This past weekend was the training weekend at Lake Placid. Got there pretty late on Friday night so no biking that night. The next morning we went on our 112 mile bike ride. The weather was nice, only aarm warmers needed, no jacket or long pants. I felt like I was on a roller coaster. trying to look at the end of each road to see if the downhill was coming. We would go up and up and the a small downhill, not it. Then another small hill and a little downhill, not it. Then all of a sudden, I saw the road sign with the picture of the truck going downhill that says shift down and i heard my husbands voice saying something to the effect of having talked to god today before going down this road. I don't know, my ears started ringing. Started going down, seemed pretty short, that's because it's not over. it levels off 3 times. I did not know this, I just thought it was one straight shot. Finally made it down, started to get feeling in my hands and feet again when I see the girl taht passed me at th etop of the hill laying on the ground just a few minutes after she got hit by a car. Well, that really scared me on the second loop and I may have gone down it a little slower if it wasn't for a very nice guy on an SUV who got right behind me and a little to the left and blocked all other cars from passing me. When I got to the bottom, he had around 6 cars behind him that were unable to pass. What a nice guy. My nutrition was spot on, felt great at the end of it and went for a 20 minute run afetr the bike.
The next morning, we did one loop of the run course. I shouldn't have gone out the night before and celebrated the bike ride. The beer, the macaroni and cheese, the nachos, and the leftover pizza and garlic knots were all having a field day in my stomach. I did not feel good and had to make a run in to the Stewarts restroom before the last out and back.
In general it was a very productive weekend. learned a lot about myself and my training buddies. Can't wait until July.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Monday, May 28, 2007
Jackie D - Week 36
Week 36 - starting Monday 21 May 2007
Scheduled hours: 17hrs 00mins
Actual hours: 18hrs 31mins
Where do I start? I have been pondering how much detail to write about this. But, at the end of the day I decided that this is my journal (which I was persuaded to put online) and it is the thing I am going to look back at in future years so I am going to go mad with the detail. So, apologies in advance for anyone reading this - you are likely to get bored silly.
The Lake Placid weekend dominated training this week but the first part of the week was also training (no complete day off this week) with a masters swim and a zone 3 bike workout amongst other things. Also my first very hot run of the year. It was an hour recovery run but it felt really hard at well over 80 degrees. I took the dog and stopped twice so she could jump in the canal to cool off and I was as grateful for the stops as she was….but on to the weekend…
Friday - I set off after I had put the boys on the school bus and made it to the hotel in around 5 hours. I was first of our group by a few seconds but shortly afterwards people started to arrive. Mary (coach) decided she was going out for a short run and all who had so far arrived got caught up in the enthusiasm and went with her. We ran from our hotel into Lake Placid village and around Mirror Lake, a total of just over 50 minutes. It was really great to see all the various landmarks that we will come to know so well at the Ironman race. We also ran up the hill into the village that is part of the run course and the hill we would be walking (on purpose) on the Sunday. So, even though I have no intention running it on the big day at least I can tell myself I have done it!
Mirror Lake was smaller than I expected. I suppose I am used to seeing the bigger Finger Lakes. You can jog around it on a handy red brick path in about 25minutes. The path goes right through the village center. Very pleasant. Lake Placid village itself reminded me of the European ski resorts and was very pretty, especially with the background of Whiteface mountain. Restaurants and café’s and lots of people around made it bustling and alive, completely unlike most towns I have so far experienced in America.
Anyway, after running back to the hotel we changed and headed out to the meeting point in town for the bike ride. I was so excited to be experiencing the course. There were roadworks and closed roads in the center of the village which meant that we couldn’t do the bike course bit through the town but near enough. So, we all headed out. The first part was scary as it was a short downhill through town, across several intersections at a reasonable speed and there was lots of traffic about. Then off to experience the big downhill into Keene that I had heard so much about. But what a surprise. After pedalling for 10 minutes, Mary pulls up and tells Sarah and I who are riding together that in about 20 minutes we will get to do the downhill. I guess I expected it a lot sooner into the ride and those 20minutes were a trend of up hill and so hard. At one point it felt like I was pedalling and getting nowhere - turns out although it looked flat it was actually uphill. Anyway I thought that hill was a killer and really wondered what else the course had in store if this hadn’t even been mentioned.
The downhill was fantastic. It is in 3 sections with some flat bits in between so not completely downhill all the time. It was fast enough at over 40 mph that I felt uncomfortable (control wise) on my aero bars so used the drops. I love the speed though and even going over 40mph round the bend that advises max 35mph was fine. The only thing against it was that some of the earlier section had a bad road surface.
The next section was a slightly rolling then mostly flat ride to Jay. This bit was a nice place to just relax and pedal and enjoy the fantastic scenery. We then turned left to head up a mile hill towards Wilmington. Now that hurt and seemed endless. We stopped at the gas station by the turn off to the out and back to regroup and then off to the last 11 miles - the notorious ones with names of Big Cherry, Little Cherry, Mama Bear, Baby Bear and Papa Bear. By this time coach and the speedy boys were long gone and every hill we climbed we wondered if it was a named hill - of course we had no idea. Eventually we go round a corner and Peelee (Sarah, Peelee and I riding together) shouts “That’s Papa Bear - we turn at the top”. So a last burst of energy and Mary is at the top urging us on and directing us into the turn. Short bit back into town where Peelee manages to tangle with Mary at about 0.1mph and takes himself down doing a very impressive roll and a high kick holding his bike upside down in the air. All OK thank goodness. We had earned our pasta dinner.
Saturday - time to ride the whole course. My plan was to ride steady on the first loop and then try and push a bit harder on the second loop. Today I rode most of the time alone and I am happy with that - I wanted to dictate my own pace. There were quite a few people out riding the course though so you rarely felt alone which was nice and everyone was so friendly with nods and waves. The hill out of town felt easy both times that day because I was psychologically prepared for it. The downhill was great although there were a few hairy minutes as we started the descent because a police car came blasting by which meant that cars pulled into the side - right in front of us. Luckily they were aware of us, although I had to go around the outside of one because if I had jammed my brakes on I was sure I would have crashed. Luckily he saw me and all was OK. I pedalled rather than cruised the flat bit to Jay (I had cruised the evening before). The hill towards Wilmington was just as bad as the previous day unfortunately (despite expectations) - but part of that is because it is so frustrating when stronger riders whiz past you.
The out and back on the first loop was a lot hillier than I expected - we had been told that it was a good recovery bit before the last 11 hilly miles but I can tell you it has a few hills of its own, especially just before the end of the back. Of course second time round it didn’t seem so bad because I knew what to expect.
The last 11 miles were OK, just kept pedalling. At one point I spotted a faded CH and B and my warped brain decided that meant it was Child Bear, so I kept expecting Papa Bear just round the next corner - until I saw more writing saying Mama Bear - duh it must have been Cherry Big! Anyway first loop in 3hr 18mins (excluding water stop at gas station), average of over 16mph, felt fine, nutrition fine so very pleased. I refuelled at the car and set off on the second loop. I would have said I pushed a bit harder in some places on the second loop, certainly kept as steady a pace as first loop so I was surprised to find that the time for it was 3hr 34minutes. However the last 11 miles felt a lot harder because the wind had picked up against us and I actually had to stand up a couple of times because I ran out of gears rather than by choice to stretch - that hadn’t happened on the previous loop.
Eventually got back into town, changed into running shoes and shuffled around the lake for a short half hour run. The first 10minutes felt hard, then I settled into a rhythm. It felt slow but I knew I could have kept going (how long for - who knows but I know how long it will be in 8 weeks time!)
All in all a very satisfactory day and tales exchanged across the dinner table at another pasta dinner.
Sunday - I got up far too early to eat before our 3 hour run. I actually had muesli about an hour and a quarter before the start and didn’t feel any bad effects during the run which is useful to know. I ran with Sarah and Mary. They were running an easy pace (for them) and I knew I would have to work a bit harder to keep up but that was good for me. I usually run alone and it much easier to run faster with other people. We did 10min running, 1 min walking which was simulating aid stations. This was the first time I had done it and worked really well as I just had to focus on keeping going for 10minutes at a time. This was especially helpful for the 2 x10min tempo sections that we did! I was definitely not in a lower heart rate zone at the end of those. Anyway I managed to keep up although I struggled with the bigger hills so hopefully will work on this. We ran one complete loop of the Ironman course, walking up the hill into town on purpose. Mary told us that walking is just as fast as some people trying to run up it. We then headed back out to make it up to a total of 3 hours, ending in the famous oval. The only part I couldn’t keep up with them for was the last tempo section at the finish but I still got to finish in the oval. Next time I see it it going to look a lot different.
It was absolutely pouring down with rain for the last bit of our run so I got chilled very quickly and headed back to the hotel for a hot shower then breakfast before the long drive home.
Some notes for me to think about:
***I want to work on hills for both run and bike. I seem to recover quite quickly once up them but I would like them to feel easier/ be able to push harder during them.
***My nutrition plan worked well - gels, Gatorade and Jaffa cakes. I did have an extra half Power Bar at half way point on the bike and that seemed fine so may add that in. However as of right now, if you put them all in front of me, the only thing I could face eating/ drinking would be the Jaffa cakes. I have had a weekend overload of the rest!
*** I used a salt stick, attached to the underside of my top tube on the bike. However when pulling my water bottle out of its cage I sometimes knocked this - and the first time it actually fell off and I had to stop. Even after that when I was aware of the problem I still knocked it a few times. Not sure what to do about that yet.
*** Gels make everything a bit sticky. I guess during the actual race that won’t matter so much because there will be an abundant supply of water to rinse off with.
*** Peeing on the bike (stop reading here if this grosses you out). I had never done this before but several people said it is OK after you get over doing it the first time. I tried on the first loop but nothing happened. I was half way through the second loop thinking that I must have so much stored up before I managed to actually relax enough to do this….and oh boy there was so much I thought it would never stop - I kept looking behind me in case anyone was catching up and seeing. It was OK to do but when I got back to the hotel I found I had a rash which I was reliably informed was chafing. I (being lucky person clearly) had never chafed from bike shorts before so I wonder if the pee had anything to do with it. Have to think about this as I am competitive enough (with myself) to not want to take extra time to stop on race day.
*** the psychological effect of seeing (and experiencing) the course is beyond words. I am prepared and I can’t wait! I know I can do this and the next few weeks before taper are going to be icing on the cake for me - to grow stronger and get faster.
8 WEEKS TO GO
Scheduled hours: 17hrs 00mins
Actual hours: 18hrs 31mins
Where do I start? I have been pondering how much detail to write about this. But, at the end of the day I decided that this is my journal (which I was persuaded to put online) and it is the thing I am going to look back at in future years so I am going to go mad with the detail. So, apologies in advance for anyone reading this - you are likely to get bored silly.
The Lake Placid weekend dominated training this week but the first part of the week was also training (no complete day off this week) with a masters swim and a zone 3 bike workout amongst other things. Also my first very hot run of the year. It was an hour recovery run but it felt really hard at well over 80 degrees. I took the dog and stopped twice so she could jump in the canal to cool off and I was as grateful for the stops as she was….but on to the weekend…
Friday - I set off after I had put the boys on the school bus and made it to the hotel in around 5 hours. I was first of our group by a few seconds but shortly afterwards people started to arrive. Mary (coach) decided she was going out for a short run and all who had so far arrived got caught up in the enthusiasm and went with her. We ran from our hotel into Lake Placid village and around Mirror Lake, a total of just over 50 minutes. It was really great to see all the various landmarks that we will come to know so well at the Ironman race. We also ran up the hill into the village that is part of the run course and the hill we would be walking (on purpose) on the Sunday. So, even though I have no intention running it on the big day at least I can tell myself I have done it!
Mirror Lake was smaller than I expected. I suppose I am used to seeing the bigger Finger Lakes. You can jog around it on a handy red brick path in about 25minutes. The path goes right through the village center. Very pleasant. Lake Placid village itself reminded me of the European ski resorts and was very pretty, especially with the background of Whiteface mountain. Restaurants and café’s and lots of people around made it bustling and alive, completely unlike most towns I have so far experienced in America.
Anyway, after running back to the hotel we changed and headed out to the meeting point in town for the bike ride. I was so excited to be experiencing the course. There were roadworks and closed roads in the center of the village which meant that we couldn’t do the bike course bit through the town but near enough. So, we all headed out. The first part was scary as it was a short downhill through town, across several intersections at a reasonable speed and there was lots of traffic about. Then off to experience the big downhill into Keene that I had heard so much about. But what a surprise. After pedalling for 10 minutes, Mary pulls up and tells Sarah and I who are riding together that in about 20 minutes we will get to do the downhill. I guess I expected it a lot sooner into the ride and those 20minutes were a trend of up hill and so hard. At one point it felt like I was pedalling and getting nowhere - turns out although it looked flat it was actually uphill. Anyway I thought that hill was a killer and really wondered what else the course had in store if this hadn’t even been mentioned.
The downhill was fantastic. It is in 3 sections with some flat bits in between so not completely downhill all the time. It was fast enough at over 40 mph that I felt uncomfortable (control wise) on my aero bars so used the drops. I love the speed though and even going over 40mph round the bend that advises max 35mph was fine. The only thing against it was that some of the earlier section had a bad road surface.
The next section was a slightly rolling then mostly flat ride to Jay. This bit was a nice place to just relax and pedal and enjoy the fantastic scenery. We then turned left to head up a mile hill towards Wilmington. Now that hurt and seemed endless. We stopped at the gas station by the turn off to the out and back to regroup and then off to the last 11 miles - the notorious ones with names of Big Cherry, Little Cherry, Mama Bear, Baby Bear and Papa Bear. By this time coach and the speedy boys were long gone and every hill we climbed we wondered if it was a named hill - of course we had no idea. Eventually we go round a corner and Peelee (Sarah, Peelee and I riding together) shouts “That’s Papa Bear - we turn at the top”. So a last burst of energy and Mary is at the top urging us on and directing us into the turn. Short bit back into town where Peelee manages to tangle with Mary at about 0.1mph and takes himself down doing a very impressive roll and a high kick holding his bike upside down in the air. All OK thank goodness. We had earned our pasta dinner.
Saturday - time to ride the whole course. My plan was to ride steady on the first loop and then try and push a bit harder on the second loop. Today I rode most of the time alone and I am happy with that - I wanted to dictate my own pace. There were quite a few people out riding the course though so you rarely felt alone which was nice and everyone was so friendly with nods and waves. The hill out of town felt easy both times that day because I was psychologically prepared for it. The downhill was great although there were a few hairy minutes as we started the descent because a police car came blasting by which meant that cars pulled into the side - right in front of us. Luckily they were aware of us, although I had to go around the outside of one because if I had jammed my brakes on I was sure I would have crashed. Luckily he saw me and all was OK. I pedalled rather than cruised the flat bit to Jay (I had cruised the evening before). The hill towards Wilmington was just as bad as the previous day unfortunately (despite expectations) - but part of that is because it is so frustrating when stronger riders whiz past you.
The out and back on the first loop was a lot hillier than I expected - we had been told that it was a good recovery bit before the last 11 hilly miles but I can tell you it has a few hills of its own, especially just before the end of the back. Of course second time round it didn’t seem so bad because I knew what to expect.
The last 11 miles were OK, just kept pedalling. At one point I spotted a faded CH and B and my warped brain decided that meant it was Child Bear, so I kept expecting Papa Bear just round the next corner - until I saw more writing saying Mama Bear - duh it must have been Cherry Big! Anyway first loop in 3hr 18mins (excluding water stop at gas station), average of over 16mph, felt fine, nutrition fine so very pleased. I refuelled at the car and set off on the second loop. I would have said I pushed a bit harder in some places on the second loop, certainly kept as steady a pace as first loop so I was surprised to find that the time for it was 3hr 34minutes. However the last 11 miles felt a lot harder because the wind had picked up against us and I actually had to stand up a couple of times because I ran out of gears rather than by choice to stretch - that hadn’t happened on the previous loop.
Eventually got back into town, changed into running shoes and shuffled around the lake for a short half hour run. The first 10minutes felt hard, then I settled into a rhythm. It felt slow but I knew I could have kept going (how long for - who knows but I know how long it will be in 8 weeks time!)
All in all a very satisfactory day and tales exchanged across the dinner table at another pasta dinner.
Sunday - I got up far too early to eat before our 3 hour run. I actually had muesli about an hour and a quarter before the start and didn’t feel any bad effects during the run which is useful to know. I ran with Sarah and Mary. They were running an easy pace (for them) and I knew I would have to work a bit harder to keep up but that was good for me. I usually run alone and it much easier to run faster with other people. We did 10min running, 1 min walking which was simulating aid stations. This was the first time I had done it and worked really well as I just had to focus on keeping going for 10minutes at a time. This was especially helpful for the 2 x10min tempo sections that we did! I was definitely not in a lower heart rate zone at the end of those. Anyway I managed to keep up although I struggled with the bigger hills so hopefully will work on this. We ran one complete loop of the Ironman course, walking up the hill into town on purpose. Mary told us that walking is just as fast as some people trying to run up it. We then headed back out to make it up to a total of 3 hours, ending in the famous oval. The only part I couldn’t keep up with them for was the last tempo section at the finish but I still got to finish in the oval. Next time I see it it going to look a lot different.
It was absolutely pouring down with rain for the last bit of our run so I got chilled very quickly and headed back to the hotel for a hot shower then breakfast before the long drive home.
Some notes for me to think about:
***I want to work on hills for both run and bike. I seem to recover quite quickly once up them but I would like them to feel easier/ be able to push harder during them.
***My nutrition plan worked well - gels, Gatorade and Jaffa cakes. I did have an extra half Power Bar at half way point on the bike and that seemed fine so may add that in. However as of right now, if you put them all in front of me, the only thing I could face eating/ drinking would be the Jaffa cakes. I have had a weekend overload of the rest!
*** I used a salt stick, attached to the underside of my top tube on the bike. However when pulling my water bottle out of its cage I sometimes knocked this - and the first time it actually fell off and I had to stop. Even after that when I was aware of the problem I still knocked it a few times. Not sure what to do about that yet.
*** Gels make everything a bit sticky. I guess during the actual race that won’t matter so much because there will be an abundant supply of water to rinse off with.
*** Peeing on the bike (stop reading here if this grosses you out). I had never done this before but several people said it is OK after you get over doing it the first time. I tried on the first loop but nothing happened. I was half way through the second loop thinking that I must have so much stored up before I managed to actually relax enough to do this….and oh boy there was so much I thought it would never stop - I kept looking behind me in case anyone was catching up and seeing. It was OK to do but when I got back to the hotel I found I had a rash which I was reliably informed was chafing. I (being lucky person clearly) had never chafed from bike shorts before so I wonder if the pee had anything to do with it. Have to think about this as I am competitive enough (with myself) to not want to take extra time to stop on race day.
*** the psychological effect of seeing (and experiencing) the course is beyond words. I am prepared and I can’t wait! I know I can do this and the next few weeks before taper are going to be icing on the cake for me - to grow stronger and get faster.
8 WEEKS TO GO
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Jackie D - Week 35
Week 35 - starting Monday 14 May 2007
Scheduled hours: 6hrs 35mins
Actual hours: 6hrs 44mins
Most “normal” people would think a recovery week was a nice break and an enjoyable experience. But, I have had so many highs and lows this week I am quite glad to be going back into another proper week of training next week.
The major factor influencing my mood this week has been my eating (again!). I think I may be the only person who trains for an Ironman and actually gains weight. I am unlikely to lose any which is a shame. Ha ha ha and I was worried at the beginning of this that my wetsuit would be too big for me this year!
The other thing was that I didn’t feel too well for a couple of days (not related to eating!). I think when I relax from the training a bit, any bugs or things out there just jump on me - a bit like how people find that they are healthy at work and relax on a vacation week and they get some virus. This doesn’t bode well for taper now does it?! However, I reckon I am so fit and healthy I can fight stuff off with minimal time - that’s what I am going to tell myself.
Anyway this week workouts have been about one a day with nothing over an hour. Two of them this week were “spoilt” by my bad eating. An easy bike was turned into an uncomfortable tummy ache on the bike after eating too much at lunchtime (good stuff just too much of it). Then during one of my swims I got cramp in my toes after 35 minutes and I just couldn’t get rid of it. I haven’t had cramp like that for years and years and I can only put it down to bingeing all afternoon. Anyway I was so cross with myself and so determined to complete my hour workout time that I used a pull buoy and just did mostly pull with a few other things mixed in when the cramp eased. Aaaaarrggh. Hopefully lesson learned.
There were some good bits though. I did a z2-3 bike ride and got my highest average training pace of 18.0mph on a rolling course. OK I did go above z3 a bit on the hills but the instructions were “mostly z2-3”.
I felt a bit sore (good sore) the day after a run for the first time in months. The run was an easy run with some pick ups in the middle. My last workout of the week is a an easy run with some uphill and downhill strides - that was today so I am expecting to feel some more good soreness tomorrow. I like that - it shows that I am progressing.
Also another brick this week (a short, easy one) but the run felt harder than I expected. A few more of these will hopefully ease that feeling.
Next week is Lake Placid weekend. Yippee - I am so excited. I got a newsletter from North American Sports this week which mentioned a camp for the kids during Ironman week and race day. That sounds like a really good idea to me. When I mentioned it to Fred he agreed and then figured I wouldn’t be there much so wondered if there was a fun camp for lonely spouses too! That’s called a pub/bar isn’t it?
9 WEEKS TO GO (single figures YIKES)
Scheduled hours: 6hrs 35mins
Actual hours: 6hrs 44mins
Most “normal” people would think a recovery week was a nice break and an enjoyable experience. But, I have had so many highs and lows this week I am quite glad to be going back into another proper week of training next week.
The major factor influencing my mood this week has been my eating (again!). I think I may be the only person who trains for an Ironman and actually gains weight. I am unlikely to lose any which is a shame. Ha ha ha and I was worried at the beginning of this that my wetsuit would be too big for me this year!
The other thing was that I didn’t feel too well for a couple of days (not related to eating!). I think when I relax from the training a bit, any bugs or things out there just jump on me - a bit like how people find that they are healthy at work and relax on a vacation week and they get some virus. This doesn’t bode well for taper now does it?! However, I reckon I am so fit and healthy I can fight stuff off with minimal time - that’s what I am going to tell myself.
Anyway this week workouts have been about one a day with nothing over an hour. Two of them this week were “spoilt” by my bad eating. An easy bike was turned into an uncomfortable tummy ache on the bike after eating too much at lunchtime (good stuff just too much of it). Then during one of my swims I got cramp in my toes after 35 minutes and I just couldn’t get rid of it. I haven’t had cramp like that for years and years and I can only put it down to bingeing all afternoon. Anyway I was so cross with myself and so determined to complete my hour workout time that I used a pull buoy and just did mostly pull with a few other things mixed in when the cramp eased. Aaaaarrggh. Hopefully lesson learned.
There were some good bits though. I did a z2-3 bike ride and got my highest average training pace of 18.0mph on a rolling course. OK I did go above z3 a bit on the hills but the instructions were “mostly z2-3”.
I felt a bit sore (good sore) the day after a run for the first time in months. The run was an easy run with some pick ups in the middle. My last workout of the week is a an easy run with some uphill and downhill strides - that was today so I am expecting to feel some more good soreness tomorrow. I like that - it shows that I am progressing.
Also another brick this week (a short, easy one) but the run felt harder than I expected. A few more of these will hopefully ease that feeling.
Next week is Lake Placid weekend. Yippee - I am so excited. I got a newsletter from North American Sports this week which mentioned a camp for the kids during Ironman week and race day. That sounds like a really good idea to me. When I mentioned it to Fred he agreed and then figured I wouldn’t be there much so wondered if there was a fun camp for lonely spouses too! That’s called a pub/bar isn’t it?
9 WEEKS TO GO (single figures YIKES)
Monday, May 14, 2007
Marian, May 14th, 2007
When i woke up today, I was still feeling pretty sore after a big training weekend. So far, this is the most I've done in one weekend, but that will keep changing in the weeks to come. Saturday, we biked around Canadaigua Lake. Everyone says that riding around that lake is worse than riding the Lake Placid course. So, I felt a little nervous that morning packing all my nutrition. i know when I'm really nervous because it's the only time when I don't want to eat in the morning. That's very rare this days. I forced down a bagle and packed the Carbo pro in gateorade and the gels and the marathon and clif bars. I will try to eat solids today. We drove out and started the ride before traffic (around 7 am). Than we finally hit Miller Hill. It seemed to go on forever. Itried to keep talking to not think about it, but it seemed all i could say was "Are we there yet?" When we made it to the top I felt like I could ride forever. Nothing would be harder than this. Spoke too soon. My wonderful husband who knows all too well that I am terrified of downhills decided to change our route a little bit to accomodate a, what he calls, "crazy monkey descent". It was crazy. I stayed behind as the rest of the group went on ahead. It veered left, then right. I was long and two trucks we trying to pass us. A cyclist was coming up the hill, he waved hello, I think I smiled, I don't know if I answered. I did in my head but don't know if it was out loud. Then, the worst thing of all, the downhill ends in STOP sign. My hands were clamy and my feet were numb. I heard clapping at the bottom when I made it in one piece. Smooth sailing after that. We finished the ride with the Olympic distance course of Finger Lakes Tri. The ride was 4 hours and 41 minutes long. Soon, we will be going up Miller hill twice in one ride, and the scary part is that what goes up, must come down.
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Jackie D - Week 34
Week 34 - starting Monday 7 May 2007
Scheduled hours: 14hrs 30mins
Actual hours: 14hrs 50mins
Still feeling good! However, at the end of this week after my long bike and long run in particular, my legs feel tired and I think this must be one of the few occasions where I am actually glad it is recovery week next week.
I did my long bike on my own this week. It felt harder than last week but I am sure there are lots of reasons for it - lack of company, started off feeling a bit more achey, hillier route and slightly faster pace. I went into new territory and at one point found myself cycling up hill (thankfully not too steep) for over 10 minutes. I was so looking forward to the downhill that must come afterwards. Then towards the top a big dog came out of its yard and started chasing me for a while. That was quite unnerving. There is a dog in my neighbourhood that does this but it is a lot smaller and although I try and avoid it, the size makes me think I could fight it off with my feet if need be, but this one was Alsatian size. Anyway thankfully it was near the top of an incline so I speeded up and just kept shouting “NO” at it and it eventually gave up. The big downhill was such a disappointment. It was a surface that every 20 metres or so there was a gap/bump in the road so it was an uncomfortable descent. Oh well!
I did my long run the day after the bike. Up until now I have kept these 2 a few days apart on purpose. I know, I know that the real event has them back to back but I have a bit of an “ostrich head in the sand” attitude at the moment to that. I did a couple of different loops from my house for this one so that I could take the dog for half of it (thought it a bit much to take her for the whole 3 hours). This actually worked very well because I could restock with drinks, gels, bathroom break at half way point. I will definitely consider doing this again.
A couple of good sessions ended my training week this week. An hour bike with Heart rate mostly in Zone 3. I did this on normal, rolling hill roads (meaning not the nice flat canal path) and was delighted to see an average speed just over 17mph. That maybe low for some, especially men but for a training ride with hills on it - that is fast for me! The last session was a 5k running race on Sunday. I was unsure about whether to do this or not given the short distance compared with training. But, last year, this was my first running race ever, and I wanted to see if I could beat last years time. I have to admit to being a bit concerned that I wouldn’t as I have been doing such a lot of long, slow stuff. However, I ran the 5k in 22:43 (compared to 24:41 last year) which is a 7:20/mile pace. Amazing! I never knew I could run so fast. I couldn’t have run further or faster - this was max! Never the less I am very happy to see the improvement.
Recovery week next week. I may even be able to get some gardening done.
10 WEEKS TO GO
Scheduled hours: 14hrs 30mins
Actual hours: 14hrs 50mins
Still feeling good! However, at the end of this week after my long bike and long run in particular, my legs feel tired and I think this must be one of the few occasions where I am actually glad it is recovery week next week.
I did my long bike on my own this week. It felt harder than last week but I am sure there are lots of reasons for it - lack of company, started off feeling a bit more achey, hillier route and slightly faster pace. I went into new territory and at one point found myself cycling up hill (thankfully not too steep) for over 10 minutes. I was so looking forward to the downhill that must come afterwards. Then towards the top a big dog came out of its yard and started chasing me for a while. That was quite unnerving. There is a dog in my neighbourhood that does this but it is a lot smaller and although I try and avoid it, the size makes me think I could fight it off with my feet if need be, but this one was Alsatian size. Anyway thankfully it was near the top of an incline so I speeded up and just kept shouting “NO” at it and it eventually gave up. The big downhill was such a disappointment. It was a surface that every 20 metres or so there was a gap/bump in the road so it was an uncomfortable descent. Oh well!
I did my long run the day after the bike. Up until now I have kept these 2 a few days apart on purpose. I know, I know that the real event has them back to back but I have a bit of an “ostrich head in the sand” attitude at the moment to that. I did a couple of different loops from my house for this one so that I could take the dog for half of it (thought it a bit much to take her for the whole 3 hours). This actually worked very well because I could restock with drinks, gels, bathroom break at half way point. I will definitely consider doing this again.
A couple of good sessions ended my training week this week. An hour bike with Heart rate mostly in Zone 3. I did this on normal, rolling hill roads (meaning not the nice flat canal path) and was delighted to see an average speed just over 17mph. That maybe low for some, especially men but for a training ride with hills on it - that is fast for me! The last session was a 5k running race on Sunday. I was unsure about whether to do this or not given the short distance compared with training. But, last year, this was my first running race ever, and I wanted to see if I could beat last years time. I have to admit to being a bit concerned that I wouldn’t as I have been doing such a lot of long, slow stuff. However, I ran the 5k in 22:43 (compared to 24:41 last year) which is a 7:20/mile pace. Amazing! I never knew I could run so fast. I couldn’t have run further or faster - this was max! Never the less I am very happy to see the improvement.
Recovery week next week. I may even be able to get some gardening done.
10 WEEKS TO GO
Sunday, May 6, 2007
Jackie D - Week 33
Week 33 - starting Monday 30 April 2007
Scheduled hours: 14hrs 30mins
Actual hours: 14hrs 49mins
I feel good! I feel that if the Ironman was next week I’d be able to do it! Hope that isn’t false confidence. I haven’t quite trained the distances yet but on both my long bike and long run this week felt that I could have gone further.
I really enjoyed my long bike this week. It was 5 hours and I went out on a new route with another IMLP co-trainee. It made a really nice change and she has some lovely surfaced roads around her place with very little traffic. I am calling it my “Lakes and Mountains” ride as we rode to Bristol Mountain and back and then up to Lake Ontario and back. BUT the best part of this workout was that I think I have nailed the bike nutrition. I had a gel every 30 minutes (previously I had tried 45mins), plus 8oz Gatorade plus water each hour. Plus a jaffa cake and salt tablet on each 45mins. No energy ups and downs at all and could have gone further. Getting enough water could have been a problem but our ride was a very civilised one that took us past gas stations for refills when needed - not to mention potty breaks! I have consciously made a decision to keep off the protein (after reading “Nutrition for Endurance athletes” ) and think Jaffa cakes for top ups might do the trick. Very little protein, lots carbs and cals, tangy taste and soft so easy to eat. Only problem was they got a bit crumbly by the end but think if I keep them in (or taped to) my bento box instead of back pocket this might help with that problem.
My 3 hour long run was nearly as good - on a sunny Saturday afternoon and I purposely went along some roads with some hills as it is far too easy for me to usually stick to flat canal path. I think I am nearly OK with nutrition here. Again gels every 30 minutes plus Gatorade and water. I was a bit gassy (bit too much detail???) but once I upped my water intake that seemed to get much better so will try that next time. I just need to remember to plan my training routes around places where I can refill my water bottles as I was rationing water a bit.
My swims were done on my own this week during the day as Fred was out of town on business. I did the masters workouts though and all went fine.
All in all a good week and the schedule repeats next week so I hope I am feeling this good at the end of it.
11 WEEKS TO
Scheduled hours: 14hrs 30mins
Actual hours: 14hrs 49mins
I feel good! I feel that if the Ironman was next week I’d be able to do it! Hope that isn’t false confidence. I haven’t quite trained the distances yet but on both my long bike and long run this week felt that I could have gone further.
I really enjoyed my long bike this week. It was 5 hours and I went out on a new route with another IMLP co-trainee. It made a really nice change and she has some lovely surfaced roads around her place with very little traffic. I am calling it my “Lakes and Mountains” ride as we rode to Bristol Mountain and back and then up to Lake Ontario and back. BUT the best part of this workout was that I think I have nailed the bike nutrition. I had a gel every 30 minutes (previously I had tried 45mins), plus 8oz Gatorade plus water each hour. Plus a jaffa cake and salt tablet on each 45mins. No energy ups and downs at all and could have gone further. Getting enough water could have been a problem but our ride was a very civilised one that took us past gas stations for refills when needed - not to mention potty breaks! I have consciously made a decision to keep off the protein (after reading “Nutrition for Endurance athletes” ) and think Jaffa cakes for top ups might do the trick. Very little protein, lots carbs and cals, tangy taste and soft so easy to eat. Only problem was they got a bit crumbly by the end but think if I keep them in (or taped to) my bento box instead of back pocket this might help with that problem.
My 3 hour long run was nearly as good - on a sunny Saturday afternoon and I purposely went along some roads with some hills as it is far too easy for me to usually stick to flat canal path. I think I am nearly OK with nutrition here. Again gels every 30 minutes plus Gatorade and water. I was a bit gassy (bit too much detail???) but once I upped my water intake that seemed to get much better so will try that next time. I just need to remember to plan my training routes around places where I can refill my water bottles as I was rationing water a bit.
My swims were done on my own this week during the day as Fred was out of town on business. I did the masters workouts though and all went fine.
All in all a good week and the schedule repeats next week so I hope I am feeling this good at the end of it.
11 WEEKS TO
Friday, May 4, 2007
Marian, May 4th, 2007
Hopefully I don't post this twice since I seem to have a tendency to do that, sorry to the readers.
Well, this week was the first Brick of the year. Holly cow did my legs feel it! It was Thursday morning which was the nicest day outside. The bike went fine, I did 14 miles and then transitioned into the run. I did it as fast as possible, had the shoes and hat together and some gel ready to go. i did run inside for a potty break before the run. The first 5 minutes were sooo hard. I know I was going quite slow but after that, I started to pick up the pace and get a little more comfortable. I kept the whole thing pretty flat. i'll do the same route on next weeks brick and see if there is any difference.
In other news, I had a message on my phone that the new cassette for bike came in. Rolando will pick it up tonight so that tomorrow, when I have to ride 4.5 hours I'll have a 27 instead of the 23 I have now. looking forward to that all day today. I never ridden with a 27, my road bike has a 25 but I've never gone more than 2 hours on it. It will be great to have it before going to bike in canandaigua next weekend and deffenetly great to have it before weekend at Lake Placid.
I'm really starting to get the butterflies in my stomach every time I look at the countdown clock, weekend at placid will relly help to settle down my anxiety and my doubts about the bike course, or who knows, maybe it will just get worse.
Well, this week was the first Brick of the year. Holly cow did my legs feel it! It was Thursday morning which was the nicest day outside. The bike went fine, I did 14 miles and then transitioned into the run. I did it as fast as possible, had the shoes and hat together and some gel ready to go. i did run inside for a potty break before the run. The first 5 minutes were sooo hard. I know I was going quite slow but after that, I started to pick up the pace and get a little more comfortable. I kept the whole thing pretty flat. i'll do the same route on next weeks brick and see if there is any difference.
In other news, I had a message on my phone that the new cassette for bike came in. Rolando will pick it up tonight so that tomorrow, when I have to ride 4.5 hours I'll have a 27 instead of the 23 I have now. looking forward to that all day today. I never ridden with a 27, my road bike has a 25 but I've never gone more than 2 hours on it. It will be great to have it before going to bike in canandaigua next weekend and deffenetly great to have it before weekend at Lake Placid.
I'm really starting to get the butterflies in my stomach every time I look at the countdown clock, weekend at placid will relly help to settle down my anxiety and my doubts about the bike course, or who knows, maybe it will just get worse.
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Jackie D - Week 32
Week 32 - starting Monday 23 April 2007
Scheduled hours: 13hrs 30mins
Actual hours: 14hrs 02mins
Pretty much on schedule this week - difference is masters swimming sessions tend to be 15mins more than scheduled swims. No big deal. Swimming felt good this week and I think it may be something to do with the fact that I ate a gel just before I went. I am considering taking a sports drink to put at end of pool. I know I won’t have that for the event (I wonder if there are drinks after the first loop?) but if it makes my training more productive then surely that must be a good thing.
A frustrating day was had on Wednesday. Due to some school commitments I can’t do my long ride on Friday so decided to do it Wednesday. I even checked the weather forecast (not that that would have stopped me!) and it said about 50F and cloudy but no rain until the evening. I packed up my bike with gels and aerobar water bottle filled with Gatorade etc etc and headed out towards Honoeye Lake as soon as the school buses had departed. Within about half an hour a few spots of rain started falling - not significant but would be later. At just over an hour, having bumped through the roadworks at Honoeye Falls I felt like I was bouncing on the bike. Weird feeling. I stopped and I saw I had a slowish puncture in the back tyre which must have been the cause. No big deal I thought, I really need the practice of changing flat tyres out on the road as I hadn’t done one successfully to date (yes at home, but not out whilst riding). So, I took my time, went through the procedure, struggled to get the tyre back on but all looked good. For some reason my brain must have seized and it took me AGES to figure out how to get the back wheel back on but eventually I loaded up again and off I went. BTW 3 cars stopped to offer help/ride - what nice people. Raining pretty hard by now. Every time the wheel went round it went like I was going over a bump. Uh oh! So I stop and see a tell tale sign of the tyre not properly on at the valve area and think, must have pinched the tube. Nothing for it but to get off, unload and take the darn wheel off again. I decide if I let some air out then I will be able to rectify the problem and then pump it back up with my second (and smaller and last) CO2 cartridge. Well, success, I manage to get the tube and tyre looking good and get the CO2 in and well, the tyre is a bit softer than I would like but all good. So, I decide to change my route. Instead of keeping heading south, I decide to back track and go across to Mendon and see the nice man at MendonCyclesmith to pump up the pressure and to buy another spare tube. Great plan. I am cold and soaked (I never knew CO2 was so cold either) but still determined that I can make my 4 hours. Ten minutes later the bike feels funny again and I have another flat just as I am heading back out of Honoeye Falls. At this point I only have a patch repair kit and no way to pump tyre up and it is pouring down and I decide to call it a day. Something niggles in my mind that there is a cycle shop somewhere around but I think it is heading out on a road I am not on and too far to walk in cycle shoes. So I call in the rescue party - darling hubby who I call out of a meeting with the big bosses over from UK (oops - I guess he does love me so!). Meanwhile I am shivering uncontrollably (it is OK whilst moving but having spent 50 minutes in total sitting on the side of a road trying to “do my repairs” I am now cold - the weather man was SO wrong), so I waddle up to a diner to go and have a coffee. Lucky I am in a town really. But, I see that there is no where to leave my bike where I can keep my eye on it and I would rather stay in the rain than risk that (am I mad?). So, I try a sub/ pizza place. They don’t have any hot drinks, I can’t face anything cold or anything to eat so I ask if I can sit in to keep warm until my ride arrives. The owner (I think) then takes pity on me and brews me up a coffee specially. What a nice man! I am rescued and will have to try for this ride again the next day or at the weekend. Hubby drops me off at home with instructions to take a nice hot bath. I put dry clothes on - consult my schedule, all is not lost - and head for the gym! Later I head for the bike shop and tell them my woes. I get a new back tyre as well as some more tubes and the man offers to change it for me. NO I say, I really do need the practice. But he is an angel. He says “Why don’t you do it here and then I can watch and give you some pointers?” Of course I leap gratefully at this idea and so I have had a flat tyre changing lesson. Thank you so much. Still yet to do one successfully out on the road though which is a bit worrying.
After the above I rescheduled my long ride for the weekend and managed to do it with no flats. I did about 4 loops relatively close to home though, just needed to do that psychologically. 4 hours, embarrassingly slow pace of just over 15mph (but it was raining, again, windy and grey) BUT that is my longest ride ever. Hopefully I’ll be saying that again next week.
My week finished off with a Breakthrough run. It was only some zone 3 work but it felt good and I feel good and am eager for next week.
12 WEEKS TO GO
Scheduled hours: 13hrs 30mins
Actual hours: 14hrs 02mins
Pretty much on schedule this week - difference is masters swimming sessions tend to be 15mins more than scheduled swims. No big deal. Swimming felt good this week and I think it may be something to do with the fact that I ate a gel just before I went. I am considering taking a sports drink to put at end of pool. I know I won’t have that for the event (I wonder if there are drinks after the first loop?) but if it makes my training more productive then surely that must be a good thing.
A frustrating day was had on Wednesday. Due to some school commitments I can’t do my long ride on Friday so decided to do it Wednesday. I even checked the weather forecast (not that that would have stopped me!) and it said about 50F and cloudy but no rain until the evening. I packed up my bike with gels and aerobar water bottle filled with Gatorade etc etc and headed out towards Honoeye Lake as soon as the school buses had departed. Within about half an hour a few spots of rain started falling - not significant but would be later. At just over an hour, having bumped through the roadworks at Honoeye Falls I felt like I was bouncing on the bike. Weird feeling. I stopped and I saw I had a slowish puncture in the back tyre which must have been the cause. No big deal I thought, I really need the practice of changing flat tyres out on the road as I hadn’t done one successfully to date (yes at home, but not out whilst riding). So, I took my time, went through the procedure, struggled to get the tyre back on but all looked good. For some reason my brain must have seized and it took me AGES to figure out how to get the back wheel back on but eventually I loaded up again and off I went. BTW 3 cars stopped to offer help/ride - what nice people. Raining pretty hard by now. Every time the wheel went round it went like I was going over a bump. Uh oh! So I stop and see a tell tale sign of the tyre not properly on at the valve area and think, must have pinched the tube. Nothing for it but to get off, unload and take the darn wheel off again. I decide if I let some air out then I will be able to rectify the problem and then pump it back up with my second (and smaller and last) CO2 cartridge. Well, success, I manage to get the tube and tyre looking good and get the CO2 in and well, the tyre is a bit softer than I would like but all good. So, I decide to change my route. Instead of keeping heading south, I decide to back track and go across to Mendon and see the nice man at MendonCyclesmith to pump up the pressure and to buy another spare tube. Great plan. I am cold and soaked (I never knew CO2 was so cold either) but still determined that I can make my 4 hours. Ten minutes later the bike feels funny again and I have another flat just as I am heading back out of Honoeye Falls. At this point I only have a patch repair kit and no way to pump tyre up and it is pouring down and I decide to call it a day. Something niggles in my mind that there is a cycle shop somewhere around but I think it is heading out on a road I am not on and too far to walk in cycle shoes. So I call in the rescue party - darling hubby who I call out of a meeting with the big bosses over from UK (oops - I guess he does love me so!). Meanwhile I am shivering uncontrollably (it is OK whilst moving but having spent 50 minutes in total sitting on the side of a road trying to “do my repairs” I am now cold - the weather man was SO wrong), so I waddle up to a diner to go and have a coffee. Lucky I am in a town really. But, I see that there is no where to leave my bike where I can keep my eye on it and I would rather stay in the rain than risk that (am I mad?). So, I try a sub/ pizza place. They don’t have any hot drinks, I can’t face anything cold or anything to eat so I ask if I can sit in to keep warm until my ride arrives. The owner (I think) then takes pity on me and brews me up a coffee specially. What a nice man! I am rescued and will have to try for this ride again the next day or at the weekend. Hubby drops me off at home with instructions to take a nice hot bath. I put dry clothes on - consult my schedule, all is not lost - and head for the gym! Later I head for the bike shop and tell them my woes. I get a new back tyre as well as some more tubes and the man offers to change it for me. NO I say, I really do need the practice. But he is an angel. He says “Why don’t you do it here and then I can watch and give you some pointers?” Of course I leap gratefully at this idea and so I have had a flat tyre changing lesson. Thank you so much. Still yet to do one successfully out on the road though which is a bit worrying.
After the above I rescheduled my long ride for the weekend and managed to do it with no flats. I did about 4 loops relatively close to home though, just needed to do that psychologically. 4 hours, embarrassingly slow pace of just over 15mph (but it was raining, again, windy and grey) BUT that is my longest ride ever. Hopefully I’ll be saying that again next week.
My week finished off with a Breakthrough run. It was only some zone 3 work but it felt good and I feel good and am eager for next week.
12 WEEKS TO GO
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