TRi*Tawn

An "Epic" New Year's Weekend?

2012-01-11T15:20:00.000-08:00

I make a point to appreciate where I live every day. I'll walk across the the street to the beach for a quick chill-out session to take in the fresh air and sights even if for just 10-15 minutes, and I'll also head over to catch some breathtaking sunsets. January has been exceptional...

So far that's been the theme of 2012: In a life that's always go-go-go busy-busy-busy, I make sure to 1) appreciate the small things, and 2) take breaks and rest when necessary. I got a good dose of #2 in particular on NYE weekend....

In the past I've been known to do an epic workout on January 1 (well, after my SDSU days that is). This year I had the same thing planned. The BF and I took a last-minute NYE trip to Paso Robles for some bike riding, wine tasting, fine dining and relaxing. I had visions of this perfect weekend in mind... so you can only imagine what really happened: That perfect weekend didn't happen! No, the BF and I didn't break up or anything extreme like that. And no I didn't get too drunk off wine and make a fool of myself.

Instead, my body decided it had had enough exercise in the past 2.5 weeks and decided to shut down. It was crazy. I've only reached that point of "breakdown" a few times. It's during these "lows" where the best lessons are learned (I'll get to that soon). As an aside, in this recent episode, the breakdown was not a result of chronically overtraining. Nor was it a result of too much too soon. I've been gradually building bike/run mileage even before I started with my coach, and lately we've been seeing how much I can do. I'd been going strong, loving each session, and the miles just kept getting easier to lay down.

On Thursday before NYE weekend the signs surfaced that rest was necessary. I finished my run that morning feeling abnormally tired, depleted and drained despite good nutrition, etc. I bagged my workout the next day in hopes for a rebound over the weekend. So Saturday, in Paso, we headed out on a long route that I'd mapped out prior. Body. Didn't. Respond. It's like my body just said, "F you, head back home and chill out." I fought the urge with my "epic" weekend in mind thinking I'd be able to break through that feeling, but it wasn't happening. I was sad. There may have even been a tear or two. Poor BF, right? But how often do we get to ride on uninterrupted roads in beautiful wine country?! Never!

The breaking point on the ride was when I was not able to climb a hill that otherwise would have been cakewalk on any other day. I decided it was time to cut it short and head home. The total ride was a fraction of what I'd planned and I was pretty emotional about the situation. But what are you going to do?

After a very mellow NYE celebration (what I would have preferred regardless of my situation) on January 1 there was the opportunity to yet again ride some epic routes. But I knew better and took a rest day. Although upsetting at the time, in a way I was happy with my start to 2012. I'm a smarter athlete. I know to listen to my body, and when it really needs rest, I'll give it that rest. I didn't try to push through and still ride, which I know would have set me back further -- that's how chronic overtraining begins.

You might be saying, "Well wasn't it dumb to push yourself to the point of 'breaking down' in the first place?" I argue: No.

First off, it was an acute episode. The tiredness hit Thursday, I couldn't push further after that so I rested, and I was back to my normal self by Monday/Tuesday-ish.

Secondly, this is how good lessons are learned. It's important to find your limits in training, safely. How do you know what you're capable of doing unless you try? That said, I don't think it's smart to continually push the envelope and dig yourself into a state of extreme fatigue over and over and over, but I do think it's important to push your body, figure out your limits and then work with that for future training. Next time you'll probably be able to go further and smash old limits! This gets tricky, though, and you have to play it smart, aka rest is a vital component to the equation. In my case, for example, we still followed up my "dead weekend" with a recovery week. And, ya know what? I'm more than 100% back to normal now and training like I should be.

Anyways, that's my epic New Year's for ya :)

The good news is, I was still able to get in a little wine, a lot of delicious food, some epic sleep and quality time with the BF....

(First four pics from Thomas Hills Organics restaurant in Paso, a must!)

(Ahi salad and sweet potato fries -- fries were my comfort food after the epic fail bike ride -- at Pier 46 Seafood Market in Templeton, another must)

A stop at a cool winery
And a "joke" food... sort of (still tasty in my opinion)

Here's to a smart and safe year of training & racing!

XTERRA 15k ~ Last RR of 2011

2011-12-12T13:40:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite races was yesterday... the XTERRA Crystal Cove 15k, part of their So Cal Series. This was my third time doing the race; although this year was an entirely new course. Thankfully I got the memo on that a couple months ago so I knew well what the new route entailed. It's hard to say if it's easier or harder than the past, but overall, I'd say the new route is harder. Just as much elevation gain (1500ft) in a shorter distance and crazier hills with grades that are so steep I have to walk -- which isn't the case on the old route -- and there are more technical parts like climbing pure rocks and navigating narrow single track. That said, mile 1 and the last 4ish miles on new route aren't so bad (tough but not death) so you can make up some lost time. For those familiar with the old route, mile 1 is NOT easy and part of the last miles have some big rollers to get over

My goal for yesterday's race was to do it in 1:20 +/- 2 minutes. Predicting time based on results from past years wasn't doable due to different courses/distances, not to mention it's hard to set specific goal times on a trail race because you can't really predict your mile splits as well. What I did know was my fastest hard training run on the new course was in 1:24. So, I assumed I could shave off a few minutes if I dug deep and let that HR average to be north of 170.

I also wanted to get an AG win because that's what I did the past two times I did this race. Had to keep that streak alive :)

So a quick recap on my race: It was a blast in that crazy sadistic pain sort of way. I was well warmed up and started off hard but not too hard, i.e. I would have liked to have stayed with the top ladies but there were some fast ones (including my girl Marta!) who's paces I could not match, and I had to race my race (can't fake fitness as someone wise once said hehe). I still stayed in the top-10 range and focused on controlling the controllables.

Most the elevation gain is in the first half of the race starting at mile 2. My body felt strong and well-prepared for the 9.5 hilly, rocky miles, but I was still huffin and puffin. Some of the hills were just killin' me and I hammered up with my best effort but I didn't have that extra gear to climb them as fast as I wanted. (Time to get very specific with hill training going into 2012, right Lucho?)

All that hill climbing climaxes at mile 4.5, when you hit The Elevator, aka "the wall." First you must go descend down a steep-ass section before going up. I'm pretty sure not a single person was able to run up The Elevator (I asked around after). It's pretty insane, a wall indeed. Oddly, that was my favorite part of the race. I knew what to expect and seeing everyone else suffering up the hill with me was fun. Even walking up it I think my HR was in the mid-high 160s.

After that the uphill grades are more manageable and I picked up the pace through the finish. At mile 5, after being around dudes the whole time, I finally caught and passed a couple girls. Nearing the finish and upon the final decent I saw that my goal time of 1:20 was close but I'd need to pick it up. My last 2+ miles were in the 6's (thank goodness for downhill lol) but it wasn't enough. Finished in 1:21 and change.

That finish was definite PR for me on the new route and in the race, and it got me 1st AG -- kept the streak alive. Sweet. I also got 8th female overall out of ?

Here's the course profile. Note that middle dip/incline, that's The Elevator.

So that does it for 2011. Ending the year with a fun, great, hard effort at my favorite local running race was definitely awesome. I got a lot done in '11, and I'm looking forward to even more in '12!

How about some pics...

Finishing...
Marta, Mom and Me -- all podiumed and PR'd! Marta even got an overall podium, girl has gotten fast :)
Bonus: The one and only ER came out to play and podiumed with me! She had a great race and is definitely making a stellar comeback into sport!
High five friend!
And of course my favorite sherpa was there. He's coming off his big 25-hour race car race from last weekend and wasn't up to racing again just yet... so instead he read "I'm Here to Win" while we were running and was on camera duty:)

"So Deep" with Myorope

2011-11-29T14:22:00.000-08:00

I've been a dedicated foam roller for a long time now. OK, I'll admit, I do slack on it every now and then because that thing can hurt, but overall I love what it does. I also use two tennis balls that are duct-taped together. So when I got word of a product that sort of combines those two things into one, I was intrigued.

It's called Myorope, and I likey! A good addition to the world of recovery as a tool for self-massage, trigger-point therapy and myofascial release.

According to it's creator, Neil, a triathlete who also strength trains, etc., Myorope was created to do what most self-massage tools can't: Target hard-to-reach spots that a big foam roller can't hone in on, and pinpoint those spots --including trigger points -- with multiple balls (that aren't covered in duct tape) vs. just one or two.

So I got a Myorope, and at first I thought, well, I have my foam roller and my tennis balls, and both seem to serve my needs, why do I need another similar device? Well besides the obvious reason that more balls are better than one (or two even) haha...

---

Here's what I like...

Myorope rolls a lot better than the tennis balls. I tend to get "stuck" on tennis balls.

The size of the balls -- size of a lcarosse ball -- is ideal and they dig into you well. Tennis balls are just a little too small and, for me, it's like I'm just sitting/lying on the floor, negating their effect. If that makes sense.

It actually conforms to the area I'm rolling and makes it easy to target a muscle or muscle groups.

Way more effective on my back than foam rollers and tennis balls. As validation of that: My boyfriend who has had back issues says he loves the massage and relief that Myorope provides.

Surprisingly works well on the IT Band (thought it wouldn't be tough enough).

Gets my hamstrings better than foam roller/tennis balls.

Easy to store compared to foam roller (think: travel).

Better looking than a clump of duct-taped balls (a good conversation piece too*).

Cheap ($15-$25 depending on your ball # preference).

---

On the flip side (just so I don't sound like a total infomercial)...

I still think a foam roller is better on IT band and calves.

If you're supine (face up) or sitting and want to roll out muscles like your quads or calves, then I think products like a runner's stick are better at digging deep than Myorope.

Foam rollers, tennis balls and like products (i.e. TP Therapy) will still do the job. Heck, we even have yoga mats wrapped around large PVC piping and that works! Myorope just might be better in certain areas.

---

Final Word

Overall, I would definitely recommend Myorope to any of my clients of triathlete friends. It's innovative and really is able to target certain areas unlike tennis balls and foam rollers, with the added bonus that it rolls really easily and so on.

*I won't lie, when I first got my Myorope my boyfriend and I had a good laugh. The product looks similar to something else that exists in this world, just a lot bigger version of it. If you know what I'm saying, then get your mind out of the gutter ;) And, no, for the record, I don't have that undiscolsed "other" product!

Trotted

2011-11-25T07:35:00.000-08:00

Turkey Trot was super fun. Definitely not as cold as I was expecting nor did it rain like the rumors were saying, so I think the 12,000+ participants were happy. I had a great morning, except the ~45 min downtime in between the 10k and 5k standing in sweaty (thus freezing cold) clothes. I brought a change of clothes but didn't think I'd have time to change with all the chaos and getting back to the car blah blah, even though I did (oh well), then I dabbled with running in between to stay warm but didn't... never mind.

My 10k was a pleasant surprise; I PR'd (more on that in a few). The Dana Point Turkey Trot is a fun, flat run around Doheny Beach and Dana Point Harbor, and it seems they finally have it figured out so the whole race isn't just a giant traffic jam. Good amount of out and backs so you can watch all the other runners, you always see some entertaining stuff -- this year there was a Santa and reindeer ensemble of about 8-10 people roped together in uniform, jingling along. Uh, that does not sounds fun for 10k!

My mom was out their running too, and damn she's in the best running shape I've ever seen. Her current 10k PR before yesterday was 50+ minutes, which she shattered yesterday with a 47:xx (7:36 pace). Unbelievable! John was also out there running too and PR'd in the 10k as well as the 5k!

My 10k ended up being a PR too: a 42:48 and a sub-7 average pace, a first. From the get-go the legs were turning over nicely at a ~7:00 min pace. Heart rate was responding well too, and overall I just felt good, so I rolled with it (original goal was more of a 7:15 pace). I ended up negative-splitting into the 6:50s toward the end, and the HR went up a bit, but that still it didn't leave me trashed. Once I knew a sub-43 was possible there was no problem kicking it up a notch. The annoying thing was, when I crossed the finishline my Garmin had me at 6.15 miles or something. So a bit short on the course. Wish it had been a true 6.2. As such, average pace on my Garmin was a 6:59 pace, but the official race results will probably show a faster pace. Regardless, I'm still happy that I had that kind of speed in my legs.

For the 5k, after all that downtime and getting cold then trying to warmup in a jam-packed corral (not possible), my goal was to simply go 7:30s +/- 10 sec. More of a cooldown run with a lower HR. The 5k course ended up being a little long according to my Garmin (3.16 miles), go figure, and I finished in 23:30 or something.

After that we did the kid's 1-mile run. Loved the good vibes of that! Our 5-year-old that we ran with did a 11:55 mile, not too shabby!

Then it was onto the eating (after the post-run nap). Good times x2 :)

Trotting Along

2011-11-23T11:42:00.000-08:00

I've recently starting ramping up the run miles again, and things are going along well. I enjoy running, and I'm OK at it, but not as good as I want to be/can be. So in 2012 one of main main goals is to become a better runner... get that discipline more up to par with my bike (yes, beth, your last comment was spot-on). Then maybe in 2013 then I can focus on becoming a swimmer ;)

Tomorrow I'll be getting in about 10+ miles of running before we feast. Doing a local Turkey Trot 10k and 5k (double whamy!)...oh and the 1-mile kid's race too, with a cute little 5-year-old I adore. I don't have any mega 10k/5k PR goals because I haven't been training for that kind of speed. The plan is to WU well then go hard-ish in the 10k (shoot for ~45 minutes), then the 5k will just be extra mileage filler. It might rain and that downtime between 10k and 5k might suck.

After trotting, it's on to TWO thanksgivings. Yikes! Wish me luck in the self-control department! I need to start thinking about losing those post-IM lbs I've put on. But tomorrow's not the day to worry about that, at least the runs will help ease the damage ;)

That's all I have for today. If you want to hear more from me, and you haven't checked out any of my Endurance Planet podcasts, now is the time... my "Ask the Ultrarunner" show with Lucho is going really well and is getting a great response from listeners. Here's this week's hour-plus episode full of good info!

And not to discount the other shows (because I love them all)... here are a couple other recents...

Interview with Ian Adamson on Adventure Racing, Running Mechanics

Sports Nutrition with Ben Greenfield

PS - Who else is getting in some killer T-day workouts?!

New Coach For Me!

2011-11-16T14:46:00.000-08:00

Yup, I finally made the move to hire a triathlon coach for myself. This is something I've wanted for a really long time, especially as a coach. I devote so much time to my athletes and their training plans -- thinking about them, writing them, talking about them with my athletes, etc., etc. -- then when it comes to me? I just sort of wing it based on what I know. It's worked alright so far. Thankfully I'm an intrinsically motivated person so it doesn't take much to get me to SBR.

But as a coach, I see the value in having a coach. I think it's important to have someone else's perspective on your training and racing. It provides an objective point of view that one's self can't fully achieve, and it's someone with whom you can collaborate. Not to mention a coach, at least a good coach, will also be part psychologist -- because we all know triathlon goes deeper than just swim, bike run -- among other roles.

There are lots of other deep, thoughtful reasons I could list on why it's great to have a coach and why I want one... but for time's sake, the bottom line is, yes, I do want someone else in charge of assessing my needs and goals, writing the plan, analyzing my data, giving feedback and so on in effort to get me faster. I'll worry about my athletes in the meantime! It's really a win-win for all parties involved :)

The thing is, I'm picky. Not surprising. I want someone who shares a similar philosophy and outlook on this job. He/she doesn't have to be exactly like me, but we can't but heads. I've had my feelers out for a while now, and I just haven't found that person. Then recently I started a new podcast over at Endurance Planet and was introduced to this guy. I knew of him, I've read his blog and was excited to start chatting with him on a regular basis. After recording a few episodes, the seed was planted... I had a good feeling that this guy might be the coach I've been looking for.

So I asked him.

And, now, I got me a coach -- Lucho!

What do John Lennon & I Have in Common?

2011-11-11T12:52:00.001-08:00

I've been totally MIA lately, but that's because I'm working my buns off, enjoying good people in my life, taking naps, watching the sunset whenever it's not cloudy, etc :)

But you can expect to hear A LOT from me again in the future. I'm planning to start a new website and have lots of other stuff floating around in my head.

In the meantime, just wanted to share something that I hold true to my heart, and apparently I have this in common with John Lennon. The one thing I need in life, the thing that drives me, is HAPPINESS. What good is anything in life--sport, travel, relationship, job--if you're not happy?

That's why I do what I do.

RR: Sprint Triathlon? Sure, Why Not...

2011-10-24T15:30:00.000-07:00

As a coach, I'm normally not an advocate of last-minute races being added to the schedule. I like to have rhyme and reason to a race schedule, and time to work toward a race or at least prepare, whether it's an A or C race. Being random isn't a good plan. But, there are asterisks to that. I think there are cases where it's OK to be sporadic and do something last-minute for fun and within reason....

On Friday night I found out I'd be doing a local sprint triathlon Sunday morning. I haven't raced in about two months, nor have I really been doing what you'd call specific "triathlon training." But what the heck?! I'm still in shape and a sprint would just be a fun, hard workout in an environment that I love being in... And, yes, I've still been riding my bike (mostly slowly), running a decent amount and strength training a lot. But swimming, I have not been doing. Maybe three swims since Canada. (Giving the shoulder some time to rest and heal.) That all said, I would never jump into a big race like a half-Ironman or more given where I'm at, nor would I advise that for someone, but I knew a sprint was safe and OK in the condition I'm in.

I can't forget to mention the other two big attractions for doing this race:

One: It was going to be the first triathlon for an athlete I coach and I couldn't miss that. Heck, I had been planning to be at the race long before I knew I was participating! She and I practicing ocean swimming last week in Laguna....
Two: My boyfriend was doing it too so we'd get to race each other--I mean "race together"--for the first time :)

~~~

Sunday morning the alarm went off at 5 a.m. At that moment racing didn't seem like such a good idea, staying in bed did, haha. But once we got going I was amped, and rightly so: The Kring and Chung Newport Beach Sprint Triathlon has been going on for 34 years and is a very well-run race on a fun little course. The race organizers and volunteers are amazing, lots of goodies pre/during/post race, and of course some fabulous prizes! I did it back in 2009 and got 1st AG, I think (I just remember the gift certificate I got for El Ranchito Mexican Restaurant - score!).

As we drove to the race site, I chowed down some oats and thought up my oh-so intricate race plan: GO hard and make it hurt. Don't let up until the finish line.

And we were off.....

Swim
After spending the better part of the morning with my athlete getting her all squared away, my wave went off in the foggy, chilly weather at just after 7 a.m. The water was warm but tasted like ass. It was nasty, not as nasty as Mission Bay, but still gag-worthy. I felt pretty decent on the swim but had no clue what pace I was potentially holding, swimming itself felt foreign and like I had lots of kinks to work out. All I knew was my HR was high--due to inefficiency and lack of training on top of still trying to "go fast." It was a 1/2 mile and I got out at 15:xx and change, at which point I tripped when standing up--smooth! Not all that concerned with the swim because what can you expect when you don't do a sport for two months and then try to race? It's just too bad they had to add the run back to transition to our swim time, making us all look even slower ;) On a positive note, the shoulder felt fine, yippee!

T1
Nothing special except I messed up my watch. Funny that I can get the Garmin to run smoothly for a whole Ironman, but I mess it up in a sprint.

Bike
In addition too fog, it was misting out so I remained soaked the entire race; the drowned rat look was a very good look for me, let me tell ya! ;) The roads were kind of slippery, but thankfully the course wasn't too technical or sketchy so you could still hammer. It was mostly all flat along Newport Back Bay with one steep hill that you have to do twice (two-loop course).
I saw the BF and my athlete, and the both looked smokin' fast so that made me happy.

I was having derailleur/chain issues and decided to stay in the big ring up the steep hill out of fear of something messing up from switching between small and big ring. Yup, that pretty much fried my legs, but I went without any mechanicals so I was content (like I said, offseason, so not doing much bike maintenance thus derailleur/chain issues that weren't fully fixed pre race lol).

Other than that, I spent most the ride passing people, especially on the second loop, and reminiscing on the olden days.... Flashback: I first started riding Back Bay when I was 3 or 4 and on the back of my dad's bike, we'd ride that trail weekend mornings to go pick up donuts. Great memory but WOW, times have changed. I don't think my dad or I have had a donut in years, and now I was racing on that road like a madwoman haha.

Finished the bike in 43 something, about a 21 mph average. I know me, and I should have been faster, but whatever.

T2
All I gotta say is I need to work on bike dismounts for racing from here on out. At least my hideous dismount is accompanied by a smile :)

Run
I've been doing some run intervals with my strength workouts at the gym and I'm training for that Xterra trail race, and based off that I knew I could pull off a sub-7 pace for 3 miles. believe!

When I started the run I noticed I was surrounded by only men. Hm, doing alright I guess. A couple spectators then gave my splits on how far back I was from the lead women, and how many were in front--to my surprise, only three were in front at the beginning. At one point I ran my way to second, but then got passed by the eventual winner and sat in third.

I felt really good on the run. By that, I mean it hurt, but 6:40-7:00 pace was doable. I had a couple people yell to me that my form looked good, which must have been in stark contrast with the drowned rat look I still had going on in the wet weather. Then this older guy said the funniest thing as I passed him: "Ya know, in my day, it'd be inappropriate for a young girl like you to pass an elder like me...." or something like that. I said "you're funny" and kept running.

Those 3 miles went by fast... I ended with a little sprint down the finishline, and my run time was just over 20 minutes, a 6:45 average pace. Nice.

Finish
I never caught my BF, which I had contemplated trying to do being that he started two waves before me, but I was close! I still beat him overall though hehe... granted he did swim and bike slightly faster than me. Even though my overall time was faster, I have to say this guy is a total stud: It was only his third triathlon ever (first was in July this year), and he finished top-10 AG for the first time! He'll be an animal in no time!

Annnnd: My athlete who was doing her first tri also finished in style, going faster than the predicted goal time and earning 7th in 35-39 AG! Can't beat top 10 for a triathlon debut! Best part, she can't wait to do another one!!! Happy coach :)

I managed to pull off 1st AG, which was a pleasant surprise. I thought I had secured 3rd overall female, but turns out there were a couple older women in the wave after me who beat me by about a minute when all was said and done. Oops! Never forget about the waves behind you, not to mention the superb ability of the veteran women of the sport! Yowza! That said, it was still fun during my run when I thought I was "racing" for the overall podium :)

Podium.... who's the bum in the beanie?! I mentioned this race has good prizes... this year another gift certificate for mexican, TYR gear and a flat of bottles of a new, healthy drink!

Oh, and I got another gift certificate to the same Mexican restaurant for earning 1st AG. Guess what I did last night.... Margs and Mexi!

We might be headed to Catalina in a couple weeks for another round of hurt! ;)

PS - BIG thanks to John's sisters for coming out to the race and taking pics!

Spaghetti Squash & Shrimp Saute

2011-10-21T12:20:00.000-07:00

As offseason goes, we normally tend to indulge in all those things that, for the most part, we stayed away from during intense training. I know I've loosened up with my diet, sleep habits, social calendar... and the list goes on. It's healthy to let loose a little and enjoy new things. Heck, I've even replaced most my swimming with surfing!

Anyways, while it's good to indulge, it's still important to keep up with healthy, wholesome eating. So today I wanted to share a yummy dinner recipe that won't leave you feeling weighed down after you eat it, and is a healthy balance of protein, fat and carbs. The recipe is based off a pasta dish I found on Eating Well. I made it into a gluten-free, grain-free dish that is boyfriend approved (and he's a tough critic, being that he isn't gluten free and eats everything under the sun lol. He really seems to like my healthy cooking though, yay).

Spaghetti Squash & Shrimp Saute

Ingredients

1 spaghetti squash
12 ounces or one frozen bag of shrimp
1 bunch asparagus, trimmed and sliced
1 large red bell pepper, sliced
1 cup fresh or frozen peas
1-2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 - 1 1/2 cups greek yogurt
1/3 cup mushroom soup (I sort of eyeballed this to be honest)
1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
dash of red pepper flakes (optional) -- we like spicy!!
extra-virgin olive oil / spray evoo

Directions:

Preheat over to 350. Cut spaghetti squash in half and spoon out the seeds. Place each half, flesh down, on a baking sheet and fill with a layer of water. Put in oven for about 60 minutes or until you can easily stick a fork through it (will depend on size of squash, oven, etc).

In a large skillet, saute shrimp, bell pepper and peas with EVOO and 1/2 the little lemon juice. For asparagus, I quickly steamed mine before adding it to the skillet with the other stuff, but you can add it in with the veggies if you want it more crispy.

In a separate bowl, mix yogurt, mushroom soup, rest of the lemon juice, salt, pepper, garlic, parsley and any other seasonings you'd like. Add the yogurt mix to the shrimp/veggie mix, and mix well. ***Note on greek yogurt: the amount you use will vary depending on how much spaghetti squash you have and on how thick you want your cream sauce.

Last but not least, when spaghetti squash is ready, remove flesh with a fork and add most the squash to the skillet with all the shrimp, veggies, etc. You might have extra spaghetti squash, again, it just depends how you want to ratio your ingredients.

Let everything simmer together for another 5-10 minutes before serving.

Sorry I didn't get more pics of the cooking process! Plus, I think the flash on my camera made it look less creamy than it really was. Weird.

Decisions That Matter

2011-10-06T10:25:00.000-07:00

I've gone to Kona for the Ironman World Championships the last two years to do media work, and I've loved it. This year, I'm not there. I'd by lying if I said I weren't jealous of all the tweets, pictures and articles coming out of Kona, but I've known this was going to be the case for months....

I had to make a choice this year.

One of my best friends from high school and college chose her wedding date to be October 8, 2011. The second weekend of October....oh man....doesn't she know that's like a holiday weekend?! Haha jk. Not only was I invited to the wedding, but she asked me to be a bridesmaid. An honor I don't take lightly.

When I got this news I was torn. Going to Kona for Ironman is a big deal for me on a lot of levels; I don't just see it as a fun vacation in paradise (although it is a blast out there). The networking, the media experience, learning about the race first-hand rather than what NBC tells me, fostering relationships, just being in that environment 24/7 for a week.... it's all an important part of my career and lifestyle, and in the past two years I wouldn't have traded those two weeks in Kona for anything; I've learned more than I can describe. So, I wanted that trend to continue annually...

But there was a choice to be made.

My friend will only be getting married once, and although I'm not the world's biggest fan of weddings nor the girly girl stuff that goes along with being a bridesmaid, I knew I wanted to be there for her big day. Even if that meant giving up Kona.

I'm lucky enough to have some friends in my life who are wonderful, unconditionally loving people; who've been there through thick and thin; and who I know will still be around until we're old and gray.... this particular friend is one of those people, and we share a mutual love and respect for each other. That's something I take seriously, as I know a true friend like her doesn't come along every day...

Case in point: when I told her the issue of conflicting dates she even said it was totally OK with her if I went to Kona instead because she knows how much it means to me and my career. That's a true friend.

But I chose her. Kona will always be there year after year, yet this wedding will only happen once. It's something I can't miss.

So that's why you won't see me running around Dig Me Beach, Ali'i Drive, The Queen K, etc., this year.... and I'm content with that decision!

Now, that said, I will most likely be the only girl at the wedding checking her iPhone religiously to get Ironman updates on Saturday (except, I might be on the alter when some gnarly racing is going down on Ali'i!!! Oh maaaan!!!!). Hopefully the sports-obsessed peeps at the wedding will understand ;)

PS - Wish me luck walking in even higher high heels than I wore at the last wedding I attended in Sept....yikes!

Ready to Race Again

2011-10-04T12:40:00.000-07:00

As I've mentioned, after IMC I spent a full month doing no real endurance training. Any swim, bike or run was purely for enjoyment and it usually was spent with someone else. It was refreshing to have a month of unstructured, laid-back SBRs. That said, with less SBR and with IMC fatigue fading, I started hitting strength training hard again and am loving it (more an that in another blog soon).

But I won't lie, I've missed having an endurance race on the calendar. I've been planning potential races for 2012, and I'm pretty sure I know what I want to do (read on), but I also am not done with 2011. So... I signed up for something! The Xterra Crystal Cove 17k Trail Race , which is probably in my top-3 of all-time favorite races! So excited! However, I hadn't run the trail in a loooong time, so I needed that butt-kicking wake-up call to see what I got myself into. Sunday I ventured out, and, I swear, I think the trail (hills in particular) got more difficult, lol. I definitely had to walk parts of some of the hills. I was expecting my time to be 10-20 min slower than my fastest time ever, but turns out I guess I still have some IMC training in my legs as well as a strong body tough enough to handle that terrain, as I ran a 1:28 and change for the full loop, about 4 minutes off my PR there.

I might do some more run-only races this year (1 or 2), and maybe a short tri if I get the bug, but, really, I'll be OK if IMC ends up being the last tri I do for '11.... because in 2012, the tentative plan is to do several 70.3s, the first two being ones I've wanted to do the last few years but haven't been able to due to school obligations/mayhem....

Wildflower Long Course

Honu 70.3

Vineman 70.3

...and maybe one more late-season 70.3, as well as a handful of shorter, local, "fun" races throughout the year.

Yup, no full Ironmans on that list! After a lot of thinking and debating, and some major self-introspection, I decided that it's more important for me to focus on my career/business next year rather than train for another IM. Being that my business is in the health & fitness industry, that means there's a lot of activity involved, and that in itself is tiring. I can manage 70.3 training into my schedule easily, but I know IM training is on another level and takes a toll. It's about prioritizing, and for 2012, my priorities lie in my career as a triathlon coach and personal trainer/strength and conditioning specialist (as well as writer, podcaster, etc). I'm willing to invest more time into that than into my own personal endeavors in SBR.

It's also all about patience. I'm only 26, I don't see any rush to be doing full IMs every year, especially if I plan on being in this sport as long as possible. Ironmans will always be there, and you better believe I plan on doing plenty more in my life, but I don't want to run myself into the ground before I'm 30 by trying to do it all. I have long-term goals, and those require patience. It's also important, in my opinion, to have the ability to live in the moment each day and not always be focused on something outlying.

So that's the plan, so far! Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go stretch and foam roll... this morning's strength sesh and trail run did me in, yikes!

A Talk with Chrissie

2011-09-27T12:57:00.000-07:00

One of the things I love most about journalism is the randomness. For the most part, you're always researching and writing about something fresh, and you're talking to an array of fascinating (or sometimes not so fascinating) people. It's never "the same ol' routine" -- and that's just how I like to do life.

Last week I was trying to get in touch with Chrissie Wellington for an article I'm working on for 3/GO. I figured I'd not hear back at all or I'd have to talk through her manager via an email interview (neither are my ideal choices for any article). With someone of her caliber and being that Kona is right around the corner, you can't expect much, I get it.

Funny how things work out...

Last Thursday I had to teach a noon fitness class at my gym. I was having a blah morning, but the group of folks who showed up to class got me out of my funk. It's always fun times teaching our classes. After class I was planning a run of ??? miles... I was just going to go with the flow based on how I felt. Well I got going and immediately felt like poop on a stick. I turned around at about .65 miles in! Weak sauce! But some days you just don't have anything, and I wasn't going to fight that. No reason to right now in the year.

I got back into the gym and went to grab my purse (I mean, Trader Joe's bag). I was feeling a little self-defeated after the crap run, even if I didn't need the miles or anything. I just don't like "failing" at a workout, and running only 1.35ish miles at a sloooooow pace is a fail for me.

Just then my phone started ringing, and it was a number I didn't recognize. Often times, I won't answer random numbers, but for some reason, this time I just said, "whatever" and answered. "Hello?"

A woman with a British accent answers, saying, "Hi there, this is Chrissie Wellington."

Really?

Totally unexpected, and I was totally unprepared. Being that I was at the gym, I had ZERO resources to conduct a decent interview. I asked Chrissie if I could call her back very soon so I could rush home, but she said it had to be now because she had to go out and train again (in my mind, that meant either figure out how to interview her now or possibly never get a hold of her again before my deadline this week). So I started scrambling to find a piece of paper and writing device while making crazy small talk. Markers and the white board crossed my mind for a sec, but then I found an old piece of red construction paper with workouts typed on it, found a pen and started winging the interview in a small, dark side office in the gym (no time to find the light switch).

Thankfully I had been pre-planning some questions in my head so I had some rhyme and reason as to what to ask. But as with most interviews, no matter where I do them, I like to let the conversation dictate the Qs I ask, which ended up being the case with CW. She was enjoyable to talk with and is clearly good at being the interviewee. My notes are a little more sucky compared to how I normally record interviews, and apparently I also "destroyed" a very valuable workout chart (the red construction paper) that the guys use. Ooops! But I had a good laugh about it with Mike after the matter because he had seen me over his shoulder scrambling to get to business.

That's journalism for ya! Never the same ol' routine -- a theme that I feel is a good way to approach life, both in a career and in training. Keep it interesting, always find new stimulation and never settle for the same ol' cookie-cutter agenda. It's amazing how that way of life allows you to be your best and give the best of what you have to those around you.

~~~

Pictured below are my shorthand notes from the interview (after that I rushed home to fill in the holes while her words were still fresh in my head, now that's journalism skillzzz lol)....

Btw, after talking with CW about her pain threshold, I have no doubt that her battle wounds from her recent crash won't even phase her at Kona. One. Tough. Chick. (Duh, right?)

Oh and stay tuned for the article in 3/GO in a couple months :)

IM Canada in Pics

2011-09-21T14:00:00.000-07:00

I'm makin' a comeback!

It's funny, you'd think after an Ironman you'd have so much extra time with all those hours you'd otherwise be spending SBR'ing. Not the case over here! When one chapter ends, another begins. I've taken the lack of IM training as an opportunity to do new things (like read a book for pleasure in under two weeks, big deal for me), hit the gym for more intense strength training, work a lot more, have fun/let loose when I feel like it. It's also a good time to take a break from things like early-morning weekend mega workouts and even blogging. Granted, being taking it slow on a weekend morning is not always easy for me to being that I'm an adrenaline junkie/crazy triathlete that likes to GO GO GO ;) But I think it's important to keep your mind and body fresh throughout the year and not do the same thing day in and day out... you'll undoubtedly have more enthusiasm when you make your comeback to the thing(s) you love the most (i.e. triathlon).

So now that I'm back to blogging, I must end the chapter on my Ironman Canada experience once and for all with a few pics before starting some blogs on new adventures and new topics!

Starting off the pics with a couple great ones my sis caught of IMC champs Jordan Rapp and Mary Beth Ellis...
Now that I have you sucked in with those pics (hopefully lol), a little timeline of my race experience in pics starting with pre-race dinner at our house on the patio. Very relaxing and delicious!
Race day. Swim start, then off on the bike feeling happy and good shown by the big wave/ thumbs up (?) that I'm giving :)
Fast forward a looooong time and after many highs and lows and here we are at Yellow Lake (last big climb). The scene was just what any athlete would want at this point -- a lively crowd treating you like TdF riders. It almost made me forget about the nausea and bonking for a brief time -- enough to eek out some smiling :)

Then the start of the run. These three pics are when I saw my family right out of T2 when I was really contemplating my ability to do the marathon. You can see my face is sort of distressed. But after the tears we shared, I decided I had to get 'er done, and off I was!

Don't really know when this run pic was taken, but that's John running next to me and all I can say is that having him there for those brief moments meant the world to me.

And after all that, an IM that was a year in the making and one of THE BEST experiences of my life to date, comes to an end. I was so emotional, in so much pain and just feeling out of this world. With all that was going through my head (combined with feeling delirious haha), it's no surprise that a huge smile came across my face. Btw, my sister was sooo pissed that dude's arm got in the way of capturing this moment. Oh well, there will be more chances to get this shot in the future :) Feeling the biggest sense of satisfaction ever
And of course one more food shot.... day-after breakfast #2 :)
PS - A special thanks to my sister for taking some great pics! An my mom, dad and John for being all over the course to cheer me on (i.e. my mom and sis pictured when they were all camping out at Yellow Lake for a looong time). And thanks to everyone else who helped me in some way....

I've made some decisions about my 2012 season, so stay tuned for the details!

Ironman Canada RR: The Run & Finish

2011-08-31T12:31:00.000-07:00

If you haven't read my swim and bike race report, click here. Read that before starting this post :)

I would have had the run section up Tuesday, but it was a long day of travel and no computer time. We left Summerland just after 7 a.m. and arrived in Seattle mid-afternoon, where we spent a few hours exploring and eating before our flight. Space Needle, Salumi's, Fish Market, the original Starbucks. Fun to check out the scene, but it wasn't so fun getting home to Laguna Beach at midnight.

Anyway... back to the race...

Run 4:31
My goal was 4:00. After I sort of regrouped in T2, I was "ready" but unsure. The mental battle was beginning. As I ran out, I heard Jordan Rapp's name being announced as the winner, and then I saw him run by me in transition, heading toward the lake to cool off. It was hot as can be out there, and he'd just run a 2:53 marathon. Holy crap. After that quick distraction, I came back to reality and the fact that I had 4, maybe more, hours ahead of me.

Within the first 1/2 mile, I was getting very emotional. Then I saw my family and John. I stopped briefly by them and started crying pretty hard, telling them my situation and that I was not sure if I was going to be able to do the full run. They all started tearing up seeing me so emotional. Seeing them emotional made me more emotional, and I knew it was time to make a decision: run away and go for it or give up right then and there. You know me... I can't quit. So I ran.

It wasn't just my family and John that inspired me at that point, it was everyone in my life -- my athletes I coach, friends, co-workers, family, everyone who's sent message on FB and Twitter, my grandma, etc. This Ironman was bigger than just me, lots of other people were involved and I wanted to show them that it's possible to carry on and FINISH even when it seems impossible. Erica, my athlete who was also racing, was especially on my mind. This was her third attempt at IMC, with the first two resulting in DNFs (issues out of her control, but nevertheless she had unfinished business). I was more than confident that she WOULD make it to the finish line on Sunday, and that alone was enough to get me there as well. (I'm crying just thinking about this now haha.) I wasn't dying and my legs were working, so I'd find a way to get through the run no matter what. Done deal.

I got going. It was HOT. I looked at my Garmin and saw I was running on pace (in the 9’s) so that helped boost my mood. However, I knew my nutrition had been severely disrupted, and that the lack of carbs/sugar on the last part of the bike was probably going to affect my ability to reach any level of high intensity on the run, just not physiologically possible. I'd have to stay in a low-intensity zone while trying to refuel if I wanted to survive and not completely bonk to death. That said, I settled on a goal of maintaining a running pace of 9:00-10:00 miles, and I'd walk the aid stations while trying to choke down any calories. That was realistic and the best idea at the time. In truth, that wasn't far off from my original plan of a 9:09 overall average.

The run course itself wasn't so bad, but the heat was. And when I hit Skaha Lake it seemed to go up another 10-15 degrees. It had to be 90-100 F out there, with little to no shade. I had the EXACT same thoughts as Jordan Rapp, according to what he wrote on his blog, "And on a day when Skaha Lake serves as nothing more than a continual tease, ceaselessly inviting you stop running and take a dip..."

People who lived along the marathon route were outside with hoses to spray down the runners -- what a relief that was! Thankfully that section was fairly flat, and because it was an out and back, it was a good distraction to watch runners going in the opposite direction. I had seen the top pros while still in town, which is always a treat, but watching AGers is something special in itself. I had so much respect for everyone who was so far in front of me and running strong. Like when I saw Rachel Ross whizz by looking like she was as fresh as being on the first mile. Amazing! Can I be like that one day????

I also saw my friend Christian who did the Epic5 this year, Kiet, Matt Q, and many others. I even had a runner, Mary, come up to me and say she reads my blog! That was super special for me :) Another special moment was running into PunkRockRacing Ron. It was our first time meeting in person -- fitting :) I told him my whole story of the issues on the bike. While talking with him, I think I had willed my way to feeling better on the run and was optimistic that I could stick to my plan.

But after I passed Ron, the reality was, I was still feeling nauseous and queezy. Nutrition-wise I wasn't doing well with calories, and I the exercise physiologist in me knew it was only a matter of time before that'd start really taking its toll. I was able to eat some pretzels, sip of cola every now and then, drink water and endurolytes. I tried my hardest to muster down a gel, but it wasn't happening, same thing with banana and sports drink -- wouldn't stay down. So pretty much pretzels and a little cola were the only calories I had on the entire marathon. Even at a low intensity, that was not enough AT ALL.

In attempt to not to get too wrapped up in how crappy I felt, I started thinking of everyone in my life again. And as I watched runners going in the other direction, heading home, the one person I was thinking of and waiting to see was Mike, my training partner. But no sign even as I got closer to the turnaround. Meanwhile, it was starting to get more hilly. I had to walk some of the hilly sections.

I was nearing the turnaround, and still hadn't seen Mike. Weird. I was praying he was OK. Mike had to get an emergency root canal on Friday before the race, and the procedure went fine, but it was still a "trauma" to the body, so who knew if it'd play into his performance on Sunday. I would later find out, it did take a toll. Then I saw him. He was maaaaybe a mile ahead of me, and walking :( There was a good chance I'd catch him.

At the turnaround I got a BIG surprise. My dad and John were there waiting for me. John ran with me a bit and said some things that not only brought (happy) tears to my eyes, but gave me a big burst of energy. I had reached the halfway point and was ready to head home, happy that I'd seen my boys!

Then ahead in the distance I saw Mike. I caught up to him; he was walking. I made him start running again with me, and I told him my whole story of the swim and bike, hoping that help distract him fro the pain he was in (root canal aftermath was wreaking havoc). He was in shock to hear my story, and he felt so bad because he knows more than anyone how badly I wanted that 6-hour or faster bike split. While we ran together, it felt like "home" and was comfortable... I imagined it being just one of our regular training runs, and I was at peace.

Unfortunately it wouldn't last for the rest of the race. Mike had to stop and walk again, and I tried to keep running. But at around 18 miles, I was having to walk more than just aid stations and hills. It was during that time that I started walking/running next to random people, and we'd feed off each other's "energy." It's pretty intense to share moments like that with complete strangers. Some tough folks out there. Makes me tear up just reminiscing.

Toward the end, I was starting to fade and felt delirious. I had hit a wall with the pretzels, too, and I was pretty much running on empty. At times, I felt like I do when I have the flu. The walking segments were increasing, but I refused to only walk. I had to keeping running. I knew my goal of 4:00 was out the door, but I could still make it in before 8 p.m. and definitely keep the marathon sub-5, so that was the new goal.

As I finally reached downtown Penticton, as expected, the energy of the crowd allowed me to find a way to run the last 2 miles at a 9-something pace. John later said I even looked OK at the point, but I don't believe him ;) The final stretch of the marathon was a blur, yet I remember it so well... every sight, sound, smell. I will hold that moment dear to me forever. You can never repeat your first Ironman, and, damn, is the finish a special moment. Despite having no energy to spare, I found a way to smile big down the finishing chute (I think).

I saw 12:45 on the clock, and thought, "Heck, after all I've been through today, and all that time spent on the side of the road during the bike, that ain't so bad. Mission accomplished."

But right after finishing, my body knew I was done, so it was done. I crashed. Headed to medical to chill out. Barely choked down a cup of chicken broth, and then all I wanted to do was leave there to be with my crew at our home. I could barely stand up, but I wanted medical to release me, so I pretended I was feeling "great" again :) I peaced out, and my family took me home. I was still nauseous, but an hour or so later I was able to eat the better part of a couple pizzas, and I shared my story with loved ones, while I listened to the stories they had from the day.

I'll repeat what I said in my last post: In the end, my Ironman wasn't an ideal day "on paper," but to me it was a perfectly un-perfect day and one that I'll cherish forever. I wouldn't change a thing. I think it's the adverse moments that made it even more special for me. It was a challenge like none other, and I came out a stronger person.

I'm ready to do another one....

Ironman Canada RR: Swim & Bike

2011-08-29T18:35:00.000-07:00

I started this blog at 4:30 a.m. Monday, but between all the eating, floating down a river and another mini wine tasting, I’m just getting to it again. That early morning wakeup was a result of post-Ironman insomnia and hunger. Yup, started the day with pasta, quinoa, eggs…. and shortly after a burger.

Onto IM Canada. What an amazing day! I loved it, the highs & lows -- all of it! On paper, you might think, “Oh man, that looks like it was a tough one.” But I’m glad everything didn’t go perfectly perfect. I learned a lot of lessons, and I’m definitely a stronger person because of it. No matter what happened, I carried on. I was determined to cross that finish line No. Matter. What. And I did, 12:45 after the gun went off. Man, was I a happy camper at the finish; although, it probably didn’t look like that… but more to come on that.

For now, just the swim and bike, the run portion will follow. And, sorry, no pics yet!

Swim -- 1:21
Surprisingly a highlight of the day! I really enjoyed the swim, honestly! I started middle back with Mike, and I probably started swimming close to a minute after the gun. (The mass start was insane and I had no place being more in the front.) The insanity remained that way until about 1,200 m. My goal was to stay calm and no freak despite getting beat up on in the sea of people. Goal achieved. I was able to keep my cool among the chaos, getting kicked, trampled on, punched, etc., probably because I was swimming with a HR of about 110 and was thinking happy thoughts lol.

About a mile in, I felt cramp potential in my calves. They were like ticking time bombs. I did everything I could to keep them from seizing, but at 1800, the left one cramped seized. It felt like a tennis ball in my calf and was debilitating. I had to stop and work on it. I thought of my grandma at that point, while I was wading out in the middle of the lake, and I felt a calmness. Soon after the cramp was gone. I worked through it, and was fine for the remainder of the swim! A first!!!

Overcoming the cramp was definitely motivating, and I was pumped to keep going. By 2k, I was pretty much alone in my area, and that’s when my shoulder started hurting. But it wasn’t that bad. Totally manageable. I think the trick to it feeling good on race day was lots of rest during taper, good pacing during the swim and positive thoughts.

I got out of the water happy to see 1:19 on my watch. With starting in the back, and lagging when I finally stood up and ran out, official time was 1:21.

T1 3:20
In and out pretty quickly. As I left on my bike I saw my family and John, along with thousands of others and I couldn’t help getting tears in my eyes, what a moment! I was thrilled!

Bike -- 6:39 official (6:05 of actual riding)
If there’s anything that could have killed my mojo for the day, it’s what I dealt with on the bike. That said, if there’s one thing I learned Sunday, it’s that Ironman will throw anything at you. It’s all about how you deal with it. In my case with the bike, I refused to let some bad blows get the best of me.

I actually had a great bike ride overall and enjoyed the course for all it had to offer (heat, hills, scenery, spectators, and all). But unfortunately, I was plagued with a reoccurring flat aka a tire that wouldn’t hold air. Without going into too much detail, I had a valve stem fiasco with my rear tire that caused major issues. Pre-race I had to go to bike tech because I couldn’t get it to fill. They fussed with it, and said they were pretty sure it’d be OK for the day. Unbeknownst to me, I would start the bike with very low pressure. It was flat by mile 10, right in the middle of the first hill. I saw a bike tech car and stopped to have them check it. They refilled it, air was holding, I left.

But then, next thing I know a race official was riding next to me giving me a penalty! Apparently, I didn’t merge back to the right lane quickly enough again. In my defense, I began riding after the tire got filled while still mid-hill (steep hill), so it wasn’t the easiest situation to maneuver, and my adrenaline was high so I wasn't working at my smoothest. Regardless, 4 minutes lost. Bust! That was frustrating, especially because the race official seemed to have an evil smirk on her face when she flashed the card at me, even when I told her my story. I said to myself, “I have two options: 1) whine and be a baby or 2) carry on with a smile.” I chose #2.

After that, the bike was going along fine, and I was pacing myself per everyone’s recommendations, yet still averaging 20 mph. That first part is fast! Around mile 20 I could sense the tire problem returning. Rear was flat again. No!!! That would be the theme for the first half of the ride: Rear tire went flat every 7-10 miles, at which point I’d stop and refill with CO2. I was still riding fast without too much effort in that first 40 or so, so I didn’t feel like I was losing too much time. But I was running low on CO2 (maybe 1/2 a cartridge left).

I served my penalty just before Richter Pass, where I chit-chatted with the officials, not acting like a whiner. Then I started the infamous climb, and it was scorching hot at that point, but no different than a hot day climbing the mountains where I live. Meanwhile, rear tire wasn’t doing well. When I was finally nearing top of Richter I waved down bike tech driving by because I knew I'd never last with the CO2 refill plan, and at that point I was riding on a virtually flat tire up a significant climb. Not good. So bike tech guys decided we had to fix it right or I’d be done for the day — they had to rip off my tubular and put a new one on. Took foreva! Probably over 20 min. I was determined to keep a smile on my face. I borrowed their phone and texted John to tell him my situation and that I was OK and ready to keep having fun. I can’t state it enough: The bike course was legit, and I wanted to enjoy it all.

That was the end of my bike issues. All in all it cost me about 35-40 min of being stopped on the side of the road. All things considered, I’m OK with that because that means I was pretty close to my planned bike split of 6 hours.

After Richter, we got the seven bitches, which I thought were hard but fun. They reminded me of some hills I do on PCH at home. Plus, at that point, the course had thinned out a lot and I was on my own. I was enjoying moving along through Canada country and my pace was decent. Part of me wanted to go faster to make up for lost time, but I had to stick to my plan to make it through the whole race. I knew Yellow Lake would be a toughie with the climbing.

The wind started to get bad, but that was the least of my worries. My tummy was starting to act up. At mile 80, I hit the wall with gels, clif bar and drink. I couldn’t stomach anything I had, aka anything sweet, which is all I had. It would just come back up. So I went without nutrition for the last 32 miles of the bike, only had water and endurolytes. That put me in a caloric deficit from which I was never able to fully recover.

I kept wondering when Yellow Lake was going to come because I knew that meant one more big climb then home free with descents lol. Finally I was nearing it. I think that may have been the hottest part of the day. I wasn’t really that amped to climb because I felt so sick and more depleted by the minute, but I was pretending that I was normal and this was just another training ride. That kinda helped. Then I got a surge of energy when I started Yellow Lake because *surprise* my crew was out there to cheer me on. It was great seeing them, as well as all the other peeps making it for a very Tour-de-France-like climb :) THe spectators at IMC really know how to do a good job throughout the whole course!

After that the rest of the climbing was a blur. I was bonky. Yellow Lake actually looked kind of yellow. Was that just me being crazy? As I approached mile 100, I won’t lie, I was ready to be off the bike so I could find some non-sweet calories in T2. That said, it probably was not good that I bombed the downhills in a delirious state lol ;)

Last note on the bike: I wore my Garmin during the ride, which automatically stops at a certain speed. So I know that my real bike ride time was just over 6:00, and I was stoked on that! Officially my split was 6:39.

T2 9:50ish
I had to take my time to try and refuel so I could do a freakin marathon not completely depleted. There were turkey sandwiches in the changing tent, so I had one. The saltiness was good and what I needed. I was hoping that’d help bring me back from being without calories for so long. While I sat in T2, I had the demons in my head challenging my ability to go out and do 26.2, and part of me didn’t think it was possible. I was getting a little teary-eyed and unsure. I didn’t want to go there with my thoughts, but I couldn’t help it. I felt weak and emotional.

~~~

OK, that's all for now... stay tuned for the run and finish! Thanks for reading :)

Canada, Day 5 & 6

2011-08-27T13:10:00.000-07:00

Friday was pretty hilarious. I wanted to drive the bike course a bit, and my mom and sis wanted to do a hike, so we decided John and I would drop them off to do their thing, and we'd drive a portion of the bike course, then pick them up.

Well, little did we know, my sister chose a route in the boondocks! It wasn't so bad at first... we drove out east of P-town on Green Mountain Road (great for a bike ride, btw, a long gradual uphill going out). I was navigating with my iPhone GPS, and we finally found our turnoff... a dirt road, that we'd have to drive on for a looong time. Did I mention we're in a big ol' mini van, one not meant for offroading? Thank goodness John is a race car driver and knows how to handle any kind of vehicle. Or not? ;)

See where P-town is on the first screen shot, then check out the blue dot on the next one; that's where we went.

The dirt road was gnar! Miles of dry-stream ruts, rocks, rough terrain... all in a mini van?! It was so Griswald vacation-esque lol. Meanwhile, my mom and sis were starting to freak out about the potential of bears. I made the joke of, "hopefully neither of you are on your period" (Anchorman, anyone?). We finally got to a part of the dirt road that wasn't even on Google maps. Ha! In the end, the minivan offroading adventure took all afternoon, and the girls never hiked because it was kinda sketchy out there. On top of bears, it was very desolate and the bug situation was insane. They would have been eaten alive.

John moving rocks so we could pass...
In the middle of nowhere, BC....Badass minivan ;)Found the trail head for their hike eventually! But.... no hike haha

So no hike, and no course recon. But the best part? The whole adventure was a blast for all of us. Practically laughing the whole time (partly because it was funny as heck, partly because we were all a little nervous). It's those random unexpected things that make the best memories :)

Oh, there were no bears, but we did see cows. Weird...

Back to P-town for a few errands. I got a real treat when I randomly ran into Kiet and Matt in Whole Foods! I love how blog world can bring together athletes from all over the place. It was really nice chatting with them for a bit. And how fitting is it that we'd meet in a place like WF ;)

After some chill time, it was time to eat again. Man, lots of eatin going on around here! We decided to ditch the athlete meeting/dinner and head to The Local again. This time we were in good company with my Mike and his wife and daughter. The food was again amazing and we chatted it up for quite a while. Good times. The rest of the night was spent putting together all my bags and whatnot. I even had to call on Ron for some help on what I needed to get together for Saturday check in vs. what I could hold onto until race morning. He, being the veteran he is, had all the answers ;) Oh yea, I saw him cruisin P-town in a baller red convertible today... rock on Ron!! Did I mention how cool it is to have blogger friends?!

It's now mid-Saturday and I'm chillin, feet up and enjoying some down time. The bike and bags are checked in, work is done, now it's just about resting, eating and enjoying my loved ones until GO time manana!!!

Oh, I also met up with Ben Greenfield in town this morning to record a short little video about my first IM for our Endurance Planet podcast. Check it out. (Btw, I give my race time predictions for swim, bike and run in there!!!)

Peace out!

PS - I miss D :(

Canada, Day 3 & 4

2011-08-26T15:45:00.000-07:00

Wait, I'm doing an Ironman Sunday? Cause it sure feels like I'm on a vacation doing my thing -- well at least that was the case on Wed/Thus (minus working, but that entailed writing an article on Rinny, so I can't complain lol). Granted, it's not like I've been out hiking in the mountains or doing extreme physical activity, but I'm not about to hide in our house for a week when I'm in beautiful British Columbia. It's been really nice getting here early to have time to chill rather than feel rushed and having it just be all about the race.

Yup, we are having a blast! Just another random evening in our yard....

On Wednesday, the day began with Mike, John and I going into P-town for a morning swim. Talk about a confidence booster/stress reliever! My shoulder actually felt pretty good, even in a wetsuit (thank you Zoot Prophet!), and the water felt amazing... not too cold at all, but chilly enough for it to be wetsuit legal. I felt fresh and mentally ready to tackle 2.4 miles! Unfortunately the shoulder was sore as heck later in the day so I decided to scratch any swims until race day.

After swim I did a short run and the legs were kickin. Maybe it was the rad scenery of wineries combined with some great tunes on my iPod and just general excitement, but I held myself back from going too hard and too far :)

Backing up a little... on Tuesday, we were going to attempt a "mini" wine tasting because we're staying along "Bottleneck Drive" wine country, but we headed out too late and everything was closed (figures), except for a fruit wine place, but that was weird (pumpkin pie wine is just too much, even for me). I was hesitant to go wine tasting on Wednesday with the race getting closer, but John had gone on a 40-mile bike ride around the lake and up the other side into a town called Naramata, and he came home raving about all the cool wineries he saw... and wanted to visit :) I decided it'd be nice to drive out there and check it out, and hitting up a couple wineries along the way wouldn't be detrimental. Not to mention, they give pretty small tastes here in Canada, and turned out I didn't even get a buzz, a good thing in this particular case lol. I even saw some other triathletes doing the same thing out there haha.

View from Laughing Stock Winery...Stopped at Hillside too...

While we were wine tasting, my mom and sister got a raft and floated down the river. For anyone who's in town, it seems like a great thing to do. I'll probably do it Monday post-race to soak my legs in cool water. My mom and sis later told us that the first half of the float is pretty awesome, but the second half gets really slow and they kicked most the way -- it was a 3-hour trip even with them kicking to go faster!

That night, we were all hungry so we hit up The Local Grille & Lounge in Summerland. Hands down some of the best food I've had in a long time, and we were all in agreement on that. Legit! I got the halibut with a potato-celery-root mash, asparagus, a corn sauce and some other stuff. Took pictures of the other dishes everyone else ordered, too...

~~~

Thursday was a mellow morning (aka I worked) so we eased into the day and eventually made it to the expo for check in and picking up my bike. The highlight was FINALLY meeting my athlete, Erica, who's doing the race too! She's just as sweet and awesome in person as she has been on the phone and email for the past year :) She's had some tough blows in her first two rounds at IMC, so I'm confident that third time is a charm. She's going to do great.
After getting my bike from Tri Bike Transport, Mike, John and I went out on a little ride along the 97 Highway. At 10 miles in, PPPFFFFFFF!!!!! I got a flat!!!! Ahhhh! Long story short, I got a whole new tubular put on and everything is taken care of. Just praying that was THE ONLY flat I'll be getting in Canada :)

Mike and I waiting for our sag wagon along Lake O (John was way ahead and didn't even know I flatted till later lol)...

That evening John and I went on a short jog at around the same time I hope to be finishing on Sunday. It was so nice out, and I felt very at peace. I could see myself getting more excited with every step. Then it was back to work on the Rinny article for the evening, while my crew cooked for me. Love them :)

There's been much more going on, but that's all I got time for now. Stay tuned for Friday's crazy adventures :)

Btw, BEST sweet potatoes EVER here...

Canada, Day 1 & 2

2011-08-23T16:16:00.000-07:00

We're here!So it's been a whirlwind of events lately -- from a funeral to bridal shower and lots in between -- thus the emotions have been all over the place. That can be energy-zapping as you an imagine. But I can finally sigh with relief. I'm here in Canada with people I love getting ready to do the most epic thing I've ever done. Surprisingly, it's very easy for me to put my feet up and relax right now even with Sunday's 140.6 looming. I'm not nervous yet, and am pretty calm about the whole situation -- one of the reasons why I wanted to get here so early. Actually, I did get a wave of emotion and nerves when I drove by the athlete check-in today in P-town. After being to enough Ironmans as a spectator, it's weird to finally be on the other side as a participant, it feels good :) I like that P-town even has an Ironman wine for us :)

Anyways, Monday was a long day of travel. We left Orange County at 7ish, flew out of LAX at 10 and got to Seattle just after noon. It was raining. Surprise. From Seattle, we picked up a rental mini van, grabbed lunch at an all-you-can-eat salad/soup buffet place with all the fixins. We all stocked up on food as who know when we'd eat again. I even got one of these, which I haven't had in this form for ages....

Then we hit the road for a long drive. Thank goodness John was at the wheel so my mom, sis and I could just chill. The weather was pretty bad for a long time, well into Canada, as you can see.Btw, my dad was not going to be able to make it out in light of my grandma's death and how much work he's missed. That made me pretty sad, but I understood. Yet, I think when he saw me cry when he told me that news, he knew he'd have to pull some strings, and low and behold, he will still be coming out for the race... he gets into town this weekend :)

Once we crossed the Canadian border, the "eh" jokes began and they have yet to stop. They just don't get old. I picked up a crossword puzzle at a McDOnald's on a pee stop so we'd have something to occupy our time. I vaguely recall us joking about "who would eat at McDonald's." It hink the "Mickey-D" gods were listening on that convo (read on).

On the crossword puzzle, I found something where you say, "what are the freaking odds?!" In this case, it was my grandpa as 23 down....

I'm not gonna lie. It was a long drive, and although it was beautiful, I think I would have preferred to fly into Canada. Way back when we made the itinerary, we determined it'd be cheaper to do the fly/drive combo, but by how much I don't know? Next time, I'd probably dish out a few extra bucks for a more direct flight.

That said, it really wasn't that bad, it was just getting late and we were all tired and ready to eat and chill for the night. We arrived in Summerland (where we're staying, just 10 miles north of P-town) just after 9 p.m. And that was with a race car driver at the wheel so it's not like we were going at a snail's pace ;)

Our main thought at that point: GET FOOD. I had heard rumors that places close early here, and oh my is that true! We got into our house that we rented and immediately started reseraching where we could go. Long story short, EVERYTHING was closed, even grocery stores and our last hope was either Tim Horton's or McDOnald's. We decided to do authentic Canadian so went to Time Horton's, but they were closed too!! Ugh! Mickey D's it was! In truth, McDonald's has a pretty decent menu these days, and we were all fine with our orders of salads and sandwiches. (Although, I think anything would have been better than nothing at that point, which was the next option after MD's).

Today we awoke to our beautiful surroundings. Man, this place is gorgeous! Our house is up on a hill in Summerland... it's surrounded by apple trees and wineries, very peaceful, small and quaint with a big yard. We don't need anything more, anything less. Just want to keep it low key. Today we checked out Penticton Fun times. Ended that trip with some grocery shopping... first to Whole Foods, of course, then to a Costco-style place, which was actually really decent! After that I napped and worked. I will continue working this week because it has get done (especially my next article for 3/GO Magazine), but I'll be sure to take full advantage of this place while we're here. And I want to document this trip well, so tune in a lot this week with updates! How about a few pics....

Made brekkie this morning with oats, egg scramble, fruit (not seen) and of course Canadian bacon, eh?Part of the view from our yard. (Pre-race BBQ on Saturday!!!!)The breakfast nook. Small and quaint.

Last but not least, I was saving the "bad" news for last. My shoulder is not good. It hasn't been for weeks now. There's nothing much more I can do at this point rather than just tough it out on race day. I'm ok with that and I am confident that I will cross that finish line. That said, I've come to terms with my swim goals, and I'm realistically expecting to do it in 85-90 min. Not ideal, but I'm pretty sure I can pull that off. I'll let you know the rest of my race goals soon....

This One's For Grandma

2011-08-17T10:59:00.001-07:00

I haven't had much time to blog, but I want to share a bit of what's going on as I get closer to Ironman Canada.

Last week, my grandma passed away peacefully in her bed. She was 87, and one of the most amazing women I've had the pleasure to know in my life. Although her health hasn't been ideal in the last year or so, her death was still very unexpected and has shocked my family, especially my dad, who's now lost both parents. Her death came just after the first anniversary of my grandpa's death, her husband (he died July 31, 2010). To me, it just goes to show how powerful the bond can be between two people after decades of a loving marriage and close companionship. In my opinion, after he passed, I don't think she was ever the same without him around and, thus, a "broken heart" played into her passing. I think this is the case with a lot of couples who've lived long, happy lives together.

As you can imagine, it's not been easy to mourn the death of a loved one with so much going on. The thought of Ironman seemed frivolous at first, let alone having my family trek up to Canada to watch me race when we're all still in a state of grieving. It sounded even selfish to some extent. But after some long talks with my parents and loved ones, we've all agreed that my grandma would want nothing more than for me to head to Canada and race my best... with my family by my side. So that's just what we're doing. And you better believe I'll be racing in the name of my Grandma Frances. She was such as strong-willed and driven woman, yet was still so warm and loving with a heart of gold. I want to carry on that spirit in the things I do.

Thankfully, we're having services for my grandma before we leave, so we'll all get a little closure before race week. Still, it kills me to know that I won't be able to call her after the race to tell her about it.

Btw, as you can imagine, this article by Charisa was beautiful, but it made me cry, pretty hard.

~~~

In the journey that lays ahead, I'll be thinking about these two each and every mile (picture with my grandparents from Mother's Day 2009)....

Two Keys for Trustworthy Training

2011-08-03T17:07:00.001-07:00

I'm coming off a really good run that I had today. Did a 20-miler. The longest I've ever run. Yup, my first marathon will be after a 2.4-mile swim and 112-mile bike. That wasn't done by accident; I debated doing a marathon since signing up for IMC (key being: this debate was within one year of IMC). I got sound advice to avoid it. One person who said so was Bobby McGee, who's a brilliant triathlon/running coach. He didn't say it to me personally regarding my situation, but he did talk about it at a USAT coaching seminar I went to. I'll never forget it. Basically it came down to post-marathon recovery time for someone who would race the 26.2 hard, like I would. The recovery is not worth missing out on training you could be doing otherwise. Or worse, not recovering and going on with life like you didn't do 26.2. Note: this is not necessarily the case for seasoned marathon runners.

Anyways, so today was the biggest run I'll do before IMC later this month. Not gonna lie, I impressed myself. I set out to do it at an EZ sustainable pace. Emphasis on the "EZ" since 20 miles was new territory for more and I didn't want to bonk far from home lol. The run ended up being an 8:10 average pace, total time 2:43 and change, on a route full of rolling hills, but nothing too extreme, on a fairly hot day. That coming off a freaking HARD 58-mile hilly-ass tempo ride yesterday and a short swim this morning, and the training from Monday and the training from the weekend and... jk ;)

I don't run mega miles every week, and my long runs aren't always as long as one might expect for IM training, but I trust my training. My longest run to date is 15 miles. Today, I knew I could do the 20 without great concern with the training I've done. It was more of a mental hurdle I wanted to cross than a physical one going into IMC, which is arguably just as important. Point being, I believe most people can get away with fewer miles and still be effective at improving SBR skills. It's about how you run (or swim or bike) the miles you do that make a difference.

This is the philosophy I use with training plans for my athletes. There are two key components to make this work, which I'll get to.

But first, I have to mention the "social pressure" to log in extreme mileage and mega volume. Unfortunately, it seems many athletes are too concerned with "how many miles" they do each week or how "big" the week was. It's easy to get caught up in this, and sometimes I still do! It's fun to see that you laid down a gnarly week and logged in record-breaking miles. It's OK to be proud and brag a little even. Or how about when you see your friends saying how mega their workouts were via FB and Twitter; part of you wants to be right there with the same numbers, right? It's natural for us endurance athletes. And, yes, with 70.3 and Ironman training, on certain weeks, it should be about volume and logging in the miles.

But it's not all about that.

The questions that should be asked: What were the intensity levels, and how consistent was the training. I truly believe you can get away with as little training as possible (within reason) and still be a very good athlete, or, at the very least, achieve realistic goals if you stick to two main variables: 1) consistency and 2) intensity.

You're not going to get better at swimming, biking and running -- and remain injury-free -- unless you do it consistently every week. Some weeks do more than others. The idea is to make it "the norm" for your body. You become more efficient, and that brings an abundance of benefits. And when I say "injury free," I mean it's not smart to not SBR for days on end and then go attempt IM-distance sessions on a Saturday. No bueno. Be consistent. And don't mistake consistency as synonymous with volume.

The second part is intensity. Intensity is the king of variables. Studies show that if you take away volume, frequency and duration but maintain HIGH intensity, you can still maintain your fitness (good tip for taper weeks). So, yes, you'll have to build up some fitness by doing early-season base building and whatnot, i.e. high volume and low intensity, but as the season progresses and you're in the "competition" phase, don't feel like every week has to be mega volume if you're workouts are full of high-intensity work. It's an inverse relationship between volume and intensity, and the reason for that is: high-intensity work = more recovery time needed. More recovery means volume should not be skyrocketing. (With elite/pro athletes who recover freakishly fast or are used to high intensity and volume, this isn't always the case... but for the rest of us it is :) lol)

So one may ask, how does LSD fit into this? LSD workouts undoubtedly have their place in a training plan over the course of a season, for both the mental and physical reasons, but you could arguably cut some of those out if you're doing a lot of high-intensity work. One LSD sess a week for each sport is enough. You need to hit certain miles in training based on your race distance simply because you need to be specific to the race and develop those energy systems/familiarity. But more emphasis should be on intensity with adequate recovery. Try it. You'll see that a distance that was once designated to be an LSD sessions becomes faster with less effort.

Take my month of July, for example. It was NOT one of my highest volume months, despite what you may think having a Ironman in August. But I did a lot of high-intensity SBR that required more rest than when I'm only doing Z1-Z2 training. I raced and did race-simulation workouts, and I went HARD. Plus, for the most part I was very consistent with my training so my body was used to SBR no matter if I was going really long or short and quick. What ensured was a "less is more" month for me. Some coaches might argue that "more is more" no matter what, and that's the only way to get better. But I don't think it has to be like that.

This brings up the other key point: time management.

My month of July was also extremely busy outside of my training schedule. My days were not centered around training. School, work, new boyfriend, friends, family obligations, etc. A busy busy life outside of training is the case with most athletes I coach, as well. So when I sit down to create a training plan I try to make it about getting the most bang for your buck with every workout. Consistency and intensity become the biggest priorities. If that means more short hard runs because that's all there's time for and one long one, then so be it. It's better than no runs all week then a 20+ run once a week. Or whatever the situation.

Goals play into this. If you do have aspirations to be uber-elite or pro and training time is abundant, then I might take a different approach to some extent. There's more leeway to manipulate the training variables of volume, intensity, frequency, duration to achieve some crazy goals. But for most of us, to get results, just be consistent, get your dose of high-intensity work and don't worry so much about accumulating big numbers week after week, month after month.

And when all else fails, there's one factor that should dominate above all others: FUN. If you're not having fun, then why the F are you doing it?

Friggin Done!

2011-07-28T17:17:00.000-07:00

I haven't mentioned this lately because it's been taking up enough time as it is. Remember back in April/May I said I was going to delay my graduation from grad school because I still needed to take my comprehensive exams, but was too busy at that time? Yes, I was totally done with classes foreva, but comps is supposed to be as hard and time-consuming as a thesis and I wanted to have more time to give it 100% focus, thinking summer would be ideal. But then I realized come summer, heck, when am I not busy?

Well regardless, it had to get done. I needed to finish my master's work once and for all. July was the month. So ever since Rev3 Portland it's been all about studying and test-taking... yowza! Thank goodness I love the subject matter. It made lots of studying at least slightly easier to endure day after day.

So after many hours of a written essay exam, and passing that, today was the final phase, the oral exam. Arguably two of my favorite professors from my grad school experience were on my committee and would be administering the questions (I say "arguably" because all my professors kicked ass in some respect and I loved them all). But with Dan & Dr. Brown conducting the test, that made things easier on me. Not that the questions were easy. They had my brain going a million miles a minute! And they both know I got straight A's so they didn't cut any slack. At all.

Long story short, after a loooong time writing then blabbering about exercise physiology, environmental exercise physiology, statistics/research design and strength & conditioning.... I passed! I'm done! Completed grad school....

Officially have my master's of science degree in kinesiology with an emphasis in exercise physiology and strength & conditioning. Damn it feels good to say that.

Tomorrow I will celebrate with a kick-ass session of swim, bike and run followed by a weekend at the races.... car races, this time! :)

Coconut-Protein Pancakes (and Prolo)

2011-07-27T08:34:00.000-07:00

I know I had you salivating with the pictures of my pancakes in the last post, and you're dying to get the recipe, so here ya go ;-) Repeat pic, sorry...

First, quick update: On Monday I got some prolotherapy injections in my left shoulder. I first tried prolo last year when enduring the knee issue (hence the link). This time, it's my bicep tendon and likely my bursa that are angry. Bummer dude. Unfortunately, this issue doesn't really surprise me, as I have shoulder issues even when injury free: poor mobility/flexibility and they roll forward too much (posture thing). I do some strength training/functional exercises to correct these issues, but not enough I guess. So add to that a swim stroke that's not perfect, and bam. I'm optimistic though. Get to have a test swim Thursday, fingers crossed!

Enough of that.

Pancakes.

Like I said in the last post, I've been wanting to make coconut flour pancakes for a while now with the protein-powder combo too. I researched some recipes and mostly went off one I found on Dr. Mercola's website. My thoughts? Very easy to make and very good! Only downfall is that they're a tad on the dry side (I've heard coconut flour can yield dry baked goods, so I guess that's true), but they're still full of flavor and healthy. Full of protein, fiber, good fats and quality carbs. Plus with the right fixins, i.e. nut butter, agave, etc., you'd never know they're dry-ish. Next time I plan on adding greek yogurt or bananas to the mix to add moisture. Come to think of it, the last time I made pancakes I had greek yogurt and a bunch of fun stuff in them and they were amazing, but I misplaced that recipe :/

Coconut-Protein Pancakes
2/3 cup coconut flour
2 scoops vanilla whey protein powder (I use Gold Standard All-Natural)
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 eggs
1 1/4 cup almond milk (unsweetened vanilla)
4 tbsp cold water
3-4 packets stevia
dash agave (optional for more sweetness)
1 tsp vanilla

Mix the dry ingredients then add the wet ingredients and stir until smooth, no chunks. Let the batter sit for 10-15 minutes, then spoon them onto a skillet, making each about 3-4 inches in diameter. Don't know how long I cooked them, but enough to make them golden on each side.

And ta-da, a delicious morning spread...
As for sides: fresh fruit, almond butter, grilled pancetta (had that, but no bacon, go figure) and, my favorite... sauteed apples. I diced 2.5 apples and sauteed them in 2 tbsp coconut oil with cinnamon and a dash of agave & stevia (don't need much added sweetness, apples are good right now!). MMMMmmmm.
The best combo of all, pancake/almond butter/apple:

At Least There Were Pancakes

2011-07-25T09:40:00.000-07:00

Let's start off with the good news. Pancakes ;) I woke up starving on Sunday morning, after having had a hearty GF pasta dinner and homemade brownies the night before. Must be Ironman training! I needed a big brekkie, and I've been wanting to try making pancakes with coconut flour/protein powder so that's what I did. Recipe to come. (They were good but a little on the dry side, the cure being almond butter, sauteed apples, agave, etc. lol.)
First plate; several more followed ;)
So now to the point of this blog. Another big week of training is in the books after having a legit week of rest post-Rev3. Got in the most miles ever on the bike, at 180, and quality running/swimming was on track for most the week. But despite a lot of good that went on, not all went smoothly. Lessons were learned, and what didn't kill me made me stronger.... including Sunday bloody Sunday, yes it was not my finest day, but an important one....

Everything was going as planned until Thursday, when that "little feeling" I've been having in my left shoulder at the bicep tendon was no longer just a "little feeling." Something was up. I first felt this pain after Portland Rev3, but some post-race recovery allowed it to subside. After Thursday, I took a couple days off from the pool, and then attempted my long swim on Sunday. No dice. Out of the pool after a mere 200 yds. F. I'm taking action and am optimistic that I'll get this taken care of before IMC.

Next up for Sunday was a long run. First, let me say, most weekends I swim long and run long on Saturday and ride long/t-run on Sunday. Several reasons for this, but that's for another blog. This weekend it got switched up so I'd have people to train with rather than have to do it all solo. So Saturday was a killer 85-mile ride in about 4:45 with lots of hills, mostly in the second half, trying to prepare for that IMC course OC-style! I rode with SPI Mike, and we were smashed by the end. Thankfully the T-run actually felt really good though! Only 2 miles, granted, but coming off some solid runs within the week so I was satisfied and on track.

Then to Sunday. Swim was no bueno, as I said, so I moved on, trying not to get upset. Long run next. Was planning 100-120 min. I'd be OK with only 100 because I was going to do El Moro trail, which is a HARD route and probably worth 15+ flat miles :) I got started in my neighborhood nearby and my body was cooked from the first second. I was flat in every way, legs heavy as heck.

TMI ALERT!!! Must mention: It's that time of month. (Yup, you heard right!) And that time of month came Saturday, adding even more of a full-body "blah-ness." Not to mention, I endured a little personal life stress over the week too (it's all good now, but had a couple rough days). Reason I even mention that stuff is not to make excuse but to show that all of one's life, triathlon related or not, plays a role in one's training and ability to do the workouts as planned. When other non-tri crap is going on, that could take a toll on tri life. Stress is stress.

Anyways, so I started my long run and put out extremely slow times for the first three miles, HR was not right either. It felt weird and foreign that my body could not go any faster because usually I can push through heavy legs or whatever and find my rhythm after a good warmup. This was a big red flag. I took a break to make some decisions. Continue or call it a day? Tackle El Moro or screw it? As a coach and an athlete this situation had a lot deeper meaning than simply run or don't run.

My mind was saying, "DO IT because that's what's on the plan and you have to reach the goals you set for yourself this week. You're almost there, only one more run." Meanwhile, my body was saying, "You're crazy chick. You need to chill out. Don't push it hard again.... please, have mercy on me this time."

So for another 30ish minutes the debate continued, and I sought some advice. Maybe it was the big day on Saturday, maybe it was the accumulation of the week? Whatever it was, something wasn't right. I was playing with fire.

In the end, I made a compromise: No run. Hike instead. I think that was fair. I couldn't sit inside on such a nice day and some low-intensity active recovery in the beautiful outdoors would do me well mentally and physically. I mean, how could I pass this view up?I got started on the hike, still at El Moro, and not running was a tough pill to swallow (evidenced in the facial expression below). It's my trail, baby! But I respected that my body was over the edge and running weak/fatigued wasn't going to do any good. It'd make me more vulnerable to an injury or something bad. That said, on the flip side, the argument could be made that I needed to "push through it" and still run even though I was tired... that's what IM training is all about, right? Well, trust me, I don't throw in the towel easily. I will push through almost anything, and I have been doing that a lot this year. But like I tell my athletes, know the difference between 1) pushing through that lazy feeling/fatigue even when you know you're totally OK to train/race VS. 2) when your body is screaming for mercy, begging for rest and warning you that something bad could happen if you ignore the signs. In my case, on Sunday, it was the latter. (Side note: possible arguments against doing sunday long runs here, but that's another debate.)

Shoot, for all I know I'll be walking some of a marathon next month, so why not get in some practice, right? haha. I still got in my share of hills too (see below). Plus, I got to introduce John to El Moro, which was fun. He hiked with me for a few miles before heading off onto his long run. Wonder if I can convince him to do the Xterra Trail Run there this December?! ;)

The other thing with Sunday that made it a hard day for me is that IMC is on the horizon and there's only so much more time before I have to start tapering and all major training will be done. But then I stepped back and looked at the bigger picture: I've been training well and consistently all year. One day will not make or break my Ironman.

So the take-home message here: What's the big deal if one day goes totally wrong from the plan? In the grand scheme, it won't matter a single bit. It's totally OK to miss a workout; don't feel badly about it. Move on. Now, if you're making excuses to miss workouts on a regular basis, like 1x a week or more, or you're always finding a way out of training, that's a different story. But if once in a blue moon you fail to execute what's on the plan, then so be it!

In my case, I think I became stronger from my Sunday experience. I feel that I was the smarter athlete and didn't push my body over the edge... despite really wanting to do the long run just because it's what I "had to do." I compromised and laid low. I know I'll be back for more soon enough :)

One more note: If you're following a plan or being coached and you do miss a workout, DON'T try to make up for it in the next day or so by doubling up or adding it to other workouts. You have to let it go and move on. Even if the next day is a rest day, don't sacrifice that to make up for what you missed. Chances are your coach and/or plan creator has a rhyme and reason to what you do every single day... at least, I know that's how I coach my athletes.

Now the deal with the shoulder issue and swimming, let's hope I get this sorted out soon! Like I said, at least there were pancakes....

Portland... Beyond the Triathlon

2011-07-22T09:00:00.000-07:00

Before this trip is just a distant memory, how about a glimpse into Portland, the non-triathlon part of the trip.

We arrived in Portland early Friday so we had lots of time to explore. No way was I going to sit in the hotel room and just think about the race. Nope. I heard great things about Portland, so I was ready for the mini vacation in addition to the race :)

Our hotel was about a 15-20 min drive to downtown Portland. The city itself was rad -- if Rev3 does have it in downtown next year, I'd highly recommend doing it -- it has that urban city feel, but with an element of nature and outdoorsy-ness, complete with people riding bikes everywhere (lots of fixies lol), colorful flowers at every street corner, as well as skyscrapers, lots of really cool bridges over the river, funky architecture, etc. Fyi, I never claimed to be a good photographer ;)

There's also a lot of good places to eat. I could spend a month just exploring the dining scene. For our first meal was a surprise treat. We stumbled on Isabel's Cantina; there's also one of these in Pacific Beach and it's a place I LOVE but haven't been to for years. "Double Happiness" anyone?

Probably the best we had was Friday night's dinner at VQ, or Veritable Quandry. This place is A MUST if you're in town. Try to get a seat on their outdoor patio. I would have been happy with any one of the menu items, which made it hard to choose. A peak at our yummy food...

Appetizer: green salad (forgot to take pic) and Bacon-wrapped giant prawns with creme fraiche and grilled chayote squash, which is amazing btw

My main dish, Wild Oregon Salmon on bed of some type of grain (forget) with a yogurt sauce, pistachios, radishes, cucumber, etc. I'm a salmon snob, so local Oregon salmon? Yes please!

John's dish, pork tenderloin with polenta, an eggplant mixture and other tasty stuff

And dessert, of course, chocolate cake with ice cream and berry sauce. I'm a sucker for chocolate even pre-race. Even tried a tawny port, but I don't like that stuff so was over it. :)

OK, I kind of got out of order here. Back up to earlier Friday. Portland is the "Rose City" so flowers are in abundance. Not only that, but there's a place called the Rose Test Gardens, basically fields of different roses. We hit it up. OK, I know what you're thinking.... "lame!" But really, it wasn't. Besides, I was tapering so any activity had to be mellow, like grandma/grandpa-style mellow ;) Best part is, we somehow turned something that could be boring into a really good time... lots of laughs. Don't ask.And you know how those rose lovers like to get naughty....

Near the rose garden there's also the Shakespeare Garden, which is a mellow little area where you can lay on the grass and just get lost in thought. So random.

Last but not least in the area was the Japanese Botanical Gardens, which I was actually excited to see until we learned it was $10 (maybe more) per person to enter. No thanks.

Another big to-do on our list was Dechutes Brewery. John likes his beer (quality stuff, not like PBR) so hitting up this place was a must! I was totally OK with a small beer tasting as long as it wasn't the day before the race. I'm starting to appreciate good beers more.

We walked off the beers and explored downtown more. Even made a stop by Voo Doo Doughnuts, but didn't buy one. Don't worry, I was NOT afraid of indulging on this trip, as is pretty apparent, but a donut at that time didn't sound appetizing at all. Still, it was cool to see the infamous VD Donuts. Note the vulgar shape in there...

On the opposite end of the spectrum from VooDoo, there was one place we went to NUMEROUS times per my request/race needs. Yup, Whole Foods!

Annnnd that was just Friday. A lot!

Saturday was a lot more mellow. Went to the expo and packet pickup, did a quick bike and t-run. Met up with Ben Greenfield for the bike, which was nice chatting with him in person rather than our weekly Skype convos for the podcast. After the pre-race prep was done we went into nearby Greshem to explore and find lunch. Found a farmer's market and a healthy Whole Foods-like local market. I got a fresh-made turkey and avocado sandwich made on GF bread, it was killer! So was our view at lunch:

I was still not satisfied with all I'd seen in downtown Portland, so we went back. To keep it more mellow, though, we browsed through Powell's Books, which is a huge funky bookstore that takes up a whole block and is several stories. Has every book imaginable. Cool place to hang, better than the typical Border's. I found something I couldn't resist buying. I highly recommend for a good laugh.

Eventually it was time for pre-race dinner. Settled on an Italian place I mentioned in the RR. It was perfect and just what I wanted.

Fast forward.... and.... the race happened...

Then time to regroup for one last night on the town. Besides my amazing post-race feast (pics on the RR, click above), I also got a special present because I'm a chocolate fiend....
Speaking of that, I may or may not have tried a vegan chocolate cupcake. Vegan, so allowed, right?

Rev3 Portland 70.3 RR

2011-07-11T14:39:00.000-07:00

The second 70.3 for the year finally arrived, and I was ecstatic to say the least. I set some solid goals for myself going into the Rev3 Portland Half-Iron Triathlon. After learning that the course changed from hilly to flat and fast, I decided it was time to try and break 5 hours in a half-Ironman. My 70.3 PR is 5:01 from Clearwater, and I feel like I'm in better shape now so it seemed totally doable. I settled on that goal, figured out some SBR splits I'd need, then I moved on. No over-thinking or obsessing over times and results. I've learned that it's no fun nor beneficial to spend a week freaking out about an upcoming race (the old me used to spend days feeling nervous as heck before a race, no longer). My taper went pretty well, probably not as "hard" of a taper as I should have done, but there were a couple fun workouts I couldn't pass up. Fun is the ultimate goal, right?!

Speaking of fun, Portland became more about the 70.3. I was equally excited to get in a mini vacation with the sherpa. Btw, sherpa has a name, it's John :) Originally I was supposed to do Portland with D and Lindsay, but they had some not-so-fun stuff happen (major bummer!), which left me solo until John saved me with his sherpaing services/company. I don't mind traveling and/or racing alone, and I'm used to doing everything for myself when I do so--from taking apart and building the bike to hauling luggage, dealing with reservations and finding quality food. But this time around I barely dealt with any of that, sherpa took care of it. Totally foreign to me, but very awesome.

We got to Portland on Friday and it was beautiful! I'll share some of our fun non-race adventures that we had later, but for now it's all about the race.

View of Mt. Hood (not part of the race course lol)....
Checkin out town with the sherpa (behind is the river where we were originally supposed to swim)...

Pre-Race Eve
Race expo, check in and a mini tuneup workout. Met up with my buddy Ben G with whom I do the Endurance Planet podcast and we rode together for a bit. Then a t-run. My knee felt a little odd on therun, but I figured it was just that icky taper feeling.

Ben and I....My faithful steed ready for yet another adventure....Everyone gets pro-like treatment at a Rev3 race...The rest of Saturday was mellow. Found a farmer's market and a WF-like healthy grocery store/deli where I got a bomb GF sandwich. That night, the main goal was to find a good carb-filled but preferably gluten-free dinner. Got just what I needed at an Italian place called Fratelli's in downtown Portland: Risotto with ahi, sauteed spinach and a glass of vino.... as well as some of John's gnocchi and skirt steak. We were settled into the hotel by 8:30ish. It's light outside until after 9 in Portland, making it hard to go to bed. Thankfully heavy curtains in the hotel room did the trick to give the illusion of night.

Race Morning
My wave was scheduled to go off at 8:30 a.m. (so late!!!) so that meant I could SLEEP IN. Still, we got up at 5 a.m. and eased into the morning. I was pumped up, but surprisingly not nervous nor stressed. I even had time to watch a little TV while eating brekkie, which was oatmeal cooked with a [real] egg, almond milk, one packet of Justin's Honey Almond Butter, extra salt and stevia, with a side of strawberries, coffee and amino acid tabs. Getting closer to the start I had a banana and 3 Endurolytes.

Rev3 had the race set up well. The morning went smoothly and never once was I rushed. I even brought a roll of TP after what happened at O-side earlier this year, but I didn't need that at all... bathrooms were well stocked! (Bonus points to Rev3). Granted, it was a small-ish race of 500 or so athletes.

Scape'n it up...
This is where the swim was, at Blue Lake. You can see it in my face that I was starting to get a little bit of those pre-race nerves, but I was still more pumped than anything...

Pre-race it was already sunny and getting warm in the morning so I was expecting a hot one. We made our way to the swim start, which happened to be almost a 1/2 mile from transition area -- sucky! It'd be a loooong T1, which would definitely mess with my goals. It was such a long run that they set up racks for us to hang our running shoes so we could wear them from the swim exit to transition, as it was too far/sketchy to run barefoot. Other than that, everything seemed like it was going to be great. Talked with some friends, said goodbye to John and off into the water it was...

Calm before the storm...

Swim 38:xx
Several goals here: 1) Don't cramp, 2) don't over-exert myself, 3) swim 36-38 min. Goals achieved, namely NO FOOT/LEG CRAMPING! I've been doing more race-specific practice, and the faster I go on long sets (i.e. a 1:35 or faster 100 pace for 500-1000+), the sooner I cramp. I can hold a sub-1:30 pace +/- on my 100 and 200 repeats now, which is great for me, but I can't put that pace into action in the long stuff yet. It's a work in progress. So on race day, I figured I'd do my 1.2-mile swim at the RPE of my 500 repeats (usually those are 8:20-9:00).

The lake water was WARM, 72+ degrees! This will not be the case for this race in years to come because the venue will be back at the Williamette River in downtown. My wave was all AG females. Right away I saw how this swim would be: aggressive. There were some fiesty ladies in the mix. It was the first swim in a long time where I got beat up on a lot, practically the whole time. I took the blows as best I could, but they definitely affected my ability to stay smooth and calm. But at least I wasn't swimming in no man's land ;) Not to mention I was HOT in that jacuzzi of a lake. I was wearing my Zoot Prophet and compression socks, which each offered their own benefits, but I was toasty.

I felt like I was holding the right pace, but I was a little scared that maybe I was going too conservatively at times. I'm so terrified of cramping, and as a result that definitely messes with my head and how I swim. Ugh. I eventually saw the finish and was stoked that the bod was still in tact, so I picked up the pace. Exited at just under 38 on my watch and hit the mat at 38 and change. I can handle that, especially given that it was cramp free! Was it the compression? Who knows, but I'll take it!

T1
Starting a max-effort sprint after the body has been prone for nearly 40 min is rough, especially when the sprint is almost a 1/2 mile and all you want to do is be on the bike. That run seemed never-ending, and my heart felt like it was going to pop out of my chest. If I had felt like that for the rest of the race I might have not made it to the finish. Seriously. Just ask John how awful I looked, he saw it all haha. Ugh. That said, I had a great T1 time, relatively speaking, of 4:50 something. But like I said, this would come back to haunt me and the goals I'd laid out for a sub-5 day. Essentially, the race was probably a 70.7 or something. Crap.

Bike 2:36
John later told me I came out of the water 11th in my AG. Standard. I knew I'd be far back after the swim, so as always I had my work cut out for me on the bike. It was a two-loop very flat course and I was ready to hammer. I had set a goal to go 2:40 or faster, so a 21 mph average at the least. With all the rides I've been doing lately I knew this would be cakewalk and I could go faster, but I wanted to PR my run and needed to stay a little conservative on the bike in order to have the running legs I wanted.

I was very thirsty right away on the bike and drank a whole bottle in the first 20 min. I think it's because I got so hot in the swim. I didn't have my bike legs right off the bat and was a little nervous that maybe I'd gotten too dehydrated in the swim or that the T1 run killed me, but after some nutrition and getting into the groove I found my legs and settled into pace.

The bike course is very pretty; it goes along the Columbia River, passes by the Portland airport (the only section where the road conditions sucked), and there's lots of lush, undeveloped land to see, as well as Mt. Hood in the distance. But after the first stretch all that gets old, and I'm not going to lie, it's not the most "exciting" course. There was some wind, but not too bad.I was just focusing on nutrition and passing as many people as possible, as well as riding legally. On a flat course like that it'd be easy to find a "free ride" and draft. But that's just BS, and there's nothing I hate more than cheating. For me, cycling is my strength so I like to show what I can do all on my own. Unfortunately, I did see some drafting and packs forming, but nothing Clearwater-style. Plus the start waves were spread out well, the course was wide enough to prevent ridiculously large packs from forming, and it was very well-marshaled so cheaters were caught (again, nice work Rev3). Anyways, I had passed a lot of girls in my AG but still had no idea how many were ahead.

When I passed by transition second or third time, John was yelling where I stood in my AG, and I thought I heard, "Only one girl in front of you." Who knows if I heard him right, but regardless I got an extra boost of energy and was ready to lay it down even more. I passed another girl in my AG soon after and got a big smile on my face thinking I biked my way into 1st AG. As an added bonus, with the turnarounds I could see all the lead AG women, and by my count I was in the top 10, like 7th or 8th. On the final stretch back I wanted to pass more girls, and turns out I passed another chick in my AG. I knew then that I had to be 1st going into T2.

My bike split was 2:36, a 21.5 mph average, with an average of 180 watts. Slightly better then I planned but with the exact effort I wanted to give. It was a really great feeling to ride like that and still feel so fresh going into T2. All the biking I'm doing with dudes, or even just solo, is paying off.

Btw, bike nutrition: I love racing with GU Vanilla Orange Roctane gels. That flavor is not too sweet/overwhelming and has the tangy orangeness that I like, plus extra amino acids and electrolytes... perfect for a mega sweater like me. All together, I had 4-5 gels on the bike (I think), most of a Clif bar, GU tabs in one bottle and about 5 Endurolytes. Felt just about right. I find that eating something like a bar helps me feel like I get more substantial calories than if I were to do all liquids and gels.

T2
Quick and fast. Under a minute and onto the run. It was getting hot outside, but not too bad.

Run 1:42
My goal was 1:40. I knew this would be really tough, as my fastest half-Ironman run to date is a 1:46. Shaving off 6 min would be a challenge, but my open half-mary PR is 1:35ish, so possible. When I hopped off my bike, my overall time was 3:18 or 3:19ish, so a 1:40 was just what I needed to do to go sub-5. I got going and saw John. He verified that I was first AG. Sweet. Right off the bat, I felt really good on the run. Too good, and I think I made stupid mistakes, the same mistakes I warn my athletes not to make, i.e. running faster than your goal pace because you feel good in the beginning. The first part was on grass and trails, then a bike path, and I was running 7:20-7:30 for the first few miles. I took in a gel and water at the aid station. I was feeling good, but my times were dropping a little... 7:37, then 7:47, then 7:50s. No worries, I thought, just keep it sub-8. A few times I thought I felt the onset of GI issues. But I said, "Body, you know what's up right now, this isn't anything new, just keep it together inside there pleeeease." No major GI problems in the end, whew.

The main miles of the run took place on the same road that we biked on. Again, not very exciting, but whatever, I actually felt like I was in a race in my AG so I was stoked. Meanwhile, I saw the lead pro ladies running, and in the distance I heard Meredith Kessler's name announced as the winner. She killed it. I saw Bree Wee and yelled something to her. Love that chick. When I passed transition, John said that the 3rd place girl in my AG was running a sub-7 pace, but she was far back. Shit, I couldn't match that. I had to run in fear. He said 2nd place was struggling and I probably didn't need to worry about her.

For a lot of the run I was thinking how cool it would be if I got 1st AG. Achieving that at a fairly significant race is definitely something I've wanted for a long time. But I couldn't let result mumbo jumbo dominate my thoughts. I still had running to do. I was stopping very briefly at every aid station to down water and gatorade, and pour water on my head. Those quick stops helped, but not enough apparently. At mile 8-9ish, close to the turnaround that would take us on the final stretch home, things started changing. I hit the wall. My sub-8 pace turned into an 8:10-8:30 pace. It wasn't a nutrition or dehydration issue, and not salt depletion, just my legs starting to feel like bricks. I wanted to hold on to my lead so badly but at the turnaround I saw the speedy fellow AGer gaining on me. She eventually passed me at around mile 10 and I couldn't respond. It sucked, but that was that. I was still happy because I knew I had a podium finish in the bag. However, I saw my sub-5 dreams slipping away as well. By mile 10ish, my new goal became 5:10 or faster. I didn't know if I'd slow down even more or what so I was accepting that a 5:00-5:10 could happen. At that point, an 8:15 pace had the RPE of a 6:15 pace. It hurt. All I could think was, "How am I going to do an Ironman next month?!"

But I held on, and my run ended up being 1:42 and change, a 7:49 average pace on the results, which is a half-iron run PR by 4 min for me, and my first time keeping a sub-8 average pace in a half-iron run. Not the 1:40 I set out to do, but I knew that was a big goal and I'm OK with not getting it... yet :) It was a good run, even with those last several miles not going as planned. I guess I need to practice what I preach and maybe I'll finish a run as strong as or stronger than how I start.

Finish 5:02
I crossed the finish line at 5:02, which got me 2nd AG and 9th female amateur. Not my sub-5, and not even a 70.3 PR, but I was still happy as could be!! I executed a SBR almost exactly according to what I planned, so I can tell I'm making progress in putting the three sports together and knowing what I'm capable of doing. But more importantly, it's obviously not my fault I didn't get the sub-5, it was that damn T1 that kept me from it.... hahahaha, j/k. Sort of ;) Nice attempt at an excuse, right?

Anyways, I felt shakey after the race, but recovered quickly. A five-hour day is not that foreign to me anymore. We hung out around, packed up and waited around for awards. I got my award. Then broke my award :( Oops. I didn't even get a pic of it; it was a cute little glass plaque thing.

On top of sherpa-ing, John managed to run 11 miles during the race. A multi-tasking champ! We were both ready to chill out in the shade...

Started to chow on a burrito, but it wasn't settling well. Too much salsa...On the podium. Only one in my AG who stuck around, sheesh...

I want to say how well-run this Rev3 event was. I was excited to try a non-Ironman-brand 70.3 race, and Rev3 did not disappoint! Still bummed we didn't get the original course, but they were able to put on a fabulous race even with the last-minute change.

~~~

Later on, it was time to celebrate. We headed back to downtown Portland, and I was debating on a burger or pizza. I hadn't eaten much after the race (like I said, that salsa-y burrito wasn't easy on the tummy, so I'd only had some chips and a Muscle Milk). Sooooo.... at the restaurant, I decided on....

Appetizer to share...

My main meal...mmmm....
And of course....beer! Btw, we had temp tatoo race #s that didin't easily come off with soap and water, so I decided to be that person and roll through town with them on ;)...

I also had some special post-race brews waiting for me at the hotel. Had Linsey Corbin in mind when I picked up these bad boys....

Why Vitamix? And More on Strength Training

2011-06-30T15:44:00.000-07:00

Pretty funny that I only got one comment on that last blog. Not that I ever generate tons of comments as it is, but one is possibly an all-time low. Did I leave you guys speechless by telling too much about my personal life? Hahaha. Probably best to stick to the triathlon theme, eh? Well, you'll still get bits and pieces of the personal stuff too, turns out my new sherpa is coming to Portland with me next week! Speaking of Portland, I also found out that JetBlue is waving bike fees for the month of July in celebration of the Tour de France. I made flight res with them without knowing this would be the case, so needless to say I'm pretty stoked that I'll be saving a few bucks.

Yesterday I was an easy day with only a swim. Taper mode is in full effect, and, yup, I'm feeling all those nasty taper feelings. I was comforted by shortening my work day to enjoy some sunny beach weather... sitting on my porch, listening to Jack Johnson-esque music and sipping on a beer that screamed Oregon, of course (see my ocean view?)....Not that best ocean view haha, but I can walk across the street for this view. It's gearing up to be a busy and beautiful holiday weekend here at the beach.

~~~

Anyways, enough fluff, onto the main point of this blog! I want to answer a couple questions I got recently on the Vitamix and Strength Training...

1. Why is the Vitamix so great? ~Austin and SixTwoThree

I'm not going to go too infomercial/testimonial on this one because Vitamix ain't giving me anything for free, but I will tell you my top 5 reasons why I think this blender is the bomb.

1. It can blend anything to your desired consistency in mere seconds. I think it could even blend rocks if you wanted. Nut butters, raw beets, tough raw veggies, etc. You wouldn't believe how the toughest things turn into smooth liquids instantly. No chunky, grainy, un-blended crap in your drinks. I was using a temp blender at my new place before the V-mix, and my carrot cake smoothies were grainy and chunky, yuck. Plus, I had to leave that blender running for so long just to get something to happen. The V-mix is usually 30ish seconds, always less than a minute, for any smoothie I make.

2. You don't lose anything. This is a good argument for a V-mix over juicers... Juicers spew out the veggie/fruit leftovers, but V-mix leaves you the whole fruit/veggie to consume. With strawberries and apples, for example, you can even leave the greens on and the core/seeds all in there. No prob. Nothing gets left out. And you never get weird seedy chunks in the drink.

3. Diversity of what you can make. Of course smoothies and juices are the most frequent, but there's also ice cream/fro-yo, soups (leave it on long enough and it literally makes the soup piping hot), nut butters, baking batters (pancakes, cookies, cakes, pies, brownies), adult drinks (haven't tried that yet to be honest haha), etc., etc. I use it to make my mashed cauliflower (healthy version of mashed potatoes), and it does it 10x better than even the food processor. Great for my black-bean brownies too.

4. Easy to clean. There are only two parts -- the base/motor and the blender. You never have to unscrew anything or try to clean hard-to-reach crevices or parts. It easily rinses out. My old blender had like eight parts, some small and annoying, and you'd have to individually clean each piece after every use or risk mold, it was such a hassle. The V-mix just needs a quick and easy rinse. Heck there are times I don't even use soap/sponge, just a good rinse.

5. Longevity. I use the V-mix one to two times a day for the most part, and apparently these things are supposed to live long and strong. They're often used in commercial/business settings for that reason. So instead of having to replace a so-so blender every couple years, invest in a good one that lasts forever. I have the same philosophy when it comes to buying my tri gear.

So there you have it... my love for the V-mix in a nutshell. Now let's just hope Vitamix reads this and does something for me in return ;)

Second question....
2. When during the week do you add it? I really need to build more muscle but I'm not sure about the best time to add it in the schedule so that it doesn't negatively affect swim/bike/run training. Thanks!! ~Jennifer

For starters, I wrote a post a while back on strength training related to your question.

Strength training will not negatively affect your SBR. Yea, there might be times when you don't swim as well because your arms are fired from X workout, but simply adding in one or two strength training sessions a week will only make you a stronger triathlete in the end. That said, you're probably in-season right now so starting a strength routine is going to leave you more sore than if you'd been doing it for months. So, start slowly... go with one session a week (separated from your SBR if possible) and build up. Plus, I recommend talking to a professional who can guide your program, tell him/her that you're training a lot for triathlon. Strength training is really fun once you get into a routine, I personally love that it breaks up the monotony of SBR.

When it comes to me, I hate to say it, but I don't have much rhyme or reason on how I operate on the day to day with my workouts, SBR or strength. Maybe it's because I spend so much time planning my athletes' schedules, so planning my own workouts comes second to that. Instead, I go into each week with specific goals for each sport, strength training, overall volume and intensity (i.e. base vs. recovery vs. build week), but that's about it. No set-in-stone daily workout plan. I just get 'er done based on my knowledge of what I should be doing that week, and hitting numbers I need to hit (whether that's power on the bike, mileage in the run or hours overall).

So how does strength fit in? Personally, I try to get in 1-2 strength training sessions a week when I'm in season (like now), and 3-4x all the other times of the year (offseason, transition phases, early base building, etc). Inevitably I probably strength train a little bit more than that simply because I work at a gym and am constantly pushing weights around, demonstrating exercises, etc. But when I do my own focused sessions, they're usually in the mornings before my swim, bike or run workout. Otherwise, I'll do the swim, bike or run, and then not strength train until hours later. If I'm doubling up, I always have a hearty protein/carb shake after strength even if I'm not that hungry... do not want to lose any muscle mass or weight. With my athletes, some come to me for strength training, and I usually try to separate those appointments from their scheduled swim, bikes and runs, or at least have them strength prior to SBR or many hours after SBR.

Sometimes I incorporate strength into a swim, bike or run. Swim -- get out and do pushups/situps/squats/lunges, swim with a T-shirt, etc. Bike -- during trainer sessions, get off and do a round of something, even rowing, several times throughout the workout (those are some of my fav workouts, btw!). Run -- is in the gym, work in lighter-weight deadlifts, squats, TRX stuff, upper-body, anything!

Bottom line is every triathlete should be doing a little strength training year round. The idea is that you want to always be stimulating your body in new ways to prevent stagnation and a plateau, while building a resilient injury-resistant body that will hammer SBR for a long, full season. Of course, SBR over and over will make you better at SBR, but throw in strength training and you'll get even better and be more likely to avoid injury. Planning-wise: Don't do as much when you're in season (1-2x a week of maintenance work). It's in the offseason or early in the base phases when you want to hit strength training hard.

Last but not least, here's a simple but good workout that combines strength and running, especially good if you're looking to utterly FRY your hamstrings. I did this last week, and it left me the most sore I've ever been in the hammys (the most sore I've ever been overall was after Bikram yoga, when I was getting so hot and lose that I stretched way beyond my means and was toast for days).

Strength/Running Routine:
3 rounds...
50 abmat situps
50 Romanian Deadlifts with Oly bar (45 lbs)
800m sprint

~~~

Hope everyone has a great 4th of July weekend. I know I'll be sticking in Laguna Beach... there are literally signs around town advising people to avoid driving. Looks like I'm stuck... rough ;)

Good times

2011-06-26T18:20:00.000-07:00

How many times have you seen a blog that start off like this: "Wow, I can't believe it's been so long since my last post." I hate to jump on that bandwagon, but I have not been blogging as much as I'd like. I'm not going to lie, a big reason I'm more MIA lately is because I'm dating someone, and that's been taking up more free time (the little free time I have). More on that later.

Anyways, a little life update. It's pretty simple: I'm working more, driving way less (last week was a lovely ratio of 40 miles car, about 170 bike), training hard, and playing hard. I just finished up a big two-week training block with lots of Ironman-specific training and I feel great (can barely walk as of Sunday, but I feel fabulous). Swim... I'm finally getting used to going over 4k in the pool. Not to mention, I'm loving ocean swims. That's a good combo for me. Bike: I've never felt better, especially on hills. My average mph for long rides is even surprising me. And Run... running is running. All I can say is that I never run flat routes anymore; it's all hilly in Laguna Beach, like real hills, and I think that's doing me well... scene from just over half way up yesterday's long-ass climb (0-800 ft right away).

What's interesting to me is that I find it almost surprising that my motivation levels are higher than ever right now even though all it seems to be is SBR over and over and over. I like it; one of the goals I have in mind when making training plans is "keep it interesting." It's never the same old shit. That said, when it comes to the way I coach myself, I tend to go more day-to-day with my schedule. I go into each week with an overall goal in mind (build, x amount of volume, recovery,etc) but what I do each day is never set in stone until I'm actually doing it. I like that. I'll even do that with some of my athletes sometimes when random stuff is going on in their lives and they can't stick to the plan I had in mind. I don't mind making daily adjustments, it's all fun for me.

Next up for me is a slow transition into taper. I'm all set to do Rev3 Portland Half-Ironman on July 10. I can't wait! They actually changed the course, which I'm not too happy about because I guess now it's very flat, whereas before it was more hilly. I'll take hills any day over flats. Oh well, I'm sure I'll get plenty of that at IMC... about two months out baby!

Other than triathlon, life is good. I have a lot of balance going on, which is one of the reasons I think I'm still so motivated to SBR so much. It can't all be triathlon, and I make sure of that when it comes to my personal life.... so here it is. I guess I'll spill the beans on dating stuff, which I normally like to avoid on this blog.....

It's funny, I've gone back and forth about wanting to date a triathlete dude. Seems like it could be perfect or disastrous. It's nice to think you can have a guy who's into the same sport and gets it, but it's also nice to think a guy can provide time away from the sport and you're not always going to be obsessing over triathlon together. Who knows. Thankfully, this guy I'm dating is giving me an option to this scenario that is very much to my liking. He's getting into triathlon, but it's not his main thing. He wants to do half-Ironmans (signed up for his first one this Sept) and Ironman eventually, so it's not like he's super casual about it, but his main thing (besides his real job) is racing cars. Hm, sounds like he found the right girl given my family. Bottom line is, we're both active, competitive, driven people and we mesh well. He was the one who played sherpa for me at my last race. He did a good job, so I think he's stuck now :) This weekend, he was racing (cars) and unfortunately I had to be the selfish triathlete and stay home for training, but I still cheered them on as they WON their endurance race Saturday night. Good times.

I have another blogs in the works that answers a couple of questions you guys left me, so stay tuned...

Splurged

2011-06-14T13:19:00.000-07:00

One word: Vitamix. I was going insane without one. Life was fine before I had one because I didn't know what I was missing, but after having one at my fingertips every day, it was torture to live without one. Man, I sound like a whiny spoiled brat saying that, huh. Oops! But it's true though, that machine is addicting. I tried to make do with a Magic Bullet and food processor, but that wasn't happening. So I splurged thanks to a Costco special. Life is complete again.

The smoothie I made today post-workout wasn't anything too out of the ordinary for me, but for some reason it all meshed exceptionally well, so I thought I'd share:

Pumpkin Protein Shake
1 cup unsweetened coconut milk
1 medium banana (frozen or fresh is ok)
1 heaping scoop vanilla whey protein powder
1/2 cup pumpkin puree (I eyeballed this measurement and possibly put in more, not sure)
5 baby carrots (had to finish the bag, lol)
2-3 tbsp ground flaxseed
dash salt
stevia to taste
cinnamon
5 ice cubes

Blend and enjoy!

I tried to savor mine, but it was so good that I finished the whole batch pretty quickly, along with my daily green/rainbow colored "everything" salad. Those never get old. I'm sure the workout I had just done played a role in being a human vacuum (typical). Speaking of that, the workout is worth sharing...

Strength & Conditioning Routine
Warmup: 10-15 min of functional exercises, such as single-leg toe touches, reverse lunges with a twist, bridges, leg circles, scap pushups, light jog, etc, etc, etc... then to the meat.

5 rounds, for time:
250m row (holding a sub-1:50 500m pace)
15 KB swings (go heavy)
10 knee to elbows
plank with rope pull, left & right side*
10 squat jumps
100-touch jump rope
20 sledgehammer swings on the tire

My time: 26:01

*This one is killer: get in plank position one hand down and the other pulling an entire battle rope laterally through a hook on the wall; do R arm then L arm, I hope that makes sense

After S&C I spent an hour in the pool, and it was not easy at all coming off that first s&c workout. But I need to work on building upper-body endurance and power so it was all good in the hood.

I was finally feeling normal again, too, after a fatiguing (but fun) weekend... both Saturday and Sunday night had this grandma up way past her bedtime. Sunday was extra special because my sister is in town and we went to a Pepper concert together.

Standing on the "Overall Podium"

2011-06-11T16:10:00.000-07:00

I've said it plenty of times before, and I'll say it again: I love racing triathlons! And it's so much more than "all about the results" to me despite the title of this post. It's the whole experience, it's the other people, it's feeling the race adrenaline, going fast, dealing with adversity, smiling through it all while hurting a lot too, etc, etc, etc. It's all those things and more that will make a great race -- if you just focus on results, where's the fun in that?!

So can you tell I raced today? Totally still on that high :) I did the Bonelli Olympic Triathlon that I mentioned in yesterday's post. I didn't realize until just now that this was only the second true Olympic-distance tri I've ever done (OC Tri in 2009 being the only other). All in all it was a great day. I ended up 2nd female OVERALL and 1st AG. It was pretty cool getting an overall placing for the first time. That even convinced me to stick around for awards :)
At first we heard that I was third overall (thus the 3 fingers), then got word it was 2nd. Btw, check out my brand-new Ignis kit, sweet huh!!!
My good friend Jason got 3rd overall, he's going for speed this year (instead of Ironman), and it shows!!

The whole race experience this time around got off to a good start. A mellow Friday night with a solid dinner (sweet potatoes, chicken, veggie-loaded salad, beer). I prepped my overnight oats with chia seeds so I'd have brekkie waiting in the morning. The race location was well over an hour from my place, so we hit the road early. Good thing we did because even at pre-6 a.m. there was major crap going down on the freeways -- several accidents, one of which had the whole freeway closed, and the offramp for the race site was closed too. Several detours thus ensued. Thank goodness I had a sherpa driving me otherwise I would have been uber panicky on my own. I don't do well with figuring out new directions in a foreign area so early in the morning when I have racing on the brain haha.

So to the race... the Bonelli races are low key, very grassroots and full of friendly happy people. Love love love. Surprisingly, there was a pretty good turnout for this event, more peeps than I'd seen at the past races. Plus, I had several friends, one client (Ray, with the hair) and Mike (my training buddy/boss/friend) all doing the race too, so I felt right at home :)
Here are Mike and I (in the middle) pointing out the buoys on the swim course; we tend to take the leadership roles haha:So crowded in the middle of nowhere on a Saturday morning at 6 a.m. Only triathletes :)

I remember the race courses from the shorter events being really fun and fairly challenging at points, sort of like a mini Vineman. I had never done the Oly distance, but I expected it to be a solid course too. It was. As Mike said after the race today, "That race has teeth."

Doing a few pre-race routines (complete with texts as evidenced below), then it was time to get going! Note the bathroom pic -- no line for the girls, but major line for the dudes. wtf? Also, sorry that there are only pics of me, I was not in charge of the camera ;)

Swim
1.5 k is not too far from a 70.3 swim, so I wanted to test a new anti-cramping strategy: compression socks DURING the swim. I wore them under my new Zoot Prophet. My goal for the swim was about 27 minutes or faster. I know, that is slow for that distance, but remember, I'm a slow swimmer and I know that's what I'm capable of doing without wasting too much energy. I got in for a warmup, and the water was warm and gross. Lots of disgusting sediment and pretty much no visibility. Not that big of deal. When we started, I got going at my comfortable pace as to not overdo it right away. The Prophet felt amazing. I had a few run-ins with others, etc., but didn't get too knocked around. Actually, I was all alone for the most part so no drafting potential :( The big issue this time was sighting. Not getting off track, I actually sighted the course just fine, but when I lifted my head to sight it was causing weird sensations down my back into my legs... as if that was going to set off cramping. And sure enough, after enough sighting and time in the water, calf cramps began with roughly 300-400 to go. The last chunk I was swimming with feet dorsiflexed to offset the cramps. No fun. So, compression socks were arguably ineffective at preventing cramping, although, they might have helped from making the cramping worse. I'd wear the socks again in the water. My watch said 28 something coming out of the water. Pissed. Blah. I'm not going to be negative nancy about it, nor will I dwell. Moving on.

Bike
After a rookie T1 (need to practice that more I guess), I was hammerin on the bike with a smile from ear to ear. As always, the goal was to pass as many girls as possible and rock on. The bike course was fun and a lot hillier than I expected -- both in climbs and decents. Unfortunately I didn't have my magnet on my Zipp to get speed/distance, but I at least got power, and overall I averaged 175 watts. I'll take that. I'd say there was about three good hills on each lap (three laps) where I was climbing at 250-300+ watts and passing lots of girls and guys all along. HILL WORK IS PAYING OFF. Even on the downhills I was passing people, including bigger dudes who had weight/momentum on their side. Part of my ability to pass on downhills may be the "no fear" side of me... I can comfortably go in the 40-45+ mph range even on foreign terrain.

Like I said, the whole bike course was three loops, and besides the fun hills and descents, there were several flat and fast sections. Those are a blast too. The were only a couple crappy parts. One was where it got real tight and passing was hard, some people looked like they were even drafting. No thanks, I knew it'd be a long shot to pass the big line of guys, so I chose to back off and suck it up going a little slower for a bit even though I knew I could hammer just fine. I play by the rules and would never want to do anything sketchy. I'd never draft, duh, but I wouldn't even want it to look like I was drafting so better safe than sorry. I found it funny that that was the only spot where I saw a race official moto. Apparently they get cheaters there. The other crappy section is one stretch of road that's torn up as if jack hammers were having a party. What could be a 19-20+ mph section is a 12 mph section, or so it feels. All in all, those crappy parts are minor in comparison to what I thought was a super fun, challenging and diverse bike course. Loved it! I got off the bike around 1:12, not sure on the exact time yet. My PR for the Oly distance is 1:11 (at OC Tri). Both courses are about the same difficulty, this Bonelli course might be even harder. Who knows.

Run
T2 went smooth, well under a minute. Got onto the run and Garmin was having issues "locating satellites" so it didn't start until about .5 miles in. No biggie. The run course is AWESOME! The first mile or so is totally offroad Xterra style in a jungly forest. Heck ya! Fairly hilly and rocky terrain, which I love. Then that unfortunately ends and it's all rolling hills on asphalt for pretty much the rest of the run. You go around the lake roads, and like I said, there are good hills of all sizes, but nothing too daunting. After you run El Moro, everything seems doable haha. Plus, I've been running well on hills lately, and I felt good on this course as a result. My miles were around a 7:00 pace +/- for the whole 10k. And I felt even better than on the half-mary a couple weeks ago. I swear, I run better off the bike sometimes. It's weird.

As far as my placing in the race, by the time I had gotten off the bike, I had passed tons of girls. No girl ever passed me. I'm not trying to brag by saying that because the truth is all those girls I passed are obviously better swimmers than me, so hats off to them! But it felt good to knock off girl after girl on the bike :) But back to the run. By mile 2ish I had no idea how many more fast ladies were ahead of me. Thankfully, we had a couple out and backs, so I could start counting. I saw one. OK, good. Then I saw two right in front of me. I could tell I was easily going to pass them, and I did. So by that point, I was certain at least one girl was ahead, then possibly more fast girls that were out of my league? Whatever, I was running my race and feeling great (great as in hurting in that sadistically fun way lol). I could have probably dipped into the high 6's for more of the run looking back, but that 7ish pace felt perfect for the task at hand. I have no idea what my official run time was, but I'm guessing around 44-45 min.

Finish
As I approached the finish line I heard the guy say "1st place female" which meant I was in position for 2nd or 3rd. I was sure it was 2nd. But then I crossed the line and he marked me down as 3rd. Later on that mistake was cleared, and it was in fact 2nd place overall, 1st AG :)

Now that all said, I didn't pull of the fastest time so don't get your panties in a bunch thinking that Tawnee has arrived. No, not yet folks lol. I did a 2:30, which is very decent but not jaw-dropping stellar. It's a hard course to some extent, similar to the OC Tri in some respects, and, shoot, for me it's an Oly PR, so I'll take it. The night prior to the race I was thinking I'd finish closer to 2:25 or faster, but I guess I overestimated my abilities. It's better than underestimating myself though, right?! Overall, I'm very happy with the result mostly because I gave it a solid effort but it didn't feel like I was completely dying and holding on for dear life.

This race was so fun (how many times have I said fun in this post lol) and it was yet another learning experience that gave me more insight into "Tawnee on Ironman training." Conclusion: Ironman training is doing a few things. 1) It's making me more confident in SBR at any distance (i.e. I said to myself, "oh only a 6.2 mile run after 40k on the bike? That's cakewalk distance-wise!") 2) It's making me a little slower than I'd like to be at this point (just can't shake off that lingering fatigue as quickly as I used to, plus not doing as much speed work overall these days). 3) It makes me hungry for more -- I want to keep challening myself to have some speed but still be able to do long stuff. I have many years ahead in this sport, and I want to continue testing my abilities in years to come at all race distances!!!

Last but not least, as I was racing today, I was thinking about all the people who help make it possible for me to do this sport that I love so much. There are so many people in my life who I want to thank, but instead of pretending I'm all pro status and naming them off, I'll try to do a special blog soon to give a little more insight into my life and the people who make me tick. Let's just say I'm a lucky girl :) For example, today I felt extra lucky having a pretty darn good sherpa taking care of me, but I'll hold off on that story for now...

One special mention I will make now is about my athlete Ray who's beyond a pleasure to work with. He killed it on this course today, PR'ing by about 40 min! He first contacted after this race last year, and so this month it's been a year as coach/athlete! Let's just say it looks like having a coach is paying off :)

Saturday Race Day!

2011-06-10T15:48:00.000-07:00

Time is flying by! I'm doing REv3 Portland in one month from today then after that it's all about Canada. Well it's all about Canada now, but still some fun stuff mixed in, like Saturday's race. I'm doing the Bonelli Olympic, race #3 in the LA Tri Series. Missed the first two races this year due to the hectic life as of late, but I've done these races before and I love them so I'm excited to get out and redline for 2+ hours and have some fun -- that sadistic painful sort of fun ;)

It's been a weird week leading up to the race. It's a recovery week coming off my biggest week of training to date that wrapped up Sunday. I was smashed and happy :) Monday was off, then Tuesday I somehow "trained" for 3.5 hours. It happened by mistake, I swear. That's what happens when you actually see training time as fun time :) I did a strength class at my gym followed by a swim. Then later that afternoon I took a dude friend out for his first spin through Camp Pendleton. It was my first time riding with this guy, and I ended going harder than anticipated considering the theme of the week was recovery, but I guess that's just me -- I let me competitive nature take hold and hammer lol. I was expecting Wednesday to be a mellow day, but I was wrong.

I had a photo shoot with John Segesta and Profile Design down in SD on tap for Wednesday (I love working with Segesta), so like I said, I figured it'd be mellow studio stuff. Good because I actually woke up Wednesday feeling under the weather. Turns out the shoot was "outdoor action" day on bikes. Crap. There went that recovery day. It wasn't super crazy exercise, but among all the driving (we ventured into East County and the day's total car time was close to 5-6 hours), riding bikes, changing outfits/locations, being peppy, etc., I was wiped at the end. Still had fun during though, of course. Great people to work with :)Roughly 13 or 14 hours later when I got home my body just gave out and I crashed. I felt like poo on a stick times 10. For all I know I had a touch of the flu, and perhaps eating gluten-filled food all day didn't help the matter. Who knows, but it was bad, like fetal-position-moaning-in-pain bad. I canceled some of my Thursday stuff so I could keep it to a mellow work day at home with minimal physical exertion. And thankfully that was all I needed... I woke up Friday feeling refreshed and good again! Not that I'm "fresh" and expecting to get a PR at the Oly distance, but I'm to the point where I know I'm as good as I'm going to be and am excited. Again, like with the LH Half-Mary, this ain't an A race, it's just a chance to work my butt off, hurt and have fun. Gonna go out there and give it my all! Raaaarrr ;)

Oh yea, maybe Thursday's dinner of homemade from scratch gluten-free pancakes and bacon made the difference. I asked around for some pancake recipes and ended up combining all the ideas into my own unique concoction... several different GF flours, greek yogurt, eggs, agave, among many other things... if I remember the recipe correctly, I'll try to share. They were really good. And that's not just me talking. I had a guinea pig over for din, and he loved them.

Sorry, only took a couple really crappy pics. Next time I'll get better ones that do the food justice. This time it was all about the eating, and we ate the whole [big] batch haha :)

Last but not least, I got some [amateur] pics from the photo shoot with Segesta (amateur meaning on my point and shoot, not by John lol)...

Somewhere in East County "on top of a mountain" lol...
My male counterpart (apparently a legit cyclist)...
Gettin into it and havin fun!

Somewhere even more deep into East County...Blue Steel?
Segesta planning his magic...Can still see fire damage, crazy...

Planning

2011-06-08T07:14:00.001-07:00

I'm all about making hand-written lists and having an old-school pen-and-paper day planner to keep me organized, I don't do electronics when it comes to that stuff. When I write a list or have hand-written plans in my calendar, I stick to it and remember better! And there's that satisfaction of "checking off" things once they're complete.... ahhh. Maybe I'll start scheduling a "blog hour" once or twice a week because I feel like I'm falling off the blog bandwagon, and that's just not cool.

One of the only areas where I'm very dialed in with electronic/online planning is with my training plans for my clients and for myself. I did some research a while back to look for good, simple training plan software at a low cost. Ii wasn't impressed with a lot that's out there. For example, I feel that Training Peaks is just too much "stuff" and information overload for what I want and need. Don't get me wrong, I'm a data geek, and my workouts are detailed down to the minute, but I know my clients need something that's easy to understand and manage. Thus, with a training plan, I wanted something simple! Enough to get in all the necessary details (what I input, and the feedback they provide) but not overwhelming. I'd rather put more emphasis on real communication than have a fancy, technical, intricate program do that job. Plus, I find that the easier I make it for my clients to provide feedback, etc., the more likely they are to actually do just that rather than see it as a "hassle" of a job ;)

Anyways, long story short, I use this training log software. I love it. It covers all the basics and has many features that save me time. It's simple to use on both ends for coach/client (powered by Google Docs so easy access for both parties to get in and input info), and it's inexpensive. Not to mention, the creator, Doug, is a bad ass triathlete, super nice and really great at setting people up with plans. If I need troubleshooting, which is rare, he's on top of it.

Doug has no idea I'm writing this, and he didn't ask me to do so -- i.e. I'm not trying to "sell" something for him. I just think it's important for triathletes to have a quality, comprehensive training plan to keep track of what's going in training and in life. Look into it if you're in the market for something simple but effective.

Truth be told, writing about the training log wasn't really the plan for this blog, but I guess that was meant to be :)

OK, now it's time to head to the happiest place on Earth... San Diego, haha ;) Is it? I don't know, but I always have good times in SD. Today is a photo shoot with John Segesta and some cycling companies, and all I know is I have to bring my gear and we're going out to East county for action shots... so much for a complete recovery day, oops :/

Running Around, Even in a Race! (RR Included)

2011-05-31T13:00:00.000-07:00

What a weekend! From a picture-perfect long ride along PCH to a unexpected late night out with good friends Saturday (so fun, but so not conducive to my lifestyle) to an awesome house guest on Sunday-Monday, and so much more... it was a good one. Somehow I even managed to work a little every day too (workaholic, much?). Needless to say, I feel totally wiped out today from all the running around as of late, and it might turn out to be a day off from training, despite "the plan." We'll see. Must listen to the body. With all I've been doing, I can't believe I haven't gotten sick yet, but right now I feel like that could soon change.

Scene from long ride along the coast... pretty much the standard scene for the weekend:

The highlight of my long weekend was running the Laguna Hills Memorial Day Half Marathon Monday morning. It's been more than a month since I've done a race (so sad) because "real life" has taken over -- I've had to budget both my time and dollars wisely, and racing hasn't fit into that scenario, unfortunately. I wish I could do it all, but that's life. So you can imagine my excitement to run the half, even if it was a C-level race on fatigued legs. Self-inflicted pain? Yes please! In fact, that was part of my excitement. It's been another two BIG weeks of Ironman training, with one day off before the half. I wanted to see how my body would fare amidst this IM training stuff, not to mention a "new" life that's keeping me busy outside of training, but that's another story ;) Even on Sunday, walking up stairs burned and hurt, so I knew I was in for it on Monday.

I didn't set a specific finishing goal, and I told ER to expect me anywhere from 1:35 to 1:45 (she was doing the 5K to test her speed sillzzz, so she'd have to wait around for me. Btw, her 5K pursuit sounded crazier than what I was doing. 5Ks suck, but I was stoked for her wanting to test that side of fitness). Anyways, in an A race, I'd be much more focused on setting time goals, establishing a detailed strategy, doing course recon, that sort of thing. But this race was simply a fun way to replace my usual weekend long run and feel a little bit of that race adrenaline I was craving. That said, A- or C-level race, I'd still give it my all because, heck, I don't do it any other way. Bring on 13.1 miles of hurt.

The LH Half Mary course is interesting. It's lots of rolling hills the first 70% of the race, with the first ~5 miles netting a slight elevation loss overall. You hit Aliso Woods Canyon for the middle chunk, and that is a combo of ups & downs, outs & backs. The ups hurt, but then again so do the downs ;) The last 30%, or about 4.5 miles, is all uphill, some parts steeper than others, but overall a gradual climb back to the finish. Ouch! Everyone was saying how much that last section would hurt and to "save some" in the tank.

The gun went off just after 7 a.m., and I kept it moderate RPE-wise not "bat outta hell," which put me at ~7:20s in the beginning; that would help me still stay sub-8:00 in those last tough miles. My legs and hips -- heck, my whole body -- felt very stiff until about mile 3+. Pretty standard for someone in IM training from what I've been told. Or maybe it was the couple glasses of wine the night prior. Who knows ;) Thankfully, my HR and cardiovascular system felt great for the pace.

I ran with one of my athletes, Ray (the one with the hair) for about a mile, and that was a blast. I pulled ahead of him and then saw another friend who's a member at my gym. He's getting faster, I can tell... I say it's the fitness classes he takes with us!! :) Then at mile 5ish, I saw my boss/training partner, Mike, and was like, "What's up biaaatch?! There you are! I thought you bailed on this race!" (I didn't see him lined up at the start like I expected.) We chatted for maybe 2 minutes then he took off at a pace that was too much for me.

About 50-60 minutes into the race I thought disaster might strike. I didn't take a second bathroom break before the race because I would have been late to the start line, but I knew I needed that break. I was starting to feel it. I prayed that I wouldn't have an accident. God must have answered me because that terrifying sensation of needing "to go" went away. Was it mind over matter? Was it God watching over me? Was it my experience of having to hold it? Who knows, but I was glad I got past that.

By then we were weaving through Aliso Canyon. I can't even describe how perfect the weather was at 8 a.m. -- cloudless and brisk but warm -- and how beautiful the natural scenery was in the undeveloped canyon. "This is why I do this," I said to myself. I also love the entertainment I get during races by looking at the other runners. Got to love the peeps in tutus, or women in full makeup or how about the folks with enough nutrition strapped on them to last for a week ;)

Then I noticed reality: My pace was starting to slow a bit, and on uphills I was dipping into the 8:00s. No good. I started playing mental games of "shit how am I going to hang on to my sub-8:00 pace for another 5ish miles if it's only going to get more difficult?!" Then on an out-and-back I saw a couple people I knew who weren't that far behind me, people that I had to beat. That was the little motivation I needed to go hard in the last ~4.5 miles of uphill. During that stretch another fire of motivation lit within me when I saw the 1:40-pace-sign-holder dude. My goal became to go sub-1:40. "I may be fatigued from Ironman training," I said, "but I refuse to go over 1:40 in an open half." I was cutting it close, though, so I really had to get goin.

Those last miles were in the 7:30s overall. I was on pace to go sub 1:40 by mere seconds. Then the very very last section was the steepest hill of all! Bastards! (Just kidding). But seriously, it was maybe only 50 yards, but steep as hell leading into the finishline chute. I was going 150% to make it in time. And I did. 1:39 and change. Turns out, I was 2nd in my AG. That never happens in open running races, everyone probably slept in I guess haha.

Being the competitor I am and with how much training I do, of course I would have liked to have finished closer to my PR time of 1:36 and change. (Ian, your "drink the night before and PR the next day" theory didn't work for me. Probably just didn't drink enough haha.) But all things considered, it was a great race for me all around on a tough little course. I did what I set out to do: enjoy a morning geeking out on a race (man do I love geeking out on races!), push my body hard and test how much Ironman training is affecting my body. It was eye-opening to see that, yes, I may be missing a little bit of that speed I'm capable of pulling off, but the positive finding is that I know I'm able to do more and more SBR day after day after day after day without blowing up.

ER and I post-race. I'm wearing my new Ignis kit! And no, D, the Zoot bottle wasn't strategically placed :) I must brag that ER killed the 5k and podiumed in our AG too!!! And she was running on fatigued legs as well. Ya girl!

The rest of the day rounded out what was an ideal weekend, in a double-life kind of way. (I'm not going to try and explain that one, but trust me it makes sense. It's an odd style of "balance" you could say.) Anyways, ER and I hit up brunch and mimosas at a local Laguna Beach cafe followed by some shopping (she bought, I browsed) and then had some much-needed beach time/girl talk. Great day. I was out cold by 9 p.m.

*Note to self (because, yes, I refer back to race reports to remember things haha): Keep an eye on that nagging R leg thing that surfaced after Fri ride and in the middle miles of half-mary. Must keep that at bay.

Sigh of Relief

2011-05-23T04:17:00.000-07:00

Time for a full life update. Last week was a big one on all fronts. Had that big presentation to give, lots of work to do, talks with new people about potential new work, more shopping for the new place, lots of structured training (for once!), and last but not least... school projects, finals and the end of grad school. I was fired up to get all of it done with my best effort.

Starting with the presentation at the PT clinic. I was nervous as hell, but I really enjoyed the whole experience. Can't wait to do another one. Let's just say it was very different than presentations in school. No grade on the line, but possibly potential clients/business ;) A couple pics:

With Matt Fitzgerald and my friend/boss/training partner Mike, who owns my gym, SPI (we're both doing IMC):
Presenting:

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Training. After three weeks of mediocre, unstructured and overall "weak" training, I was itching to get back at it and do quality work. I did. Yay. Ended up being about a 15-hour week that provided a lot of stimuli to make my body go "hot damn that's gonna leave a mark!" I cannot believe how sore I am today. Not just fatigue, but actual soreness/DOMS.

Besides some really solid workouts at my gym involving everything from bike trainers and run intervals to deadlifts and sledgehammer swings, the highlight was the weekend.... what I was waiting for.... I made sure to eat my beets and chia seeds all weekend in hopes of any extra boosts for the training on tap ;)

Saturday:
3,200 swim
11-mile hilly trail run

Swim - solid, uneventful, feeling stronger, put me at 10k for the week. Run - I was planning to run 14 street miles, but last minute I decided to hit up El Moro in Crystal Cove. Anyone who knows this trail, which is where one of the Xterra Trail Run races takes place, knows that the trail/terrain/ascents/decents are NO JOKE. I have not run my beloved trail since I did the Xterra race early 2010 due to injury, and then later rain storms destroyed the trails leading to a long closure. But all is good now, not to mention my place is only 2 miles away. It's definitely going to be back in the routine on a regular basis!

Here's the course profile. You run up for about a mile then run down an extremely steep trail that puts you close to sea level again. (So steep you have to go slow.) Then it's up, up, up again for a hard 1.2 mile death climb, then more climbing ensues but it's not as relentless. Basically the first three miles are torturous (in a good way), probably some of the hardest running terrain I've ever encountered. It never gets easy, either, because you're always going to push your limits. I like that.

Btw, the last Crystal Cove/El Moro Xterra race I did, I got 1st AG and did well overall I think. Don't know if I ran it that well this past weekend haha. Better believe I'll be racing it this year!

Sunday
70-mile/4-hour bike ride
3.5 mile/28 min t-run

Instead of doing another 5-hour'er in the saddle sans t-run, I opted to cut the ride a little short, go harder and do a t-run after. It was my first time ever doing a t-run after a bike that long. My legs were definitely feeling Saturday's El Moro run big time as soon as I was wheels down, but I just sucked it up and did work. Only took one quick pit stop to pee, which I did at my parents' house. After the 70 miles I was wary about the run. My Garmin had died and I didn't feel like finding my HR monitor, so I ran by feel. I figured in my condition I'd produce 9-min miles, so I settled on doing a 27-min run (I'm all about even mileage numbers haha). The run ended up being 28 min, and I later mapped the route and it was 3.5 miles... hm, a little faster than I expected.

On both Saturday and Sunday afternoons/evenings I was totally worthless. It wasn't just the training, but the nonstop week of stuff that was taking its toll. I was tired, smashed and unable to do anything productive except grocery shop and eat food. It was nice not having 10 million other school or work things to do and even nicer not driving AT ALL... but it also felt weird just being able to relax and chill at my new home. One thing I'm loving in Laguna is exploring all the good eats here in town! The Thai here is to die for. Sara and I found a new Thai place Thursday and I ended up finishing both the main dishes we ordered (curry = yummmmmy). This pic isn't from the night with Sara, but yet another amazing night of Thai:

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Next, grad school. I'm done! Except for comps. But classes are done forever and I can technically now call myself "Tawnee Prazak, MS." Sa-weet! It's weird to think that this grad school adventure is already over. Feels like just yesterday I began, but it's been nearly three years. Good times for sure.

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Last but not least, now that things are starting to calm down a bit I am so excited to start focusing on my work with all of my heart and full attention. I love my jobs and all the great clients and people involved. I'll also try to start increasing the blog frequency ;)

Just picture everyone naked

2011-05-16T17:00:00.000-07:00

I am a talker. I probably talk too much at times. But there's one major exception to that: Public speaking in front of large groups. Freaks me out! Always has. But, heck, I guess I'll never get comfortable with it unless I start practicing more, right? So, that said, I'm pretty excited that I've been invited to be a guest speaker Tuesday night at a local PT clinic, where I'll be "opening" for Matt Fitzgerald! I have a whole 30 minutes to be in the spotlight, and I've heard that there are already 50+ RSVPs, so here goes nothing!

Here's the link to the event if anyone's in or around OC tomorrow night! I guarantee I'll be fun to laugh at ;)

Finally home

2011-05-11T20:44:00.000-07:00

I really thought after last weekend's marathon of moving and house shopping that life would get back to normal pretty quickly. Boy, was I wrong. Starting from scratch is hard! I'm just now starting to feel like all the basic living essentials are all taken care of and I am "at home." Thus, training has still taken a back seat to bigger priorities, but I am getting some workouts in so it could be worse. Heck, I guess lifting furniture and heavy boxes up to my place counts as something, too, right?

Of the workouts lately, running has been the best because I've been super amped to get out my front door and explore my new environment. Ya know those runs where you're in a new place and can just go mile after mile never wanting to stop because step is a mini adventure? That's me right now. Besides the beautiful coast, I'm stoked that there are lots of steep roads to climb around here. Hill repeats baby!

Anyways, so how about some pics...

Last night I took the camera out during sunset in my new backyard:

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And here's a peak at my new place:

Kitchen area where lots of good eats will take place. That's a pretty crazy retro design thing going on there with the wooden posts, huh? Good for storing my kobacha squash (see it over there?)
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Living "area" (can't say living room because there isn't a specific room for that lol). Also, my money tree was not happy with the move. He's looking sad :(
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View out the front window
~View out my kitchen window overlooking Laguna cliffs
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So, yea, I'm loving it... just ready to get back to a routine!!! I'd also love to start decorating my place too so the walls aren't blank, but first I have to make some more money haha.

Moving On

2011-05-09T07:16:00.000-07:00

Things are happening in my little life, but sadly training isn't one of them. I miss it terribly. But I'm also stoked beyond belief about the other things so I can deal with two weeks of mediocre (read: crappy) training.

What the heck am I talking about that's so important that it screws up my training (very few things can do so)? First off was the wisdom teeth surgery and that required some major downtime. I managed. I was expecting to come back and hit it hard, which I started to do but that only lasted for two days. Then life took over. But, I cannot complain whatsoever because I love what's goin on! I've been waiting for this month for a loooong time. Let me explain. When I quit my job as a newspaper editor a few years ago and started grad school in a new field, I set some goals for myself. May 2011 was the deadline....

One - Pay for grad school all on my own without student loans, which required me to live at home with the parents and still work.

Two - Slowly increase my workload over the 2.5 years in order to save money and, more importantly, be doing what I want to do for work by the time I graduate. I wanted to avoid having a shocking moment in my life of, "Now that school's done, what now?"

Three - Graduate and MOVE OUT in May 2011. Preferably move to the beach, specifically Laguna Beach.

Sounds easier when I just simply write that out... but my what a journey it's been. The good news?! Well we're in May 2011 folks and it looks like all goals will be achieved!! Actually, I did have to get an extension on my comps exam, which will now be taken this summer, but I still get to walk and graduate now. Could be worse.

Soooo......the biggest and best news right now is that last week I landed a sweet little one-bedroom apartment in Laguna Beach walking distance from the beach and downtown area, and I can actually afford the place all on my own. Yea, I can hardly believe it either. As you can imagine, Laguna is an expensive place to live -- I was preparing to have to live in a studio if I wanted to make it happen, so I am beyond grateful that I found my new place. It's cute and manageable with my budget. I think it's meant to be too -- the onsite property manager is an active woman and she and the tenants even have an organic veggie garden growing in the complex... all are welcome to take part in it! Seriously?! Oh, and did I mention I'm 0.3 miles from Golden Spoon and Whole Foods? Trouble! Not to mention, walking distance to do ocean swims (no excuses now) and a mile from the gym where I work and train.

So needless to say, it's been a crazy past week with this turn of events. My workouts started suffering big time on Wednesday because I had narrowed the apartment search down to a few places and was busying meeting with real estate agents, applying, etc. But it was worth it. By Friday I got the news that my application to the one I wanted was accepted, so I dropped everything to start the moving process. Being just one person moving into a small place has it's perks, mostly that I call the shots on what I want. My main goal is: Minimalism. Keep it simple! Extra important when your place is tiny :) On the flip side, the bad part about being just one person moving out of mom and dad's is that I own nothing in terms of furniture, kitchenware, etc. Hence, lots of work. Saturday was long. I was so excited I woke up at 2:30 a.m. thinking about all I wanted and needed to do. After a 6 a.m. run with friends (12 miles, woot woot!) and teaching class at the gym, we moved the bulk of my stuff, had a celebratory dinner in town, yada yada. Before I knew it, the clock read 2:30 a.m. Yikes, a 24-hour day! Sunday I had to make a decision. Do my 4-hour bike ride/long-ish T-run or finish getting moved in so I could actually live in my place. I chose the latter. Yea, I have an Ironman to train for, but you only live once and I knew my workout would be crap because my attention and focus was elsewhere. So, Sunday was a marathon day running around Target, Bed Bath & Beyond, etc, etc, etc. My mom was gracious enough to spend Mother's Day helping me with all that. She rocks.

The basics are pretty much almost all done. I am now a single chick livin in Laguna Beach. And, no, MTV will not be doing a reality show on me lol.

Oh, and very important to all my triathlete/cyclist friends: Anyone riding on PCH near Laguna Beach, please don't hesitate to call/text me for a pitstop... I'm one block from PCH and will always have lots of GU to hand out :)

Carrot Cake Smoothie

2011-04-29T07:25:00.000-07:00

While I'm on the topic... another quick, easy and tasty recipe. This week I was unable to chew for a couple days, even soft stuff (ugh!), but I had a craving for carrot cake. What to do? Just throw "carrot cake stuff" in the Vitamix! I thought this idea would be rather unique, but after an internet search, turns out I'm not so original and there are recipes floating all over, healthy ones at that... I think it's even getting more attention lately. I took what I found online and whipped up something delicious! I was pleasantly surprised with its true carrot-cakey flavor, but, I'll tell ya, I still have a craving for the real thing, so thank goodness I can nearly chew normally again! Anyways, here it is:

Recipe
1 banana (frozen or fresh is ok)
1 cup milk of choice (I used full-fat coconut milk, creamier!)
1 cup fresh carrots (I used baby carrots, all we had)
1 scoop vanilla whey protein
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
dash nutmeg (or more if you love it)
dash salt (brings out sweetness)
1/2 to 1 cup of ice
optional: handful of walnuts or nuts of choice
optional: packet of stevia (banana and vanilla give good sweetness, so this all depends on your sweet tooth level, I did add one packet hehe)

Throw all that into the blender and enjoy!
In my second carrot cake smoothie of the week, I tried adding the walnuts and it definitely enhanced the overall taste! A must in my opinion :)

Just that bit of ingredients makes quite a bit, savor it!

So refreshing.... So, yea, good smoothie, but sort of a tease. Like I said, I'm ready for the real thing.

Food

2011-04-28T06:40:00.000-07:00

That's always a popular blog title :) I've made a couple recipes lately that are yum yum so have to share. A good contrast of sweet and savory.

#1: Whole Foods' Flourless Brownies
The kicker with these: the main ingredient is black beans! But don't let that fool you. These brownies are sweet, moist and as delectable as can be! You'd never know there was a bean involved. I swear. I'll admit, I was sketchy about them, but I trust WFs (and Maggs) so I went for it. Have yet to find someone who didn't like 'em.

You can find the recipe here. The only modification I did was add some blueberries to the mix, per Maggs' recommendation. I also may have added slightly more chocolate chips ;)

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#2: Gluten-Free Flatbread
I have amaranth flour from some muffins I made, and wanted to find a new (savory) recipe for that flour. Did a little online searing and found several recipes that led me to concoct this flatbread, which will seriously now be a new staple in mi casa. I love the savory cracker flavor and texture. Plus, the middle sections stay a bit more moist if you make it thick enough, and that's just as yummy as the crispy parts. Great as a snack, a side dish or for your favorite dip or spread (like hummus!) Recipe after pics...

Went sans motorized kitchen appliances here and stirred the old-fashioned way.

Peek of the goods on the cookie sheet (this recipe is enough to fill one large cookie sheet, but I'd recommend splitting it onto 2 sheets if you want it more crispy overall). Finished product, which lasted less than 24 hours in my house (hmm... made this pre-wisdom tooth surgery so I had to get all my crispy-food eating out of the way because now I'm on the mushy diet haha)

Flatbread Recipe:
1 1/2 cup amaranth flour
1/2 cup almond flour
2 cups finely chopped fresh spinach
2 T. EVOO (I used Annie's garlic-infused olive oil)
1 T. Avocado Oil
1 egg (yolk and all)
1 1/2 tsp dill
1 1/2 tsp basil
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp baking powder
sesame seeds (didn't measure, just added haha)
1/2 cup room-temp water (a bit more may be needed when forming bread)

Preheat oven to 350 and get out a big cookie sheet or two, and cover with olive oil or avocado oil. Throw all ingredients in a large bowl and combine well (by hand or food processor). Get your hands moist with water and start forming a flat layer of the dough on the cookie sheet(s). It will be sticky, so dip hands in water during this process to prevent half the dough from remaining on your hands. Bake for 30-40 min depending on thickness and size, and your desired "crispy" level. (It took me about 35 min for the whole batch laid out as one flatbread; next time I might separate the dough onto two cookie sheets).

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I've now been on the mushy food plan for the past couple days, and I'll I want to do is bite into something crunchy and crispy lol. Oh well. Thanks to the Vitamix, I can still eat pretty much whatever I want! I've been averaging about 5x a day with that thing. Probably the best new drink/dessert I've made is a carrot cake smoothie. Heaven in your mouth. Details to come on that one :)

Gettin 'er done

2011-04-24T20:33:00.001-07:00

Just a warning -- there's a gross pic at the end of this post ;)

These past two weeks marked weeks 19 and 18 until IMC, so ideally that should be somewhere in the middle of IM base training. It gets a little complicated being that I'm still trying to train for 70.3 intensity/speed (Rev3 Portland, woot woot!), but it's all good. The priority is now IMC so whatever comes of that will be what it will be. That said, it's been back-to-back big weeks of training, at least in my world. I know for many of you big volume is totally the norm, but for me it's new territory, and.... yea, I'm tired alright, but I'm having a blast with new experiences.

Honestly, I have no idea how I'll be with this Ironman stuff, let alone on race day. That doesn't scare me. The unknown is simply a motivator for me to see what's up in this body of mine. I've had highs and lows in this sport already, and I know if I want to survive this next round of IM training, I got to have the right state of mind and make sure I never lose sight that it's all for fun. Push hard and don't be a wimp and realize sacrifices will have to be made, but don't inflict unnecessary pressure and don't be a headcase d-bag about it. Enjoy the journey.

Part of that journey includes sucking it up and dealing with whatever harsh realities Mother Nature throws at ya on a bike ride or whatever. This is where some of the real tests surface. Do you really have to give up and go home or can you tough it out? I got a good taste of that this past Sunday, especially seeing how my riding partner was one tough cookie despite the situation. I'm talking about ER, who joined me on my second 5-hour ride to date.

Our ride--throughout Orange County from the mountains by my house (Santiago) down to Laguna Beach, up to Newport, through Irvine and back to the mountains--was pretty cool, for a couple reasons. First, it was nearly non-stop talk the whole time. Funny because up until now ER's just been a blog friend, and this was our first time hanging out in person.* Needless to say, we had A LOT to catch up on in the life department :) Second, the weather decided to be less than desirable, mostly during the second half.... drizzle, then real rain, more rain, some wind and a little on the chilly side. I was overdressed anyways so I wasn't suffering too badly, but ER was only in a short-sleeve jersey and shorts. She wasn't acting miserable, but I still made the offer to cut the ride short if she was too cold or miserable. She refused to stop early. Badass. At one point toward the end, I couldn't help but laugh because the rain was really coming down and I couldn't even see out of my sunglasses plus it was slippery as hell. By the end, we were like two drown rats--covered in dirt, grit and soaked to the bone. It was the best feeling ever. Looking back, I think the weather took more out of me than I realized... I was wiped from that ride! I failed at pic-taking for the day, except for this glimpse at the dirty damage:

*It's crazy how the triathlon blog world can connect people and form true friendships, and for the most part, if you're smart about it, it's not sketchy at all. At least in my opinion. With the Internet being a sketchy thing, I don't think a lot of people outside our world understand this concept of how meeting people off the Internet can possibly be safe. But in our defense, it'd be pretty hard to "fake" being a triathlete with a "fake" blog going on, ya know?

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Anyways, as anticipated I'm now in my rest and recovery week. I have a couple new friends who came out and decided to join me. (Yes, I know this picture is absolutely repulsive, so sorry if I just made you throw up in your mouth heehehee. Those things are seriously just wrong. Freakishy deformed and scary.)

An edge-of-your-seat riveting tale of an SBR weekend

2011-04-22T16:55:00.000-07:00

OK, I'm being totally sarcastic with that post title ;) But, oh snap! Two blogs in one day!? Some kinda record over here. This one's a follow up on a couple posts back where I mentioned my first real Ironman-specific training weekend. Well, it happened, and it rocked, all 8+ hours of it!!! Maybe you will find it to be a riveting tell, who knows...

Saturday totals:
Swim 3400, about 70 min in the pool total
Run 14 miles, 1:56, 8:17 average pace

Got started in the morning for the swim/run brick. I did the swim first and had one heck of a 1800 main set with barely any rest. The swim went well and I surprised myself after having felt pretty crappy the day before (it ended up being an off day minus a beach cruiser session with my dog).

Right after swimming, I quickly changed and headed out for a 2-hour run; only my second 2-hr run of the year. Oh, side note: by "starting in the morning" I mean I got my ass in the pool at 9:30 a.m., which means the run started just after 10:30 a.m., which means I was running in a major heat wave! ouch! It was about 90 degrees, and I was running on unshaded black asphalt, so it was H.O.T. I drank about 3 bottles during and even succumbed to wearing a fuel belt sorta thing (I'm not a big fan of those in most cases) to ensure decent hydration. The run route I planned was bo-ring, but it allowed me to make a pitstop for a water refill at my pool. I also had no music, so it was a lot of random thoughts... like, "there is that same dog poop again" or "how come there are no hot guys running on this trail?"

My goal for the run was to keep it LSD/Z2 (low HR) and a consistent pace of ~8:15 miles give or take 20 seconds... No need to burn myself with higher intensities on my first-ever 8-hr weekend. I ended up negative-splitting, which is always a good thing. I think it was because I was ready to get out of the heat and go home to make a mega Vitamix smoothie. Wish granted: 1:56 later, 14 miles in the bank... 30 miles for the week. Post-run treat: Some sort of sweet potato/vanilla whey ice cream-ish smoothie I threw together. It was like heaven in my mouth.

Speaking of good eats, I was really happy with how great I felt Saturday, and I attribute it to dining at my favorite restaurant the night before, True Foods Kitchen. I documented a taste of some of the fare (starting with my favorite dish there, the flourless chocolate cake. If you've seen a similar picture from me that's because I get that dessert every time, lol): Salmon with quinoa, beet and salad Pasta dish Beef tacos And of course some red

On to Sunday... I went to bed excited for the bike, and I woke up excited. I even got started on time!

Sunday totals:
Bike 86.2 miles, 4:57ish, ~17.4 mph avg (Time spent on road: 5:25, i.e. minimal stops, the way I like to ride!)

My first hour included a lot of local hills near Saddleback Mountain. I stuck close to my area, as I was meeting a friend nearby at 9 a.m. (an hour into my adventure). The first hour went by in a flash, although it was a little daunting to say, "I still have 4 more." Still, I was mentally ready for it.

Hours 2 & 3 were probably the easiest of all because I had a partner to yap with (girl talk, tri talk -- the usual), and the route was pretty much all flat. We rode to Laguna Beach then up PCH to Newport than back into Irvine. We separated there, and at that point I had no plan as to where to go. I kinda had to pee and could use a bottle refill, so I decided to go "the long way" and head back to my gym in Laguna Beach. The winds had picked up by then and were blowing onshore, thus I was riding into them heading west. I just kept saying, "tailwind on the way back and nice scenery in the meantime!"

At the gym I was, as usual, greeted with a warm welcome despite being crusty in sweat, salt and street grit and looking like hell (they expect that from me). I did my thing and was off a few minutes later to enjoy the tailwind on the 133 (Laguna Canyon Road), one of my favorite stretches of road to ride on in OC. At that point I think I was 4 hours in. I felt really good and still pumped EXCEPT for any time I hit a headwind. No doubt the winds were getting worse, and that was harder to endure than any hill in my opinion. I hate going 13-14 mph on a flat section and pushing well over 200 watts.

The last hour was similar to my first, meaning back on the local hills. Surprisingly (and a good thing) my highest average power was in the last hour of riding. Sweet! My goal was to not hammer the ride from the get-go being that it was my first-ever 5-hour ride, and I wanted to hold a consistent pace and/or go harder as the ride went on. I achieved that.

All in all: call it 86 miles in 5 hours, which I'm pleased with given the LSD effort I put forth. Plus, I know I'd be faster if I took away all the pointless slow downs/stops for traffic lights, etc. But alas that's inevitable in OC if I choose to leave from my doorstep.

Speaking of that, I find it funny that I know the streets and area so well in OC that I can perfectly plan a 5-hour ride that starts and ends at my doorstep without even mapping it out. I had estimated I'd cover 80-85 miles, so I was pretty spot-on with that too. My dad particularly impressed with how well I know the distances of streets and things around home haha.

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Next up? I've been pretty busy and a little more fatigued this week, so hopefully I haven't dug myself too deep with the training I've done (it's been conservative, trust me) because I'm VERY excited for another big weekend similar to this past one with a special guest on Sunday's ride (yay)!

Then major recovery, actually forced recovery. I get my wisdom teeth out on Tuesday so I'll be down for a few days. In fact, this is my second set of wisdom teeth being removed! Yes folks, I'm a freak of nature and had more wisdom teeth grow back after getting all four removed 10 years ago. Stupid body ;) At least they're baby ones:

Ask Tawnee: Best Time to Workout?

2011-04-22T15:00:00.000-07:00

I had a question from Benson a while back that caught my interest. I haven't done much actual research on the topic and what I knew was just from anecdotal evidence. So I looked into the issue a little deeper.

The question deals with workout timing. Specifically, when is the best time to train (for endurance sport/triathlon)? In Benson's case, as with many full-time employees or people with jobs, school, etc, it's either train early morning right out of bed before breakfast OR late afternoon/evening after work. It's a very interesting topic that could affect performance on race day, or could even affect your susceptibility to injury.... let's look at the deets...

Here are the pros and cons to each (AM = hop out of bed and go, usually without food; PM = after work, late afternoon/evening):

AM TRAINING PROS:
1. This is close to the time you'll be racing (if we're talking triathlon and most endurance events), so your body will be familiar with exercise at the right time of day for the race and your circadian rhythm will adapt to this as well.

2. You become a better fat burner/more efficient with fuel utilization. You're exercising in a fasted state assuming your last meal was dinner or a snack the night prior, so this teaches your body to become more efficient with burning fat as fuel. Great if your goal includes weight loss too.

3. Gets your body revved up for the day. You increase your metabolic rate and will continue burning more calories as compared to no morning workout. You might even be more productive during the day's work!

4. You get it done and taken care of, so you don't have to worry about work or life issues interfering later on, i.e. those things that could end up canceling the training session altogether.
AM TRAINING NEGATIVES
1. Your BBT (basal body temp) is lower when you first wake up, meaning your body is cold, stiff and lacking ideal mobility/flexibility. That makes it essential to get in a long, quality warmup to get the body temp up and muscles warm and lose. Failure to do so can make your more susteptible to tweaking, pulling or injuring something, or just have crappy form/technique. No bueno.

2. If you train pre-breakfast you're exercising in a fasted state and therefore might not be able to reach higher intensities or last as long, i.e. quality of workout suffers. If you incorporating nutrition during (gels, etc) that may help, but even then you don't have that "base meal" of 500+ breakfast calories to keep you going.

3. Nutrient timing post-exercise is extra vital. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but you do have to be more careful to ensure that you get in adequate calories RIGHT AFTER you finish the workout to start the recovery process and prevent your body from going into a catabolic state.

4. Rising and working out so early may cause that major afternoon slump and/or state of hunger in which you need a nap or start binging on snacks, especially if you're post-workout meal wasn't adequate. Be careful of this! And don't grab for that 5-Hour Energy bottle ;)

PM TRAINING PROS:
1. Body temp (BBT) is up by 1-2 degrees (it peaks in the afternoon 2-5 p.m.ish) so you're warmer and muscles, connective tissues are in a good state for working out. Thus, you may perform better and be at lower risk of injury (as opposed to working out "cold" in the AM). Plus, you've likely eaten a couple meals so you'll have good energy and glycogen availability for increased endurance and less bonking potential/running on empty.

1a. Muscle strength and endurance may be at its peak so you kick ass.
1b. Warming up is still important but not as crucial as it is first thing out of bed.

2. Afternoon workouts can improve sleep -- fall asleep faster + better quality sleep -- as long as it's not too close to bedtime, which can leave you feeling too pumped up and unable to get to sleep.

3. If you're free from work and the day's obligations, you might have more time than in the AM so you can get in a well-rounded workout. Thus, there's a good chance you'll get a better quality workout than doing a rushed AM session. Quality rules all!

PM TRAINING CONS:
1. This is not the time of day when you'll be racing (generally), and if you only train in the later hours, doing an AM race may shock your system and negatively affect race performance. (Specificity is key!)

2. GI issues? Some people don't do as well training after eating meals and snacks throughout the day. Most commonly this is seen in running. (I've suffered from this on occasion.)

3. More likely to ditch it? Motivation levels may be lower because you're tired from a long day at work or whatever, and all you want to do is rest/eat/watch the game/have a beer or you're still busy with other stuff so a) you speed through the workout and it's not as quality or b) you hurt yourself for being careless/rushing or c) you might end up skipping the workout all together.

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CONCLUSIONS:
I know this is shocking, but the real answer: It comes down to personal preference. There's no overwhelming scientific data to prove one time is better than the other, except to say the science tells us it's highly individual: Certain people do better at certain times of day based on their circadian rhythms/biorhythms. The best time of day for you also depends on your goals: weight loss, just fitting it a workout at all, consistency, time/duration/intensity of the session, race specificity, etc.

I recommend four things:

1) Experiment with timing. Try the AM thing at varying intensities, and then do the same with PM. See what happens both physically and mentally, compare performances, etc.

2) Based off #1, generally do your KEY workouts at the time during which your body feels most "on" and peppy, and when motivation is the highest! If you have to train 2x a day, do your secondary workout during your "off/blah" time.

3) No matter your best time, schedule some morning workouts around the time your race will be starting so you're not totally shocked on race day. This can include the whole production of a super-early pre-workout breakfast at least 1-2 hrs prior to exercise to ensure that all goes well GI-wise, etc.

4) Another alternative: Do lunchtime workouts!!! I am a huge fan of lunchtime training (before you eat lunch that is). You're likely to have good energy from brekkie/mid-morning snack, you haven't hit the mid-afternoon slump, and you're probably on a time limit so you'll go hard to get in the most bang for your buck. The reward: a big lunch right after and extra energy for the rest of the day!

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As for me...
Personally, I truly enjoy the occasional first-thing-in-the-morning workout where I hop out of bed and go. It's really a great way to start the day. But I can usually only last for an hour in that unfed state, and though I can attempt high-intensity stuff, it's not as good as when I'm fueled from a meal.

My ideal/typical workout situation: Mid-morning training. I get up at 6 a.m. and start working, eat a big breakfast at 6:30-7 a.m. and let that settle while working more, then I get going around 9-10 a.m. before lunchtime. Usually have some gel/nutrition during depending on workout length/intensity. Thankfully, with my job(s), I have the luxury of starting training mid-morning on most days so I don't have to eat brekkie at ungodly hours:)

I do evening workouts, too, especially since two-a-days are common. I can get evening sessions done in decent fashion and feel good, but generally as the hours in the day go on, my motivation levels tend to drop, especially if I've already done a morning workout. Overall, I don't really prefer PM workouts and truthfully getting started at 4-7 p.m. is hard for me, so I usually make those workouts my "secondary" workouts.

All that said, I do my best to get in the training that needs to get in, no matter what time of day.

*Last note: I'm going to continue looking for scientific studies on this subject and see if I discover anything more worth sharing.

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So what works best for you as far as training and time of day? Any thoughts and insights on your ideal time of day to workout? Is it dictated by your other life duties or do you call the shots?

Turn up the Heat... and the Coconut?

2011-04-15T12:40:00.000-07:00

I have three blog posts in the works, but alas real life has taken over since Oceanside and I haven't had much time to put into blogs that require thinking and effort, nor will I in the near future probably. Devastating, I know ;) But good news for the contest winners... I was able to track down Nick this week and I got the Ignis goods, so shipments go out tomorrow!

Anyways, how about a quick & easy blog.

It's gearing up to be a HOT & SUNNY weekend here in Southern California. Temps near the 90s! Yowza! I've chosen to put in some quality Ironman training starting bright and early vs. doing two little races mostly because I shouldn't be dropping $200+ on C-level races that will take a combined total time of under two hours. I'm on a budget, and some of these race-entry fees are ridiculous if you ask me! Thus, IM training it is, and there are several essentials to make sure I execute things well:

GU + GU Electrolyte Tabs
Eating GU gels and chomps is a given, but the GU Electrolyte Tabs are now necessary during exercise, especially because I sweat A LOT! To be honest, I don't care for most sports drinks out there not because they taste bad but because, for me, water is the most "satisfying" drink during training an racing. Thus, the GU Electrolyte Tab is subtle enough in flavor so I get my refreshing water taste, but with the added benefit of tons of electrolytes. (Granted, depending on the situation, I will have sports drinks to prevent something like hyponatremia, but generally I find I do just fine with water plus the GU Tabs.) Just keep in mind: The Gu Tabs are low in calories,10 cals per tab, so they aren't even a factor in my calorie needs--that's where GU gels & Chomps and other stuff, like my homemade bars and other treats, come into play.

ZOOT Compression
Not the funnest things to put on when it's hot out or when you're exhausted from training, especially the pants, but well worth it -- I think!

SCAPE
This one's a given. The pic below is from an old shipment... think I've blown through all that by now and am on my last bottle of 50 SPF. (To my buds at SCAPE, help!!! haha)

A.R.T., Massage and Chiro
This is where I go. Vince and Marci are a husband and wife duo who know their ish! They're athletes too, and I love them. They keep my body working well (I found Vince when I was injured last year, and he's been huge with my recovery!). Just got back from ART this afternoon to work out the kinks/prep for the fun weekend ahead, and I'll follow up with a massage next week!

Now a couple silly ones...

Anything with COCONUT
I think 2011 is the year of the coconut for me. I use it in so many things now on the daily: Coconut creamer for coffee, coconut oil for cooking/baking, coconut milk, coconut shreds in lots of stuff, coconut water... and the list goes on and on. Back in Kona, I discovered Coconut M&Ms, and although yummy, nutritionally they're not the best. But eureka! Yesterday I found coconut-infused dark chocolate at Henry's. Quality dark chocolate with added coconut and no junky preservatives and crap? Heavenly! Oh and one more coconut love: Last week I made HEAB's coconut cornbread, which lasted about 2.5 days lol. Time to bake another batch for the weekend!

Race Tracking & Mindless TV
When I'm tired from training, I can only do so much work/school crap and then I just need to gel out with something on TV, a movie or simply watch Twitter/social media feeds (uh, j/k on that last one... sorta lol). Thankfully, last weekend was epic with good race coverage, which also served to spice up my Saturday night spent solo at home ;) We had the ITU WCS opener in Syndey (live on Universal Sports), coverage of Ironman South Africa (although, I only made it until the beginning of the bike before sleep) and, as icing on the cake, one of my favorite movies, American Flyers, was on TV, a classic! Then Sunday it was Galveston 70.3. Looking forward to more of that this weekend with NOLA 70.3.

Also, in terms of the mindless TV, I will admit, living at home with a mom in charge of the remote control has caused me to get sucked into American Idol this season. I've never watched or paid attention to a whole season EVER, but this go-around I'm very impressed by the singers on the show so I'm willing to give the show a few minutes of my time ;) That one country guy with the mega voice is incredible; but even better, he looks exactly like this old-school cartoon dude:

10 Randoms on Oceanside 70.3

2011-04-07T12:21:00.000-07:00

It's no surprise that my race report was rather long (D refused to read it apparently lol), but being that is was my first major race back, I think I'm allowed to go over word count ;) There are still a few things I don't want to leave unmentioned... so here goes:

1. Gear. Bummed I didn't get to wear my Charlie Sheen-inspired Tiger Blood "arm warmers" I bought at Target (aka long socks with cutoff toes). But, in other news, my new Rudy helmet worked awesomely, Zoot makes the most comfortable racing attire ever--I even wore something old because I have no kit yet, and it was like butta--and, lastly, I love my GU. Couldn't race without those amazing little gels!

2. Athlete in da house. My dog Sydney loved our house guest, Bryan. They got in a lot of play time (evidenced below haha). In fact, Bryan was extremely polite and an ideal house guest, thanks for being so cool bud! His only must-have request? Chocolate milk. Nice :)

3. My athletes. I had two of my athletes out there doing their first half-Ironmans. Both did a GREAT job, and I'm super super proud of them. Now that they've gotten over the "first half-Ironman hump" they know what it's all about and are excited to do more 70.3s, of course with faster goal times in mind :) Fun times for the coach! I had another athlete who didn't race but he came out to watch and I put him to work with the SCAPE... vital!

4. Race emotions and effort. I know I said this race was awesome, and it was, but I'd be lying if I said I was always perfectly happy, calm and content before/during. Of course I had pre-race jitters, and during the race I had some rough patches and crappy feelings/thoughts. But I managed that $%*@ better than I have in the past. Never once did I let a negative thought or feeling take over, and never once was giving less effort or quitting an option. I felt mentally strong and I genuinely enjoyed the race from start to finish, even the tough parts. However, I didn't cross the finish line puking like Beth and I wasn't forced into the med tent or laying there "dead," which makes me wonder if I could have pushed it harder, and if so, how much harder? Hmmm...

5. New things that worked out OK. 1) New swim goggles. I couldn't even see out of my Aquaspheres anymore. Bought some at the race expo Friday, didn't try them until Saturday. Talk about trust. 2) Used a Speedfil. Long story short, I had no hydration system on my bike. Thoughts on the product: I felt like at times it was hard to suck my drink out when I was already working really hard (I'd get extra winded), but it's not that bad. It does the job and it's easy to refill with bottles handed out at the aid stations, which I did. I think I'll keep it on.

6. I love the tri community, etc. I'm incredibly thankful for all the friends and support I have in this sport, it makes triathlon 10 million times more fun when you know you're not alone. Thanks to everyone who sent a message, called, checked my updates online or gave me a shoutout at the race! Also, I'm extremely honored by the nice comments some fellow racers said about me on their blogs, including Beth, Whitney and Michelle Bozarth (who won my AG and is a total sweet heart!), you know I think you girls are top notch ;)

7. More on my swim. Honestly, I'm not as upset about my O'side time as I am nervous about future races, like the 2.4-mile swim I got in August... I need to have my shit figured out by then. By shit I mean the cramping issue!!! Of course I want/need to go faster, but priority numero uno is ending the cramping on long swims. I have a few ideas, and I will be breaking this down in an upcoming post.

8. I love post-race recovery specials. I had a trip to SLO planned the day after O'side to visit my sister who goes to Cal Poly and to see a concert with her, Crosby & Nash (of CSNY fame) on Monday. Yup, we love our old dudes from the '60s and '70s. SLO was perfect for R&R with good food, drinks, strolling around town, a little shopping--crazy I know--and of course a refreshing workout in the form of a hike/jog up and around Bishop's Peak, which is about an 1100 ft elevation gain in less than 2 miles.... just took it easy and enjoyed :) Sunset after a pitcher of beer and Mexi with the sis

9. I'm itching to race again. Can't wait until my next 70.3, but in the short-term outlook, next weekend I might do a Cycling TT on Saturday and a sprint tri on Sunday... we'll see!

10. I'll be back. Last but not least, I will be doing Oceanside 70.3 again in 2012, how could I not?! The goal: sub 5 hours. Yup, going for it! You heard it here first ;)

Contest Winners!!!

2011-04-06T18:43:00.000-07:00

Sorry I didn't do this sooner! I had a quick sneak-away planned after the race; I went and visited my sister up in San Luis Obispo on Sunday. More on that later :)

So...drum roll.... contest winners!

Well there are two people who won; one guy and one girl (I hope), but there was a little confusion about the winners in general, which is my fault for not thinking about the potential outcomes and some logistical stuff. That said, there are actually THREE winners. Hopefully you'll understand why when I explain....

Male Winner:
Zach, who predicted that Mirinda Carfrae would win in 4:23:33. Rinny's real win time was 4:26.

Female Winner:
Daph (who I'm hoping is a girl, couldn't find more detail on her name), said that Andy Potts would win in 3:56:32. She was only 43 seconds off his actual finishing time!

Third winner:
Tri-James predicted that both Mirinda and Andy would win and was really close to Andy's time (1:56 off), thus the creation of a third prize category for predicting both the male and female winner correctly. Um, crap... I didn't really anticipate this issue when creating the contest, lol. Thankfully Nick of Ignis is very giving, as is Ron from PunkRockRacing. (Side note: In fact, another entrant also predicted Andy and Mirinda--you guys are smart!--but unfortunately we are sticking to "top three" for this contest and we chose this third winner based on who made the most accurate time prediction for either the male or female).

So now for the prizes.....

Our winners will get this RAD brand-new PunkRockRacing tote:

Along with an Ignis shirt (male and female, respectively):

Sorry for the ghetto pictures lol.

Now, all I need is contact info from Zach, Daph (please say you're a girl lol!) and Tri-James. Please send to tawneeprazak@yahoo.com.

Thank you everyone who entered and I hope to have more fun contests in the future!

California 70.3 Race Report

2011-04-04T07:00:00.000-07:00

Quick note: I will officially announce winners of the contest on Wednesday!
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I love this sport. It makes me so happy, and I'm stoked to be back in the game after way too much time off rehabbing in 2010. Yes, I did the Desert Tri already this year, but that was just a warmup; CA 70.3 was the real test, and it turned out to be one heck of a comeback race for me on many levels. Loved it!!! Oceanside is particularly special because there are so many friends and acquaintances in the race and on the sidelines--this year more than ever. I had tons of fun out there, maybe even too much at times, i.e. I was hooting and hollering up "the hill" at mile 30ish, which probably wasted precious energy. Oops.

So my race: I went 5:15:13 (8th in 25-29F), which is ~2 minutes slower than last year's 5:13:xx and slower than my goal time (I tend to set the bar high lol), but that's OK. I'm content with my race and happy with how much fitness I've gained back. If you read this blog, you know that I'm coming off a long 2010 offseason from injury during which I lost pretty much all my endurance. In Oct/Nov it was still a big struggle to run 5-6 miles alone. But I've been determined to get some SBR mojo back, while training "smarter." I have a long season ahead with two A races, Rev3 70.3 Portland in July and Ironman Canada in August. So by smarter: Not overdoing it, lots of rest/recovery in the plan, more body work but still getting work done and training specific to the races I'll do. Last year I was just "go go go" and probably overtraining, which got me a decent time at Oside, but I broke down shortly after in May. That will not happen this year.

Anyways, onto the whole O'side 2011 experience....

Thursday my NorCal buddy Bryan got into town; he was staying at my house for the race, which I was stoked about. Having another athlete in the house was rad and helps me stay calm. I even had him tag along to Laguna Beach with me Thursday evening while I taught my fitness class at my gym, SPI. Friday AM we did a quick SBR and made sure everything was running smoothly. I was trying a new Speedfil system on the bike, and glad I worked out the kinks. Friday night (uh, like 5 p.m. haha) we had a big ol' dinner at my place. The weather was so nice and summerlike that we even ate outside. My athlete, Marta, who'd be racing her first half and her hubs, Justin, joined us. Good times. I had forgotten my beet smoothie that day, so it was my dessert lol.My plate.... grilled chicken, quinoa, sweet potatoes and veggies. Pretty much the standard fare and oh so yummy.

Saturday morning the alarm was off at 3:30 a.m. Last time I was awake then was in Vegas. This was better (as I said on twitter). The drive from my house to O'side is 35ish minutes so we left before 5 a.m. I had my oatmeal with chia seeds, whey protein and blueberries plus coffee. We got chauffeured in the van. Big timers.Unfortunately I was having bathroom issues. Nothing quality was happening, if you get my jist. Three times, and never completely satisfied. Oh well. But there is a funny story: I got into a porta potty by transition area, did my thing (1 & 2) and went to grab TP. Nothing there. There was not a thing I could do unless I opened the door to the 400 people in line to ask for a few sheets! Uh no thanks. So I just got up and left. Ew! I had my mom grab me some napkins from a deli and finished the wiping process behind the porta potty stand about 5 min later, no joke.

Chillin with BFF Sara! True story: Last year at O'side I went 5:13 and she went 5:15, this year she went 5:13 and I went 5:15! Wow, think we're meant to be best buds? When I'm nervous I act like a psycho, evidenced here:

Before I knew it 7:24 and the start of Wave 16 was approaching.....

SWIM 37:xxMy goal was 34 and change, but I set my time ranges at 34-37:xx minutes. Ugh, got the slower one. The good news: I sighted really well except at the turnaround, and I felt like I was efficient (for me) and didn't waste too much energy. But besides that, holy shit, c'mon. I need to get my swim together. What's more, I need to figure out my cramping issue once and for all. Again, for the third year at the turnaround it was like clockwork: the toes, calves, etc, seized up in cramps. Not debilitating "at-risk-of-drowning" cramps like I've had before, but bad enough where I swam kickless and in pain/fear of it getting worse. So lame because the water wasn't even that cold. Clearly, my perception of the water temp and my feet/legs are in disagreement. Bottom line: I need to do more long, race-pace swims without rest in open water.

Other than that, the water was pretty choppy out there, which made it interesting, but it was overcast so sighting was easy even with the bigger swells (for once, no blinding sun, yay!). Also, I didn't get beat up on much except for start/exit and I was by myself the whole time so never got to draft. Bummer. I got out of the water pissed but motivated to ride and run.

T1
Opted to go sans arm warmers, good call #1. It was overcast but warm enough where I was never cold on the bike. However, knowing that my feet were cold and angry, I took the time to put on socks; good call #2.

BIKE 2:46
I love riding my bike!!!!!!!!! I got on with a smile ready to hammer, not letting the swim get me down. My goal was go 2:44 or faster (last year was 2:44) but that didn't happen. Even so, I felt stronger than ever, which is good because that probably helped me battle against the insane winds and still get close to my goal. After the race some fellow racers said this year was way more windy than last year, I agree. My SRM speed/distance wasn't working, only power and cadence (long story) so I was without those precious numbers and had to race largely on RPE. Not what I'm used to, but I could deal.

The first 25 miles going up old El Camino Real to south San Clemente is one of my favorite places ever to ride, so I was having a blast. I hit the 25-mile marker at 1:05 on my SRM, a 23 mph average. I noticed that I was riding around a lot of the top 30-34 women, who must have passed me on the swim then I got right with them on the bike. I traded spots with some women and we were having fun hollering for each other. At the first no-pass zone at Trestles right before turning into Camp Pendleton, I got stuck behind a very slow dude. I decided to shower him with encouragement in hopes to get him to go faster. Another woman joined my cause. He was still slow. Oh well, it was a short stretch... usually it's surfers I'm avoiding there.

On Cristianitos, photos courtesy of Ben Corona... too bad I was sucking away at my Speedfil haha
Once into CP, the wind began. The direction of the wind made me think that it'd be in our favor (tailwind) for the last 10 miles of the ride, so that kept me optimistic. I saw Sara on a little out and back, and she was ~4 minutes ahead of me. Makes sense because she swam 4 minutes faster, but my bike split was faster so I was on her feet.

Then in what seemed liked no time, I hit The Hill at mile 30ish. I swear it got steeper! But going up it, I just thought of all those hills I've climbed in training, and I felt content with hammering up as hard as I could knowing that I wasn't digging myself into a rut doing so. On The Hill is where I first saw Beth. I wanted to catch her. She told me pre-race via FB to not let her pass me on the bike this year (she started after me), but I forgot that I can't swim, so she actually passed me in the water. Again, I need to learn to swim! I was happy to see her, and we exchanged a few words of encouragement. We traded spots for a long time, and at one point I was ahead and thought I lost her, but she came whizzing by toward the last 10 miles and I never saw her again. I said to myself, "That is a woman on a mission to get to Kona."

Anyways, after the big hill, the conditions were rough until the last 10-12 miles. There were LOTS of headwinds, a few more significant climbs, false flats, crosswinds, speed limits, rolling hills--you name it. But that part of CP is just gorgeous and I love being out there. It makes the time go by fast even if the riding is hard. At one point I saw Whitney so that made me happy too! I just kept trucking, making sure to drink and eat my GUs on schedule. I even ate a bar; and I think that solid food did me well.

There was a second no-passing zone, which I personally think is bull because it's not that sketchy and it's wide road. But I guess I understand why it's there. Thankfully that time I was behind Brandy Bounds and fast peeps, so no complaints.

Finally, as I predicted, we had a nice tailwind once we left the gnarliness inside CP. I could tell my overall speed had slowed from the first 25 miles, it was inevitable, but I had no idea where exactly I was at, I only knew how I felt. It wasn't my ideal situation, but I trusted that I was on the right track. On that last section I had two goals: 1) Being that it was flat, make up for lost speed, but also 2) take some time to spin out the legs a bit in anticipation of the half-mary ahead--my average power had been pretty high (for me) and I didn't want to blow up on the run.

Awkward position and face in this pic... what am I doing?!?!

T2
Stupid me! So I always run with a Garmin for pacing, but not this time.... I was done gathering my things in T2 and running away from my transition about to get going when I realized I didn't have the Garmin. I went back for it. It wasn't there. I spent precious seconds looking for it! Dumb! I finally gave up and ran without it. I later found out I forgot to take it out of my jacket pocket before the race.

So, between the bike & run, this race was all about going by RPE/feeling, which I never do in training so it was a different experience, to say the least. Personally, I do well having the numbers in my face telling me what's going on, I like that and missed having it.

RUN 1:46:11
My goal times for the run were 1:40-1:45. No such luck. However, I went slightly faster than last year, thus PR'ing my half-mary in a 70.3, so yay! The run was a blast (until the end lol), and I heard lots of cheering for me and saw lots of familiar faces on the course, which made life easier and helped the time pass by quickly (thanks to all of you who gave some cheers my way). I was running with one guy, and in a matter of 10 minutes I think I gave a shoutout to about 10 runners; he was like, "How the heck do you know so many people?" I just laughed and said something like, "I work in the industry." I even "met" ER for the first time in person, fitting I suppose :) I tried to run with people who had Garmins and who were my speed, but that never worked out.

The first six miles were good. I had a GU right away and it settled well. I felt strong and like I was hopefully hovering around an 7:30-8:00 pace. But was I? Hm. Maybe at first, but looking at pics of me running, especially from later in the race, I can tell my hip flexors were tight and my form was not what it looks like when I'm running sub-8s. Around miles 7 and 8 I started feeling a little slower. Then the last 5 miles were pure pain. I had been smiling early on, but in the last 40ish minutes there were no more real smiles, waving arms or fist pumps from me. I tried the fake smile thing, but looking at pics, you can tell it was fake and I was hurting haha! I had another GU, which gave me some much-needed energy, along with some of the drinks and goodies at the aid stations aka buffet line.

All in all, although my run time wasn't incredibly faster than past years, I still felt prepared for that long run off the bike more than ever. Plus, I like the run course at O'side minus all the concrete. Having two big loops, so four sections that are 3.2ish miles each, makes it seem not so long if you break it down. I said to myself, "OK, only a few miles until you get to turnaround"... and repeat that over and over.

FINISH 5:15:13
I got a final burst of adrenaline in the last stretch to home. Then some girl in my AG passed me in the last mile and I couldn't respond. Crap. I still picked it up on the last stretch and finished feeling dizzy and in burning pain but content and smiling. Pretty standard for a 70.3. After a little delirium I was back to normal in a few minutes, and then I got that race high where all I wanted to do was chat chat chat with everyone. I saw Beth, James, Sara, Christine Gould, Whitney, friends from CSUF and lots and lots of others... I was pretty much talking to anyone who would give me attention haha. See, triathlon is way better than drugs!!!

With the superstar Kona-bound hubby-wife duo and Hunter... Love Whitney Bryan killed the race!

That night I had planned on going out to celebrate, but Bryan and I ended up drinking beers & wine on my couch instead along with my mom and dad having some as well. No complaints :)
Cheers!

B-day & More prizes for ya!!!

2011-03-30T06:48:00.000-07:00

Quick fyi that you need to know: Remember how I said there aren't that many cool lifestyle clothing companies geared toward triathletes/endurance athletes.... except for PunkRockRacing? Well, the founder and CEO himself (he's kind of big deal if you didn't know lol) read that and graciously decided to add more prizes to my blog contest. The schwag he's adding into the mix is brand-new never-released PxRx stuff, so it's extra exciting! I'm going to keep the prize details a secret for now, but I know it will be well-received!

So, if you haven't entered the Contest & Giveaway yet, get on it!!! Only a few days left. Oh crap, that means only a few days till I race! :)

So, yesterday was my birthday and I had three goals (on top of ditching work and school-related stuff for the most part).

1) Swimbikerun. Had it not been mega taper time I would have planned an epic workout, but we kept it to about 30 min of swimming & floating in the ocean, followed by a bike (trainer sess to keep it simple and traffic-free) and run of just over an hour. We did everything in Laguna beach with home base at my gym, so we had the luxuries of showers and towels too :)

2) Stay as far away from computers as possible. I am on and/or near a computer way too much, and I didn't want to spend my b-day in the ol' routine. However, because I get facebook updates on my phone, I still felt connected to the social-media world all day with all those b-day wishes! Sorry that I didn't respond to everyone, also sorry if I didn't respond to all text messages.... tech difficulties, plus I had a date with mother nature.

3) Eat good food. Duh! Sara, who spent the better part of the day with me, treated me to an epic acai bowl for lunch at this new place in Laguna Beach called Banzai Bowls. Basically they're a blended mix of acai and lots of goodness topped with granola, fruit, almond slices and honey. Did I mention they make the acai bowls in a Vitamix? I felt right at home lol. For dinner, it's cliche, but I opted for sushi. I don't get it all that much and really really really enjoy it. A kombucha and one glass of vino also made it in the mix, and somehow I forgot the beet-of-the-day! Oops!

Some pics from the day:

Pre-swim at Main Beach Laguna Beach. I swear I didn't coordinate wearing my PxRx shirt with the updated blog contest schwag... I just love my shirt and wear it 24/7 :)It was a perfect test-the-ocean-water day. The water was NOT cold at all in my opinion and perfect for swimming "hard" in a race situation. Even with the clouds/overcast morning it still felt great, that is, except for my poor feet that were blue before we even got started. Ask the peeps who were with me.... ugh.
Lunch time!This angle of the below pic doesn't do justice to my acai-bowl-to-go... i.e. we ordered larges with extra add-ons and they were HUGE. It probably took me at least a half hour to eat. And that half hour was heaven in my mouth lol.

After SBR'ing and lunch, Sara and I laid out on the beach for a few hours. Haven't done that in forever and, again, had it not been taper that wouldn't have happened, but it was a nice, relaxing treat to say the least. Perfect weather helped.
Got my haircut... can you tell? lol
Gotta love the 10-second timed shots with the camera on some sticks.
Another classic leg shot. No, I'm not flexing my quads, that's just how they are. Raaarrrr ;)
Did I mention I was a dummy and forgot my SCAPE? Silly me!

Helmet Wars

2011-03-26T18:38:00.000-07:00

Before I get goin with today's post a reminder: enter this contest... only several days left; what's there to lose? :)

Anyways...
I had two choices for my birthday present, which would be an aero helmet: the Rudy Project Wingspan or Giro Advantage 2. Neither would bought in a store; but rather ordered on the Internet, thus I was unable to try them on. But obviously a helmet is an individual sort of thing -- one person may hate what another person loves. Advice I got from Twitter verified that (yea, I know, Twitter advice? but I have legit followers!!!). So I decided we'd order both then return my least favorite.

Well both came, and I had no trouble making a choice: the Rudy Wingspan.

I'll start by saying that the Giro is not bad in any way, shape or form!! It's comfortable and extremely lightweight, it looks super hot and I'm sure helps with speed. But it's really hard to get on and it is a little claustrophobic on the head -- the whole thing fits extremely snug on the noggin, ears and all.

On the other hand, there's the Rudy. They (John Cobb actually) crafted it in a way so that there's a layer of space between the helmet and your head wherever the pads and front/back don't touch. To me, having that extra breathability will be KEY in the longer races. Plus, even though there are less "contact" points, the helmet doesn't move around while riding and it still fits snug enough. Furthermore (this is big), the Rudy is 10x easier to put on, and in T1 I know that will make a difference! Also, it's about the same weight as the Giro.

The other thing that sealed the deal is that the tail on the Rudy helmet is a little shorter, so if my neck does get tired and I look down, I won't have a huge pointy thing sticking up, negating any speed benefit to wearing an aero helmet. I know I look down at points during the bike because everything else is just working so hard, so I'll try to minimize that, but if I do mess up, Rudy still has my back.

Bottom line: This is just my opinion. I really believe everyone should try on all equipment before purchasing such a "personal" item. For some people, the Giro may win hands down; for some people the Rudy and Giro might suck and they like Specialized. Who knows. Hopefully, I've just highlighted some good things to look for when choosing an aero helmet.

Also, fyi, I was not paid or persuaded by freebies to say one thing or another regarding these helmets.

Contest & Giveaway!

2011-03-25T16:37:00.000-07:00

I've been waiting to post this blog for a while and am super excited to finally do so! My friend Nick started a great new triathlon "lifestyle" clothing company called Ignis, which is Latin for fire/ignite. There aren't that many cool "non-race" clothing companies geared toward us endurance athletes that resemble the likes of a Volcom or Billabong. (Well, of course, there's the awesome PunkRockRacing, ****update: who's recently offered up some cool schwag for the winners of this contest too***, and Endurance Conspiracy... etc??) You can see more about Ignis on the website, www.ignistri.com. I'll be on the Ignis team this season and thus sporting their logo a lot, including on my new race kit, which will be made by Zoot. I couldn't be more stoked :) I just hope I get the kit in time for Oceanside, but not sure that's going to happen. Bummer.

Anyways...

The Contest/Giveaway
Nick and I were discussing a good idea for a contest to give away some free Ignis shirts, and he came up with a good one, so here it is:

In the comment section of this post, tell me: Which male pro and which female pro will win Ironman 70.3 California on Saturday, April 2, and what will each of their finishing times be? Again, just so we're clear: Give me the name of one male & one female pro triathlete who you think is going to win, and give an estimated overall finishing time for each.

Example: Joe Shmoe in x:xx:xx and Jane Doe in x:xx:xx (Not their combined times like Beth & James did lol)

Deadline: 12 a.m. PST Friday, April 1, 2011

Prize & Winners:
I have two shirts to give away (one for a dude, one for a chick), so there will be two winners: one male and one female who make predictions that are closest, or on the dot, to what actually happens on April 2.

I'm including gender because if two dudes were to win, I don't want to make the choice as to who gets the boy shirt and who gets the girl shirt. Make sense? Also, I'll pay for shipping costs to anywhere in the U.S. to get you your schwag.... maybe you'll even get something extra ;)

***UPDATE**** New prizes from PunkRockRacing have been added for both the male and female winner. It's brand-new schwag from PxRx!!!

So that's it! Simple right? Or is that a hard contest? I guess we'll see huh. I know exactly who I'd pick, but the finishing times makes it a toughie!

--

PS - If you make your way to the "shopping" section on the Ignis website, please don't give me too much grief for what looks like my attempt at a "Blue Steel" face lol. But really, how embarrassing are those pics! Haha! Oh well, I had a blast with the guys doing the shoot that day!

5 Observations as of Late

2011-03-24T16:48:00.000-07:00

Observation #1
Going No. 1 & No. 2 when you eat beets is "different." This is something I forgot to mention in my last post (thx for the reminder GoBigGreen.) I'm already familiar with this phenomenon, if it can be considered that haha, so no surprises to me, but just fyi if you don't know: Basically the deep-red color of beets has a lasting effect, down to your bowls and urination. Yes, my friends, No. 1 & No. 2 take on a reddish hue. So if you take on the beet-eating lifestyle, then expect to see some new colors coming out of you. Don't be afraid and freak out, nothing is wrong. Sorry, not going to picture document this one ;)

Observation #2
I watched the movie "How Do You Know" recently... just another mindless and fairly stupid chick flick. The movie pretty much sucked, but there was one aspect that got me thinking. Reese Witherspoon plays a softball player who gets cut from the U.S. National Team. Her character is clearly passionate about the game, but that sub-story isn't even developed that much.

Here's my observation... Seeing Reese as an athlete got me thinking: We NEVER see fictional female characters in regular ol' movies who are athletes, let alone as athletes who play at a high level of sport. Most movies that have female athletes are based on some sort of true story, or it's a biographical or documentary-style film that glorifies their legacy (Million Dollar Baby). You never see movies where the "sexy leading lady" kicks ass at a sport... instead, women are usually shopping-obsessed, man-crazy girly girls (Sex and the City). Yes, there are movies that do have women who kick ass, like Uma Thurman in the Kill Bills or that chick in Terminator 2, but that's not what I mean. I'm talking a regular movie where the woman plays a sport and plays it well and it's not under the category of "sports films" or some unrelaistic fantasy/sci-fi/hardcore stuff.

I don't know. Maybe I'm wrong or I'm missing something -- I do suck at watching movies and I suck even more at finding good movies to watch. Not a high priority in my life, to say the least. I've had people gasp at some movies I've never seen... like some of Star Wars series or Harry Potter or "insert classic flick here."

But despite the fact that I'm not a movie-obsessed person, I know movies and Hollywood impact people all over the world a lot, so that's why I even bring it up in the first place. I'm not a feminist in any way, it's just an observation.

What do you guys think?

Observation #3
One more thing on the movie with Reese: Her softball teammates in the movie looked NOTHING like real softball players. The girls cast looked like supermodels, NOT cut athletic women. Such BS. And we wonder why women have self-esteem/body-image issues.

Observation #4
Taper sucks and is awkward. Yea I'm feeling refreshed and more rested, but also sluggish and BLAH. After two days off, the last two days I can say with confidence that I've felt weird and to the point that I didn't even want to start my training, which is very odd for me. But I got going with it anyways (duh), and once into it I felt like a friggin rockstar. What a little rest can do! I felt sooo good that I could have kept going for way longer than what was on the schedule, but I was smart and cut myself off. There's no fitness to gain in two weeks before a big race, but you can dig yourself into a bad rut of fatigue and have a shitty race as a result. No thanks.

Bottom line: Taper is such a mental game, which is why I think people struggle with it so much. It's hard to rest, and it's even harder to cut yourself off from overdoing it when the workout sesh feels oh so good!

Observation #5
This is kind of silly, but had to mention. At the pool today I saw the epitome of "OC Housewife-ness." A license plate on a big ol' SUV that read "platmum." Not only that, but it was in some cheesy diamond-encrusted plate frame. Ugh! I hate the materialism I see sometimes. At least she apparently had her kid in swim lessons. And, btw, I would have taken a pic but she was by her car so I couldn't be rude ;)

Beet it

2011-03-23T11:00:00.000-07:00

Leading up to CA 70.3, I'm going to do a little experiment with something. (It's ok, I've had exposure to this "thing" before so it's nothing new lol.) I won't really be able to measure or compare data to draw definite conclusions because there are so many variables involved in the lead-up to the race that will have an effect on performance, but nevertheless...

I'm going to drink beet juice 1x a day, every day; I started on Monday. Why? Beet juice is shown to improve endurance performance (more below). The ideal amount according to studies is ~500 ml per day. My protocol is to just throw a large beet into the Vitamix with a bunch of other fresh fruits and veggies, i.e. I put enough stuff in the mix to mask the flavor of pure beet juice. I mean it tastes OK, but it's not thaaat great and it gets old quickly :)

So, beet juice is one of the only naturally occurring "supplements" out there that shows promise for working as an ergogenic aid for endurance athletes. The reason beet juice may work is because it has a high level of nitrates, which allows the athlete to use less oxygen at a given intensity (reduces oxygen cost), thus conserving energy. In other words, the energy requirement for whatever workout being done is lowered, which means the athlete could potentially last longer and perform better. The mechanisms of how the nitrates work are a tad more complicated (i.e. there's more detail about mitochondria, etc), but that's the main idea.

Studies have shown anywhere from a 15% to 20% increase in time to exhaustion, meaning the subjects have lasted longer in whatever they're doing because, again, you don't need as much energy to do the task at hand. Do a Google search and you'll find these studies and more info.

At this point, I'm still skeptical, but I do think there could be something to this, like with chia seeds. I haven't read the studies in full detail, but I can say with confidence that for someone doing a half-Ironman, beet juice alone isn't going to make drastic improvements in overall time, maybe a couple percent, if that. There's just so much more that goes into it, and we're not test subjects in a controlled lab environment.

However, beets are still healthy regardless of their effect on endurance performance, so having one beet a day definitely isn't going to hurt in any way.... Beets are shown to improve cardiovascular health and lower blood pressure; they're full of potassium, could help reduce inflammation, and beet greens are a rich source of iron. Us athletes need our iron! (I eat the stems and leaves separately from my drinks.)

Recipe

Quick & easy beet drink:

1 beet*
12 small-med frozen strawberries
1/2 peeled orange
slice of fresh ginger
~1/2 c water
~1/2 c almond milk
1/2 c ice
splash of agave syrup or 1 packet of stevia

Blend all that in the vitamix

*It's best to chop up the beet so it grinds down more easily, especially if you don't have a vitamix. Also, just make sure it's washed; no need to peel or do anything else (aka raw!)

-The orange really helps offset that extreme "beety" flavor. You can also add more almond milk and less water, or even vanilla whey protein, to enhance creaminess and get in more nutrients.

-Adding in your greens & veggies is easy too: throw in a leaf or two of kale, handful of spinach, fresh parsley, a carrot and/or cucumber. When I do this, I will add more orange, almond milk and water to so it doesn't taste like pure grass and isn't overly thick.

--

That's it for now... more blogs in the works. In the meantime, I've had two full days off from exercise and one sports psych midterm, so I think it's time for me to get out and enjoy a nice bike/run!

Ask Tawnee: Sand Running!

2011-03-18T18:00:00.000-07:00

I had a great question from SixTwoThree recently that was first in line to be answered. It's especially a great question now that the weather is getting nicer and those of us on the coast can take advantage of beach days... and beach runs :)

Q: As you know, I've been slowly recovering from knee surgery. My P.T. advised me to run on the beach, which I've been doing religiously. I know it's gentler on the joints, so it will prolong my triathlon career; however, I'm really curious how to gauge my slower times without biting the bullet and running on pavement. What do you think? Is there a rule of thumb to go by? [My pace] varies by how deep the sand is that day as much as how good I'm feeling in a
workout. Either way, these beach runs feel like brick workouts because my legs
feel so much heavier when running in the sand. I'd love your opinion. Especially when it comes to fitting in long runs. Should I just swap out times versus distance? -- SixTwoThree

A: First off, to anyone interesting in sand running, I would not recommend just going out and doing lots of miles on the sand if you have limited to no experience doing so. Sand running time & mileage needs to increase in baby steps because the instability of the surface can negative consequences. However, sand running can be great for building strength, focusing on proper technique and increasing cadence. Just proceed with caution.

Thus, it's best to use time as your gauge for run workouts, not distance, especially when first incorporating this. Reason being, it's almost guaranteed that most people will run slower on the sand than on asphalt or other surfaces, even if their miles are fewer. So your long run could be many minutes longer but you're still working just as hard if not harder.

The main reason you're slower: You're not getting as much push-off from the ground. It's pretty simple, really. Imagine running on a nice springy track vs. sand. You sink into the sand--the deeper & looser the sand, the more you sink--and thus you're having to work extra hard to propel yourself forward. So don't get down on yourself if your mile times are off!

There's not really a "rule of thumb" that I'm aware of in terms of time/speed transfer from sand running to runs on harder surfaces, but I can almost guarantee running on sand will make you faster when you run on asphalt (avoid concrete please!). It's a good idea to test this, especially with a race coming up (SixTwoThree is doing CA 70.3). Run on a harder surface and note the differences in time and feel. Plus, your half-Ironman will be on a combo of asphalt, concrete and sand, so you need to get some exposure to varying surfaces. (No surprises on race day!)

So, SixTwoThree, slower running is not a reason to get frustrated about your time, and your PT was wise to advise it given that you're well recovered. There are many benefits to running on the sand if you are careful... yes I'm taking it even further :)

1) By being forced to run slower in the sand you have more of an opportunity to concentrate on form and technique while still getting a killer cardio workout. By form and technique, I'm talking everything: your stride, cadence and how you strike; your core strength and stability; and your posture and how you "hold" your upper body. Think about leaning forward, really lifting those legs up and maintaining a good turnover.

2) It's great for building that aerobic engine even if you're overall miles of your sand runs are low. This is helpful post-injury*, early in the season or even if you're at a point in your season where you need to add in another run to the weekly routine--breaks up the monotony. It's great cause you don't have to do so much in the sand and you still get some big endurance benefits.

3) After some experience, eventually you can start incorporating a little speed work on the sand and go more anaerobic to help increase your VO2max and whatnot, but do so with extreme care. Do short drills and work your way up to longer efforts. It's best to do any speed work on hard-packed sand. Don't always expect your numbers to match up with your track sessions in terms of speed.

4) Sand runs are a strength training session in essence. The sand's surface is always different and morphing, so your foot lands at different angles and your legs/hips are adjusting to what's beneath, which is all great for building strength in the foot, ankle, leg and beyond. But that can also be dangerous: The unstable nature of sand can put extra stress on certain areas (i.e. Achilles), and it can even lead you into "tweaking" something like your ankle if you're not careful (another reason not to worry about running your fastest on the sand).

*Only do sand running post-injury if you've had full clearance from your doctor and team of people in charge of your rehab.

Bottom line of Sand Running:
-Yes, you're going to go slower in the sand. But that will likely transfer over to faster running on harder surfaces.

-You can anticipate being more sore and even more tense in certain muscles from sand runs. This might require more recovery time.

-Don't overdo it. As I say with barefoot running, do it in small doses as an "accessory" to your overall run training. There are enough risks associated that it can be problematic.

-If you have prior issues with running, injuries, etc, I'd highly recommend talking with an expert before incorporating any sand running.

-Shoes? Your call. Wearing an old pair of running shoes might be wise, not necessarily for the support, but to avoid the risk of stepping on something gnarly, like glass. It's annoying to get sand in your shoes, but it's better than having a rusty nail in your foot.

-Last thing, important: Make sure you run on a stretch of sand that's flat and not sloped/at an angle. If you run on a slope, that can really jack up your body.

-Enjoy the beauty that sand running offers!
Thanks for the question, SixTwoThree :)

Stupid foot

2011-03-15T15:14:00.000-07:00

So I got a gnarly blister from the Desert Tri in the arch of my R foot. It's my own dang fault for choosing that time to NOT wear socks for the first time ever with my shoes. Oh well. Here is the beauty after the race:

Normally a blister doesn't bug me, and life goes on. But this one was pretty nasty and me being the stubborn person I am decided to keep on schedule with my running the following week after the race... it was a 20-something mile week. I started noticing an issue on Wed or Thur. My ankle was sore and so was the lateral side of my R foot. Basically, I must have been subconsciously changing how I was striking in order to protect the tender area and not strike there. As a result I jacked up my foot and ankle by landing way on the outside of my foot. Ugh. The weird thing, though, it didn't hurt during our Saturday 8-miler off the bike. Maybe I was too high on endorphins... like I said, I was pretty loopy and bonky during that run. I was fine for the rest of that day, and even that night when we went out that night in Laguna Beach. But then, oddly, the pain showed up on Sunday's easy/short run BIG TIME--so bad that I quit early and was limping around the rest of the day.

I got it checked yesterday and there's no major damage, but I'm still going to take caution and not run for a few days. The blister just needs more time to heal I guess... normally my cuts and stuff heal fast, but not this time because I chose not to give it time to heal in the first place, oops. (This is where I need to start practicing better patience in my life, and where I often fail to do so. Part of it is because I can tolerate a lot of pain.... and sometimes I'll endure pain until it's too late. But I'm learning to be smarter.)

So today I had a killer fun workout planned, which was also very "green" aka no cars and no gas-guzzling motors required. Ride 10 miles to my gym (the long way), do a 30-minute strength-training workout (see below) and then ride the even longer way home, 32 miles, which included a nice jaunt up PCH past this gem of an area:

Thennnn, I was going to do a t-run of a few miles. But I decided to play it smart and quit after the bike because the foot was even bothering me during the strength workout (thankfully, not on the bike). Looking ahead, I have a pretty darn long run planned on Saturday and I want to do it in style! Plus, there's no way I'm about to really jack myself up for Oceanside in a less than 3 wks!

Patience.

Strength workout*:
10 rounds (for time)...
5 pullups (Rx- jump pullups or band pullups)
5 burpees
10 thrusters (like a push press but with a lot deeper of a squat to really work that booty & the hammys; use Olympic bar or DBs)
10 inverted ring rows

My time: 17:40ish

*Let's just say that workout is going to make my swims the next two days HURT! I had to do the Rx on the pullups too.

PS - Also, please have patience with me with the blogs I keep hinting at doing... they're coming.... so much to do, so little time! :)

Podcasting Gig... Team RWB... Epic5

2011-03-13T11:04:00.000-07:00

So in late January, my friend Ben Greenfield came to me with a job offer: Be the new host of the Endurance Planet podcast. The old host, Kevin, was stepping down for various reasons, and Ben thought it'd be cool to get a girl who's "in the know" at the mic. Well, you know me... more work that's endurance sports related? Sign me up!

The problem: I have NO broadcast/radio/podcast experience, and although I've been interviewing people for years for journalism and my articles, this was a whole new world to me. I thought, "How hard could it be?" Ugh. Talk about a rude awakening. Frankly, I've been struggling to find my groove... and it probably shows in the podcasts! It's not easy to develop a "radio personality" in a matter of days, especially when the previous host was a bad-ass veteran of the biz and did it so well (aka Kevin Patrick). I still think people hate me as the new host (yes I've had some hater comments), but whatever. It is what it is, and as someone in the public eye, you have to expect to get hated on every now and then. I can see past that. I refuse to give up... it's become one of those tasks in my life where I could easily quit because it's "hard," but I don't crumble under that sort of pressure, I rise to the challenge. Trust me, there were a few moments where I was ready to say "I'm done!" But I didn't. I'm the same way with racing... my mind will say "stop, this hurts too badly," but hell no, I ain't stopping!

Anyways, I'm getting more comfortable with the podcast gig, thus I'm starting to enjoy it more and more every day. Not to mention, I get to talk with some AMAZING people all the time and the info we're putting out is SO great. Our usual shows include "Sports Nutrition" with Ben Greenfield, "Ask the Doctor" with Dr. Mark Klion, a sports medicine specialist and triathlete, and "This Week in Multisport" with LAVA Magazine's Brad Culp. It's great to chat with these guys regularly, and I am learning so much as a result about all the topics at hand! Bonus! Plus with the nutrition and sports med shows, the listeners submit questions for the experts to answer, thus we have a lot of involvement with the audience, which is rad.

Team RWB
We are also doing special interviews in which we highlight people doing incredible things in endurance sports. The first of these interviews for me was with Army Major Mike Erwin, who started Team Red White and Blue (Team RWB), a group of endurance athletes who raise money for wounded veterans. You can find out more about Team RWB here. Once I starting talking with Mike, who is just an amazingly wonderful guy by the way, I was immediately drawn to the organization, so I decided to join myself and do some fundraising. Why not use triathlon as a platform to help others? Why didn't I start this earlier?! Hence, you might notice a little fund-raising widget at the top right corner of my blog... please don't hesitate to donate :) If you want to hear my interview with Mike on Team RWB and his life, click here.

Epic5 Challenge
I also recently interviewed Christian Isakson, who was hand-picked by Jason Lester to do this year's Epic5 Challenge, five Iron-distance triathlons in five days on five Hawaiian islands taking place May 5-9. The event obviously requires a special person, and Chrsitian is just that. He's a prime example of a hard-working American who has a kind heart, morals and dedication--we should all strive to be more like Christian, because, heck, he's fun too! We had a great time chatting before, during and after the interview (as was the case with Mike Erwin lol). Click here to listen to my interview with Christian.

Anyways, so point is: Yes, I am struggling with this job, but at the same time I'm helping to expose some great things to the listeners and am helping to get the word out on some good people and good organizations. That is pretty darn cool.

PS - Answers to compression questions coming soon and blog contest with giveaways coming soon too!

Bonk Town...

2011-03-12T14:50:00.000-08:00

...but still a successful day! Saturday morning was a fairly big bike/run brick, not as big as I had originally planned due to time constraints and other commitments, but still big enough to get a feel for where I'm at going into the final weeks before Oceanside 70.3. In short, I feel satisfied after today, and ready and confident for the race.

I've had no days off since the Desert Tri, which isn't that big of a deal because I had a lot of rest going into the race, and the race itself was half the time I normally spend working out on a Sunday. Nevertheless the back-to-back & increasingly big workouts were starting to catch up with me and by Thursday evening I was feelin it.

Some workout highlights from the week include:
Monday: hard trainer session with "iTunes intervals;" Tuesday: birthday swim set for Marta that included a main set of 30x100 (she turned 30) and a run; Wednesday: tempo ride with Mike from the gym on our regular 33ish-mile loop, which we did it faster than we ever have before (avg 21+ mph) and with higher power than ever too, then a t-run; Thursday: s/b/r- it was so nice out that I added in "bonus" workouts. Thankfully Friday was just a nice lake swim with awesome company. I wanted to go faster in the lake than I did, but my body just laughed and said "yea right b*tch you're dreaming." After that, just rest in anticipation of Saturday....

Marta and I set off for a hard and hilly bike starting through Santiago Canyon then seeking out every other significant hill in the area it seemed. We only got in 52 miles (as mentioned, a little less than planned) but the clock was ticking and with all the significant climbs--way more than Oceanside has--that was good enough. Plus we avg'd 18 mph overall, which I was happy about. We had a quick transition and headed right into an 8-mile run, which we finished in 1:01 (about a 7:40 avg pace), our fastest pace to date for a long-ish run off a solid bike ride.

It was during the run when I hit bonk town. It hit me at around mile 2. Ouch. So early!? I had fueled like I normally do starting the previous night with a big dinner, then a big breakfast and then GU Gels and Chomps and coconut water on the bike. Guess that wasn't enough on this particular day! The big mistake was that I thought I'd be fine without gel or hydration for the hour run. Wrong! Thankfully, Marta had one gel and we decided to share it, also sharing the tiny bit of water she had (yes, I know, me as the coach, I should be the prepared one! Oops!). That helped a bit and somehow I held on to the pace we were going even though I was feeling way off. Oh well. I survived... toward the end all I was thinking was, "Get me a mountain of food and my compression on." I also thought, "Who needs drugs when you can get all 'loopy' from mega workouts and/or a bonk?!" I'm crazy. I know.

So, as we speak, I finished my mega meal about an hour or so ago, my compression is on, and I'm about to take a mega nap. The plan is to go out with friends and be social tonight so I need to recoup if that's going to happen.