Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Marathon Training Week #3

This week started out a bit different than normal. I went to the podiatrist on Tuesday to try to figure out what's wrong with my left foot. I was scared I had a stress fracture, so I wanted to get it checked before I got too far into my marathon training. Luckily, the doctor said it's not as bad as I thought. He taped it and scheduled for an appointment the next week. But my long run on Saturday proved very painful. I want this pain to go away!

Monday - 1:00 trainer rider, 45 minute Nike strength workout
Tuesday - Swam 2500 yards
Wednesday - Outdoor hill repeats! 18.6 miles, 1:22.
Thursday - Treadmill 7.5 miles, tempo run, 3 miles @7:30 pace
Friday - Recovery run, 4 miles. Trainer 1:10 on hard gear
Saturday - Long run at beach, 14 miles @ 8:45 pace
Sunday - Bike ride pulling trailer, 20 miles, 1:33


Friday, June 21, 2013

Marathon Training Week #2

My second week of training didn't go quite as well as the first. We went to Lake Mead for Father's Day and I took an extra rest day. Plus, my foot is still hurting me, so I tried to take it easy until my podiatrist appointment.


But just because I was on vacation doesn't mean I couldn't fit my run in. Skyler and I did a hilly run in the early morning to beat the heat. I struggled a bit with the hills, but I'm glad I got it done.



Monday - 1:20 on trainer
Tuesday - 1:10 on trainer
Wednesday - Treadmill 7.6 miles (tempo run with 5.5 miles @ 8:00)
Thursday - Swam 2000 yards
Friday - Rest day
Saturday - Hilly run at Lake Mead, 10 miles 1:33
Sunday - Rest day

Thursday, June 20, 2013

Hill Repeats


My biking sucks. Yes it's true. After racing for 7 years you would think I would be faster. I am. Just a little bit though. So I'm going to get faster. I'm getting direction in my training. 

One of the things I'm doing is hill repeats. A lot of my biking problems has to do with the fact that I can't/don't compare my bike times. I don't race my bike. I don't ride the same routes all the time. So hill repeats will help me be able to compare and improve.

Cannon is practically the only hill in Orange, so that's where I'm starting.

The first repeat I did on my first week was about 5:10. The last one on my second week was 4:15. HUGE improvement! I'm going to try to do this twice a month.

Monday, June 17, 2013

Race Report: Fountain Valley Triathlon


After 7 years of racing triathlon, this was my first reverse triathlon. And I had no idea what to do. Do I take my socks off for the bike? Do I wear my race belt the whole time? Do I bring a towel to the pool? My thinking was all mixed up.

I convinced my sister and a friend to do the race with me. Wendy is on a weight loss / lifestyle change journey. She is amazing and has inspired so many people, including me, with her story. I am so proud of how far she has come and hope she continues to love her new life.

Anyways, I hadn't been doing much speedwork, so this race was just going to be a training day for me. It consisted of 3.1 mile run, 13.7 mile bike, and 175 yard swim. 


The run started with two laps around the high school track, then ventured into nearby neighborhoods. Holly and I ran together on the track. Holly is fast, so I tried to stay near her for as long as I could.


I quickly jumped on my bike and headed off for a ride. Before the race I was most concerned about getting lost on the bike. I knew I would be near the front of the race, so I couldn't just depend on following someone in front of me. I studied the map before the race, but found out at packet pick-up that the course had changed. 

The bike course began on local streets with lots of stoplights. And I seemed to hit all of them. I was with a group of guys who kept hitting all the same lights as me. We finally made it to the river trail and we were flying. I knew I could give it my all on the bike since I didn't need to save my legs for a run.

After being on the trail for about a mile or so, this woman rudely tried to pass our group on the left. She was riding on the left side of the trail and other cyclists were getting mad at her. She didn't have any bike courtesy. She jumped ahead and my group grabbed onto her tail. This was a draft legal race so why not? Well, that's where the problem was. This dumb woman didn't know where she was going and missed a key turn. Since there were lots of us in a group, we couldn't see the marker on the ground since we were in the back. She led us a mile in the wrong direction!!!

I was furious! We hit a dead end and saw that we were supposed to be on the other side of the river trail. I turned around and headed back, but didn't know how far back we would have to go. I rode to the bridge and decided to go across it and get to PCH another way. I rode on the west side of trail until the next underpass and found the trail closed. ARGH! This was so frustrating! So I crossed over again and got on the right trail. I knew it was right way because I saw more racers (most of them slower ones). 

I had about 6 miles left on the bike and I couldn't have biked faster. I was so mad because of how well I had been doing. I passed my sister on the bike because she had passed me while I was lost. I finally made it back to the school and saw that the woman who led me the wrong way was right in front of me. I had to beat her.


My T2 time must have been like 30 seconds. I sprinted over the pool and jumped in. It was only a 7 lap swim, but I had to get in front of that woman. I passed her quickly and feel vindicated. I got out of the pool and ran the finish line, not without looking over my shoulder to make sure she wasn't going to pass me.

I finished in 1:21:25 (no split times listed). Five women finished in front of me. If I subtracted about 6-7 minutes (the time to bike 2 miles) I would have finished 3rd woman overall. Well, that sucks. BUT if something is going to go wrong in a race, I would rather have it happen here than in an important race. 

So there you have it, a great race turned wrong. At least I wasn't the only one that got lost. I got to lament with the group of guys I was riding with. They were bummed too. But no one talked to that woman. She wasn't friendly and was way too serious.

Would I do this race again? Probably not. But it's a great beginner's race and I would definitely recommend it as that.

Friday, June 14, 2013

Friendly Strava Fights


Sometimes running with a friend can mean a fight for Strava segments. We ran together the whole time, but Carrie uploaded the run first. We had identical times, but Carrie got the CR. I'm tempted to go back and run the segment myself. I'm competitive, can you tell?!

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Marathon Training Week #1



I chose to sign up for a marathon. What was I thinking? I hate running marathons! And the training? Even worse!

This time is going to be different. I'm going to train right and give myself plenty of time. We are about 4 months out from race day and I've already completed my first week of training.

My marathon training plan is going to be different than most people's. I WON'T be running 60 miles weeks. I WON'T be running more than 4 days a week. And I WON'T be doing more than one long run a week. Am I crazy? I plan to prove that you don't need to do these things to get a decent marathon time.

My PR is 3:58 right now and I hope to improve that by at least 15 minutes. My only hiccup in the plan is some pain in my left foot. Worst case scenario is a stress fracture and I have to rest for a month. I'm getting it checked out next week. Fingers crossed it's quickly fixable.

Here's what my first week looked like:

Monday - 1:15 on the trainer
Tuesday - Treadmill 6.76 miles (5 @ 7:30 pace)
Wednesday - Hill repeats on bike, 25 miles 1:58
Thursday - Treadmill 7.75 miles (8 x 800 @ 6:54 pace)
Friday - Swim 1800 yards & Strength 0:15
Saturday - Bike pulling trailer, 21.6 miles 1:31
Sunday - Family run 9 miles 1:22

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

A Cyclist's Mother's Day Gift

I think most mothers would cringe at the idea of watching a bike race on Mother's Day. But I'm no regular mom.

Skyler got us VIP passes to watch Stage 1 of the Amgen Tour of California. Even though it meant driving out to Escondido, I was so excited to watch the race.


We packed up the car and headed out to the race start. It was a 110 mile stage, so we didn't see the start. We hung out at finish line village for two hours before the racers came in. They were expected to come in sooner, but it was near 110 degrees! Yes, it was scorching hot! Desmond was getting a little too warm, so we stripped him down and let him play in a nearby fountain.


Our passes got us entry into the Michelob VIP party. Food, drinks, TVs, and most importantly shade! We were just feet from the finish line too.


When the cyclists began coming in, people were banging their hands on the barriers to make noise. I thought Desmond would be scared, but he was doing it too! He's no newbie....this is his third professional bike race after all!


Spending the day with my family was exactly what I wanted to do, but the Amgen Tour was icing on the cake.