18 weeks and counting!

18 weeks and counting! This is more real than unreal! Most marathon training plans are 16-18 weeks long. So now the countdown has truly started.  Last week was a monumental milestone week for me. Where do I even start?

Monday: Swim 4 x 500. Done.

Tuesday: 6 miles Heart Rate Slow Run. Getting inpatient with these heart rate runs since they are so slow.  Strength Training in the evening with Kristi. Done. I am loving Strength Training and Kristi is BA.

Wednesday: 1000 yards steady, then 3x400 [150 easy, 150 moderate, 100 hard], then 300 w/d: Done. OK The 50 fast almost made me throw up and gag. I really pushed myself, but I am realizing that my 150 moderate are not as slow as I thought.

Thursday: Happy Birthday to me!!!! 6 miles slow heart rate run after work with the FW gang.

Friday: Rest Day.

Saturday: REST DAY: A second rest day b/c guess what? I got engaged last night!!!

So I figured I'd walk around Key West with my new fiance and enjoy being a newly engaged fiance!

Sunday: 100 mile bike ride! Monumental milestone! New PR distance. Amazingly, I felt great until mile 80. Then everything was numb, sore and in pain. Chris moved my seat and his small adjustment made my ride so much better. Buy by mile 80 everything was hurting. Kristi told me that the IM race starts at around mile 80-85. I was very sore and couldn't imagine being out there for another 6-7 hours riding and running if it were race day. Thank Goodness for 17 more training weekends! My peanut butter sandwich was delicious and the ride, pace, and group was fantastic!

All in all, a great week! First 100 miler on the bike. I turned 35, but most of all, I got engaged to the most amazing man out there and whom I met via running in the first place!!!!!

Countdown for Cozumel: Weeks 19 and 20: 2 in 1 yes I'm an idiot

So my countdown subtraction was off. Yes I majored in Finance. Math has been my favorite subject since I was about 6. I don't know why I counted wrong but I had to use the RW training plan cheat sheet to realize that once I put race day as November 25th, I was 19 weeks before race day. (18 weeks if you consider this weeks of training)

So last week's training was sort of a bust and a huge disappointment:

Monday: Rest Day.
Tuesday: 6 mile Heat Run and Heart Rate Run AM plus 60 min Strength Training with Kristi in the PM. Run went ok. Slow Slow. I can't wait to start incorporating a little bit more or some tempo runs into the mix! Strength Training in the evening was ummmmazing! I was so sore. Worked out muscled that I didn't even know existed. Did squats, lunges, core, leg work, upper body work, great session!
Wednesday: 2187 meters. Main set was 4 x 50 fast then recover 200 then rest 1 minute. The 50 fast made me extremely nauseous. Was 200 m short on my swim b/c my time was up.
Thursday: SICK OFF. Stuck at the ER previous night for a false appendicitis scare (ruptured ovarian cyst) so I was sick, took off and my whole weekend suffered b/c I still had abdominal pain leftover.
Friday: Spinning and 20 min ST.  Tried to make up some of the workouts that I had missed while I was sick. Managed to swim after work and do 20 minute on my own of ST.
Saturday: 2 mile LR. Sick. Supposed to run 10. Had to turn around after 1 mile b/c my stomach was hurting again. Skipped my swim so I could rest and recover for Sunday's monumental long bike ride.
Sunday: 2 hour Long Bike Ride. Instead of 5. Only cycled for 2 hours b/c I was still in pain. Tropical monsoon out there so I was sort of glad that I turned around earlier and went home.

Disappointing week b/c I had to cut my workouts short and b/c I missed some workouts due to me being sick. Oh well time to get back on the bandwagon.....

Officially 18 weeks left for IM Cozumel!

Strength Training

So before I forget everything that I did, I should write a little bit about my wonderful session that I had with one of my coaches, Kristi, this past Tuesday.

Note how last week I skipped it and completely forgot about it so I asked Kristi about some tips and ideas and we met at her gym for an hour workout. An hour? I thought strength training was 20 minutes or so but we did an hour!

We started off doing planks (hold for one minute) and did about three of those. We did squats on bar above my shoulders with smaller weights. Ouch on my neck! Need to roll a towel next time. Sit ups on bosu ball, triceps on bench, full length up/down on bench, lunges with full body twist with weight ball, butt something with weights, something something with weights as well, more weights on bosu ball, hamstring stretches with weights. Ok I think I forgot some but all in all we did about 60-70 minutes. Now if I could remember or record her moves for next time!!

The next day, soreness all over my body!! Squatting to go potty was a major PITA!! Good thing I think my plan has me doing this 2x a week so I better get Bette at this!!

21 weeks for IM Cozumel: Last Week's Recap

Last week was a crazy week! I forgot all about it. Sunday night I flew to Virginia Beach for the night for a work meeting that I had on Monday. I totally forgot I had travelled last week. I came back Monday night.

Monday: Rest (In Virginia Beach) Alternated Rest Days with Friday. It was nice to sleep in and wake up later since my meeting wasn't until 1pm.

Tuesday: 6 mile Heat and Heart Rate Run. + Strength Training which I totally forgot to do. I ran around KB having to make sure my heart rate stayed at 145 or under. So I did a lot of walking. I realized that my heart rate monitor was off and I think I got it to work. The first few minutes my heart rate gets really high, then it drops, but then it's a walk, run a little, walk, run a little, then jog very slowly to hit 145. Very annoying. My sister and her 3 year old came that evening so I was fully entertained for the rest of the week.

Wednesday: 2400 Meter Swim Lightning and thunder in the morning so I tried a new pool after spending a couple hours at Chucky Cheese with my goddaughter. Went to JCC pool, and I have to admit that I love swimming in the 25 m pools.

Thursday: 6 Mile Heat and Heart Rate Run Annoyingly slow. Need I say more?

Friday: 1000 yard swim. Cut it short b/c I was tired and sleepy. I was praying that the weather gods would interfere so that I didn't have to swim b/c I was tired from the week. Unfortunately. it was very overcast but weather was fine. Decided to cut the swim short and I only swam 1000 yards instead of my 2500 yards. My baaaaad.

Saturday: 1 mile OWS+8 mile LR. Felt fantastic!!!

Sunday: 82.5 mile Bike Ride. (New Personal Distance for me) Felt amazing, minus the pain on the girlie's. The 1/2 peanut butter sandwich during the midway point was so much better than the Honey Stinger. I had energy left in me, but my girlie's were numb and in pain. I did use a ton of Hoo HaaI either need a new seat or need to get my seat readjusted. Back to Mack Cycle to figure out what's wrong with my Adamo Saddle

Great week.

Busy between playing hostess to hanging out with my sister and my godchild, to traveling and putting on my executive suit and playing grown up, to being on the saddle for almost 5 hours nonstop, to sleeping on the couch for one week, to one hour nap only on both Saturday and Sunday... I need a day off this week!

The long bike ride gave me a great confidence booster. If I didn't have any pain, I probably could have made it to 90 miles. Well, I did what was prescribed on my schedule, so I'm not planning on overdoing it. This week's long bike ride is 5 hours so I'm pretty sure that's about 90 miles. I must get my saddle readjusted before Sunday.

Week 22 in Review

So the countdown has started. 22 weeks for IM Cozumel.

Last week was my first week with my new coach. Very happy with my decision.

I have gotten a different approach towards my running by focusing more on staying within my heart rate of 145 or less and training more in the heat. He's having me do this more consistently so I can get more accustomed to the this and build more of an aerobic base.

I've also got great feedback on my swim. I thought I was a wreck on my form and style and it turns out I'm not all that bad! He told me to buy the little tempo thingy seen below:

I have tried this once in the past but the constant beeping was enough to make me want to stomp on the tempo trainer and crash it. Maybe I'll give it another chance. He also told me to extend my hands more in the water. And Lourdes, another training buddy, commented that I have great form and where did I learn how to swim. I was quite blushed with her comment!

My first week with my new coach looked like this:
22 weeks before Cozumel full:

Monday: off

Tuesday: 1 mile OWS Luis was not there so I did have a few moments of panic and anxiety as I am always more calm when I swim with Luis. Luckily, Ed another HH was there and he was behind me so I would feel more calm when I would see him.
3 mile heat run after work. Got mulled by mosquitos.

Wednesday: 47 mile bike ride + 2 mile run. First Ride with new group. Chris rode with us too. Steve gave out instructions and new group was very welcoming to Chris since he's not training with them. Pace was a bit too slow, but it was nice and easy and on the way back we took turns leading pace line since it was windy. Run was extremely hot and my legs felt like they weighed 1000 lbs.

Thursday: 4 mile run Heat Run with Amy and Chris. We did the Fun Run with FW. Great seeing old friends. I kept slow pace and slowed or walked when my heart rate got too high. These heart rate runs are quite annoying. Thanks for running with my Amy!

Friday: 2200 m pool swim Swam in the big 50 meter pool. It's always much harder for me to swim in this pool and it takes me longer. I did my warm up, 150 slow, 150 moderate, and 150 fast. I was supposed to recover on the next 150 but I stopped to recover and catch my breath. Repeat.

Saturday: 6 mile run/ 1000 m OWS. Heat run and heart rate run in the morning with Chris. Slow and steady. It was quite hot b/c we started at 8. Then I did my first open water swim with Steve at his lake that aftenoon. Got feedback on my stroke. The lake is warm. I was swimming alone since I got there late and everyone had already started. I felt that Jason from Friday the 13th was going to come pull me into the water so I took off and became faster on the way back.

Sunday: 67 mile bike ride. I don't know why I got stuck behind all the IM tattoos and I couldn't keep up with all the fast people! I struggled as they were hauling ass and I was trying to maintain 21-22. I turned around at 10 mile loop after Roberts and cut my ride a little shorter so I could stick to another group that was riding at a more comfortable pace. It was quite a challenging ride. I wish I could keep their pace but my heart rate was going all crazy on me. Thank goodness I didn't have to run afterwards. I also was very happy to have enjoyed a 3 hour nap that afternoon.


21 more weeks to go!

Heat Runs

Last night I did my first heat run. The instructions on my Training peaks were to run 4 miles, make sure my heart rate stayed at 145 and if it went up, walk until it dropped, and continue doing so for 4 miles. Make sure to hydrate before and after. 

 I have to do these kinds of runs for the next 2 weeks to train my body to run in the heat at a comfortable pace and at a comfortable heart rate. I forgot my Garmin so I used Chris’s Garmin with my HR monitor. The first few minutes were really hard as my heart rate was 158 by the first minute. I was able to get into a flow and it felt much better the longer that I was running. I ran with Amy and Chris, then Chris was ahead of us, then Amy and I would walk whenever my heart rate was over 145.

I ended up doing 4 miles at an average pace of 12:39. My Average HR was 131 bpm and y maximum was 172.

Tomorrow I’ll do 6 miles in the morning so I’ll compare my chart and see how I feel afterwards.

The point of doing this is to get more acclimated to the heat. We spend minimum 23 hours in a/c whether it’s in our cars, work, home, etc so my 4 hours or so of running outdoor has not been enough for me to get used to the heat.

Lets see how it goes tomorrow and I’ll be more interested to see how I feel by mid July and how my numbers look like!

So I am adding some more information on to this because I think I have figured out the why's of heat runs and the why's of heart rate run's. So training in your zone means you're building your aerobic capacity and you want to be able to build so you can go long, long, and longer without bonking. If you're anaerobic, you cannot go long, longer, and loooonger without bonking. So the whole concept is being able to complete 5 hour bike rides Heart Rate 1 or in your Zone 1 so you can build endurance and stamina. Come race day, it'll probably be a different situtation since it's a race and we won't be racing on heart rate or zone 1. And Steve wants me to build my heart rate to be able to endure heat runs because we all know that during triathlons the running portion is going to be in the heat. So little by little he wants me to build endurance and to build stamina by being out there whether it's running or cycling at 145 or less so I can eventually build endurance, strength, and last longer. Now I think my heart rate monitor was out of whack. The band was too loose. I did tighten it more and I think that it worked b/c today I ran 6 miles and I did more walking than running..

New beginnings

I started this month (as of yesterday) with a new and different coach for Cozumel. I had used a separate coach for the last five months but needed a change of direction.

With every ending there is a new beginning. I will miss my old training partners and I hope I don't feel like a fish out of water with new group.

So tomorrow morning I ride with a new group, same route, different starting place, different people. I will see some of my old training buddies on the road which will still feel bittersweet.

I feel confident in my decision and I always have to remember to trust my inner gut and my intuition....