Countdown to Honu

Only 3 weeks left before Honu, and I'm getting a bit nervous! It's been a challenging month for me on the training front. A lot of travel combined with what was probably the most important presentation of my career (which went well, I think!)... I honestly don't know how you all do it. Last week I was in Princeton, NJ and managed to squeeze in an hour run the night before my presentation. I love running in new cities. New Jersey gets a bad rap, but the countryside is absolutely beautiful. I discovered this running trail along a river...

I was running down this trail for a while, expecting to find a cross-over back to land. Fortunately I asked someone walking by when the next cross-over was, and he said, "oh, not for maybe 10 miles." Ok, time to turn around...

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Arrived back in SF yesterday, and today I went on my second long-ass training ride down on the Peninsula. Overall it was a better ride than last week's, although I had a lot of piriformis and knee pain for the last 20 miles. Grrr. Fortunately I know what it's from... I've been getting neurokinetic treatment which helps retrain your brain to fire the right muscles; my glutes aren't firing properly (especially when I do a lot of sitting, like I've been doing lately on planes and in front of computers!) So will be heading back to my magician ASAP.

Since part of my normal route was closed, I decided to do a bit of exploring on a new road... I am so glad I did. It was absolutely beautiful... a narrow windy road up through the woods, past hiking trails, and alongside a bubbling brook. No cars, and I passed no one except for a couple hiking. My lousy iPhone camera doesn't do it justice:

I'll be back down here to go hiking, for sure.

So this ride took me FOREVER because I kept having to stop for various reasons. Stretch out my piriformis / duck under a tree during 3 surprise rainstorms (no, my clothing wasn't waterproof) / buy a Snickers bar because I was sick of Gu / pee in the bushes, even though I wasn't drinking enough (?). I was on the road easily over an hour longer than I'd planned. Then got home and tried to upload my Garmin, but my entire workout had disappeared from history. WTF? Has this happened to anyone?

So... 3 weeks 'til Honu. Next week's schedule in Training Peaks is a bit daunting :-). I need to ramp back up in a big way in all three sports, plus really focus on stretch and strength. Fortunately my workload has lightened up and I have no travel between now and Hawaii. Yeehaw. Time to buckle down and FOCUS!

Comments

[cheryl]

throw in a kid (or two) and a nine-to-five job and yes it can be next to impossible to train for anything longer than a sprint! good job!

[Brett Miller]

The Garmin thing happens every once and a while. Just start a new workout for a few seconds. Reset your watch again so it sees there is something to download, and your "lost" workout should download with the 2 second one. Hope it works for you.

[Jasonwiener]

Nice job! I came across your blog when reading race reports for Honu. I (like you) just did the Wildflower Oly and (like you) had MAJOR improvements over last year, and (wait for it...like you) am also going to Kona for Honu :) Don't be nervous for the race. I did an Oly there last August and it's hard, but you'll do great. The Big Island (and I'm not the most granola-ie person) are all about having the right mindset and embracing what it presents to you. We're SUPER lucky to be doing the race. Remember that this week is the last week to train and that next should start tapering a little. The week before should be very very light. Like with WF, I'm planning only a couple light workouts up to and including Friday (in the 30min range). 2 things that I took away from last year's Lavaman Oly (if you'd like the unsolicited advice). Have a race plan for nutrition and hydration and stick to it. Take as much ice and sponges on the run as you can get your hands on. Your body gets pretty irked and (at least for me) overheated as you get into the run in those conditions. Good luck!!!

[Molly]

Great job - all this hard work is miles in the bank for race day! So exciting that it's comign up soon!!!