Have I lost my mind to consider a HIM? (Page 52)

Overall, great race, but not without its missteps. 

First, I have had hip issues and did get in two sessions with my massage guy on Monday and Thursday. 

Second, I have been wanting this running skirt for a while, but I wasn't going to get it until I lost the weight.  I figured I was pretty close and runningskirts.com had a booth at the Expo, so I went to get one.  They only had one left and so I tried it on.  It was a little loose, but otherwise seemed fine and I got it.  It sits quite low on the hips, which is not a style I go for (I think it is for younger women), but with the shirt covering all exposed areas, I thought it would be fine. 

Third, I have been working on nutrition and making sure I have the right number of calories and carbohydates, etc.

OK.  Race morning about 5:30, I had a sweet potato and a couple ounces of turkey.  About an hour later I had a date and a banana.  About an hour into the race I had another date.  Then with about an hour left to go, I had a Lara bar.  Eventually I will figure out what the calories and carbohydrates were.  However, it seems to have been OK.  I did cramp up after the race walking to the meeting place so perhaps I needed more electrolytes.

I started out great.  Then, I found out why it isn't a good idea to be wearing a running skirt that sits low on the hips that is too big.  It started to fall off.  I was having to hold it up and thinking to myself that it was going to be a long, long 13 miles if I was going to have to hold my clothes on.  Eventually I realized that I had a couple safety pins and just pinned the skirt to my shirt and that did the trick.  Later, when it got warm and I would have taken off my shirt, I couldn't because it was holding up my skirt.

My hips were a little tweaky after the first couple miles, but nothing major.  By mile 11, I was reduced to walking.  Plus I had a very complicated bathroom stop because I had forgotten that I had safety pinned my shirts to the skirt and trying to unpin myself in a porta-potty was a bit of a challenge.

But even with the complicated bathroom stop and having to walk the last two miles, I still finished in 2:30:52 and my goal was 2:30 so I am pretty happy about that.  I took a nice bath with Epsom salts, a couple of Excedrin and life is good. 

I finished my 5K in 38:17 according to my watch. I didn't look at the official results after the race and they aren't posted online yet.
The time is over 10 minutes faster then my last 5K race in June which was a flat course and this one had several hills and one big long one. My goal was under 40 minutes so I'm happy. I'll post a race report.

Congrats Leah!! Here's a saying to remember, nothing new on race day, including skirts.

My Little Race Report:
http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp...

Very nice! Please tell us more about the pace tattoo. Where do you get them?

Here is my race report.

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=195705

You're right, Lisa, don't try anything new on race day, even clothes.



Edited by LeahDD 2010-02-07 7:07 PM

Nice nice job with the races this weekend ladies!

Sounds like everyone pretty much got PRs?

The NUTSOs are ROCK STARS!!!  All this training is paying off!

Yes, we are.  Now on to training for the next event.  What's next?

Yep, I got it and even read it.  25 pages, but really nothing new or unexpected.  And now that my HM is over, I really need to ramp up the hilly bike rides.  I will be done with work early today and it would be a good day to ride outside, but the forecast says rain.  Who says that it never rains in Southern California?  We have had lots of rain lately.  I admit, we haven't had any snow. 

I am also going to really, really work on strengthening my hip flexors or giving them whatever it is that they seem to need.  I can't have the intense pain thing after going 10 or 11 miles.  It might work out OK for the HIM, but definitely not for the IM.  Besides, pain is a drag. 

I feel good about the Toyota Desert International Triathlon on March 7.  It is almost, but not quite, Olympic distance. 

Kate and Leah - excited for you guys!

Leah what do you do to help increase your hip flexor strength?

Snow here... upto 12" so class may be canceled tonight.. will know in a few hours.

Kettle Bell swings, samson stretches, squats and lunges are good for hip flexors.
We do lots of these in Crossfit.

I do lots of those in Crossfit also.  I read some stuff on the web and have watched a couple Youtube videos.  There seems to be a difference in what you do if you are trying to strengthen your hip flexors or increase flexibility.  I'm not sure which is my problem, but if I had to guess, I would say strengthen. 

What they suggest doing that I don't already do is to raise your leg up high as if you were stepping over something high.  Some even suggested setting up something (a bar or chair) that you have to step over.  And one of the videos consisted entirely of watching this guy step over a bar from several different angles.  I thought I would start with that, but pretty much do everything since I am not exactly sure what my problem is, but I only have this problem after about ten miles.  It really might even be an undertrained/lack of sufficient fitness issue.  But since the same thing happened to me last year, albeit a bit earlier (at 9 miles I was walking instead of at 11 miles this year) and I am in a whole heck of a lot better shape now than then, I don't think it is that. 

In the articles there is some consistency in the opinion that hip flexors are generally neglected or undertrained, even among professional athletes. 

I've got about six weeks to get this problem fixed!

Sorry, Scott.  If I wear that skirt again (and I may because it is pretty cute, if I do say so myself), I will start out by pinning it to my shirt.  And then again, I might just buy another one in the right size.  But my next two races are triathlons and no cute running skirts then. 

I also forgot to weigh in before my breakfast and coffee and will have to do that tomorrow.  Otherwise, things are good.  I went to Crossfit this morning, but didn't run there because it was cold.  Really cold.  Like 30F.  I have "cold weather" running gear, but not for that cold.  So, I will have to get in my run tonight and hopefully it won't be so cold.  Got in my trainer ride last night, but I am still waaaayyy behind on bike miles and I joined one of the challenges and so I really need to ramp up my biking.  Breakfast was 3-4 ounces of turkey, some fresh strawberries and tomoatoes.  Very Paleo. 

Happy training everyone!

187 (-2) Still hugging that invisible 186 barrier. Maybe next week.

Here are some random stats from the last 7 days:

22,545 Calories Burned
12,458 Calories Consumed

Yes, I take a break from it every now and then but in general it's still in use, and I plan on using it throughout IM-training.

It's not a required gadget, but I do find it useful for gauging how I'm doing, and seeing how the various things I do burn different calories. For example you'd be surprised how little snow shoveling was burning. Maybe because I don't have a huge sidewalk? Anyway it's a good tool for keeping me on target. When I was having a rough time last month needless to say I wasn't wearing it.

It tends to be a little more accurate then say the calories my treadmill says I burned. For example my treadmill said I burned 800+ today and the body bug was at 670something I think.

Need your opinions - What do you think about me doing an OLY 2 weeks before my HIM and a week after a sprint?  Is that too much?  We are hitting tri season down here and I have lots of options!!

Sounds like alot. I would want to space things out more, I'm doing a sprint 2 weeks before my HIM. You'll want to adjust your training for an Oly and that could mess with your HIM training. IMHO, sure it can be done but is it a good idea?

I caught a cold yesterday after shoveling snow several times I couldn't get warm, now i have a head cold and all my joints ache.

Cool!