Swimming

Haven't shown you picture of the new speakers or amps lately. Or Mrs. Man or handsome Mr. Man.

Anyway, this stupid thing is on centered justified and cant get it to change. Except I lost the picture of Mr. Man and the amps. Plus the picture got cut off. 

PT

Core, core, and more core.

The exercises I have been doing to help align my SI joint seem to work but not be helping in the long term. The PT is concerned this could be the beginning of a chronic back pain. So now I really need to do core work. 3x a week forever. No slacking in the summer when training is intense. This work is actually going to take some work too. I realized today that maybe with strength and stretching I may be just going through the motions (a little bit anyway). He wants me to be able to hold plank for 2 minutes. I am dying after1 minute. 

Here are core exercises adapted from what I have been doing.

Plank

Side plank (both sides)

Lay on stomach on exercise ball and hold a 7lb weight. move up and down holding weight to chest. Move down in 3 seconds hold at top for two. The lowering motion is what will build strength. (3 sets of 15, add weight when that gets easy)

Lay on back and do bicycle, except go slow and reach right hand for right knee and Left hand for right ankle. Dont grab knee or ankle, just touch. It is a pilates thing. Get up to being able to do 50 on each side. I only did 20 and was tired.

Schedule

My birthday is Tuesday. Have something fun in store? I was thinking of taking off the afternoon. I have an experiment to do on Monday and will probably stay late to finish it, so that I don't have to work so much on Tuesday (so something in the evening on Monday would be best).  Will probably go out to lunch with my sister and mom.An adventure bike ride in the afternoon would be fun?  Then I hope Erik makes me Pho. 

Other 

We are going to be here for Thanksgiving. Can I do the Huffing for Stuffing? Can I? Can I? What do you think 5 or 10k? 

I think I mention this somewhere else, but I think a Thursday Master's swim would be good. 

Thursday

Swam wwith my friend Katie. She swam in high school and college and is really fast. She showed me a really cool drill where you start in fetal position floating in water, you extend your arms and legs, start to kick, and then put in the arms. If gives me a really good feel for the water and being balanced. Further she said that I need to push out my chest more. I am rounding my back a lot. When I did this I felt so much better. My shoulders opened up for a cleaner rotation. Her tip for the day was to think plank. I lose the plank when I breath. 

Friday

Arms are getting a bit tired and I am starting to have a taste of being in the water often. The MSU pool is cold and I don't much like the first 100, especially if I'm cold to begin with. Maybe as this continues 2x a week with Masters might be better. The Swim Center is also much warmer. 

Saturday

Had a very late morning. This weeks time change was killing me. Super tired. Did a whole bunch of stuff around the house. Cleaning and getting organized. Rode the recycling on the trailer to be dropped off. I thought it was fun. Then did a ride around town. Probably 1:30 or so. 

Sunday

Swim was great! I went for it and stayed on the toes of people in my lane. Didn't think to much about form. Just swam. Kind of a good break from all the thinking. Went on a steep hike/run with Lawrence. Then met with Matt Parks about triathlon in Bozeman. He is on the same page. More than would have thought. Good things for Bozeman/Montana triathlon and races

Monday

Rode around at lunch. It was such a beautiful day. Got so overheated in the clothes I had on. 

Swam after work. Good swim. Still stop doing catch up and breathing on my left side. Katie said it looked like I wasn't getting in a very good rotation when I went to breath. 

Tuesday

I love running. Enough said. 

Wednesday

I will get the swim in, the bike however, might be a bit of a bust. I haven't put together the TT bike after Madison yet. Isn't that sad? Then yesterday I was thinking about this and can't for the life of me remember where the pedals are. I have a one set for the TT bike and the road bike that I have to change over and neither are containing pedals.  I might have to spend the 30-45 minutes tonight looking. 

Woop

This ended up being a pretty good week as far as sticking to the plan.

Have been doing the PT. It seems to be helping, but it is sort of funny the places where it will hurt again. Doing breast stroke kick gets it to flare up. I have another appointment next week with David, but in the meantime might email Jason. I feel like David is treating me like a Chiropractor. Just keep coming back in. I really want to get a more holistic sense of what is going on. Lawrence suggested getting a second opinion. I know these exercises are helping, but should I be doing something to prevent this problem in the long term? Strength work, etc? I guess I will ask David these questions next week. Okay, sorry about that. Thinking while typing.

I committed to helping my sister, which wasn't super productive on my part, but Erik did a lot of work so I suppose that counts. However, on Friday night I made up for the missed ride on Saturday. We did an Alley Cat. Basically a scavenger hunt on bikes. It was really fun. Erik, Bender, Mike and I stayed together. Being a Bozemanite, I knew where everything was and they rode fast dragging me along from place to place. Not that this ride was about winning, but we were so close to being the first ones in. I got first female and I think Bender and Mike were 3rd and 4th male. Better cost to benefit ratio than most cyclocross races. We rode like crazy for a couple of hours, drank a couple of beers with everybody after the event and got home at 11pm. Woop, what a day. Alley Cat's are the best excuse to be total hooligans on bikes. Road rules forgotten. Oh, I also did the swim workout that day. The sculling was really interesting. I played around with it a lot. Slicing my hands through the water, scooping the water. After eight 25s I definitely had enough, but also the right amount to really get a good feel.

Sunday was also another really fun day. Swam with Masters in the am. The workout consisted of lots of 50's some fast, some slow, some IM, some diving off blocks. I think for where I am fitness wise with swimming this was an awesome workout. I tried with all my might to stay on Lawrence's toes during the fast parts and I was pretty happy for doing it. The harder efforts aren't killing me like they do the first time back in the pool after a while. After swimming we got coffee and lunch with the Masters and listened to Flora tell us all about the horror movies she owns and has seen. (she has Down's Syndrome, I think). Then Lawrence and I hiked to Second Hump above the M. It is probably 2/3's of the way to Baldy. We went straight up. It was a really good hike and great company. You are my rock and Lawrence is my anchor.

Swimming-
I would like to mention a few things that I notice while swimming and a few "epiphanies" that I have had.

1) When I do catch up drill, which I think is really good because it is helping my reach, I try and breath every three. When I breath on my left side, which is the side I like to breath on, I loose my balance and stop dead in the water. I can fix this while concentrating and I think it is because my right arm is crossing over to the left or that I turn my head too much not my body. What do you think?

2) Swimming with paddles the other day I got my roll to be more accentuated. I felt like it was much smoother and with a lot of thought maybe gave me a better catch. I felt like I was really pulling myself with my back all the way over to the other side. I try and emulate this without the paddles but it doesn't always work. Should I have somebody watch me with the paddles and without and see how it looks? Any other suggestions?

3) Kicking on side- What is the point of this? Head up or head down? I was putting my head in the water and just trying to take breaths when I needed them. I have a tendency to arch my lower back doing these. Should I concentrate on keeping my core tighter?

Mulex

So I have a question for you. I looked up Austin results because I knew Charisa was racing and wanted to see how she did. You had 4 pros racing Austin, didn't you? You coach a lot of really good athletes. Here is the question. I have to be pretty low on your totem pole. Do you have space to keep coaching me? 

That was quite the week. Super busy with Mulex and work and still being sick. I was stuffed up and coughing all the way through Sunday.
I was pretty bad about following the prescribed plan. I am looking forward to not being so busy and having time to myself to exercise.

I was doing a 30 minute run. Super excited about it. I haven't run in a long time. Had my music in and the weather was beautiful. I passed this kid on the trail and he flagged me down and asked if he could run with me. I was a little annoyed because I was enjoying my run, but I couldn't say no. He ran probably 20 minutes with me. Then when we parted wanted my phone number so that I could let him know when I was going to run again. During the run I was telling him about Mulex. He showed up at Mulex. He raced the beginner race and won a helmet which was great since he didn't have one. So long story short, I have a protege.

Mulex was a success. The weather was awesome and we didn't have any insurmountable setbacks. I think I was a little to relieved it was over on Sunday night because I drank the bottle of champagne I won on Saturday plus a bunch of beer from the keg and was so hungover on Monday I had to call in sick. I was in good company though, managed to get John Curry as drunk which is pretty hilarious.

I raced (very last minute) on Saturday and not so very last minute on Sunday.  Saturday was awesome. The course was 100% designed for me. Up and down and around corners. I could have gone around 10 more times. Plus, my stuffy nose and cough is not related to me being sick because once I got warmed up I felt great. Sunday was a bit tougher. There were some longer stretches of bumpy ground and my legs were starting to buckle the last couple of laps. Still had a good race though.  I really, really like to race cyclocross.

anyway, I might be convinced to go to Kalispell for the state championship in two weeks. Especially if the whole Bozeman crew goes. However, it is time to get back on a plan.

One more thing. PT update. I have one more appointment with the PT on Wednesday. But as of right now I have a list of exercises to do.

Hamstring- put leg up on wall and just hold it for a minute or so and switch sides.
Lay on my back on a foam roller and make angel motions with my arms. Do 20x or so.
4 exercises for my SI joint. Hold each 6 seconds and do 6x each.
Also, whenever I run, I am going to do my Achilles stretch.

Sick

So this week was quite the bust. I did a whole lot of nothing, and a little more of a whole lot of nothing, followed by a trip to Urgent Care on Sunday to start antibiotics, and as a side, a whole lot of nothing. Still feeling coughy and snotty on Monday afternoon, but it is a beautiful day and I am ready to dig the hell out of Rose Park. Give the City a big fat FU, but that is a whole different story entirely.

Went to the PT last Tuesday. This was the back PT. He gave me some exercises to do and wants to see me a few more times. I didn't get much of a long term plan from him like I do from Jason. Looking forward to going back to Jason. Healthcare is expensive. I just want to be healthy but hate paying for it.

Races-
Have you heard of the HITS series? What do you think? There is a race in Grand Junction Colorado in mid-May. I have a buddy to go to it with. The other option for the last week of May is a paddle, ride, run in Bigfork. I don't have a boat, but could find one  and that race has cash prizes. The HITS series is only 150$ if I register in January. Lots of pros and cons for both. Still deciding. The races are on different weekends, I just don't forsee myself driving to Colorado one weekend and then Flathead the next.

I am just not into Troika. Thinking a little about St. George again. Also, thinking about Rev3 Portland but that is right in the middle of the summer. Sort of messing up with my idea of a couple of blocks of races.

This would give me a couple early races and then a block of later races.

Other for sure races:
Grizzly
Big Horn
Spring Meadow
Polson
Heck why not: Garden City

Other ideas: An Olympic distance race in Saskatoon. My Dad has a friend there and has been wanting to go.

I had a list with dates the other day and lost it. Sorry this is a really bad blog. For some reason MuleX this year seems like more work. Also, being sick has left me taking quite a few naps.

Do you see anything taking shape here?

Thinking and planning

So I have been thinking about what you said last week. The idea of racing triathlon like racing cross is appealing to me. Maybe I won't try and throw a half in there and just keep everything shorter, do more of them, and have a lot of fun.  So, honestly, what keeps me hesitant, is that in my mind shorter races means less training. I love the training. Probably even more than the racing. I love how IM training makes me feel. So, let's talk about this, but I want you to promise to kick my ass for these shorter races.

So what about two blocks. Instead of April to August, maybe I could find some early season races and then take a few weeks to sleep in, dawdle over morning coffee, and then jump back into a summer series of races. Now that being said, I am going to start looking at races.

I have also had a lot of thoughts about racing triathlon and racing in general. Last year even, I thought, okay, one more Ironman and then I am done. I was looking at racing triathlon as something that I was either all in, or all out and that I just had a couple of years to get good and that I could get good in a couple of years. I am starting to think differently about this. It seems like there is a lot of work to do and it takes a long time to get "good". I guess, some people can do an Ironman, and be very good, but there are those that have to work at it.  It seems the ones that are just good right off the bat, maybe aren't very mature about it? I don't know about this, for sure, but it seems that people who are long term racers are very mature. I like the idea of being a "triathlete" something that is part of my life that I don't give up on. 

So going back to the first paragraph. Why not try racing some other distances? Why not take this winter and maybe next winter, to really focus on swimming? I have years and years of racing and training and working at it to get better. 

Racing cross this year has been really interesting for my perspective above. The first race I did here in Bozeman felt awesome. I felt like I did really well and I loved it. Then I went to Helena, felt like crap, and got my ass handed to me. Then I go to Victor and Saturday I felt okay, but not great at all and this masher on a mt bike beat me. I didn't even care to chase here down. Then Sunday, I didn't even see that woman. I was so far ahead of her the whole race and even got compliments from Erik that I was looking really good. Even better than a few years ago when I was really training for cross. It is so amazing and interesting how some days are good and some days are bad and it doesn't matter what kind of training you put into that one day. Ironman Kona had a good example. Heather Wurtele rocked the year, and I don't think she even finished that race. 

So, this year for triathlon (or next year, if all of a sudden I get pregnant) let's do the above (first paragraph). Let's rock the triathlon scene. Over a bunch of races, I will get a good picture of my fitness, my ability, my weaknesses etc. It will be a really good platform to work off of to get better.

Now to a few of your questions:
In general. Bender was sick all weekend, and I stayed in the same house as him etc. I think I am coming down with something. Felt good Monday morning but started feeling that sore throat and ache in the afternoon. Am going home to rest. Don't want to catch this bug very bad.

G-fit. I want to figure out what I will be doing for PT before I start doing G-fit. I really want to get working on this. My lower right back hurts so bad at the end of a cyclocross race and I am sure it is all related.

Wednesday night race. Maybe race, maybe not. See how I feel on Wednesday? Can I have a back up plan?

Feel much better cyclocross racing on Sundays or after a day of riding. Can I do a hard cyclocross bike ride on Friday? Maybe go over the where we do Wed. night races and ride some hard laps. Then practice turning around trees for a while. Rolling Thunder brings more pressure than other races and I want to at least feel good.

Dear Endsley you will be missed

A friend of mine and a close dear friend and neighbor of my sister died this weekend from a very tragic car accident. Oh, Endsley, you were truly one of those amazing people. A very bright light that not only lit up the room but all the people in it. You are going to be missed. My heart goes out to your family, Wells, Claire and all the others that were so close to you. I am thinking of you.

Okay. I had to write that. Feeling a little helpless with everybody feeling such a loss.

So on the brighter side. I raced cyclocross on Sunday and got 2nd to Anna! I was super stoked. Annalisa who is a strong road rider was breathing down my neck for the first lap and even tried to pass once. I had it in me to demoralize and fired away. I didn't have 6 laps of that but could have done it a few more times. Started feeling good the last couple of laps. Even passed my husband. Not his kind of course. I had a really good time and was hoping we could talk some more about my new swimming schedule. Can I start that in a month and do cyclocross for the rest of the month? It has been nice actually seeing some of those people again, and I really do like to race cyclocross. Last year I wasn't into it, but this year I almost feel like I need it. It was so amazing to have a race without any problems. If this doesn't work with the rest of my goals though, that is fine too and I can start swimming but.....

So, this is hard for me to think about what I want to do since I am not running. Usually I do all of my important thinking running. 

However, I did come up with some ideas.

#1 I absolutely want to be triathlon focused this year. Triathlon is what I love.  I love to swim, bike and run. Just one of those just ain't gonna cut it. Also, I am envisioning a future with a lot less time, which might mean a lot more running. I can store that away for later.

So with that being said. The races I really want to focus on are going to be the local Montana races. Especially the Grizzly and Polson. Those two races are where all the competition comes out. I will have to work the hardest even if my results aren't the highest (make sense).

I would also like to focus on one half ironman distance. I would like to discuss this a little more. Timing etc. My options are to 1) stay close to home and do a non Ironman race or 2) Lawrence is going to sign up for Vineman. I mentioned to Erik that I didn't think I should because of cost and vacation, but he kept trying to convince me to go. So, I just might. One thing I learned this year is  that I really like having a buddy who is racing. The experience seems to be a lot better. We would be able to carpool and we both have family in the area. Registration for this race is November 1. So I have a month to figure this out and see what the refund policy might be.

As far as vacation. If I can plan it, and afford it, I would like to go to Belize on a week or so long trip in April. I am still researching the best time of year. I was thinking that this could be a treat after the Grizzly.
We are also going to be building our house this spring. Hopefully, keep your fingers crossed. So, vacation might be out of the question. I think part of this vacation thing is my not letting grass grow under my feet.

Other races:
I would like to plan on 24 hours of Rapleje. That is a Team Muleterro event. I love the camaraderie. I had so much fun at this last year.

 So as I was writing this, I had a Julie great idea #1. What do you think of my idea below?
Do a couple of Olympic distance races before Polson. Use them to work out how to race that distance. I don't feel comfortable at the Olympic distance. Not sure how hard to go. So maybe try and get in a couple of those before Polson. This would mean Spring Meadow and another one. I might have to find it somewhere other than MT.

Other:
Did I mention I am the race director for MuleX. I did this last year too. It really isn't a ton of work except for the weekend of the race.  I also have a lot of down time at work and this is a good way to fill in the time. This year is going to be great. We are going to have a secret unveiling.....

Work this week- Crazy day Wednesday. Usually I have 20 mice and it takes 8 hours. This Wed. I will have 30 mice. I really hope it doesn't take 12 hours. 

Plans, plans, plans

The week
So, I kind of broke a rule. I went on a hike and decided I don't actually like to hike. My fingers get swollen. I couldn't help it and had to run a little. I kept it slow and concentrated on form. Ran up steep parts and walked down steep parts. Felt so good to get the lungs going. Felt so good to get out. Was getting a little worried I might not want to exercise again. Slept so good after the first hike and felt so much better the next day.

Rode the cross bike a few times. Did a 2-3 hour ride on Sunday. Felt good to do some quick stuff.

Went to a yoga class on Monday.

Made a lot of pickled things. Made plum jam from tree to table. That was pretty cool.

Races
Winter triathlon
Grizzly
Rapelje
Headwaters relay
Spring Meadow
Lake Como
Bighorn triathlon
Polson
Bangtail 38k
The Rut
Bridger Ridge Run
Butte 100

Maybe one or two halves- Troika, Rev3 Portland, Oliver? Try and have an awesome 1/2 distance race.

International trip with Erik. Maybe Greece and run the Athens marathon.

Another vacation with Erik, not doing any racing. Kayak tour in Belize.

Am on the ball with the Bobcat. Found a super great organizer who works at MSU who talked to somebody who has the in. This somebody thought it was a great idea! Still working on it.

Am having some insurance trouble. They are not billing me correctly and it is very, very frustrating. Got a bill saying I owed the Orthopedic place 250.00. It should have been 15.00 plus extra for the x-ray. Need to figure this out before I can go back. Note: think it is getting sorted out. Will make an appointment on Monday.

Okay, so here it goes. My life plans. First, I am curious how many athletes you coach explain their life plans/spill their heart and soul out  to you before most other people in their lives know? Anyway, we
talked about this a couple of years ago too. I am not doing an Ironman this year or any other race that requires a very early sign up because I think that this is the year for me to achieve some of life's other tasks and by this I mean have a baby. I don't know when or how long it will take to get pregnant but after that I guess I will have 9 months until their is an actual baby and after that I would think another couple of years before I have time to dedicate to Ironman. However, as I alluded to in last weeks blog I am seeking redemption. Right now in life I don't want to quit or give up. I still want to try and have an Ironman of a lifetime and qualify for Kona, I just might be doing it in the 40 age group.

I think that the best way to proceed with this year is like I don't have these plans though. I still need to learn how to swim and who knows what is really going to happen. It might not even happen.