This week started with the best of intentions, but things didn't fall into place the way I would have liked. Sunday went well. It was a beautiful day, low wind, 70-75 degree temps, and, best of all, I had some training partners along to help make the day more bearable. The women of Team Satisfied (Sparkle, Sunshine, and myself) headed out for our first team training ride of the season. After about 45 minutes, we lost Sunshine. Something about having to do something with her boyfriend, whatever; we don't need her. Sparkle and I continue on, as we have a full 3-hour ride to conquer. We ride to Roland under great conditions, after a brief stop for a snack, we head back the way we came, over some small rolling hills and just a bit of a headwind. Sparkle starts to not like biking quite as much as she thought. Maybe it's the fact that I put in some serious time on the trainer this winter (or maybe my new bike is just that much faster... but I doubt it), but she is not a happy camper. Somehow I convince her to continue on with me, only problem is that the next section of road is not the least bit flat. It's just up one hill and down another, as far as the eye can see. By the time we get back to the flat stuff, Sparkle is questioning whether she even likes me anymore. Reagrdless, we did 3 hours, my food strategy worked out okay, and Sparkle had only a minor sunburn.
I was basically wiped out after the ride, both on Sunday afternoon and Monday. I was surprised how much it took out of me - must have been all the hills at the end. I used Monday as an off day and was grateful for that. Tuesday I had a great (but shorter than scheduled) swim and a great (but shorter than scheduled) run. I just didn't have the time I needed in the middle of the day to fit in the full swim, and the run was shorter because it was with the running group and I couldn't figure out how to justify the coach running twice as far as the rest of the participants. Next week, I may just have to get up and do my full workout in the morning and then run again with the group in the evening. I NEVER would have done anything like that the past three years, but somehow, it doesn't seem that far out of touch this year.
Wednesday was crazy. I had to work for a couple of hours in the morning, then I had some time off to train. I ended up doing a 50 minute bike loop outside, followed by a 25 minute run (brick workout), which I immediately followed by my swim workout. I think I might be insane to have tried that. Actually all the workouts felt okay, but the swim ended up getting cut short due to my work schedule - another short swim workout...
I've been trying something new the past couple of weeks. When the weather and my schedule permits, I've been commuting to work via bike. I have 2 bikes and gas is almost $3/gallon, so it makes good sense to me. I like it so far. Thursday I commuted by bike, but had a schedule that was crazy, even if you were driving. I rode about 20 miles in increments of 3-5 miles at a time. By the time I got home, I realized I had a 75 minute bike ride on the schedule. I talked Sparkle into heading out with me for another 40 minutes, and then I called it good for the day. Friday was another strange day. The forecast was for rain, so I planned to hit the treadmill for 6 miles before work, but when I woke up, it wasn't yet raining. I jumped out of bed and figured I could get 3.5-4 miles in before I needed to be back to shower for work. I opted for the outdoor workout over the treadmill, even though it meant fewer miles. My swim workout was great again, but shorter again. One of these days, I'll figure out how to get a full swim workout in...
Funny things that happened at the pool this week: I spent one day trying to swim around a manatee in my lane. When you think of a manatee, you think of a fat sea-cow that kind of floats around in the water with no real direction and maybe blows some bubbles or something. That is exactly what was in my lane. I swim in the medium lane (not the fast or the slow lanes), but this woman was just bobbing up and down near the wall in my lane, rolling onto her front and back, not really letting anyone do what we were all at the lap swim to do - swim laps. Thankfully, she moved into the deep end (with the other sea cows) shortly after I got in the water. Then on Friday this guy gets in my lane and says hi, just to let me know he's there. He swims away and I look at his water bottle and realize he's one of the guys from Ames who is also doing IM Wisconsin. He's one of the few people I hadn't met yet. So, I swim for a couple of laps, trying to figure out how to introduce myself without looking like some sort of stalker. Finally, we are both at the wall at the same time and I tell him that I recognized his name from his water bottle and explain that we are both doing IM Moo, then tell him my name is Julie. He says, "Oh, Julie Vardaman, right?" He then tells me he knows who I am and lists off a couple of people we know in common. So much for me being the stalker...
The worst part of the week was the weather forecast. Rain was predicted for all day Friday, all day Saturday, all day Sunday, and all day Monday. As an athlete training for an IM, four solid days of rain (especially over a weekend) is not good news. The running group met on Saturday morning and we ran 6+ miles in the cold, blustery, driving rain. Yuck! But, we did it and all felt better afterwards.
Weekly Round-Up (Sunday thru Saturday):
Swim: 5700 yards
Bike: 5 hours, 15 minutes
Run: 14.7 miles
Cross-Training: about 60 minutes of lunges, squats, and core with various clients throughout the week. It was the lunges that just about killed me. I did a bunch of them with one client on Tuesday morning and I was walking funny for 2 days after. I can't wait to find out how the client felt...
Sunday, April 30, 2006
Sunday, April 23, 2006
Having Some Fun, In Week Twenty-One
Before you read the weekly round-up at the end of this post, let me just say that things were all kinds of screwed up this week. First off, I started the week (Sunday and Monday) in Vail. I may just be a big weenie, but I can't breathe up there doing anything harder than just a easy walk. Pushing Sophie and Lauren up a slight incline in their double jogger made me very out of breath. I understand why, but it makes me feel pretty wimpy to be training for an Ironman but not able to survive a simple walk without side effects. Oddly enough, I can ski without any problem... but that's a whole different story. Regardless, I used Sunday and Monday as rest days, so my weekly totals really reflect that.
I made it home from Vail on Tuesday in time to run with my running group. The rest of my runs this week went pretty much according to plan, just a mile or two less than on the schedule. Getting all my swim time in was much more of a struggle. Getting to Beyer Pool and back to work in a reasonable time period is really becoming a challenge. The swims themselves are going just fine, but they've been cut short due to the hours of operation of the pool and my client schedules. And, the way I had to reschedule some of my workouts for the trip, my bike totals for the week look really weak! But, enough excuses!
On Monday, I left Vail and drove to see a friend (Nick, a CTS coach, who was one of the founders of the Ames tri club 3-4 years ago) in Colorado Springs. Along the way, I made a stop at the Colorado Running Company to make a special purchase. I'd heard about these, but was pretty skeptical, so I had to go see for myself. I asked the store employees what they thought of them and even tried a couple on. In the end, though, I just had to have one! So, I am the new, proud owner of my very own running SKIRT! Designed by triathlete Nicole DeBoom, I think I'm gonna really like my new pink and blue skirt! I'll have to post pictures of that when it makes it's debut!
Nick, aside from being a coach of triathletes, is also a 2-time IM Wisconsin finisher, so I had the chance to pick his brain a bit about some racing questions I've been pondering. We also watched his finisher DVD from a couple years ago. It made me much more nervous than I had expected, but also gave me a chance to see a bit of the course and what the whole could be like. After the IM video, we also watched the video from the year Nick won the Quad Cities Triathlon. It was cool to see, I didn't even know they made a DVD from that! I saw lots of people I know, but (thankfully) no images of me.
So, as week twenty-one comes to a close, I realize that I am one-third of the way through the training. I've come a long way so far, but looking ahead, I realize just how much more I have to get done. For the next twenty weeks, I'll have 3 swim workouts per week (up from 2), two brick workouts per week (one long one and one short one, up from 1), and more interval type running and biking workouts (as opposed to the steady-state stuff I've been doing). I'll also be putting in more hours (obviously), but I feel pretty good and ready to tackle this stuff!
Here are a few more pictures of the weekend with the girls:
Here's how the girls and I spent Easter Sunday
I made it home from Vail on Tuesday in time to run with my running group. The rest of my runs this week went pretty much according to plan, just a mile or two less than on the schedule. Getting all my swim time in was much more of a struggle. Getting to Beyer Pool and back to work in a reasonable time period is really becoming a challenge. The swims themselves are going just fine, but they've been cut short due to the hours of operation of the pool and my client schedules. And, the way I had to reschedule some of my workouts for the trip, my bike totals for the week look really weak! But, enough excuses!
On Monday, I left Vail and drove to see a friend (Nick, a CTS coach, who was one of the founders of the Ames tri club 3-4 years ago) in Colorado Springs. Along the way, I made a stop at the Colorado Running Company to make a special purchase. I'd heard about these, but was pretty skeptical, so I had to go see for myself. I asked the store employees what they thought of them and even tried a couple on. In the end, though, I just had to have one! So, I am the new, proud owner of my very own running SKIRT! Designed by triathlete Nicole DeBoom, I think I'm gonna really like my new pink and blue skirt! I'll have to post pictures of that when it makes it's debut!
Nick, aside from being a coach of triathletes, is also a 2-time IM Wisconsin finisher, so I had the chance to pick his brain a bit about some racing questions I've been pondering. We also watched his finisher DVD from a couple years ago. It made me much more nervous than I had expected, but also gave me a chance to see a bit of the course and what the whole could be like. After the IM video, we also watched the video from the year Nick won the Quad Cities Triathlon. It was cool to see, I didn't even know they made a DVD from that! I saw lots of people I know, but (thankfully) no images of me.
So, as week twenty-one comes to a close, I realize that I am one-third of the way through the training. I've come a long way so far, but looking ahead, I realize just how much more I have to get done. For the next twenty weeks, I'll have 3 swim workouts per week (up from 2), two brick workouts per week (one long one and one short one, up from 1), and more interval type running and biking workouts (as opposed to the steady-state stuff I've been doing). I'll also be putting in more hours (obviously), but I feel pretty good and ready to tackle this stuff!
Here are a few more pictures of the weekend with the girls:
Here's how the girls and I spent Easter Sunday
Both girls are smiling a lot more and are very expressive (Sophie on top, Lauren below)
Weekly Round-Up (Sunday thru Saturday):
Swim: 3300 yards
Bike: 1 hours, 40 minutes
Run: 21 miles
Thursday, April 20, 2006
Figuring Out What to Do, In Week Twenty-two
I've been wondering if anyone actually reads this blog, so I decided to hold off posting to see how many people missed it. I soon discovered that only one person actually reads this boring prose, or at least only one person actually cares enough to inquire about the missing post. So, this post is for my favorite uncle in Idaho (not to be confused with my favorite uncle in Texas or my favorite uncle in Iowa...).
Week 22 was a great week in some respects. I got 4 really solid rides in, 3 of which were done outside on the road. I managed to not let the closing of my pool mess up my swim workouts too much. And, I got more running in than I had planned. Not too much to complain about, but I can find a few things...
Iowa in April has to be one of the most windy places on the planet. Something about the contour of the land must lend itself to having the wind sucked across it (because you all know that wind is sucked, not blown, right??). Wind and bike riding do not go hand in hand. Windy days on a bike can make you miserable and grumpy. But God, in His wisdom, only makes it REALLY windy in Iowa in the springtime. Because He knows that after a long Iowa winter, we Iowans are SO happy to be able to get out of the house that we'll do it even if the wind blows us right off the road.
Sparkle and I took advantage of the nice temps on Sunday to go for a 2 hour ride. With a 20-25mph headwind out of the south, we headed straight south into the wind for the first 3/4 of the ride. It was as miserable as we thought it would be, sometimes pedaling downhill in the granny gears hitting a whopping 9-10mph. We stopped for some nourishment by a bridge and watched some other riders force their bikes in the same fashion. After some refreshing gels (ack!), we headed back north with another rider who had stopped to join us for the return trip. With the stiff breeze at my back, I was able to see just what the IronMaiden was capable of. I think I was able to maintain about 23-27 mph the whole return trip, using the big gears that I rarely get to use! It was so fun, but over very quickly. Next time, I think we'll just drive to Des Moines and ride the bikes back with the tailwind the whole way. Friday, I needed to get another long ride in because I was heading to Colorado again over the weekend. It was slightly less windy that day. I needed a 2 1/2 hour ride, so to get the ride in before the sunset, I did a 60 minute loop by myself and then when Sparkle got off work, she joined me for another 1 1/2 hours.
All of my runs felt terrible all week. I just didn't have any energy for them and my heart rate was way out of range for the whole week. The temps crept up all week, topping out at 90 on Thursday. The temps and the wind, along with the crummy feeling all week, really began to make me bitter. By Saturday, I wasn't really excited about taking a long run. Saturday morning, we met out at the lake, and the temps were in the 50's and there was no wind to speak of, and the run felt great the whole time. I could have run another 7.5 miles! It was a great way to end the week.
I think I've kinda figured out what to do about the pool situation. The Beyer pool at ISU is really busy all the time. It turns out that having to share a lane with 4 or 5 other people actually makes me swim faster and not rest near as much between sets. I am way more focused on my workouts, primarily so that I get myself in and out of there as fast as possible. I didn't get the yardage I needed this week, but as I get everything sorted out, I think I'll be okay.
On Saturday, I boarded a plane to Colorado to go see the girls again. Here's one picture for this week and I'll post more in a couple of days:
Week 22 was a great week in some respects. I got 4 really solid rides in, 3 of which were done outside on the road. I managed to not let the closing of my pool mess up my swim workouts too much. And, I got more running in than I had planned. Not too much to complain about, but I can find a few things...
Iowa in April has to be one of the most windy places on the planet. Something about the contour of the land must lend itself to having the wind sucked across it (because you all know that wind is sucked, not blown, right??). Wind and bike riding do not go hand in hand. Windy days on a bike can make you miserable and grumpy. But God, in His wisdom, only makes it REALLY windy in Iowa in the springtime. Because He knows that after a long Iowa winter, we Iowans are SO happy to be able to get out of the house that we'll do it even if the wind blows us right off the road.
Sparkle and I took advantage of the nice temps on Sunday to go for a 2 hour ride. With a 20-25mph headwind out of the south, we headed straight south into the wind for the first 3/4 of the ride. It was as miserable as we thought it would be, sometimes pedaling downhill in the granny gears hitting a whopping 9-10mph. We stopped for some nourishment by a bridge and watched some other riders force their bikes in the same fashion. After some refreshing gels (ack!), we headed back north with another rider who had stopped to join us for the return trip. With the stiff breeze at my back, I was able to see just what the IronMaiden was capable of. I think I was able to maintain about 23-27 mph the whole return trip, using the big gears that I rarely get to use! It was so fun, but over very quickly. Next time, I think we'll just drive to Des Moines and ride the bikes back with the tailwind the whole way. Friday, I needed to get another long ride in because I was heading to Colorado again over the weekend. It was slightly less windy that day. I needed a 2 1/2 hour ride, so to get the ride in before the sunset, I did a 60 minute loop by myself and then when Sparkle got off work, she joined me for another 1 1/2 hours.
All of my runs felt terrible all week. I just didn't have any energy for them and my heart rate was way out of range for the whole week. The temps crept up all week, topping out at 90 on Thursday. The temps and the wind, along with the crummy feeling all week, really began to make me bitter. By Saturday, I wasn't really excited about taking a long run. Saturday morning, we met out at the lake, and the temps were in the 50's and there was no wind to speak of, and the run felt great the whole time. I could have run another 7.5 miles! It was a great way to end the week.
I think I've kinda figured out what to do about the pool situation. The Beyer pool at ISU is really busy all the time. It turns out that having to share a lane with 4 or 5 other people actually makes me swim faster and not rest near as much between sets. I am way more focused on my workouts, primarily so that I get myself in and out of there as fast as possible. I didn't get the yardage I needed this week, but as I get everything sorted out, I think I'll be okay.
On Saturday, I boarded a plane to Colorado to go see the girls again. Here's one picture for this week and I'll post more in a couple of days:
Lauren Ruth and Sophie Elizabeth
Weekly Round-Up (Sunday thru Saturday):
Swim: 3800 yards
Bike: 7 hours, 35 minutes
Run: 21 miles
Sunday, April 09, 2006
It's All Up to Me, in Week Twenty-Three
I started this week like a mad woman. I felt great and took advantage of it. I finished about 110-120% over what I had scheduled to do this week. The weather has finally improved to the point that I did most of my riding outside and didn't have to do any treadmill workouts. I can't explain how happy that makes me!! All that feeling good at the beginning of the week started to takes it toll later in the week. I was pretty wiped out by Thursday night and glad to have a day off on Friday.
It was a good thing that I was able to do so much this week because I had a slight problem arise on Friday that has thrown a wrench into my plans for next week. I swim at the Ames High School pool and sometime in the night between Thursday and Friday, a large chunk of the (asbestos-filled) ceiling fell into the pool. That puts my early morning swim sessions on hold for at least 2 weeks. And the ISU pool isn't open at times that work well with my schedule. So, I've got to be quite a bit more flexible for a while and figure out how to coordinate my work schedule and my workout schedule. Plus, I'd like to get a bit more done this week, so I can have an extra day or two off while I'm in Colorado next weekend.
On Thursday night, we had a tri club meeting at Skunk River Cycles. The lesson for the night was about how to change a flat. It is one of my biggest fears which, so far, I have not yet had to deal with. I practiced a couple of times, and although I still fear it happening in a race, I know I can handle it. And, I got some practice with using CO2.
I've got only two more weeks of this current phase of training. Then things pick up substantially. I'm really happy so far with the program and I'm glad that it has started off relatively slowly. It has taken some time for me to just get used to the frequency and length of the workouts required. I'm really looking forward to stepping things up. I feel good and I feel ready!
Weekly Round-Up (Sunday thru Saturday):
Swim: 6000 yards
Bike: 4 hours, 20 minutes
Run: 23.5 miles
It was a good thing that I was able to do so much this week because I had a slight problem arise on Friday that has thrown a wrench into my plans for next week. I swim at the Ames High School pool and sometime in the night between Thursday and Friday, a large chunk of the (asbestos-filled) ceiling fell into the pool. That puts my early morning swim sessions on hold for at least 2 weeks. And the ISU pool isn't open at times that work well with my schedule. So, I've got to be quite a bit more flexible for a while and figure out how to coordinate my work schedule and my workout schedule. Plus, I'd like to get a bit more done this week, so I can have an extra day or two off while I'm in Colorado next weekend.
On Thursday night, we had a tri club meeting at Skunk River Cycles. The lesson for the night was about how to change a flat. It is one of my biggest fears which, so far, I have not yet had to deal with. I practiced a couple of times, and although I still fear it happening in a race, I know I can handle it. And, I got some practice with using CO2.
I've got only two more weeks of this current phase of training. Then things pick up substantially. I'm really happy so far with the program and I'm glad that it has started off relatively slowly. It has taken some time for me to just get used to the frequency and length of the workouts required. I'm really looking forward to stepping things up. I feel good and I feel ready!
Weekly Round-Up (Sunday thru Saturday):
Swim: 6000 yards
Bike: 4 hours, 20 minutes
Run: 23.5 miles
Sunday, April 02, 2006
Nothing's a Bore, in Week Twenty-Four
Highlights of the week:
All three of my swims this week went really well. Monday's swim just flowed. Everything felt good, the workout kept my interest the whole time, and I felt well-rested after having Sunday as a rest day. Tuesday's swim (with the tri-newbies) was encouraging as we swam 100's for time. I surprised myself at the times I was swimming, and I wasn't really pushing myself. Then on Wednesday, a friend in another lane said my stroke had improved, I looked smooth in the water, and my hips were in a good position. All in all, I couldn't have asked for a better week in the water.
The IronMaiden and I hit the road twice this week for training rides. I played hookie from work on Wednesday and fought 20mph headwinds in order to enjoy the somewhat spring time temperatures. It was just a quick 50 minute ride, but it was enough to prove to me how much I like the IronMaiden and irritate Roehr and Sparkle who were both at work at the time! Yesterday, I went for a nice ride (no wind!!!) with the tri-newbies. It wasn't quite as warm as Wednesday (and my toes were little ice blocks by the time I got home), but it was great to get out on the open road!
My running is still going fairly well. I had to use the treadmill more than I'd care to admit, but I think treadmill season is nearly over! Saturday's "long" run with the training group was 5. This week I decided that I would do my extra mileage before the group run, so I left the house about 30 minutes early and got 2.5 miles in before meeting the group for the 5 miler.
I finished getting signed up for all of this year's triathlons. After having to beg the race director to let me into the already full Quad Cities Tri last summer, I decided I'd better get thigs taken care of earlier this year. I also signed up for the Dutchman (Pella) Tri and the Spirit of Racine Tri.
There was a big (HUGE, if you live in Iowa) announcement for the triathlon world this week. Des Moines is hosting a ITU World Cup race in June 2007. This is only the 4th (or 5th, I forget) time that a World Cup event has been held in the United States, and it's gonna be right here in central Iowa. Even bigger is that there is a $700,000 purse for the race. That's basically unheard of in the world of triathlon. So, we'll have a bunch of pro triathletes competing in a Sunday afternoon race, and the rest of us mere mortals will get to race that morning. They expect that race to fill up very quickly - a year in advance, so I went ahead and signed up for that one, too!
Low points of the week:
A big round of thunderstorms came through Ames on Thursday night, knocking out power and making it impossible to go out for run. So, my week's planning was a bit thrown off... I took Thursday off, ran long on Friday morning, then had to run long again on Saturday morning.
My hamstring hasn't been exactly perfect lately. It's not like it's been, but I can certainly feel it back there. I get a massage tonight, so hopefully that will help a little bit.
Weekly Round-Up (Sunday thru Saturday):
Swim: 6000 yards
Bike: 2 hours, 20 minutes - all outside!!!
Run: 24 miles
Cross-Training: 25 minutes on Elliptical Trainer and about 30 minutes of lunges, squats, and core with various clients throughout the week.
All three of my swims this week went really well. Monday's swim just flowed. Everything felt good, the workout kept my interest the whole time, and I felt well-rested after having Sunday as a rest day. Tuesday's swim (with the tri-newbies) was encouraging as we swam 100's for time. I surprised myself at the times I was swimming, and I wasn't really pushing myself. Then on Wednesday, a friend in another lane said my stroke had improved, I looked smooth in the water, and my hips were in a good position. All in all, I couldn't have asked for a better week in the water.
The IronMaiden and I hit the road twice this week for training rides. I played hookie from work on Wednesday and fought 20mph headwinds in order to enjoy the somewhat spring time temperatures. It was just a quick 50 minute ride, but it was enough to prove to me how much I like the IronMaiden and irritate Roehr and Sparkle who were both at work at the time! Yesterday, I went for a nice ride (no wind!!!) with the tri-newbies. It wasn't quite as warm as Wednesday (and my toes were little ice blocks by the time I got home), but it was great to get out on the open road!
My running is still going fairly well. I had to use the treadmill more than I'd care to admit, but I think treadmill season is nearly over! Saturday's "long" run with the training group was 5. This week I decided that I would do my extra mileage before the group run, so I left the house about 30 minutes early and got 2.5 miles in before meeting the group for the 5 miler.
I finished getting signed up for all of this year's triathlons. After having to beg the race director to let me into the already full Quad Cities Tri last summer, I decided I'd better get thigs taken care of earlier this year. I also signed up for the Dutchman (Pella) Tri and the Spirit of Racine Tri.
There was a big (HUGE, if you live in Iowa) announcement for the triathlon world this week. Des Moines is hosting a ITU World Cup race in June 2007. This is only the 4th (or 5th, I forget) time that a World Cup event has been held in the United States, and it's gonna be right here in central Iowa. Even bigger is that there is a $700,000 purse for the race. That's basically unheard of in the world of triathlon. So, we'll have a bunch of pro triathletes competing in a Sunday afternoon race, and the rest of us mere mortals will get to race that morning. They expect that race to fill up very quickly - a year in advance, so I went ahead and signed up for that one, too!
Low points of the week:
A big round of thunderstorms came through Ames on Thursday night, knocking out power and making it impossible to go out for run. So, my week's planning was a bit thrown off... I took Thursday off, ran long on Friday morning, then had to run long again on Saturday morning.
My hamstring hasn't been exactly perfect lately. It's not like it's been, but I can certainly feel it back there. I get a massage tonight, so hopefully that will help a little bit.
Weekly Round-Up (Sunday thru Saturday):
Swim: 6000 yards
Bike: 2 hours, 20 minutes - all outside!!!
Run: 24 miles
Cross-Training: 25 minutes on Elliptical Trainer and about 30 minutes of lunges, squats, and core with various clients throughout the week.
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