Sunday, April 25, 2010

Fantabuloso!

I believe this is a big concert event in Chicago this summer, which sounds really fun, but its a cool sounding word.

My pity party with myself for being uber practical didn't last long, and I put my nose to the grindstone and had fatabuloso self induced training weekend, pretty much all solo except Saturday morning masters, even that was sparse because of state swimming and an early practice start time. Thankfully Angela was there to keep me moving.

A few other fantabuloso moments of the weekend:

> 1 killer track session complete with lost toe nail

> very windy long bike ride holding the wattages, without getting wet

> a girls dinner out at Za Za, to include dressing up and actually looking like a girl free of ponytails and spandex (rare)

> longest run I've done in weeks. I did get majorly downpoured on, but only for like 10-15 minutes, and at least it wasn't cold. I was laughing it rained so hard.

> watching Jack's soccer, he made an assist and actually sort of looked like he knew what he was doing

> hard brick workout again; warm with sun and no rain on tired wobbly legs, reminding me of all the good work I've done this weekend

> athletes logging in their workouts so I can see how they are getting faster!

> working on accommodations for our trip to Bend OR, in June....I Love Bend so much and could so live there. I am so excited for this trip to visit family in Portland and do some racing/training with a few days in Bend. Looking at the condos in Sunriver got me super excited for this trip.

Now I am sore, wearing compression socks, and not feeling so bad about being practical.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

SOMETIMES....

I get so DARNED mad at myself because I am so practical and full of common sense.

Sometimes I wish I could just not think about it so much and just GO with it. Adam is off to Vegas this weekend to do Xterra, and he kept trying to get me to go. But the totally practical side (and sensible one too because of the cost of a last minute ticket), kept saying no.


My reasons being:
I had missed some training being hurt, and wouldn't want to take my bike out there and for some crazy reason I signed up for a 70.3 race in June....so I need to get in some longer rides and runs and doing in this on the strip seems...logistically challenged.

I'd only be there for like 2 days total at the most so not worth the astronomical cost of a ticket, dog sitting, and coordination involved.

NOTHING would get done at home, etc etc and all the Moms know exactly what I mean. Getting ready to leave and returning is as much work as the trip itself with kids, dogs, work, and there is always mom guilt.

Don't get me wrong, the thought of rushing off to an adventure in Vegas is so me at heart, warmer weather, mountains etc. But the darned sensible side won this time, well again actually. There is plenty of chaos in the Zucco house on a normal weekend.

I'm not regretting my decision, but now it looks like I am facing a weekend of rainy training. Hmm. That might mean trainer or cross bike, wet running shoes, and cold trips in and out of the pool. Definitely not Vegas, but you can bet I'm going to get the absolute most out of every minute of training I do for passing up a trip to Vegas :)

Friday, April 16, 2010

Mind your P's and Q's....

....and keep your eyes on the prize.

My coach, Thomo, wants me to run a 10k this weekend. It had been in the plans and I was really reved up to do it prior to my crash because everything was clicking along great. Then I missed a couple weeks of running and when I was able to return, I felt like I was starting all over. Luckily though, it has continued to improve quickly and I have been able to add some intensity back in, but know I am not where I was prior to the set back.




I'll be honest, as an athlete, I don't like to race if I'm not prepared. I like to race, not just do the event...whatever it is 5k, 10k, triathlon, bike race etc. I like to feel ready to do my absolute best. The thought of doing this little local 10k, not feeling fast isn't my favorite.

BUT, as a coach, this is exactly the sort of thing I try to get my athletes to do all the time. The information you can get from a test/ race is so helpful to see where you are at with fitness. It is much harder to plan workouts for athletes when they don't follow the plan, or do these test sets, or races (or even log in the workouts). I know that athletes fear the results, are afraid to fail, or let themselves or whoever else down, and then won't step up to the plate and take a swing at it. When this happens, it does make it tougher to keep progressing them towards the big event or "A" race. The little smaller races also help you practice a pre-race routine, deal with the nerves and butterflies, and experience moving at a race effort with other people around. You can't get that in the depths of your basement on the treadmill or bike trainer, no matter how loud you turn up that i-pod.

So doing this local 10k makes perfect sense to me as a coach, probably even more so than before the crash because now with bigger races quickly approaching it is even more important to see where I am since losing some ground. Simon can then plan the training the best way possible over the next few weeks. As an athlete, I'll have to get over myself, suck it up and just go out and give it my best effort. It can only help the training going into the next few weeks before Memphis.

Some of my awesome athletes are facing their big day very soon! Good luck to Wellman at Boston, John R at "The Rage in the Sage", and Carmen C. at Big Sur!

Monday, April 5, 2010

Road Trip South

Now that I have a first grader following a regular school schedule, I passed up on a couple of our usual late winter early spring training camps ( snif snif), to take time off at spring break. I was really looking forward to having a large chunk of time off work to train some, play some, and relax some. We decided to road trip to Adam's parents who live outside of Atlanta, so we loaded up, and drove 12.5 hrs south! I love road trips, plus who can pass up 12 + plus hours in a car with her husband strapped and seat belted in and no where to go! (ha ha j/k!) We had a great trip, beautiful perfect weather, and I managed to train, play and relax all in 1 trip!


Training:
The jammed tail bone from my crash has been on the mend. Prior to the trip I had gotten back out on some rides easy, without too much pain, but had definitely lost some zipp in my legs. Running is another story. Unfortunately I couldn't run a step without significant pain for almost 2 weeks. It has kept improving, but by the time we got to Georgia, I was hoping it would be feeling well enough to step it up with the running otherwise I think I would turn into all "roadie" for the season. We were about 1 hr north of Atlanta and it is very hilly as this area is part of the Appalachian Mountains. We set out 1 day to ride "6 Gap" which is part of the Tour of Georgia course. In places you could still see paint on the road cheering for Lance. This ride was tough. It leveled me flat. It was the hardest ride I have ever done, yes topping Mt. Lemmon climb, and topping Horrible Hilly! The climbs are steep like the 1 mile hard part of Gates Pass....that last for 7 miles long....and there were many...of these 6-7 mile steep climbs. We did 85 miles worth. I was cooked like the boiled peanuts we saw signs for everywhere. I love climbing on the bike but seriously by the end of this I was done! Add few swims and a few runs,( each one getting longer and a little faster) made for some good training.

I'm the boiled peanut

Playing:

This area of Georgia where Adam's parents live is vacation like and in the hills. There are great hiking trails, play fields and all sorts of adventures. They did a great job entertaining Jack so I could go train a little, but I wanted to play with them too. We took a fun hike that cut through the woods and along a stream and ate lunch on a rock with with water rushing by. I am such a mountain girl, and love getting out in hill and trails. I miss not doing it regularly. Jack had done this hike once already and educated me on how to read the trail markers, explained various trees, and sites he had seen along the way. We also played Frisbee, flew some kites, and went to an Easter Egg hunt that looked like a mass swim start at an Ironman.



Relaxing:

Just being able to wake up with an alarm, a list of things to accomplish, and an itinerary to get through the day makes for relaxing vacation. Enough said.

Big Canoe Georgia



Back home things seem to have been growing, plants are coming up, and the grass is turning green. Spring is in the air! I'm wondering if it is safe to put away the winter training clothes!