Blog and Life Update

I suck at keeping this blog updated lately.  So much has happened, especially for it being an "off season".  I have pretty much done next to nothing other than occasional runs and weight training here and there.  Until this week, I hadn't been on my bike or in a pool since my last race!  That's one sign you know you are a swim coach...when you are at the pool every day and haven't swam on your own in months!

Coaching is going well.  I love my kids.  I love coaching, almost all of it anyway.  The management part of it can suck and be overwhelming, but I am getting the hang of it.  I seriously work with the most talented, amazing kids on the planet in a sport I love, so how could I not love it!  They challenge and inspire me.  I couldn't be happier with the coaching aspect of my job!  I have learned a lot more about the sport as well in this process, which only makes me a better swimmer, I hope!

I applied for a coaching scholarship about a month ago with Ben Cagle, who is with Beyond Endurance Coaching.  Every year he picks one athlete to give a coaching scholarship to (one year free coaching).  I applied last year and didn't get it.  I got the email saying he was taking entries for this year as well and figured it couldn't hurt to apply again.  Well, what do you know, I actually got it!  I couldn't be more excited about this!  We have had several email exchanges, as well as a FaceTime call, and I think we are on the same page. I like his approach to training, and I think I am going to learn a lot from him.

The training plan started this week, and it feels so good to be back on a routine!  I forgot how much I love training, and it really helps me to be a nicer person :)  I just lack the motivation to stick with it on my own, and I also spend so much time analyzing, planning, and second guessing my training, that sometimes I just give up and don't train like I should.  I have found that this week it is so nice to just open Training Peaks and do what Ben has in there for me.  I am so excited to just do the execution part of the training!

Getting back on my bike last night was good.  Though with my extended break from biking I have to build up my butt acclimation to the saddle.  Even being on the trainer wasn't bad!  I was also happy to spend an hour on the bike and have ZERO shoulder issues.  Hopefully this continues because my shoulder/neck has been a major pain this fall.

I also got back in the pool this morning.  It felt good.  The set looked hard initially given the lack of swimming I have done lately, but it wasn't that bad.  Challenging...yes.  Impossible...nope.  I really enjoyed it!

It is fun to be excited again after an extended break.  I think that following IMTX, though I was on a high from completing such a huge thing, I was also burned out.  I was stupid to plan as many races as I did following IMTX.  Training became something I had to do, not something I wanted to do.  Then coaching started up this fall, and it slipped to the side like many things do.  It's just glad to be back.  I've got a lot of work to do to get where I want to be, but I am excited to be back on board.

In the meantime, happy training and racing all!

Serious Blog Neglect!!

Wow!  It's been awhile since I last posted!  Here's what's new with me, for all 3 readers of this blog.

I finished off my racing season.  I actually did the Utah Half 70.3 and never did a race report.  It was brutal.  I didn't train for it like I should have, and it showed.  The swim was awful, way, way, way too shallow of water.  It made Lake Woodlands look like the Caribbean.  Just plain nasty.  However, I did have a 5 minute PR for this swim.  I think I really just wanted to be out of that nasty, murky, mud puddle.  The bike was hot and windy.  I forgot how bad the roads are the middle third of race.  My arse wasn't happy bouncing and rattling around on chip seal for that long.  I got off the bike and was cramping EVERYWHERE, even my hands.  I was not having fun on the run and mentally was ready to turn in my timing chip as I have never cramped like that.  I gave myself a 30 minute/3 mile time limit.  If I wasn't feeling better by then I gave myself permission to quit.  Luckily, BASE salt saved the day and I found a groove and was able to finish.  Still brutal, but I did it. Final Finish time was 6:42:40, only 22 minutes past my PR, and considering how NOT ready for this I was, and the fact it felt much longer, I'll take it.

I was then supposed to do the St. George Marathon on Saturday.  I DNS'd again.  I did this two years ago as well due to an injury, and here I was in the same situation.  I have been nursing a knee injury, and by the time I finally got it better, I had missed so much of the training, that it wouldn't have been worth it.  So, I decided not to make it a 4-5 hour Sufferfest, which it would have been as well as risked further injury to the knee that is finally doing better.

For the first time in at least 3 years, I currently have no races on the calendar.  This is so weird for me, but I am okay with it.  I know that once the registration opens for next year's local stuff, I will sign up for short distance tri's.  I really want to try to qualify and possibly go to Nationals again. They will be in Omaha and I would love to take a crack at it.  I will probably sign up for several local sprints and see what happens :)

What is my focus now?  To be honest, it is on coaching my swimmers!  This has been perfect for me on so many levels.  It has given me an outlet and focus post IMTX that I have needed. It filled a void I knew would come with the let down of that race, and I have loved it.  The kids are amazing.  I love it! I have great assistant coaches, a big team, and a fun season ahead.

As far as my own training goes, I am trying to find a happy median.  I haven't been doing much with the added obligation of coaching to already working full time and being wife/mom.  I need to find a doable volume and goal (hence the sprints for next season), but also give myself a mental break.  Today I am going to start the Jillian Michael's Body Shred 60 day program.  It is 30 minutes a day and will give me some activity and a different focus other than SBR, and will work on strength training, which I need.  I am excited about it!

That's all that is new here.  I still spend way too much time on Tri websites and forums.  I am finding that knowledge gained from doing that over the past several years is paying off now that I am coaching.  I love that this combines a hobby of mine, and now an aspect of my job.  Win/win!  I still want to do another Ironman, but am okay with it being a few years.  I don't have the burning urge to go immediately do another one.  It's a great place to be at.

In the meantime, happy training and racing all!!

It's Race Week!

Normally I am like a little kid at Christmas when it comes to race week, but that isn't the case this time.  I have the Toughman Utah Half 70.3 on Saturday and I can't help but feel a little hesitant about it.  This is mainly because I don't feel ready!  I seriously haven't trained the way I would have wanted to for many reasons.  One, I gave myself a mental and physical break following IMTX for about 4-6 weeks.  I trained, but it was unstructured what I want, when I want to kind of thing.  I needed that break.

After that break, I started in with a training plan and that went well for another 4 weeks, then injury reared it's ugly head.  It started with an inner thigh issue, just on the inner side of my knee.  Then I think that aggravated my IT band on the other side of the same knee.  I have been battling that for the past month.  I can still swim and bike all I want, but the run has been pretty much non-existent.  I have biked and swam, but even though these are "cleared" activities with the PT, it still bothers me, so I have not done those to the extent that I should.

So, this race will be interesting to say the least.  I know that the bike and swim will probably be decent, but the run will be a train wreck.  I had high hopes for this race as it is a very fast and flat course, and I was hoping for a PR, but I don't really think that is in the cards.  I am more worried about the St. George marathon in October!  With pretty much no running the last 4 weeks, it has seriously derailed the training plan I was following for that.  Ugh!

I will have a race report as always, and any race is better than no race, so I will go and enjoy all that the sport has to offer.  In the meantime, Happy Training and Racing all!

Swimming with the Iron Cowboy on Day 50!

Many of you in the endurance sports world have probably heard by now of James Lawrence aka The Iron Cowboy.  Already the world record holder for the most Ironman Triathlons completed within one year, he apparently wanted more, and this summer pulled off what many people said could not be done.  He set out to complete 50 Ironman distance triathlons in 50 states within 50 consecutive days, all while working with the Jamie Oliver Foundation to raise money and awareness for child hood obesity.

Day 50 for him was back in Utah, our shared home state.  He is also a member of the same tri club I am in, the Salt Lake Tri Club.  It was set up for anyone that wanted to join him for any part of the day.  I figured I would be safe and be able to keep up for the swim.  I woke up at 3 am my time to drive down to Deer Creek Reservoir to do the swim that was to start at 5:30.  I wasn't familiar with the area, so I wanted to make sure that I gave myself plenty of time to get there and find it.  It turned out to be no problem at all, and I was there early, which was also fine.

While waiting for him to come out and swim, I was standing around with Rory and Courtney from my tri club and Rory introduced me to Matt Fitzgerald.  Say what?!?  This was the same guy that has written tons of books and training plans for running and triathlon, including the plan I used to get through IMTX.  It was beyond cool to meet him.  He had flown in from California just for this event and would be running the marathon with him later.  We talked for a bit and he couldn't have been more down to earth and approachable, and even humored this fan with a picture.  So cool!



The swim was in the Wahlberg Bay area of Deer Creek Reservoir. I haven't swam here before, and as we all got into the water to swim, I wasn't impressed at first.  It was very shallow and murky and I didn't love that.  It cleared out after the first couple hundred yards though and was nice.  Water temp was about 72 from what everyone was saying.  The water actually felt good because air temperature was in the high 40's, low 50's.  I was glad that I had brought my wetsuit!

I started out and got ahead of the main group.  I then noticed the group was thinning as we got further out and I stopped to get oriented to where we were.  Just a few yards behind me was James and his Wingmen and a couple of others.  I decided to stick with them.  This was pretty cool to go stroke for stroke with them and that is what I did the remainder of the swim.  I would stop when they did, and followed their lead since there really wasn't a marked course or anything like that.  We turned around when we got (according to their watches) around 1.1 miles out.  We turned around and it seemed that James was confused.  He relied heavily on his Wingmen for guidance.  He was stopping more frequently and then he wasn't responding to their questions.  They pulled him over to the shore and saw that he was shaking like a leaf and freezing.  Though the water temp wasn't bad, when you have virtually no body fat for insulation as James does NOT, even with a wetsuit, he was shivering and starting to get hypothermic.  Another guy in the group took off his full sleeve wetsuit and put it over the one he already had on and he was able to continue.  It was a very cool demonstration of team work and perseverance.  Any other person would have said ENOUGH ALREADY and quit.  That is not even in this guy's vocabulary.  It was a matter of finding the problem, fixing it and continuing it.  When we got back to where we started, they still weren't at the exact distance needed, so they continued to swim in the zig zag motion in that shallow part to make sure they were true to what they said they were going to do, to the exact yardage.  These guys are the real deal.

After getting out of the water, James needed time to get warmed up and prepare for the bike, it probably took about a half hour until he was ready to start the bike.  I visited with others while we waited and the energy was electric among this group.  Apparently 80-90 had registered to do the swim, but only about 10-12 of us did the whole distance of 2.4 miles with him.  There were literally hundreds of bikers through out the day that would join him later.  It was very cool do be part of history as he accomplished what virtually everyone said could not be done.  I walked away inspired and realizing that my own excuses are pretty pathetic when I want to stay in bed to avoid a 3 mile run on some days.  Suck it up Buttercup!!

In the meantime, I still have 4 weeks until the Utah Half and then another couple months until the StG Marathon.  I am torn on these.  Part of me wants to be done already with the season, but I am also glad that I have these events to keep me training, as I think I would become a couch potato at this point without them.  I am coming back off 2 weeks of no running due to a pulled groin muscle, so that adds to some frustration I have had.  But, no more excuses.  Simply onward and upward!

HR Rant

I am so over these stupid things.  I have been trying Heart Rate training for almost a year now and you know what?  I think it sucks!  I have tried to give it time, be patient, tried a gazillion different ways of configuring my zones and you know what?  I am either doing it completely wrong or it just isn't what it is cracked up to be.  Both are highly possible.

Rant #1 - I hate the dang strap.  It is awkward, one more piece of gear to remember prior to work outs, if chafes, and I have a hard time believing that we can send a man to the moon, but this is really the best way we can monitor heart rate on an athlete?  I really would love for Garmin to find a way to do it without the strap. have sensors on the back of the watch for Pete's sake!

Rant #2 - HR is highly variable.  One day a "Zone 2" can feel comfy.  The next day is feels pathetically slow.  If it is really hot and humid, it feels hard.  Most days Zone 2 for me feels like a walk.  Literally.  Zone 2 for me is about a 14 minute mile.  That is a walk, folks!  But in trying to "give it a chance" I have tried to stay in Zone 2 and feel like I barely break a sweat.  I call them bag runs.  Because I want to put a giant bag over my head so no one recognizes me on the run!

Rant #3 - As much as I hate HR training, it does provide good data and I am all about the TSS scores and all in TP, so I feel the need to wear it for data sakes.  It literally provides no score with out a HR data.  Ugh!  So I feel tied to the dang thing!

That's my rant for the day.  I may try to meet with people in my tri club to more accurately nail this sucker down and maybe once and for all figure out this is supposed to work!

I much prefer to just go ride.  And run.  And swim.  Just go by feel!  If I am feeling good, I will push it that day.  If not, back off.  If I know I am doing a long run, I will settle in to whatever I feel I can maintain that day for that distance.  I am LOVING the fact that my marathon training plan doesn't even mention heart rate!  My IMTX plan was dictated entirely by HR!  This has been a nice break :)

Rant over.  Carry on.  Happy Training and racing all!

Rock Cliff Oly Race Report and Catch up

I realized it's been awhile since I last posted here.  I even completed a race two weeks ago that hasn't yet seen a race report!  I did the Rock Cliff Olympic again this year (I did it 2 years ago).  Here's the short version:

-I had a good swim, though not as good as 2 years ago.  I loved that the water level was much higher than last time, so we were spared the .25 mile run through duck poop

-The bike was still deceptively hard, but gorgeous

-The run sucked.  Hard, hot, dusty and slow

-This is the hardest Olympic Distance race I have done other than Rage in Vegas

-I was smoking crack to do this distance and this difficulty of a course just 4 weeks post IMTX.  My body hated me!

- The parking situation was greatly improved with the addition of VIP parking with my Triple Play registration.  Thanks Aaron!!

-I will not do this race again as an Oly, but it would be good as a Sprint...challenging yet not brutal.

In other updates, as of this past week, I am finally feeling like myself again post IMTX.  Man, folks aren't kidding when they say that this is a race that takes weeks to recover and not days.  It's amazing how much of a toll it takes on your body!  Even once the sun burn was gone, the blisters were healed, and the muscles were no longer sore, there was still a subtle residual fatigue to deal with.  I also felt like I was swimming, biking and running through jello.  My HR would spike much sooner than I would expect and under not so stressful situations.  Alas, 6 weeks post race, I am finally feeling like myself again :)

I have gotten back into a training routine as I still have the Utah Half 70.3 at the end of the summer and the StG Marathon in October.  Last week was a great week training wise!  I nailed my splits for a track speed work out I was totally intimidated by.  I biked a very hot 46.6 miles up to our church camp out up at Chrystal Hot Springs.  I did it in the middle of the day in 100 degree temps.  It was brutal, but I felt like a rock star when I was done.   I also completed my longest run since IMTX (10 miles) with Alicia yesterday.  I have missed her and I's long runs together!  And knowing she was waiting for me helped get my butt out the door!

Today I have been following my friends online as they race IMCDA.  It has been fun and even made  me nostalgic about my own IM experience.  However, it will still be awhile before I do another.  Life circumstances just won't permit it as soon as I would like.  There is still plenty to be enjoyed and done in this sport though and I am looking forward to that for the next few years :)

In the meantime, Happy Training and Racing all!

Ironman made me slow and fat

There are so many misconceptions about Ironman athletes.  I had them before I became one!  I always thought that everyone that was into endurance sports looked like Rinnie or Crowie.  I was surprised and relieved when I did my first race back in 2010 at how there were every shape and size and age out on the course.  I loved it and it inspired me and still does!

However, when I signed up for an Ironman, I thought I would FINALLY drop those last 10 pounds or so that I wanted to. I thought the sheer volume of the training would make me faster as well.  Sadly though, that simply wasn't true, and the more that I talk to other Ironman finishers, it isn't unusual either!

Since embracing HR training almost a year ago (I am still on the fence about this by the way, not totally sold on it) I found that most of my training for IM was in "Zone 2", which is pretty slow if you stick to it strictly.  I tried to stay there and follow my plan like it said to, but I found that because I was always running or riding slow, guess what?  I am still slow!!  In some ways I feel like I am slower than I was before, especially with my running!  Now, that being said, I can go forever at that same slow pace, I have the endurance of a diesel engine, but no speed.  Kinda frustrating!

And as for shedding the weight that I want to get rid of, that didn't happen either.  I found that the nutritionist I visited was way off on what she told me to take in during training in order to train and lose weight at the same time.  She recommended just 1600 calories a day.  Yeah, um, I tried that for a day or two and I was STARVING.  I refused to not feed or fuel my body like it needed to compensate for the heavy training load and ever increasing volume.  But therein lies the issue.  You have to find a fine balance between how much it requires to fuel and recovery properly but at the same time not go crazy too.  During IM training, I ate well, meaning that I ate pretty dang clean, and pretty consistently as well.  I never let myself get hungry eating every 3 hours or so.  I did actually gain a few pounds, which is frustrating, but I am not sure if that is fat or muscle because I also incorporated strength training for the first time as well.  Who knows.  I also think that you metabolism is trying to figure what the heck is going on with this new volume load and increase in food, so it kinda hangs on to what it can.  And lets face it...I am getting older, so its not as easy to drop weight like I would like too.

Since IMTX ended, I have wanted to eat nonstop!  My body hasn't figured out that stuff is over now, so it's back to normal.  I need to adjust and I've tried to eat clean, but it is hard.  I love Oreos too much!

I officially start my training for the St. George Marathon on Monday.  I am excited to be back on a plan, but also this one is a pretty ambitious plan and incorporates speed work and intervals since I am trying to go sub 4 on this one.  We will see how that works out, but I am excited to see if I can't try to work on building some speed with this new plan.  I am also going to get more strict about what I eat and get back to the gym for weight training.  I have found that I am most successful with the weigh issue when I incorporate resistance training into my routine.  Nothing major, but 3-4 times a week seems to help.

So, if you are in this boat of getting slower and fatter while endurance training, YOU ARE NOT ALONE!  It's frustrating!  More and more I am convinced that weight management is not simply calories in vs calories out.  If that were the case I would weigh nothing if you looked at myfitnesspal files while I was in my training. I always had a calorie deficit at the end of every day and still do, yet nothing is moving. 

There's my rant for the day.  At the end of the day, I try not to get bogged down in how I look in race pics, I am not thrilled with it.  Instead I say prayers of thanks for the amazing things my body CAN do.  I am always grateful for the opportunity to do what we do, and never take that for granted.  If I get to do it with a little more junk in the trunk, than that beats not being able to do it at all.  So onward and upwards my friends!

So what's next?  I have the rest of this week as my time off ( I allowed myself 4 weeks of recovery post IMTX) and then Monday my training plan for the St. George marathon begins.  I also do have the Utah Half in August as well, but my plan is going to mainly focus on the run and the marathon.  I have enjoyed some down time, but honestly feel a little lost looking into Training Peaks and not having a plan to follow.  It will be nice to get back into a training mode :)