Had a nice open water swim with Jeff this morning in the lake. It was like glass -- that is until it was shattered by the beginning of boat traffic for SeaFair.

1.2 Mile Swim @ 00:50:00

Then got in a weight session at lunch -- not feeling my strongest.

Weight Training

CORE
5 x 15 Plank (front and side)
2 x 15 Lower Ab Leg Up
Back Extensions 3 x 12 @ 10 lb plate
3 x 15 Crunch Machine @ 25 lbs

SHOULDERS
Overhead Press 2 x 15 @ 22.5 dumbbells
Shoulder front raise 2 x 15 @ 8 dumbbells

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

BACK
Seated Row 1 x 12, 1 x 10 @ 90 machine
Lat Pull Down 2 x 12 @ 90 machine

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

TRICEPS
2 x 12 double tricep extension @ 25 dumbbell
2 x 15 Assisted Dip @ 110

Did my tempo bike on the rollers this morning and it was not easy to get my HR up even though the pace was good. Ended up working from home to attend to the leak we had in the kitchen sink.

17 Mile Tempo Bike

10 Min WU

45 Min Tempo Pace
129a

5 Min CD
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Then went for an aerobic run down and around Greenlake. I am sore from yesterday's hill workout and had to push myself to keep the pace up.

5.5 Mile Run @ 52:32
133a, 155m

Last night I fixed our dryer by replacing the timer. Now this is really good stuff on its own as I saved us quite a bit of $$ by figuring out how to do it myself. But the reason I am putting it here is because I was really excited about it last night and kept mentioning how proud of me I was. Then Ruth had a good point. She said "I think you did a terrific job with the dryer but it is interesting that you find that to be such a huge accomplishment when you accomplish so much with your training and racing -- but do not give yourself even a fraction of the credit for it." Hmmm. Something to think about...

We slept in this morning and I decided to head across the bridge to beat the traffic for work and get in my hill workout at lunch.

I started the run with a tummy ache that I could not shake even when I slowed down to a barely moving jog. But once I started the intervals, all was good. I picked a hill that is a bit deceiving as you think you have crested it long before it is over.

5ish Mile Hill Repeat Run

WU @ 00:14:16

Interval 1 @ 02:01 (different distance than the rest)
135a, 154m

Interval 2 @ 01:41
146a, 186m

Interval 3 @ 01:46
168a, 181m

Interval 4 @ 01:45
178a, 187m

Interval 5 @ 01:43
176a, 183m

Interval 6 @ 01:42
166a, 189m

Interval 7 @ 01:42
182a, 185m

Interval 8 @ 01:46 (yikes, slowing down)
179a, 185m

Interval 9 @ 01:37
181a, 191m

Interval 10 @ 01:32 (whoop whoop)
183a, 190m

CD @ 00:10:21

Today's swim was boring but good for my training. We had 3 x 400 Pull descending...a bit of kicking and repeat. The good news is that I got in 300 more yards than usual.

2800 Swim Practice @ 00:55:00
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Got in a lift at lunch today. My right shoulder is still bugging me a bit (pulling today did not help) so I kept my shoulder weights lighter and skipped planking.

Weight Training

CORE
3 x 12 Captain's Chair (switched to straight leg lift)
2 x 15 Lower Ab Leg Up
3 x 12 Back Extensions @ 10 lb plate
3 x 15 Crunch on Ball (front and side)

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

CHEST
Press 2 x 15 @ 70 barbell
Chest Flyes 2 x 15 @ 30 dumbbells

BACK
Seated Row 1 x 15, 1 x 12 @ 90 machine
Lat Pull Down 2 x 12 @ 90 machine

BICEPS
1 x 12, 1 x 10 Curl @ 30 barbell
Concentration Curl 2 x 12 @ 20 dumbbells

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

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

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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