RunningJayhawk's Mentor Nest - FULL! (Page 22)

I have no advice but I'll trade you some San Francisco hills for some flat ground!

I have a general plan in mind (which I based off of the free minutes-only plan here on BT & what I've read in the Triathlete's Training Bible), but I tend to do a lot of shifting around depending on my schedule, how I feel, and any group workouts I want to participate in.  I also had to change my plan around because I'd originally just planned on doing a sprint in June and an olympic in August. . . but that quickly changed to a spri-lympic (that's what my tri club calls the Galena Sprint, apparently) in May, and then Olys in June and August.  So I'm kind of winging it based on how much time I have each week for training, but still trying to follow the general periodized training plan and peaking/tapering around my races.

Happy Friday everyone!

This has been an awesome week for me from a training perspective. Got in a really nice run last night (with some beautiful scenery) and actually made it to the pool today during lunch time. My husband and I have a date night planned tonight, followed by a long bike ride and yoga class together planned for tomorrow. It's supposed to be nice here this weekend *fingers crossed* so I'm looking forward to it.

What is everyone else planning for the weekend?

Hope you had a great date night, Margot, and all the best for your training this weekend!

Tomorrow morning is an easy 45 minutes on the bike, then to Houston for packet pickup. Hopefully it will be an early evening since it will be a 3am wake-up to hit the road for the tri on Sunday. Early mornings having to travel make me wish I lived closer to the city!

Good afternoon everyone!

Tomorrow is tri number two and I am very excited about it.  I think almost everything is laid out that needs to be packed for tomorrows race.  Tif and I are going to put together our tri bags and go through the checklist together...that is the best way to make sure I do not forget anything.  It is going to be a very early morning for us so we are aiming to be in bed by no later than 6 tonight...here is hoping that we make it there.  It always seems like when we are trying to get in bed early it never works out that way...but so far we are getting things done and should be able to make it.

Happy training and I hope everyone has a good weekend!

Tif and Nik good luck tomorrow! Can't wait to hear how it goes!

Awesome training day today for me. I've found that I've been having a lot of stress and nervousness about biking because of "having" to bike in the city. I was finding that I was avoiding biking outside because of this nervousness. I decided that I need more time in the saddle and that driving out of the city to get it is worth it. We're lucky that Marin county (up north) has miles and miles of amazing bike trails and a great cycling culture. That's going to be my training ground for the near term until I get better with my bike handling.

We had a really nice ride, I'm totally comfortable clipping in and clipping out now and speed/hills aren't as scary to me anymore. I really got to open up and ride hard today on some of the flats, got good practice climbing on some hills and actually yelled "yahoo!" on one of the downhills.

I'm excited because I felt like the bike handling was really going to hold me back but now I know I'll be ready for my race next month. And now I can sort of keep up with my husband!

It is 6 celcius today (42 farenheit) and it's raining.  I stayed up late last night and this AM I was not looking forward to the "long" run. Then my wife offends me and basically says I am procrastinating (she was right but I was still mad cause she called me on it.)  So out the door I went... and had a great run.  Finished really strong. 
I find myself starting real slow and staying that way till I can almost see the end but I am getting faster.
Have a good one folks.
Alan
PS. so that I have some accountability I will type it here.   I will stretch tonight.  OK, now I have to do it. 

Way to get out there and push through it, Alan! Sorry about the miserable weather.

We had perfect conditions for the race this morning...80 degrees and very little wind! It was a great race and much better performance than the first one.

I think there may be some celebratory adult beverages to be consumed later this evening!

Great race today!

The weather was great, the event was well orgainized, there were wonderful volunteers, and...most importantly....I had an awesome race.  I am very happy with the results...the swim was much better than the first tri and I was ablt to rock on the bike with a 20 mph pace. 

Good job on the workouts everyone....keep up the hard work.

There is a very strong chance that come tonight, my bike will be sitting at the bottom of lake michigan.

I just had one of those rides. You know the kind...(and if you don't know it yet...give it time...you will).

Some call them breakthrough rides. But this was just a complete and total breakdown.

I did a metric century today (62 miles) and completely LOST it with a few miles left. I'm talking full on hysterics, leave me alone foul mood, every ounce of self-doubt plaguing my mind and a MASSIVE case of the "I can't do this." At mile 49 I wanted to call the SAG wagon for a ride back to home base. At mile 58 I pretty much crumbled into a million pieces. And by those final 4 miles I had to give myself one of those "suck it up princess" pep talks. I may have only been going a whopping 12 mph...but I tried to focus on counting the positives of the day and in my training. And for the most part, it worked.

The power of positive thinking really held me until the end.

So what went wrong?
I wish I could blame it on the rain and wind and humidity. But what it came down to was Nutrition. Nutrition. Nutrition.

..or lack thereof.

The moral of the story...treat EVERY! SINGLE! TRAINING! RIDE! you have on that schedule of yours as a chance to really hone into what works and what doesn't with your stomach. Figure out how many calories an hour you need to sustain yourself so you can have optimal performance. Calculate how many calories you must consumer each hour. Then take it in! Separate them in baggies. Mark your water bottles so you know just how many ounces of liquid nutrition you're consuming. Do whatever it takes to get yourself in a position to succeed. Because once you fall back on nutrition, it's so difficult to catch back up. This is definitely important folks doing olympics and HIMs this season.

So to conclude my whiny little rant about my bad ride...we all have good days and bad days. Next time you're on the road and want to just sit on the side, hang your head and kick rocks...remember that days like these happen to everyone. Even the pros. And it's okay to cry. And be frustrated and disappointed in yourself. It just means that your next long ride or run or swim will be a little bit easier because you've pushed through that proverbial wall already. Just take some time to collect yourself, figure out what went wrong and correct it for next time. Training is a learning process with experience being the most brutal teacher.

Sorry...I know this is kind of a mishmash of thoughts. I haven't even showered yet. I just wanted to get this all out there into the BT-sphere before it escaped my head.

I hope everyone's day has been significantly better than mine.

Onward and upward! Right?!?

Tif and Nik congrats on the race! Enjoy your celebratory beverages!

Barb - that sounds like quite the ride, I can't imagine riding 62 miles. Great job pushing through the wall and finishing despite feeling bad!

Nik & Tif, thanks for the comments.  Glad you guys had a good day for the race.  Well done.

Barb.... holy crap.  That is impressive.  Having never done 62 miles on a bike or on foot I can not make a real educated comment but that has never stopped me before.  I'm sure you feel better today but none the less, as you said yourself, focus on the positive.  You pushed through all the self doubt and agony and finished!  Not gonna win any contest for a pretty finish I'm sure but you did it and you were reminded about your nutritian.  I was reminded of this yesterday as I was eating my Quarter pounder.  But this was after the run so it was my treat for doing a good job.  You deserve a big steak and chocolate cake!  Well done.  And yes "onward and upward".
Cheers,
Alan

Happy Monday!  Congrats on your race, Tif & Nik!!  Awesome job on your long run, Alan!  And wtg on your 62-mile bike, Barb. . . so impressive!

I had a mostly-ok weekend, but I'm in pain this morning   Friday I did a spin class because I decided it wasn't safe to do speedwork outdoors, so I figure spin will be my speedwork substitute.  Saturday I had a really good long-for-me run of 7.3 miles.  That's definitely the longest run I've had this year!  And I even had the energy to lift with a friend afterward.  I felt really good!

But then yesterday was my long bike ride.  I was planning on going 30-40 miles, but I had to cut it short because I got into an accident   I was on the bike path, and there was a 9-year-old kid and his dad in front of me.  They were riding in a line, the kid in front of the dad, all the way on the right.  I started passing them on the left, when the kid started drifting leftward, toward the yellow line, where my line of motion would have been.  I yelled, braked, and swerved left, crossing the yellow line (luckily no one was coming the other way).  The kid turns his head, looks me in the eye, and for some unknown reason, decides to make a left turn right in front of where I was swerving.  I hit him square on the side of his bike.  We both got knocked off our bikes, but he got up immediately and didn't seem to be hurt.  I on the other hand was laying there for a while trying to figure out if I could walk.

The dad was really nice about it, helped me up and clean my road rash, made sure I was ok, etc.  I was able to ride home after regrouping myself, so I'm not too badly hurt.  But my bike is all bent up, I didn't get to do the mileage I wanted, and my left shoulder, ankle, shin, and hand were killing me the rest of the afternoon/evening.  This morning it was only my shoulder and hand that were still sore.  Hopefully that'll go away.  But yeah, yesterday was definitely not a happy day for me

Today I'd been planning a swim, but I think I should give my shoulder a rest.  Maybe I'll do a spin class or a run if my ankle/leg don't act up.  Or a yoga class.  I haven't decided yet.

Tif and Nik- congrats on your races!  Barb- I can't imagine doing 62-miles...the distance alone is inspiring, but it's also inspiring to hear that you pushed through your pain and mental stuff.   Onward and upward is right!

Saturday I accomplished my long ride, I felt pretty good, near the end though I felt like I was biking underwater, I just couldn't seem to go fast.  I took a new route and it had some pretty wicked hills (for me) and I conquered them pretty well so I was happy about that.  

Today I had every intention of going to the rec center and swimming some laps...my eye is finally better and I just got a new suit, so I was excited.  Well the pool schedule changed so I couldn't swim.  I decided to run instead. I rested my heel last week and for the first run, I felt pretty good! I made sure to stretch and ice my heel afterward.   

I hope everyone has a great week, I plan to get my swim in tomorrow after work. 

Oh girl...I am so sorry to hear about the crash!

I've found that if I call out "on your left" when I'm passing a kiddo, they typically start to move over to the left thinking they're making room for me rather than inadvertently getting in the way.

How bad is the road rash? What have you been doing to help the soreness? And the bike is still in working condition, yes?

Bikes can be replaced. Missy, however, cannot.

I may be headed out to the burbs for some open road this weekend. If you want to tag along, let me know. No clue where I'm headed just yet as a friend is trying to convince me to do the 40-mile loop at the IM Madison course.

Nice job going after the hills. How far did you go and what type of nutrition did you work with?

I know the biking through water sensation you're talking about and experienced it yesterday, too. If you felt sluggish it could be from a glitch in your nutrition or a perhaps even a deceptive flat...

Thanks Barb!  I actually didn't call out anything to the kid as I was about to pass, since both he & his dad were already all the way over to the right side.  I just yelled when he unexpectedly drifted in front of me, then again, when he made his left turn.  What happened was, we were passing a playground, and I guess he decided to make a last minute u-turn on the bike path to check out the swings.  People are so unpredictable sometimes!  (Adults do it too; my friend hit a runner once who cut in front of her bike!) 

The road rash is actually not as bad as the one I got at Galena.  I think I'll just have a big bruise on my leg and hand from when I hit the ground.  I'm not really doing anything to help the soreness, besides stretching out & massaging the areas and resting.  I guess I could ice it or something.  Most of the pain right now is in my shoulder, hand, and shin.  As for the bike, I was able to ride it home, but the handlebars and brakes were crooked.  I'm going to have to take it in to get it fixed, and make sure there's nothing else wrong with it that I'm just not trained to see.

Oh!  And actually I forgot to mention that I'd gone bike shopping with my mom on Saturday.  She & my dad had come to Galena to watch my race, and they decided to get me a new bike as an early birthday gift (the bike I currently have is a really old one that I had gotten on Craigslist).  Anyways, we found a really good deal on bike since it was a 2007 model.  I'm picking it up on Wednesday, so I'm really excited about that! 

Here's a pic of the bike.  I still have to think of a name!



Thanks for the invite to join you in the burbs.  I would love to go, but I'm heading to Florida on Friday for a 10-day trip to visit relatives.  Let me know if you go some other time, though!  I went with CTC out to Barrington once, and there were some really nice roads out there for cycling!



Edited by yogachic 2009-06-09 6:40 AM

OMG Missy that is so scary! I'm glad you're ok, hope you heal up quickly. For some reason I can't see the bike pic but I'm sure it's awesome.

Margot - I *think* I fixed the pictures.  They must have moved the pic from the page I originally linked to, so I just found another one online.

Lara - Thanks for the tips!  I'm usually extra slow and careful around kids, but I guess you can never be too cautious!

Good morning everyone!

I had a craptastic run yesterday evening. I wasn't feeling well and just wasn't feeling it. I've been doing some pretty hilly trail running lately since I have some great trails near my house. I'm noticing that when I'm running downhill it feels like my heart rate monitor strap starts to squeeze my chest and makes it really painful to run. I tried loosening it a lot and it didn't help, so I had to take it off. Has anyone else had this happen to them? It's so weird.

I have a swim planned at lunch today and I'm looking forward to getting out of the office for a bit.

Lara...that's some great advice and observations.

Missy, Looooooooooooooooove the new ride.

We all have runs like that, but sometimes you just have to push through 'em. Do you think you may be coming down with something?

That's very strange about your HR Monitor and I've never actually had that happen before. Can you look at the data and see if the sensation is correlated to a HR spike?

How tight do you have it to begin with and where is yours placed? I typically tuck mine right underneath the bottom elastic of my sports bra.

I'm not getting sick (thank goodness), I think it was a combo of cramps and feeling sore from my chiropractor appointment. I'm feeling better today.

The HRM thing is puzzling to me. It wasn't a spike in heart rate and it's happened the last two downhill runs on this particular trail. I usually tuck the HRM strap under my sports bra too. I think it must be that the downhill motion makes the plastic in the front dig into my ribs and squeeze weird or something.