Today is Not That Day

Testing, testing: swim & run

So with the first training block under my belt to work up a bit of fitness, it's now testing time for all three sports to set benchmarks and HR zones. Or as Molly fondly calls it, "lessons in suffering." Oh yes. But fun, too. I'm discovering that I can hold faster paces than I'd thought.

Swim test

First up: the swim test on Wednesday. I've been out of the pool for 6 months with a bum shoulder, but it's amazing what 3 weeks of steady pool work can do. My secretly optimistic goal for 10x100 (with :10 rest) was to stay under 2:00/100, but realistically I figured my pace would drop off and I'd end up more like 2:05. The first two were @ 1:50, and then 3 - 8 I pretty much nailed at 1:55. 9 and 10 dropped pace oh so slightly... the last one I was giving it my all and just barely kissed 1:57 so I have some endurance work to do. But averaging 1:55/100 on my first test made me super happy. I'm not too far off from last year (already) and am now optimistic that I'll be able to get below 1:45 by the end of the season. 

BTW: I'd watched this video a couple weeks ago and am found that these tips on "shrugging and falling" made a noticeable improvement in my swim times. My masters coach said I'm doing a better job now keeping my arms moving and eliminating dead spots.

Run test

Then today I ran my first-ever 5k. I was originally planning do the run test alone but (after attempting to start yesterday with too high a heart rate) I figured it would be great to postpone a day, hydrate like heck, and retry today in race mode. I signed up yesterday afternoon, and ventured forth this morning with slight trepidation after getting this email from coach: "Remember, if it hurts YOU ARE DOING IT RIGHT.  It should hurt like heck.  Do not be afraid of it.  Let it be ugly out there!!!" Umm... I've never done that for longer than 1 - 2 min at a time, but ok... game on! 

It was a very small race, maybe 30 - 40 runners, and held at Crissy Field. I didn't bring my camera so I'll borrow a shot off the internet. Gorgeous place to run, and nice & flat!

Needless to say it was not this sunny at the crack'o dawn. I'm sure the race director dictated a memo to self: "for optimal turn-out, don't choose daylight savings day next year."

Anyway... I had absolutely no idea what pace I could hold for 3 miles. I'd never done this before, and my training runs have been @ 10:00 - 10:30 for the past year or so with minimal speedwork. I figured I'd just go by feel and maybe end up (if I'm really lucky) just under 9:00/mi avg.

I just focused on form, keeping pelvis in alignment, slight forward lean, proper arm swing, fast turnover. Felt hard but doable. Looked down at my Garmin and I was hauling at 7:45. Geez, I can't sustain this. I backed off ever so slightly, kept focus on form... but completed that first mile at 7:46 avg. While it felt sustainable despite the tight chest and slight wheezing, I slowed in mile 2 to 8:05... but whenever I noticed my pace slipping (a few times it dropped to 8:18) I just went back to form: "come on Jen, pick up that turnover, slight lean..." and my pace would automatically pick back up without a lot more effort. Good lesson that form is almost as important in running as it is in swimming. I also learned that pursing my lips helped oxygen intake and wheezing, although I'm sure I looked kinda funny.

Then the psych: I thought I saw the finish line in the distance... orange cones and a time clock. Huh? Oh, we must be finishing at a different place than we started. Ok Jen, it's time to pull out all the stops. GO GO GO!! Picked back up to 7:45 and ran until just before the orange cones, when I saw a small sign with an arrow: "5K this way". Holy sh_tballs, that is all shades of wrong. I had to slow down a bit to regroup, then it was back on until the finish, maybe another .3 miles. Finished up at 24:23, with an 8:01 average pace. SUPER HAPPY. I had no idea I could do that!

So now I have my zones for training and a great benchmark to beat. Bike test is scheduled for next week, so the sufferfest continues. I love tests. Of course given my profession (I do a lot of market research) it makes sense that I'm keen on measuring progress based on data. Can't wait to add power... I decided to hold off until Garmin's Vector comes on the market this summer. If I'm going to splurge on power measurement it might as well be the latest technology. 

Hope everyone's have a great weekend!

The arc of awfulness

I'm happy to have finished up my first training block of the season and am now into recovery week. So far so good, except that I've gotten horribly out of bike shape during my 6 months off. Last year I was soooo uncomfortable on the bike and tried everything: 3 different seats and finally a new bike before I was comfortable. I assumed (incorrectly) that after all of that effort, this year would be easier.

Not so fast. My crotch assumed (incorrectly) that I was done with cycling so decided to resensitize all the nerve endings. My shoulders joined the club. I have been so ridiculously sore on my bike. This past Saturday I had a mere 30 mile ride and was completely DONE after mile 18. Pathetic. It was partly due to my loss of ability to ride hills -- my legs were shot -- and partly my crotch pain. I am bruised. So here was the "arc of awfulness" of my workout:

Start: WOW. It's a gorgeous 70-degree day on the peninsula. The sun is shining, the lake is glittering, and I'm SO HAPPY to be on my bike!

After trying to keep cadence up per coach's instructions: Holy crap, this sucks. My legs hurt. My girl bits hurt.

90 minutes in: The pit of despair. I can't believe I am going through this again. I'm only 3 months away from my race. I didn't give myself long enough to get back into shape. My crotch hurts. I wanna catch a ride.

100 minutes in: Maybe I should take a gel. Ahh. Ok, my crotch still hurts but I'm not as cranky about it.

110 minutes in: My crotch and sit-bones really hurt. Seriously, maybe I'm causing permanent damage. I'm going to roll on all the flats and downhills and stand on the pedals. (note: my TP data shows I rolled once for 4 minutes. I think that's a PR!)

End of the ride, putting on my running shoes for my first brick: I'm so happy to not be on my bike.

5 minutes into my short run: It's a gorgeous day! I'm running off the bike! This is fantastic... I'm so happy that I can do this. All is good with the world.

All I can say is, I'm so happy this is a rest week. Happy on behalf of my crotch and sit-bones. Fingers crossed they've gotten the memo to HTFU before next week starts.

Twice a day

And I'm not talking vitamins. Yes folks, I have finally joined the exclusive club of 2x/day training sessions. Not because I'm putting in Ironman hours, but this is the first time I've trained while maintaining a full-time job at an actual office.

I thought I'd have a tough time with this, given that I had tons of flexibility last year when I worked from home. But the funny thing is, I am now a lot more disciplined about getting it done. Last year I could do my workouts pretty much whenever. So if I wasn't entirely ready by 10 am, I could push to after lunch. Or after a nap. And it usually got done, but sometimes it got pushed. I was pretty la-la-la about making it happen. (I know, a Western tragedy, right?)

Now, however, I have to be a lot more structured. And I like it. I'm still gradually working my way towards "early morning", ie. 5:30. It's not happening yet. So I did my easy run this morning which is a great way to get the blood pumping, and my (ridiculously hard, laughing and swear-word evoking) trainer session after work. And I know that if I don't get it done within x narrow window(s) of time, it's not getting done. So I get 'er done.

I know, you guys with full-time jobs are reading this going '"geez Jen, we know how this works..." but it's been rather surprising to me. I thought I'd miss the flexibility but I actually don't. I'm now more focused, more on-task. Like they always say, if you want something done, give it to a busy person.

Oh, and I bought one of these babies to help me wake up earlier. I've always wanted one, and now that I have to get up at crack'o it rose to my must-have list:

It's the Philips Wake-Up Light. I LOVE IT. Agreed, it's rather pricey for an alarm clock, but I wake up naturally as it gradually brightens my room. And then birds start chirping after it reaches full brightness. Seriously... it's awesome. I get out of bed so much easier in the mornings.

Blogger comment fail

A couple months ago I stopped being able to post comments on Blogger posts using OpenID/Typepad credentials. Maybe there was an update to the Blogger platform, not sure, but it's been frustrating.

So tonight I happened to see a post from someone on Wordpress with the same problem, and one commenter had a good answer that I'll repost here. I think this is right... I can post comments to blogs that have enabled user name + URL. Most of this answer is techno-babble but if you follow, here ya go. Just in case you've seen a drop in comments, this might be the issue. 

It doesn’t matter what platform you use, the problem is with OpenID (in short, it doesn’t work). This means that in order for non-blogger people to comment on a blogger blog, the blog owner can either install disqus (or something similar) which is a cross platform login that allows commentators to keep their own IDs OR have a name+URL option that allows non-blogger commentators to comment (but without maintaining their cross-platform Identities, i.e. Gravatar etc will not work). Or they could just install Gravatar but Google seems to have spotty support for that too. There are massive discussions on online forums about this-commercial sites in particular seen their commenting go up 60% or more after installing cross platform commenting systems/ moving out of blogger. The problem seems to have existed forever and Google (they own Blogger) doesn’t seem to care. The only quick fix is letting the blog owner know either through comments or email so they can do something about it themselves..

Training week 2: Musings on RPMs and death marches

Finally settling into a rhythm with training and the new job. I wasn't sure if it was possible, as every job I've worked on the service side had been crazy hours and travel. But this culture's different, and work/life balance is supported and encouraged. There's even a shower in case I need to bust out a run during lunch.

The swim is going better than I'd expected. While my shoulder still complains on occasion, it seems to be holding up fine. I've only been doing @ 1600 yards each swim, but next week I'll join the master's slow lane and see how it feels to push a bit more distance and pace. I'm really looking forward to swimming with other people! It's the only sport I can be social in right now... no group rides for me until I regain my hill strength.

And speaking of bike...Ugh. But a good ugh. A needed ugh. Yeah, I'm working on cadence and my legs are not happy campers. My happy cadence is 70 - 75. I rode outside yesterday and the goal was to maintain 80 - 85+ with a mix of easy and moderate. Umm... easy is not 80+?? To my legs, maintaining 80+ is HARD. I don't think my RPE scale is the same as my coach's; hers goes from 1 - 10 and mine goes from 5 - 10.

I kept catching myself slowing down cadence when it was time to go easy -- "ah, I'm now resting in my happy cadence zone... No wait, I'm supposed to stay 80+. Ugh." Needless to say, I'm using my gears more than I ever have. Ta da! My head now knows that easy is not a slower cadence but an easier gear, but my legs still haven't gotten the memo. And my hootchie is angry about the memo; now that I'm not mashing gears, my butt and girl parts HURT. So it's good we're not tacking on too much mileage right now as I gotta toughen up my "area." High cadence = pain = not easy. My head's getting them all mixed up; maybe when I'm tougher on my seat it will all seem easier.

Yesterday also brought some needed wind training! Last year at Honu we were so lucky with the weather. The winds weren't bad at all on race day... but the high winds in the days prior gave an indication of what it certainly could be like on race day. So yesterday I got to practice in those conditions... occasional gusting crosswinds and a headwind that created whitecaps at Nicasio reservoir. Riding on flats and slight downhills at 10 MPH. Check. 

Not that you can see said whitecaps as my camera phone is worthless, but they were there. And yes, it was otherwise a lovely day! Mid-60s and sunny. And windy. So the tailwind back was AWESOME. Cranking at 90 RPM, flying, and loving it. I guess this RPM thing is partly psychological as I had no problem @ 90 going fast. Hmmm...

Ok, today I've got a long-ish run on tap in Golden Gate Park. I'm ramping up to do the US Half on April 8; I'd like to have one confidence-building 13.1 mile run before Honu. The run course at Honu is demonic... after starting out on short/steep hills and spongy grass, miles 9 - 12 is a desolate, hot, out-and-back section fondly called "the death march." I am dreading the death march because mile 9 is normally when my body (hips, feet, hip flexors, and basically any muscle/tendon/ligament below the waist) says, "ok, I'm done now!" I could be running a half in paradise and post-9 miles would still be a death march. So I need to get some miles in these legs so I can smile at the death march in June. Hah! Death march my ass... I eat desolation for breakfast. Grrrr.

Hope everyone's having a great weekend. Happy training!

 

NorCal training in February

(I know... 2 posts in one day! Crazy!)

It was another gorgeous weekend in San Francisco. I've heard it's been gorgeous in other parts of the country too, which is makes me feel better. If I could magically blow some of this sunshine over to you snowbound foks, I would do so!

Exhibit A: Cycling in Tiburon. Lots of sailboats out on Saturday!

Exhibit B: Running through the Presidio yesterday. The city is doing a great job clearing out underbrush and landscaping so that I can enjoy this unobstructed view (that road below is my hill-repeat location on the bike! It doesn't suck.)

Today is fog-bound, however, so I'm glad it's a swim day. Happy training!

Training for 80

I've been writing for the past several months that I had zero intention to do a 70.3 this year. 2012 was going to be all about run focus and body alignment. But a little over a week ago I received a note in my inbox from my friend who did Honu with me last year: "Hey, I signed up again for Honu. You in?"

Ummm... yes. I waited a few days so I could think about it... and then remembered that this race is on Lance's schedule, which means an early sell-out. So I registered and not even hours later I heard that it was, in fact, sold out! So I barely made it in.

I also registered for Wildflower oly, renewed my USAT card... and hired a new coach!! I wanted to mix things up and get some new perspectives, so I decided to sign on with Elizabeth Waterstraat. After listening to Molly rave about her coach -- plus seeing Molly's training improvements, seeing how ELF came back from new mommyhood to totally ROCK Eagleman and Kona, and I've always loved her training blog posts -- it was a pretty easy choice.

I am a bit nervous though -- last year was a sufferfest thanks to muscle imbalances (which have mostly been corrected except for my hip flexors) and this year I have less time to train before the race. But the words of the day, kiddos, are consistency and durability. I don't care about going fast, I care about finishing strong (which will enable me to finish faster than last year.) I have less biz travel on my plate this year, which will help a lot.

So I just finished week one of training. It's funny, I didn't know I missed training until I started up again. This is what I've needed: a big goal and a coach. Someday perhaps I'll be one of "you people"... those who are compulsively addicted to getting in the training hours every day no matter what's happening in their lives. This former bookworm isn't there yet, but I'm working on it! 

I get asked "why?", of course, by my more sedentary loved ones. Why another 70.3? Wasn't one enough? My response: the older I get (I'm about to hit 43 in a couple weeks!) the bigger the sense of urgency about fitness. I'd printed out the image from the aging prevention study and taped it above my computer; it's the most compelling reason I've ever found for lifelong fitness efforts.

As my new boss said to me on Friday, "I'm training for 80." It puts IM training in a different perspective, yeah? You train for 9 months for Ironman, but we will train the next several decades for a quality of life in retirement only enjoyed by a rare few. It just occurred to me: I'm only 22 years from retirement age. Holy crap. This aging thing sure does sneak up on you.

At the gym yesterday while I was trying to do single-leg squats with a crunchy knee, I became aware of some self-sabatoging thoughts: "Well, I'm in my 40s, I can't really be expected to knock these out like a 20 year old." There's a tiny kernel of truth in that, BUT... there are also plenty of 60+ master's athletes who could kick my ass.

It's time to raise my own bar on what's possible. Time to stop assuming where my limits lie. Time to HTFU and start training like my life depended on it. Which, of course, it does. It just depends on how I want to define life and living, both now and when I'm 80.

First trail run

I've lived by the Presidio for 6 years, which is full of great trails... and yes, I finally decided to get my butt in gear and actually run on them. I've resisted it because -- whaaah -- it's hilly and hard. Buck up, buttercup. My mantra this year is "durability" and that means building strength and power and...yes, embracing hills. (More hills please! Thank you sir, may I have another?)

So I bought some trail shoes: Saucony ProGrid Peregrine... I love my Kinvaras, and the Peregrine feels similar with a bit more traction.

We've had such crazy-nice weather this winter... it's more like summer. How fantastic is it to be out running through the woods on a sunny, 60-degree day and come upon this view?

The return route is pretty much "up."... one section at 19% grade which will make some good hill repeats. See those houses in the top right corner? That's the goal.

So my legs are mildly jello-ish and I only did 750 feet of climbing. Can't wait to see improvements and start trail running up in Marin on some real vertical.

Yesterday I did my first ride in over a month. When a 25-mile ride feels like 45, I know it's going to be really "fun" working my way back to fitness. Tomorrow I head back to the pool and see if my shoulder will go longer than 20 minutes.

Whoo hoo, I'm back to tri training!

Ramping back up from Surf City half

Yes, I've been woefully negligent on blogging! I took a new job in Berkeley -- it's currently on a contract basis, but I'm pretty sure I'll switch to full time. And when I do, that means no more flexibility to jump on my trainer at 2:00 in the afternoon. I've loved the flexibility of working from home, but I just haven't loved the loneliness of it. So I'll have to start bucking up and doing what most of you do: work out early or late.

Anwyay... I did my first stand-alone half marathon last weekend @ Surf City in Huntington Beach... A race report would be of no interest to anyone as my hip flexor/psoas pain (which usually crops up at mile 9) decided to make itself known at mile 2.5. Grrrr. I'd gone to my "magic man" a week prior to see what he could do about it, and I think that was just a really bad idea. Too close to race day.

So it was a looong morning, having to stop and stretch and massage this weird muscle knot every mile (sometimes twice a mile.) But hey, I was in SoCal with friends and the weather could not have been more perfect. So tempting to pack up and move down there! I won't. I love SF. But I think I need more frequent trips down south!)

There were some "interesting" people running the race. How'd you like to hula hoop for 13.1 miles?

Or balance a melon on your head? (Yes, he ran the entire race with a melon on his head.)

So while I'm not proud of my finishing time, I got one of these... and my next one should be a nice PR.

Next up is Oakland half in March, Wildflower Oly in May, and Napa to Sonoma half in July. Now that it's February I need to start kicking tri training into high gear. I've attempted a couple short swims and so far my shoulder has held up ok. Magic Man worked on my back muscles which haven't been firing properly (hence why my shoulders roll forward) so a couple more sessions there should do the trick.

Job #1 is to continue working on fixing my shoulder impingement and building strength in my legs to correct my muscle imbalances so I can actually RUN and finish a half without funky pain. Job #2 is to try to get close to last year's Wildflower time and ideally go < 3 hrs. But job #2 is dependent (of course) on job #1. I've decided I do need a coach... I just don't have the discipline yet to do this by myself!

 

Aging prevention: triathlon training

Have you guys seen this?? Amazing:

This was from a study published in the Physician and Sports Medicine Journal, which compared athletes and non-athletes from age 40+.

It is commonly believed that with aging comes an inevitable decline from vitality to frailty. This includes feeling weak and often the loss of independence. These declines may have more to do with lifestyle choices, including sedentary living and poor nutrition, than the absolute potential of musculoskeletal aging. In this study, we sought to eliminate the confounding variables of sedentary living and muscle disuse, and answer the question of what really happens to our muscles as we age if we are chronically active. This study and those discussed here show that we are capable of preserving both muscle mass and strength with lifelong physical activity.

We found that chronic intense exercise preserved muscle mass and prevented fat infiltration of muscle in masters athletes.

Note that the "athlete" participants had the following profile:

Forty masters athletes (20 men and 20 women) were included in this study. Subjects were included if they were aged ≥ 40 years, trained for fitness and sports competitions ≥ 4 to 5 times per week, and did not have current sports-related injuries that limited their ability to compete in sports competitions. Many were age-group winners for their sport. The subjects were primarily composed of runners/track and field participants, bikers, and swimmers.

I don't know about you, but this doesn't describe me! One drawback to this study is that it doesn't include those who start exercising later in life. It also doesn't reflect the "semi-active" population, ie. those who might walk regularly and/or have a 3x per week gym routine. I'm loking forward to future studies that explore these two scenarios, but in the meantime this has certainly motivated me to ramp back up on training.