My Journey to IM Cozumel

Moving On

2009-12-11T17:13:00.001-08:00

Well, the purpose for this blog has been fulfilled and it is time to move on. I started a general training blog to document all of my future race endeavors!

www.trisara.blogspot.com

forgot something...

2009-12-01T21:01:00.001-08:00

I meant to include this in my race report, but I will just add it here. I kept track of my training for the last 31 weeks, and here are my totals:

swimming: 67 hours 214,170 yards 125.98 miles

biking: 228 hours 4,022 miles

running: 126 hours 878 miles

total time: 424 hours

total miles: 5,025

average hours per week: 12:30

cool.

Pictures to finish off my race report

2009-12-01T20:09:00.000-08:00

New friends for life! Antony from The Isle of Man, England (seriously!), Myles from Canada and Louise from Louisiana

crowding down the dock to the swim start

elation after seeing my swim time!

finishing loop 1 on the bike and feeling great!

end of the ride...get me off of this bike!

finishing run loop 1

hmmm, can you tell that this is loop 3?

I didn't realize that I looked so miserable. I would have tried to fake it for the camera had I known!

My sweet girls helping me finish with a smile. Thank you, Grandma, for walking them 5 miles to the finish line just for me.

Ironman Cozumel Race Report

2009-11-30T19:51:00.000-08:00

Wow. I have so many thoughts and feelings about yesterday. This may turn out to be random and long but there are things that I want to remember so I will put them here.

First of all, thank you, Lord for answering every single prayer about not only this event but the entire trip. I prayed continually for physical protection and strength and protection over all of my gear. There are always people on the course that have bike issues and I am so thankful to make it through without having to deal with that.

I will just start at the beginning. I arrived at the race site at 5:30, loaded my nutrition on my bike, checked the tires and then had nothing but time. I made some new friends at our hotel and they totally reinforce my opinion that triathletes are the most friendly people around; so we hung out together sharing each other’s excitement that the weather had turned nice just for us (Wednesday and Thursday were pretty bad).

Just before the pro swim start we made our way to the dock, watched the pros take off and proceeded to file into the beautiful water. They had us climb stairs into the water rather than jump off of the dock as we had during the practice swim. This made us swim under the dock to get out to the starting area. That was COOL! I kept going under water to take in the site of 1900 people treading water. There were quite a few under water photographers and some of us dove down to make sure they took our picture. They were also at each buoy taking shots as we swam by. I wonder if I will ever see those pictures?

We all kind of spread out and had about 5 minutes before our adventure started. My new friend, Louise, and I were talking and laughing and just before the horn blew we realized that we were at the front of the pack. A short panic, brief jokes about how we were about to get pounded and the next thing we knew we were off.

I guess you never really get used to an Ironman swim start. I got real aggressive and tried to hold my position. I was knocked around pretty bad but I did not get kicked in the head and I did not lose my goggles, so that was cool. I stayed in a pretty rough pack until the first turn. At the turn I found myself swimming directly into the buoy and there was a huge crowd trying to get around the right side of it as there was an official on a jet ski that would not let us go around the other side. At this point I tried to push into the group to get around it and got pushed way under and took in a good amount of water. I came up, tried to cough it up and get back into a groove. The rest of the swim was pretty uneventful. It was breath taking; sting rays and star fish were all over the place. I did not lift my head out of the water until I was coming into the finish. I stayed on feet the entire time and if someone faster came by then I would fall in behind them. It was so great.

I climbed onto the dock and saw the timing clock…59 minutes! No way! That is by far the fastest swim I have ever done and it did wonders for my attitude and got me even more pumped about my day.

I took time in T1 to put on sun screen, bike jersey, socks, shoes and helmet and took off on the bike.

Heading out of Chankanaab, we had a slight tail wind, but it was really pretty calm on that side of the island. I was cruising along at about 24 mph knowing that I had 20k before my first challenge. At 20k we rounded a corner and immediately were hit in the face by a brutal head wind. How can it be this windy over here when it is so calm on the other side? At the same time we came along side of the white sand beach and aqua waters of the Caribbean. That was inspiring. It was so different from the calm side. Huge waves crashing and spraying; it helped take your mind off of the fact that you were putting out 85%+ effort and going 17mph on a FLAT! This beautiful, terrible stretch lasted for about 12-13 miles at which point we turned left and headed back into town to do 2 more loops. Heading in I was able to pick the pace back up to 21-22mph without pushing too hard. When I made it back to the bike start I looked at my computer and saw that I had averaged 22 mph so far. I was very excited about that but I could not tell at the time how much effort that had taken.

Loop 2 started a little harder as the sun felt stronger and the wind had picked up some. When I reached the east side I found that this time I was only able to stay at about 15-16 mph instead of 17-18 like the first loop. Coming back into town was more difficult and I could only stay at 19-20, so my overall average dropped from 22 down to 19.5 during that second loop.

Starting loop 3 I prayed for physical strength, mental strength and inspiration to make it up the coast one more time. I found that even though my pace was still dropping, I did not feel overwhelmed or frustrated. I knew that I could do it and overall it was not too bad of a bike time or average for 112 miles. I made it back to the turn toward town and knew that all I had to do was finish those last 10 miles and I could move on the final leg of my race. Total bike time was 6:05, 18.4 mph average.
When I dismounted I nearly fell over. My legs were toast and I had no clue! I knew that I had biked hard but I really thought that I had it all under control. Oops.

I staggered into T2, sat down and rubbed my thighs to wake them up, changed shoes, peed, and hobbled out of the tent. It took a good mile or so before it felt like I had legs on my body. I got to aid station 1, got a drink and decided it was time to find a groove. I decided to try to only stop at every-other aid station as they were only 1k apart. This worked for the first 2 loops pretty well. I did not feel great, and I was not running at the pace that I was hoping for, but I was making steady forward progress.

At the start of loop 3 I was at that point where you are just tired and ready to finish and I thought, maybe I can just run this loop and get it over with. Haha. 8.7 miles never felt so long. I walked every aid station that last loop and made it in with a marathon time of 4:36.

Total race time 11:52. 6th in my age group. Very respectable. I cannot be disappointed with that. I can say that I trained to be able to run a faster marathon after biking at that pace, but that bike pace took a lot more effort than I was expecting.

Sitting around last night talking to other athletes, we all agreed that it was much more difficult than we thought it would be. When you hear that a course is totally flat you think “how hard can it be?” Wind is a crazy thing. It is so mental. I did not stop pedaling my bike for 6 straight hours. If you stopped pedaling then you immediately slowed down by 5 mph (or came to a stop if you were on the east side of the island!) Overall I would say that I am extremely happy with my performance.

That is about it as far as the race report goes. Here are my random thoughts…

I learned that I cannot push that hard on the bike and run very well after.

I learned that maybe a hilly course is not such a bad idea; at least there will be some down hills!

I was reminded that 140.6 miles is a stinkin’ long way to go.

I learned that I can push myself pretty hard and even though it hurts like hell, it feels pretty good.

I learned that I can take a gel! Yes, I took gel for the first time on the marathon. I decided that I would just use what they had on the course rather than carry my own stuff and it was gel or a power bar and I just could not choke the bar down, so I had no choice but to go with the gel. I have tried them before in training and they have always come back up, but this time I was able to take in 5 of them!

I wish I knew how many times I said “agua, por favor” in that 12 hour period.

Mexicans are extremely devoted to each other. They love to cheer on their Mexican athletes by yelling “viva Mexico!” and even though they were not cheering for me, I felt as though they were and it gave me a little push.

Along the entire bike and run course all of the Mexican spectators chanted “vaminos! si se puede!” (not sure if I spelled that correctly). Basically saying “come on! you can do it!” By the time we made it to the run we were saying it to each other anytime we saw an athlete we knew.

I only peed one time all day long. Not good. And I drank A LOT!

When I took off my shoes after the race, the bottom of my feet looked like they belonged in a morgue.

There was no transport back to your hotel after the race and most of the taxis were small cars, so Pete rode my bike back for me.

I went to the med tent to get some fluids via IV and no one spoke English. I showed them what I wanted, some guy stuck me 6 times and managed to miss my GIANT vein, so I told him to quit, and I let Pete give me one back at the hotel. That made me feel so much better. I highly recommend an IV after IM. We smuggled one into Mexico in my bike box

According to preliminary results, almost 30% of the athletes who started the race were not able to finish. That makes me feel better about my run time.

Ironman Mexico is NOT Ironman North America. Very different. Not nearly as organized or professional.

I hope they do not ever announce that the swim was measured short, because I will forever love the fact that I have a sub hour ironman swim.

Our finisher shirts are really great and we also got a cool jacket. Our medals are huge and weigh a ton!

I was 6th out of 62 in my age group. 43rd out of 421 females. 319th out of 1928 total athletes.

Soren and Reese surprised me as I was coming down the finish chute; I heard a familiar voice say “mom!”; I looked over and Soren was holding my left hand with Reese coming up on my right. We were able to cross together for a great picture. Another difference between IM Mexico and IM North America!

I must not be very sweet. Mosquitoes were out in full force on the run, but they did not bother me at all. Many of the athletes were in agony because they were being eaten up by them, but if they sprayed bug spray then they felt like their skin was on fire. The next morning many of them looked like they had chicken pox.

I rode most of loop 2 with my foot out of my bike shoe because of a foot cramp before I realized that I just had my shoe too tight

This morning I went for one more swim in the ocean before we had to leave and as soon as I got in the water I realized that I had rub spots ALL OVER my body! I did not feel them during the race but the salt water made each of them scream at me. Crazy.

Those are all of the random things I can recall as I sit here needing to finish some work and go to bed. Tomorrow I will get all of the great race pictures from Pops and post them along with my training totals, so check back!

Pre-race thoughts...

2009-11-28T14:38:00.001-08:00

I AM SO PUMPED!! Just got back from bike and bag check in. Oh my gosh. The race mood is so AWESOME. The weather is absolutely gorgeous. Everyone is positive and and there is so much energy. I was pleasantly surprised by the organization and security at check in; it was well run.

The nutrition/hydration nazi (coach Pete) has been on me like a leach all day making sure I am doing everything I am supposed to do today :) He loves me. After the swim this morning I got a stern coach lecture about siting. Apparently I was not swimming straight enough for him; at least he cares, right?! I mean, really, where would I be without him.

While I am thanking people, I need to thank Pops for the great pictures. Lugging that camera around is not easy and he has sacrificed his beach time all for my benefit.
Grandma Charlotte has been on kid duty almost 24/7 since we got here on Monday. She says she loves it, and I sure hope so, because it is a great, great blessing to Pete and I. It has made for a very relaxing stay for me.

Nana got here Thursday and has taken over kid duty, too, as always. You guys are irreplaceable. I could never thank you enough.

So back to race thoughts...

I feel strong, rested and confident. I feel like tomorrow is going to be so much fun. I feel blessed beyond measure to have been given the opportunity and ability to do this. I feel humbly grateful for the support I have from family and friends. I feel very loved. My excitement is overwhelming!

Pictures from the swim practice this morning:

can you see those orange buoys waaaay out there? that is the swim turn

our new friend, Anthony. He is at our hotel and we have enjoyed his company a lot!

a quick spin to make sure all's well before I turn my bike in for the race

Pictures from the bike and bag check in:

entertainment while we did check in...awesome!

A great swim!

2009-11-28T09:14:00.000-08:00

Because Friday's swim practice was cancelled due to high winds, they opened up the course this morning. We woke to much calmer weather, winds only blowing around 10 mph, so we journeyed down to try again. Much better experience! There were lots more people, fewer jelly fish, more buoys, and I made it all the way to the turn buoy! I just needed to know that it was going to be possible. It was so difficult on Thursday that I felt like when (if) I made it to the first turn on the swim then the race was basically over. This place is swarming with athletes. It is so exciting. Tomorrow the island is ours. Can't wait!

Pre-Race Meeting

2009-11-28T09:09:00.000-08:00

“Mandatory” Not sure why. They read us the email that they sent to us…word for word. Oh well. It was exciting to see 1500+ racers ready to go. Swim practice was cancelled today due to the crazy high winds and strong current. They changed the swim course a little. The first turn buoy was originally 700 meters out and they shortened it to 500 meters and tacked on the additional 200 meters at the end where they said the current will be a little weaker as we will be closer in to shore. That’s cool. They are planning on having another practice in the morning (Saturday), so if the wind has calmed down we may go try again.

Dad and Pete got their press passes today. It is pretty cool. They can even be driven around on the official motorcycles to take pictures. That is exciting. I hope they get some good footage!

Packet Pick-up!

2009-11-28T08:54:00.000-08:00

Athlete #606 is registered and ready to race. Got my packet and bought a shirt today (Thursday). I still have to go back tomorrow for the prerace meeting and to get my transition bags. I figure if we have had time to train then the officials should have had time to organize, but the expo was anything but. There was a very small area, about 12’ X 12’, with official merchandise for sale and a line a mile long to pay for it. At the end of the line there was a non-english speaking person with a calculator and a fanny pack. Nothing was priced and after you handed them your choices they punched a few buttons on the hand-held calculator and quoted a price. I paid $52 for a dry fit t-shirt and 3 bumper stickers. I was a little disappointed in the confusion of the check-in procedure, but I left there with my race number and timing chip with the assurance that my transition bags would be ready when I come to the meeting tomorrow. I guess we’ll see.

Bummer

2009-11-26T07:00:00.001-08:00

Well, this morning I had my first negative feelings about the race. Part of the swim course was open for practice in Chankanaab beach so I decided to check it out. There was a big storm yesterday and it seems to have left a strong north wind which creates large waves (apparently when the wind is from a different direction the waves are not so bad). There is a long dock that we will jump off of to start the swim and head north to the first turn buoy. Today the first buoy was 700 meters out; I am not sure if that will be the distance on race day or not. They only had two buoys set up for the practice today and with the large waves they were impossible to see so I tried to site from the bottom of the ocean. With the strong current as you head north, your body wants to head straight out to sea, perpendicular to the buoys so you have to be careful to site well. It felt like I was making absolutely no forward progress as I headed north and I found myself getting frustrated by the current and the jelly fish. I was stung many times and although the stings are not terrible, it caused me to get out of any kind of swim groove.

Once I turned and headed south, I was back to the dock in a matter of minutes. The jelly fish were still a nuisance, but the excitement of making forward progress more than made up for the stings.

It was a good lesson and I am very glad that I learned it today and not on race morning. As of now, the forecast for Sunday does not call for 20mph north winds like we have today and maybe we will have calm seas for our swim, but no matter what the conditions, I will race with all I have and be grateful for the opportunity that I have been blessed with to be here.

First Report from Cozumel

2009-11-25T05:15:00.000-08:00

I am SO excited. We have had a day and a half here so far and I could not be more excited about #1 how I am feeling physically for the race and #2 the race venue.

Our first afternoon here I was scheduled to do a short run. I headed out just a few minutes before sundown (couldn't tear myself away from the beach any earlier!) and ran down the road toward downtown. It is humid, there is no getting around that, but the breeze is nice and makes the temperature along with the high humidity bearable. I felt strong and comfortable.

Yesterday I had a 45 minute swim and a 50 minute bike. Wow. The swim is going to go by so fast with the incredible view that we have here. Absolutely beautiful. The salt water makes swimming so much easier. There is a noticeable current, but we will have it at our backs for part of the time, so it should all even out. I take in a decent amount of water when I swim, so when I finished, my tongue was dried up like a piece of jerky. It was pretty funny. I could not wet my mouth to save my life. I will have to drink a lot of water when I get to T1.

I had a nice ride down to Chankanaab Park and back; I am glad the bike course does not go down the main street through downtown because it is a concrete road with decorations stamped in it and it is worse than any chip seal I have ever ridden on. That ends and you are on soft paved roads heading out of town down to the park and on to the South of the island. I don't think I will ride a full circle, but I will check it out either in a car or on a scooter.

I will ride again this morning with a fellow racer that we met here at our hotel. There are many athletes here; it is neat to see so many bikers and runners; lots of great stories, too!

So far, so good. I could not be more encouraged!

Crunch Time

2009-11-21T23:50:00.001-08:00

The bike is packed. One more run and swim tomorrow and then I am out of here! Exciting news: Dad got a press pass for the race! Hopefully he will be able to get some great shots!

Competitive season is OVER!

2009-11-15T16:28:00.000-08:00

As of today I have officially finished my competitive training; now I have only 2 taper weeks to race day. Crazy!

The new frame is here, the bike is built (with just a few minor hiccups along the way) and I am beginning to feel comfortable on my new ride.

We are a week away from leaving for Cozumel and yesterday was my first time on my new bike; that is kind of scary, but what can you do? I went today and bought the top I will wear at the race so now I need to bike and run in it to make sure nothing rubs me the wrong way :) I have my list made and will start packing this week...I am so excited!

Still to come this week:

taper week 1:
swim: 2:00
bike: 5:30
run: 3:25
total: 10:55

Motivation

2009-11-12T06:53:00.000-08:00

I sit here at the computer, 17 days til race day, and I need some motivation to go out to the garage for an hour and fifteen minute swim. I found this...

some progress

2009-11-11T18:25:00.001-08:00

We made a quick decision last week after my frame broke and ordered this frame:

It came in on Tuesday and now we are waiting on a few other new parts we ordered before the bike can be built. I should be on the road by Saturday to test it out. I am scheduled for a 4hr 30 minute ride, so that will be a good way to break it in and see if we need to make any adjustments. It is exciting to have a new bike, but it sure was a difficult unexpected expense right at vacation and holiday season.

OH NO!

2009-11-04T19:21:00.001-08:00

Do you see that? That is a huge nasty crack in my bike frame. Here we are, 18 days from leaving for Cozumel and I have no bike. Ouch. Help!!!!

I Made it to November!

2009-11-02T13:28:00.000-08:00

Race Month! WooHoo! It is here, y'all. The month that I have been training for. The month that was so very far away when I clicked the "submit" button to register for this event. I'm ready. Let's do this.

Last week I rearranged some things and even omitted some things in order to have a weekend at Grandma's house with the girls. I hit it hard Monday through Thursday, swam on Friday morning, and then took the rest of the day, along with Saturday and Sunday off. It was wonderful. I do not feel any guilt over that decision. Now I am fresh and ready to take on these last two weeks before taper.

It was another week of all trainer miles. That makes two full weeks. I was a wind/rain weeny and stayed in doors, but I tried to keep the effort level high as I would outside. The workouts went well, and I enjoyed some runs out in the fall rain.

I got an email this week from IM Cozumel. Some athletes went and did a training session on the official route for the race and had some interesting things to report:

When describing the swim they said you have to see it to believe the beauty. Crystal clear for the entire loop with lots of marine life. There is a current that you face heading out that you have at your back to the finish.

When they started the bike portion, the temperature was 79 degrees with 80% humidity and 5-10 mph winds. At the 20k mark to the 40k mark you are out at the end of the island that is undeveloped and open. The temp had risen to 87 degrees and 90% humidity with a 15 mph "front wind". I was assuming this is a head wind, but they talk about a strict policy of no disc wheels due to frequent strong cross winds, so I guess it is mainly a side wind. For this section of the ride they describe riding side by side with the Caribbean sea and deserted beaches, calling it "very impressive". We will loop through this area 3 times. Heading back into town the wind dies down again and the temp and humidity remained the same.

When they started to talk about the run they began by saying that "physical performance in such challenging weather conditions as in Cozumel is a concern." They go on to stress the importance of nutrition and hydration that include carbohydrates and sodium to avoid excessive blood dilution. By the time they had reached the run portion of the training session, humidity was at 100% with the temp hovering near 90 degrees.

This is very valuable information. I knew that it would be humid, but because our weather has changed here and I am training in cool conditions, I might have been less concerned to plan for such extreme conditions. Now I have made it top priority in planning my nutrition and hydration.

Totals for last week:

Week C10
swim:1:45 6000
bike: 7:30 138 miles
run: 4:35 32.55 miles
total: 13:50

This week's schedule:

swim: 3:00
bike: 8:00
run: 4:30
total: 15:30

The Summit!

2009-10-25T19:43:00.000-07:00

It is official. It is all downhill from here. This week was the longest week of the entire training program. Starting now my weeks will shorten; still a little over 15 hours, but that is 4 hours less!

The weather is being difficult. I do not like to be cold; not even chilly. I did the century last weekend in Mineral Wells even though it was in the 40s when we started the ride, but I had the encouragement of riding with other people. This week has not been so cold, but the wind has blown 20-30 mph everyday. I rode 10 hours on the trainer this week! 175 trainer miles in one week. Ouch. My long ride was on Thursday; 5 hours and 15 minutes, and I was able to do it all only getting off the trainer to get water and use the restroom. I watched three movies as I did 3 of the trainer workouts from the opentri program. Doing actual workouts makes it go by a lot faster than just riding. I cannot believe that I now have a 5:15 trainer ride under my belt. I did not ever think I would do that. I was able to finish with a 1:10 brick run at an 8:30 pace, WooHoo!

I did another 20 mile run this week, but this time my pace was 8:58 (8:27 last time). There were a few differences. This time I ran quite a few hills, it was VERY windy, and I did it the day after my long ride (day before the ride last time). I am still very pleased with that pace and how I feel after running that distance. I seem to be recovering very well from these long workouts.

Looking forward, I have three weeks of 15 hours, 30 minutes and then two taper weeks. That is it!

Totals for week C9
swim: 2:00 6800 yards (skipped Sunday's swim for a trip to Six Flags!)
bike: 10:00 175 miles
run: 6:00 42.25 miles
total: 18 hours

Schedule for Week C10:
swim: 3:00
bike: 8:00
run: 4:30
total: 15:30

Almost to the top

2009-10-19T10:00:00.000-07:00

I just finished a 17+ hour week and am looking at 19 this week; however, since I switched my days up last week to incorporate the Kiwanis Crazy Kicker 100 mile ride on Saturday, then did my long run on Sunday (well, most of it, anyway), I should have a rest day today, but then that would mess up the rest of this week. What to do.

Ok. Coach Pete says to not do my long brick today and get back on schedule tomorrow. That will cut down the week some, but I will get in the key workouts for sure.

The century ride on Saturday was out in Mineral Wells. Part of the ride took us out to Lake PK, it was very beautiful. It was the toughest 100 miles I have ridden so far. The roads were 80% chip seal so my arms are sore from the vibrations and it was NOT a flat ride. There were 3 hills that were over a mile long...whew! I even got a pin that says "I survived cherry pie hill". It was a great challenge. I was able to do my 50 minute brick run after the ride at a 9:03 pace; I am feeling great!

After Saturday's ride I went to Denton and spent the night so I could get up and watch mom race the Monster Tri on Sunday. Pete, Zach and I decided to get up early (4:30!!) to get our run in before the race. We decided to meet at the race site and run from there and were on the road by just after 5. We looped through the old neighborhood, saw our old elementary and junior high schools, went downtown around TWU and when we got back to the race site it had been just over 10 miles. That was all Zach was scheduled to run and my legs were pretty tired from Saturday, so we called it a day and enjoyed the rest of the day watching Nana take 1st place in her age group for the 3rd time in a row!

It was another great week of successful workouts. Good speed work, lots of biking.

After this week it is all down hill. I can't believe it. Starting next week it goes back down to just 15 hour weeks; that will seem like nothing! I am so grateful for how blessed my training has been. I could not ask for more!

totals for week C8:
swim: 2:45 9350 yards
bike: 9:50 177 miles
run: 4:45 33.1 miles
total: 17:20

Schedule for Week C9:
swim: 3:00
bike: 10:00
run: 6:00
total: 19:00

Biggest week so far

2009-10-11T19:16:00.000-07:00

Another awesome week! Everything went absolutely perfect with my workouts(except for the weather, but, hey, you can't have it all). I ended up with a lot of trainer miles due to wet weather again this week. It was hot and humid, then cold and rainy, hot and humid and then cold and rainy.

It worked out that my long run was on a cool day; 50 degrees and cloudy with a lite drizzle. I was scheduled for a 1:45 run, 1:00 bike, 1:00 run and ended up with a run of 2:48, 20 miles, 8:27/mile pace! It was so great. My last hour was my fastest, too. I am so pumped.

My long bike was scheduled for Thursday and it was raining with 20-30 mph winds, so I got on the trainer with the blinds open so I could watch the weather. Three hours into the ride the rain had stopped, still VERY windy, but I could not stand another minute on the trainer, so I went out for the last 2:15 and was able to finish strong, run for :30 at an 8:40/mile pace and then swim, so it was a very successful workout.

Such a great week. I am enjoying this so much and am constantly amazed at what the body will do.

Totals for Week C7:

swim: 3:00 10,200 yards
bike: 9:25 171 miles
run: 6:03 43 miles

total: 18:28

This week calls for:

swim: 3:00
bike: 8:45
run: 5:15
total: 17:00

Crankin it out

2009-10-06T13:01:00.001-07:00

Whew! It was a good week. I had 17 hours scheduled plus it was my work week with the added bonus of a third work day plus it was my birthday! I only missed out on a swim, even with all of that going on, so I think it was a very successful week.

For my long ride I went to Glen Rose and did the Paluxy Pedal. It was advertised as an 80 mile ride and I needed 4:30, so that was going to be just about right. The course ended up being only 71 miles but, man! that was the hardest 71 miles I have ever ridden. I have ridden out in that area before and have been up "the wall" but I had not ridden the entire 71 miles of CONSTANT hills! It was so beautiful out there, but it really wore out my legs. I was worried about being able to run after, but I ended up having my best brick yet! We finished the ride in 4 hours and were able to run for an hour at a 9 minute pace, so that was a huge success for me.

I had my long run the next day and was able to put in a solid 16 miles at an 8:40. Things are going well.

This week will be my longest week so far with 18.5 hours scheduled, a little bit lighter next week, then a huge 20 hour week the following week and after that it is all down hill. I can't believe it is getting that close, but I feel very encouraged and can't wait for the challenge! Bring it on!

week C6 totals:

swim: 1:45 6000 yards
bike: 9:25 167 miles
run: 5:40 38.55 miles

total: 16:55

Week C5

2009-10-01T10:23:00.000-07:00

Forgot to post last weeks stuff. It was competitive week 5 and things continue to go well! I went and rode the Waco Wild West century ride and was excited to have people to do my long ride with, but there was such a small turn out that I had a 2 hour stretch where I did not see a single rider, only passed one aid station and no towns! It was crazy. We were out in the middle of no-where and I could actually hear the crickets chirping. So it was kind of lonely but still better than riding my normal route by myself because there were new things to see. We passed by Bush's Crawford Ranch, some cool WWII bunkers and the Mars factory where they gave us our fill of skittles. It was not a flat course; I averaged 19mph and had a hard time running after so I must have pushed a little too hard. Good lesson.

Totals for the week:

swim: 2:10 7000 yards
bike: 8:50 162 miles
run: 4:20 30.4 miles

total: 15:20

I am already half way through week C6 and it is a full week! 17 hours scheduled! Plus I am working 3 days, so time is crazy. Happy birthday to me tomorrow. I am taking it as my rest day and having lots of cake :)

The trainer week

2009-09-20T19:24:00.000-07:00

Strange times here in Texas. It rained from Friday through Thursday. Not a ray of sunshine. I was able to get my long ride and run in last week before the rain hit, but this week found me on the trainer and running in the rain (which I love!). Over 7 hours on the trainer; that is not so much fun, but I got the time and miles in that I needed and the rain has moved on, so back to the road this week.

totals for week c4:

swim: 2:30 8400 yards
bike: 7:40 144 miles
run: 5:00 36.33 miles
total: 15:10

Schedule for week C5:

swim: 2:30
bike: 6:00
run: 3:30

a reprieve!

Week C3 totals

2009-09-13T19:14:00.000-07:00

Wow. Time is ticking away very quickly. Tomorrow starts competitive week 4; 9 more hard training weeks and two tapers. I am feeling great; I am in the best shape of my life by far. My workouts went extremely well this week except for one thing...they are SO lonely! Oh my gosh. Thursday was 85 miles on the bike followed by a 5 mile run...all alone. Friday was a 15 mile run followed by an hour bike...all alone. Pete says I am building mental strength. I guess that is good because I remember at Redman last year around mile 70 on the bike thinking how far I still had to go and how long I had already been out there; mental strength is the only thing that keeps you going.

I feel very encouraged about where I am. If I can keep hitting my workouts and remain injury free then that will make this experience just about perfect I think.

totals for this week were:

swim: 2:05 7000 yards
bike: 9:05 157 miles
run: 4:20 29.8

total time: 15:30

Schedule for Week C4:

swim: 3:00
bike: 7:30
run: 4:45
total: 15:15

Week C2 totals

2009-09-08T19:08:00.000-07:00

My “crash” on Thursday ruined my run on Friday. I was scheduled to run 2:10 and I struggled through 1:30 and called it quits. My legs were completely zapped. I spent the rest of the weekend doing lots of pulling in the pool to rest my legs. Things seem to be back to normal now. This week is going well so far!

Week C2 totals:

Swim: 3:05 9150 (approx) yards
Bike: 6:45 116 miles
Run: 4:40 32.25 miles
Total: 14:30

Crash

2009-09-04T06:42:00.000-07:00

No, I didn't fall off my bike (although it certainly would not be the first time!). I had a long brick scheduled for yesterday. 3:30 bike, :50 run, :30 swim. I headed out on the bike about 8:45am. The weather has been unseasonably cool for the last 2 weeks so I was expecting the same and did not check the forecast. I rode to Benbrook, through the park, down the trail to the zero mile and was at 2:00 / 39 miles and decided that was a good place to turn around and head back home. I was on top of my nutrition, doing my usual routine of perpetuem every 20 minutes, but did not realize how badly I was losing electrolytes. I felt great! Near mile 50 I crashed. My legs cramped up and I was trudging along at 12-13 mph with 30 miles left to go to get home. I was riding along trying to decide what to do. I knew that I could make it to the gas station at mile 60 and could probably make it home once I stopped and refueled, but was it worth it? At mile 55 I called Pete. He was just leaving work and met me at the gas station. I ate and drank all the way home and decided to try to still get my run in. It was 98 degrees, a lot hotter than I had expected the day to be, but I have run in the heat a lot this summer. Pete and I headed out and I knew 2 miles into the run that I had pushed my body to the point of no return for the day. I walked/jogged for 4 miles and called it a day.

I had a hard time not being disappointed. I kept thinking "what if this was race day? I would not be able to finish!"

Pete said it is good for this to happen every once in a while. It keeps you from being too sure about yourself. It is a very valuable lesson. I have been blessed to only experience this during my training and not in a race.

Today is a new day and I will go out there and tackle my next workout and keep moving forward...

End of week C1

2009-09-01T11:54:00.000-07:00

It was an all new training experience this week with the girls at school and switching my schedule around and having a pool in my garage. Crazy.

I kept my long ride on Saturday this week because I finally got to go to Hotter-n-Hell! WooHoo! I posted some pics on my family blog www.sorenandreese.blogspot.com . It was so much fun. I did 100 miles in just over 5 hours in spite of the 15,000 riders that I was sharing the road with. I think that if not for the congestion for the first 60 miles I could have easily averaged 21-22 mph; it is so flat and fast!

Totals for the week:

swim 1:30
bike: 8:10 150 miles
run: 4:40 33.2 miles

total 14:20

Schedule for Week C2:
swim: 3:00
bike: 7:15
run: 5:05
total: 15:20

whew! Gettin up there!

Competitive season is here!

2009-08-23T20:07:00.000-07:00

Last week ended the pre-season schedule of my training. Now I have 12 weeks of competitive training, 2 taper weeks and then race day. Wow!

I started keeping track of my workouts at pre-season week 3. For weeks 3 - 22 (20 weeks) here are my cumulative totals:

swim: 37:31 118,050 yards

bike trainer: 51:50 866 miles

road biking: 70:03 1,234 miles

running: 65:44 442 miles

other: 1:40

total hours: 226.48

total miles: 2,611

Today is a sad day. Reese starts kindergarten. I can't believe it. Anyway, that means that I will have no kids from 8-3 everyday so I decided that it would be better to do my long Saturday and Sunday workouts during these times and make Saturday my day off and Sunday a light day. Pete switched my schedule around and made my weeks Saturday to Friday.

Another change will be my swim workouts! We got a new toy! Pretty cool.

laid out ready to set up

that is reese taking the first dip.

Week P21

2009-08-18T12:10:00.000-07:00

Drove home from Denver on Monday, so that day was gone. Pete left to go back to Denver on Thursday for his race, so mostly trainer miles this week.

Totals:
Swim: :45 2500 yards (skipped out on the other workouts since we have not had swim team)
Bike: 8:15 132 miles
Run: 4:00 26.8 miles
total: 13 hours

This week is my last pre-season week before the 12 week competitive season starts. We are at the lakehouse so I brought my trainer to get the bike workouts in; will have some good hill runs and lots of open water swimming. Good times!

Boulder 5430 Long Course

2009-08-10T16:59:00.000-07:00

Pete and I headed to Denver on Friday afternoon for the Boulder 5430 Long Course tri on Sunday. We arrived in Denver at Danna’s house at 2am. Saturday we got up and rode for an hour on the trails near Danna’s house and then headed up to the Boulder Reservoir for packet pickup and a swim.

Sunday morning at 4am we headed to the race site. I set up my transition and then sat around eating, drinking, amazed by the athletes that surrounded me. That was the most fit group of people I have ever been around; very intimidating!

The race started with the pros at 6:30 followed by 9 waves of age groupers. I was in the 10th and final wave leaving off at 7:15. I did a nice long swim warm up, but once the whistle blew and I took off my heart rate immediately spiked. I had a hard time breathing and got knocked around more than usual. I never did settle into a relaxed groove and just focused on getting out of the water. Total swim time was 37 minutes. I was a little disappointed at the swim exit to find that there were no wet suit strippers; I had to use valuable energy to pry off my second skin. I was somewhat concerned at this point that the entire race was going to be painful.

On the bike it took me about 10 minutes to realize that I actually felt pretty good. I was not going very fast, only around 17 mph, but I was not suffering and felt like my heart rate was more manageable. I settled into my aero position and focused on the beautiful surroundings and wonderfully refreshing temperatures that I was blessed with.

At around mile 10 we hit the fun part. With minimal effort I cruised at 25+ mph and even hit 40 at one point; this was quite a long stretch and increased my average to over 21 by the end of the first loop. Sweet! And I will get to do that again! I was able to average 20.2mph overall for the 56 miles. I was very happy with that. The roads were unbelievable. The softest ride I have ever had.

Off the bike in T2 I felt tired but not spent. I grabbed my stuff and headed out for two loops around the reservoir on all dirt and gravel trails. So nice. There were 3 climbs on the loop to keep your legs awake. The sun was strong, different than here in Texas, but I did not feel hot. I dumped water on my head at each aid station and with the breeze coming off of the water the heat was extremely manageable.

From the start of the run I could tell that breathing was going to be an issue as it had been on the swim. I ran from aid station to aid station at a pace that felt like my 5k pace, based on my heart rate, but was in reality slower than my marathon pace and walked through them drinking plenty of water and ate sport beans every other mile. I really didn’t know how slow I was going until I finished loop 1 and saw that it had taken me a full hour. But that was what I had to give and I was enjoying myself and felt better than I thought I would, so I did not try to push it any harder. At mile 10 I had pretty much had it. It was time to eat more and I was at an aid station and needed to drink but I did not want either. I just pushed through the last 3 miles without taking in anything.

I crossed the finish line at 5:34 after a 2:05 half marathon run. The second I stopped running I broke out in goose bumps and could not breathe. I am sure I was pretty dehydrated but I was very surprised at how much harder it was to breathe now that I was finished. I knew that I had shot myself in the foot by not taking any hydration or nutrition for those last miles but it was all over now and I was pleased with my overall time, with how I felt for 90% of the race, and absolutely loved the atmosphere and surroundings, so I was happy.

It was such a great race. Well run, fantastic course, great people. My plan was to take a bunch of pictures after the race to capture some of the beauty, but I felt like crap and just wanted to lie down. Danna was kind enough to snap these for me, thanks!

always what you want to see when you stop to pee...

our Saturday trip to the reservoir

the sunrise over the reservoir race morning

my swim wave

no strippers! dang!

I rested for the afternoon before Trey and Danna insisted on taking us out to Texas de Brazil for an amazing dinner. What a great trip! Thank you for hosting us Trey and Danna!

Now back to business. I have got to get a nutrition plan for my run at Cozumel. The bike is great, but when I run I really do not want to eat anything and that will not cut it for 26 miles…

Totals for last week:
Swim: 1:42 6500 yards
Bike: 7:30 132 miles
Run: 3:00 19.1 miles

This week calls for:
Swim: 2:30
Bike: 7:05
Run: 4:10
Total: 13:45

slacker

2009-08-03T08:39:00.000-07:00

I am on vacation. For almost 3 weeks. I was in Florida last week; took my run stuff, did not run. Swam a lot. Enjoying the last three weeks before school starts. Workouts will suffer, but it is what it is.

I got in a little over 6 hours of actual workouts before I left on Thursday morning and that was it for the week. This week I am in Denton working on Monday and leave for Colorado on Friday for a half iron race Sunday morning in Boulder. I will not have a heavy week in preparation for that race. Maybe it will be back to normal the week after...we will see. Having fun, though!!

totals for week P19 7/27 - 8/2

swim: 2:15 6500
bike: 5:30 97 miles
run: 2:00 12 miles

By the books

2009-07-27T06:54:00.000-07:00

I was able to hit all of my workouts this week and even added a little. The goatneck bike tour was on Saturday and that gave me a supported 70 mile ride with some really great hills and lots of great people. Bikers are awesome. The tours are a really fun atmosphere; you see all kinds, that's for sure! Because I am concentrating on training for triathlons where drafting is not allowed, I do not get in the pelotons at the rides. I try to stay down in my aero bars and do my own thing. There was a guy on Saturday that came up behind me and stayed on my wheel for a few minutes before he came up beside me and said "well, it is useless to try to draft off of you!" It was pretty funny. I was able to average 19.9 for the 70 miles and then jumped off and ran for 45 minutes. It was a good day.

Totals for the week:

swim: 3:00 9000 yards
bike: 6:20 115 miles
run: 4:40 30.8 miles
total: 14:00

For the next three weeks I will be on the road to Florida, Colorado and Austin, so my workouts will be worked in where they can. My schedule this week calls for

swim: 2:30
bike: 6:05
run: 3:35
total: 12:10

Finally. A Race!

2009-07-20T04:55:00.000-07:00

Train, train, train. I decided it was time to do some races. I completed my first olympic distance tri this weekend and it was great. Kind of a tough distance to pace, so I just went hard for as long as I could. I did not run as fast as I thought I would, but I had a great race...and I had FUN! Sometimes with all of this training it is easy to lose sight of the fact that this is indeed my hobby and if it is not enjoyable then there is no point for me to go on. I can be competitive and still have fun; and that is just what I did.

The race was held at Johnson Branch on Lake Ray Roberts. It was a 1500 yard swim, 24 mile bike and 10k run. My times were: swim 24:44, bike 1:06 (20.7 mph), run :49.47 (8:02/mile) total race time: 2:24.

As far as a race report, well, I thought it was great. The swim was great because that is such a clean lake, the roads were 90% smooth (kinda patchy in some spots, but nothing compared to what I am used to riding on); some good hills to add a challenge; decent amount of shade on the run; what more could you ask for? I am very pleased with the race and my performance. Will definitely do it again.

don't be deceived; I didn't feel as bad as I looked!

congratulations to Nana on her awesome race, too! You can read her report and see more pics on www.theparkersblog.blogspot.com

Icing on the cake...I was 1st in my age group! Woo Hoo!

Because of the race on Sunday, I pared down my week's workouts some. My totals for the week were:

swim: 2:30 8200 yards
bike: 4:10 79 miles
run: 3:45 25 miles

Now back to business. This week will be pretty normal with 2:30 swim, 3:45 run and 5:45 bike.

2 Weeks Worth

2009-07-12T19:16:00.000-07:00

I never got around to posting my totals from week P15 (6/29-7/5), they were:

swim: 1:40 5500 yards
bike: 3:30 51 miles (skipped my Saturday long ride and opted for a July 4th party instead!)
run: 3:00 20.3 miles

total: 8:10

Now on to this past week. It was Pre-Season Week 16 July 6-12. My totals were

swim: 3:00 9000 yards
bike: 7:15 133 miles
run: 3:35 24.6 miles

Total: 13:50

This week's bike included the Peach Pedal; I love that ride! I met up with some tricowtown friends as well as some Burleson buddies and we rode the 9 mile loop before the tour took off for the 100k. We ended up with just over 70 miles and then jumped off for a 4 mile brick in the lovely 105 degree heat. I was pleased with my averages of 19.5 mph on the bike and 8:30/miles for the run.

I was able to get a hill run in as well as a track workout, but skipped my Sunday long run to visit with family.

This week I will finally do a race! Yea! I am going to do the olympic distance at the Disco Tri at Johnson Branch on Lake Ray Roberts. It will be my first time to do this distance, so that will be fun. I have heard it is a fun race and am excited to see how I do. Mom will be there to do the sprint distance.

This week's schedule:

swim: 2:30
bike: 7:05
run: 4:45
total: 14:20

wow. That is a lot. I am not sure how much Pete will have me do / not do to make my race on Sunday a success. Guess I better find out.

Training is going well. I am pleased with the progress I am making with my running and biking. This week's olympic and next month's half will be a good gauge of my strengths and weaknesses with plenty of time to focus on what needs the most attention.

working it in

2009-06-29T07:29:00.000-07:00

I had to do some re-arranging to get everything in this week. Soren had a meet in Keller all day fri, sat and sunday, so all I could do is some running on those days. I switched my long bike to Thursday, leaving at 2pm when Pete got home from work. No problem, it was only about 102 degrees! It was fun to run in Keller; they have miles and miles of great trails with some nice climbs. I have to get on top of my hydration, though. I ran on Saturday and Sunday mornings and my entire chest is rubbed raw. It is very painful and looks terrible. I took water, but that is just not enough. Nutrition on the bike is good; I am still using perpetuem. I ran out for the last hour of my ride on Thursday, so I ate some blocks and the combination, along with the extreme heat, did not go well. I felt really sick to my stomach. Good to know.

week p14 totals

swim 2:00 6400 yards
bike 6:15 108 miles
run 4:00 27.55 miles

total: 12:15

This week's schedule:

swim 2:30
bike 5:00
run 3:20

total: 10:50

It's gettin' hot out there!

2009-06-21T14:26:00.000-07:00

I love it. Would not have it any other way. I was able to do a 5 hour ride today and we started at 6 am as soon as it was light enough so that we would not have to fight the heat as long. We are into the triple digit heat indexes now!

I did my first time trial this week. The Dam Bike Time Trial at Joe Pool lake. It was 8 miles, totally flat, out and back. The wind was an issue going out but pushed me on the way back in. I averaged 22.3 mph which made me 2nd place overall female. Of course the first place female had to be in my age group, too, so I was 2nd there as well. At least I got my money back; it was $30 to enter and I got a $30 gift certificate for my finish time. It was gut wrenching, like a sprint tri, but pretty fun. It will be interesting to do that same one again at the end of the season and see if I improve.

Pretty good workout week. Not as much running as I had hoped, but I covered the bases. Totals:

Swim 2:15 7050 yards
bike 9:05 162 miles
run 2:35 18 miles
total: 13:55

For next week, P14 6/22 - 6/28 I have:

swim 2:30
bike 5:00
run 3:20
total: 10:50

enough is as good as a feast

2009-06-16T19:25:00.000-07:00

Let me just say that I had 4 kids all week. There. That is my excuse, and we all know what excuses are like. I had a great week with the kids, so I don't mind if I missed a little. On Friday I took off to Galveston with Jodi so I did not bike Fri, Sat or Sun, but I got a couple of runs in on Seawall. That was cool.

Week P12 totals:
swim 1:00 3050 (tried to go 2 other times and was turned away by the weather)
bike 6:20 108 miles (ALL trainer miles! That should count as twice as many!)
run: 3:40 23.75 miles
total: 11:00

Schedule for Week P13 (6/15 - 6/21)

swim 2:30
bike 4:25
run 3:00
total 9:55

summer is here

2009-06-07T19:33:00.000-07:00

It is officially summer in our household. Soren has finished the 4th grade! That means a crazy summer schedule (or lack of) is upon us. I will fit my workouts in where there is time between many trips and fun outings.

This week was another success. I logged exactly the number of hours I needed, however I was lacking in my swim and over in my biking. That's okay. My bike needs more work than my swim anyway.

A couple of firsts for me this week. I was riding on the trail and my chain snapped. Luckily I was riding with friends, one of which lives in some apartments on the trail, so I hopped off of the bike and jogged in my socks the 4 miles back to his apartment for a lift back to my car which was all the way back at the Y. Most riders asked if I needed some help; you usually see people riding their bikes, not pushing them. My feet were on fire and my socks had disintegrated by the time I reached the apartments. I don't think I will pursue barefoot running.

On Friday Pete and I had the opportunity to run together and he took me on my first trail run. It was difficult, but I enjoyed the change. My ankles felt very weak on the downhills but overall it was great.

This week's totals were:

swim 1:00 3000 yards (oops!)
bike: 7:10 120 miles
run: 5:00 31 miles
20 minutes of plyometrics
total time: 13:30

schedule for week P12 6/8 - 6/14

swim: 2:30
bike: 5:15
run: 3:30

total: 11:15

rolling right along

2009-06-02T20:50:00.000-07:00

I get to check off another successful week. I am having so much fun with this right now. I am totally loving all of the biking out doors (I did not ride on the trainer once last week!) and my running is slowly improving. Pete is switching some things up for me starting this week. Adding some ply metrics and changing my goals during track workouts. I did the first session today and it was really good; brutal, but rewarding. Last week's bike totals include the Burleson Honey Tour of 62 miles. It was a great time. I rode with Bruce and Nancy; we held back some, averaged 18.2 and then jumped off for a 4 mile run.

Totals from week P10 5/25 - 5/31:

swim: 2:30 6900 yards
bike: 8:00 141 miles
run: 2:43 18.25
Total: 13:13

Schedule for week P11 6/1 - 6/7:

swim: 2:30
bike: 6:25
run: 4:15
total: 13:1o

End of week P9

2009-05-24T19:12:00.000-07:00

I had a lot of time this week, and when I have time on my hands, I like to ride my bike! So ride I did. and run. and swim (a little). This weeks totals include the Burleson Honey Tour bike and 2 brick runs. It was a great week.

totals:

swim 1:30 4800 yards
bike 9:00 157 miles
run 4:15 27.67 miles

total: 14:45

Next week's schedule:

swim: 2:30
bike: 4:25
run: 2:55

total: 9:50

check check check

2009-05-17T19:37:00.000-07:00

2 for 2. Another good workout week. I did not overdo it, but I achieved it. good enough.

swim: 2:05 6,600 yards (got to do an open water swim, too)
bike: 5:10 82 miles
run: 3:10 21 miles

total: 10:25

This week will be P9 5/18 - 5/24 and includes

swim: 2:30
bike: 5:40
run: 3:45

total: 11:55

An hour and a half longer...hmm...gonna have to crank it up. The weather is gorgeous, I am enjoying riding outside so much! I will also have more opportunities to do open water swims. Good times.

Rock On

2009-05-10T18:14:00.000-07:00

It was a very good week of working out. I was able to do everything I was scheduled to do and then some. I had a lot of good road riding; it was nice to be off of the trainer! I feel so much stronger on the bike than I did last fall. I don't necessarily feel super fast, but things that would have worn me out last season seem easier now. That is exciting.

Totals for the week:
swim: 3:00 9,150 yards
bike: 7:00 118 miles
run: 2:35 18 miles
total workout time: 12:35

This week's schedule: week P8 5/11 - 5/17

swim 2:30
bike 4:40
run 3:05
total 10:15

End of week P6

2009-05-04T19:02:00.000-07:00

Last week's totals are embarrassing, but I am still going to post them because it will motivate me to not have to post these kind of numbers again. I took 3 days off, not for any good reason, I just did.

Swim: 1:00 3050 yards
bike: 4:45 81 miles
run: 2:06 13.3 miles
+20 minutes of cyclocore

total workout time: 7:51

Week P7 (5/5 - 5/10) calls for:

swim: 2:30
bike: 4:25
run: 2:35
total: 9:30

Last week I did the Burleson 5k and I am getting back in my PR range, which is good news. My run has suffered this winter with all of the bike workouts I have done, but it seems to be on the mend. I ran a 23:02; a good place to build from. Eventually I would like to get in the 21 minute range.

Try Again

2009-04-27T10:29:00.000-07:00

I did not do everything that I was "supposed" to do last week, but it was not a total waste. I did get some good workouts in and I had company and went out of town, so I think that excuses the missed sessions.

week totals:
swim - 1:45, 5450 yards
bike-2:05, 38 miles
run-3:40, 23.2 miles
total time-7:30

the running was a strange number because my 3 run workouts for the week consisted of a hill workout of 4.6 miles, a track session which had a 1.5 mile warm up with a 4 mile workout, and then the OKC half marathon (13.1 miles) on Sunday. All good workouts! The race was a total blast. I love that distance! Not a PR for me (in fact, my half iron triathlon runs were faster, oops!) but it was a respectable 1:54 and a lot of fun.

Moving on.

This week's schedule (4/27 - 5/3) demands 2:30 swim, 4:15 bike, and 2:10 run for a total of 8:55. This is my work week (Thursday and Friday) which makes things a little more difficult, but I should be able to squeeze it all in.

Get Going

2009-04-19T07:46:00.000-07:00

The opentri.com ultra distance training program would have me in pre-season week 5, so that is where I will start this week. Weeks are monday - sunday. There are 22 pre-season weeks followed by 12 competitive weeks and finally 2 taper weeks up to race day.

The sum of this week is 2:30 hours of swimming, 5:30 hours of biking and 2:50 hours of running for a total of 10:50. Nice. I can handle that!

One of the things Pete has taught me is that over training is the best way to ruin a race. If I were to be at peak performance right now then I would have to hold that for 7 months and that would be completely exhausting. This is base training time.

Inspiration

2009-04-17T16:23:00.001-07:00

Recently I happened upon a video that was one woman's story of her journey to an Ironman race. It followed her through the 9 months of training that it took to get her to race day. Seeing that made me realize that getting to the finish line is not the difficult part of Ironman; it is getting to the starting line.

While I remember the long hours I spent getting ready for Redman 2008, my first iron distance tri, I do not have it documented. I decided that this time around I want to be able to look back and see what really went in to preparing for Ironman Cozumel 2009.

So here we go. It is mid April; 7 months away from race day. I have not officially started a training program, although I have never actually quit training since I started 3 years ago. My plan is to follow the ultra distance program on opentri.com with some alterations made by coach Pete. He got me to Redman totally prepared and I had the most amazing experience, so I have all good expectations for this race as well.

My goal for my first iron distance was to cross the finish line with a smile on my face; not to be dieing from the events of the day. I far surpassed that goal, so this time I am making some real goals. The course in Cozumel should be very similar to Redman; not hilly, quite hot, possibly windy. The swim will be different. Only one loop, in the ocean, no wet suit. I really think the wet suit gave me an advantage last time, so I will have to swim faster to make up for the loss! As of right now, I would like to swim a 1:10, bike at 18+mph, and run a 4:30. I would also like to cut down on my transition times; they were quite long. As my training progresses I will reevaluate these goals, but that is it for now!

Should be a busy, interesting, tiring 7 months.