Monday, May 28, 2012

Evidence

I’ve been putting in lots of hard work the past few weeks gearing up for Kansas 70.3I did some big solo training efforts while AZ was off racing TTT, then this weekend finished up with hosting our TBC training camp. Saturday was a huge triple brick day with 30 athletes of all levels venturing out to the far western edge of Chicagoland to experience an epic 4hr workout. So many great athletes were there which made for good work and good fun.

fun friends from the city, post workout

This year will be my 3rd time racing in KS and it is one of my favorite half IMs. Hills, heat, wind double transition, choppy lake swim, Vegas spots on the line…. shake and stir and your have an awesome race with a finish on the yellow brick road all of which have been motivating me to get after it.

Consistent hard work is what it takes to make the gains in fitness that will help you accomplish your goals, and leave you confident and ready to race. However, I sometimes find myself doubting if I’ve done enough, am pushing hard enough, or wonder if should I do more because I live with someone who can handle a load SO much larger than most. I catch myself feeling like a slacker, or sometimes questioning myself when I look at my own training. The facts are: 1. I respond better to quality, vs. massive quantity, and 2. I am not training for Ironman, nor do I want to! Besides the wko PMC chart that Scott shares with me periodically showing me the facts...gains in fitness, peak power, etc… I have my own evidence proving to myself I've been doing good work!

Those are:
1. large blister, and 1 dead toe nail about to fall off
2. the desire and actually following through with several ice baths

(lazy man's ice bath...another reason my neighbors think i'm strange)

3. craving for Coke…the real kind

(i don't even like soda that much)

4. some days I actually do crawl up the stairs

5. I resorted to the TM for my long run which included hard intervals because it was 97 deg out with 97 mph wind and I needed to be able to push the pace

6. no clean workout clothes in the drawers

7. my Garmin strap broke the day before my long run, so I taped it

(couldn't handle the sweat load)

In addition to all the training, and the camp, our kids participated in the local kid’s triathlon early Sun morning:


and we celebrated both Adam and Jack’s birthdays.

The outdoor pools are open now and after all of the above, we crashed here Mon afternoon!


soaking up some fastness!

Thursday, May 17, 2012

FLOATING.........



My kids’ have these frogs that sit on the table beside my desk. I look up every now and then and have to tap the little tank to see if they still alive because they just floating still in the water..... hanging out..... just existing. Floating through existence can be either good or bad. At the end of a crazy work day, coordinating schedules and fitting in big workouts I feel like floating like this……

Usually I end up like this.....

floating up to my bed and crashing


I am a commuter to work now 3 days a week and on RARE occasions I actually float through traffic nailing the timing of each green light, avoiding the construction, or slow moving vehicles and everything just clicks and I arrive to work with enough time for more coffee!


Most of the time though, it is an effort and I wind up behind a semi with a wide load, or hit every red light and of course stopped by a train.

I love it when I am running (or biking or swimming) and it is one of those days where it all clicks. The form, the body’s state of fitness, is all in sync with the moon LOL and it just feels like you are floating with each stride and you look down at that last mile split and do a double take at the numbers staring back at you on the Garmin.



Or on the bike when you are effortlessly pushing big watts with no wasted energy and are just one with your bike. Even in the pool there are moments of efficiency when I grab the water and glide and rotate and hit the interval and it feels effortless.

Its not there every time and it often feels like work and it’s not effortless. Then there are the other times it is like I’m pulling lead through the water or hauling steel on the back of my bike or my feet are cemented to the pavement. To get those times where it feels like you are floating, you have to go through the times it feels like work….and you have to do the work. I was listening to Adam and Scott’s TBC podcast the other day….during my commute. (btw its way better than the radio) Adam was talking about the details..... ALL OF THEM to get to the next level. To get there, you have to address all the details…....consistently. Not just the week of a race or during recovery weeks, or when its convenient and not just when you feel good. Nutrition, stretching, getting good sleep, and doing the workouts will give you more of those workouts where it is like floating….effortless.
Can I address ALL the details…consitently? Nope. But I go through good phases and I do have some of those effortless workouts or races every now and then which keeps me coming back for more.

To get the results you want, you can’t float through existence and expect good things to come your way in the form of kick ass workouts, PR races.... or anything in life really. Address all the details and float through the good workouts and races!

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

St. Croix


Most people travel to a Caribbean Island for a vacay, some fun in the sun, and a little R and R. I just returned from racing IM 70.3 island style on USVI, St. Croix. Traveling to a big race can be challenging enough, but schlepping a bike and gear to a remote island takes some determination ( and patience)
whew!bike made it!

Add a few Kona slots to the mix and you have some tough competitors all descending on a small island fired up and ready to race. It’s a unique race with some fun twists that definitely made the trip worth it.

We scoped out parts of the run and bike course in the days before the race, sweating like mad and finishing drenched. It rained a little bit most every day making it extra humid and creating big washouts in the roads. We drove the bike course, and saw major floods, the one and only… Beast itself,and all the turns curves and other big climbs.
the start of the Beast/this is the easy part


I knew this was a course for the records, but wow. I thought for sure since it had rained off and on so much race day would be clear and dry and the roads would clear. Not so! It started raining as we left to ride the 2 miles to town race morning and never really stopped until I was finishing the bike which added to the adventure.
Sunset, night before the race!(surely the rain is done!)
salt water leg soak!

I don’t love writing true race reports but love sharing what I learn from races and the fun ups and downs of the day!

Some Highlights:
~not having to check in the bike the day before the race
~because it was raining they decided not to body mark us
~I saw Lance near my transition, he has sexy legs
~to get to the swim start you have to swim across to another island, kind of fun and like a warm up
~the water for the swim was awesome temp very little chop, even though it didn’t help my swim time any LOL
~the bike was AWESOME. Not only did I feel great, I LOVED the course. It was harder than any race I’ve done and very technical with tons of climbing, tons of shifting gears, cornering etc. I ended up with the fastest bike split in my AG and felt awesome the whole way!!! Thanks Rich and Drew at the The Bike Shop Scotty P rode like a dream!
~ riding through the downtown streets on the way out of town was very cool and hearing the locals cheer “ya mon , ya goo fast!”, and “ya SISTA !”
~the 2 loop run was tough but fun, much of it was off road through grass, dirt road, and in this case mud!
~Meeting fellow Wattie JJ Brandstatter and his Erika from Colorado, we had fun hanging out pre race and at the awards coming up with plenty of new “don’t be that guys!”
~Hearing Go Wattie!, and Rock theW out on the course from people I don’t even know!....the word about the W is out there even on a remote island!

Some lowlights:
~my poor ass swim split. I’m not complaining because I know I deserve what I get for the amount of time I put towards swimming
~it rained a ton and we road through very deep wash outs, and roads were slick making you slow down more through sharp descents
~fading the last 2 miles of the run. I wouldn’t call it a bonk, but definite muscle fatigue from unrelenting hills
~losing 2 places in the AG in those 2 miles
~no Vegas spot for me. There was only 1 Vegas and 1 Kona spot and 1st place took both …grrrrrrrr! Hard core

I loved the race and the experience! and am happy with how I did for a first race of the season especially one that is so tough and so competitive. Hats off to my client Russell Lane who was with us on his quest back from his femur fx, and managing diabetes. Thanks to my TBC coach Scott Iott for awesome workouts that got me as ready as I could be for a race like that, and Wattieink,Kswiss,BettyDesigns, I was super comfy all day in my 1 piece suit racing over the horrid chip and seal pot hole covered roads on the bike as well as the muddy, hilly all terrain run course.