My brain has a built in forgetter. No matter what my motivation, or past good behavior. Once I stop for 'a little while', it's as if I had not had any motivation or desire to begin with.
What am I talking about? Exercise.
First off, let's ignore the fact that I wrote down my exercise plan here in this blog - almost 2 weeks ago. (I had to look because in my mind, it was ages ago). I thought this would be an extra motivating force to get me out the door...
The first week of my master plan I did not exercise at all. I was not able to exercise in the morning due to not being able to sleep. I could barely get myself out of bed to go to work. Reason? Excuse? It certainly caught me off guard.
Then there were the evening workouts during that first week that also went out the window, mostly due to valid reasons, but were they? I probably could have worked my way around these other commitments. During that week I barely gave not exercising a second thought; I 'forgot' about my commitment to exercising and let the various schedule conflicts override my original plans and did not give it a second thought.
My commitment to exercising started coming back into my consciousness on Saturday but then I couldn't go on my scheduled long swim due to the blizzard here in PA. Didn't want to drive the 17 miles to the gym. Reason? Excuse? So that left running on the treadmill in the garage. By running on the treadmill, there was no distance to drive or schedule to work around. Nonetheless, the amount of effort that I had to expend hemming and hawing was extraordinary. And all of it was spent mustering up the motivation to get dressed and out to the garage. The idea of running felt as if I had not done it in an year, and I felt I was going to be back at square one. I wasn't, of course, and after running a bit all those negative thoughts began to dissipate.
This past week has been a little better: I ran on two mornings. I also went to my core class this evening. As each activity comes to pass, it gets slightly easier to get up and out the door. It is easier, but not easy. It helps to have a schedule and I am hoping to develop a back up plan that allows me to be more flexible.
Something else that has been helpful is not flagellating myself for not having followed my plan while at the same time forcing myself to walk out of the door. Small lapses quickly degenerate to complete inertia. Change is difficult. I don't know if exercising will one day become 'second nature'. Sometimes I hear of people who 'impulsively' go out for a run. I only do bad things impulsively, not things that are good for me.
My sleep, you ask? It's a little better. Thanks for asking.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Current Exercise plan
As I stated in the previous post, I am currently focussed on losing weight as my primary goal during these winter months. Now that it is the 'off season' I can reduce the number of calories I take in and not worry about the impact it would have on my training. You can't focus on building up speed or strength for a race while at the same time losing weight.
Of the three activities, swimming, biking and running; I am only going to be doing my spin class for the bicycling during these winter months. I did set up the trainer in the living room on the off chance that I may get on it, but I am not especially thrilled about this. My main goals for this winter are to improve my swim technique/speed and improve my run. To this end, I am doing strength training - weights, and a 'body sculpting -core workout' class at the gym.
Having a good core is the foundation for remaining injury free and being able to have good form in each of the three activities.
Swimming:
Tuesday morning: swimming 1/2 hour - drills: this link talks of various drills that are good to do on a regular basis.
http://www.trinewbies.com/tno_swim/tno_swimarticle_16.asp
Saturday: long swim
PLEASE check out this video (link below)- I had never seen anything like this up until a few days ago. I tried it for the first time today, and it is quite hard, but it acutely shows you what angle your arm should be in during the recovery phase. A running analogy may help visualize what I mean: - in running, the general consensus is that as a 'heel striker', you are braking on your momentum forward and thus creating a higher risk for injury, and slowing yourself down.
Swimming a freestyle stroke completely underwater lets you feel the resistance with the water in the recovery part of your stroke, and enables you to shift the hand re-entry to reduce the 'braking' action that would occur with a different angle. It's hard to explain, but watch this video, and then try it the next time you swim, and you'll see what I mean.
http://www.goswim.tv/entries/6325/freestyle---underwater-free.html
Biking:
Friday morning: bicycle spin class
If I can get my act together, I will commute to work.
Running:
Tuesday evening: speed work - alternating weeks
week 1: intervals : run at a fast pace for 5 minutes, then recovery pace for 1 minute. Alternate for 3.35 miles, which is 1 loop of the park that I run in.
week 2: hill repeats - run up the same hill, approximately 1/2 mile long 4-6 times
Thursday morning: 4-6 mile run
Sat/Sun runs 5-7 miles
every other weekend: long run: 10 miles on Saturday or Sunday.
Strength Training:
Monday evening - weights
Thursday evening: body sculpt/core building class at the gym
So, what is your exercise routine? - I would love links to training tips that you have found informative - they always help. Happy exercising!
Pat.
Of the three activities, swimming, biking and running; I am only going to be doing my spin class for the bicycling during these winter months. I did set up the trainer in the living room on the off chance that I may get on it, but I am not especially thrilled about this. My main goals for this winter are to improve my swim technique/speed and improve my run. To this end, I am doing strength training - weights, and a 'body sculpting -core workout' class at the gym.
Having a good core is the foundation for remaining injury free and being able to have good form in each of the three activities.
Swimming:
Tuesday morning: swimming 1/2 hour - drills: this link talks of various drills that are good to do on a regular basis.
http://www.trinewbies.com/tno_swim/tno_swimarticle_16.asp
Saturday: long swim
PLEASE check out this video (link below)- I had never seen anything like this up until a few days ago. I tried it for the first time today, and it is quite hard, but it acutely shows you what angle your arm should be in during the recovery phase. A running analogy may help visualize what I mean: - in running, the general consensus is that as a 'heel striker', you are braking on your momentum forward and thus creating a higher risk for injury, and slowing yourself down.
Swimming a freestyle stroke completely underwater lets you feel the resistance with the water in the recovery part of your stroke, and enables you to shift the hand re-entry to reduce the 'braking' action that would occur with a different angle. It's hard to explain, but watch this video, and then try it the next time you swim, and you'll see what I mean.
http://www.goswim.tv/entries/6325/freestyle---underwater-free.html
Biking:
Friday morning: bicycle spin class
If I can get my act together, I will commute to work.
Running:
Tuesday evening: speed work - alternating weeks
week 1: intervals : run at a fast pace for 5 minutes, then recovery pace for 1 minute. Alternate for 3.35 miles, which is 1 loop of the park that I run in.
week 2: hill repeats - run up the same hill, approximately 1/2 mile long 4-6 times
Thursday morning: 4-6 mile run
Sat/Sun runs 5-7 miles
every other weekend: long run: 10 miles on Saturday or Sunday.
Strength Training:
Monday evening - weights
Thursday evening: body sculpt/core building class at the gym
So, what is your exercise routine? - I would love links to training tips that you have found informative - they always help. Happy exercising!
Pat.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Nutrition Pt. 1
Now that I have finished the Poconos Half Ironman, 69.1, I 've been focusing on losing weight over the next 6 months. Ideally 10 lbs, but I'd be happy with anything. I had lost 40 lbs and have been able to maintain it for about 1 1/2 years now. I have not wavered more than 1-2 lbs up or down - so this makes it the most successful weight loss I have ever had. All other times I lost weight, I quickly regained it back once I stopped 'dieting'. I am grateful for having been able to stay at this weight and not regain the weight lost, but I am also frustrated that I have plateaued at this weight and have not been able to move further down.
Since my last post, I have wanted to write about nutrition for women; for women in triathlons. I found various sources of information and although there were some consistent bits of information, there was also varied opinions about nutrition/weight/loss. Some are very detailed and scientific looking, but it is hard for me to translate talk of grams and ratios and know how that translates to what I should eat. I am not a nutritionist, but I wanted to write down what I have gleaned from everything that I have read as well as from my own experience.
In order to lose weight, you have to eat less. Eat less, but not so much that you are starving. Eating from 250 up to 500 calories less than what is needed daily is the general guideline. This is a guideline I saw often for people that are training for races as it is not extremely painful to do, especially if you are exercising.
Guessing at your calorie consumption is impossible. Using a handy log helps raise consiousness of exactly what you are eating. I use the LoseIt app on my iphone. It is excellent, and handy since I usually always have my phone with me.
The only day you have is today, and the only meal you have is the one that is just about to happen. You can't lose weight on the meal you will have tomorrow, nor will you get anywhere berating yourself for what already has been eaten. I have used all sorts of mental tricks and excuses to justify eating what I shouldn't, putting the healthy eating off until tomorrow. That never works.
Eating well is a lifestyle change. Included in this lifestyle change is all the food you love to eat, just less often and/or less of it. Getting to know your body, and what it says to you -you can enjoy your food and lose weight too. While in weight loss mode (as opposed to maintenance) you may have to be more strict with yourself regarding your favorite foods. The bottom line though, is the number calories you consume.
You need to find out about how food is made. What are you really eating? Read Michael Pollan's books: The Omnivore's Dilemma. If the food you are eating did not exist 100 years ago, it probably has less nutritional impact than more 'modern', processed foods. If there is less nutritional impact, your body will continue to crave until you give it what it wants.
Cravings are your body's way of telling you what it needs. If you feed it junk, low quality food, or very processed food, it will continue to request what it needs until it is satisfied. If you were able to season and cook styrofoam to make it taste extroardinarily delicious - your body would not feel satisfied and crave more, despite also feeling very full.
Processed food is the crack of all food - a brief burst of good feelings followed by depression. Find the coca leaves version of your food, and you'll be ok. The more organic, natural it is, the more satisfying it will be without the highs and lows and less hunger overall.
You are not only what you eat, but what you eat, eats. It's difficult to learn about all of this but there is no alternative if you want to eat consciously.
Avoid liquid calories, they are the easiest to eliminate from your diet. From the obvious unhealthy sodas to the 'healthy ' juices unless you make them yourself.
Avoid high fructose corn syrup. Look for it on all labels -both sweet and non-sweet items. If you focused just on this one diet change, you would probably lose weight.
Exercise does not give you a get out of jail free card, but it helps. On two separate occasions, a few years ago, I tried commuting to work on a regular basis. On the mornings I'd bike to work, I'd treat myself to a 'Morir Soñando' - a mix of orange juice and milk. I would slowly and steadily start gaining weight. It took a long time to figure out that the amount of calories in my after exercise treat, was way more than the calories lost during exercise.
Eat breakfast like a king; lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper. ( and this does not include the $1 menu!)
to be continued...
Since my last post, I have wanted to write about nutrition for women; for women in triathlons. I found various sources of information and although there were some consistent bits of information, there was also varied opinions about nutrition/weight/loss. Some are very detailed and scientific looking, but it is hard for me to translate talk of grams and ratios and know how that translates to what I should eat. I am not a nutritionist, but I wanted to write down what I have gleaned from everything that I have read as well as from my own experience.
In order to lose weight, you have to eat less. Eat less, but not so much that you are starving. Eating from 250 up to 500 calories less than what is needed daily is the general guideline. This is a guideline I saw often for people that are training for races as it is not extremely painful to do, especially if you are exercising.
Guessing at your calorie consumption is impossible. Using a handy log helps raise consiousness of exactly what you are eating. I use the LoseIt app on my iphone. It is excellent, and handy since I usually always have my phone with me.
The only day you have is today, and the only meal you have is the one that is just about to happen. You can't lose weight on the meal you will have tomorrow, nor will you get anywhere berating yourself for what already has been eaten. I have used all sorts of mental tricks and excuses to justify eating what I shouldn't, putting the healthy eating off until tomorrow. That never works.
Eating well is a lifestyle change. Included in this lifestyle change is all the food you love to eat, just less often and/or less of it. Getting to know your body, and what it says to you -you can enjoy your food and lose weight too. While in weight loss mode (as opposed to maintenance) you may have to be more strict with yourself regarding your favorite foods. The bottom line though, is the number calories you consume.
You need to find out about how food is made. What are you really eating? Read Michael Pollan's books: The Omnivore's Dilemma. If the food you are eating did not exist 100 years ago, it probably has less nutritional impact than more 'modern', processed foods. If there is less nutritional impact, your body will continue to crave until you give it what it wants.
Cravings are your body's way of telling you what it needs. If you feed it junk, low quality food, or very processed food, it will continue to request what it needs until it is satisfied. If you were able to season and cook styrofoam to make it taste extroardinarily delicious - your body would not feel satisfied and crave more, despite also feeling very full.
Processed food is the crack of all food - a brief burst of good feelings followed by depression. Find the coca leaves version of your food, and you'll be ok. The more organic, natural it is, the more satisfying it will be without the highs and lows and less hunger overall.
You are not only what you eat, but what you eat, eats. It's difficult to learn about all of this but there is no alternative if you want to eat consciously.
Avoid liquid calories, they are the easiest to eliminate from your diet. From the obvious unhealthy sodas to the 'healthy ' juices unless you make them yourself.
Avoid high fructose corn syrup. Look for it on all labels -both sweet and non-sweet items. If you focused just on this one diet change, you would probably lose weight.
Exercise does not give you a get out of jail free card, but it helps. On two separate occasions, a few years ago, I tried commuting to work on a regular basis. On the mornings I'd bike to work, I'd treat myself to a 'Morir Soñando' - a mix of orange juice and milk. I would slowly and steadily start gaining weight. It took a long time to figure out that the amount of calories in my after exercise treat, was way more than the calories lost during exercise.
Eat breakfast like a king; lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper. ( and this does not include the $1 menu!)
to be continued...
Sunday, October 9, 2011
learning - Nutrition
So far, this is the weakest link. I have drank/eaten too fast/too much in the Black Bear, the NYC tri, and the Poconos HIM; leaving me feeling bloated on the run. I have read how you can lose 600-800 calories per hour in a triathlon, but your body cannot take in more than 200-300 calories per hour. I was trying to adjust my nutrition plan to that calorie count but I never even come close to eating everything that I put in my bento box and still feel full/bloated.
I have felt satisfied with my pre-race hydration plan - I have drunk just Gatorade in previous races, and during the HIM, I also took in some Nuun tablets in my water. I wonder if that is why I look like I am 20 lbs heavier in the HIM photos. As soon as the race was over, by the next day, I lost that bloated, fat feeling I had been having....maybe too much sodium?
I like to eat my usual oatmeal with strawberries and blueberries, approximately 3-4 hours before the race start, then a piece of toast with butter and jelly a couple of hours later.
I have generally used Cliff bars; Cliff shot blox; more recently, I have tried the honey waffles. During this last race, I did not feel much improvement in energy except when I ate 1/2 a banana at a couple of different points in the run.
I have to find out if the calorie counts cited above apply to a woman who is 5'2". Most triathlon data assumes the reader is a young male; so maybe the caloric needs are less...
I have felt satisfied with my pre-race hydration plan - I have drunk just Gatorade in previous races, and during the HIM, I also took in some Nuun tablets in my water. I wonder if that is why I look like I am 20 lbs heavier in the HIM photos. As soon as the race was over, by the next day, I lost that bloated, fat feeling I had been having....maybe too much sodium?
I like to eat my usual oatmeal with strawberries and blueberries, approximately 3-4 hours before the race start, then a piece of toast with butter and jelly a couple of hours later.
I have generally used Cliff bars; Cliff shot blox; more recently, I have tried the honey waffles. During this last race, I did not feel much improvement in energy except when I ate 1/2 a banana at a couple of different points in the run.
I have to find out if the calorie counts cited above apply to a woman who is 5'2". Most triathlon data assumes the reader is a young male; so maybe the caloric needs are less...
Journey Review Year 1
So, this year's journey has come to a close. What did I learn? What did I get out of it? Is there any valid purpose to this blog?
I started to reread my earliest posts. They were surprising to me, partly due to their honesty; partly due to seeing that I have progressed somewhat in fitness and basically remembering where I was this time last year.
I had started out the year obsessing over training schedules, both handwritten ones as well as online. I was using Ontri, Runkeeper, and a log book. I started and quickly stopped the log book; I used Runkeeper fairly diligently through my Iphone until I bought my Garmin 310xt. I no longer use Runkeeper. I was quite obsessive, reading all the posts on the Ontri website; reading the race reports trying to glean any sort of information that I could. I have not been doing that these past few months - I found myself reading more than exercising...
I started training fairly early, and happily remember the races that I entered in January, February - including the cold weather half-marathons, which I biked to, unbelieveably so. This ended up helping me in this HIM because I knew to wear toe warmers (like the kind used in skiing) in order to keep my feet warm.
Another change that I noticed is that in the early months, I posted my thoughts/feelings fairly unselfconsciously, I believe that I have been a lot more self-conscious in these past months which has made it more difficult to post what is going on. I also believe that the negative comment at the NYC tri impacted me more than I would have it liked to.
omg, reading these old posts makes me feel like I am getting to know myself in a different way. sometimes, I find myself funny and wonder if anybody else does. I don't really have any feedback about this blog except for a couple of people that are closest to me; otherwise I don't really know if anybody is out there - oh of course, except for my stats. The stats show that people are reading, are there people that come back, or people that accidentally fall on this site and move on.
There are so many things that I didn't write about as well....Anyway, there has been some movement forward this year. Imperfect movement forward, AND, I did complete the Poconos Half Ironman, sans swim segment. There are so many things that have changed, I think I will focus on each area in separate posts.
I started to reread my earliest posts. They were surprising to me, partly due to their honesty; partly due to seeing that I have progressed somewhat in fitness and basically remembering where I was this time last year.
I had started out the year obsessing over training schedules, both handwritten ones as well as online. I was using Ontri, Runkeeper, and a log book. I started and quickly stopped the log book; I used Runkeeper fairly diligently through my Iphone until I bought my Garmin 310xt. I no longer use Runkeeper. I was quite obsessive, reading all the posts on the Ontri website; reading the race reports trying to glean any sort of information that I could. I have not been doing that these past few months - I found myself reading more than exercising...
I started training fairly early, and happily remember the races that I entered in January, February - including the cold weather half-marathons, which I biked to, unbelieveably so. This ended up helping me in this HIM because I knew to wear toe warmers (like the kind used in skiing) in order to keep my feet warm.
Another change that I noticed is that in the early months, I posted my thoughts/feelings fairly unselfconsciously, I believe that I have been a lot more self-conscious in these past months which has made it more difficult to post what is going on. I also believe that the negative comment at the NYC tri impacted me more than I would have it liked to.
omg, reading these old posts makes me feel like I am getting to know myself in a different way. sometimes, I find myself funny and wonder if anybody else does. I don't really have any feedback about this blog except for a couple of people that are closest to me; otherwise I don't really know if anybody is out there - oh of course, except for my stats. The stats show that people are reading, are there people that come back, or people that accidentally fall on this site and move on.
There are so many things that I didn't write about as well....Anyway, there has been some movement forward this year. Imperfect movement forward, AND, I did complete the Poconos Half Ironman, sans swim segment. There are so many things that have changed, I think I will focus on each area in separate posts.
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Poconos HIM Race Report - Run Segment
I got into T2, planning to go to a medical tent and get the diagnosis of broken toe and then released from the need to do the run. I did not see a medical tent; got to my spot, racked my bike and took my bike shoe off expecting to see a purple, swollen toe. There was a slight swelling, a little red mark, but no broken skin. I carefully stood on my foot....no pain! It was kind of disconcerting that I had so much pain earlier, and it was no longer there. Nothing. Now I had no excuse to avoid running, but could not imagine doing so. So I changed my socks, put my sneakers on, took my jacket and t-shirt off (turns out in my nervousness before the race, I had forgotten to take off a t-shirt that I had worn just to keep warm before the race).
I put one foot in front of the other and essentially count down 13 miles to go; 12 miles to go; 11 miles to go. Around the 3 mile mark I fantasized about turning around and going back. But no, I couldn't do that. 'Let me try just one more mile'. The first half of the run was basically uphill. Everyone was in their own zone at this point, just trying to finish. Saw Scott - fellow Brooklyn Tri Group member - sweating it out on the final leg of the run.
On the return, a couple of people passed me - turns out that the woman had been helping the guy pace himself, and now he was encouraging me. So we ran together for a few miles, his name was Angel (no surprise I suppose) and I was able to finish the second half of the run a whole lot faster. After we went our separate ways, I went back to running slow / walking. I have to figure out how I can push myself to go faster on my own without someone else running with me.
Around the 12 mile mark I saw Janna, from Brooklyn, her excitement gave me the final adrenaline push to finish the last mile. Turns out she texted Theresa and Jennifer and told them where I was so when I made the approach to Main Street, there they were!
Time:
Bike: 3:50:38 avg speed: 14.6mph
T2: 6:24
Run: 2:56:28 avg pace: 13:29
Total Time:
6:53:30
I was 43 out of 49 women in my age group; 283 out of 316 women overall;
1245 out of 1331 on the bike
1282 out of 1331 on the run. So I guess, I was in the 96th percentile - 96 percent of the people were faster than me; but that only includes people that were in the race. In terms of health, fitness, fun I am way ahead of what I would have ever imagined for myself at this point in time in my life (or at any point in time for that matter). Woo hoo!
I put one foot in front of the other and essentially count down 13 miles to go; 12 miles to go; 11 miles to go. Around the 3 mile mark I fantasized about turning around and going back. But no, I couldn't do that. 'Let me try just one more mile'. The first half of the run was basically uphill. Everyone was in their own zone at this point, just trying to finish. Saw Scott - fellow Brooklyn Tri Group member - sweating it out on the final leg of the run.
On the return, a couple of people passed me - turns out that the woman had been helping the guy pace himself, and now he was encouraging me. So we ran together for a few miles, his name was Angel (no surprise I suppose) and I was able to finish the second half of the run a whole lot faster. After we went our separate ways, I went back to running slow / walking. I have to figure out how I can push myself to go faster on my own without someone else running with me.
Around the 12 mile mark I saw Janna, from Brooklyn, her excitement gave me the final adrenaline push to finish the last mile. Turns out she texted Theresa and Jennifer and told them where I was so when I made the approach to Main Street, there they were!
Time:
Bike: 3:50:38 avg speed: 14.6mph
T2: 6:24
Run: 2:56:28 avg pace: 13:29
Total Time:
6:53:30
I was 43 out of 49 women in my age group; 283 out of 316 women overall;
1245 out of 1331 on the bike
1282 out of 1331 on the run. So I guess, I was in the 96th percentile - 96 percent of the people were faster than me; but that only includes people that were in the race. In terms of health, fitness, fun I am way ahead of what I would have ever imagined for myself at this point in time in my life (or at any point in time for that matter). Woo hoo!
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Poconos HIM Race Report - Bike Segment
I have to say that I'm proud of myself. I hoped to do a 4 hour bike ride, but thought it would be highly unlikely given the extent of the hills - but I did it! Here is the race report, Pt 1.
Pre Race
I had put the alarm for 3:15am but I was up around 2:30am, fully rested. The day before I had napped in the afternoon, and the previous night I had gotten a good night's sleep. For 2-3 days prior, I drank either Gatorade or used Nuun electrolyte tablets to keep me 'topped off' in my hydration. In terms of food, I generally ate what I usually eat - oatmeal in the morning with fruit; lunch - salad or turkey sandwich; and the night before this race, my friend Jennifer made a delicious vegetable lasagna for my carbo loading.
So, I was feeling relaxed in the morning. Took my time with breakfast; had several cups of coffee; water and another Nuun tablet ( in the water ). It was raining pretty hard, and at some point there was a very loud, deep thunderclap. I wondered if the race organizers would cancel the race if there was a lightening storm. Theresa and Jennifer dropped me off at T2 where the shuttle buses would take the participants to the race start at Smithfield Beach. It was not until arriving at T2 that I started to get nervous. I was worried about missing the shuttle bus. Seeing everyone walking towards the buses made my upcoming endeavor very real and I was now nervous. The shuttle ride was uneventful, people were all chatting about their tri experiences. I met Will from Westchester who sat next to me and we shared what we knew. I saw him 6 hours later on the run and actually remembered his name which is not my forte.
My number was 129. Due to the swim being cancelled; the race was starting in a 'time trial' format. Essentially, the racers were going to start one-by-one in numerical order. First the professional triathletes and then the rest of us. Most triathlons set up their wave starts with the oldest, slowest people going first, so in this case it was women over 45. Our bicycle racks were right next to the pros. It was amazing to see them and their bikes. After they started their race, we all lined up in numerical order and started about 3 seconds apart. Due to flooding from the recent rains, the bike course was changed somewhat, so I was not sure exactly how it would be different. I had the previous bike course practically memorized. My race strategy for the bike segment was to focus on my average speed. In the Black Bear tri, which was also hilly, I averaged between 12 -13 mph. Although my ideal goal was to finish the bike leg in less than 4 hours, I felt a more realistic goal was to get above 13 mph average speed. I figured I would ultimately work that out as I saw what my average was. I knew I was not going to be able to go fast up the hills, so the only way to get a better average speed was to work the flat parts of the course as well as the downhills. This is what I did and it worked. I was so grateful to my local bike shop, Ride Brooklyn, that did a last minute chain and cog wheel change this past week. It was in perfect working order and my chain did not fall off as it had in each of my course rides these past few weeks. I shifted back and forth taking advantage of all the downhills. Pretty scary at times, but fun as well. One of the higher speeds I reached was 32mph.
Right after the start, we came up on one of the steeper hills, but fortunately, due to the course change, instead of heading right into it (as it was in the original course map), we went a few miles out and back in the other direction, and so had a few miles to warm up. As I headed towards it, I saw up ahead that someone had fallen. As I pushed my way up the hill, they cleared out but then I heard someone behind me fall. There were several people already walking and some others wobbling up the hill, which was disconcerting for me as I was barely hanging on myself. (I found out later that either the first or the second person that fell was my new group ride friend, Linda, who ended up breaking her wrist - I feel really bad about that and it highlights how although these races are great, there really is a risk of injury). I was basically very methodical during the uphill climbs. Ususally, my heart rate goes way up during these climbs; which is also exacerbated by my anxiety. Today, I remained calm and did not feel my heart beating faster due to the anxiety. I don't know if others feel a difference, but I can feel two distinct feelings at the same time when my heart is beating fast due to fear/anxiety versus due to exertion.
So overall the ride was very beautiful with scenic vistas, enhanced by the wetness and clouds in the sky. The whole ride was spent pushing the flats and downhills and enjoying the view, seeing the familiar spots that I had previously taken pictures of. There was one area, that was unfamiliar - I so wanted to stop and take a picture of a beautiful horse on some farm that we passed. During the ride also, a few people that I know passed me and said hello. Fellow Brooklyn Tri club member - Scott and another new group ride friend - Rob. This was very heartening and re-energizing to keep pushing.
Turkey Hill. There were lots of hills that people were walking up instead of riding. I was able to go up all the earlier ones and successfully avoid all the wobbly bicyclists in front of me. Then came Turkey Hill at around mile 40 or 45. I was hoping to be able to go up the hill as I had done the last time I had tried, but I also knew my legs were shot. My thighs had cramped up at different points as had my calf at another point when I was trying to pass someone uphill. Anyway, I approached Turkey Hill and all I saw was a road full of people walking/wobbling and it was not single file, they were all over the road. So I got into my slow, methodical, uphill push behind others that were doing the same. At some point, the guy in front of me wobbled and stopped, and so in order to avoid running into him, I veared to the right as I tried to unclip my right foot. I went to the right onto a gravel road, that unfortunately was going downhill; instead of unclipping my right shoe, I pulled out my foot from the shoe. My hands were not on the brakes, so I used my foot to brake. Mistake. I put my foot down several times as I felt myself increasingly out of control, trying to stay away from the ravine to my right, digging my foot in the gravel. Finally, I was able to adjust myself and put my hands on the brakes and I was able to stop. My foot was killing me. I looked at my sock, there was no hole and no blood which surprised me due to how it felt. I put my shoe on, and I could feel my foot swollen inside. I could barely walk, the pain was so intense. I could only figure one thing, and that was that I had broken my toe. I could not walk. I had gone so far down this gravel road, that no one would have seen me had I fallen into the ravine. Anyway, I pulled myself back onto the course and walked up the hill. I could not put hardly any pressure on my right foot, and was not sure what I was going to do. I got to the top of the hill and texted Theresa: "Hurt my foot, probably won't run, have 14 miles to go". My whole right leg was quite out of sorts so I had to walk until I had no incline at all. I passed an ambulance, but did not think this was ambulance level of injury. Then I figured that I wanted to finish the bike, and then possibly get seen in a med tent to see if I could continue or not. The rest of the ride was uneventful. I went from disappointed /scared that this happened, to relieved that I had a legitimate excuse to not do the run. My legs were totally spent. I started visualizing going to work on crutches and talking about my war story on Turkey Hill. As I rode, although I could feel my foot swollen in the shoe, but fortunately no pain.
I finished those last 14 miles fairly uneventfully. I was nervous about putting pressure on my foot, but as time passed, my foot hurt less and less and was starting getting excited about finishing the bike segment in less than 4 hours, which was definitely beyond my wildest expectation.
Pre Race
I had put the alarm for 3:15am but I was up around 2:30am, fully rested. The day before I had napped in the afternoon, and the previous night I had gotten a good night's sleep. For 2-3 days prior, I drank either Gatorade or used Nuun electrolyte tablets to keep me 'topped off' in my hydration. In terms of food, I generally ate what I usually eat - oatmeal in the morning with fruit; lunch - salad or turkey sandwich; and the night before this race, my friend Jennifer made a delicious vegetable lasagna for my carbo loading.
So, I was feeling relaxed in the morning. Took my time with breakfast; had several cups of coffee; water and another Nuun tablet ( in the water ). It was raining pretty hard, and at some point there was a very loud, deep thunderclap. I wondered if the race organizers would cancel the race if there was a lightening storm. Theresa and Jennifer dropped me off at T2 where the shuttle buses would take the participants to the race start at Smithfield Beach. It was not until arriving at T2 that I started to get nervous. I was worried about missing the shuttle bus. Seeing everyone walking towards the buses made my upcoming endeavor very real and I was now nervous. The shuttle ride was uneventful, people were all chatting about their tri experiences. I met Will from Westchester who sat next to me and we shared what we knew. I saw him 6 hours later on the run and actually remembered his name which is not my forte.
My number was 129. Due to the swim being cancelled; the race was starting in a 'time trial' format. Essentially, the racers were going to start one-by-one in numerical order. First the professional triathletes and then the rest of us. Most triathlons set up their wave starts with the oldest, slowest people going first, so in this case it was women over 45. Our bicycle racks were right next to the pros. It was amazing to see them and their bikes. After they started their race, we all lined up in numerical order and started about 3 seconds apart. Due to flooding from the recent rains, the bike course was changed somewhat, so I was not sure exactly how it would be different. I had the previous bike course practically memorized. My race strategy for the bike segment was to focus on my average speed. In the Black Bear tri, which was also hilly, I averaged between 12 -13 mph. Although my ideal goal was to finish the bike leg in less than 4 hours, I felt a more realistic goal was to get above 13 mph average speed. I figured I would ultimately work that out as I saw what my average was. I knew I was not going to be able to go fast up the hills, so the only way to get a better average speed was to work the flat parts of the course as well as the downhills. This is what I did and it worked. I was so grateful to my local bike shop, Ride Brooklyn, that did a last minute chain and cog wheel change this past week. It was in perfect working order and my chain did not fall off as it had in each of my course rides these past few weeks. I shifted back and forth taking advantage of all the downhills. Pretty scary at times, but fun as well. One of the higher speeds I reached was 32mph.
Right after the start, we came up on one of the steeper hills, but fortunately, due to the course change, instead of heading right into it (as it was in the original course map), we went a few miles out and back in the other direction, and so had a few miles to warm up. As I headed towards it, I saw up ahead that someone had fallen. As I pushed my way up the hill, they cleared out but then I heard someone behind me fall. There were several people already walking and some others wobbling up the hill, which was disconcerting for me as I was barely hanging on myself. (I found out later that either the first or the second person that fell was my new group ride friend, Linda, who ended up breaking her wrist - I feel really bad about that and it highlights how although these races are great, there really is a risk of injury). I was basically very methodical during the uphill climbs. Ususally, my heart rate goes way up during these climbs; which is also exacerbated by my anxiety. Today, I remained calm and did not feel my heart beating faster due to the anxiety. I don't know if others feel a difference, but I can feel two distinct feelings at the same time when my heart is beating fast due to fear/anxiety versus due to exertion.
So overall the ride was very beautiful with scenic vistas, enhanced by the wetness and clouds in the sky. The whole ride was spent pushing the flats and downhills and enjoying the view, seeing the familiar spots that I had previously taken pictures of. There was one area, that was unfamiliar - I so wanted to stop and take a picture of a beautiful horse on some farm that we passed. During the ride also, a few people that I know passed me and said hello. Fellow Brooklyn Tri club member - Scott and another new group ride friend - Rob. This was very heartening and re-energizing to keep pushing.
Turkey Hill. There were lots of hills that people were walking up instead of riding. I was able to go up all the earlier ones and successfully avoid all the wobbly bicyclists in front of me. Then came Turkey Hill at around mile 40 or 45. I was hoping to be able to go up the hill as I had done the last time I had tried, but I also knew my legs were shot. My thighs had cramped up at different points as had my calf at another point when I was trying to pass someone uphill. Anyway, I approached Turkey Hill and all I saw was a road full of people walking/wobbling and it was not single file, they were all over the road. So I got into my slow, methodical, uphill push behind others that were doing the same. At some point, the guy in front of me wobbled and stopped, and so in order to avoid running into him, I veared to the right as I tried to unclip my right foot. I went to the right onto a gravel road, that unfortunately was going downhill; instead of unclipping my right shoe, I pulled out my foot from the shoe. My hands were not on the brakes, so I used my foot to brake. Mistake. I put my foot down several times as I felt myself increasingly out of control, trying to stay away from the ravine to my right, digging my foot in the gravel. Finally, I was able to adjust myself and put my hands on the brakes and I was able to stop. My foot was killing me. I looked at my sock, there was no hole and no blood which surprised me due to how it felt. I put my shoe on, and I could feel my foot swollen inside. I could barely walk, the pain was so intense. I could only figure one thing, and that was that I had broken my toe. I could not walk. I had gone so far down this gravel road, that no one would have seen me had I fallen into the ravine. Anyway, I pulled myself back onto the course and walked up the hill. I could not put hardly any pressure on my right foot, and was not sure what I was going to do. I got to the top of the hill and texted Theresa: "Hurt my foot, probably won't run, have 14 miles to go". My whole right leg was quite out of sorts so I had to walk until I had no incline at all. I passed an ambulance, but did not think this was ambulance level of injury. Then I figured that I wanted to finish the bike, and then possibly get seen in a med tent to see if I could continue or not. The rest of the ride was uneventful. I went from disappointed /scared that this happened, to relieved that I had a legitimate excuse to not do the run. My legs were totally spent. I started visualizing going to work on crutches and talking about my war story on Turkey Hill. As I rode, although I could feel my foot swollen in the shoe, but fortunately no pain.
I finished those last 14 miles fairly uneventfully. I was nervous about putting pressure on my foot, but as time passed, my foot hurt less and less and was starting getting excited about finishing the bike segment in less than 4 hours, which was definitely beyond my wildest expectation.
Sunday, October 2, 2011
2:30am musings
It's the morning of the tri; the coffee's brewing and the oatmeal is on the stove. I had been nervous about this triathlon up until a couple of weeks ago. Since that time, I have been surprisingly neutral. The only two times I recall getting agitated was yesterday when I could not find my sunglasses and earlier in the day in the athlete orientation, when I wanted to ask a question, but this guy was going on and on telling the race organizer that 'this was not the way to do a time trial start'. I felt like telling the guy to go on Facebook and join the other negative commentators.
My question? I didn't know the process of bottle exchange. This other guy helped me visualize what this involves so that I can do it smoothly. I had to identify which bottles I was willing to let go of. I found myself suddenly attached to all my bottles. Actually, the only one I really am attached to is this water bottle from the NYC century ride. It occurred on 9/9/2001.
The magazine that came in our 'swag bag' had an article on sports psychology tips. Tip #10 asked individuals to 'recall your mindset when you clicked on the 'register' button for the Pocono race'; and to not let that be overshadowed by splits, chip times, etc. This was a great reminder for me as I had kind of been feeling uncertain if I had done as much as I could in my training. I alternated between gratitude that I don't have any chronic problem/injury and wondering whether this indicates that I didn't push myself as hard as I could have - right to the edge and slightly over.
For the Black Bear tri in June, my bike split pace was between 12 and 13mph. This course is harder (and longer) but I hope to go over 13 mph average. This will be harder if it's still raining or wet. ( just looked out the window and it's not raining ! So this is good!). During the NYC tri, it was harder to keep a race pace because something happened to my odometer. I did not really know how fast I was going.
The name of this blog is, well you know. So, what will I write about? Is this the end? During this past month, I have been saying that I will not do another half ironman - it is too time consuming. But Mother Nature played a joke on us. Maybe it was her way of getting me to return next year and REALLY earn the 70.3 medal, doing all 3 events. I suppose I will see how I feel AFTER this race!
The other part of this journey is realizing, and feeling, cared for by other people. There are the race organizers who have worked very hard. And then there is YOU. Quietly reading this blog. The journey is not over, it's just entering the next phase.
-- lemmefineout - Brooklyn
My question? I didn't know the process of bottle exchange. This other guy helped me visualize what this involves so that I can do it smoothly. I had to identify which bottles I was willing to let go of. I found myself suddenly attached to all my bottles. Actually, the only one I really am attached to is this water bottle from the NYC century ride. It occurred on 9/9/2001.
The magazine that came in our 'swag bag' had an article on sports psychology tips. Tip #10 asked individuals to 'recall your mindset when you clicked on the 'register' button for the Pocono race'; and to not let that be overshadowed by splits, chip times, etc. This was a great reminder for me as I had kind of been feeling uncertain if I had done as much as I could in my training. I alternated between gratitude that I don't have any chronic problem/injury and wondering whether this indicates that I didn't push myself as hard as I could have - right to the edge and slightly over.
For the Black Bear tri in June, my bike split pace was between 12 and 13mph. This course is harder (and longer) but I hope to go over 13 mph average. This will be harder if it's still raining or wet. ( just looked out the window and it's not raining ! So this is good!). During the NYC tri, it was harder to keep a race pace because something happened to my odometer. I did not really know how fast I was going.
The name of this blog is, well you know. So, what will I write about? Is this the end? During this past month, I have been saying that I will not do another half ironman - it is too time consuming. But Mother Nature played a joke on us. Maybe it was her way of getting me to return next year and REALLY earn the 70.3 medal, doing all 3 events. I suppose I will see how I feel AFTER this race!
The other part of this journey is realizing, and feeling, cared for by other people. There are the race organizers who have worked very hard. And then there is YOU. Quietly reading this blog. The journey is not over, it's just entering the next phase.
-- lemmefineout - Brooklyn
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Pocono HIM pix pt 2
On 9/23 I rode the second part of the Pocono HIM course, going from Stroudsburg HS, down 191 South to the part that it joins Cherry Valley Road. I skipped the figure 8 loop starting with Kemmertown Rd. and went straight to Turkey Hill. I was so afraid of Turkey Hill, that I did not stop to take pictures. I had not been able to make it up Turkey Hill yet, and I was determined to do so. I went up half way and stopped. As I did so, this other small group of riders passed, including a woman who was huffing and puffing, but still on the bike. "If she can do it, so can I!". So I went back down the hill and biked my way back up, and completed it! Each time I succeed in one of these types of hills, I remember once again, how the most difficult part is getting past the psychological fear - basically of toppling over due to not being able to click out of the pedal. So remember, just when you think you can go no further, keep at it 10 more seconds. You'll see. Hope you like the pictures.
This is 191 S / Cherry Valley overlap ( mile 18.7 on cue sheet)
I LOVE this little building, it is on Keiser Road. This is my reward for making it up Turkey Hill. Mile 40.6 on cue sheet
Mystical forest a little bit further along on Keiser Road.
Going down hill towards Haney Rd. Passing the rock quarry.
The end of Keiser Rd; making a left onto Haney Rd. Mile 42.5
Same spot as above. Hopefully they're not fracking!
End of Haney Road, right on to Bossardsville Rd.
Mile 43.5
Same intersection as above: Haney and Bossardsville
After passing the quarry again, this is an area of
mobile homes - Fawn Valley.
House on Keller Drive, mile 45.8+
Heading back down Haney going towards (and passing) Keiser Rd.
On Haney, at a point where I stopped to check my map I met up with Lisa, who was very nice, and we rode along together for most of the rest of the ride. Thanks Lisa!
This photo, I believe was taken on Fetherman Street, right before heading into Main Street.
See you on Sunday!!
This is 191 S / Cherry Valley overlap ( mile 18.7 on cue sheet)
Mystical forest a little bit further along on Keiser Road.
Going down hill towards Haney Rd. Passing the rock quarry.
The end of Keiser Rd; making a left onto Haney Rd. Mile 42.5
Same spot as above. Hopefully they're not fracking!
End of Haney Road, right on to Bossardsville Rd.
Mile 43.5
Same intersection as above: Haney and Bossardsville
mobile homes - Fawn Valley.
House on Keller Drive, mile 45.8+
Heading back down Haney going towards (and passing) Keiser Rd.
On Haney, at a point where I stopped to check my map I met up with Lisa, who was very nice, and we rode along together for most of the rest of the ride. Thanks Lisa!
This photo, I believe was taken on Fetherman Street, right before heading into Main Street.
See you on Sunday!!
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Like the Tazmanian Devil
These last few days I've been able to work out the kinks of my race on 10/2. I did my long ride on Saturday where my chain kept getting stuck when changing from the big ring to the smaller one. Turns out that I've been using the wrong chain lubricant - at least according to the guy that sold me the 'correct' chain lubricant. I'm embarassed to say that I've used various liquids to oil my chain, not necessarily labelled 'for bicycle chain'. Who knew? Still don't know if it is some sort of marketing scheme, but now I put something on my chain that is labelled 'for bicycle chains'.
When I got the bicycle chain oil, I also bought bicycle gloves. I had been wanting gloves for a while and after seeing the sudden cold weather shift, I was worried about cold hands during the race. Anybody that has ridden with gloveless hands in cold weather knows that it can be a very painful experience.
This morning we had an end-of-season time trial on the bike. Three loops around the park. I put my jacket on for the first time and my brand new gloves. I started the loops. By the end of the first loop, I was sweating. My jacket felt like one of those weight loss jackets that are intended to make you sweat and therefore lose a lot of weight. ( I wouldn't mind losing weight, even if it is only temporary water weight that will show on the scale until I drink my first glass of water). I couldn't really stop to take off my jacket ( I was in the middle of a time trial you see), so I kept going, sweating, with my now unzipped jacket flapping in the wind. But then the were the gloves. My hands were sweating, and it was becoming increasingly uncomfortable. I took them off with my teeth, with a desperation of someone who is trying to go as fast as possible while taking their gloves off. I guess that is not an analogy. I was like the tazmanian devil, sans growl.
the blood blister on my pinky.
Moral of the story?: I am not wearing gloves nor a jacket during the race.
-- lemmefineout - Brooklyn
When I got the bicycle chain oil, I also bought bicycle gloves. I had been wanting gloves for a while and after seeing the sudden cold weather shift, I was worried about cold hands during the race. Anybody that has ridden with gloveless hands in cold weather knows that it can be a very painful experience.
This morning we had an end-of-season time trial on the bike. Three loops around the park. I put my jacket on for the first time and my brand new gloves. I started the loops. By the end of the first loop, I was sweating. My jacket felt like one of those weight loss jackets that are intended to make you sweat and therefore lose a lot of weight. ( I wouldn't mind losing weight, even if it is only temporary water weight that will show on the scale until I drink my first glass of water). I couldn't really stop to take off my jacket ( I was in the middle of a time trial you see), so I kept going, sweating, with my now unzipped jacket flapping in the wind. But then the were the gloves. My hands were sweating, and it was becoming increasingly uncomfortable. I took them off with my teeth, with a desperation of someone who is trying to go as fast as possible while taking their gloves off. I guess that is not an analogy. I was like the tazmanian devil, sans growl.
the blood blister on my pinky.
Moral of the story?: I am not wearing gloves nor a jacket during the race.
-- lemmefineout - Brooklyn
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Pocono HIM pictures along bike course
Making a right onto Hidden Lake Drive after going up to 209. I heard they are eliminating that little 'out and back' tip, and that we will be making a left directly onto Hidden Lake. I had meant to do that, but passed it anyway. Good thing they are changing it, because the hill to come back to this point is steep. Mile 5.2
Turning on to Hollow Road from Hidden Lake. Note the Shawnee Ski sign on the left.
Mile Mile 9.8
It gets kind of busy here, with the intersection of roadways, but if you follow traffic rules and consider yourself a vehicle and wait for the left turn signal, you are ok. Mile 15
This is the Visitor's Center, this picture was taken from the same spot as the previous picture. On the Bike Course map, we are in the area coming off 'Logging Rd' to 'Broad St'.
My guess is that this will be the first pit stop on the bike course.
This is viewing the turn on to 'Main Street' on the course map, also known as 611. It's then a short ride to make a right onto Cherry Valley Rd.
Mile 15.7
View along Cherry Valley Rd. Mile 15.7 +
Passing Blakeslee Rd while on Cherry Valley. You come back up this road a few left turns from now
Another scene from Cherry Valley Road. The oldest schoolhouse in the region. Just before Kemmertown.
Make a left here on to Kemmertown Rd, beginning the 'figure 8' set of turns on the course. Mile 22.9
View from Middle Road.
Approaching the Blakeslee Rd left turn, which is really just bearing left. Mile 24.5
The right side would be continuing on Middle Rd.
The return on Cherry Valley
The famous Larsen's Lane. Mile 26.6
I think this is the view after completing Lower Cherry Valley Rd, and making a right onto Wilkes Barre Turnpike. Mile 35
This is a picture of "Lake House" hotel of horror, on the intersection of Wilkes Barre turnpike, back on Cherry Valley Rd. The view in this picture is looking back at the house after having already passed it. So as you approach it, it's in front of you as you make a right onto Cherry Valley Rd. Mile 35.6So this is it in terms of pictures. I was pretty tired, and did not take a picture of the famous Turkey Hill Rd. Hope you liked the pictures. Maybe you have a few of your own?
2 weeks left
Training is like gardening. You decide on what you want to grow; most likely, you think about being as organic as possible; you pick the spot; buy the tools you need. If you are looking into gardening past one season, you also have to look at the cycles of growth of your plants of choice. At some point, you have to cut back, prune, rest, rotate your crops.
Now that I am heading into the last 2 weeks before the triathlon I set out to do, I am pretty tired of the long hours I have been putting into training. It's hard to do a long ride or run, and then be wasted for the rest of the day. I have been thinking lately that I am not going to do another half ironman for that same reason. But... the jury is out until after this race; and even then, there is always next spring.
If I think of my training as needing to get better and faster, without taking any steps backwards - it is a recipe for quick burnout, and/or being a one season wonder. We all want to be better, 'badder', faster and see lack of continuous improvement as failure. I can fall very quickly into these emotional traps. I went out for an informal group ride yesterday, where within the first 3 miles, I lost the group due to going too slow. The emotional trap comes with my answer as to why was I going too slow. While riding, I thought about Lance Armstrong's book title, and I thought to myself 'it IS about the bike', 'I need to buy a new bike', 'can I buy a$5000 bike in the next 2 weeks?'. I dismissed that idea for purely financial reasons. If I had $5000, I would have bought it a long time ago.
The other reasons I am slower, aside from my 10 year old bicycle, is the fact that I am 49; or that I am female; or that this is my first triathlon season. All of these are valid reasons as to why I may be slower. The emotional trap comes if I start my stinkin' thinkin' such as 'if I'm this slow, I shouldn't be doing this'; 'I'll never finish' 'I don't know why I even started' 'people will look down at me', and the list goes on and on.
What I ended up doing was enjoying my ride alone. My stinkin' thinkin' rode along with me like an annoying companion, but I chose to ignore the conversation they were trying to engage me in. Instead, I stopped to take pictures, something that I had not been able to do during the last group ride I did as I rushed to keep up. During this ride, I also missed turns but I was armed with my home made cue sheet and my iphone GPS, so I could correct myself. I felt good about this as well, knowing that I was learning about the course itself, not just following the people in front of me.
So as I head into these next tapering 2 weeks, I am looking forward to scaling back my training. Doing more of my creative work, which has been at a standstill; skiing, hiking and who knows what else awaits!
Is your stinkin' thinkin' interfering in the pursuit of your goals? Post a comment and tell me!
Now that I am heading into the last 2 weeks before the triathlon I set out to do, I am pretty tired of the long hours I have been putting into training. It's hard to do a long ride or run, and then be wasted for the rest of the day. I have been thinking lately that I am not going to do another half ironman for that same reason. But... the jury is out until after this race; and even then, there is always next spring.
If I think of my training as needing to get better and faster, without taking any steps backwards - it is a recipe for quick burnout, and/or being a one season wonder. We all want to be better, 'badder', faster and see lack of continuous improvement as failure. I can fall very quickly into these emotional traps. I went out for an informal group ride yesterday, where within the first 3 miles, I lost the group due to going too slow. The emotional trap comes with my answer as to why was I going too slow. While riding, I thought about Lance Armstrong's book title, and I thought to myself 'it IS about the bike', 'I need to buy a new bike', 'can I buy a$5000 bike in the next 2 weeks?'. I dismissed that idea for purely financial reasons. If I had $5000, I would have bought it a long time ago.
The other reasons I am slower, aside from my 10 year old bicycle, is the fact that I am 49; or that I am female; or that this is my first triathlon season. All of these are valid reasons as to why I may be slower. The emotional trap comes if I start my stinkin' thinkin' such as 'if I'm this slow, I shouldn't be doing this'; 'I'll never finish' 'I don't know why I even started' 'people will look down at me', and the list goes on and on.
What I ended up doing was enjoying my ride alone. My stinkin' thinkin' rode along with me like an annoying companion, but I chose to ignore the conversation they were trying to engage me in. Instead, I stopped to take pictures, something that I had not been able to do during the last group ride I did as I rushed to keep up. During this ride, I also missed turns but I was armed with my home made cue sheet and my iphone GPS, so I could correct myself. I felt good about this as well, knowing that I was learning about the course itself, not just following the people in front of me.
So as I head into these next tapering 2 weeks, I am looking forward to scaling back my training. Doing more of my creative work, which has been at a standstill; skiing, hiking and who knows what else awaits!
Is your stinkin' thinkin' interfering in the pursuit of your goals? Post a comment and tell me!
Sunday, August 21, 2011
training songs
I wanted to share my favorite song with you:
http://youtu.be/G6ZjBPXSmnE
This is a popular song for triathlon
http://youtu.be/P3oBZ4_TNys or http://youtu.be/jnqpYKx8Fvk
This song makes anybody move, tho I don't particularly like the video since it seems to contradict the lyrics.
http://youtu.be/vXtJkDHEAAc
you can dance, enyoy the lyrics, AND the video with this one:
http://youtu.be/q1OqrXK-Fws
tell me your favorite songs please!
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Self Doubt vs. Honest Self-Appraisal
We are nearing the end of August and so there are less than 8 weeks left until the Poconos Half Ironman. During the NYC tri, I kept on asking myself, wondering whether I was capable of doing double the distance. My answer at the time was 'no' and since then I have been waffling back and forth about it. More recently, while riding the Pocono HIM bike course, someone raised the question of whether it's possible to go this distance in your first year. Have I taken on more than I should have?
So, I am putting the training in to the best of my ability. On paper it looks great; in actuality I come up on various obstacles like weather; poop in the pool; thunderstorms; depression; exhaustion; having
to walk the dogs or go to the supermarket.
-- lemmefineout - Brooklyn
So, I am putting the training in to the best of my ability. On paper it looks great; in actuality I come up on various obstacles like weather; poop in the pool; thunderstorms; depression; exhaustion; having
to walk the dogs or go to the supermarket.
-- lemmefineout - Brooklyn
Friday, August 12, 2011
Group Ride
Tomorrow is my first official group ride training for the Poconos Half Ironman. I cannot believe that I am going to race that distance. Mountain Valley Bicycles, in the area of Stroudsburg, PA is sponsoring this ride. Apparently, we will be riding the whole 56 mile route plus an extra 14 to and from the start from the bicycle store...Some people have been contemplating running afterwards! I know that I have run after a long bike ride, but not 70 miles! But the only way to go is onwards and upwards as they say...someone, I'm not quite sure who.
I googled the phrase and this is what I got:
Fail not for sorrow, falter not for sin,
But onward, upward, till the goal ye win.
- Francis Anne Kemble (1809-1893)
Pretty cool, and the little bio that I found about this woman was interesting as well. A little side trip away from triathlonlandia.
I googled the phrase and this is what I got:
Fail not for sorrow, falter not for sin,
But onward, upward, till the goal ye win.
- Francis Anne Kemble (1809-1893)
Pretty cool, and the little bio that I found about this woman was interesting as well. A little side trip away from triathlonlandia.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
NYC Tri Bike/Run leg
I've been trying to write about the b/r part of the triathlon but did not feel very inspired about it. I couldn't think of much besides commenting on all the fallen water bottles in the road and numerous people with flats and possibly, I could have pushed myself more than I did. Then this morning I remembered.
Just as I was starting the bike leg, biking up the hill from the river to the West Side Highway there were many people lining the road cheering us on. Throughout the bike/run portion I must have heard 'Go Brooklyn at least 100 times, probably 1000 times. . But in that one spot, winding up the hill, someone said ' lose weight!'. That one comment tainted the rest of my experience with self-consciousness and a variety of mixed emotions. It is not without irony that there were two former contestants from 'The Biggest Loser' in the triathlon. I saw one of them while waiting for the swim to start. She walked by with a film crew following her. I didn't recognize who she was at the time but she looked at me and smiled. After she passed, the woman I had been chatting with told me who she was.
Am I branded? She looked at me and smiled. I felt good about it at the time, but after the 'lose weight' comment, I spent the rest of the race alternately judging myself and trying to push off any negative thinking or negative feeling. 'Since it's true, then how can I feel bad about the truth?' 'He's on the sidelines, and I'm in a triathlon, so who cares?!'. 'Maybe I look worse than I had thought in this tri suit'. ' He's an ass, I wish I could go back and spit in his face'. 'I'm the one that would get into trouble if I tried to get revenge'. 'I must look pretty bad'. 'he was a jerk'. 'why do I ignore 1000 good cheers and get so impacted by one?
I completed the triathlon. But this is definitely an emotional relapse. There is no worse time than being open to joy and hearing a stupid comment. I have spent too many years remaining shut tight as a drum in order to avoid this kind of thing but only I experience the negative consequences of that.
I will somehow let this pass.
-- lemmefineout - Brooklyn
Just as I was starting the bike leg, biking up the hill from the river to the West Side Highway there were many people lining the road cheering us on. Throughout the bike/run portion I must have heard 'Go Brooklyn at least 100 times, probably 1000 times. . But in that one spot, winding up the hill, someone said ' lose weight!'. That one comment tainted the rest of my experience with self-consciousness and a variety of mixed emotions. It is not without irony that there were two former contestants from 'The Biggest Loser' in the triathlon. I saw one of them while waiting for the swim to start. She walked by with a film crew following her. I didn't recognize who she was at the time but she looked at me and smiled. After she passed, the woman I had been chatting with told me who she was.
Am I branded? She looked at me and smiled. I felt good about it at the time, but after the 'lose weight' comment, I spent the rest of the race alternately judging myself and trying to push off any negative thinking or negative feeling. 'Since it's true, then how can I feel bad about the truth?' 'He's on the sidelines, and I'm in a triathlon, so who cares?!'. 'Maybe I look worse than I had thought in this tri suit'. ' He's an ass, I wish I could go back and spit in his face'. 'I'm the one that would get into trouble if I tried to get revenge'. 'I must look pretty bad'. 'he was a jerk'. 'why do I ignore 1000 good cheers and get so impacted by one?
I completed the triathlon. But this is definitely an emotional relapse. There is no worse time than being open to joy and hearing a stupid comment. I have spent too many years remaining shut tight as a drum in order to avoid this kind of thing but only I experience the negative consequences of that.
I will somehow let this pass.
-- lemmefineout - Brooklyn
Monday, August 8, 2011
NYC Tri Race Report - the swim
First of all, the swim was rough. There is no other way of saying it. There were very high swells in the river. Swells that you had to glide on through in order to progress forward. With my face in the water, 'swimming' as some may call it, I felt the movement of the water making me rise and fall. The only thought I had during the swim was to keep on moving...
Before: waiting
I had to get to the transition area between 4 and 5am. I took a cab ride up to 72nd and Riverside Drive and set my stuff up. I had already dropped off my bike the day before. After setting up, I walked the mile up to the swim start, around 99th Street. I had my dry clothes bag with me - after arrival, I took my sandals off and gave my bag to the truck people. I had my goggles, blue swim cap and wetsuit that I had not put on yet. While looking out onto the river, I thought about how these 3 items were my most valuable posessions at that moment. Without them I would not be able to do the race. There seemed to be something deep about this when I was thinking about it, but I can't quite verbalize it right now. Something about what we value, what we are afraid of losing, and how - depending on the situation, what we fear most gets turned around when we lose focus on what's really important.
All throughout this time I was mildly anxious - normal race anxiety - mostly about forgetting something. I had visions of having to run the mile back to the transition area for some required item. Overall though, I was calm. I was well rested, well hydrated, and ready.
The Start:
The professionals went out first, then the elite triathletes. All of us on the line remarked how we would be sure to sight carefully after seeing one overconfident swimmer go headlong into a kayak which was blocking them from swimming into the island of Manhattan ; and another swimmer run into a tug boat that blocked them from swimming across to NJ ot out to sea.
Then the age groupers started, and the pace changed...People were lining up on the barge 3 people deep and every few seconds, the next line would jump into the water - there was no pausing, no hesitation, no time to change your mind. After standing around for a 1/2 hour, we were now moving up quickly, me under the "women 45-49" banner.
By the time I got to the barge, I started talking out loud to myself. The sound that was coming out mostly resembled Olive Oyl in distress: "ooh noo!" mixed with 'this is another fine mess you've gotten us into, Patty'
Joking aside, I really can't recall the last time I was this scared. I was feeling rushed about jumping 3 feet into the water. I jumped. "thank you Yemaya".
There is that 2 second span of time, where you are going down instead of up, that gets to me. The last time this happened was when I jumped into the deep end of the pool when doing the Indoor tri at Asphalt Green. There is a powerless feeling and then you begin to rise back up.
So there I was in the water. Salt water. Swimming. Everything was ok, going forward and up and down, sighting. At some point I saw a sign that said '500m'. Oh good, I thought, only 500 meters left. After another while, I saw the next sign - '1000m'. I realized with dismay that I still had another 500 to go after this. I sighted using the wall of swimmers then spectators that were lining the path. Every once in a while I'd look forward to catch a glimpse of the finish line which did not happen.
At last, the finish line came into view. I took care to approach the ramp without trying to stand up. I did not want to get stuck in muck as I had been forwarned. I had someone pull me up and I was out.
Swim complete!
-- lemmefineout - Brooklyn
Before: waiting
I had to get to the transition area between 4 and 5am. I took a cab ride up to 72nd and Riverside Drive and set my stuff up. I had already dropped off my bike the day before. After setting up, I walked the mile up to the swim start, around 99th Street. I had my dry clothes bag with me - after arrival, I took my sandals off and gave my bag to the truck people. I had my goggles, blue swim cap and wetsuit that I had not put on yet. While looking out onto the river, I thought about how these 3 items were my most valuable posessions at that moment. Without them I would not be able to do the race. There seemed to be something deep about this when I was thinking about it, but I can't quite verbalize it right now. Something about what we value, what we are afraid of losing, and how - depending on the situation, what we fear most gets turned around when we lose focus on what's really important.
All throughout this time I was mildly anxious - normal race anxiety - mostly about forgetting something. I had visions of having to run the mile back to the transition area for some required item. Overall though, I was calm. I was well rested, well hydrated, and ready.
The Start:
The professionals went out first, then the elite triathletes. All of us on the line remarked how we would be sure to sight carefully after seeing one overconfident swimmer go headlong into a kayak which was blocking them from swimming into the island of Manhattan ; and another swimmer run into a tug boat that blocked them from swimming across to NJ ot out to sea.
Then the age groupers started, and the pace changed...People were lining up on the barge 3 people deep and every few seconds, the next line would jump into the water - there was no pausing, no hesitation, no time to change your mind. After standing around for a 1/2 hour, we were now moving up quickly, me under the "women 45-49" banner.
By the time I got to the barge, I started talking out loud to myself. The sound that was coming out mostly resembled Olive Oyl in distress: "ooh noo!" mixed with 'this is another fine mess you've gotten us into, Patty'
Joking aside, I really can't recall the last time I was this scared. I was feeling rushed about jumping 3 feet into the water. I jumped. "thank you Yemaya".
There is that 2 second span of time, where you are going down instead of up, that gets to me. The last time this happened was when I jumped into the deep end of the pool when doing the Indoor tri at Asphalt Green. There is a powerless feeling and then you begin to rise back up.
So there I was in the water. Salt water. Swimming. Everything was ok, going forward and up and down, sighting. At some point I saw a sign that said '500m'. Oh good, I thought, only 500 meters left. After another while, I saw the next sign - '1000m'. I realized with dismay that I still had another 500 to go after this. I sighted using the wall of swimmers then spectators that were lining the path. Every once in a while I'd look forward to catch a glimpse of the finish line which did not happen.
At last, the finish line came into view. I took care to approach the ramp without trying to stand up. I did not want to get stuck in muck as I had been forwarned. I had someone pull me up and I was out.
Swim complete!
-- lemmefineout - Brooklyn
Friday, August 5, 2011
Middle of the Packer
This morning I found out that I was 8th out of 15 in my age group - 45-49. I have never been in the middle of the pack - usually one of the last 3 or last 10 overall. Are my last place days over? I'm not sure, but I wouldn't trade being last of the pack for sitting home waiting to be better before I start.
As I was in the final stretch of my run, I saw a woman approaching that I had chatted with just prior to the swim start. I made some encouraging words to her but she just turned away. I can't say what she was thinking, or know if she even heard me,, but I know that if I had been in her shoes, I probably would have done the same - preoccupied with my own "stinkin' thinkin'" - that the words of encouragement were just another way of gloating about being ahead of me. I have seen though, over the years in different races, that the applause is sincere - for so many different reasons if not only for the fact that we have all been there in one way or another.
I'm glad that I have not let my slowness interfere with me doing these physical activities. In the race results there was a 70+ person that was faster than me - I hope to be like that person when I get to be that age. Actually, I hope to be as fast as they are next year!
-- lemmefineout - Brooklyn
As I was in the final stretch of my run, I saw a woman approaching that I had chatted with just prior to the swim start. I made some encouraging words to her but she just turned away. I can't say what she was thinking, or know if she even heard me,, but I know that if I had been in her shoes, I probably would have done the same - preoccupied with my own "stinkin' thinkin'" - that the words of encouragement were just another way of gloating about being ahead of me. I have seen though, over the years in different races, that the applause is sincere - for so many different reasons if not only for the fact that we have all been there in one way or another.
I'm glad that I have not let my slowness interfere with me doing these physical activities. In the race results there was a 70+ person that was faster than me - I hope to be like that person when I get to be that age. Actually, I hope to be as fast as they are next year!
-- lemmefineout - Brooklyn
Serenity
Clear blue sky, stroke stroke stroke, breathe; seagull overhead, stroke stroke stroke, breathe; airplane trail across the sky, stroke stroke stroke, breathe; orange sunset behind the trees, stroke stroke stroke, breathe.
Swimming at Red Hook City pool
-- lemmefineout - Brooklyn
Swimming at Red Hook City pool
-- lemmefineout - Brooklyn
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Central Park Triathlon Race Report
I registered for this race way before finding out that I had gotten into the NYC Triathlon next week. I figured I could do it anyway, despite the NYC tri being a week away, and also despite the fact that I did the Queens Half Marathon yesterday. Ultimately, I'm training for the Poconos Half Ironman and I need to be able to handle this amount of physical activity.
The Central Park Triathlon is a 1/4 mile swim in a pool; 12 miles of biking and 3 miles of running. I did not obsess over this triathlon as I had for the Black Bear, in some ways this is good, although last night I was wondering if I had not gotten enough obsessing time in and that I would forget something important.
SWIM: 3 loops of the pool, 5 people to each lane. I think there were 4 in mine. I was in the last wave. The women in my lane decided that we would all just start at the same time and then arrange ourselves according to speed. Upon starting, one woman just jetted off and was halfway down the pool. I had considered drafting behind someone, but she was not going to be it. As the rest of us swam the first length, I ended up second. By the end of the first loop, another woman passed me, and when starting my third loop, I noticed that the fourth woman was right behind me. I figured since I had not felt her, nor had she touched my feet, I would just keep going. On the way back from that last loop, she passed me. I was wondering whether I had been holding her back, that maybe I should have stopped and let her pass. I also felt bad that I ended up being the last one to finish in my lane, but let it go. I later found out that this woman had been 'drafting' behind me! I don't consider my swimming speed to be draftable; but it certainly made me feel better that someone was drafting behind me rather than I was holding them back.
GARMIN swim time: 10 minutes 50 seconds
T1: As I ran to T1, I passed a bicyclist that was finishing his bike leg. I was stunned. I think I audibly gasped when I saw him. I know that if he was in the first swim wave, he started around 45 minutes before me, but still...
I have found that the fastest way for me to put my socks and shoes on is to sit down right away. I have tried doing it standing up, and it just slows me down. Sat down, put my damp socks on and bicycle shoes. Helmet, sunglasses, race belt and I was off!
GARMIN T1 time: 2 minutes 5 seconds
BIKE: The bike leg consisted of 2 loops of Central Park. It started out going up the steepest hill in Central Park going from the northen part of the park counterclockwise. At this point I had the thought, which I also had at the Black Bear "Now why precisely am I doing this?". I'm not sure what the answer is to this, but I know I enjoy it before and then afterwards, but there is that brain fart when I wonder why.
So by this time of the morning, there were already hundreds of people in Central Park - runners, bikers, walkers, horse-drawn carriages. As the race director stressed, we don't have priority in the park. It's also good that I know this park because they do not put markers out for the bike route. You are expected to know the loop and which are the exits to the park. For me this was not an issue, but I did speak to someone who said she had never ridden in the park, so it could potentially be confusing. The only problem on the bike leg was that my odometer did not work so I did not know my speed. So all I can say about this is that I went as fast as I could. I thought on the downhills that it was good I did not know my speed because I get nervous sometimes when I see a high number. There were a couple of times that I got nervous due to people meandering while walking or biking. Most times, I can call out 'on your left' or 'coming through' but when especially nervous, or when it becomes a close call I can only yell 'aagh' much the same way as if I was in pain in a dentist's chair with my mouth clamped open and me shaking my head 'aagh!'. It works. The only time I had to slow down against my will was at the end of my first loop, where I was finishing the fast downhill, hoping to use my momentum to begin the climb up the big hill. I was too close on the left, and got to a bottleneck of several riders, so I had to slow down and go around them. Ultimately, no big deal, but it did come at the worst possible time, just as I was starting the biggest hill. Although there were hundreds of cyclists riding, I only saw a couple of racers during the whole time I was out there.
Nutrition: I had a broken up Clif bar in a bento box and took several pieces during the ride. I ended up drinking half of my Gatorade bottle during the ride as well.
GARMIN Bike time: 46:50; average speed 16mph. This includes some of my T2 time since I forgot to click it in time.
T2: I forgot about my resolution to sit and did a balancing act to get my bike shoes off and running sneakers on.
GARMIN T2 time: 10 seconds. Like I said, most of my transition time is included in the bike time. I realized this as I was leaving the T2 transition.
RUN: This was a 3 mile run, out and back; up the same big hill in the northern part of Central Park. This was a tough run. One long big hill and and a bunch of shorter hills. I felt I was doing hill repeats. I was surprised, looking at my Garmin after the race, to see that my heart rate was not up as high as I thought it was. Could I have gone faster? My legs felt like two pieces of iron. I focused on keeping a high cadence, especially going up the hills. Overall, I was happy with my run pace. It was better than the Black Bear run; and also given the fact that I did a half marathon yesterday made it even more reasonable that I would feel a little stiff.
GARMIN Run time: 36:29 11:17 pace
Nutrition: I had a Clif Shot Blox in my race belt and had a few of the squares during the run. At the turnaround, they had water, some of which I sipped, and most of which I poured over my head.
Lessons learned:
1) I assumed that I would get a swim cap for the race and almost did not bring my own. Fortunately I did bring it anyway, otherwise I would have had a way more difficult swim with all the hair in my face! Now I know that I will always have a cap with me no matter what.
2) Don't store your frozen water bottles in the same area as your clothes. My socks got wet and remained wet from the start.
The Central Park Triathlon is a 1/4 mile swim in a pool; 12 miles of biking and 3 miles of running. I did not obsess over this triathlon as I had for the Black Bear, in some ways this is good, although last night I was wondering if I had not gotten enough obsessing time in and that I would forget something important.
SWIM: 3 loops of the pool, 5 people to each lane. I think there were 4 in mine. I was in the last wave. The women in my lane decided that we would all just start at the same time and then arrange ourselves according to speed. Upon starting, one woman just jetted off and was halfway down the pool. I had considered drafting behind someone, but she was not going to be it. As the rest of us swam the first length, I ended up second. By the end of the first loop, another woman passed me, and when starting my third loop, I noticed that the fourth woman was right behind me. I figured since I had not felt her, nor had she touched my feet, I would just keep going. On the way back from that last loop, she passed me. I was wondering whether I had been holding her back, that maybe I should have stopped and let her pass. I also felt bad that I ended up being the last one to finish in my lane, but let it go. I later found out that this woman had been 'drafting' behind me! I don't consider my swimming speed to be draftable; but it certainly made me feel better that someone was drafting behind me rather than I was holding them back.
GARMIN swim time: 10 minutes 50 seconds
T1: As I ran to T1, I passed a bicyclist that was finishing his bike leg. I was stunned. I think I audibly gasped when I saw him. I know that if he was in the first swim wave, he started around 45 minutes before me, but still...
I have found that the fastest way for me to put my socks and shoes on is to sit down right away. I have tried doing it standing up, and it just slows me down. Sat down, put my damp socks on and bicycle shoes. Helmet, sunglasses, race belt and I was off!
GARMIN T1 time: 2 minutes 5 seconds
BIKE: The bike leg consisted of 2 loops of Central Park. It started out going up the steepest hill in Central Park going from the northen part of the park counterclockwise. At this point I had the thought, which I also had at the Black Bear "Now why precisely am I doing this?". I'm not sure what the answer is to this, but I know I enjoy it before and then afterwards, but there is that brain fart when I wonder why.
So by this time of the morning, there were already hundreds of people in Central Park - runners, bikers, walkers, horse-drawn carriages. As the race director stressed, we don't have priority in the park. It's also good that I know this park because they do not put markers out for the bike route. You are expected to know the loop and which are the exits to the park. For me this was not an issue, but I did speak to someone who said she had never ridden in the park, so it could potentially be confusing. The only problem on the bike leg was that my odometer did not work so I did not know my speed. So all I can say about this is that I went as fast as I could. I thought on the downhills that it was good I did not know my speed because I get nervous sometimes when I see a high number. There were a couple of times that I got nervous due to people meandering while walking or biking. Most times, I can call out 'on your left' or 'coming through' but when especially nervous, or when it becomes a close call I can only yell 'aagh' much the same way as if I was in pain in a dentist's chair with my mouth clamped open and me shaking my head 'aagh!'. It works. The only time I had to slow down against my will was at the end of my first loop, where I was finishing the fast downhill, hoping to use my momentum to begin the climb up the big hill. I was too close on the left, and got to a bottleneck of several riders, so I had to slow down and go around them. Ultimately, no big deal, but it did come at the worst possible time, just as I was starting the biggest hill. Although there were hundreds of cyclists riding, I only saw a couple of racers during the whole time I was out there.
Nutrition: I had a broken up Clif bar in a bento box and took several pieces during the ride. I ended up drinking half of my Gatorade bottle during the ride as well.
GARMIN Bike time: 46:50; average speed 16mph. This includes some of my T2 time since I forgot to click it in time.
T2: I forgot about my resolution to sit and did a balancing act to get my bike shoes off and running sneakers on.
GARMIN T2 time: 10 seconds. Like I said, most of my transition time is included in the bike time. I realized this as I was leaving the T2 transition.
RUN: This was a 3 mile run, out and back; up the same big hill in the northern part of Central Park. This was a tough run. One long big hill and and a bunch of shorter hills. I felt I was doing hill repeats. I was surprised, looking at my Garmin after the race, to see that my heart rate was not up as high as I thought it was. Could I have gone faster? My legs felt like two pieces of iron. I focused on keeping a high cadence, especially going up the hills. Overall, I was happy with my run pace. It was better than the Black Bear run; and also given the fact that I did a half marathon yesterday made it even more reasonable that I would feel a little stiff.
GARMIN Run time: 36:29 11:17 pace
Nutrition: I had a Clif Shot Blox in my race belt and had a few of the squares during the run. At the turnaround, they had water, some of which I sipped, and most of which I poured over my head.
Lessons learned:
1) I assumed that I would get a swim cap for the race and almost did not bring my own. Fortunately I did bring it anyway, otherwise I would have had a way more difficult swim with all the hair in my face! Now I know that I will always have a cap with me no matter what.
2) Don't store your frozen water bottles in the same area as your clothes. My socks got wet and remained wet from the start.
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Queens Half Marathon
Today I completed the Queens Half Marathon in Flushing Meadows Park. It was a great day, and although I ran slower than I would have liked to, I ran better than I did in the Black Bear. It's all relative.
I planned to walk during each water station for this race. In the past, I have worn my water bottles so as not to lose precious seconds slowing down to drink water. I thought about how ultimately, as in life, I have to slow down/rest/take care of myself, in order to be able to go faster.
I planned to walk during each water station for this race. In the past, I have worn my water bottles so as not to lose precious seconds slowing down to drink water. I thought about how ultimately, as in life, I have to slow down/rest/take care of myself, in order to be able to go faster.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
First 60 mile ride
Today I went on my first 60 mile ride in years. I went from home in Park Slope /Windsor Terrace, over the Brooklyn Bridge, up the West side bike path; over the George Washington Bridge, up 9W and stopped just about 3 miles short of Piermont, at a market/cafe that was right there on 9W. Right before getting to this market, I had started going down these seriously steep hills, and thought with much trepidation that I was going to have to come up them very shortly. I was not looking forward to it after seeing someone walking up the hill. Fortunately though, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, coming back up the hill. This is a good thing.
Here is a link to my Garmin map, showing the route:
60 mile ride
I can't imagine running 13.1 miles after a ride of this distance, yet this is what I will be doing on October 2nd, at the Pocono Half Ironman. I'm just taking it a day at a time, if I am diligent, I will get there. I suppose.
I have been working my training schedule differently these last few weeks. Originally, I had made a very detailed, 6 month long training schedule that I agonized for a long while, looked at it for 1 week and then never looked at it again after that. These past few weeks I have been making a weekly plan. On Sundays, I make my plan for the following week, based on any particular events going on that week and also influenced by my experience of the week(s) before. This process helps, because then I can remember why I didn't do a particular workout - the weather; a work event that I have to attend, whatever. Otherwise, if I look at it weeks later, I just see that I didn't follow through and get down on myself.
Here is a link to my Garmin map, showing the route:
60 mile ride
I can't imagine running 13.1 miles after a ride of this distance, yet this is what I will be doing on October 2nd, at the Pocono Half Ironman. I'm just taking it a day at a time, if I am diligent, I will get there. I suppose.
I have been working my training schedule differently these last few weeks. Originally, I had made a very detailed, 6 month long training schedule that I agonized for a long while, looked at it for 1 week and then never looked at it again after that. These past few weeks I have been making a weekly plan. On Sundays, I make my plan for the following week, based on any particular events going on that week and also influenced by my experience of the week(s) before. This process helps, because then I can remember why I didn't do a particular workout - the weather; a work event that I have to attend, whatever. Otherwise, if I look at it weeks later, I just see that I didn't follow through and get down on myself.
Saturday, July 2, 2011
bad girls bad girls, watcha gonna do when they come for you
Today, I went open water swimming with Theresa. We swam just outside the roped off area. I forgot my goggles and was pretty upset about this, but as I started swimming and saw that I could do it fairly easily by keeping my eyes closed, I felt better about it. I also was thinking that if ever my goggles break or get knocked off my head, I know that I can swim without them. It's easier to swim without
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Next countdown/ learning from mistakes
I spent a week in Florida, contemplating exercise. My plan had been to exercise every day, without the obstacle of work. It didn't work out that way though. I spent most of my time doing nohing but sit in front of the computer.
There are approximately 16 weeks, 4 months left to the Poconos Half Ironman. I have to hunker down and get busy with a training plan. I made a few mistakes just prior to this last triathlon on June 5th which I need to look at so as not to repeat them. What I have noticed with triathletes is how they deal with training / racing mistakes and foibles. Failures are closely examined to find the core issues so as not to repeat them.
First of all, I tapered for the Brooklyn Half Marathon on May 21st, and then I ran minimally after that. Part of planning your race season, it's important to identify your 'A' races, 'B' races and 'C' races. What this impacts mainly, is your taper before the race. This became unclear just prior to the Black Bear, and I suppose just prior to the Brooklyn half. Everything became an 'A' race. The reality is that the Poconos HIM is my A race. The black bear and nyc tri's may be B races. What this means is that I should not have tapered for the Brooklyn Half, and minimal taper for these smaller tri's that are meant as training events for
the Poconos HIM.
-- lemmefineout - Brooklyn
There are approximately 16 weeks, 4 months left to the Poconos Half Ironman. I have to hunker down and get busy with a training plan. I made a few mistakes just prior to this last triathlon on June 5th which I need to look at so as not to repeat them. What I have noticed with triathletes is how they deal with training / racing mistakes and foibles. Failures are closely examined to find the core issues so as not to repeat them.
First of all, I tapered for the Brooklyn Half Marathon on May 21st, and then I ran minimally after that. Part of planning your race season, it's important to identify your 'A' races, 'B' races and 'C' races. What this impacts mainly, is your taper before the race. This became unclear just prior to the Black Bear, and I suppose just prior to the Brooklyn half. Everything became an 'A' race. The reality is that the Poconos HIM is my A race. The black bear and nyc tri's may be B races. What this means is that I should not have tapered for the Brooklyn Half, and minimal taper for these smaller tri's that are meant as training events for
the Poconos HIM.
-- lemmefineout - Brooklyn
Monday, June 6, 2011
Black Bear Tri Race Report - long version
Finally, this race is behind me!
Time results:
Swim: 43:04
T1: 4:36
Bike: 1:43:24
T2: 1:40
Run: 1:19:06
Overall: 4:01:50
I woke up at 3:30 (not planned) and so since I couldn't go back to sleep I decided to go with it. I went into the hotel bathroom and made a double dose of coffee. I got dressed and went down to the lobby and got some milk and more coffee after that, as well made toast with butter and jelly. Heated up my oatmeal, that I had brought with me that was already seasoned with apple and cinnamon, and I added a banana. Oatmeal is my usual breakfast so I wanted to make sure that I had what I usually eat.
The weather was perfect - in the 60's and overcast.
We got to the race area around 6am. Had to get body marked before going into the transition area. I was pretty pumped up; not anxious, but ready. I was happy to be able to get some practice swims in to get used to the water. The water was actually warmer than the air temperature so it felt pretty good. I was the only one, as far as I saw, wearing the neoprene booties. They are used for cold water, and it certainly wasn't cold, but I have been swimming with them all this time, and so did not want to get distracted by new feelings in my feet. Also, I had seen the beach front the day before, and there appeared to be rocks under the water, so I did not want to subject myself to having to walk on that.
The other part that was new for me was wearing the race chip on my ankle. Under the wetsuit, the edges of the chip were cutting into my skin. A few times during the race, I had to reach down and adjust that chip so that it wouldn't cut my skin. In terms of the swim, I also knew that I would have to take it off and put it back on after taking off my wet suit, so that was another stressful bit, since I did not know how I would be feeling.
SWIM
My wave was the last wave, composed of women over the age of 35. Everyone was really friendly. There was one woman there who was more focused on the wave before us (women 34 and under) where her 16 yo daughter was competing in her first triathlon. I counted the buoys that were in the water 4 orange, one yellow (where the Sprint distance made a right turn) then 3 more orange buoys and another yellow, where the Olympic distance made a right turn, then another right and finally back to the swim exit, where we made a left turn at the last yellow buoy.
You had to swim out to the start and tread water until they counted down and said 'go!'. I had decided that I was not going to 'hold back' in the swim, and would just start swimming with all the others. I realized it was not necessary to hold back, as the faster swimmers will just be faster. I suppose holding back works better during a mass start or something like that.
During the swim, I had no issues with the dark water and the water temperature was nice and there was no wind, which was GREAT. I basically focused on getting to the first buoy, and counted the buoys as I passed them. In between this, I focused only on my breathing and stroke, taking care not to lose my breath. 1-2-3 stroke, 1- stroke 1- stroke, and then over again, facing the other side.
In terms of problems, I did have a few small ones. They were small because I refused to let them get the best of me, but they were potentially more stressfull issues. One, my goggle strap came loose. The goggles had two straps going around my head, and while swimming, I realized that one of the straps was brushing against my mouth as I turned to breathe! First I didn't really know what was going on, but when I realized it, I thought I could stop and put the flapping strap under my swim cap, but I didn't want to risk it. The second issue was that I couldn't see out of my goggles. I had been so worried about them fogging up, that I had put defogger, I had spit in them, I had done this several times and in the end, they didn't fog up, but there were these droplets inside my goggles that blocked a clear view. Again, I thought about stopping to clear them out, but I was not going to risk it either. I saw enough to know where the buoys were. Then the third issue that was stressful was that each of my calves cramped up at different times. I assumed it was because I was bending my knees too much, so when I felt the cramp I more consciously kicked 'scissor' style, which helped the cramp go away. I am glad I was able to not panic over any of these things.
I swam the whole way. I only stopped to make sure I was going in the right direction and I was relaxed enough that I could even think about my stroke and was not just flailing as I do when I'm stressed out or tired while swimming.
When I made the second right turn into the home stretch, I started feeling emotional and got a lump in my throat, but then put those thoughts aside, because it is very hard to breath while you are crying! I was so happy that I could finish this swim!
T1
My transition out of my wetsuit was not as expected, mostly because I was so unbalanced after the swim. In practice, I can take it off while standing, but during this race I had to sit down and I couldn't stay balanced! I fell back as if I was going to do a backwards summersault! So, it was slow going for a bit. I put my shoes on and ran on the grass to the mount/dismount area. In my rush to get started I fell over my bike and killed my shin. I got up and kept on going.
BIKE
I was pretty out of breath at this point from the running, but I got on my bike and set off on the 24 mile course. For the first 8 miles or so, I thought there was something wrong with my bike. I could not go fast at all. I briefly stopped to see if my brakes were rubbing, but was too anxious to really stop and look. I was worried about this because I hadn't even started the hills and already I was close to using the easiest gear. I decided to just keep going and not entertain the thoughts of subterfuge. Some time later, I felt completely different, and was able to go at faster speeds. At that point I realized that it had been me, not the bike, that was not well oiled! Also, although people always talk about doing bike/run bricks - I have recently seen that what really gets to me is the swim to bike transition. My legs are STIFF and I rarely have seen too much talk about that.
The hills were killer hills. I was happy that I have trained on hills in the Poconos. I'm not fast, I go at 4.5 to 5mph on those hills. At the stage that I am in fitness, all I do when going up the hills is 'not stop'. The hills are so steep that one seconds' hesitation is all you need to lose that last bit of momentum and have to end up walking up the hill. Around mile 20, they had forwarned us of a steep incline and had we not had the heads up on it, and had I not practiced - I would have definitely walked. You can't even use your prior momentum because at that point, you have to slow down to make a right turn.
Then there are the downhills. The race coordinator said that a person could reach 50mph on the downhill. I could not imagine that, nor even letting myself get to that point. But when I got to the first downhill, I could see all the way down to the bottom, and then it starts back uphill. So, I let it all hang out, and went down without putting on the brakes. I went at 30-33mph; and my max was 37mph. This was all without pedaling. Maybe I was high on the adrenaline, but I loved it. I've been afraid in the past on training rides, and it was actually something that I was working towards: being able to go downhill withough putting on the brakes. This is where I would make up for lost time on the uphills. I don't know how faster people do it - the wind is tremendous at that speed!
Then on the final stretch back to transition, we were on the main road. Heading back to the dismount area, I did half of my new skill that I learned in my brick class - I got out of my shoes before the dismount. I didn't do the second half, which is putting my leg over the seat and riding with one foot on one pedal and jumping off. It's still too new a trick for me. I had already fallen once clumsily, I was not going to do it again!
Eating on the bike: I had two Cliff bars in my bento box, that I had divided into quarters. As I rode, I ate the pieces. I also had two Gatorade bottles. In training, I had only used one bottle, and when setting myself up with the second bottle - I realized that I was not going to be able to reach the second bottle very comfortably while riding, especially since it was very stiff, and it's length barely fit in my bicycle - this is another great example of the need to go through every detail prior to race day. So I did another new thing while riding on the bike. On a flat part, I took my empty water bottle out, held it in one hand, while I pulled the other bottle out and switched the bottle locations. Just as I was in the middle of this, I saw that I was heading towards a downhill - I basically thought to myself, that if it came down to it and I was not done with the switch, I would just ditch the bottle left in my hand. But, I was able to complete the switch successfully. hooray!
T2. As I got into the second transition, I heard the awards ceremonies for the winners. It wasn't a surprise, because I knew that the winners take a little over 2 hours to finish this distance, and here I was in T2 3 hours after the start. At the second transition, I really had to pee so I decided not to take any water or my planned cliff shots bloks. I felt so full from the urge to pee, that I couldn't think of anything else. Next time, I will take my planned nutrition.
RUN: The run was a trail run; two 5k loops. I was pretty slow and in major discomfort with my extremely full bladder. If I had come across a port-a-potty, I would have definitely used it, but there were none. I contemplated heading into the forest, but there would have been too many witnesses. I also contemplated asking the ambulance drivers that were at an intersection, if I could pee behind their ambulance, but I didn't do that either. Eventually, the pressure subsided, but then I also, was starting to feel thirstier. I got some water, and tried their HEED drink, which was quite disgusting. It tasted like salt water. I knew it was a bad idea to try something new, but I also knew that I had very little energy. So, I ran the 2 loops. I focused on not psyching myself out while I saw people finishing their second loop while I was starting my first.
Then I was done! I had thought I was second to last, but it turns out that I was 4th from last overall, and last in my age group. I am proud of having done this, and also relieved that it's over! It was a great race, very well organized with great people - tri it, you'll like it!
Time results:
Swim: 43:04
T1: 4:36
Bike: 1:43:24
T2: 1:40
Run: 1:19:06
Overall: 4:01:50
I woke up at 3:30 (not planned) and so since I couldn't go back to sleep I decided to go with it. I went into the hotel bathroom and made a double dose of coffee. I got dressed and went down to the lobby and got some milk and more coffee after that, as well made toast with butter and jelly. Heated up my oatmeal, that I had brought with me that was already seasoned with apple and cinnamon, and I added a banana. Oatmeal is my usual breakfast so I wanted to make sure that I had what I usually eat.
The weather was perfect - in the 60's and overcast.
We got to the race area around 6am. Had to get body marked before going into the transition area. I was pretty pumped up; not anxious, but ready. I was happy to be able to get some practice swims in to get used to the water. The water was actually warmer than the air temperature so it felt pretty good. I was the only one, as far as I saw, wearing the neoprene booties. They are used for cold water, and it certainly wasn't cold, but I have been swimming with them all this time, and so did not want to get distracted by new feelings in my feet. Also, I had seen the beach front the day before, and there appeared to be rocks under the water, so I did not want to subject myself to having to walk on that.
The other part that was new for me was wearing the race chip on my ankle. Under the wetsuit, the edges of the chip were cutting into my skin. A few times during the race, I had to reach down and adjust that chip so that it wouldn't cut my skin. In terms of the swim, I also knew that I would have to take it off and put it back on after taking off my wet suit, so that was another stressful bit, since I did not know how I would be feeling.
SWIM
My wave was the last wave, composed of women over the age of 35. Everyone was really friendly. There was one woman there who was more focused on the wave before us (women 34 and under) where her 16 yo daughter was competing in her first triathlon. I counted the buoys that were in the water 4 orange, one yellow (where the Sprint distance made a right turn) then 3 more orange buoys and another yellow, where the Olympic distance made a right turn, then another right and finally back to the swim exit, where we made a left turn at the last yellow buoy.
You had to swim out to the start and tread water until they counted down and said 'go!'. I had decided that I was not going to 'hold back' in the swim, and would just start swimming with all the others. I realized it was not necessary to hold back, as the faster swimmers will just be faster. I suppose holding back works better during a mass start or something like that.
During the swim, I had no issues with the dark water and the water temperature was nice and there was no wind, which was GREAT. I basically focused on getting to the first buoy, and counted the buoys as I passed them. In between this, I focused only on my breathing and stroke, taking care not to lose my breath. 1-2-3 stroke, 1- stroke 1- stroke, and then over again, facing the other side.
In terms of problems, I did have a few small ones. They were small because I refused to let them get the best of me, but they were potentially more stressfull issues. One, my goggle strap came loose. The goggles had two straps going around my head, and while swimming, I realized that one of the straps was brushing against my mouth as I turned to breathe! First I didn't really know what was going on, but when I realized it, I thought I could stop and put the flapping strap under my swim cap, but I didn't want to risk it. The second issue was that I couldn't see out of my goggles. I had been so worried about them fogging up, that I had put defogger, I had spit in them, I had done this several times and in the end, they didn't fog up, but there were these droplets inside my goggles that blocked a clear view. Again, I thought about stopping to clear them out, but I was not going to risk it either. I saw enough to know where the buoys were. Then the third issue that was stressful was that each of my calves cramped up at different times. I assumed it was because I was bending my knees too much, so when I felt the cramp I more consciously kicked 'scissor' style, which helped the cramp go away. I am glad I was able to not panic over any of these things.
I swam the whole way. I only stopped to make sure I was going in the right direction and I was relaxed enough that I could even think about my stroke and was not just flailing as I do when I'm stressed out or tired while swimming.
When I made the second right turn into the home stretch, I started feeling emotional and got a lump in my throat, but then put those thoughts aside, because it is very hard to breath while you are crying! I was so happy that I could finish this swim!
T1
My transition out of my wetsuit was not as expected, mostly because I was so unbalanced after the swim. In practice, I can take it off while standing, but during this race I had to sit down and I couldn't stay balanced! I fell back as if I was going to do a backwards summersault! So, it was slow going for a bit. I put my shoes on and ran on the grass to the mount/dismount area. In my rush to get started I fell over my bike and killed my shin. I got up and kept on going.
BIKE
I was pretty out of breath at this point from the running, but I got on my bike and set off on the 24 mile course. For the first 8 miles or so, I thought there was something wrong with my bike. I could not go fast at all. I briefly stopped to see if my brakes were rubbing, but was too anxious to really stop and look. I was worried about this because I hadn't even started the hills and already I was close to using the easiest gear. I decided to just keep going and not entertain the thoughts of subterfuge. Some time later, I felt completely different, and was able to go at faster speeds. At that point I realized that it had been me, not the bike, that was not well oiled! Also, although people always talk about doing bike/run bricks - I have recently seen that what really gets to me is the swim to bike transition. My legs are STIFF and I rarely have seen too much talk about that.
The hills were killer hills. I was happy that I have trained on hills in the Poconos. I'm not fast, I go at 4.5 to 5mph on those hills. At the stage that I am in fitness, all I do when going up the hills is 'not stop'. The hills are so steep that one seconds' hesitation is all you need to lose that last bit of momentum and have to end up walking up the hill. Around mile 20, they had forwarned us of a steep incline and had we not had the heads up on it, and had I not practiced - I would have definitely walked. You can't even use your prior momentum because at that point, you have to slow down to make a right turn.
Then there are the downhills. The race coordinator said that a person could reach 50mph on the downhill. I could not imagine that, nor even letting myself get to that point. But when I got to the first downhill, I could see all the way down to the bottom, and then it starts back uphill. So, I let it all hang out, and went down without putting on the brakes. I went at 30-33mph; and my max was 37mph. This was all without pedaling. Maybe I was high on the adrenaline, but I loved it. I've been afraid in the past on training rides, and it was actually something that I was working towards: being able to go downhill withough putting on the brakes. This is where I would make up for lost time on the uphills. I don't know how faster people do it - the wind is tremendous at that speed!
Then on the final stretch back to transition, we were on the main road. Heading back to the dismount area, I did half of my new skill that I learned in my brick class - I got out of my shoes before the dismount. I didn't do the second half, which is putting my leg over the seat and riding with one foot on one pedal and jumping off. It's still too new a trick for me. I had already fallen once clumsily, I was not going to do it again!
Eating on the bike: I had two Cliff bars in my bento box, that I had divided into quarters. As I rode, I ate the pieces. I also had two Gatorade bottles. In training, I had only used one bottle, and when setting myself up with the second bottle - I realized that I was not going to be able to reach the second bottle very comfortably while riding, especially since it was very stiff, and it's length barely fit in my bicycle - this is another great example of the need to go through every detail prior to race day. So I did another new thing while riding on the bike. On a flat part, I took my empty water bottle out, held it in one hand, while I pulled the other bottle out and switched the bottle locations. Just as I was in the middle of this, I saw that I was heading towards a downhill - I basically thought to myself, that if it came down to it and I was not done with the switch, I would just ditch the bottle left in my hand. But, I was able to complete the switch successfully. hooray!
T2. As I got into the second transition, I heard the awards ceremonies for the winners. It wasn't a surprise, because I knew that the winners take a little over 2 hours to finish this distance, and here I was in T2 3 hours after the start. At the second transition, I really had to pee so I decided not to take any water or my planned cliff shots bloks. I felt so full from the urge to pee, that I couldn't think of anything else. Next time, I will take my planned nutrition.
RUN: The run was a trail run; two 5k loops. I was pretty slow and in major discomfort with my extremely full bladder. If I had come across a port-a-potty, I would have definitely used it, but there were none. I contemplated heading into the forest, but there would have been too many witnesses. I also contemplated asking the ambulance drivers that were at an intersection, if I could pee behind their ambulance, but I didn't do that either. Eventually, the pressure subsided, but then I also, was starting to feel thirstier. I got some water, and tried their HEED drink, which was quite disgusting. It tasted like salt water. I knew it was a bad idea to try something new, but I also knew that I had very little energy. So, I ran the 2 loops. I focused on not psyching myself out while I saw people finishing their second loop while I was starting my first.
Then I was done! I had thought I was second to last, but it turns out that I was 4th from last overall, and last in my age group. I am proud of having done this, and also relieved that it's over! It was a great race, very well organized with great people - tri it, you'll like it!
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Saturday, June 4, 2011
tomorrow
By this time tomorrow (7am) I will be fretting in the transition area. The transition area closes at 7:15, the sprint race starts at 7:30 and the olympic distance starts at 7:57. My wave does not go out until 8:13. I have 1 hour to swim. So for those of you reading this, think of me swimming speedily between 8:15 and 9am! Afterwards, there is the biking. The slower people tend to take slightly over two hours. My
one day left
The weather report shows that every day will be sunny the next 7 days except Sunday, June 5. On this day, there will be a lightning storm. This would be a funny joke, but it's actually true. Actually, I'm not really worried about it just because I know the weather forecasts are hardly ever right; and worrying will not change anything anyway. Praying on the other hand, may. I've been praying for a
Thursday, June 2, 2011
3 days
While running this morning I thought about how tired I was, dragging myself out of bed. With all this physical activity, one would think that I'd happily jump out of bed knowing how good I feel about myself now that I am relatively fit. The reality is though, that I still drag myself out of bed virtually every time that I am going to exercise. I suppose you can say that I have a 'built in forgetter' - I forget
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
5 days left...
In 'regular' life, when you are participating in a special event, you buy new clothes, new shoes, get a new hairstyle, and so on. In triathlon, it's the opposite. You should not do anything in the race that you haven't done before, many times before. You definitely can't wear anything new, nor eat anything differently, no new sneakers, no new socks. Sometimes it can be easy to forget and fall back into
Monday, May 30, 2011
6 days left
Today was a good low key swim; faster than the previous two days, and I think I will be able to make the cutoff time if I keep this pace up. I communed with the fishes today - saw a lot of them as I was swimming - various shapes, mostly around the size of my hand. As I went stroke by stroke I saw that
Sunday, May 29, 2011
7 days left
Went to swim again this morning at Promised Land beach. It was overcast today, but there were still a lot of families on the beach, people watching us curiously as we headed towards the water all decked out. . Today it was 4 of us swimming, two of us in wetsuits, practicing for next week's triathlon. The
Saturday, May 28, 2011
8 days left
Feeling doubly sorry for myself today. First of all, I swam at Promised Land today and it did not go well. Second of all, I wrote a blog entry about it that I really liked a lot, but upon posting it, it got lost in cyberspace.
9 days left
Right now, I have a few fears. The foremost fear is panicking in the swim; right behind this fear is not completing the swim in the allotted 1 hour. I know I am going to finish no matter what, so I' m not really afraid of that. I had some anxiety the last time I swam in the pool the other day. I wanted to
Sunday, May 22, 2011
review / stressing
This is what I've done so far:
11/25/10 PPTC Turkey Trot 5M TIME: :50:35 PACE: 10:07
12/19/10 Ted Corbitt 15k: TIME: 1:43:02 PACE: 11:04mm
11/25/10 PPTC Turkey Trot 5M TIME: :50:35 PACE: 10:07
12/19/10 Ted Corbitt 15k: TIME: 1:43:02 PACE: 11:04mm
Monday, May 16, 2011
The Dark Waters of Looking Within
I have been very anxious about going back into the water. Into the darkness. Although I felt some redemption after going into the lake the next day after the race; I've been tangled up in knots and anxious thinking about what to do next: should I do the Nav-E Sink or Swim 1.2 mile race on
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Swim addendum
After my dismal failure at the swim event, I became a criminal. That Sunday, I went to a lake in the Poconos and swam in it despite knowing that it was closed until Memorial Day. My friend Jennifer and I stealthily drove up with our accomplices , Libby and Theresa.
Monday, May 9, 2011
DNF Swim
The first thing I learned about this DNF swim is that there is nothing funny to write in the race report. It is really, not a race report when you Did Not Finish. There is nothing funny to write about because after whatever struggle I went through, I ended by wimping out, giving up, throwing in the towel. There's nothing funny in that, unless of course you're a mean person and laugh at my expense...Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Being cold
No one ever told me that doing triathlons meant being cold so much of the time. Yes, I have trained through the winter, running the Manhattan Half marathon in January in 15 degree weather; yes I biked to that same race; along wih other races - a 15k in December; where my toes felt they would fall off; and yes; I drank the Gatorade slushies that had frozen on the tables. And yes; I took that Computrainer
Monday, May 2, 2011
You are who you practice to be
The only way to get faster is to go faster
The only way to lose weight is to eat less
The only way to lose weight is to eat less
Cat 3 Ride
I found a Category 3 hill just outside my home in Canadensis, PA. I remember years ago trying to go out for a bike ride and of the 2 routes that I tried, I couldn't go beyond 1/2 mile due to the steepness of the hills. Since that time I had never ventured back out on my bike in the Pocono roadways.
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