Got to swim with Duncan today at practice. Even though he is always kind, he kicks my ass -- a good humbling swim. Part of our set was 3 x 150 pull and I thought my arms were going to fall off by the end :(

2500 Swim Practice @ 00:55:00
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Took the Hindenburg for a spin around Mercer Island at lunch. My legs are sore from yesterday and my pace was pretty pokey...

19.5 Mile Bike @ 01:25:00
110a, 146m

Had a 17 mile run on the plan for the day. Ruth dropped me off at Kenmore Log Boom and I ran from there to Gasworks and the plan was then to run home from there. I set my watch and did it as a 10 min run, 1 min fast (eat drink) walk. I felt so strong and light the first 2 hours. There was the exception of the guy who was resting on his bike as I passed who thought he was being considerate by "commiserating" with me about those tiny 100 lbs girls who just run like they are floating on air. Not like I asked or even invited his remark but I guess that he thought he had license to say that... After my initial surprise and then indignation, I did remind myself that I do often kick their little asses as they float along :)

When I got to Lake Union, I decided to go around it the long way via Seattle and headed left. It was then that I started to hurt. I was alternating a sip of nuun with a sip of water with a cliff block during my 1 minute walk recovery intervals. Maybe I should incorporate some caffeine when I start to hit that wall.

I called Ruth when coming up Stone Way realizing that I had under-estimated my mileage and needed a scoop. She met me at Jock and Jill at Greenlake with the most delicious cold watermelon I had ever eaten! YUM

17-18 Mile Run @ 02:59:26
136a, 186m
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Logged 17 hours this week -- over 10 was RAMROD...

Went to 24 this morning for a swim with Ruth. Did not push it but had a very nice swim and the lane to myself :)

2500 Swim @ 00:55:00

Then after spending the afternoon with Janarath, we got in some weight training. I have not been in the weight room since the week of July 3rd and it sure did show! One thing I noticed during RAMROD was how much my hip flexors and back hurt -- more than they have during our other long rides and I believe it was because I have not kept up my core for the past few weeks. This will not happen again.

Weight Training

CORE
3 x 15 Captain's Chair
5 x 15 Plank (front and side)
2 x 10 Lower Ab Leg Up
Back Extensions 3 x 12 @ 10 lb plate

SHOULDERS
Overhead Press 2 x 15 @ 22.5 dumbbells
Shoulder front raise 2 x 12 @ 10 dumbbells

CHEST
Press 2 x 15 @ 30 dumbbells
Chest Flyes 2 x 15 @ 30 dumbbells

BACK
Seated Row 2 x 15 @ 75 machine
Lat Pull Down 2 x 15 @ 90 machine

BICEPS
2 x 12 Curl @ 30 barbell
Concentration Curl 2 x 10 @ 20 dumbbells

TRICEPS
2 x 15 triceps kickback @ 12 dumbbell
2 x 15 Assisted Dip @ 110

RAMROD recovery day :)

At 3:15 AM, the alarm went off. Why? Because our friend Dave (4x finisher) talked Ruth into a 5 AM start time for the ride. We grabbed our bags and headed south for our very first RAMROD (Ride Around Mount Rainier in One Day).

We pulled into the Enumclaw parking lot at 4:35 in the dark and it was almost completely full. We registered, had a bit of back and forth about the layers to wear and crossed the start line at about 5:15 AM. The first 30 miles were through the dusk under overcast skies. We kept the pace easy and were passed over and over again by herds of pacelines. The first stop was disappointing as it was just water and porta-potties -- no food :( I think the picture Ruth snapped of me sums up our mood...

After that, the sun started to come out, our mood improved and we rode through Eatonville to outside of the Nisqually entrance of the park. Finally, 60 miles later, there was some food with delicious fruit there but they ran out of peanut butter -- not something that would EVER happen on Ruth's ride! From there we rode into the park entrance and starting the climb to Paradise. Aside from simply finishing the ride, my goal was to keep Ruth's pace when climbing as she is such a strong climber. I stayed right with her -- surprising her even and followed her as she picked off many who had thundered by us on the flats up to the (almost) top as the route this year was cut a bit short due to construction at the visitor's center. Got a nice picture of Ruth and Dave at our very scenic water stop.

Then we had a nice descent, climbed back up Backbone Ridge to a checkpoint and then another beautiful descent to a terrific rest stop at Box Canyon Picnic Area at mile 88 (yum, chocolate croissants!)

Rode a bit longer to the most challenging part of the ride -- Cayuse Pass, a 9 mile climb at mile 100 of the ride. Right before we started to ascend, we were caught by construction which meant that there was a bit of a bottle-neck with some rather obnoxious other riders who were in a hurry to go by us as soon as we were released :(


I hung in there with Ruth during 8.75 miles of the ascent as she picked off many of the riders one by one. I voted against stopping at the water stop mid-point and wanted to just get it over with. At one point, there was a guy climbing who was "too cool" to wear his helmet and did not like getting passed by Ruth. So he started to chase her but could not keep up and settled in front of me. This made me very unhappy as he should have retired his spandex shorts about 20 washes ago and his large sweaty frame was blocking everything in view. I pulled a break-away -- nothing like translucent shorts for inspiration and continued to chase Ruth up the mountain. During the last 1/4 mile, all I could do was watch her pull ahead (chased by another guy who was inspired by her) and she finished about a 100 yards in front of me. Ruth got a nice picture of Dave at the top.

From there, it was all downhill...to the best rest stop of all because they make custom deli sandwiches for you! Then a gradual 35 mile descent (unfortunately with a wicked headwind, but is normal for the base of Crystal to Enumclaw at that time) to the finish. We were really psyched at the end with a finishing time of 10:07 -- as Ruth said, we can now call ourselves real cyclists :)


After a shower and mini post-race massage, we enjoyed a beer together and bragged a bit more :)

As Ruth put it best: I am proud of us!

Rest for RAMROD day :)

Had a decent but not fabulous swim this morning -- 5x(4x 100). Did one set on the 1:40 and then really struggled to do the next ones on the 1:35.

2650 Swim Practice @ 00:55:00
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Did not get a chance to get to the gym today but did come home and do some core before dinner.

CORE
5 x 1 min. Plank (side and front)
5 x 15 Crunch on Ball (side and front)
3 x 15 Back on Ball

I did not realize I was supposed to run 10 miles today until 10 PM last night. So I decided to let my sleep deprived body make the call in the morning.

At 6 AM I woked up and went for a run down to and around Greenlake. I felt crappy the entire time and my HR stayed between 175-180 the entire run. I did not start to even get into a groove until I was climbing 5th back to our place.

5.75 Mile Run @ 00:54:00

Today I had a meltdown. Spent the morning trying to put our new home back together and getting the remainder of stuff out of the old place -- in the heat.

We planned to ride in the afternoon but right before we were going to go, I had my meltdown. I did not want to go ride my bike. I wanted to sit in an air conditioned theater just like normal people. I was tired of having things I had to do and just wanted to not do anything. Ruth was very sweet and took off her bike shorts and jersey and took me to see a movie -- just like normal people. Unfortunately, all the normal people filled the theater and by the time we got there, there were only a few seats left.

So we turned around, got on our bikes and went for a ride down and around Mercer Island and were rewarded with a nice tailwind.

35 Mile Ride @ 02:31:00
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It has been a very long week...missed two days of training ...

Swam the Lake Padden Open Water 5k Swim today. I am not too discouraged that I finished at the bottom of the pack (4th from last) because it was a training swim and it has been a very long week. I worked hard on sighting and stroke and know that I swam a good swim. The time is a guess-timate until results are posted.

3.2 Mile Swim @ 01:36:00

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Then spent the remainder of the day cleaning out the old place. Not an ideal day for such a task!

Yet another crazy day at work. Got out in the afternoon though for a quick tempo ride around Mercer Island.

19.75 Mile Tempo Ride @ 01:12:00

12:00 WU
116a, 145m

43:04 Tempo
144a, 225m

17:00 CD
130a, 159m

No training for me on Tuesday or Wednesday. Between moving and cramps from hell, I had nothing else left. Hopefully we will be completely out of the old place by the end of the weekend.

Went to swim practice this morning and got in good workout even though I felt like I was swimming through mud!

Swim Practice @ 2200
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Managed to squeeze in an interval run (4 x 1 Mile @ 8:20 Pace w/ .25 recovery) on the treadmill between meetings.

6 Mile Interval Run @ 01:00:00

1 Mile WU @ 10:00
126a, 138m

Mile 1 @ 08:20
149a, 153m

Mile 2 @ 08:20
151a, 156m

Mile 3 @ 08:20
152a, 157m

Mile 4 @ 08:20
153a, 159m

.25 CD

Did my long run today from Gasworks to beyond Matthews Beach and back. Ran it at 10 minute run, 1 minute walk recovery. During recovery, I alternated between eating a cliff block with water and a sip of Gatorade. I was pretty tired by the time I was done but made it through. My foot pod had me at 15 miles but the markers on the trail had me at over 16.

When I came back to Gasworks, I was concerned that I had not run long enough so I continued on the trail to Freemont although running up a hill was the very last thing I wanted to do at the time. Something good happened on that hill. Halfway up it, I could not tell that I was running uphill and cruised up it easily.

16 Mile Long Run @ 02:39:03
134a, 149m

Today was our double mountain pass training ride -- and we planned to park at Greenwater and ride Cayuse up, down and back up again. The way we came back up Cayuse is the last pass for RAMROD so we wanted to have a good idea of what it would be like.

The ride up Cayuse was good -- Ruth took it at a pace slightly faster than my comfort zone but I hung in there and did not let her drop me. Then we had the descent down the other side where I lost sight of her. I tend to get nervous Nellie when descending especially if there are turns and if the road is a little rough. It was very rough in the rock slide area -- and down to one lane. I was quite unhappy that she had gone through that area without me as it would have felt much safer to have the two of us battling the cars for space.

So there was a lot of silence back up Cayuse but it did not make much of a difference because she rode it faster than I. I decided to not try to keep up and just make it my ride -- with the goal of keeping my cadence at 60. It was HOT HOT HOT and I HATE HOT. My HR was 148 climbing it. One thing I learned today is that Cliff Shot Blocks are my new favorite training food.

At the top of Cayuse, I decided that we needed to ride to Chinook too because it was there :)

We finished the ride strong and the mountain flower she gave me at the top of Cayuse thawed things a bit and I decided to talk to her again :) We do rock after all.

78 Mile 3 Pass Ride @ 05:45:00
6700 Elevation

________________________________________
Put in fewer hours this week -- tapering for Fat Salmon and my long run is not until Monday.

Today we swam the Fat Salmon 3.4 mile race. The water was choppy and we fought a headwind a lot of the time. I know that this was not a priority race -- it was a long training swim for me but I was quite disappointed that I came in about 10 minutes slower than the time I had the last time I swam it -- and the conditions were not ideal that time either.

It is hard to not feel discouraged as my times continue to be slower and slower. I know that two years ago, I did swim it much harder and would not have been in the shape to ride RAMROD that summer. That is my consolation/justification at the moment. Still a bummer and yet another disappointment.

I hope that all this distance training is the reason and I will be able to see and know the payoffs of all the miles and hours I am putting into training -- in the positive results of a race. Perhaps it will also help to not be in transition with our home packed up -- waiting to move into the new one.

3.4 Mile Swim @ 02:00:00

Managed to squeeze a run into my crazy busy work day. Started the run with the intention of just going 3 if I continued to feel tired. But felt strong and did my usual @ 5.5-6 mile loop that included the slough.

5.5+ Mile Run @ 0:52:16
152a, 194m

We swam in the lake this morning to rest tomorrow for Saturday's 3 Mile Fat Salmon Open Water Swim. It was choppy out there -- both ways and a thoroughly unpleasant swim -- despite the wonderful company.

1.4 Mile Open Water Swim @ 00:50:00

Then I bricked it with a ride to work on the Hindenburg. I was tired and cold and definitely in survival rather than strong mode.

12 Mile Bike @ 01:00:00
___________________________

I talked Ruth into skipping a PM bike and instead coming to Bellevue and going to Happy Hour with me. We both are really tired and the decision was reinforced by the rain outside as we ate cheap sushi :)

Went to bed last night at 8:15. We are pretty whipped and things have not even begun to get crazy yet!

Katie did hills with me today and that made the workout so much better. We ran Greenlake to the Dog Park area and did hill repeats on gravel paths. I decided to do 4 hill repeats and then added 1 at the end of that to push myself. I have a long way to go but her advice and coaching helped me improve my splits each time. Next time I will do 7 and she advised me to keep the middle 5 at 1:25.

Hill Repeat Run @ 00:55:62

WU @ 16:41
149a, 193m

Hill 1 (not the one I repeated -- it was just there) @ 01:41
132a, 149m

Hill Repeat 1 @ 01:33
130a, 156m

Hill Repeat 2 @ 01:27
147a, 164m

Hill Repeat 3 @ 01:28
150a, 168m

Hill Repeat 4 @ 01:23
151a, 167m

Hill Repeat 5 @ 01:21 (extra credit)!
147a, 197m

CD @ 18:00

Got to swim with Duncan today -- pushed myself quite a bit more trying to keep up with him initially, and that turned into not letting him lap me -- and then that turned into not letting him lap me before I hit the flags. He did 300's to my 250's and 250's to my 200's. Despite the declining dignity, I had a terrific swim, got in more mileage and need to swim with him more.

2650 Swim @ 00:55:00

We had a late afternoon appointment to sign all the condo papers. whew. I had a tempo bike workout on my schedule and opted to just do it on the rollers because I needed things to be simple and easy. I lost the lap information so no HR but it hovered between 128-132 during the tempo portion. That does not seem high but I could not get it up higher than that.

19 Mile Tempo Bike @ 01:00:00

10 Minute WU
45 Minute Tempo @ 19-20 mph pace
5 Minute CD

Then I did a quick home core and weight session.

Weight Training

CORE
5 x 15 Plank (front and side)
3 x 15 Back on Ball
5 x 15 Crunch on Ball (front and side)

BICEP
2 x 12, 1 x 8 Bicep Curls @ 16 lb weights

TRICEP
3 x 15 Tricep Extensions (behind head)

Two beautiful words:

REST DAY

Katie ran with me today and that made it so much better. I had to run 8 miles today and my legs sure were tired after yesterday...

I ran to her house and then we ran 5-6 together -- then I ran home.

8+ Mile Run @ 01:33:30
141a, 175m

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Another long training week...not much more to say than that...

Went for a RAMROD Training Ride today. After riding a bit with the group, Ruth and I agreed that we are each other's favorite riding partners and were happy to let everyone go ahead, posture and jostle for position while we rode at our own pace.

Got in over 5500 feet of elevation and while we did not finish as spectacularily as we had last week, we ended quite strong. The worst part of the ride was the 2 miles and then 10 miles on I-90. Ruth summed it up best by saying "If I never ride I-90 again on my bicycle, it will be too soon.

116 Mile Ride @ 07:50:00
121a

We need to set our alarm earlier on Lake Fridays...by the time we got to the water, we just missed the gang taking off. I had a good swim though and made it to the 2nd bouy and back.

1.25 Mile Open Water Swim @ 01:00:00
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Got in a quick lift at lunch today.

Weight Training

CORE
Back Extensions 3 x 15 @ 10 lb plate
3 x 15 Legs Up Slanted Bench
5 x 15 Crunch on Ball (front and side)

SHOULDERS
Overhead Press 2 x 12 @ 25 dumbbells
Shoulder alternate raise side and front 2 x 10 @ 10 dumbbells

CHEST
Press 2 x 15 @ 65 barbell
Chest Flyes 2 x 15 @ 30 dumbbells

BACK
Seated Row 2 x 12 @ 90 machine
Lat Pull Down 2 x 10 @ 90 machine

BICEPS
2 x 10 Curl @ 30 barbell
Concentration Curl 2 x 8 @ 20 dumbbells

TRICEPS
2 x 15 triceps kickback @ 12 dumbbell
2 x 15 Assisted Dip @ 110

Last night, I was still feeling burned and un-motivated so I made the decision to sleep in and get in an interval (4 miles @ 8:20 Pace .25 recovery) run on the treadmill at lunch. It was a good decision even though work was crazy and it was the best I could do to fit it in.

6 Mile Interval Run @ 00:57:21

WU 1 Mile @ 09:38

Mile 1 @ 08:21
147a, 152m

Mile 2 @ 08:20
149a, 157m

Mile 3 @ 08:20
154a, 160m

Mile 4 @ 08:20
155a, 163m

CD .25 Miles @ 04:13
124a, 108e

While it was nice to have Tuesday off, this morning felt like another Monday. But a bit more brutal as I was recovering a bit from yesterday's mango/strawberry margaritas....

So swim was uneventful. There were so few people there that I had my own lane. Tonight we have a bike interval workout planned.

2300 Swim Practice @ 00:50:00
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Went into today's bike interval workout not feeling my best. Ended up doing 4 x 2 Mile Intervals on Lake Washington BLVD. I did not time them -- and did a .5 mile recover in between each one.

15 Mile Bike @ 00:56:00

Today we went for an AM Independence Day Swim and Bike Ride.

Jeff and I swam to the 2nd bouy and back today. It was a nice swim and I got to work on my stroke during the swim.

1.2 Mile Swim @ 01:00:00

Then Jeff, Ruth and I went for a ride around the south end of Lake Washington. I rode for the first time with the new Zipp Wheels -- damn they are fast. I got in a couple of sprints and it was all together an excellent ride!

40 Mile Ride @ 02:30:00

I know I was supposed to take the entire day off, but I was feeling a bit antsy and wanted to get in a workout that will not get me in too much trouble. Plus I am finally starting to get the tiniest definition in my arms and I would be so sad to lose it... So I got in a lift at lunch today.

Weight Training

CORE
Back Extensions 3 x 15 @ 10 lb plate
3 x 15 Legs Up Captain's Chair
3 x 15 Crunch on Machine @ 25 lb
5 x 1:00 Plank (front and side)

SHOULDERS
Overhead Press 2 x 15 @ 22.5 dumbbells
Shoulder alternate raise side and front 1 x 12, 1 x 8 @ 10 dumbbells

CHEST
Press 1 x 15, 1 x 13 @ 65 barbell
Chest Flyes 2 x 15 @ 30 dumbbells

BACK
Seated Row 2 x 15 @ 90 machine
Lat Pull Down 2 x 10 @ 90 machine

BICEPS
2 x 12 Curl @ 30 barbell
Concentration Curl 2 x 8 @ 20 dumbbells

TRICEPS
2 x 15 triceps kickback @ 12 dumbbell
2 x 12 Assisted Dip @ 110

I had a miserable terrible awful dreadful horrible death march disguised as a long run today. It has been a long training week and I looked forward to perhaps a light little run before resting on the Madison Park Beach with Ruth whilst sipping some cold, sweet alcohol laced beverage. After all, we certainly had earned it with all the hard long training we had put in.

Then my coach came over to talk about training for the next month and left me with a 15 mile long run to do before meeting Ruth at Madison. The plan did not sound too bad as I was to do it as a run (10 min) walk (1 min). My first three miles hurt. A lot. Then I started to feel better running around Lake Union until the heat got to me and even though I had water and gatorade with me -- and took a sip of each during the 1 minute walk, I started to get slower and it became harder. Much. I also went off the planned route a bit because I got little lost. By the time I hit the Arboretum, I had to walk for 5 minutes to try to get composed again.

Finished by running straight down Madison for a total finish of about 12 miles. In 2.5 laborious wretched hours. By the time I got to Ruth, I was hot and cranky beyond words -- even though I had plenty of words to describe my unhappiness. Ruth said that I am built for endurance sports (I disagreed today) -- but perhaps the Itiderod might be my race...

12 Mile Run @ 02:29
127a. 229m
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Almost hit 20 hours of training this week. Next week will offer a bit more relief...

We are bone tired but so very proud of ourselves. Today we rode our longest ride ever as part of our training for RAMROD in July. We did the Flying Wheels route with an extra 35 loop in Snohomish that Jeff had shown Ruth last month. The best part was running into Jeff and his daughter Kaitlin on the trail -- perfect timing because he directed us to the right turn-off for the loop.

About halfway through, I was starting to bonk a little as I had nothing to eat since the egg and cheese bagel I had for breakfast. We stopped in Snohomish after the loop and had a nice lunch of turkey sandwich. When that kicked in, I felt really strong again. I am afraid that I may be built for this kind of thing :(

The route was perfect as we hit the worst elevation at mile 100 -- very similar to the RAMROD route although it was no mountain pass, we did get in over 4500 ft of elevation.

139.5 Mile Ride @ 09:00:00
120a, 165m