The last two weeks of training have brought up some strange things. I think because the addition of running, since I had only run about 10 times total since June, the new pounding have made my legs tired. I am not sure tired is even the word to best describe them. Achy and tired is probably a little better. With the addition of the stairmaster during all of my "non-running" running, it definitely kept my conditioning at a higher level than the elliptical did, when I had to do that awhile ago. With the higher level of conditioning it is hard to gradually build on the run, because cardio-wise I am feeling fine! I have however decided that the best idea is to gradually build.
My long run this week was 1hr 35min. On top of that, it was all on the treadmill this week because of the change in weather. It was cold and rainy the day of my long run and so I decided to make run club, run with me inside on the treadmill.
My legs have felt a little better this week than last. Last week I had to take Friday off and lay around all day. My legs were definitely not happy. I am hoping that between now and Florida they gain the ability to run a marathon, and feel good!
I have been nervous about the prospect of racing FL IM. Because of the lack of running that I have done. I will have to build that base up, almost until my race. Doing that will allow me to have about a 2.5hr long run.
This week has also not been helpful because the weather has taken a change for the worse. Today I had a 6 hour bike ride, which took place all indoors. Three hours on a spin bike and three on the trainer. I figure if I can mentally do that, then FL shouldn't be too bad?!
Anyway, just wanted to update the training info.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Harvest Moon Half (Relay)
On Saturday Pedro and I did our first ever half-ironman relay. I swam and biked and he ran the 13.1 miles. Since I haven't run that much I didn't want to take a chance and we decided it would be a fun thing to do. The race report is as follows:
It was cold. 50 degrees or so. I was not happy. When we left the house it was raining. I just kept thinking, I hope it stops soon, or maybe it isn't raining at the race. I was very lucky, it hadn't rained at the race site.
It was so cold I decided to wear a full-sleeved wetsuit. I have only done this once before in Cali half (the water was 54 degrees in cali!). Anyway, our wave was the last wave to start. I started the swim and immediately my shoulders were tired! It was horrible, I felt like I was swimming against resistance. The entire swim my shoulders were on fire! The swim was kind of annoying because it only had one line of buoys and on the way back you needed to site the shore because the finish was not in line with the buoys. I thought I had to be in last place. I was not feeling like a great swim and my arms were burning. When I got out of the water I didn't want to look back because I thought I might literally be the last one out of the water! I saw Pedro with my parents just chit chatting on a bench...my mom said "oh you must have been fast we weren't looking for you yet!" HUH??? I figured they were just confused.
I ran to the bike where I put on my tights with fleece on the front a dry shirt and a longsleeve shirt. I also put on gloves. Everyone else was just running out with shorts and tanks!! Too bad, I was so cold I figured I would be way more cold on the bike. So, I took my time and got dressed. Pedro, being allowed in transition, brought my bike to the exit so I could just grab it and go, which was very helpful. Off to the bike.
I have only raced a sprint race at Aurora before and I thought the bike was hard for that...this was a very difficult bike. It is all hills, except for a flat area of about 10 miles, maybe. The whole thing is up and up...with a fast downhill. The up and up is the bad part! There are no hills that require standing and pushing, like in Wisconsin, but instead a slow steady climb over and over.
The flat portion was good and of course that is where we had a bit of a tailwind. Then I turned to where there were smaller hills and for some reason I became starving. I hadn't planned on being too hungry because I only swam and biked. It was a poor decision to not bring a lot of food. I was starving. The aid stations only offered gatorade and water. I was fine for fluids, I wanted a banana or something, but of course when you need them they are not there.
On the final turn back (it was an out and back on hills, followed by a square) the wind was in our face! I knew we were on our way back but with the freezing wind and the lack of food, I was struggling a bit. I was still averaging about 20mph at this point, with about 50min left. The whole last portion was hills. I don't mind hills. I was passing a lot of people and was not passed by a lot of people...maybe only one female? However, I was one of the last waves so that doesn't mean too much. My final time for the bike was 2hr 53min with an average speed of 19.3.
Pedro then left for the run. I will have to let him post about his experience on the run, but to my surprise (and probably his) he ran a 2:05 half marathon! He did an awesome job! He wasn't all that sore, except his hip flexors. Other than that he is feeling fine.
Back to the swim part. We had no idea the time it took for me to swim. When the swim time was posted it says I swam 31:43! I am not sure how this happened!!! My fastest swim before this was a few weeks ago in boulder at 36min. The only difference is that I have started training with paddles...but I can't imagine taking that much time off my swim. I was thinking maybe it was short, or maybe that is why my shoulders were on fire!! I was swimming faster than usual! Who knows...but I will take it because that is way better than I have done! It means that since I started racing (and really swimming at all, for that matter)I have taken 13min off my half-ironman swim time! Ok, on a side note I just read someone elses blog and they think the swim was about 3min short...ok so maybe I am only a bit faster.
We took fourth place for coed team, which was good since I did two events, most teams are made up of three.
Here are a few picts from the race:
Pedro and Dad discussing race(run) strategy!
Me arriving back from the cold bike:
Pedro running strong to the finish!
Right after Pedro finished, it was so cold I have on a tshirt, a sweatshirt and another sweatshirt!
It was cold. 50 degrees or so. I was not happy. When we left the house it was raining. I just kept thinking, I hope it stops soon, or maybe it isn't raining at the race. I was very lucky, it hadn't rained at the race site.
It was so cold I decided to wear a full-sleeved wetsuit. I have only done this once before in Cali half (the water was 54 degrees in cali!). Anyway, our wave was the last wave to start. I started the swim and immediately my shoulders were tired! It was horrible, I felt like I was swimming against resistance. The entire swim my shoulders were on fire! The swim was kind of annoying because it only had one line of buoys and on the way back you needed to site the shore because the finish was not in line with the buoys. I thought I had to be in last place. I was not feeling like a great swim and my arms were burning. When I got out of the water I didn't want to look back because I thought I might literally be the last one out of the water! I saw Pedro with my parents just chit chatting on a bench...my mom said "oh you must have been fast we weren't looking for you yet!" HUH??? I figured they were just confused.
I ran to the bike where I put on my tights with fleece on the front a dry shirt and a longsleeve shirt. I also put on gloves. Everyone else was just running out with shorts and tanks!! Too bad, I was so cold I figured I would be way more cold on the bike. So, I took my time and got dressed. Pedro, being allowed in transition, brought my bike to the exit so I could just grab it and go, which was very helpful. Off to the bike.
I have only raced a sprint race at Aurora before and I thought the bike was hard for that...this was a very difficult bike. It is all hills, except for a flat area of about 10 miles, maybe. The whole thing is up and up...with a fast downhill. The up and up is the bad part! There are no hills that require standing and pushing, like in Wisconsin, but instead a slow steady climb over and over.
The flat portion was good and of course that is where we had a bit of a tailwind. Then I turned to where there were smaller hills and for some reason I became starving. I hadn't planned on being too hungry because I only swam and biked. It was a poor decision to not bring a lot of food. I was starving. The aid stations only offered gatorade and water. I was fine for fluids, I wanted a banana or something, but of course when you need them they are not there.
On the final turn back (it was an out and back on hills, followed by a square) the wind was in our face! I knew we were on our way back but with the freezing wind and the lack of food, I was struggling a bit. I was still averaging about 20mph at this point, with about 50min left. The whole last portion was hills. I don't mind hills. I was passing a lot of people and was not passed by a lot of people...maybe only one female? However, I was one of the last waves so that doesn't mean too much. My final time for the bike was 2hr 53min with an average speed of 19.3.
Pedro then left for the run. I will have to let him post about his experience on the run, but to my surprise (and probably his) he ran a 2:05 half marathon! He did an awesome job! He wasn't all that sore, except his hip flexors. Other than that he is feeling fine.
Back to the swim part. We had no idea the time it took for me to swim. When the swim time was posted it says I swam 31:43! I am not sure how this happened!!! My fastest swim before this was a few weeks ago in boulder at 36min. The only difference is that I have started training with paddles...but I can't imagine taking that much time off my swim. I was thinking maybe it was short, or maybe that is why my shoulders were on fire!! I was swimming faster than usual! Who knows...but I will take it because that is way better than I have done! It means that since I started racing (and really swimming at all, for that matter)I have taken 13min off my half-ironman swim time! Ok, on a side note I just read someone elses blog and they think the swim was about 3min short...ok so maybe I am only a bit faster.
We took fourth place for coed team, which was good since I did two events, most teams are made up of three.
Here are a few picts from the race:
Pedro and Dad discussing race(run) strategy!
Me arriving back from the cold bike:
Pedro running strong to the finish!
Right after Pedro finished, it was so cold I have on a tshirt, a sweatshirt and another sweatshirt!
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Update IV
Sunday, Pedro lucked out and got the day off, at the last minute. Kory and I were already going to the CU/CSU football game, but now Pedro got to go with us.
We had to arrive to the game really early to meet Jac to get us another free ticket because she had to be somewhere at 400. So, we sat inside the stadium for almost two hours prior to the game.
The game was horrible for CU..ugh. But we still had some fun. Before the game, Ralphie, the buffalo runs out, I told Pedro to take a picture but he only captured a blurry picture of someone in front of us! They also pinned up Chip, the mascot, next to Ralphie to have him run out..lol. Here are my two pictures before the game!
Ralphie a bit too fast:
Chip, a bit behind!
No pictures of CSU on the field after the game. Oh and I don't want to forget the best part of the game halftime!! Yes, seriously...during halftime CSU band was on the field when a streaker slowly ran across the field! Not sure why he decided he needed to try to exit the field since he was not chased, but it was reminiscent of the CSU mascot CAM the RAM...if you know what I mean!
We had to arrive to the game really early to meet Jac to get us another free ticket because she had to be somewhere at 400. So, we sat inside the stadium for almost two hours prior to the game.
The game was horrible for CU..ugh. But we still had some fun. Before the game, Ralphie, the buffalo runs out, I told Pedro to take a picture but he only captured a blurry picture of someone in front of us! They also pinned up Chip, the mascot, next to Ralphie to have him run out..lol. Here are my two pictures before the game!
Ralphie a bit too fast:
Chip, a bit behind!
No pictures of CSU on the field after the game. Oh and I don't want to forget the best part of the game halftime!! Yes, seriously...during halftime CSU band was on the field when a streaker slowly ran across the field! Not sure why he decided he needed to try to exit the field since he was not chased, but it was reminiscent of the CSU mascot CAM the RAM...if you know what I mean!
Update III
I did VO2 max testing on the bike this week. My fitness level is not peak, but none the less.
The results were quite amazing.
The heart rate I begin to go anaerobic is at 170 (it will be higher while running). This means prior to this I am burning anywhere between 9.6-11.7 cal/min while burning 54-32% fat!. Once I hit the anaerobic state I burn 14.0 cal/min but only 7% from fat. It is quite a linear line through my zones (which is what you want) until I hit the anaerobic stage.
My VO2 max was stopped at 52 (but more accurately estimated around 56), at my anaerobic threshold it is 47, which means you want these two numbers to be almost the same, meaning I am not at my max shape yet (I'm sure running will help this some). VO2 max is mainly genetic, and luckily I am off the charts for male or female in this area, which means I have great excercise potential! Good to know...lol. Anyway, for example, Lance is said to be at 85, but males are generally 20% higher, so this would be around 65, still higher than my current potential but very close :)
The best part was my heart rate recovery. They want your hr to recover 20 beats after the first minute. Mine recovered 36. After two min 30 is great, mine was 49! One benefit could be my ability to control my heart rate to some extent and I was trying to relax and bring it down at the end of my test! But this means that my heart is strong and recovers fast from excercise, which is good when you go up a big hill and then can recover on the downhill. I am recovered going down while others are still trying to recover after the fact. Pedro and I see this when we run stairs. I recover going down so I don't mind going up, Pedro is still tired when he has to go back up.
Anyway, keep your fingers crossed for me to continue my itb recovery!
The results were quite amazing.
The heart rate I begin to go anaerobic is at 170 (it will be higher while running). This means prior to this I am burning anywhere between 9.6-11.7 cal/min while burning 54-32% fat!. Once I hit the anaerobic state I burn 14.0 cal/min but only 7% from fat. It is quite a linear line through my zones (which is what you want) until I hit the anaerobic stage.
My VO2 max was stopped at 52 (but more accurately estimated around 56), at my anaerobic threshold it is 47, which means you want these two numbers to be almost the same, meaning I am not at my max shape yet (I'm sure running will help this some). VO2 max is mainly genetic, and luckily I am off the charts for male or female in this area, which means I have great excercise potential! Good to know...lol. Anyway, for example, Lance is said to be at 85, but males are generally 20% higher, so this would be around 65, still higher than my current potential but very close :)
The best part was my heart rate recovery. They want your hr to recover 20 beats after the first minute. Mine recovered 36. After two min 30 is great, mine was 49! One benefit could be my ability to control my heart rate to some extent and I was trying to relax and bring it down at the end of my test! But this means that my heart is strong and recovers fast from excercise, which is good when you go up a big hill and then can recover on the downhill. I am recovered going down while others are still trying to recover after the fact. Pedro and I see this when we run stairs. I recover going down so I don't mind going up, Pedro is still tired when he has to go back up.
Anyway, keep your fingers crossed for me to continue my itb recovery!
Update Part II
Alright...
Training.
Oddly enough after a meeting with the running store people, they told me they thought my itb problem and other problems may be due to my orthotics. Which, if you know how many adjustments I have had, isn't too surprising. UGH!
Anyway, they told me to go to Boulder and meet with the people that make orthotics and also Newton shoes. After meeting with them they concurred and decided I don't need orthotics at all!! Now, I originally got orthotics to fix my achilles problems. They said I need to stretch and use a foam roller on my calves to help that, but otherwise the orthotics and the stability shoes were not good for my feet. I have worn the same style of shoes for 8 plus years! Great news! LOL.
Anyway, they got me in some Newton shoes and I bought another pair of neutral running shoes and have begun running. Now get this...pain free. I don't want to jinx it and I am slowly building my running, but seriously???!! I have had some achilles pain but the foam roller on the soleus has been very helpful. The ITB has been great so far.
This week I did my long run, as 65min of running followed by 65 min of stairmaster! It was probably one of my hardest workouts ever!
I have done stairs once and another run of about 45min. Today I did 30min on the tred. It has been going decently well. We will see once the time builds a bit more.
Yesterday I biked for 100 miles, or 5.5 hours. I came home to a great surprise!! Pedro picked up a drink for me at Sonic, it was so good since it was quite hot outside. The other best part of the ride was that I stopped at 711 and filled my bottles with 7up and ice, it was a great treat.
After two hours of being outside, my heat rash on my quad returned. It is the first time this season that this has happened, it is not a pretty thing!
This weekend we have our half ironman race, Pedro has been having his own issues, but hopefully he is ready for the longest run he has ever had!!
Training.
Oddly enough after a meeting with the running store people, they told me they thought my itb problem and other problems may be due to my orthotics. Which, if you know how many adjustments I have had, isn't too surprising. UGH!
Anyway, they told me to go to Boulder and meet with the people that make orthotics and also Newton shoes. After meeting with them they concurred and decided I don't need orthotics at all!! Now, I originally got orthotics to fix my achilles problems. They said I need to stretch and use a foam roller on my calves to help that, but otherwise the orthotics and the stability shoes were not good for my feet. I have worn the same style of shoes for 8 plus years! Great news! LOL.
Anyway, they got me in some Newton shoes and I bought another pair of neutral running shoes and have begun running. Now get this...pain free. I don't want to jinx it and I am slowly building my running, but seriously???!! I have had some achilles pain but the foam roller on the soleus has been very helpful. The ITB has been great so far.
This week I did my long run, as 65min of running followed by 65 min of stairmaster! It was probably one of my hardest workouts ever!
I have done stairs once and another run of about 45min. Today I did 30min on the tred. It has been going decently well. We will see once the time builds a bit more.
Yesterday I biked for 100 miles, or 5.5 hours. I came home to a great surprise!! Pedro picked up a drink for me at Sonic, it was so good since it was quite hot outside. The other best part of the ride was that I stopped at 711 and filled my bottles with 7up and ice, it was a great treat.
After two hours of being outside, my heat rash on my quad returned. It is the first time this season that this has happened, it is not a pretty thing!
This weekend we have our half ironman race, Pedro has been having his own issues, but hopefully he is ready for the longest run he has ever had!!
Ooops a bit behind!
Ok, this will be a long entry since I have not been very good updating!!
On Aug 28th, Pedro turned 29!! We celebrated his birthday by going to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, Mongolian BBQ. On top of it, his dad was in town and it was the first time my family has met him (yes, in 8.5 years the first meeting!) We decided to not overwhelm him too much, so we just had my parents and K/K and Grey go with us. Here are two picts of our evening. And if you think Pedro and his dad do not look alike you are crazy!
The next day we had a pig roast in celebration of both Pedro's birthday's! The day began with it's own unplanned event. The rotisserie, which was so brilliantly built was not capable of holding the GIGANTIC pig Pedro got at the farm! He claims it was the smallest pig they had! Anyway, while I was sleeping Pedro and roasting friend, Edgar placed the 190lb pig on a bar, that was no bigger than my wrist. Of course the result was a bent bar.
Here is the piggy before being cut:
Here is him being disected!
Pedro being very upset, decided we were going to have to have a pig bbq instead. We had bbq piggy and another style made with olive oil, garlic and wine.
BBQ'd Piggy!!
We had 30 plus people at our house for the party! Surprisingly, it was not too crowded with our house being so tiny! And we only encountered a few minutes of rain, thank goodness!
The main drama happened while the pig was being bbq'd. All the "cooks" left the pig on the charcoal grill (with a gas tank on the bottom) alone. Thank God for Karen, she was standing outback and saw a FIRE!!!! She calmly informed us all that there was a fire! The flames (though I did NOT see this myself, for reasons you will understand in a second) were shooting out the bottom of the grill onto the gas tank! The gas tank was so hot it was squealing trying to release the pressure from the heat! Pedro ran and turned the hose on and they sprayed the grill with the hose for a LONG time, all the while Karen and I were hiding in the washroom, because we were scared it was going to explode! Kory soon ran in and said he was sure it was going to explode! I gave him a fire extinguisher and he told me he wasn't going back out there!!! Way to be a MAN! LOL. Anyway, after they removed the gas tank, which had the hose burned off, it continued to expel gas for the rest of the day. Much prefered to an actual explosion!
Here is the gas tank after the fire:
Here are a few other picts from the party.
Linzy, Janice, Meg and Bren...is Linzy posing for the pict?
Possible mates? My mom always thought Linzy and Kory would make a great couple..maybe their kids will?? LOL!
Kory, because of the swine flu, was deaf..
Pedro and his Police Friends..
Pedro's with their birthday cake!
The only picture of me being at the house that day! Polar and I cleaning house before the party started!
On Aug 28th, Pedro turned 29!! We celebrated his birthday by going to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, Mongolian BBQ. On top of it, his dad was in town and it was the first time my family has met him (yes, in 8.5 years the first meeting!) We decided to not overwhelm him too much, so we just had my parents and K/K and Grey go with us. Here are two picts of our evening. And if you think Pedro and his dad do not look alike you are crazy!
The next day we had a pig roast in celebration of both Pedro's birthday's! The day began with it's own unplanned event. The rotisserie, which was so brilliantly built was not capable of holding the GIGANTIC pig Pedro got at the farm! He claims it was the smallest pig they had! Anyway, while I was sleeping Pedro and roasting friend, Edgar placed the 190lb pig on a bar, that was no bigger than my wrist. Of course the result was a bent bar.
Here is the piggy before being cut:
Here is him being disected!
Pedro being very upset, decided we were going to have to have a pig bbq instead. We had bbq piggy and another style made with olive oil, garlic and wine.
BBQ'd Piggy!!
We had 30 plus people at our house for the party! Surprisingly, it was not too crowded with our house being so tiny! And we only encountered a few minutes of rain, thank goodness!
The main drama happened while the pig was being bbq'd. All the "cooks" left the pig on the charcoal grill (with a gas tank on the bottom) alone. Thank God for Karen, she was standing outback and saw a FIRE!!!! She calmly informed us all that there was a fire! The flames (though I did NOT see this myself, for reasons you will understand in a second) were shooting out the bottom of the grill onto the gas tank! The gas tank was so hot it was squealing trying to release the pressure from the heat! Pedro ran and turned the hose on and they sprayed the grill with the hose for a LONG time, all the while Karen and I were hiding in the washroom, because we were scared it was going to explode! Kory soon ran in and said he was sure it was going to explode! I gave him a fire extinguisher and he told me he wasn't going back out there!!! Way to be a MAN! LOL. Anyway, after they removed the gas tank, which had the hose burned off, it continued to expel gas for the rest of the day. Much prefered to an actual explosion!
Here is the gas tank after the fire:
Here are a few other picts from the party.
Linzy, Janice, Meg and Bren...is Linzy posing for the pict?
Possible mates? My mom always thought Linzy and Kory would make a great couple..maybe their kids will?? LOL!
Kory, because of the swine flu, was deaf..
Pedro and his Police Friends..
Pedro's with their birthday cake!
The only picture of me being at the house that day! Polar and I cleaning house before the party started!
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