Terrific swim this morning! Love Emily's workouts and I sure hope she sticks around. Duncan was back after being sick for a couple of weeks but that did not stop him from smoking me on a set of 200 pulls.

SWIM PRACTICE 2900 @ 01:00:00
WU
200s, 100k, 200p
Main Set
10x125 (100free, 25back)
4x200 Pull ( I ended up doing 200, 175, 175, 200 because I could not keep up with Duncan)
2x8x25 Hard on :30 (although Emily said that I shoould do those on :25)
CD
50 EZ

Did the 24 hour spin class today and this instructor was completely lame. Did my best to work hard despite her lack of cues and inspiration.

SPIN CLASS @ 01:00:00

Could not get out of bed this morning and slept in until 7:00 so I did not do my planned AM interval run. However, I managed to squeeze a 4 x 1 mile treadmill interval run during lunch in-between a day of hectic meetings.

INTERVAL RUN 6 MILES @ 00:54:35

WU 9 Miles @ 09:07
139a 172m 144e
Interval 1 @ 00:07:24
162a 167m 166e
.25 Mile Recovery @ 00:03:34
125a 166m 125e
Interval 2 @ 00:07:24
162a 170m 170e
.25 Mile Recovery @ 00:04:04
127a 170m 109e
Interval 3 @ 00:07:24
162a 172m 1723
.25 Mile Recovery @ 00:04:00
130a 172m 113e
Interval 4 @ 00:07:24
164a 175m 1743
.25 Mile Recovery @ 00:04:00
131a 174m 131e

Emily is our new swim coach on Tuesdays and Thursdays and I could not be more happy. Terrific workout today -- she was enthusiastic and engaged. I hope that she sticks around for a while.

Swim Practice 2750 yards @ 01:00:00
WU
200s, 100k, 200p
Main Set
10x75 Odds free, Evens free, not free, free on 01:30
200 Kick descend by 50's
50 EZ
5x100 Free with 10 seconds rest. (I tried 1:40 but could not sustain it)
50 EZ
5x100 Free @ 1:45 and could sustain this interval
CD
200

Pretty tough weekend so I did not get any training in for two days. Ruth's event was Saturday morning so we got up at 3:30 AM to drive to West Seattle and set everything up. While I thought she did a wonderful job of pulling a fun and well organized event out of thin air when all partnership/support was unexpectedly pulled out from under her, the small number of attendees really made it tough for her to feel the sense of accomplishment she deserved.

So after a short nap on Saturday, we went out to Girl4Girl and partied to forget the day's activities and disappointments. Then we attended the Pride Parade rather hung over the next day and devoted the remainder of the day to sleeping.

I had a lunchtime run planned but got to the locker room and remembered I forgot my running bra so back to work I went.

Went for a run at mostly tempo pace after work from our house to the IF facility near Lake Union.

8? Mile Run @ 01:10:00

Nice swim in the lake with Gisela this AM. She took it easy on me because I am still "recovering". I did not feel it was important to correct her because I really did want to take it easy despite the fact that I am pretty much recovered. We swam to the tennis courts and back and then had excellent cofffe after. Next week we are swimming to the bouys.

1 Mile Lake Swim

I am a treadmill princess and not afraid to admit it. For some reason, my access to our little building gym has not yet been cancelled so I did my lunchtime run on the treadmill while watching Judging Amy. I do have a philosophy that if it is nice enough outside for me to have to close the blinds to watch the TV, I should be running outside but I did not care today.

6 Mile Treadmill Run @ 00:55:00

1 Mile WU @ 9:31 Pace
121a 12m
5 miles @ 8:27 Pace
146a 156m 1543
.25 Mile Walk Cool Down
125a 157m 106e

Erin (Master's Coach) never made it to practice today so Sarah wrote us a terrific workout. And then proceded to kick my butt in the pool but I hung in there :) I am going to try out the 24 hour spin class at noon today.

Swim Practice 2500 @ 01:00:00

I would go back to that 24 Hour spin class. Because this location JUST opened up, lots of things were still in a bit of disarray but the spin bikes were brand new and just a pleasure to ride. While this class was no where near the caliber of my favorite one taught by my coach, it was okay for the convenience and location. Got my HR up and we did lots of climbing so I got to work on my big gear riding.

Spin Class 01:00:00

Went for a nice 6 mile run this morning at one of my favorite places to run, the Mercer Slough. Based on Katie's advice, I did not take my HR monitor and just ran the loop at my own pace. It started out a little rough but I left the remainder of my bad attitude on the running route and finished happy.

UPDATE: Scroll down to see pictures from my race and go to my entry about Ruth's Race to see her pictures.

I am in a terrible funk and have been since Sunday. Thought I would be better after my little crying meltdown on Sunday after the race but that has not happened yet. Everyone has been so sweet by asking about it but it just makes me feel like crap to talk about it.

I just hate not achieving my goal for no other reason than my own inadequacy. I would be cranky, but recoverable if it had been something outside of my control like a flat or a pulled hamstring or alien invasion...

Yes, I took 15 minutes off my best 1/2 IM PR but I was 18+ minutes off my final goal and a 9:18 run pace was just terrible for me. There is no excuse for that -- I just did not train enough and it showed. Yes, it is instructive and all that but I just cannot emerge from this place.

Ruth has taken to calling me Lilo because my post-race pout is of epic proportions...

Well I survived. The good news is that I took about 15 minutes off my 1/2 IM PR (personal record) despite not meeting the goals I had set for myself. My official finish time is 5:48:31 and I came in 14th out of 42 in my age group with a finish of 66 out of 214 women.

Pre-race
Not much time between when we could enter the transition area and the race start. Because I dropped my chain when riding yesterday, I took it to a bike shop last night to get it adjusted. I tested it this AM and (again) could not get into the big chain ring. Uuugghhh. Fortunately, one of the women in the transition area overheard Ruth and I talking about it and got her husband (who owns a bike shop) to help me out. It worked so much better and I will be eternally grateful to those two athletes who took a few minutes to help me out. Other than that, I got my area set up well :) and was ready to go.

Swim (1.2 Miles @ 00:35 :54)
The under 40 men left 10 minutes before the women. After the wave took off, there were still men running to the swim start. One of the women said that it happens every year. Stayed steady and strong through the swim. While I like the improved visibility of my new open water goggles, I noticed that when they leaked, they were able to hold much more of the lake. I wonder if they will ever make goggles (and helmets) that fit flat round faces and heads.
Transition 1 @ 00:01:39

Ruth caught my cap and goggles when I came running up the chute and that helped alot. Decided against the armwarmers as it was a pretty sunny day out and ran my bike out of the area with little incident.

Bike (56 Miles @ 03:14:01 17.3 pace)
This kicked my ASS. Rolling (albiet beautiful) hills are not my strength and it sure showed. I did the best I could -- got aero when possible and limped through the hills. This course had a loop that we had to do three times. I will not do another race that boasts a hilly course without much more preparation before hand. I also wasted a lot of time playing with the shifting on my new bike. I do need to say though that I sure do love racing with Canadians. For some reason "on your left", "good job" "have some snacks for me?" just are quite pleasant in a Canadian accent :)

Transition 2 @ 00:01:34
Coming back with my bike, I was blocked by some relay team members stretching right in the middle of the pathway and I was quite cranky about that. Took me an extra few seconds to find my spot but managed to rack okay and get out on the run.
Run (13.1 Miles @ 01:55:26) 9:18 Pace
The course description said it was a flat combination of trails and pavement around Elk Lake. I assumed that flat meant flat and a combination meant 50/50. Unfortunately, flat meant rolling trail hills and combination meant 90% trails, 10% pavement. This kicked whatever ass I had left after the bike. It was a double-loop course so I ran the first loop with lots of the men who were on their second and completely dusting me on the trails. It was hard to come in and hear the finish line and have to go around the damn lake again.

Now I felt stronger and faster on the 2nd lap but Ruth clocked me several minutes slower -- go figure. When I came through, she yelled "smooth and steady" and that helped me through the second loop. I think that the finish clock said 05:48:?? when I came in. At the very end, two women in my division sprinted by me to the finish line. I just had nothing left to keep up with them so I just handed out two places ahead of me at that point.

Post Race
Pretty shakey at the end. Inhaled the gaterade I was handed (asked for the blue as I had been drinking yellow all race). Had to sit down and try to get my bearings. I saw Ruth looking for me but I did not even have the energy to yell to her. She later encouraged me to get in the cool lake to ice my legs a little and that helped to revive me. Soon, she is taking me out for Sushi and the biggest saltiest martini I can find. Lucky me!

Woke up almost entirely pain free after an almost 9 hour sleep! We walked to Starbucks and got coffee this morning and then did some grocery shopping at the nearby store. I got some Tiger Balm there and slathered it on my neck. Should be all good.

So I am kind of nervous but more excited about getting out on the race course tomorrow. People here are very friendly and we have seen more than one twitchy triathlete wheeling his/her bike around.

So my coach has my goal time as 5:22 but I would be happy with under 5:30.

I am looking for:

Swim: 00:38
Bike: 03:00:00 (19 MPH pace)
Run: 00:43 (8:15 minue pace)

We're going to head out soon to pick up the race packet and ride one of the bike loops. I also need to find an end plug as I lost mine yesterday in transport.

I am working to believe that just because I lost my car key in Lake Washington this AM that it is not a portent of doom. Not sure how I successfully removed my key FROM its ring (still have that) but I did it.

Anyway, Gisela was wonderful and gave me some clothes to wear to the coffee shop where Ruth swooped by and rescued me. Diana gave me some cool socks and a terrific running hat she got in Hawaii and I am going to wear it to the race.

My neck is still stiff, and I am worried that I did not prepare enough for this race. However, at this point, there is nothing I can do that will make me faster -- I just need to make sure I do not do anything that will make me slower on the day of the race. That includes mental. Call from my coach this AM really helped. On our way in 30 minutes...

So the trend continued....we missed the Victoria ferry by 5 minutes (damn traffic) and ended up driving to Canada (Tsuassin) to catch the ferry. We just missed the 5:00 ferry but were able to get the 6:00. So we got in late and were eating dinner at 9PM. Yikes. By then, the tension from all the mishaps really worked its way into my neck and back and Ruth is going to work on it in a few.

The alarm woke me up this morning at 5:30 and I made the decision that sleep was more important than swim practice today and slept in until 7:20! Even though we went to bed early, I was still tired from the last 5 days of entertaining I guess. Anyway, will do a quick roller interval workout this evening to keep my blood circulating.

Roller workout was 40 minutes long. 10 minute WU, 20 min with 3 minutes at 145+ HR, and 2 Min at 115 HR.

Ran intervals this AM with Katie. Lovely little short intervals -- she made up the workout and it was not too bad although it was not quite as good as sleeping in...

Did 1.25 mile WU, then 800 where we jogged the straight areas and sprinted the curves. Then 1x400 and finally 2x200.

Then she had me do some running drills that included skipping, knee ups, kick butt, strides and some weird one I could not do.

Then came home and said final good-bye to Aunt Claudette who is starting her own blog...

Good swim this AM with Sarah and Gary. Got my butt kicked during the 100's and felt strong on some of the stroke sets.

I have a personal goal of doing 10x100 on the 1:30's in 2005 and definitely do have some work to do to achieve that.

Swim Practice 2500 @ 00:55:00

Took my bike in to get the shifting problem taken care of. They ended up replacing my big cog and it now shifts fine. Got the flip up adaptors for my tri bars so I have more handlebar room and I also got a replacement seat and it even seems to work!

Dropped Aunt Claudette off to visit her friend at Gilda's House in the evening and Ruth and I went to Lake Washington Blvd and went for a short ride. I got aero and just slammed down to Seward Park and around the top hill. Then rode back easy with her as her legs were pretty sore. I am feeling much more confident on the bike now.

Bike Ride 15 miles @ 01:00:00

Beginning to taper this week. Dropped Aunt Claudette at Starbucks and did an aerobic run around Greenlake this morning.

Run around Greenlake @ 00:27:31
143a 180m

Did a 3.5 hour bike/run brick today after dropping Aunt Claudette off at Seward Park where Ruth was voluntering for the Furry 5K.

I went to Kirkland's downtown Marina Park and planned to ride the 40 mile 7 Hills of Kirkland route. Did get a little mixed up though and missed a couple of hills but think I got 30 miles in. Then ran along the waterfront for 70 minutes but not sure of my pace because there were no markers.

30 Mile Hilly Bike Ride @ 02:13:18
139a 168m 119e

00:03:37 Transition

8 Mile Run @ 01:10:30
155a 180m 152e

No workout for me today. Aunt Claudette's train was 7 hours late I ended up going to the train station at midnight and waited for her to arrive until 3:30 AM. Then got a little bit of sleep before getting up early to go to Ruth's Olympic Distance race in Enumclaw.

She kicked some SERIOUS ass and came in within a minute of every goal time I had set for her during the race. Note how I had set the goal time (I said 2:45 and she came in 2:43:47) -- she just wanted to finish.

I am just so proud of her -- she had some fierce competition -- anyone who races that distance early in the season is a serious athlete.

Our friend Michele came down with her VanAGo to support Ruth too. She and I hung out in luxury in her van sipping coffee and warming our feet on her heater.

Did not do a workout today. Aunt Claudette and I walked partway around Greenlake though.

Today was a swim/bike brick day. Swam for the first time in Lake Washington with Ruth and Gisela (and Gisela's new wet suit). The water was pretty choppy but definitely not as cold as we had anticipated. I bought a new pair of goggles for open water and they did not fog at all! Loved them. I also bought Ruth a swim cap for cold water and she said it made all the difference in the world for her. I think that she is ready for her race tomorrow.

We swam for only about 20 minutes because of the choppy water and then I hopped on my bike and rode to work via Renton. I finally made friends with my bike. Put my old saddle on (not the best but better than the other) and was able to get the shifting just right. I hit a lot of headwind on my way south and around the lake so I could not get a good sense of what the bike could do for a while but once I hit the flats without the wind, I could really fly! Now to just be able to fly uphill... Not sure of the total bike distance because I do not have the hang of my new computer yet and I erased my data :(

Open Water Swim @ 00:20:00

Bike Ride 30 mile? @ 01:45:00

Just a swim practice day today. Swam with Duncan again and managed to keep up with him mostly.

Swim Pracice 2700 @ 01:00:00

Did a pyramid (400, 800,1200, 1600, 1200, 800, 400) interval run today at the Greenlake Track. Started the next interval when my HR came down to @ 100.

Did Around the World Core exercises at night.

Warm Up 09:47
137a 149m 1303
400 @ 01:43
155a 167m 166e
Recovery @ 01:21
136a 167m 100e
800 @ 03:36
154a 169m 169e
Recovery @ 01:55
130a 169m 103e
1200 @ 05:22
160a 173m 173e
Recovery @ 03:07
125a 173m 104e
1600 @ 07:14
164a 175m 175e
Recovery @ 03:21
128a 175m 110e
1200 @ 05:33
160a 172m 172e
Recovery @ 02:45
132a 172m 111e
800 @ 03:41
157a 173m 173e
Recovery@ 02:01
137a 173m 110e
400 @ 01:45
148a 170m 170e
CD @ 02:04
133a 171m 104e

Swam with Duncan again this morning and had a pretty good, although short swim workout. Was able to draft during most of the short sets, but when he used his pull bouy for the 300's he dropped me by a full lap .

Erin (swim coach) talked to me after about my flip turns and that I was flipping from my hips, not my knees and creating all sorts of extra unecessary movement. Need to work on keeping tucked.

Swim Practice 2600 yards at 01:00:00

Feeling guilty about yesterday's shortened ride. My calendar says to do rollers -- not sure if it meant my indoor or on rolling hills but I chose the former mostly because I was pressed for time. Turned it into a 30 minute tempo bike ride. Averaged 22+ MPH during the tempo portion -- 3 MPH faster than I could average on my tempo rides on my old bike!

13 Mile Bike Ride @ 00:40:00 (5 min WU and CD)
137a 147m 145e

So after messing around with my aerobars for hours, I was finally happily on my rollers, L Word Season One on the TV and ready to put in 50 miles indoors as the weather promised thunderstorms. Ruth came home working at my coach's training session and said "Cheryl said to get off the rollers and ride to her house so she can see how your bike fits. Also, you are supposed to do your ride outside, not in."

I ended up doing only about 30 miles (up and over Juanita) but am glad that I did them on the road. That bike sure is fast and I am not convinced I am worthy. Seriously. I am turning into a head case here about it and am feeling odd about riding it.

Did a long run along Lake Washington Blvd today while Ruth did a bike/run brick (she finished strong and fast). She dropped me off at the stop sign in Madrona and I ran to Seward Park, around and back . Felt strong throughout.

13 Mile Run @ 01:58:39
148a 185m

Went wetsuit shopping with my friend Gisela and she found one she liked. So she is going to join me for the swim portion of my Swim/Bike brick tomorrow morning at Madison Beach :) Should be lots of fun!

Despite sleeping poorly last night, I moved up a lane this AM and swam with the big boys! Fortunately, it was not all free so I was able to keep up during those sets but did lose Duncan's draft on the 300 free's -- especially when he swam with the pull bouy. But I did manage to get 3000 in so I was happy!

Swim Practice 3000 yards @ 01:00:00

Picked up my bike after work and Ruth and I went for a spin so she could try out her new aerobars and I my new bike. I put in about 25 miles EZ and while I am very psyched about how easy the hills were on the new bike, the saddle was just dreadful and by the end of the ride, my right foot was completely numb. I have such a hard time finding a saddle that works for me! I am switching the saddle from my old bike to my new for tomorrow's ride.

Today was an EZ/optional swim day and I am taking it as a rest day. My neck does feel better after putting a heating pad on it all night but I thought that sleep would be better than rotating it a lot during swimming.

Tomorrow I get to pick up my new bike!

Woke up this morning with a tender head and stiff neck from my run-in with the tree yesterday. Started my AM brick (10 mile bike, 3 mile tempo run) this morning rather reluctantly -- just not approaching it with my best.

Parked at Mount Baker Park and rode my bike to Seward Park (took a while to warm up). Then did the upper loop 6 times concentrating on roller technique and acceleration and back to Baker. Then I ran 1.5 miles out and back at a tempo pace (7:32 mile -- whooop whoop!!!).

11+ Mile Bike @ 00:45:36
125a 156m 113e

3 Mile Run @ 00:22:36
160a 169m 166e

Found a site with core exercises and did 1-14 @ 10 reps tonight (I could not do #15 but I will be able to eventually). I am going to ban the pooh tummy once and for all!