did the last 25 min focusing only on cadence. since i felt a little guilty about not being able to finish the workout, i did a 20-min 10k pace brick followed by 10 min easy. it is fun not shuffling during the brick! btw the weather this week has been incredible.
last night i stayed over a girl friend's place that is super close to my work place, so i thought that i would get to sleep in a little bit more, but no such luck. since she had to be at work at 8 and we had breakfast at 7 (my bright idea), i was up again at 4, running around east village, across the williamsburg bridge and wandering around union square for about 1:45. i LOVE longer runs, they are so relaxing and it is nice to give your mind and body a break. i figure it's time to increase my weekly long-run times if i want to run philly in november. ideally, i would be superwoman (whom A reminds me that i am not) and could do the marathon training plan on top of my regular training.
next plan of action..nap time!
then wednesday night i only managed to sleep 5 hours (for some people, a.k.a A) that is a lot but i definitely learned that biking while tired is frustrating and slow. i think i can swim and run ok tired but when i was on the bike, my eyes thought i was still in bed. i had a hard time keeping the cadences up doing the 5x10 race w/ 5 min easy in between, and it didn't even feel like "race pace" so i did the last 25 min focusing only on cadence. since i felt a little guilty about not being able to finish the workout, i did a 20-min 10k pace brick followed by 10 min easy. it is fun not shuffling during the brick! btw the weather this week has been incredible.
last night i stayed over a girl friend's place that is super close to my work place, so i thought that i would get to sleep in a little bit more, but no such luck. since she had to be at work at 8 and we had breakfast at 7 (my bright idea), i was up again at 4, running around east village, across the williamsburg bridge and wandering around union square for about 1:45. i LOVE longer runs, they are so relaxing and it is nice to give your mind and body a break. i figure it's time to increase my weekly long-run times if i want to run philly in november. ideally, i would be superwoman (whom A reminds me that i am not) and could do the marathon training plan on top of my regular training.
next plan of action..nap time!
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