I wasn't expecting yesterday to be a great race, but it certainly was a great day.
I've been having some Achilles pain since February, at various levels of
bad. As it turns out, (1) wishing that it would get better, (2) laying
on the couch watching Law&Order SVU and (3) ignoring it because it
only hurt when I wasn't running are not approved medical guidelines. I
finally started working to actually resolve the problem after getting
through Shamrock, but I haven't been running in the real world for
weeks, so I was more than a little apprehensive about how the race would
finish for me.
I was happy about starting in the third wave. I'm strongest in swimming,
so this let me get out of the water before a lot of people and meant I
got to see loads of strong Z cyclists zipping past me -- everyone
passing on the left of course :) It must be hard for fast cyclists,
because they don't get "Go Z!" cheers throughout their whole bike ride
because there aren't as many people to pass them.
I was happy about my bike performance because some of the muscles I've
been working on in PT kicked in which meant that I'm getting power out
of more of the full-pedal-circles that we all aspire to. I know that
those muscles were helping because I can still feel them today!
I was not happy to get off the bike, because that meant starting the
run, and my legs were mad about that. By walking all uphills and jogging
downhills and flats conservatively, I got through it. Strangely, I was
only a bit slower than at Rumpass last year when I remember actually
trying to run in Z4 for large parts of it. I'll be using my upcoming
time on the elliptical to practice my turnover and step length.
My performance made the day ok; all the support and cheering made the
race great. The corral of Z's cheering me into T1, the top of the hill
crowd coming out on the bike, the bottom of the hill cheers coming into
T2 (it was still motivational even if the cheerers are there morbidly
watching for dismount crashes), the top of the hill run cheerers, the
middle-of-nowhere on the run course cheering, and the high-5 corral
coming into the finish area. All that yelling and belling makes up most
of my mental images from yesterday, and since I (at least mentally)
smile when I see you all, it means that I remember smiling for most of
the race.
I'm excited for what this says for the year.
* I'm actually working on my technique again in swimming after years of
mostly coasting by. Already this has given me a wetsuit-like performance
sans wetsuit.
* As part of the physical therapy for my angry achilles and over-worked
calves, I'm trying to strengthen some other leg muscles, and that's
already helping in the bike.
* With some new heart rate zones (after like 16 months of slavish
devotion to my original test results), I demonstrated at Shamrock that I
can hold a better running-only pace than last year, and I believe that
once my angry achilles will let me run in the real world again, I will
improve my triathlon-running-pace.
Now it's back to building endurance for the Minimussel/Musselman
aqua-velo weekend and to building healthy legs for the Waterman Half in
October.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Friday, October 8, 2010
California adventure!
Summer is slowly ending here with some rainy days and cooler mornings.
And the days of riding my bike home from track practice are over with
sunset coming around 7pm.
I've made it through part of the travel outlined in my last post. Cheering for IM in Madison was wonderful. Madison itself was awesome and I loved the GIANT farmer's market that they had on Saturday. Savageman was also wonderful. Fall was coming earlier out there in the mountains. I have no desire to do that race. Just thinking of all the climbing on the bike makes me want to hyperventilate a little.
My last tri of the year was last weekend, at the Giant Acorn race. This was the same course as my first race of the year, so it would've been a nice comparison of my improvement, except for how I've been skipping practices (to play with my sewing machine) like crazy. As it was, it was a reminder that a body with trained muscles performs *and* recovers better. Beautiful weather and camped without my rain-fly the first night to see the stars. The next night was colder, so I put on the rain fly and enjoyed the cocoon of warmer air from my breathing.
This weekend, I'm off to Monterey. While at the hostel in Madison, I saw a flier for other hostels, including some lighthouse hostels near the wedding I'm going to, so I'm looking forward to Monday night in a lighthouse/hostel.
Looks fun, huh?
The hard part is that I have to magically do laundry and pack while attending a reading and then leaving at 6am.
I've made it through part of the travel outlined in my last post. Cheering for IM in Madison was wonderful. Madison itself was awesome and I loved the GIANT farmer's market that they had on Saturday. Savageman was also wonderful. Fall was coming earlier out there in the mountains. I have no desire to do that race. Just thinking of all the climbing on the bike makes me want to hyperventilate a little.
My last tri of the year was last weekend, at the Giant Acorn race. This was the same course as my first race of the year, so it would've been a nice comparison of my improvement, except for how I've been skipping practices (to play with my sewing machine) like crazy. As it was, it was a reminder that a body with trained muscles performs *and* recovers better. Beautiful weather and camped without my rain-fly the first night to see the stars. The next night was colder, so I put on the rain fly and enjoyed the cocoon of warmer air from my breathing.
This weekend, I'm off to Monterey. While at the hostel in Madison, I saw a flier for other hostels, including some lighthouse hostels near the wedding I'm going to, so I'm looking forward to Monday night in a lighthouse/hostel.
The hard part is that I have to magically do laundry and pack while attending a reading and then leaving at 6am.
Friday, September 3, 2010
Busy fall to cap off a busy year
I'm looking ahead right now to a busy fall... Overall, I guess it's been
a busy year, since most of my posts here seem to be enumerating all the
things that will keep me active for a weekend. Right now the plans
include
Also, I got myself a sewing machine, and in addition to trying to make a quilt for a friend's baby, I also have mostly finished making this:
which is by far the most complicated thing I've ever sewed. Mine's not
quite that cute, but I'm pretty happy with it as a first pass. I also
decided to make the legs be like bean bags instead of stuffing them.
- Trip to Madison, WI to spectate and cheer for the Ironman (Sept 10-13)
- Possible trip to western MD to spectate, cheer and camp at Savageman (Sept 24-26)
- Weekend of camping to race Giant Acorn Oly (Oct 1-3)
- Trip to Monterey, CA for a wedding, possibly staying after for some hiking (Oct 8-13)
- Trip to Boston, MA for a wedding, with a possible detour to be a tourist in NY (Oct 22-25)
Also, I got myself a sewing machine, and in addition to trying to make a quilt for a friend's baby, I also have mostly finished making this:
Friday, July 23, 2010
Enjoying the fruits of someone else's labor
I've been keeping up with my farm goodies much better this year and am excited by some of the new recipes I've tried.
Last week's box featured cabbage and cucumbers. I remember the first year with my farm, I just ignored my cabbage while it sat in a back corner of the fridge slowly getting crispier and crispier. This year, I made an Asian sort of coleslaw and this awesome buttered cabbage dish.
I've also been keeping ahead of the decay rate of the peaches and apricots by eating 1-2 peaches a day and at least 4 apricots. It's hard work.
There's a nice farmer's market near where I work on Tuesday nights, so if I figure out what I want to do with my farm veggies early in the week, I can go get the extra veggies from the farmer's market. Like last night I tried making quinoa for the first time as part of a spicy cucumber, tomato quinoa salad, so I bought some tomatoes and a jalepeno pepper from the market. There's certainly room for improvement as my quinoa turned out decidedly gluey, but it was a nice adventure in cooking with a hot pepper. Like, don't dig the seeds out with your fingernail or you might get burning oil between your nail and your skin and experience a burning thumb for the next few hours.
This week I got a 2 zucchini and 3 yellow squash, so I'll be trying out a raw pasta recipe (something like this). There were also 5 ears of corn, so I think I'll try again with the quinoa and make a corn, tomato and quinoa salad.
I've also been enjoying cucumber sandwiches -- a little cream cheese on a mini bagel, three slices of cucumber per half a bagel and some seasoning salt. Yum!
Before diving fully into this cooking adventure, I went up to Geneva, NY to do the Musselman triathlon (actually the mini-Mussel, since I did the sprint distance). I had a great time and had some nice results, but have been having a hard time getting motivated to do the workouts since. Oh well. Next race is in about 3 weeks, so I'd better get some focus back.
Last week's box featured cabbage and cucumbers. I remember the first year with my farm, I just ignored my cabbage while it sat in a back corner of the fridge slowly getting crispier and crispier. This year, I made an Asian sort of coleslaw and this awesome buttered cabbage dish.
I've also been keeping ahead of the decay rate of the peaches and apricots by eating 1-2 peaches a day and at least 4 apricots. It's hard work.
There's a nice farmer's market near where I work on Tuesday nights, so if I figure out what I want to do with my farm veggies early in the week, I can go get the extra veggies from the farmer's market. Like last night I tried making quinoa for the first time as part of a spicy cucumber, tomato quinoa salad, so I bought some tomatoes and a jalepeno pepper from the market. There's certainly room for improvement as my quinoa turned out decidedly gluey, but it was a nice adventure in cooking with a hot pepper. Like, don't dig the seeds out with your fingernail or you might get burning oil between your nail and your skin and experience a burning thumb for the next few hours.
This week I got a 2 zucchini and 3 yellow squash, so I'll be trying out a raw pasta recipe (something like this). There were also 5 ears of corn, so I think I'll try again with the quinoa and make a corn, tomato and quinoa salad.
I've also been enjoying cucumber sandwiches -- a little cream cheese on a mini bagel, three slices of cucumber per half a bagel and some seasoning salt. Yum!
Before diving fully into this cooking adventure, I went up to Geneva, NY to do the Musselman triathlon (actually the mini-Mussel, since I did the sprint distance). I had a great time and had some nice results, but have been having a hard time getting motivated to do the workouts since. Oh well. Next race is in about 3 weeks, so I'd better get some focus back.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Musselman Sprint Race Report
What a beautiful, fun weekend and what a great way to earn a raspy voice for two days now.
I did the sprint race on Saturday and was mostly out there to enjoy myself. I had some goals, but spent more of my 2 hours of racing enjoying the scenery than worrying about my pacing. As a nice aside, I did meet my goals (sort of) and managed not to get sunburned.
On Sunday, I had a great time cheering and worked on trombone-ing with one of the Z-horns. I learned that I am still unable to ring a cowbell with my left hand and that if I give away my cowbell, I am likely to try to ring the Z-horn.
Now I'm looking forward to a repeat of this successful feeling at Luray
Race Details:
* Swim - the swim was beautiful. I've never been in open water with that kind of visibility. While it was probably warm enough to get by without a wetsuit, I'm glad I wore one. It's more fun to imagine being a seal if you're all neoprened up. (Goal: < 15 min, met the goal)
* Bike - went out a little hard and sort of felt like dying at the top of the first hill 3 miles in. It got much better from then, and I thought of Iwan who yelled "Use the big gear" frequently on this relatively flat course. Did anyone else see the big metal fish between miles 8 and 9? It would have helped to notice that the race was 16 miles, not 12 - 14 like I thought. The last two miles felt very long considering that I didn't know they were coming. (Goal: < 70 min, met the goal)
* Run - I still have to get better at bringing the resolve that I have at Weds track practice out to a race. I did run/walk intervals and was very disciplined in keeping the walks brief, but I would have loved to have been able to make the run intervals longer. I set my goal for this part thinking it was a 3.1 mile run, when actually it was 3.2, which is more than a minute difference at my running pace. (Goal: < 40 min, did not meet the goal, but did set a new best running pace at a triathlon, which would have been < 40 if it had only been a 5k)
Future Goals:
This year, it will be my third year doing the Luray Sprint (coming up in August) and I'm excited to see my progress on that course.
Swim - < 16 min non-wetsuit or < 14 min with wetsuit
Bike - < 80 min (stretch goal)
Run - < 40 min (stretch goal on those hills)
I did the sprint race on Saturday and was mostly out there to enjoy myself. I had some goals, but spent more of my 2 hours of racing enjoying the scenery than worrying about my pacing. As a nice aside, I did meet my goals (sort of) and managed not to get sunburned.
On Sunday, I had a great time cheering and worked on trombone-ing with one of the Z-horns. I learned that I am still unable to ring a cowbell with my left hand and that if I give away my cowbell, I am likely to try to ring the Z-horn.
Now I'm looking forward to a repeat of this successful feeling at Luray
Race Details:
* Swim - the swim was beautiful. I've never been in open water with that kind of visibility. While it was probably warm enough to get by without a wetsuit, I'm glad I wore one. It's more fun to imagine being a seal if you're all neoprened up. (Goal: < 15 min, met the goal)
* Bike - went out a little hard and sort of felt like dying at the top of the first hill 3 miles in. It got much better from then, and I thought of Iwan who yelled "Use the big gear" frequently on this relatively flat course. Did anyone else see the big metal fish between miles 8 and 9? It would have helped to notice that the race was 16 miles, not 12 - 14 like I thought. The last two miles felt very long considering that I didn't know they were coming. (Goal: < 70 min, met the goal)
* Run - I still have to get better at bringing the resolve that I have at Weds track practice out to a race. I did run/walk intervals and was very disciplined in keeping the walks brief, but I would have loved to have been able to make the run intervals longer. I set my goal for this part thinking it was a 3.1 mile run, when actually it was 3.2, which is more than a minute difference at my running pace. (Goal: < 40 min, did not meet the goal, but did set a new best running pace at a triathlon, which would have been < 40 if it had only been a 5k)
Future Goals:
This year, it will be my third year doing the Luray Sprint (coming up in August) and I'm excited to see my progress on that course.
Swim - < 16 min non-wetsuit or < 14 min with wetsuit
Bike - < 80 min (stretch goal)
Run - < 40 min (stretch goal on those hills)
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Recap of a busy spring
So, I'm sure you've all been dying to know how I made it through those busy weekends!
Finally, farm deliveries start next Thursday. Time to dig up my kale recipes.
- Apr 17-18: First tri of the season on Sunday plus camping and playing in the lake on Saturday
- Wow it was windy out there. I tried out the new tent and it worked quite nicely. Driving down to Lake Anna took longer than I'd expected, which meant I got to set up my tent in the dark. Also triathlon camping requires a lot of stuff!
- The second night it was less windy, but way colder. My sleeping bag that is probably older than some of the triathletes was not really suited for whatever temperature it was, but a result of being so cold was that when the sun came up and it got into the 50's it felt great!
- Apr 23-25: Swim meet
Friday night (new PR in the 1000yd free, guaranteed because that is a
freakish event that I never swam in school). GW Parkway 5k on Sunday
where I will hopefully improve from last year
- Swim meet was fine. I'm already looking forward to trying it again next year because I've been working on a "lazier" stroke style
- GW Parkway was a nice improvement from previous GW Parkway 5K's, and I felt a lot less dead at the end. It wasn't a 5K PR, but might have been if I'd allowed myself to suffer more. Before I really knew how long 3 miles felt, it was easier to try harder because "maybe it's almost over"
- Apr 29-May 3: In CA for reunion and visiting parents.
- Reunion was wonderful. I enjoyed it even more than I thought I would. Of course, it helped that Southern California was at its absolute best with beautiful clear skies and moderate temperatures.
- May
8-9: Second tri of the season, doing the swim portion for a relay on
Saturday and having another weekend of camping and playing in the lake.
- Another windy camping experience! This time I staked down the tent, and that worked well, less flapping noises waking me up.
- I had a great time cheering during the Half-Iron race on Saturday. A bunch of us piled in a car and drove around the bike course slowly blasting music, ringing cowbells and blowing horns.
- My swim leg was freakishly fast. I bought a wetsuit when I realized how much I'd be paying in rental fees this year, but I think the course was short. Any day now, I might be able to stop buying new stuff for triathloning :)
- May 15-16: Nothing Scheduled!
- Sunday was a pleasant 38 mile bike ride around Sugarloaf "mountain" in MD. I was looking through posts from last year and realizing how very far I've come. My long bike rides used to be around 20 miles, and now, I'm working on learning how to stay fueled and happy for 40 miles.
- I got a "Bento Box" for my bike which lets me carry snacks and stuff more easily since I don't have a proper bike jersey with the pockets across the back. I'm planning to stock it up with Fig Newtons for a ride this weekend. mmm Fig Newtons.
- May 23: Poplar
Springs 5K where I will hopefully improve from last year. Maybe it will
not be too much slower than the GW Parkway 5k
- Well, I did improve from this course last year, but there was much whining in my head. It was sort of drizzly and very humid and I ended up with some terrible chafing.
- This course teaches me, every year, that hills are different than flats.
- May 30: Jim McDonnell 1 mile lake swim where I will improve from last year since I have actually been swimming regularly.
- Missed the signup deadline by procrastinating, so I'm sort of free this weekend. I have some friends who are doing the swim though, so I might go for a long easy bike ride out to the lake to cheer -- which is sort of dumb since open water swimming is one of the least spectator-friendly events ever.
Finally, farm deliveries start next Thursday. Time to dig up my kale recipes.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
6 busy weekends
I was planning an outing with someone and realized that I've got a busy couple of weeks ahead of me.
- Apr 17-18: First tri of the season on Sunday plus camping and playing in the lake on Saturday
- Apr 23-25: Swim meet Friday night (new PR in the 1000yd free, guaranteed because that is a freakish event that I never swam in school). GW Parkway 5k on Sunday where I will hopefully improve from last year
- Apr 29-May 3: In CA for reunion and visiting parents.
- May 8-9: Second tri of the season, doing the swim portion for a relay on Saturday and having another weekend of camping and playing in the lake.
- May 15-16: Nothing Scheduled!
- May 23: Poplar Springs 5K where I will hopefully improve from last year. Maybe it will not be too much slower than the GW Parkway 5k
- May 30: Jim McDonnell 1 mile lake swim where I will improve from last year since I have actually been swimming regularly.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)