Ieeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm excited, nervous, and excited and nervous (oh! and scared) all at once!!!
Ieeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Mmmm SUN!
There is something about beautiful weather to make training fun and enjoyable (der - yeah that statement was so profound - hello Captain Obvious)! And yet even though that statement is totally obvious, I always find myself shocked that I actually enjoy training when it's nice outside. When the sun is shining, I have no problem throwing on my shoes and going for a run or a bike ride (no layers, no rain gear, no problems!). When the weather is not so nice, I forget why I like to train. I forget that I even LIKE training!! I should probably move back down to California where I can really train year round with minimal crappy weather.
I went for a run today and was just really enjoying being outside. I was lost in thought, enjoying the flowers and just moving along. I decided that if I can take this mentality into race day, then I will have fun no matter WHAT happens!! It will just be a nice day to be outside for 17 hours, that's all! No biggie! (Yeah, keep telling yourself that Kel!)
I also find it funny the kinds of songs that I will get stuck in my head during a long swim, bike, or run. Like today for example, I was running up a hill and needed a BIG distraction so I would keep going. I found myself singing an old childhood song that I just changed the words to in order to fit what I was doing:
"One little, two little, three little steps; four little, five little, six little steps; seven little, eight little, nine little steps; ten little steps up the hill!"
The song was totally catchy and the next thing I knew, I was up the hill. A few blocks later, I found myself still singing the song - yep, the song was officially stuck in my head.
Tomorrow: an 80+ mile bike up to the top of Larch and back down.
Only four more weeks until my Ironman race (YES! This beast will almost be over with!! I'm so ready to get on with my life and not have this race hanging over my head! Ugh, it's half ironman races and half marathons for me from here on out!! [You're probably thinking, "yeah right Kelly." And you may be right.])
I went for a run today and was just really enjoying being outside. I was lost in thought, enjoying the flowers and just moving along. I decided that if I can take this mentality into race day, then I will have fun no matter WHAT happens!! It will just be a nice day to be outside for 17 hours, that's all! No biggie! (Yeah, keep telling yourself that Kel!)
I also find it funny the kinds of songs that I will get stuck in my head during a long swim, bike, or run. Like today for example, I was running up a hill and needed a BIG distraction so I would keep going. I found myself singing an old childhood song that I just changed the words to in order to fit what I was doing:
"One little, two little, three little steps; four little, five little, six little steps; seven little, eight little, nine little steps; ten little steps up the hill!"
The song was totally catchy and the next thing I knew, I was up the hill. A few blocks later, I found myself still singing the song - yep, the song was officially stuck in my head.
Tomorrow: an 80+ mile bike up to the top of Larch and back down.
Only four more weeks until my Ironman race (YES! This beast will almost be over with!! I'm so ready to get on with my life and not have this race hanging over my head! Ugh, it's half ironman races and half marathons for me from here on out!! [You're probably thinking, "yeah right Kelly." And you may be right.])
Monday, May 18, 2009
Beautiful Day for a Ride
So, yesterday, I got up at 7 am, geared up, and went for a long bike ride with my friend Molly's dad Dick. He's training for a century bike ride that's in a couple of weeks, and as you know, I'm training for that crazy Ironman in 4-5 weeks, so we decided that a ride would be good. Well, actually, Dick wanted to go for a ride and forced me to go with him. J/K I willingly went along...
So, the sun was out, the weather was BEAUTIFUL and I decided to take Dick out on a ride East on Marine Drive, up through the Old Columbia Hwy to Women's Forum. Once there, our choices were to either head down past Crown Point toward the falls, or to head up Larch Mountain. In the end, we choose Larch.
I was struggling on this ride. My legs were fatigued from the run I did on Saturday and I found myself grinding away on the easy climb to Women's Forum. Plus, I haven't done much climbing with my Roo, which DOES NOT have a granny gear, so I was a bit nervous about the Larch choice, but I found climb to not be as bad as I expected. There were definitely a few stretches that I was wishing for an extra gear or a granny gear because I was SLOOOOWLY peddling. I think a jogger would have been running up the hill faster than I was peddling. Ok, maybe a speed walker would have easily passed me. But I kept at it, one rotation after another. And then the hill would let up and I could pick up my cadence again.
I didn't and don't have a computer on Roo, so I had NO clue as to how far up I had gone. I was thinking it had been about a mile or two. The next thing I knew, I saw the "5 Mile" marker and saw Dick waiting a little past it. He said that at our current stopping point, the round trip mileage would be over 60 (about 66 miles) and asked if I wanted to keep riding. I was thoroughly enjoying the climb, the sun, the view of the forest and actually wanted to keep climbing, so we decided to go up another 2 miles and call it good with a 70 miler.
Again, the 2 miles flew by (not in actual minutes because I'm a SLOW climber, but in mental minutes - meaning, I wasn't aware of the time and was mentally having fun on my ride). Then we began the descent. I LOVE that down hill ride from Larch, down the Old Columbia Hwy, back to Troutdale. It's fast and doesn't have many twists and turns to slow you down. And I felt good. I was able to maintain about 18-19 miles an hour the whole ride home (once we got down off the hill - like at Marine Drive).
The other thing I focused on during this ride was my neck position. The last long ride I did, which was only 54 miles, my neck was KILLING me at the end. I had spent a ton of time in the aero position and kept straining my neck up to see the road ahead of me. This time, I alternated my body position and really focused on keeping my head and neck in line, which helped because I got done with the bike ride with NO neck pain (huge improvement). The only pain was in my butt - I definitely need more time in the saddle!!!
Overall, it was a great ride. I'm getting stronger with hill climbing BUT am still not sure what to do about race day. Do I ride Roo or my Serotta? Roo is a tri bike, and the pluses are:
+ the aero position, which allows me to rest my upper body AND gives my legs another position that is less fatiguing
+ again, the mechanics of the bike, which do make a difference as far as muscle usage and fatigue (yeah, this is so scientific, I know - but I feel a difference when I'm just spinning on the Roo compared to the Serotta - like my legs can just relax in the aero position)
+ it doesn't have the granny gear, so if I get strong enough, I will be faster up the hills
The negatives are:
- Roo doesn't have a granny gear, so with ALL the hills, will it be less fatiguing to spin at a higher cadence in the granny gear on the Serotta while slowly climbing, or will the lack of the granny gear be balanced out by the aero position?
- My lower back was seriously fatigued from the aero position (I am focusing on core strengthening, but I don't want to have a sore back going into the marathon run)
- The bike seat hurts (it's the one that came with the bike), but I could always swap it out for one of the seats on my other bikes, which I do enjoy WAY better
Positives to riding the Serotta:
+ The granny gear and the mountain bike cassette, which allow me to climb forever EVEN if I'm not in the best of cycling shape
+ The bike seat is ergonomically correct - HUGE plus!
The negatives:
- No areo bars (I already looked into adding them, which wasn't ideal and is what led me to getting Roo in the first place)
- The granny gear which means I will be SLOW up the hills. I could always "not" use it, but I've tried that in past races/climbs before and it never works - I always drop into it because I can
I have no idea. There are so many unknowns AND the key will be trying to save my legs for the run as BEST as I can. We shall see.
My plan right now is to keep training with Roo because she is harder and will make me stronger. AND if I get enough mileage between now and the race and feel like my legs will be better off, I will ride Roo. Otherwise, I will ride the Serotta, knowing that I climb forever in that granny gear. Hmmm...
Today: I did a 1 mile recovery swim, nice and slow. It felt good to loosen up my muscles and spend time in the water. I then hopped in the hot tub and put the jets on my lower back. Overall, I feel great physically today! Muscles are recovering nicely and I'll be ready for a spin class tomorrow.
So, the sun was out, the weather was BEAUTIFUL and I decided to take Dick out on a ride East on Marine Drive, up through the Old Columbia Hwy to Women's Forum. Once there, our choices were to either head down past Crown Point toward the falls, or to head up Larch Mountain. In the end, we choose Larch.
I was struggling on this ride. My legs were fatigued from the run I did on Saturday and I found myself grinding away on the easy climb to Women's Forum. Plus, I haven't done much climbing with my Roo, which DOES NOT have a granny gear, so I was a bit nervous about the Larch choice, but I found climb to not be as bad as I expected. There were definitely a few stretches that I was wishing for an extra gear or a granny gear because I was SLOOOOWLY peddling. I think a jogger would have been running up the hill faster than I was peddling. Ok, maybe a speed walker would have easily passed me. But I kept at it, one rotation after another. And then the hill would let up and I could pick up my cadence again.
I didn't and don't have a computer on Roo, so I had NO clue as to how far up I had gone. I was thinking it had been about a mile or two. The next thing I knew, I saw the "5 Mile" marker and saw Dick waiting a little past it. He said that at our current stopping point, the round trip mileage would be over 60 (about 66 miles) and asked if I wanted to keep riding. I was thoroughly enjoying the climb, the sun, the view of the forest and actually wanted to keep climbing, so we decided to go up another 2 miles and call it good with a 70 miler.
Again, the 2 miles flew by (not in actual minutes because I'm a SLOW climber, but in mental minutes - meaning, I wasn't aware of the time and was mentally having fun on my ride). Then we began the descent. I LOVE that down hill ride from Larch, down the Old Columbia Hwy, back to Troutdale. It's fast and doesn't have many twists and turns to slow you down. And I felt good. I was able to maintain about 18-19 miles an hour the whole ride home (once we got down off the hill - like at Marine Drive).
The other thing I focused on during this ride was my neck position. The last long ride I did, which was only 54 miles, my neck was KILLING me at the end. I had spent a ton of time in the aero position and kept straining my neck up to see the road ahead of me. This time, I alternated my body position and really focused on keeping my head and neck in line, which helped because I got done with the bike ride with NO neck pain (huge improvement). The only pain was in my butt - I definitely need more time in the saddle!!!
Overall, it was a great ride. I'm getting stronger with hill climbing BUT am still not sure what to do about race day. Do I ride Roo or my Serotta? Roo is a tri bike, and the pluses are:
+ the aero position, which allows me to rest my upper body AND gives my legs another position that is less fatiguing
+ again, the mechanics of the bike, which do make a difference as far as muscle usage and fatigue (yeah, this is so scientific, I know - but I feel a difference when I'm just spinning on the Roo compared to the Serotta - like my legs can just relax in the aero position)
+ it doesn't have the granny gear, so if I get strong enough, I will be faster up the hills
The negatives are:
- Roo doesn't have a granny gear, so with ALL the hills, will it be less fatiguing to spin at a higher cadence in the granny gear on the Serotta while slowly climbing, or will the lack of the granny gear be balanced out by the aero position?
- My lower back was seriously fatigued from the aero position (I am focusing on core strengthening, but I don't want to have a sore back going into the marathon run)
- The bike seat hurts (it's the one that came with the bike), but I could always swap it out for one of the seats on my other bikes, which I do enjoy WAY better
Positives to riding the Serotta:
+ The granny gear and the mountain bike cassette, which allow me to climb forever EVEN if I'm not in the best of cycling shape
+ The bike seat is ergonomically correct - HUGE plus!
The negatives:
- No areo bars (I already looked into adding them, which wasn't ideal and is what led me to getting Roo in the first place)
- The granny gear which means I will be SLOW up the hills. I could always "not" use it, but I've tried that in past races/climbs before and it never works - I always drop into it because I can
I have no idea. There are so many unknowns AND the key will be trying to save my legs for the run as BEST as I can. We shall see.
My plan right now is to keep training with Roo because she is harder and will make me stronger. AND if I get enough mileage between now and the race and feel like my legs will be better off, I will ride Roo. Otherwise, I will ride the Serotta, knowing that I climb forever in that granny gear. Hmmm...
Today: I did a 1 mile recovery swim, nice and slow. It felt good to loosen up my muscles and spend time in the water. I then hopped in the hot tub and put the jets on my lower back. Overall, I feel great physically today! Muscles are recovering nicely and I'll be ready for a spin class tomorrow.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
The Wall
Well, considering that I have less than 7 weeks now, and I just started a new job that is rather demanding (but exciting and amazing), I am refocusing my training a little. I'm going to focus and work on the bike and swim as hard as I can and then run when I can. I basically need to get myself to a place where I can finish the bike and swim portion in ten hours so that I can give myself 7 hours to finish the marathon in a shuffle, walk, crawl sort-of-fashion. Training has been TOUGH to stay on top of and I'm just trying to fit in cardio workouts where I can. Why must I add more to the challenge of training for an Ironman?! As if training weren't enough, I decide to change jobs and slack off. Ugh! (Ok, slack off is not really correct - I guess the training has just had to take a back seat to other life priorities, so I am just doing too much right now.)
I have decided that Ironman distance is probably not for me only because I really like having a social life and the training has just been too hard to stick to/keep up with. I haven't wanted to give up hanging out with friends in order to fit in that 6 hour bike ride on Saturday. But that will have to change a bit here because this race is coming whether I like it or not! (I'm noticing a theme with this blog with the repetitive use of "shoulds" and "have tos.")
Luckily my new job allows me to have Monday off, and since most of my friends work on Monday, I should be able to use that day for LONG training rides/runs/swims. And then if I can just keep up with the rest, I'm hoping there is a chance that I will get to the finish line. I HAVE to get to that finish line by midnight because I DO NOT want to train for another one of these races! And I'm stubborn enough that just not finishing an Ironman will bug the tar out of me, so of course I will sign up again if that is what it will take. So, I am hoping/praying that I can some how pull this off, even if my race time is 11:59 and 59 seconds, I will TAKE IT and call it good!!!
I think half Ironman distances and half marathons will be my favorite length. They are challenging enough that you have to train, but manageable enough to still have a life. We shall see!
Tomorrow: 2 mile swim and possibly some time in the saddle if I can make it to the gym in time.
I have decided that Ironman distance is probably not for me only because I really like having a social life and the training has just been too hard to stick to/keep up with. I haven't wanted to give up hanging out with friends in order to fit in that 6 hour bike ride on Saturday. But that will have to change a bit here because this race is coming whether I like it or not! (I'm noticing a theme with this blog with the repetitive use of "shoulds" and "have tos.")
Luckily my new job allows me to have Monday off, and since most of my friends work on Monday, I should be able to use that day for LONG training rides/runs/swims. And then if I can just keep up with the rest, I'm hoping there is a chance that I will get to the finish line. I HAVE to get to that finish line by midnight because I DO NOT want to train for another one of these races! And I'm stubborn enough that just not finishing an Ironman will bug the tar out of me, so of course I will sign up again if that is what it will take. So, I am hoping/praying that I can some how pull this off, even if my race time is 11:59 and 59 seconds, I will TAKE IT and call it good!!!
I think half Ironman distances and half marathons will be my favorite length. They are challenging enough that you have to train, but manageable enough to still have a life. We shall see!
Tomorrow: 2 mile swim and possibly some time in the saddle if I can make it to the gym in time.
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