Some Days Are Not Meant For Working - A Ramble

I like to think that I can plug through a decent amount of unpleasantness; sleep deprivation is not one of those things. I need 7 - 8 hours of sleep a night. I can function on 6. When the training miles go up, naps are the best. Less than 6 hours and I am a goofy, nonfunctional zombie as I am today. I have been very seriously trying to be productive at work, but I cannot focus on anything so here I sit at my computer screen trying to pass the hours until I can call it a day. I suppose I could beat myself up about it it, force myself to go work out and be miserable in my exhausted state, but I surprised (or attempted to surprise, he always figures my surprises out) my husband with tickets to the Bob Dylan concert last night so we didn't get to bed until after midnight. Well worth surprising my wonderful hubby, but I'm pretty worthless today. We're going to a Team Z info session tonight (which I'm really excited about!) and I plan to hit our new, super comfy bed with new cute sheets as soon as possible when we get home.

So this rambling is about the importance of sleep and this blog is supposed to focus on triathlon stuff. I can't work out when I'm tired, bottom line. Didn't sleep week, OK, fine, I can push through, but under a certain number of hours and there just isn't much of a point for me. We're a week out from the Storm the Fort Oly in Tennessee though and can't have too many more sleep deprived nights. I need to think that through though because I am kinda sorta the host of a bachelorette party on Saturday night and am supposed to get my last long bike right in before taper on Sunday morning. Hmmmm. Balancing life and training can be tough. 'A' race was the DC Tri though so this one is mainly to get another race under our belts in preparation for a 70.3 next season!

Enough nonsense. More coherent (no promises) thoughts next time.

Training = Hard = Happiness

Training makes me happy. I started to think about why in particular that is because its not like I'm eager to get a hard work out in each and every day. Most days I have to drag myself out of bed at 5 AM and/or down to the gym at lunch time (escape from my desk or whither away at my desk makes that choice a little easier), but work outs make me happy! In my pondering, I think that part of it can be attributed to a sense of accomplishment. A good solid training session is exhausting and sometimes painful, but the sense of accomplishment afterward? Priceless. I noticed that with each new distance tackled, I want to go further. Earlier this season I was saying, "I don't think I can run the Army 10-Miler" that my husband and I, and a few of our friends signed up for. Then I ran 9.25 miles as part of my triathlon training last week; I negatived splitted the run and I could have gone farther (at least I could have if I didn't run those last few miles so quickly). Training plans force you to make progress and that progress feels so dang good! It's sometimes hard to explain to those not addicted to exercise/training, but a fellow triathlete (albeit an Ironman) that I met in the pool the other day summed it up nicely: "Traithlons are like crack." There are worse things to be addicted to, right? I must admit that I'm kinda antsy and want to get going on next season's 70.3 training NOW. I'll have to remind myself of that next year, but at the moment I'm really looking forward to getting some serious miles in.

Just some Tuesday afternoon thoughts after a crappy 5:30 AM bike ride this morning (biking in the dark is NOT my thing) and some strength training and pilates at lunch. Feel the burn....

I Ran 9.25 Miles!

... without even stopping to walk. AND I ran my 8th mile in 8:36. Wooohooooo! Mile 5 was pretty slow at 10:31, but for the 9.25 miles I managed a sub 10 min mile average. How exciting (for this person who has never really been a runner)! Now I have needed to eat two breakfasts and was hungry for lunch right after my midday yoga class as well. The energy is lacking a bit so I have a feel that's partly driving the intense hunger-- body get energy from food since I can't nap at work.

I've been kinda bummed about training since we've been inconsistent with all we've had going on, but this is our peak week before the Storm the Fort race and so far things are going well. I think we might be overcommitting ourselves a bit - hosting a bridal shower at our house (which we moved into less than a month ago) in a week, then Storm the Fort, then off to Bali. Not that I can complain about any of these events- they're all awesome!- but there is a lot going on. And although training for these races is a big time committment, its also what keeps me sane. I am so much happier (and pleasan to be around) when I get my work outs in and tend to get very (very) cranky when I do not. Still trying to take to heart that whole 'go with the flow' thing, but that little piece of paper (aka my training plan) with my daily work outs on it is way too important to me. I hate putting a red "X" through a work out (meaning I didn't complete it) even though my husband and I made our plans knowing we'd have to skip 1-3 of the short duration work outs per week. Even though I know that, I still don't like skipping. I'm working on it.

Getting Back in the Saddle

I am in Kansas for work so the title of this entry has double meaning, kinda. I saw many a cowboy/girl type when I went to try some Kansas BBQ this evening. It's been almost a month since the DC Tri and life has been crazy since then (understatement) which means I've been struggling to get back into any sort of solid training routine. I took about a week off from training the week after the tri with only a few very short and light work outs and am itching to get back into a real training schedule, but life just hasn't entirely allowed it. My husband always says that we just have to do the best that we can and that's enough; I try to take that to heart, but sometimes I just can't. I strive for perfection in every aspect of my life and I want to get it all in, dang it! I'm working on going with the flow more, but it's a struggle on some days. :)

My problem tends to be that I spiral. When I'm working out, I eat healthy, sleep well, am less anxious/more clear headed, happier, etc. When I'm not getting solid work outs in I'm cranky, don't eat as well (crankiness level goes up as a result), don't sleep as well... you catch my drift. No real point there because life still happens and I'm going to miss work outs, but I suppose I need to find a better way to deal with missing work outs.

That being said I'm doing pretty well here in Kansas. Work has sent me to Fort Leavenworth for the week and thankfully I have access to pretty decent gyms and a pool. No road bikes which means I spent a solid 1.5 hours on a stationary bike the other evening. Ouch/incredibly boredom. Tomorrow I need to get my long run in (which will be the longest run of my life!) and I clearly must do such a run outdoors to avoid excruciating boredom, but the problem is I never know how safe some of these places I travel to are. Where I'm staying seems pretty tame, but I still get worried. I'm probably a little paranoid, but eh, girl running alone super early in the morning? Probably at least somewhat warranted. Speaking of my long run, I better get to bed, but life should be settling down here a bit so hopefully I can get back to regular posts. Still need to get my DC Tri race report up too!

PS - Purpose of the entry title was that I'm trying to get back into the training saddle. :)

Deliciously Productive Saturday Morning

Can't go wrong when the morning starts with egg sandwiches, right? That's how we started off a nice Saturday morning. Finally a day when we're not rushing off to somewhere as soon as we're out of bed. My husband whipped up our yummy sandwiches (his on a bagel thin, mine on a whole wheat english muffin complete with cheese and turkey) and some french press coffee. MmmmHmmm. (We don't usually use our fresh press, but someone, aka me, might have cracked our coffee pot a couple of weeks ago. I ordered a new one, but then typed in the wrong address so long story short, our replacement carafe wasn't shipped until yesterday.)

Then I decided I was in the mood to bake. We hadn't had any muffins around the house for awhile so I whipped these bad boys up:

They were quite delicious if I do say so myself. They're whole wheat apple muffins and the recipe can be found here: http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/04/whole-wheat-apple-muffins/. 


Then it was time to get on the bikes. We got in about an hour and 45 minutes in out of the W&OD Trail. First ride in awhile that I felt good and back on track. I was able to get in a nice rhythm and keep my heart rate low and cadence relatively high. Not to mention that the weather is gorgeous! That being said, what am I still doing inside? Time to spend some time by the pool!

I Thought I Was Looking Forward To Tapering...

but I hate it and will never look forward to it again. Maybe a little extreme because I know my body needed the rest, but this week has fricking sucked, big time. Not only have I been sick with the worst head cold in my recent memory, but I can't really work out a) because I'm supposed to be tapering (and doing those joyfully (note the sarcasm) light workouts) and b) because my head has been so stuffed up that I am completely dizzy and feel like I might pass out at any moment. Not a good combination. Working out is my time to blow off some steam and clear my head, but no can do this week and its been the craziest work week in quite a while. Crazy work week + can't burn off steam = basket case Jaime. I couldn't even go to pilates or yoga this week because I was too sick to go to work on Tuesday (pilates day) and had to go up to Fort Meade for work this afternoon (yoga day) so none of that glorious calming, stretching joyfulness that I have come to look forward to. Oh, and when you taper, you don't burn nearly as many calories or get any endorphin highs so you want to eat more to feel that same energy rush, but you can't take in any extra calories because you don't want to put on any extra weight right before the race. Dilemma. It's horrible. 

What started this whole little (or not so little) rant? I came home from said Fort Meade meeting, not feeling too hot, but was going to at least get 30 minutes or so in on the trainer since I didn't trust my fuzzy brain to navigate rush hour traffic in DC. I had relatively few hiccups getting the bike set up on the trainer (which is good for me), but once I'm on the bike it continues to make this horrible squeaking sound anytime I go over 11 or 12 miles per hour. Clearly don't want to mess up my bike a few days out from the race so I get off the bike, call Jon and say I'm going to sack up and go outside and get a quick ride in. Not so fast. I look back out the window; it is now monsooning. Really life? You're really cutting me a lot of breaks this week. Thanks. Back on trainer I go deciding I'll hover around 12 miles per hour- to try and keep the horrific noise to a minimum- for 20 minutes just to get the muscles moving, which I did. I was supposed to get in 12.9 miles, but I rode 4.1 You can't win 'em all I suppose and I'll just have to jot this day/week down as a loss. You hear that week! You are a total LOSS. Sickness + tapering is really bad news, for future reference. Maybe I'll handle this better next time around.

PS - It has now stopped raining. 

The Fish In Me

Well, I still feel like crap. OK, maybe a little bit better, but I'm pretty sure 'crap' is the word of the week. Work was also crazy hectic (perfect timing for me to take off a day and a half earlier this week). When it rains, it pours right? Woe is me. I still managed to get down to the pool though, after a delicious lunch of mushy leftover sweet potato fries (they were delicious when we had them for dinner), and I felt pretty dang good after I got a 500 or so warm up in. Maybe it was my new flamingo swim suit working its magic:

 One way or the other, I did a good number of 100s at bit faster than race pace (and a bit faster than I would have liked) and felt calm and smooth... like a fish, or like when I was a little kid and would pretend I was a mermaid while playing in the pool for hours and hours and hours on end. Good old childhood summer days, minus the swim team, I hated my summer league swim team. Anyways, I think the water even cleared up my nose a bit albeit very temporarily. It was like one gigantic netipot. Gross. Although netipot is probably the other word of the week. Now I will go drink my tea and get to bed a ridiculously early hour (while the poor hubs is off playing soccer) in hopes of feeling better tomorrow. Come on body, feel better! You can do it!

Home Sick

My husband was sick last week and of course I am sick this week-- 5 days out from the race. I usually try to suffer through the work day- I mean how hard can sitting at a cubicle be?- but not this week. I don't use bad language at work; yesterday I day I said "crappy" to my boss to describe how I felt. Granted maybe not a full blown cuss word, but for me that's saying something.  My head feels like its going to explode and despite number encounters with the neti pot this morning, I can't get the stuffiness to go away. I'm trying to stay calm, but I have a feeling that if I am not feeling markedly better tomorrow morning, panic will start to set in. 

I am going to use today to write my race plan and goals (a few days later than I had hoped, but better late than never), get my short run in and most importantly rest and hydrate. The last three days I have been taking 2 - 3 hour naps in the early afternoon so I think I can safely say that my body needs the rest. I'm going to eat oranges, get some more vitamin D from the glorious sunshine (of course its a beautiful day when I feel like crap), rest, write some long overdue notes, work on planning my very good friends bridal shower and bachelorette and finalize our wedding album. Some lofty goals for a sick day, but I feel like I must be productive in non works ways if I'm going to be at home. First and foremost, rest, hydration, and race plan. And maybe some transition practice if I feel up to it later. (I always make my to do lists unreasonably long and get annoyed when I don't accomplish everything.) Oh well, fingers crossed I can breathe tomorrow!

Calm and Sickness Before the Storm

We're getting super close to race day and I think I'm in denial, or maybe I'm just tired. My 4.5 mile run yesterday morning kicked my butt (although I did keep a decent pace). Today I need to get in a very minor, stay loose type of swim since we're doing a practice open water swim on Saturday morning. Good thing we're into taper mode because now I'm coming down with a cold. My poor hubby has it right now and I kinda knew it was only a matter of time before it hit me. I keep reminding myself, better this week than next week. Weird how it just hits all of the sudden because I felt good, active and energized last night and this morning. I gave my bike a good cleaning, baked up some yummy whole wheat oatmeal chocolate chip cookies and now, wall hitting mode. Must plug through lots of work today so I think I'll head to CVS to stock up on vitamin C. A photo from last night's baking:

Cookie dough is definitely a weakness of mine (it made up the bulk of my dinner last night). This was a healthy(ish) AND delicious version though! :)

Fun Facts Monday - Because Mondays Aren't Fun

1. I saw a miniature turtle during the bike ride of our practice tri a few weeks ago. He was adorable.
2. I have to go to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas in a few weeks for work. I can't say that I am looking forward to that trip.

2a. I am however very much looking forward to a one year anniversary trip to Bali with my husband come September!

3. I need and want to take a bike maintenance class. Add one more thing to the to do list for post race (which also means pre next race).

4. I love basil, and all fresh herbs really. My husband made the most delicious mojitos on Friday night. I couldn't indulge in more than a few sips though due to our long workout scheduled for Saturday morning.

5. Time to stop procrastinating and head to the pool. This has been a long Monday morning.

It's Almost Time!

Now our first Olympic distance tri is only a little under two weeks away! Holy smokes! I was feeling pretty excited at confident last week, but am a little more hesitant this week... probably more tried as well. I knocked out 7.04 miles yesterday morning and Jon ran 7.75 at a ridiculously speedy pace. We also biked 29 miles on Sunday with some good hill practice in there. The run was kinda brutal yesterday, but each of these longs runs is a personal best distance wise for me so I have to keep that in mind even when I'm not entirely happy with my pacing (which I have no reason not to be since my average pace was ~9:20 minute mile. Obviously nothing earth shattering, but for a non runner, I'll take it! My goal for race day is to run sub 10 minute miles so we'll see how that goes. I also tried out my whole race day attire yesterday since I got a new top, socks and race belt over the weekend. All went well although I do need to get a hydration belt as our mileage goes up when training for the Army ten miler begins. I also love the new Nike visor I got!! I'm still debating about running specific sunglasses, but one step/new piece of (usually) overpriced gear at a time.

So this week we're at a medium taper and next week our mileage really drops down. We've got a brick workout to get in on Saturday and I'd also like to practice some transitions and hairpin turns since there are a few of those on the bike course. It looks like I'll be doing the race with my platform pedals. I'm kinda bummed about that, but I simply ran out of time to start practicing with the clipless guys before race day. I try not to get too bummed out because like Jon tells me, all the races from here on out will be easier with my clipless pedals. Hey, and no switching of shoes between the bike and the run means a speedy transition, right? :)

Digging Deep

I can't say I'm feeling the motivation to train this week. I am currently trying to talk myself into heading down the the gym. I only need to get in a 3.4 mile run (including watch calibration) and a 1700 in the pool, but I think its time to be thankful that this week and next week are the last two build weeks before taper begins. (That should be motivating, right?) My body is tired and ready for that break!!

Time to get it done. Think hot tub post swim.

PS - Amusing article on triathletes in the DC area: http://www.washingtonian.com/blogarticles/health/wellbeing/19594.html

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Afternoon update: I did the swim, not the run. My legs were screaming for a rest a bit too loudly so I decided that I could get my short run in before yoga tomorrow. I decided to do a 300 warm up followed by a (my first!) 1500 for time. Wasn't really sure how that was going to go (my 1000s had gone pretty well, but 1500 just sounds so long), but I wanted to do something at least semi-mindless and not have to worry too much about intervals and such. It went well, but I learned/noticed two things that I will take into account on race day:
1. Try to stretch out the new swim cap they give you as much as possible. I wore my one from the practice tri and felt a nice (or not so nice) fuzzy feeling in my forehead starting around the 500 mark. I also remembering noticing it out on the practice race day, but don't have the issue with my caps that are a little more stretched out.
2. Goggles. Normally during a work out I adjust my goggles regularly-- they need defogging, they're not sitting right, or whatever other minor issue there might be. I wore goggles today that normally give me zero problems, but leaving them on for a 1500 didn't go as well. They were causing some serious pain in between my eyes. I really wanted to stop and adjust, but kept telling myself everything won't be perfect on race day either and I pushed through, not however, without making a mental note to wear any and all potential race day goggles for at least an hour. I'm sure this will amuse my husband at home. :)

A Picture, Finally!

Us and our bikes before heading out for a long and wonderful ride in Ocean City, MD. More photos to come once I get my act together!

Bike Bummer

Braking is not the easiest part of biking for me. I had some medium sized shims put in to help me reach the brakes; those worked OK, but my hands were still getting pretty tired when having to break more often (going through the city, down hill, etc.) so I had some bigger shims put in. Those did not work for me. Had then taken out and my back brake started acting up. Long story short, I ended up having to leave the bike at the shop on Friday which I was (and am!) really bummed about. Biking is my weakest link in the tri disciplines and a weekend without riding on the real road is bad news for me, especially with only a few more weekends before the tri (three to be exact). I went to spin class at the gym down the street from our condo on Saturday morning instead since I was supposed to get 23 miles in. Definitely wasn't the same, but better than nothing I suppose. Kept the heart rate up and sweated buckets. I did the hour of class and then stuck around for another 30 minutes to get the full 1.5 hour ride in that was on my training schedule. We spent the rest of the day running some errands and between the errands and our morning work outs, we worked up quite an appetite. Jon cooked up some delicious steaks and homemade french fries (seriously the best I've ever had!), along with yummy corn on the cob (yay summer!).

On Sunday the hubby and I decided we should get some open water swim practice in so we headed out to Sandy Point State Park. Word to to the wise: Maryland state parks are not free. It cost us $6 per person just to get onto park property and then we had to park a hike and a half away from the beach... which was especially annoying when I left my swim cap in the car. But we got a good 50 minute swim in in some pretty rough water. My shoulder is bugging me a bit today (the 2800 I swam on Friday probably didn't help matters), but hopefully it will be better when I hop in the pool later this week.

Monday morning so I better get back to work.

Practice Tri!

We did great! The hubby and I both finished, and finished strongly! I was worried I would finish last so I was shocked and pretty excited to be the third woman finisher. Granted it was only a practice race and not nearly the distances of our race in July, but still a bit of a confidence booster especially considering the weather was not too great. It POURED all morning to the extent that they delayed the race start time by 30 minutes and shortened the swim. I wasn't sure that I even wanted to partake in the race at that point as Jon and I were running around in our soaking wet clothes, setting up our transitions, etc. BUT we did it and hopefully we'll have some pictures of the finish line from the race organizers soon!

My goals for the race (and yes, I actually wrote these down beforehand!):
1. Relax and breath.
2. Long strokes.
3. Breath, especially on bike.
4. Enjoy! You have trained for this!
5. Some things are out of your control; do your best.
6. Learn some new things along the way.
7. Finish!

I think I can say I accomplished all 7 and I saw a baby turtle on the bike ride! It did take some restraint to not stop and hang out with him or bring him back with me (although I do think another woman just might have). We encountered seaweed on the swim, and wet, kinda slippery and soggy bike and run courses, but all in all a good day! Of course we rewarded ourselves with a feast at Matchbox in Chinatown afterwards... mini burgers, pizza and beer included.

Tri-ing is Tiring!

I wrote out my whole first post that I was pretty excited about, then I came back to my new blog and it was gone. Apparently I did not save it correctly which is a huge bummer because it was the perfect precursor post to the practice tri the hubby and I did last weekend. So I suppose I'll do a mini introduction (and let's be honest, my previous attempt at a first entry was mostly a rant about biking and the huge challenges road biking has injected into my life) and then get back to a post race report.

I'm Jaime. I live in Washington, DC with my wonderful husband and we have both been training for the Olympic distance DC Tri in June. Aside from the previously mentioned hurdles with the biking aspect of triathlon, training has been going pretty dang well for us. I've always been a swimmer (not always by choice however) so that portion of the training hasn't been too intimidating for me although open water swimming is an entirely different beast that scares me a bit. On the running side, I've been running farther and faster than I ever have before so that's great! Biking... where to I begin? I have recently taken to calling my bike my nemesis. My bike and I definitely a love-hate relationship; it was mostly hate for the first couple of months, but we've had a few love days here lately. To make a long story short, the jump from beach cruiser to fancy road bike was a bit too much for me to handle especially with those dang clipless pedals. Needless to say I spent a good amount of time falling and am currently riding with platform pedals while I get used to the skinny tires, hand breaks, shifting, snazzy gear, etc. Its been slow going some days, but I'm definitely making progress.

I think I've been inspired to start my own chronicalization (because that's a word, right?) of my experiences by many of the other female triathlete bloggers out there and hope that writing all this down will keep me motivated along the way. So here we go!