Category Archives: Training

May 07 1 comments
Training

Pre-race Gulf Coast Triathlon 2010

Well, I made the last minute decision yesterday to make the trek to Panama City Beach, FL and race in the Gulf Coast tri, afterall. It was my plan all along– it’s home and tradition. My family has been very involved in this race for many years and it’s just become routine: every mother’s day weekend I find myself here. Things sort of unraveled with my having to take so much time off of running and my dad having tremendous back pain that we decided that maybe this year wouldn’t happen… After my performance at St. Anthony’s I told myself I wasn’t ready for another less-than-ideal race. All my house work is piling up and I haven’t had a weekend at home to do any of it in what seems like weeks. I was super tempted to just stay and have a low-key weekend, but then I remembered how terrible it feels to not be at the starting line on the day of a planned race. The feeling of regret and curiousity engulfs your every thought. I didn’t want to go through it again, so I hopped into the car and here I am.

Things definitely aren’t leading up to an A+ performance, but I’m excited to be out there on a course I know and love. Yesterday I left the pool completely dry and fuming mad. They changed the combination to get in and I wasn’t informed of the new code. I felt like a prisoner on the opposite side of the fence. All i wanted was to get in my scheduled training 2 days out from a race. I stood in the sun for a solid 23 minutes trying to get the swimmers’ attention… to no avail. While I tried countless combinations trying to crack the code I also found out that my goggles had mysteriously vanished from my swim bag. Needless to say, I left the pool convinced I shouldn’t race this weekend.

Flash forward to today (b/c it’s time for bed and forgot the charger for my computer), I found myself at the expo three (3!) separate times. It was a less-than-relaxing pre-race day than I had hoped, but I think I have everything ready to go. I left yesterday in such disarray, I will be surprised if I have everything, but as far as I can tell (fingers crossed), I’m ready for tomorrow. New goggles and all.

I’ve had a slightly off feeling tummy all week long and wouldn’t you know it’s gotten worse. As I sit here watching my stomach make visible grumblings I’m a little worried how things will go tomorrow. I’m trying to will it away and hopefully a good night’s sleep is the ticket to health. The weather seems like it’s gonna be better than last year (never been so dehydrated in my life), though Sunday looks like a PERFECT day. The oil spill is said to not be an issue any longer and we should be good to go.

I’m happy to report I’ve got two good things going for me at this race: 1) I have an early starting wave. I never have an early starting wave. Something must be wrong. 2) I have a great spot in transition. I’m on the very end and right next to a visible landmark. SCORE!!

As I go into tomorrow I’ve got just one goal: enjoy it. My coach is urging me to race without expectation and take some of the pressure off. While I have obviously been training, I’m far from where I hoped to be at this point in the season and I haven’t trained enough to warrant a stellar race. I want to race a fun race. I want to go out there with a smile on my face and enjoy the fact that I’m healthy and I truly enjoy being active. Hopefully I can stick to my plan and survive the dreaded run. I gotta redeem myself from last year.. though there I go again putting pressure on myself… i will have fun. i will have fun.

My mom convinced me to eat a piece of dark chocolate tonight, suggesting that “chocolate cures all”. She knows that’s my biggest weakness and given the discomfort I’m in, I figured it can’t get much worse. What the heck. Can’t say I’ve ever gone off my strict pre-race day diet before. Maybe it’ll be just what I need ;)

Apr 24 1 comments
Training

I Can’t. I’m re-lacing my shoes.

No really.

You know the old adage: “Never do anything new on race day”? Well, I’m pushin the envelope a bit and putting some new ibungee laces on my pretty lil Sauconys. Hopefully no harm done.

It’s been a long day and I’m just about to get some sleep, but a quick recap…


After a very restless night, I woke up and finished packing. I sat down and enjoyed a nice breakfast and cup(s) of coffee before having a call with my coach. “Why are you so worried about this race??” He wanted to know… good question. I think i’m just so petrified to see how far I’ve slipped. Given the circumstances, I’ve lost a lot of speed/fitness/endurance from last year, but just how much? I’m not sure. The not knowing is almost comforting. What we don’t know can’t hurt us, right?

Well, luckily, my coach is awesome and always knows just what to say. He told me over and over this race is nothing but a pre-season race. I should race it hard, but it’s not an A-race and it’s solely to help us gauge where we stand moving forward. Whether it goes well or not, it’s gonna give me my baseline and that’s a good thing. I can only do what I can do and I have to be okay with that.

So, I double checked my gear, made sure i had all the necessities and loaded the car. After a quick stop at my sister’s and a “good luck tattoo” from my niece, Allison, I hit the road. Forget the M-Dot. I got me a fierce face.

Four hours later, I arrived in sunny St. Pete. Maybe it’s just me, but the roads around here are highly confusing. There’s like 12 1s streets and aves and norths and souths. i feel like i’m back in Arlington. Grid-system, people. It works. I digress. I scored a decent parking spot (thanks to my killer DC parallel parking skills) and I hit the expo. It was hot and humid and bright and sunny. It took me no time at all to get my packet and goodies and all the volunteers were super friendly. I walked around a little bit, picked up some laces and met my new friend, Brian, aka “Triboomer”. He’s leading the live tweetcast for the race and is doing some pretty cool things in the triathlon world. We wandered the expo for a bit and we hung out with a few awesome people. (Don’t tell anyone, but i think i was starstruck). I got to meet the soon-to-be professional triathlete, Mandy McLane who was incredibly awesome. Very down-to-earth and friendly. If things go according to plan tomorrow will be her last race as an amateur elite and will mark the beginning of her pro- career. how. freaking. awesome.

She also rocks a pretty sweet Kestrel. Nice choice. She’s gonna be at all the Rev3 events (dduh. anyone who’s anyone will be there). So, I’ll see her at Quassy.

I started to feel a migraine coming on, so I kept my time at the expo pretty minimal. The bright sun wasn’t helping, not to mention I could tell I was getting dehydrated. I still had a short pre-race workout to do, so I slipped into my gorgeous green-ery and unpacked my gorgeous bike. I felt so great in my gear and I got lots of compliments and “oooh trakkers!” comments along the way.

I did a short 20:00 around town, I couldn’t figure out the race course and there were way too many one-ways (of course the wrong ways). So I just rode to pedal, test my setup, and feel the road. The wind was pretty bad and I’m HOPING it’s better tomorrow. I included a couple 30 seconds at race pace, but nothing terribly intense. Just a nice and easy spin. I got back to the car, traded my cycling shoes for my running shoes and rode to transition. I racked my bike– SCORE, i’m on the main row from the swim/bike in, no counting rows for me! I tried to make mental note of how far down my bike was, did some visualization and then headed out for a short (10 minute) run. My head was all but throbbing at this point, so it was a painful jog that felt much much longer. Why are my legs so heavy? It was a recovery-ish week and there’s no excuse. Please, legs, be rested in the morning.



I found the swim exit and really wanted to get in and swim for a bit but I knew I was pushing it with my head as it was. I decided to go back to the expo and try and buy a new sports bra for tomorrow, but I got the entrance and was getting the light-headed nausea that typically accompanies my migraines… SO I headed back to the car and thanks to my iPhone found the nearest starbucks for some caffeine and a much needed water. I can’t believe how dehydrated I already felt. .

I then tried to follow the course map and drive the bike route. I got through part of it (why are we riding on umpteen speed bumps and navigating a bagillion turns??) before I had to find my hotel. Pronto. I probably shouldn’t have been driving at this point. When your head hurts so bad you can’t open your eyes and your thoughts are so disjointed you can’t make sense of anything, you probably shouldnt be operating heavy machinery. Thank God I found my hotel without too much difficulty. Too bad it’s pretty far away from the race and I’m pretty sure a scary movie has taken place at this hotel. I was in too much pain to care or do anything about it. But you better be sure the door is locked, deadbolted, and blocked by a chair.

I immediately drew myself an epsom salt bath, climbed in and tried to relax. Nice hot bath felt ok, but I was still so hot from the sun I decided to take a cold shower afterwards. much better. Dinner (brought from home, of course) consisted of my typical chicken, broccoli, and a salad with some grapes for dessert. I’m still not feeling great, but much better than earlier. Now that it’s MUCH later than I wanted to go to sleep, it’s time to cash out. I dont have the energy to get stuff ready or even map my way back to race start, so I’m saving everything for the morning. Make an early morning even earlier? Yeah, i know. smart move.

Well everybody, think fast thoughts for me tomorrow. I’m trying to listen to my coach on this one.

Don’t forget: LIVE Twitter updates from St. Anthony’s Triathlon tomorrrow 6:30 AM (EST) — follow @Sportsgrants or call in for the LIVE audio at (347) 945-6328.

I’m #2446

Apr 22 0 comments
Training

It’s Race Week.

I keep oscillating between excitement, fear, and denial. No matter how much I pretend it isn’t so, it is, in fact, race week. I’m closing in on my last few days of “off season” and before I know it I’ll have to admit the tri season, much like the cherry blossoms I dearly miss, is in full-bloom.

Having taken several weeks (10+) off of running due to an excruciating stress-fracture in the bottom of my right foot, my fitness level is far from where I’d like to be at this point in the year. Between that, picking up and moving across the country, starting a new job, buying a new house, and becoming a proud new puppy-mom, my training has (needless to say) suffered a bit. Part of me doesn’t want to race this weekend because I don’t want to see how slow I’ve become and kick the season off with a poor performance… the other part of me wants to get out there and enjoy the day doing what I love and make the most of it… but then the other part of me kicks in and reminds me it’s going to be tough to enjoy something when I compare myself to… well, myself.

In the past, the week of a race is treated with the utmost discipline. I’m religious about my nutrition, stretching, packing, and preparation. By this point in the week I would have read as many “race reports” as I could get my hands on, had my bags packed and a list of to-do’s… Hm… this year i don’t even know which room my race belt is in.

As I try and prepare (last minute) for my race, I thought I’d put together a list in case you wanted some ideas.

How to Research & Prepare for a Race
Know the course

Take some time to look at the course maps. Is the swim a rectangle? A triangle? Does the bike course have any sharp turns? Do you run a loop or an out-n-back? Knowing these ahead of time makes a huge difference. When you arrive on-site, set aside ample time for you to get out and drive the course. Look for any technical areas and visualize how you may handle them.

Past Results

Do yourself a favor and look up past results from this course. Does anything stand out? Are the swim times crazy fast? Maybe you are swimming with the current. Do the bike splits seem slow? You might be faced with a hilly course. If transition times are averaging on the higher side you may have further to travel barefoot (and in a wetsuit). Whatever the case, you can gleam some important details from last year’s results. Check them out.

Race Reports

I write them, you write them, we all write them. Use them to your advantage. One man’s story can be another man’s saving grace. Find out how others were feeling and what they experienced. I’ve adapted other triathletes’ mantras to help me in certain races. I once read about a guy who who lived along the course of a race I was doing. He ran the route countless times and had things to say about many of the landmarks. He knew when he crossed by the house with the red door he was exactly a mile from the end. He knew that the tennis court meant he could begin his 3/4 mile sprint… so, when I crosed that red house i knew i was 1 mile out…when i passed th tennis courts, i started MY 3/4 mile sprint. Sometimes it helps to put yourself in someone else’s shoes… and take them for a run.

Size Up the Competition

And if you’re super stalker-crazy and have lots of time on yours hands (I admit nothing), you can go so far as to size-up your competition. Find the entry list and look at the folks in your Age Group. Look at last years results, see any of their names? How did they do? How do you compare? Are they not in last year’s results? Google them. Look them up at athlinks. Stalk them. Find out if they’re afraid of the water. Use it to your advantage. OK, don’t do anything drastic… but if it’s your “A Race” and you’ve got things riding on it, have an idea as to where you stand realistically before ever stepping foot into T1.

Needless to say, I have done none of the above to prepare for St Anthony’s, but hopefully I’ll inspire myself to start doing a little research and get my head in the game.

T-3 days, after all.

Apr 14 0 comments
Nutrition, Training

Weekend Recap

Is it strange that I actually look forward to my weekend distances? There’s something about having hours to yourself alone with your thoughts that really appeals (not to mention no choice but to be away from a computer screen).

I woke up Saturday morning ready to hit the road and put my tired legs back to work. I had a 3 hour ride followed by a 30:00 transition run planned. I rather enjoy pedaling down A1A and find it surprising how no matter how many times I travel down this road I always discover new (extravagant) houses and (immaculate) yards. Sneaking a peak of the crashing waves between homes is not a bad touch, either.

I’ve got saddle sores flaring up again, which makes an otherwise no-stress ride incredibly painful. Having to adjust positions every couple seconds is not only annoying but will make my shoulders/back sore tomorrow. Anybody got any suggestions/tips for helping/preventing these?
I was supposed to stay in zones 1-2, so I didn’t push terribly hard, just kept it solid. I wanted to take note of my nutrition so my coach and I can come up with my individual plan. Someday I’ll find something that works and gives me enough energy without upsetting my stomach… until then, i’ll just keep experimenting. Coach suggests I get in at least 100 cal/hour on the bike. I stashed a pack of shotbloks in my bento box, filled my aero bottle with water and my cage bottle with 1.5 scoops EFS (orange). I was excited to give the EFS a try.

Nutrition

at 1 hour i drank 3 sips EFS
1:15 - 3 sips EFS
1:30 - 1 shot blok
2:00 - 3 sips EFS
2:30 - 3 sips EFS
3:00 - 3 sips EFS

I wanted to take in more, but i didn’t think my stomach would tolerate it. I felt like i got in enough, but i know it’s prob less than desirable. I wish that there were some non-fruity options for sports nutrition. i’m not a fan of super sweet stuff and i get that stringy taste in my throat i can only compare to drinking lemonade. I wasn’t a huge fan of the orange EFS, but still want to give it a few more chances. I didn’t bonk and had plenty of energy, so I think it’s got some staying power, I just didn’t love the taste… but I’m picky.

My transition run was pretty terrible. My legs were shot. It was tough… and slow… very slow. I was really tempted to turn around early (and it was only 30 mins!!), but thankfully I found the strength to finish it out.

Sunday was set to be a 1 1/2 hour z2 run. My whole body was exhausted, especially my legs. I had plenty of energy and my mind was in it, but that can only get you so far. Honestly, i just wanted to make the full 1.5 hours, i couldn’t aim for much more. There was no speed, just a leisurely pace. As far as nutrition, I just had 1 shot block at 45:00.

I got home and quickly (I use this term relatively… it takes me about 10 minutes and a carton of crisco) put on my wetsuit, grabbed a banana, and headed towards the beach. The tri club was starting their open water swims and I wanted to take full advantage of getting some time in the waves. It took a while to find parking since a jazz festival had all but taken over the area, but once I got out onto the sand my plans changed. The wind was angry, the red flag was flying, and while i did see the buoy bouncing in the horizon, I didn’t see any heads in the water. I realized this would not be the relaxing, low-key swim I was hoping for… so after a few minutes of indecisiveness, I waddled back to the car with thoughts of breakfast filling my head.

While I really want to get in some open water swims this year (aside from race days), I’m so glad I didn’t get out there. With an already tired body, it would not have been enjoyable and would have started my season on the wrong foot. So instead, I stopped by a gas station, picked up a couple bags of ice, and filled my tub while I whipped together a quick meal. Forget breakfast in bed… I’ll take breakfast in bath, please.


Nothing like post-workout recovery :)

I proceeded to spend the rest of the day doing something I’ve never done before: yard work. Let me just say, being a home owner comes with some downsides. I miss the DC “yards” which usually consist of a window box, balcony, or if you’re lucky a small patch of grass. Now there’s something I could handle… Spending HOURS upon hours raking leaves until sunset is not my idea of fun. Can’t imagine this is good for my aching back…


On the bright side, I spent the day outdoors and got quite the sense of accomplishment when I saw how much I accomplished all by myself. I also planted lots of pretty flowers which will hopefully brighten my drab (for now) street view.

Apr 13 2 comments
Training

Week in Review

i did it. i gave myself a goal and i stuck to it. one week down, the rest of the season to go! all i needed was some direction and the motivation just came naturally. It wasn’t easy and there were a few mornings it was all I could do to just get myself out of bed, but I am feeling great (albeit terribly sore) and ready to start another solid week.

Last weekend I was home in Panama City Beach, FL for Easter and I was able to do a preview of the Gulf Coast Triathlon course. It’s essentially the exact same course as the Florida Ironman, just half the distance. I’ve done this race for a few years now, but it’s always good to get in some practice on a race course. Starting from my house on the opposite side of the lagoon, I ran (most) of the half-marathon loop on Friday. My sister ran with me the first 2 miles and I ran the rest alone with my thoughts. It was a nice, casual paced workout and I spent most of the time gazing at my nostalgic surroundings and noticing all the changes. Saturday I rode the entire bike course. My dad wanted to join me and we more or less rode together for the first section then I pulled ahead and got to see him after the turnaround. Even if we weren’t side by side, it’s nice to have someone else out there with you. Good family bonding, or something. The course is notorious for it’s flat roads and can get tedious/uncomfortable since it doesn’t require much changing positions, but i’m happy to report the challenging destroyed road on 388 has been repaved and is FABULOUS. Last year I remember having to focus so much energy on watching the road to make sure none of the uneven edges or cracks were going to cause a wipeout. Not so good.


I felt pretty solid out there- good and steady the whole way- no bonking. i know i didn’t drink enough water or consume enough calories, i left my sports drink at home on accident, so i used some of my dad’s accelerade. Knowing it affects my stomach, i treaded lightly, and only drank half a bottle of (non watered down). i drank my aero bottle full of water, but no more. i didn’t feel terribly tired/dehydrated, and i know i can ride with limited calories, but hopefully this season i’ll be able to really dial in my nutrition plan.

i’m disappointed in my speed, but happy with how i felt. The bridge felt good and i climbed it well.

Maybe next time I’ll remember some sunscreen.

When I got home Sunday Evening, I had a lovely package waiting for me on my doorstep– my order from First Endurance. It came just in time for me to start my week off. I asked my coach to help me choose what to order and he suggested that we all need a good electrolyte/carbohydrate supplement, so I should try EFS to see if it sits well with me, especially at race intensity on the run. We also all need a quality recovery drink, so he said Ultragen would be a good product. According to him there are very few performance supplements that have any legitimacy, but Optygen seems to be one of them. He wasn’t convinced that EFS or Ultragen are much different from any other electrolyte or recovery drink out there, but Optygen is something that no one else seems to have. Thanks coach, good advice!


I’m excited to try everything, especially since I’ve heard such great things from my teammates. One of my goals this season is to really solidify my training/race nutrition, so I’m hoping these new goodies will help me succeed!

Monday

Day #1 went very well. My only workout on my schedule was a run and it felt great. I decided to run during lunch to better simulate the heat and humidity that I’ll be racing in. I scored 100% on my daily goals. Go me.

Tuesday

Swim + Bike. I scored 90% on my daily goals, but only because I splurged a bit and tasted some dessert.

I went to the local raw foods meetup and my friend and I shared a chocolate-toffee ice cream… granted that ice cream was not ice cream, but instead “ice cream”, a dairy-free concoction made from all whole, natural organic ingredients (namely nuts, raw cacao, agave, etc.). While it was still relatively healthy and completely raw, it was more calorie dense than my daily goals allow… but boy was it tasty :) For dinner, I ordered the collard wrap of the day which was filled with fresh marinated raw veggies (zucc, sweet peppers, kale, sprouts, cashew hummus, and more yummy stuff) and served with an Asian “Peanut” Sauce, which I used sparingly. It also came with some flax crackers, but I stayed strong and pushed those to the side. The wrap was fairly large, so I only ate half and boxed up the rest for Wednesday’s lunch. As always at Present Moment, everything was superb. Definitely worth the 45 minute drive.

Wednesday

Today went well: run + strength. My run was really tough b/c my legs were already pretty fatigued. I used this as an opportunity to test out my new Ultragen Recovery drink, cappuccino flavor. Ho-lee cow this stuff was sinfully delicious. I stopped drinking milk a few years ago (lactose intolerant), but this stuff tasted just like a rich, creamy frappuccino milkshake. Not even kidding. I think if i did taste tests people would never guess it’s made to be a supplement. I’m slightly skeptical of the high amount of calories, and since my run was only 45 minutes, I just used 1/2 scoop (1/4 serving). Powder + water + ice in a shaker cup = bliss. This might get me to look forward to saturday’s long ride so i can treat myself to some recovery drink. nothing like motivation by reward!

So anyway, I scored 100%. I should earn bonus points for finally attending the local Tri Club, the Hammerheads, monthly meeting. For one reason or another every single first Wednesday of the month has otherwise been booked, so I made it a point to keep this one open. I’m glad I went, I met a few people, heard about some exciting upcoming events (organized Sunday open water swims, the Never Quit Race, and much more). A couple guys also talked about their experience running an ultra marathon (55 miles) to honor a local childrens hospital. It was incredibly inspirational, moving, and reinforced how crazy we endurance athletes truly are :)

After the meeting, I completed my strength workout, something I’ve been really neglecting the past few months. I concentrated on my core and worked really hard.

Thursday

One word: tough. My legs were shot and I had to do a power workout where I had to hold max power for several intervals. It was so hard. i couldn’t even come close to making my prescribed numbers and felt pretty down on myself. i tried to push and go as hard as i could, but my legs just couldn’t do it… Turns out my coach accidentally did some bad math and gave me unrealistic wattage to hold, but even still, I didn’t reach the corrected numbers. Not a good feeling.

I still give myself 100% since I hit all the daily goals, despite my less-than-awesome ride. I worked hard.

Friday

Success. 100%. I slept in a little, did my swim during lunch and biked after work. My body was still pretty sore/fatigued, but swimming felt good to loosen the muscles. i didn’t feel like i could quite get my speed, but i also didn’t push too hard knowing I had a long training weekend ahead. My evening ride was so enjoyable. It was PERFECT conditions- air, temp, wind, sun. gorgeous! The workout was cadence-focused and made me realize how I have so much room to improve. i really need to work on my cadence. my comfort zone is low; it’s hard for me to reach/maintain 100 rpm. I’m so much more comfortable at 80. Gotta be more conscious of this. hmm… another goal? :)