Weekend fun!

this was my hot date. wearing my pink scarf. after we ran in the rain.

And this is before I lost the lead...

And this is coming into the home stretch. I'm tired. My leg looks huge. And the hot date actually told me I was "carrying a lot of meat on those legs", which would be the reason being me 'losing'.

I broke 20!

I don't race 5ks very often. They're so short. But I'm trying to work on speed now. Now that IM is over. Now that I have a shorter race for which I'm preparing. I said just last week that my goal for the fall was to break 20 mins for a 5k. My previous best was 20:02. And that was a couple years ago.

A friend of mine gave me some info on this 5k that was going down today. I didn't really have any intention of going because my friend, Barbie, was to be doing her first tri today, but then, well.... it didn't happen. So, I decided I'd go over and get in a few miles before and a few miles after and it'd be like a tempo run.

That few miles before? Ugh! I totally felt like there wasn't much pep in my step. and I was feeling that trainer ride on Saturday. My dad showed up and I checked out the competition...not much. Decent sized race, about 2100, but not many serious runners. I could tell right away who was going to be in contention for the win. Dad says "remember how to run a 5k?". I responded "go out fast and try to hang on!"

The gun went off and we all sprinted forward. I was the lead female. Going out into the course, we hit the first hill...and then it occurred to me. Holy crap! I bet this is a hilly course which is why no one is going out very fast. Um, yeah. I don't know this part of town. AT ALL. And that was a hilly course.

SO, I crossed the first mile at 6:02. oh boy. hold on. hold on. Coming up a hill to a water station and almost to mile marker two, I hear cheers for Coach Amy, so I know she's right there on me....and she passed me. I'm fine with that. She was the one I pointed out before the race to my dad "um. she's fast".

Hit mile two in 12:13. That last mile is when my body started feeling the affects of the hills...so I just tried my best to relax and hang on. And give a little smile when people cheered for 'the second girl'.

I crossed the line in 19:39. Totally unexpected. But a fun, fun race! I'll post pics when they're available

Have Mercy!

OK, so I took it easy for a couple days. I took the entire day off Wednesday...

And then went to masters practice on Thursday. That was fun. I know I've said it a million times, but I love those guys I swim with. They're just good people. It's funny how swimming is for me...well, it's like so many other things, i suppose. When I believe I can do it, I can. with ease. But when I doubt my ability, I struggle. Thursday was just one of those days where I was like "ok, i can do this. no problem". and i did. and i still laughed the whole practice.

After a long freakin' day at work, a short run. And yes, i added some short speed intervals. But it was short. I also emailed coach to tell him that i wasn't feeling tired, that my tt time was slow but not horrible. He's heading out to Kona in a week, along with a super speedy girl that's in our training group. And we all did IMKY. He just responded "we're all a little fatigued. i don't want you to show up to your race feeling flat. you need to recover". Well, why didn't ya say so?? ha ha! he just wants me to shut up and listen, but i have to question question question... but I'm learning to trust.

Friday was some time on the bike trainer and then a short time running on the road. in the rain. it's been raining for, like, four straight days.

And then I had some fun on Friday night.

Today, I slept in. It was still dreary and wet. So, I chose to ride the trainer. Again. And I wanted some distinct instruction. SO, I slipped in the "Have Mercy" Spinervals dvd. It's two hours of the most difficult workouts from the previous 8 spinervals dvds. I had only done this once before. It was about 6 months ago. And it was the most difficult bike workout I'd ever done. The thing is rated a 10 on the intensity scale. and they tell you to make sure you have a towel for the sweat. And it's needed.

Today, it really wasn't so bad. I mean, yeah, i almost fell over swimging my leg off the bike after the 2 hours were up, but really, it was just another training session. And I didn't have to slow down or not follow the gear instructions. I did it all. As instructed. and I loved it. I was totally soaked 20 mins in. So after 120 minutes, I'd soaked through my towel. It was glorious.

is it possible?

As seen on FB last night:
Amanda Lindsey just sucked at the TT.
   Sean____: I'm sure this morning had nothing to do with that :-) You'll get it next time.
   Edward______: What??? Are you finally admitting that you might be tired?

Edward would be my coach. This man has never commented on my status. To my knowledge, he never even checked it. But, of course, the night I complain, he sees it. And comments.

Sean is a fellow masters swimmer. He knows how kick ass our swim practice was that morning. I mean, warm-up was 10x50 with odds on :40 and evens on :50. Then another 900 on a pretty quick interval. And later we had 4x200 w/paddles on 2:45. And 3x100 all out.

Alas, swim practice doesn't usually leave me tired. And the time trial doesn't usually produce such poor results (it was horrible, but it was slower than I hoped. or expected. or wanted). And I rarely get nine hours of uninterrupted sleep. So maybe i am fatigued like coach says?

I was glad to sleep in (til 6:30), but by 4pm, I was thinking I might blow off this rest day and go for a run. But the universe tends to give you what you need...and i ended up having to work late. And just an extra hour of intense brain power left me drained of energy.

I came home to an email indicating we're taking it easy for the remainder of the week. And while this saddens me a tad, I trust my coach. So, here I sit, sleepy-time tea in hand, after having done laundry, dishes, vacuuming, grocery shopping, and NO swim/bike/run, willing to follow instruction. Mostly. :)

Signing off. Good night.

weekend pics

going up a hill on Saturday morning ride...the leaves are already changing!

um, i was kinda lost.

but i smiling the whole time!

and then i got rained on during my run

and went to watch Judi race in the rain

She and Suzanne were all smiles!

and all dirty!

the great debate

I got a question from The Iron Curtains about my nutrition on my 3 hour ride yesterday...

Personally, I have different nutrition tactics for racing different distances. In prep for IM on long rides, I can handle pretty much anything in my tummy on the bike. I eat pb&j, bars, gels, gatorade, shot bloks, beef jerky...and the occassional Diet Mt Dew (if, say, on a 6 hour ride and we stop to refuel at a gas station). My coach and some fellow (very fast) athletes eat things like oatmeal cream pies, combos, fig newtons, coke... In prep for shorter races (HIM or Oly), I try to stick with what I'll consume when racing. For me, at a higher heart rate, it's more difficult to stomach solids. With the blood diverted to the legs, it's more difficult to digest bars and bread. (Think about when you do track repeats...you'd probably rather have calories from fluid/gatorate/heed than from a pb sandwich, right?)

Nutrition is really one of those things that is debatable. And a lot of it comes down to personal preference and trial and error. Right now, I'm training for Long Course Worlds, which is 2x Oly distance - 3k swim, 80k bike, 20k run. I have shorter workouts with more intensity than I did when training for IM, so I've also adjusted my diet for those hours when i'm not training, to contain fewer carbs and a bit more protein.

Yesterday's ride was straight from my apartment and first thing in the morning, so I had water and coffee and about 15 mins before i left, I had one slice of whole wheat bread with natural peanut butter, honey and half a banana. I took a package of Clif Shot blocks, which I took 2 at a time, at about 1:15, 1:40 and 2:05. I also had a Powergel at 2.30. I sipped on grape Gatorage G2 and water throughout. If it were any hotter, I'd have needed more fluids. If my run after were any longer, I'd have needed more calories, but as it worked, my pre-ride food and consumption during the ride had me feeling great. Some may think this isn't enough calories, and I've been on rides where I've needed far more calories than this, but it worked for me yesterday perfectly. I had another gel and a bar (and cash) on me in case i needed more.

Obviously, the rest of the day I didn't want much sugar, and after my run, I had tuna and chopped carrots in a whole wheat tortilla. The rest of the day, I loaded up on veggies, more protein and some fruit. And I drank lots of water and some green tea (staying well hydrated helps fight muscle soreness). 
 
I did get up this morning and run for 90 mins at about an 8 min pace and had no issues with fatigue or hunger. I had water and a slice of bread with pb and honey (again. it tends to digest easily and i had no intervals for this workout). I didn't consume any calories during the run, but I made sure my route went through a park with water fountains. And again, refueled upon my return home...because I still have a 2x1000 time trial swim this afternoon!
 
The supplements I got were a fish oil/flaxseed/borage Omega complex, time-release Vitamin C, spirullina (which is plant food chock full of amino acids) and another one i already take for a specific medical condition. I'll let you know if I can tell a difference in anything.
 
Obviously, I'm no dietitian, but I do pay attention to what I put in my mouth (even when it's cake and cookies). And I know a few of you guys over at the Iron Curtains are very tuned into your diet and consumption. You'll figure it out. You have plenty of time to dial it all in! Happy training!
 
Also, Marni is on her way to becoming an RD, so her blog is full of useful info.

Make the rules up as I go...

That was pretty much my theme today for training. On the schedule - 3 hour ride followed by 15 min run.

I woke up with no alarm. I was out the door by 8:15 and headed East. Decided to hit the back roads, uphill...around Ft Thomas, into Cold Spring, across way-too-busy-for-a-Saturday morning 27, down a big scary hill into Wilder, across the AA, out to the "dog road" (and I was reminded why we call it this - 4 unleashed, non-fenced dogs chasing me forced a speed interval whether I wanted it or not), past the guys pickin' up trash on the side of the road, to Rte 10, back across 27, rolling on nice new, smooth pavement, into Silver Grove, west on Rte 8 to 445 and climbing my way back into Ft Thomas, down Memorial Parkway into Newport, across the bridge to Cincinnati, down Eastern to Lunken airport to turn around near the Farmer's market and back home... and out for that run. Nice easy pace. North, East, South, West and South again...

It was the best solo ride I've had all year! Perfect weather, spot on nutrition, unexpected course, and a smiled planted on my mug all morning.

And off for coffee with Tom. I always love catching up. There was a discomfort about him at first. But it was good to see that dissipate over the 90 mins we sat and discussed family, life, health, training, friends, gratitude...

Walked Clubber when I got back home and my neighbor, who is a Chiropractor, had a couple treats for her. We started talking...small talk about jobs and weather...and the talk turned to training (um, yeah, typical for me). Turns out he's also got a degree in Nutrition and he's certified in sports medicine (yes, I saw the diplomas and certifications). He's anti-prescription drugs (and I am sooo hesitant to take even over-the-counters). We discussed ailments and natural cures, and next thing i know, i'm walking out with four bottles of supplements (all GIVEN to me at no cost and teh exact ones Judi has been trying to get me to buy for a while now) and an appointment for a free consultation on Monday. I think I just got my first sponsor!