Ready for that Taper.....

I'm pooped! Tired, wiped out, spent, out of gas, done, had it, ready to get the show on the road. I'm ready for this race already.

After a good weekend of training, and staying up too late to watch one of the most exciting Olympic events EVER (the men's 4 x 100 relay--record setting, unbelievable, don't have all the adjectives to describe it), I'm TIRED!

I rode 36 miles today, did some stretching and core, and swam a very easy 1100 meters. Now, I'm tired. And even though this is the beginning of my three week taper, I'm scheduled to swim 3000 meters and run for an hour tomorrow--I plan to do inside and on treadmill. Wednesday will be a 1550 swim and 90 minute bike. Then on Thursday I need to bike 60 minutes and run for two hours (brick). It doesn't really sound like a taper to me right now because I'm soooo tired! Oh yeah, I think I already said that.

Basically, I think I'm just ready to get to this race. I've been training and working so hard for so long, I'm ready to rock and roll. A nervous wreck, but ready to go! So much to plan and think about packing. I'm most worried about the nutrition end of the race. Hoping I've figured it out, but I'm sure something will blow up on me on race day. Or not. Ha!

I'm hoping I can stay up to watch the swimming tonight--of course it will probably be the last thing they show. Tomorrow is an early start, so I may miss it.

Too tired to say much more. The weather was way too cool (74 degrees while biking) to acclimate for Louisville. Hope everyone else is enjoying the unseasonable August temps.

Have a great day/night/day. Go USA Swimming and Gymnastic teams!

Until next time--God bless!

Cool Weekend

The Olympics are finally here, so I'm really glad my training time will be reduced. Three weeks from today at this time, Lord willing, I will be on the run course at the Louisville Ironman. Can you say, NERVOUS WRECK?!

This was a great weekend for training, but not great weather-wise to acclimate for Louisville. Yesterday was a 38 mile bike, half of which I did with some friends. What a blast! I was only supposed to ride for 90 minutes--total ride time was 2:10. Started at 6:00 a.m., finished by about 8:00. Followed by some good strength training, core work, stretching, and a very relaxing, wonderful, outdoor 1500 meter swim! YEAH!

The temperature was really cool both days. Saturday it was 60 degrees when we started the bike. Never got past 75 or so. Louisville was a cool 83. THAT would be perfect race day temperature. Today called for a 90 minute run--did 10 miles in 1:50 at the HILLY PATH! Felt really good after the first 45 or 50 minutes. Once again, I ran up and down every single hill! It was about 60 when I started, never getting past 75 or so again today. After the run, some stretching and an easy 1200 meter outside swim. YUM!

Hubby decided to barbeque chicken for dinner--which of course called for my help and took almost the entire afternoon. He's watching the olympics. Whenever he's not at work, he will be watching the olympics. The fitness center we belong to has these super HD TV's, so I think he'll be there more often during the next two weeks--to watch the olympics!

I've decided to start watching the TV show "Lost". I've heard so much about it, and I just love the cutie who plays Jack (Matthew Fox, from Party of Five). I belong to Netflix, so it's fun to get the DVD's from them. Almost done with the first disk (pilot and two episodes). I think I'm going to like it! I'll have something to do to fill in the time I've spent training for the last nine months!

I have a couple "semi-long" days next week. The training plan I'm following says of this coming week: "Welcome to tapering! We'l slowly reduce hours over the next 3 weeks, while keeping the sword sharp for race day."

Recovery Week Totals:

Swim: 7x = 11,600 meters
Bike: 3x = 96 miles
Run: 3x = 21 miles
Strength/Core/Stretch: 5x = 175 minutes
Total time: 19 hours
Calories burned: 7,200

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Until next time--God bless!

Remember Recovery

I needed to remind myself several times this morning that this is the end of a recovery week, to be followed by three weeks of tapering before the race.

Today I swam a good (not hard/not easy) 3000 meters. Other than the water being too warm, it was a nice day. The first 1500 I swam inside, it was so warm, I decided to check out the outside pool. A little cooler, and it always feels so good to be outside!

Yesterday I had great strength training session (1:20), then a 6 mile run on the treadmill, followed by a wonderful, delightful, awesome 2000 meter swim. The workout called for 1000 m, which I did, but then I felt so good I did another easy 1000. I swam outside, the water was cooler than normal (i.e., not as hot), it was beautiful weather and it was quiet, not too many kids. I really love to swim. It makes me feel so good.

My dad still tells the story of when I was about 4 years old and he threw me in the pool for the first time. He claims I started swimming immediately. I don't know about that, but I can't remember a time I didn't love or know how to swim.

I heard from my friend Snoopy yesterday that tomorrow will be either a 50 or 70 mile bike ride. I was so excited and looking forward to riding with the group. But then it hit me--I'm in a RECOVERY WEEK and I'm only supposed to ride for 90 minutes. YIKES! What to do? When I woke up today, I thought it would be O.K. I rode 100+ miles the last two Sundays, so what's another 70 mile day?!

Well, after my swim, I was chatting with a couple triathlete friends, and I was reminded (by myself) of the importance of rest/tapering. OK, so I don't think riding 70 or 50 miles would be the best idea in the world for me at this time. Maybe I should just do my own thing--1200 recovery swim and 90 minute bike. Boring, but I guess I should follow the plan. After all, I don't want all the training I've done over the last gazillion months to be for nothing and I end up overtrained, fatigued, and not rested for Louisville.

But then, when I was leaving the locker room, I met one of the cyclists from the group. She had this great idea of me starting out with them, and then just heading back on my own. I was afraid I might get lost, but she assured me no, I'd find my way just fine.

So that's the plan. Ride about an hour with the group, head back, then go to the pool and do my swim. I just have to be sure not to ride too far. I'm hoping my friends help encourage me to turn around when I need to! After all, what are friends for?

Next week I get to ride 3 hours on Saturday. Hopefully we can meet up again for a longer ride.

Looks like the weather is going to be nice here again this weekend. Hope it's nice where you are. Have a great weekend. Good luck to everyone racing.

Until next time--God bless!

Feels Like Hump Day

It's been a long time (15 years?) since I worked full-time and remember Wednesday being called "hump day". But as I was sitting here trying to think of a catchy title, it's the first thing that came to mind.

I felt tired and shaky after today's training. It started out innocent enough. Good sleep, house cleaning and other household stuff early, drive Peanut to the gym. I switched my schedule so today was a two hour bike and a 1150 meter recovery swim. (Tomorrow will be a 60 minute run, which I plan to do inside on the treadmill, along with some strength training and the swim I was supposed to do today.)

It was a great day for a ride. Cool (80's), just a little breezy, and I was able to ride my normal hilly route. Did 35 miles. I don't think I ate enough before or during the ride. I went right to the fitness center, did some core/stretching, and swam a continuous 1500 meters. Didn't feel like doing the 1150 workout that was scheduled.

I felt weird when I was done. I knew I needed to eat ASAP. I brought food with me, so I showered quickly and ate as soon as I got to the car. Felt much better after my healthy PBJ sandwich, banana and nectarine.

My legs still felt shaky at home, so I made a good salad. Also had a small bowl of low-fat ice cream--YUM!

I sit here now eating a mini bad of popcorn--the bad stuff. All the healthy popcorn tastes like cardboard and isn't worth the calories, even though there's no fat.

Maybe I'm just a little tired/burned out. Also, I've been upset about the way I look again. I really did try hard to lose weight in the off season, but it just didn't happen. (Really long, boring, unbelievable story!) I keep telling myself that when this IM is over, I will be 15 lbs. lighter by next race season. I'm not sure how I'm going to do it, because nothing I tried in the last 18 months worked, but I really need to find a way to do it.

For now, I'm just going to concentrate on Louisville and the remainder of my training. Hopefully, I can get through this and have a fresh perspective on everything starting September.

I have so much to be thankful/grateful for, that this weight issue seems very petty. I'm going to try to deal with it the best I can. A good sleep, and maybe not feeling hungry all the time will help. Is it normal to be hungry all the time when training for an ironman? Right now I'm not sure about anything. I think I need to sleep on it, and tomorrow will be a better day, right?

Hope everyone had a good day.

Until next time--God bless!

Oh, What a Night

What a night it was here in the Chicagoland/Indiana area. There were probably other areas hit by the big storm, also. Thunder, lightning, monster winds, power outages, and tornados. Just heard on the radio that one was spotted in my town of Bolingbrook. Don't know if it touched down, but I do know I spent about half an hour in the basement with the kids last night. It was scary! Other than losing our computer and our cable going in and out, we made out unscathed. Praise God! Hoping everyone reading this was as fortunate.

Yesterday's training schedule called for a rest day. But.....I decided I needed to do something. I'm having trouble with my left calf/achilles, something that bothered me last year. It's an overuse/dehydration/too much running type of thing. So, my plan is no more back to back runs, stay off the hills on the run, and limit hills on the bike to 2x per week. I'm also planning to do my shorter runs on the treadmill (flat and soft!).

I did about an hour of core/stretch/strength (mostly upper body). I was a little tired from the long day Sunday. Because it was such a nasty day, the outdoor pool was quiet and the water was a little cooler than normal. Had a great, easy 1600 meter swim in the clouds/drizzle. It was really nice. Have I mentioned how much I love to swim? I LOVE TO SWIM!

After the big storm, I had a great sleep. Slept from 11:00 to 5:00 straight. If my husband's alarm(s) hadn't gone off, I might have slept even longer. Felt rested and refreshed when I rolled out of bed at 5:45.

My original plan was to run inside at LTF on the treadmill (45 min) then ride outside (75 minutes). I wasn't sure if the weather would cooperate, but after checking the forecast decided to load the bike in the car just in case. It turned out beautiful. Had a good, easy (slow!) 5 mile run, followed by a good, easy (slow/mostly flat!) 22.5 mile bike. Stretched out and cooled off with an easy 1000 meter swim. Good workout, nice day, it's ALL GOOD!

Tomorrow was supposed to be a 60 minute run, but I'm going to switch the workouts so I don't have to run back-to-back. Two hour bike instead, maybe some core/strength and an easy swim. Thursday I'll do the 60 minute run, probably on the treadmill to save my calf/foot.

I can't believe IMKY is almost here. I'm really getting excited (nervous!). I want it to be here, but then again I don't. Does that make any sense?

Well, I hope everyone is safe and cool. Have a great day!

Until next time--God bless!

The Best Laid Plans

First of all, a great big shout out and congratulations to all who competed in Steelhead yesterday. Everyone I know did a great job. Lots of first time half iron distance racers. You all ROCKED!

Now, the plan for today was fairly simple. Ride 102 miles in about 6 hours. I was going to do an organized ride, close to home, so I figured this would be a piece of cake. I wanted to average 18 to 20 mph, what I hope to do at the race (hoping to get the speed up with all the downhills!). Following the ride, an immediate 25 minute run. (I brought my running gear with!).

So, after a good sleep, with great weather, I headed out to the ride. Here's what happened:

1) They gave us a map at registration. Just a map. (Well, to be honest, we also got a T-shirt, which I wasn't expecting.) When I say just a map, what I mean is there was no cue sheet--you know, take this street so many miles, then turn this direction, take the next street for so many miles, to such and such a rest stop. Nothing. Just a map with a yellow marker to mark the route. Well, I figured I would follow all the other people and the signs. I don't think ride organizers are allowed to mark up roads anymore, so there were signs on posts on the side of the road.

2) About a mile or so into the ride, I got stuck by a freight train. For about 5 to 10 minutes. Well, maybe not that long, but it seemed like a long time. Had a bad feeling this was a bad omen for the rest of the ride. I was CORRECT!

3) Talked with some riders who assured me the course is always marked really well. HA! NOT SO MUCH AT ALL!

4) First rest stop at 10 MILES? What? Already missing a bunch of signs. Continue to follow people.

5) There were 5 different routes available--20, 40, 55, 82, 102 miles. I can't prove this, but I think only 2% of the riders actually rode the entire 102 miles. If there were more, they passed me in the first 10 miles and I never saw them again. This is possible, really possible. But I also think some people got frustrated and bailed at the 55/82 mile marks. Didn't feel like playing "try to read the map the rest of the way home" game.

6) By mile 12, I knew I must have missed a sign. Plus, the area we were riding is very popular for weekend riders doing their long rides. So, not everyone we saw was part of the Rotary Club ride. Just following was not an option. Two guys pulled up next to me and another guy to tell us we missed a turn. They were not part of the ride, just out doing their thing, and knew the route. I had never ridden out here before, so I had NO CLUE where I was.

7) This little miss only cost me 2 miles. But who knows how much TIME!?

8) Second rest stop at 20 (for me 22) miles. What? The rest stops were very different from what I'm used to. There were one to four volunteers, one table of food, some drinks, and one or two port-a-potties. Huh. OK, whatever.

9) Third rest stop around 35 miles? Very confusing to get to, lots of missing signs, stop about 1 million times to check out map, very confused, what in the world is happening? Heard a rumor that someone was removing the signs from the major intersections. Guess they didn't want the cyclists on the road. Ha! What a _____ (insert your own nasty adjective here).

10) Continued on. Started riding with a couple women. At about 45 miles, one lady told me she was only planning to do 55 miles. Missed the turn, oh well, maybe I'll do 80 something? What a mess. No one knew where they were going. When we mentioned this at the rest stops, the volunteers knew the signs were missing, but didn't seem too interested in doing anything about it! O....K....... (This is when I realized that a bike ride not organized by a bike club.....not such a great idea for the future!)

11) This list could continue ad nauseum, but I'm too tired. Suffice to say that after spending tons of time stopping to try to figure out where I was, I did complete the ride. I met a really nice lady named Molly. She's doing her first ironman at Madison. We rode the last 40 or so miles together. I didn't want her to be alone, and frankly I didn't want to ride alone either. We saw MAYBE four people the last 30 miles. Where was everybody? Most people we saw were very annoyed and disgusted by the lack of signage. But what can you do? (There were quite a few cars in the parking lot when we got back to the school, so we actually weren't the last riders on the course.)

12) I DID NOT FINISH THE RIDE IN SIX HOURS!!! Ha, like you couldn't guess that one. Actually, the total time was even longer than last week (7:28) and ride time was 6:30. But I have to say it was a good mental test. I know that physically (and hopefully now mentally) I should be able to handle whatever comes my way in Louisville. At least I HOPE AND PRAY I CAN!

13) Alas, the day was not a total bust. I had a really good run after the ride that never seemed to end. There was a great park with a really nice path across from the school parking lot, and I ran about 2.5 miles. Felt good.

14) The weather was great, not too hot, not too windy, and there were actually some rollers on the course. (Last week was sooooo flat.)

15) I feel good--tired and ready to rest, but good.

16) And did I mention, this was the LAST BIG TRAINING DAY before Louisville? Yeah, me!

Today's totals:

Bike: 105.88 miles; total time: 7:28; Ride time: 6:30; AHR: 121; MXR: 191; Zones 1-3;%MHR: 67-106; calories burned: 3,322.

Run: 2.5 miles; 26 minutes; zone 3; AHR 142; MHR: 165; 71-83% MHR; 215 calories burned.

Week totals:

Swim: 6x for 11,100 meters
Bike: 3x for 171 miles
Run: 3x for 28 miles
Strength/Core work: 4 sessions for 115 minutes
Total workout time: 26 hours
Total calories burned: 10,500

Hope everyone else had a great weekend! Have a great week.

Until next time--God bless!

One Really Big Day Left

Yesterday (Thursday) and today (Friday) were tough days for me. Yesterday called for a 2 hour bike ride. According to my odometer, speedometer and HRM it was an easy 2:15 (a.k.a. SLOW) ride. However, my legs would most definitely disagree! But, I got it done, did some easy stretching/core work and an easy 1000m swim. Two more tough days left!

(Note to the ladies: That visitor I got unexpectedly on July 9th for the first time in 11 months returned yesterday--YOW! What is happening? Needless to say, it was a tough workout yesterday and today. Again, I forgot how horrible I/we feel this time of the month. Just praying it doesn't visit again until AFTER Labor Day!)

I knew today would be tough--3 hour run; 2700 meter swim. I also knew it would be hot, but I thought I was prepared. Turns out I picked a really bad place to run--I forgot there's NO SHADE AT ALL on the path (Springbrook, for those who are familiar). What was I thinking? I should have braved either the hills at Waterfall Glen, or done a bunch of loops in the shaded part of Greene Valley. I had lots of water, and even stopped to refill after the first loop. Was planning on three loops--about 16-17 miles. Half way through the second loop I knew I was in trouble. I did a lot of walking. My legs were good, but I was really over heated and when my head/neck started hurting I knew it was over. I stopped after the second loop at the car to refuel, but I knew it was time to quit. Too dizzy, nauseous, shaky, etc. I hated stopping after only 11 miles or so, but better to be safe than sorry. Plus, I really didn't think walking another 5 or 6 miles in the heat would be of much benefit at this stage.

The good news, I came home, changed, refuelled, started laundry, visited with the kids, and headed to the pool where I had a good 2700 meter swim. Felt good, but that pool water is way too warm!

Tomorrow is a day off. Last week I did NOTHING and felt horrible. So, I think I'm going to do an easy strength/core/stretch session and an easy 1000m swim. Just enough to let my body move a little.

Sunday will be warm, a long (100+ mile) ride, followed by a 25 minute run. Then, it's all downhill from there! PTL!

Hope everyone had a good week. Have a good weekend. For everyone who's racing, have a great time!

Until next time--God bless!