Build up & Lock Down

Many athletes right now are starting their “build” as some like to call it for their first big race of the season. For many those first races aren’t too far off, so the training is ramping up, the motivation is off the charts, early spring camps with much more volume than normal are on the calendar, intensity, speed, focus, determination are all ramping up. No workout is skipped or deviated from while every interval and set is completed to perfection. Race day nutrition plans are being planned and executed during key workouts. The graphs and TSS scores are all indicating kick a$# performances and pointing towards a race of a lifetime. Athletes are walking around in a state of fatigue but deep down smiling and happy because they know they have been digging deep into the well to become fitter and faster.

can't beat riding outside in Feb

With all that hard work and determination comes the build up. Its happening and you don’t even realize it. It’s happening with every pull through the water, pedal stroke and foot strike on the run. Often you can’t feel it happening and can keep plowing through the weeks of training unconditionally, collapsing at the end of the day in bed or on the couch forgetting an important piece of the puzzle. Its forgotten until all of a sudden one day... 3 miles into the key long run your knee locks up causing you to stop in your tracks and have to turn around and walk it in or call for a ride home and then wind up on my schedule at work(or someone like me) swearing “I don’t understand it came from no where. My knee was fine” "I've never been hurt before".

seeing me at work is never good unless you are just bringing coffee or Grahms' chocolate

Muscles, tendons, fascia and connective tissue are shortening, becoming tighter and restricted from repetition and the by-products of exercise eventually causing lock down on the IT band, plantar fascia, or hip flexor/psoas, or posterior shoulder.

don't make the ITB mad

Once pain is detected, "lock down" has already happened and then a tendon, joint or muscle becomes unhappy and inflamed. Now rest, therapy and ice are in your future instead of the starting line.

Maybe I'm over exaggerating just a little (maybe not..I've seen it all and you'd be suprised!) to get my point accross. Even though it’s not fun and doesn’t seem to be what will make you faster on the race course, adding stretching, and foam rolling to the weekly routine will prevent build up and lock down and eventually shut down from working out.

there's a little training going on in our house


Stretching too

Quick trip/Quick post

This week I was supposed to be in Death Valley coaching athletes and getting a little bit of my own training in. However, I found out a week ago that my Dad has MS. It comes as a shock, for sure. My Dad has been the one person who has always, no matter what encouraged me to dream big and chase it. "No dream is to big!" he said to me numerous times. When my races tanked, he is the one who could set me straight again. I chose to take some of the already scheduled time off and make a quick trip home to Portland to take my own little assesment of what is going on, see what was up and make sure steps were being taken to manage his symptoms.

While there, I was able to get a few hilly running and riding in. I always love training in the foothills of Mt. Hood.
I climbed over the hill and rode along the river farther than I have, deeper into national forest.

I was frozen, dressed more for 60 deg vs. a damp 45, but loving every moment. I am still amazed I used to live in such a place and took it for granted, coming back makes me appreciate it so much more. I didn't get nearly the training in that I would have if I'd gone to DV, but I cheered myself up by saying its early Feb, and I'll be less trashed come Sept. and at least I wasn't back in the snowy 10 deg. temps that Chicago had.


I learned a lot about my Dad's symptoms and how he can manage them. One way is diet. He has been following a strict Paleo style diet (actually called MS recovery diet) and has felt better with diminished symptoms at times. I have to admit to having a little anxiety in the chance that there is some genetic component to this. After doing some research and reading I have decided to try the Paleo diet for athletes. I am attempting this for my overall long term health more than for athletic performance. So if I get the added bonus of racing faster then hot damn. I luckily have had a happy stomach in at least 95% of my races, don't have a sweet tooth and for the most part happy with my body when it comes to race nutrition. I love my bagel with PB, and Spaghetti for dinner. I am busy. Fitting in workouts can be challenging, so trust me adding "Top Chef" to my already extensive resume by adding chopping and cooking to the list, isn't something I'm dying to do. I don't have time to shop organic, chop, cut and eat whole but, when overall long term health is concerned I'm game to try at least to see if the effort is worth it.

At least I like shopping at Trader Joes.

FACE THE PAIN

I sometimes watch UFC fights with AZ and have gotten to where I can do so without covering my eyes the whole time. I’ve watched enough now that I can even name a few of the fighters and have even developed a few favorites. Favorite fighters for me are:

#1 how fit or hot they look, of course
#2 if they are a good sport,
#3 where they live (i cheered for a guy, just because he was from Oregon)

If you uncover your eyes enough you can see they these guys are very unique, but amazing athletes. I bet most of them have better hamstring flexibility than I do. Each fighter gets their own walk down song, the song that must pump them up enough to jump into a ring they could potentially be killed, or hurt very badly. One guys' song is “Face the Pain”, I forget which fighter and I forgot who sings it but it is a a loud, naughty song that I have on my ipod and save it for when it really starts to burn, hurt or get really ugly. Now,... I am a physical therapist and work with people every day on facing their injury and pain, which is a different kind of pain that you shouldn't ignore.

I love the phrase ” face the pain”. When it starts to hurt, burn or get ugly in hard workout, interval set, race what will you do? Face it head on and stare it in the eyes? (um these fighters are great at giving frightening stare downs), or will you crumble, fade and walk away from it. Good places to practice facing the pain are in workouts. Face it in those uncomfortable sets, least favorite workouts, or least favorite conditions. The more times you face it, the better you get at dealing with, and taking on whatever is thrown at you. For me, facing a solo swim when I am tired, cold and without a real workout is a a painful experience, but I have been staring down the eyes of it more often and getting better at putting up the fight. Facing the Pain doesn't always have to be pushing through a hard set or even be related to working out It can also be facing head on whatever you least like doing. I once read in Apolo Ono’s biography No Regrets , that he used to put bowls of his favorite candy out in his house when he was trying to drop weight, just to “face” the temptation and walk away. Ouch!




Training hasn't been too unpleasant to face. The weather has been phenomenal for Feb and I have been outside and happy! Runs have required sunglasses and not as many layers, and my bike hasn’t really been stuck on the trainer. I was faster on the track last week and almost felt like I had arms in the water a couple times. My awesome Coach Scott Iott has been pretty nice to me so far, but with some time off work and a trip home to Oregon I see some real work ahead of me! Time to Face it!

The Battles

I have been having a lot of mental battles with myself lately and a few times there has been an all out war go on in my head. The battles aren't too often negative (although I was pouting on my run today because of the icy wind cutting my face) or due to lack of motivation, but rather pressure to make the right choice to get the most benefit out of whatever it is I am trying to do. Don't you hate making a choice, then regret it later? I don't have tons of extra time, so I want to get it right, and I want to get the most out of the choice I've made.

This time of year in the midwest creates many opportunities for battle. My motivation is up there. Its January, and races have been scheduled and paid for. I want to see how fast I can go in 2012! But when you wake up to hear the howling wind, snow flying and a high of 25 making it feel much colder, the battle starts. Not whether I will do the workout or skip it. But..... is it better to spend 20 min bundling up to run through the cold wind and snow feeling like the Michelin Man, or get the quality work in on the dreadmill. I don't like the TM unless its for a speed session, but do end up on it more than I like due to convenience or cold.

Today I started my run on the TM, but got so bored, I ended up layering up and doing the rest outside in the cold. Yesterday I rode outside in 14 degree wind chill on my cross bike in the snow, because being cold sounded more fun than riding the trainer. Jumping into a cold pool when you've already been frozen twice that day is a battle I face every time I'm on the pool deck. I've been better at talking myself into this one. Sometimes neither choice seems fun but getting it done is what counts and not doing it is worse. I want to be ready for the races and not be 3 steps behind when race season gets near.


Dad and I cheering for Adam in Kona

I had a big battle in my head regarding my trip to our TBC Death Valley Camp. This will be an awesome event with miles of great outdoor riding and lots of fun friends and training partners, but I have decided to take the time to make a quick trip home to Oregon to see my Dad who is having some medical testing done and I really feel I need to see for myself what is going on. Tough decision, but absolutely the right one and... going home to Oregon is never something I dread doing! The easy decision that put up no fight is that I will still take my bike to snag some outdoor Oregon bike miles in the foothills of Mt. Hood

Transformation....

Its been almost 2 weeks since CX Nationals and I have been in the process of transforming myself back into an athlete than can move steadily forward for about 5 hrs or less. I’ve been a patient girl with some pathetic and some promising workouts at the pool and running, all with the hopes of turning myself from this:



Into this:
VEGAS 70.3 finish line!



I spent most of the fall on my cross bike, outside. I did very few trainer rides, very little running (maybe 1-2 x a week totaling less than 8 miles a week) and no swimming until Nov at which point I really only swam 1 x a week. This was all in an attempt to be the best I could at CX nationals. I rode my bike 4-5 x a week, many times very hard with explosive intervals. Now I am getting ready swim, TT 56 miles, then run 13. It is a work in progress and it takes patience. With experience comes some wisdom (maybe) and some guts (maybe). To mostly stop running and swimming and focus on something else takes a some faith. Faith that is will be there again. I've been through having a baby and racing at the World Championships 6 months later. That is enough to teach you that it will come back. Part of the fun is the work it takes to make the change. To just swim bike and run the same rate all year long would put me to sleep. Last year this worked. Lets hope it does again this year because this:

looming in the horizon and has been enough to get my tail moving

I have some awesome new friends supporting me along the way with my Wattie Inc. Elite team. It’s a crazy fun group and must admit its been challenging keeping up with everyone. I have already experienced incredible support,and encouragement along with a little fun and hazing on the side. Plus I get to use some really sweet stuff to help me go fast.

CXNATZ and Rockin the W in 2012


Huge shout to Ali Engin/ Endurancepicture.com

Racing a bike outside in January in Madison is a frightening thought but rolling up to the starting grid of Cyclocross Nationals on Sunday with the best CX bike racers around had me shaking in my muddy shoes. I haven’t been that nervous for a race since maybe my first Ironman which was like a million years ago. It was only a 40 min bike race which to my triathlon friends might seem like nothing. But on this day, it would be like seating yourself at the back of the pack of a swim start at US PRO nationals triathlon and having your result count against 1st place. My start positon in the elite race was like 73rd out of 82 . I needed a telescope lens to see the top women on the front row. There was so much energy at the start it was a complete rush and so amazing. The support guys for the other girls at the back were awesome at calming us down and just saying go for it and try to beat your starting position. Most of us had 0 UCI points which puts you at the back of the bus, but I was so pumped to just be on the starting line and had worked so hard all season just to get there. I have never started a bike race of that size and wasn’t exactly sure what to expect but just as I imagined, it was a lot like a mass swim start in triathlon

After a lot of warm up, rubbing embro into my legs, peeling of layers, stops to the porta potty for nervous peeing, and scraping mud off the bike, the whistle finally blew and the start was so fast for a long stretch on pavement at an all out sprint. Yes, I bumped elbows more than one time and once we hit the grass and mud it was chaos. Girls were going down, sliding into the stakes holding up the course tape, or crashing into each other. I managed to slide through without going down which meant I met my goal for the day! (shh, I did wipe out in the warm up and got to start the race with mud on me) The mud was thicker than my Thurs race and super rutty making the ride rough and crazy. At times it felt like you were riding through cement. I felt amazing on the big hills and the stair run up (my favorite parts of that course). I rode as hard as I could,while trying to keep the wheels on the ground (an interesting combination in mud) but the officials started pulling us off the back. I would have loved another lap and I did beat my call up number.

Thank you! Eric Goodwin

Cyclocross for me started 2 years ago as a fun way to stay in shape in the off season, however, I have grown to love it as much as triathlon. I’m sure my tri friends think I’m crazy riding my bike out in the cold and mud, and I’m sure my CX friends think I crazy to swim and run, and not race bikes much in through summer except for some 56 mile TT's. But trying to be the best I can at both is what makes it fun for me, and I really can’t remember the last time I was truly burnt out. Now I am starting my conversion back to triathlete and there will be some ugly swims and runs for awhile. My coach Scott Iott has been through this with me once before and always has some good tricks up his sleeve to turn me back into a triathlete.

To top off my whirlwhind weekend of racing with trips back and forth to Madison, Friday I found out I was selected to be on the WattieInc Elite team for 2012. My phone started chirping at me like crazy when I was trying to hammer out some work. When I applied for this I was looking for some fun new ways to spice up the 2012 race season and have to confess wanting a sweet race kit was part of the motivation and was actually quite shocked when I found out I had been selected.

So, in addition to being a TBC coach/athlete, I am super excited to be a part of this edgy new team. There are some amazing sponsors providing support Thank you to them for the opportunity to rock!, check them out here : http://wattieink.com/2012/01/2012-wattie-ink-elite-team-roster-announced/

2011 Top 5s

The end of the year always brings out classic lists, best ofs, most memorable, year in reviews.Its fun to look back at all the pieces (good and bad) that make up 1 great year. After all some of the tough experiences help you learn and move on and become even better. If you have been tuning into the TBC podcasts, you’ve heard some great top 5 lists. I was in tears laughing at my computer one day while working and listening to Scotts’ top 5 where NOT to eat the night before a race. 2011 has been good to me and I thought I’d share some of my own TOP 5 memorable moments...

TOP 5: listed from 5th to 1st

Kick A$% Training Moments to Write Home About;

5. Nailing goal mile splits on the track faster than I had seen in years
4. PR in a long hilly training run in the 100 deg heat 6 days after doing KS 70.3.
3. Biking to the top of Mt. Lemmon with friends on a birthday training weekend

2. Performing 28 full body pull ups at the personal trainer without help
1. climbing and conquering 6 Gap in GA, and being 2nd to the top of Hogspen in my group


TOP 5 stellar blow ups

5. most swim workouts
4. totally missing those same goal mile times on the Tucson track when trying to squeeze the workout in straight from the airport

3. running the day after any cyclocross race in the season; it’s like I’ve never run in my life
2. cramping in my calves so bad causing me to walk like a stork in the last 50 yd of Racine 70.3 and getting passed by 2 girls coming into the chute

1. my epic ride with Adam and the K –Swiss team on my rented bike on the Vegas course; I rode all out and hung with them for about 30 miles then blew so bad, I wobbled my way through the desert back to the hotel; classic in front of top level pros ! 


Top 5 Mom Moments:

5. Mom duty on Muncie 70.3 weekend; taking kids to the IN Dunes for the first time on the way to watch Adam race Muncie

4. Mother’s day celebration at Jack’s school; treated like royalty by 8 yr olds

3. watching Jack at his first swim meet, and loving it

2. cheering for the kids at their first triathlon

1. standing on the 50 yard line at Homecoming Celebration for Kaneland youth football



Top 5 Racing Moments

5. feeling stronger as the race went on at the Elgin fox trot 10 miler, and racing a girl up the hill at mile 8 and dropping her


4. Indian Lakes Cyclocross races; I finally had cx legs again

3. running into the French Quarter at NOLA 70.3 with a run split I hadn’t had in a ½ IM in years
2. Passing 4 in my AG on the tough run course at Vegas 70.3 world champs in Sept

1. Being in the starting chute and racing with elite/pro women at CCCNY race. To even be qualified to be there was pretty amazing; unfortunately I raced horribly in the extreme mud and this experience could also fall under stellar blow ups as well

Top 5 Zucco Moments

5. Hosting a Venezualeaun and Austrailan as house mates for a good chunk of the summer

4. combining a race weekends with a trip to Great America

3. shopping for groceries in bike kits to fit it all in

2. getting all dirty and muddy mtn. biking with AZ through the desert, then dressing up pretty for a night out in Vegas



1. There were too many great moments of 2011 to nominate any as number one

Have a great 2012!