8 weeks out

How can this be, it 8.5 weeks from the beginning of my 2014 race season. Its still 2 months out but seems like its just around the corner. So much work done, so much to do. I’m working on some little things and some really big things. I’m working on continuing to build my mental strength – i think its the biggest jump I’ve made this last year. During the fall field test I struggled to stay in the game…. 20 minutes was an eternity and i couldn’t hold it together.  This weekend we retested, while i don’t have the numbers yet, i believe they went up by about 15 watts. More importantly I was there, in the game, the entire time. It still hurt, but i was able to come up with a plan, execute the plan and hang on for a strong finish. I was looking for 200 watts, although i didn’t get there I am very proud of the effort I put down. I’m working on consistency and committing to workouts. Not just the ones I like, but the ones I am dreading or scared of as well. I am trying to push in each workout and make sure that I am not taking the easy way out.I am working on cleaning up my eating and understand what fuels me best.  I’m doing my best to get good sleep and lots of water. But as i was reminded tonight …I need to make sure I am living in the now, not 8 weeks from now. While I have work to do to get there, I need to make sure that i am taking advantage of things that aren’t on my schedule, that aren’t on plan. Enjoy each day as it comes, with all its ups and downs, because thats what life is about. 

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In My Head

Last night I shared my lane with a very unwelcome lane mate. It wasn’t actually one of my training partners; it wasn’t even really in the pool. I didn’t have any issues in the warm up or on the kick set. But it started creeping in during the technique set (9x50s). By the time we hit the main set, I was battling full on with this monster.

It’s been a long time since I’ve had it out with all out with this demon. Surprisingly it never reared its head at Tahoe. After Tahoe I took a really solid look at how far I had come and really laid everything down at the end of the season. No lack of confidence there!  In camp, I had glimpses of the demon (during the half marathon and in the ocean) but I was able to overcome it. It’s been so long, I forgot how hard a fight it is when this rears its head for real.

One of the hardest things for me is getting off my butt to do something I am likely to fail at. I look at my schedule and I see something scary like 8:30 minute miles (even through it’s a 1 minute effort) and I spend all this time dreading the workout. When I am with others, it’s easier to keep this in check. When I’m by myself, it can be a battle to even start the workout and then get all the way through it. Sometimes it happens during the middle of an activity. When it does everything says … time to quit. These thoughts used to cripple me for days.

During camp, Matt pulled me aside and reminded me that my body is stronger than my mind thinks it is. That I can push through when everything inside me is saying “QUIT. YOU WOULD FEEL SO MUCH BETTER IF YOU WALKED. TAKE IT EASY FOR 5 MINUTES. YOU DON’T HAVE TO RUN EVERY STEP OF THE WAY. INFACT, LOOK AT THAT SIGN – THAT’S A GOOD PLACE TO WORK OUT A CRAMP. WHILE YOU ARE THERE – TAKE A REST. JUST QUIT.”

Yesterday afternoon, I spent some time looking at my 2014 race schedule. Only a few months till race season … 13 weeks till my first half of the year and 21 till my next attempt at the full. Yikes! I am working on some weight goals and some speed improvements in the pool and on the run right now. Lots to do and 21 weeks seems like it is right around the corner.

In the pool yesterday I struggled on the technique set. I was bummed that I couldn’t lead the strongly and that I kept getting dropped on the fast 50s. I started stewing.  I started thinking about how unprepared I feel for the AC ocean-y (bay side) swim. That I was going to fail at this distance again. Just hearing the main set shut me down. “THERE IS NO WAY YOU CAN DO THIS. YOU CAN’T LEAD THE LANE. YOU MIGHT NOT EVEN BE ABLE TO HANG IN THE BACK. YOUR EAR HURTS. YOU’RE TIRED. JUST QUIT”. My real lane-mates noticed something was going on. Jack noticed something was going on. I almost got sucked under by the monster – but I fought back. I took my place second in the line and hung in for the first set. Then I hung (slower) in for the remaining set. It wasn’t pretty, it wasn’t my best, but I made it. I won. The monster didn’t – I did.

Later it sounded so silly. I got in my head because I am 21 weeks out from a race. That’s right – 21 weeks – 5 months. I am stronger, mentally and physically, than I was last year. My body really CAN do more than my mind thinks it’s capable of. I am an athlete. Negative-self talk and crappy self-confidence haven’t gotten me where I am today. Hard work and belief in my coaches, my team and myself have.

Take that demon. There’s no room for you here. Next time, I’ll kick you out of my head even sooner.

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Winter Training Camp

I figure after not posting for a few weeks I would post a long one to make up for it!

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I got an email from Jack (coach extraordinare) on the first of January inviting me to think about attending winter camp. I did a little poking around at my finances and realized this would be a great use of the last little bit of Colorado money I had. It took a few days for me to settle into the idea and get tickets but by the 4^th I was booked.

Unfortunately shortly after I pulled the trigger I had an ear infection progress to a full rupture. There wasn’t much I could do about it except grab some antibiotics, stay out of the pool and cross my fingers. It went from bad to worse, but I was determined to go. A second round of anti-biotics was ordered and I was on my way. 

Matt and Jack did an awesome job getting us ready. We really didn’t have to do much other than drop our bags and bikes off at the shop. They piled them all in a rental minivan (Jack’s next car – hehe) and headed out right after Tuesday morning cycling class. 

I flew out on Friday morning from Philly. Gaby and Kona took me to the airport and I was on my way! Well, first I had to bounce through charlotte. But then I was there!! In the sun J it was glorious. After a few minutes of trying to locate Jack and Matt, and realizing that there was an arrivals and a departures level of the parking lot, I was in the car. Lou had flown in on the AC flight so he had gotten in a little earlier. We piled our carry-ons into the van, stopped at the grocery to stock up the rooms and drove off to the hotel. There was a little bit of a delay getting into our rooms due to a computer issue … but that was rather quickly sorted.  We got our goodie bags with schedule and nutrition and sent off to change. And just like that camp officially started!

Camp Plan

Day 1: Three workouts, 3:45 training time

Change 1- into bike clothes and onto the bike! The day called for an endurance ride and a track session. I was looking forward to riding outside for the whole time leading up to the trip. When I actually got on my bike I was so uncomfortable. It was like I forgot how to ride on the roads. I guess that’s usually a spring feeling … but here I was trying to get training in and having trouble riding in a group. I was a little unsteady the whole time but quickly realized that I was settling in and that I wasn’t going to hold the group back (yeah!). The ride was over before I was really ready to be done.

 

Rocket Ready to Ride!

Change number 2 … bike to run.We dropped the bikes off and headed out to a local HS track. Apparently there was a soccer game we weren’t aware of … so we headed off to the practice field. Alyssa said it was like cross country practice – I called it hell J we warmed up at a “nice easy pace” which apparently was sub 10. The workout was going to be solo work through, so while I was really pushing hard I knew that this one was going to be all me. It got hard, then it got really hard, then it got so hard I wanted to quit hard. The whole time Matt and Jack talked me through each push…. In the end … it was done and I was really really proud. We took a few photos and then headed back to the hotel for a quick drill swim (change 3) , showers (change 4) and dinner. Matt left to pick Anj up from the airport and we got ready for dinner. The bar of the dinner place was awesome. Great beer, good service. We headed for the table and it kinda went south. Not bad, but slow. Lou didn’t get his order and Anj and I got two of each of ours. The lady was out to lunch… and told Jack he was eating stoner food. We left really late (after 10) and decided to go someplace different the next time. Normatec’d and racked out for an early rise on Saturday. 

Day 2: 3 workouts, 5ish hours of training

Up bright and early for breakfast and a swim. We had a local outdoor pool rented (just for us!!) for the morning swim. The goal was 90 minutes in the water and about 4K yards. We got to the pool (which was amazing) and were let in by the lifeguards. Apparently it hadn’t been used in a few days and when they pulled back the cover it was HOT. Bathtub hot. I knew it was going to be a tough swim. The water was crystal clear though and we got a lot of video and photo work done. I got some more pointers on my stroke (head down, no cross over, tight and loose hands on recovery). The temp and my ear beat me up and I wound up finishing short. It was still 3100y though. I was bummed but ok with it.

So it was hot … but look how gorgeous it was!

Next up RIDE!! 3 hours!! I felt so much more comfortable today. Nailed my time at the front in aero, worked on staying in the group, really zoned in. We road to the beach (how cool is that!) and back and then it was over. I was so bummed.

Seriously, this is January??

It felt so so good to be riding outside. I felt like I could have pushed so much harder but we had other things planned.  We went back to the hotel and did a quick change into run clothes and did a shake out run. It hurt. I was not really holding the group back (since we were aiming for a recovery pace of 10min/mile) but I was working hard. We decided to stay in due to the early rise in the morning, normatec’d and racked out . For having a race the next morning, I slept really pretty well. 

Recovering like a pro!

Day 3: 2 workouts, 3.5ish hours of training

So what do you do after a triple? Run a half marathon. Ha! There is a word for this – its ISLAGIATT (it seemed like a good idea at the time). We left at 5:15 to drive to Naples to run the Naples Half.  The race was awesome … small (but bigger than it used to be), well-run, flat and definitely fast. Matt gave me some pacing instructions – starting at 11min/miles and working my way down.

High tech pacing right there 🙂

We talked about near/sub 2:20 and I dialed my brain in to work. I really had a hard time with the initial pacing (need to work that) but settled in to the 10:30 range that I used in Philly. The scenery was incredible. Gorgeous mansions with manicure lawns, huge yachts on the gulf and amazing cars in the driveways. Unlike Palm Beach, not every house was surrounded by a huge hedge. Some of the folks were even out waving us on. Wheels were coming off in the last mile and I looked over and saw Matt and Jack. They ran me in the last mile at a 9:05 pace. I was losing it and trying to quit running. Thanks guys – I wouldn’t have had to shove that dude in the finish chute out of the way. Final time was 2:17:04!! That was safely under the 2:20 mark.

2:17!! Safely under goal pace!

Everyone ran really well. The worst part is that we had to wait for the awards – Matt placed! Alyssa just missed a 5^th pace AG podium too. They had a beer truck pouring cups of MichUltra. Shit beer has never tasted so good. I was riding a wave of awesome until I realized I left my wetsuit at the hotel. Matt offered to drop us off and go back and get it. I felt so horrible –  it was quite a drive and robbed him of some much-deserved beach time. 

Catching some rays and waiting to swim

The delay also worked against me. The whole time I was sitting there I was getting more and more nervous about the swim. When we finally got in the water I was mentally fried – and you know what – I panicked. In waist deep water – I panicked. Once again, Jack and Matt were there to help me work through it. By the end of the swim I was much more comfortable. I realize how much work I have to do in open water. Honestly, I should have already known that – my race swims are so unpredictable, but I always chalked it up to pre-race nerves. Good  to know – now I can work on it. We dried off, took a few more pictures and headed back to the hotel  to get ready for some dinner. There were a few pints, some burgers and football. It was a really fun night. We left and repeated the same pattern, normatec and rack-out. I didn’t sleep very well though. I was up every couple of hours. I couldn’t tell what was waking me up … so I advil’d and slugged some water and went back to bed.

Day 4: 3 workouts, 3.5 hours of training

After being off the bike on Sunday,  we got back on them today. It was a super easy ride. One hour, NP of 48 (can it even go that low??). My body actually hurt for the first time of the trip. The bike ride didn’t really bug anything and it was supposed to prepare us for the next recovery run. When I started running through, it felt really cruddy. I stuck it out for the ½ hour and we did just about 3 miles. We did a quick change and went off to the Fort Myers Aquatic center for our last workout of camp. 4x500s. It was a beautiful pool to get some yards in. We had a good time working at our own paces and sending off together. I still have so much work to do on improving my efficiency enough to be faster. More video to laugh at (I mean learn from) later. And just like that … camp was finished.

Sunshine and Laps. A girl could get used to this!

We got dropped back off at the airport and I’m heading back to the biggest snow of the year. 

Last rays!

Just for grins … photos are just about 24 hours apart!

Early afternoon in Downingtown. The snow is expected to fall all night!

15.5 hours, 4 days. Who thought that was possible this early in the build-season? It was an amazing weekend filled with hard work, lots of laughs and tons of sunshine.  I got to swim in the gulf, in January! I ran a ½ marathon that I would never had put on my own plan. I learned how to fuel for a crazy high volume and how important recovery is.  I learned that I have a lot of learning left to do. I’m bringing home a positive attitude, focus for my season ahead and some crazy tan lines. A few years ago, I was dabbling in this stuff. I think it might be safe to call myself an athlete. Oh yeah, and I’m ready for a rest day!

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