Never done tri ing

So far I haven't done a thing but ride my bike to and from work and a little hike on Sunday. It is Monday and I am actually a little stiff from that hike. It was nice to be out in the mountains. I would like to do that more this fall. Maybe tonight?

I've definitely had more thoughts about Wisconsin as the week has gone on. That race was the hardest thing I have ever done. I found a quote before I left. "It is not about finding your limits, its about finding what lies beyond them." I think I went further beyond my limits on that run than I ever have before. If you really think about it, that is an accomplishment in itself. However, I also feel a little sense of redemption. I don't see myself at this point retiring from IM racing. I need to go back at some point and have the race of a lifetime. This year is going to be the year of learning how to swim fast. I need to come up with a plan for how this is going to happen. Will you help me? PT/g-fit, lots of swimming, finding a person who can run and watch me often, some sort of camp?

The other think I need to do is figure out what is wrong with my hip. I need to call the orthopedic doctor and get in with an appointment. When I last saw him the only thing I could think about was racing, we hardly even talked about what it actually might be, just that I wouldn't permanently damage myself my doing the race. Further, once I talk to him I want to talk to my PT and see if he can give me a bunch of G-fit strength stuff to do that is specific for 1-triathlon, and 2-some of my running problems and 3- hopefully have some knowledge on swimming and dryland exercises specific for swimming. I have asked him before and I don't think swimming is a huge area of expertise for him, so I may have to find someone else.

This week has definitely been more like the off season. Erik's Korean mentor has been in town. We went to his lecture which even featured a bunch of Erik's work and then out to a fancy dinner with all the architecture people. Also, Erik received an AIA award so we got to dress up and go to that banquet and ceremony. It is really cool how respectable everybody is to Erik. I drove around on Saturday with my Mom and looked at houses in the Parade of Homes. I was hoping to get a sense of what I liked for our house, but ended up taking lots of pictures of what I don't like.

MSU now has a Tri club. I guess they have been around since last spring. I talked to the guy who is their head coach. He mentioned they want to put on a race next spring called the Bobcat. I am going to meet up with him at some point here soon. I sent the last email and haven't heard back yet. I am a little worried because we don't necessarily get along. He was all weird when I got you to come and do those clinics rather than him. Personally, I don't think he is a very good coach. I'm going to insert gossip here. He had a couple who he coached for CDA and they got pulled on the bike. Their longest ride of the year was only 80 miles. He does training rides with them on his 50lb single speed while they ride tri bikes. How demoralizing. Also, he is very USAT (level 1 certified ;) ) Anyway, back to the Bobcat. Here is the thing. I have a vision for this race. I don't want it to be diluted by too many cooks in the kitchen. I will meet with him and see what the kids in the tri club think. However he isn't getting back to me. I am hoping that won't get their ducks in row and I can just get the Bobcat done without them. Is that terrible. I don't like race organization with a committee.

Not really sure what you are thinking for the next few weeks, but I am still feeling very tired. This year seemed hard. Was it harder? I think it was. My friend is finalizing his 2014 schedule. He is very type A but just being that organized made me tired. Interesting though, I was just going through my calendar and making a list of all the racing I have done this year. There was quite a bit. Quite a few bigger races too. Anyway back to scheduling etc, maybe some checklists would be good. Not a specific schedule.

IM Wisconsin race report

First, I finished. I am happy to complete the event. Not just happy but very accomplished. 2nd, the spectator support was absolutely amazing. Third, the transition and the helix running and riding was pretty damn cool. 4th, I pushed the bike hard. Maybe blew myself a little for the ride home, but wanted to try. 5th, the run took us through Camp Randall Stadium. What other race does something that cool? 6th, the weather was cool. Not 90 degrees like the day before or the day later. 7th, the finish chute brought me to tears.

But, oh my lord, that was a long day. I chatted with another girl at midnight when we were cheering in the final racers and we summed it up. The swim was choppy, the ride was windy, and the run was hilly. Further, I had my own unexpected issues. My cleat almost fell off during the bike. I probably spent 10 minutes finding a screwdriver to keep the two remaining screws in place. Second, I felt like I lost my gut on the run. Felt nauseous on the bike and had to use the outhouse at least 5 times on the run. Couldn't keep food in me. Not vomiting, the other direction. Perform turns out to be a fairly good drink. It was hard because I knew I had to keep getting I'm some calories, they just kept coming out.  Erik said he felt crappy all day and is convinced we ate something bad. I have never had gut problems like that on the run and have used the exact same nutrition plan for long rides all year.  Getting through that marathon was difficult. Did you see the times though? Slow. Everybody cooked themselves on the bike. My run, I thought, was horrendous, until I saw the times. I followed what you said though and focused on form. Especially on the steep downhills. My hip hurt very little, but I felt it could creep in. It almost hurt worse sleeping that night. I could not roll over on it.

Mentally, I was not super into the event. Not like the past couple of years, where I embrace the long day. I really had to force myself to enjoy it.  I don't think I enjoyed more than five minutes of the run. Watching my times was demoralizing, just felt like I was in a crappy place all day. Looking at the times, if my run had gone well I was probably better off than I had thought. 

Can't wait to hear your thoughts.

Taper week thoughts and worries

Are you kidding me. I have a UTI. Spent Tuesday morning in Urgent Care and at Walmart getting it taken care of. It is harder to get the the start line healthy than I thought. Remember we talked about this a while ago? On antibiotics for a week. None of the nurses seemed to think the antibiotics would have any side effects. At least I won't feel some uncomfortable for the rest of the week.

Rode the two loops of the course on Monday. I love it. There are a couple of pretty steep hills but it wasn't up and down the whole time. There were lots of flatter, settle in, sections. I guess most people aren't used to Battle Ridge or Kelly Canyon or Bozeman pass or Hyalite or all of them in one ride. It is really fun to ride lots of turns, different scenery, and road types. Some of the roads could stand to use some work, bumpy.

This write up is pretty crappy. Don't have a ton to say. Enjoying relaxing and hanging out with my Mom in Wisconsin Dells. Am not yet very nervous about racing. I am excited. The bike course is really fun and the run is going to be great. I get to tour downtown Madison 2x. What better way to sightsee. I guess a race strategy would be a good idea. I was thinking I would need to hold back on the bike but now not sure  how much. Who knows what is going to happen on the run. Hopefully my run will be okay without that last couple of weeks. What do you think? Should I expect to be okay, or be a little slower? Should I shoot for a goal time for this race, or just go as fast as I can without looking at a watch?  If I could shoot for a goal time it would be 10:30. Faster than IM Canada, but I know this is course is slower so I don't want to set myself up for failure.

Okay, tired. Off to bed. Talk tomorrow.

Woot! 5k no way!

Now that it is Sunday and I missed the long run, I am a little anxious about my running. Having a hard time remembering why I was so confident in my run on Friday. Other than that little worry though, I am ready. I am feeling very ready for this race. Nervous, but super stoked.

Schedule - leave for Madison at 1:30 on Saturday. Get in around 9 pm. Will stay in Madison that night and head to Wisconsin Dells midday or later on Sunday (something about rental car timing). Will spend week riding the course?:) My bike has been shipped and should arrive at the condo before i do. Head back to Madison on Friday and will stay there the rest of the time. Did I tell you I think the condo we have in Wisconsin Dells has a somewhat long pool with lines on the bottom? Otherwise I need to find a lake to swim in. Shouldn't be too hard.

How do I feel? - Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, felt haggard and tired. Came around for the ride Saturday. Was tired Sunday but a lot from accommodating Erik and his little bike tour with Cory. Feel pretty good now, on Monday. Feeling fit and organized. I am not super stressed. (Oops, wrote a lot of this already below. A work in progress)

I read in this magazine on Friday during all of my super anxious waiting at the doctors office (I think that took some time off my life) that "balance" is a buzzword these days. I completely agree. Whoever says they have good balance in life is perhaps way too organized, and maybe not very good at anything they do. I think that in reality to do something great you have to put off other things. Then later you can do those other things great. One cannot always be great at everything, and the important thing here is that we have to realize that is okay!

Wow, Thursday and Friday were very challenging days. I didn't realize how much I wanted to do IM Wisconsin until it could potentially be taken away. I felt like I had put all my eggs in one basket and was going to be left with a very quiet ending to this amazing summer. I also figured out how I am going to feel about the results of IM Wisconsin and I kind of what I want to do next year. Not completing this Ironman did not fit in with those plans and I was left wondering how to fill the potential void. Hopefully, now everything is going to be okay. I might have to face not running well, but I am not going to worry about that right now.

Before Thursday and Friday I was feeling pretty fatigued. I was having a hard time sleeping and didn't have much of an appetite. My friend at Colombo's gave me an extra large salad plate and told me I look like I need to eat. I was feeling ready for IM to be over. However, now that it is Friday, I feel much better about the next two weeks. Getting scared can make you feel a lot more grateful for what you have. I do hope I get in some good rest in the next few weeks though.

Monday- Ran 30 minutes. Don't remember hip hurting.

Tuesday- Rode bike around town for an hour. Rode up to parents because they had my cash card.

Swam on my own at lunch. Had the masters coach write me a workout. Busted out 4000 in 1:30. Makes me think about Masters and all  those slackers, talking all the time. So hard to get in good yardage. Maybe I should start an MSU swim club. Swam with a really fast guy today.

Wed- I did the 3+ hour ride inside. The TV show, Alphas, is very entertaining BTW. I broke the 2:30 up into 15 minute intervals at which point I ate and drank and in my mind had a clock going around in circles at 15 minute intervals. I was pretty proud of completing that ride and I rode hard too. Then I headed out onto the run and am still mystified at how bad my legs hurt at Polson because at the beginning of Wed. run  my legs felt great. Then my hip started to hurt and I almost went home more than once.

Thursday- PT and made appointment with Orthopedic doc. Was terrified and in tears all day. Met a couple of girls at the pond for the swim. I didn't stop and talk with them once. Just kept on going for 60 minutes. My left shoulder was kind of sore for lap #2 (of 4 laps) but went away. Got sort of sick of swimming the last five minutes.

Friday- Can't believe it is Friday already. Doctors appointment in the morning. Didn't get to work until after noon. Feel bad about not being at work but without experiments going on I can be pretty bored. Rode to appointment and to work. Need to do some errands that I put off yesterday for getting ready for Madison so am going to skip ride. Will do run. 20 minutes only. Then maybe hike.
Reported on run recon mission.

Sat- 122 miles. 4 big climbs. Worked hard and was worked when I was done. Pushed hard on the climbs. Wanted to see if I could blow myself up. Thought a lot about pace. Rode too hard for IM. Also got some more mental fortitude training. Which, by the way, I have had enough! My thinking is that I ride all those hills in Wisconsin like I am going to ride each one forever. Never let my legs start to hurt. Hold back a little in the beginning. Need strong legs to run. Hopefully.

Sunday- Woot! I don't think I have ever swam 5k before. 40 f**king 100's. I'm a mental bullet. (That better make you smile)  Was going to mix it up a bit with some builds, maybe some pulls etc. Once I got to the pool though, I understood the purpose of 40 100's. I found my pace. 1:46/100. I held it the whole time! Very comfortably.  Now at IM I need to swim straight and closer to the buoys.

Rode to and from pool. Rode back to work a little later and to the grocery store. Think total riding was probably an hour. Hopefully that was okay. Super tired. Packed bike last night at 10:30. Erik left on a ride today and things were hectic.

Monday - swam the 1800 today. There is no way I will be able to schedule that in tomorrow, with such limited pool hours.  Felt slow and had a hard time getting rhythm. Likely just tired from yesterday.

Polson race report

Question- I ride and get off the bike and run fairly often. It has gotten easier. So, depending on the race length and the effort is it more difficult to transition?  My legs on Sat. were horrible. Should they be, or was this really not my running race. See more below.

Schedule- There is not more Masters until after Labor Day. Something about pool maintenance. Looks like the rest of the swimming will be at the pond or MSU. Can you write me something for Tuesday?

Definitely have to ship TT bike next Monday. Talked to UPS today. Will have road bike to ride. So, a long ride on Saturday would probably be better than a long ride on Sunday. 

The Bozeman Century ride costs 50$. I don't really want to pay that much just to ride 100 miles. Plus, part of the route is actually one of my least favorite rides in the area. Not worth the money.  I would rather go climb up some hills or something. Can probably get Erik to ride with me since Lawrence is going to be doing Canada this weekend. 

Work- Have a big mouse take down on August 27th(Tuesday) and August 29th(Thursday) with Wed. and Friday being busy running flow and analyzing. Way to pack it in there Julie :). The boss just gave me all this stuff to do. So this week I guess I will work on packing and getting my stuff together. 

Feeling- Monday morning after the weekend. Didn't sleep super well last night so am feeling tired. Looking forward to an easy 30 minute run and getting some other stuff done. I need to start thinking about getting my bike packed up and shipped. Hopefully get some better sleep tonight. 

Race report:

7th. Really wanted top 5. You know what? I really want to be better than everybody else. I guess that is my competitive nature. I need to find something that I am amazing at.  The conclusion of Polson, in my mind, is that I am a little disappointed. I felt  more pressure to perform at this race, especially since Matt S. is the race director. I got #3 and Ali had #2 and Sue # 1.  I respect Matt, a lot, and feel like I let him down. I rode with Ali on Sunday and she said the same thing, since Matt is coaching her. That would not be fun, so thank you so much for not making me feel that way! So, basically my swim time sucked and I had a hard time making up ground on the bike. But, you know what. I actually was feeling good about my swim before I saw the results. I did a good job of sighting. Didn't stop, but kept the sighting as part of my stroke. Even did a little bit of bilateral breathing. I should have been better about swimming right along the buoys.  Felt good on the bike. Was working pretty dang hard. I finally got into the top 5 at the end of the bike but I think I had a dehydrated bonk. I underestimated how much water I would need for the bike(Polson is humid). On the run, first of all, my legs would not turnover, and I was sooooo thirsty. Got passed right off the bat by a Polson track coach and then a little while later by a 17 year old. Demoralizing.  Just never felt good on the run. After more thought, though, I am not sure I could have done much better than 6th. If I had felt good, I know I could have gotten 6th. After the race, sat and drank two bottles of water and a coke. Was not going to run the extra 6 miles because I felt so crappy but after drinking felt better. Ran the second lap slower, but felt much better. Could actually get my turnover and pace up a little if I wanted to. It wasn't an easy extras 6 miles but felt better. I was so tired after the race. I think a bit out of it. Slept really well on Saturday night and felt good again on Sunday. 

Next year(depending on what happens in Wisconsin, obviously) I think I am going to change up the game a little bit. No expensive IM's and be a Montana race warrior. Maybe the GWN.  I really like racing and it would be fun to be able to be more prepared for races like Polson and the Grizzly. Also, after some thought while swimming on Sunday, maybe really swim 10x a week and see if I can get faster. I hate losing the race on the swim.

Tuesday- Friday- Can't even remember what I did all week. Work experiment turned out pretty good. Getting some good results.  Was super tired all week. Erik kept bringing people over in the evenings. On Thursday night I could barely move off the couch and I told him he had to keep them in the garage. Went to bed early on Thursday and felt much better on Friday. Its amazing what a good nights sleep can do. Did change up some stuff a little. My bike was in pieces on Wed so just rode the commuter around a little after work. Didn't get in the full time though. Was super tired, but did go raid the parents garden for fresh beans, peas, and lettuce. Got the TT bike together for racing on Thursday evening, so rode that for ~ 45 minutes in the am on Friday rather than taking a long commute to work. I like to test out the wheels etc. before racing. Still commuted to and from work. Other than that, followed the plan. Swim on Thursday was really good. Didn't help me much, but felt my arms get going a little better each 50. 

Sunday- was disorganized on time and didn't get in 60 minutes right away. Swam 30 minutes. Rode with Ali for 3 hours. She took me on a fun ride around the valley, into the trees at the base of the missions, a water stop at a vet clinic. It was nice to get to know her better.  Swam 30 more minutes when I got back. There was a lot of chop for the 2nd 30 minutes, but it was really fun. Felt good swimming. Uggh. Hopefully that is better than nothing. Sort of jealous of the awesome swimming venue.  Beats the pond for sure. Could have stayed in for two more hours. Jumped off the dock a few times for fun!

I survived

It is Monday and I am feeling tired. Duh! The 20 mile run was hard. It was hard for me to keep it together. I was definitely tired for it. More on that below. Everything else seems to be okay. My hamstring is getting managed and the piriformis keeps raising its ugly head. Fortunately I can go to PT if I need to and I keep on stretching. Bike fit for the new shoes went well.

As I am sitting here writing this, I don't really have any questions popping into my head. I think you worked me into delirium this week. All I can think about is eating and sleeping.

Schedule-
Polson- convinced my Mom to go with me and get a fancy hotel. The one that is right on the lake. Woohoo! Girls weekend. We haven't done one since Oliver a couple of years ago. She knows I will need to do something on Sunday though. I was thinking probably am ish so that we can get back to Bozeman at a reasonable hour. She has a cousin who she is close with to entertain her.

IM Wisconsin- I think I am going to ship my bike out there UPS. If I ship it ground it is pretty cheap. I think for it to get there in time and avoiding problems with weekends and holidays, the best day to ship it will be August 26 or 27. Is that going to be a problem. I can ride my road bike for those few days in between right?

Work- The boss is officially back on August 19th. His wife had a baby a few weeks ago. I might need to stop blowing work off when he gets back and after IM I can't take a holiday and I have to work weekend for a month. I am just kidding, but at some point I need to start being a little more mindful about being at work. Just an FYI. I have no experiments scheduled for the week of August 18th-24th.

Wow, this week has been intense!

Tuesday- Super super tired. Masters just about killed me. Actually got out at 2800. Don't usually do that.

Ride on Wednesday was really good. I was really tired on Monday and Tuesday and on Tuesday's run my calves/achilles got really tight. Wore compression all night and all day Wed. The pain was gone by Wednesday evening. Went to Amsterdam/Churchill area where there are a lot of rollers. Good terrain to practice IM Wisconsin on. Was pretty tired when I rolled home but when I started the run my legs felt great. Finished my usual 30 minute run in closer to 25 minutes. That was super motivating. Feeling fit!

Thursday- Good swim with Masters, nice EASY run. At Masters did a bunch of 100's. Played with my pace and how I feel at different paces. I think I feel better going a bit faster. I think if I have to I can go that pace and then take a few easy strokes here and there. I will anyway sighting, going around buoys etc.

Friday- Ride was hard. Wow, that was a serious test of mental fortitude. I didn't realize how many 14 could be. The hill I chose to go up and down that also had a headwind. It was a blustery day. It got a bit tiring. The ride was a little short (20 minutes or so), and maybe the hill was a little too steep because I definitely did not take 3:30 to 4:00 minutes between each up. I actually didn't do a lot of pedaling downhill. I did think about riding up and down hills though, and wasn't not pedaling because I was resting. The hill was just steep.

Saturday- That was a hard swim. Total time was something like 1:25 or 1:30. Worked hard and thought a lot about Ironman pace. Did run right after swim. It was good. I was pretty exhausted after these though. Thought about bailing on our trip for the next day. Wanted to lay on the couch and go to sleep.

Sunday- On Saturday night Erik, Lawrence, and I drove to Wise River. It is the closest place to Bozeman where we could start  a ride on the Pioneer Scenic Byway. It was great. There was a little restaurant there where we ate. Camping in the FS campground was free. The evening was cool. We all got some really great sleep. In the morning left from the campground, rode to Wise River, rode south on the scenic byway, rode to Jackson, rode to Wisdom, and then back to the car. The scenic byway is beautiful. Into Jackson there is a huge pass. Then we got surrounded by thunderstorms, lightning, crazy wind, etc. and it didn't let up for the next 60 miles. Other than being worried that if I got too wet I was going to get really cold, we were totally fine. Had some crazy tailwinds. Erik was going 40 MPH. Also, winds that felt like you could just get blown off the road. Total ride was 119 miles and I have to say I will never forget it and I am very glad we did it. (Will try and post some photos)
Did you know the Beaverslide comes from that area. Have a cool photo of a huge pile of hay.

Monday- I have to do what today? This has been in the back of my mind all week. Blew off work because I knew that if I went to work in the am, the run would really, really suck. I don't like runs to really suck. I little suck comes with the territory, but in general they need to be awesome. Anyway, mapped out an interesting, but very hilly run. Left the house prepared and with the legs feeling very tired right off the bat. Ran about half of the planned run, which was really hilly and then changed my mind and made the rest a lot flatter. This run hurt, I cannot say it was awesome. I had a really hard time settling in and finding something to think about. Kept thinking about how far the road in front of me was. Once I got home I remapped my route. 21.5 miles. It took me about 3:30. I think the first part of hilly town trails really slowed me down. Had a standoff with a cow. That was interesting. He was on the trail and would not move. Had to just walk by him. He didn't seem to mind. I didn't get chased.

I had to blow off the swim. Blew off too much work and just don't have the energy to try and fit it into my schedule. I'm sorry, but I think it would have killed me anyway. Too much mental fortitude building this week.

Life

After a totally debilitating day at work. I am still in tears. I found an article that somebody posted on Facebook. It is called "30 questions to ask yourself before you die"  Lots of great questions that makes you realize little work issues are so petty, that people are petty, and that is sucks because there are so many more important things out there, so many more fulfilling things.

Here is the article
http://www.businessinsider.com/30-questions-to-ask-yourself-before-you-die-2013-7?utm_source=buffer&utm_campaign=Buffer&utm_content=buffer88bd6&utm_medium=facebook

Have been thinking about Polson. What should the plan be for the weekend. I have two options. Go up there Friday, race, come home. Or go up there Friday, race, and stay in Kalispell through Sunday. What is training going to be like after race? Would it be good to stay and swim and ride and/or run in the Flathead? Checked out the registered list yesterday. I am so irked that Linsey Corbin is racing. Is that bad of me? The only races in Montana she shows up to have prize money and she doesn't even have to race to get the top spot. I was looking forward to trying to duke it out with some of those girls, but (I'll stop writing what I want to say). You know how you have to be pro to win prize  money in USA triathlon. I think pros should be exempt in these little races.

So, I have been thinking and sort of stressing about how I think about this. My goal going into IM Wisconsin is to qualify for Kona. Sometimes, I question why. These races make me so full of anxiety going into them, Kona doesn't even sound fun and I haven't even qualified. However, it seems like the ultimate goal. I won't ever be a pro, but I can MAYBE do this. I am ambitious, I want to passionate, I am competitive, and I am also a bit of a dreamer. I guess those are a few of the reasons I want to go. So here is my problem. Did you see that maybe? I really wanted to be faster at Calgary. Those top two girls were smokin, but I still came in right below the 10% mark. That seems to be a pattern and it worries me. I did have a few problems such as shifting and losing two places on the run because I had to use the outhouse.  I don't know how much of that is an excuse, or if it wouldn't have changed anything. So tell me what you think. Yeah, nay? How is Wisconsin going to go. I need a little pep talk, either way. The emotions are running low.

More thoughts on Calgary- my bike was missing a gear. Found it in the bucket Friday. I wasn't going crazy when I kept dropping the chain on the warm up ride before the race Sunday. After analyzing the numbers and converting km into miles I ran Calgary faster than I have ever ran a half!

Next weekend- looks like it isn't going to happen. I should have known. My sister never ceases to disregard our plans. I should have learned by now to not make plans with her. Anyhoo. I might be better to stay around here. I get in a better weekend, not take a whole day off work, and not include 12 hours of driving. 

Maybe I can find some sweet ride to go on and I can still take some time if I should need a long weekend.

Swim- can I get a confidence boost swim. 4k in the pool or a good hard pond swim. Felt like I could do another lap at Calgary, but would like the confidence.

Schedule- Got called to jury duty next Tuesday(13th). I have to report for the whole day. Hopefully it will get called off, but I can't plan on anything for that day. I was going to do an experiment that day, but will now have to push it to Wed. So Wed. the 14th will be a very busy work day. Nothing during the day, and could be a late day, past 6:30. 

The week

Mellow week. Did ride on Wednesday. Easy on the my bike, but I was very emotionally charged and had a lot to think about. Ended up riding into the dark. Even Erik was a little worried. Friday, missed ride. Still had race wheels on bike and shoes with no cleats. Poor planning and my mechanic was not being at my beckoning call.
Saturday was a great ride. Good company and a good not so hard pace. Went over Battle Ridge, stopped in Livingston for coke and French fries, and then over Bozeman pass. 85 miles. Amazing how I didn't feel all that worked.
Sunday- the ride was maybe a little less productive than normal. Decided on an adventure which kind of failed and ended up being a lot of walk a bike. The run was great though. Maybe not flat, but a perfect 1:45 loop on trail.