Long training rides gone bad summer '09 :)

So, it turned out to be an awesome summer with all my training, kids out of school, no traveling (it was actually kinda nice staying home), and just teaching and working out! I have spent more hours in the sun (not such a good thing) than I probably did when I was a teenager lifeguarding. It was soooo hot this summer that I took the kids swimming as much as I possibly could. The heat didn’t phase them one bit……they were just happy to be in the pool (they’re both little fish)!

I spent a lot of time training outside in the hot sun for long rides and runs, track workouts, and training in the pool. One week I counted up my miles that I had put in and it was over 200 miles running, swimmin, and biking…….in one week!

Sun burn city:  I learned my lesson on one of our long rides this summer…….my longest ride so far was around 65 miles…..knowing that I had an Ironman at the end of the year it was time to increase that distance a bit. Dave and I set out for our long ride in North Austin on Parmer Lane…..he asked me about 3 or 4 miles in if I had any more sunblock……I said, “No, do you need some?” He said, “No but your back does.” Ouchy…..just this one little strip of skin got fried where my tri shorts and top didn’t meet…..no idea it was visible to the sun until I got in that aero position. :( It hurt! My 4 year old daughter saw my “boo boo” and was very concerened and told me to never do it again. :)

We did 80+ miles that day. I remember feeling a little light headed about mile 60 or so…..I ate a little bit and drank some pure sport and started to feel better. After we did more long rides I realized I wasn’t eating enough on the days leading up to those longer rides so I increased my protein / carb intake and felt better from there on out. I ran out of fluids on just about every long ride we went on and had to stop for more……we did a ride out to Andice and I thought I was going to pass out on the bike b/c I had been without fluids and it was sooo hot. At one point Dave and I were both out of our fluids and miles away from the next gas station. We finally made out to Andice grocery store and those first few gulps of G2 never tasted so good!

Oh no tummy cramps:  Wow, I just remembered another long ride adventure! So, this was about middle of the summer…….Dave and I planned on getting in 80+ on this day and left from LifeTime heading towards Anderson Mill on 620. We stopped at a bike shop on 360 for something (probably b/c Dave had to pee)…..nahh I think I needed fluids……and the guy at the store gave me some E-load. BAD idea for me to put that E-load in my water.

Dang did I have some major stomach cramps…….note to self E-load makes me gassy!!! I felt like crap the entire ride from about mile 20ish to whenever we got home (I think we did close to 85 that day)……and my training partner heard about it the entire time!! Gotta love him.

Ironman training / race season summer '09 (part 2)

In the midst of all the races David and I were starting to focus on training for our Ironman and trying to work it around teaching classes at the gym and our families…..and I run a home-based business that I try to maintain, but wasn’t very successful at doing so this summer. We had planned to do our century ride on June 5th and on a couple other occasions but it got pushed back a  few times for various reasons....(it's a big chunk of time so planning it with our schedules was not easy)....

Prepping for 100 mile ride: We finally attempted the 100 miler in July and OMG was it a crazy hard 100-mile attempt…..100 degree weather and all HILLS! Who’s idea was this anyway? Ok, so it was quite an ordeal to get to this route and get ‘er done……we had to drop one of our cars off in North Austin the night before our ride so we could just go from point A to point B (leave our “transition bags” (so to speak) with running gear b/c we were crazy enough to want to run afterwards)…….bike rack on the car, park in a lit area so it doesn’t get broken into, and don’t leave anything of value, etc. etc.  We decided to leave at 8 a.m…..which for us meant 8:30ish! 

Andice adventure:  We didn’t make the 100 miles……got in 68 instead….Dave got a flat that we couldn’t repair (in the middle of no where on the way to a little town called Andice). And……some scary, strung out, mass murderer-like guy picked us up (in a florescent yellow truck with red flames painted on the side). Seriously, this dude was creepy. I kept thinking of the movie Wolf Creek (go look it up……freaky scary and based on a true story). He drove us about 20 miles or so back to our car……Dave sat in the back of the truck bed sweating his hiney off holding our bikes and I sat up in the cab with scary man. Scary man (now remembering his name is George) asked me if I had a sister…….he invited me and Dave over for Barbeque…..he asked me how much our bikes cost…….he talked about how long he’d been out of rehab and how he now lives with his parents at age 43……scary man also told me about his bike accident and showed me his scars (not cool)……oh and I found out why they call that little town “Andice” Andice……feel free to ask me sometime…….geez he talked about a lot. I remember at one point there were tons of cops driving by with their sirens on and he said, “Man there sure are a lot of cops out today.” I replied with, “I sure hope they’re not coming after you.” Nice one Lindsey. :) Nice guy to pick us up ….but….ewwww he was scary. And we finally did get that 100 miles in (103 miles at that) on July 24th and it rocked (same route)! And that was my first century ride! Yayyy!

Run-Far Bike Time Trials: I did my first Run-Far bike time trial in July and got to go as fast as possible for 8 miles……that’s kinda fun! I did it a couple more times over the summer and my fastest pace was 24.4 mph. And guess what, I think I got 2nd at all 3 of them….. Go figure! I did a few Splash and Dash races throughout the summer as well…..good training tool…..especially when you almost DNF (did not finish) b/c you freak out on the swim….and it’s a 750 meter swim…..really? That’s another funny story!

I will start another post or two to finish up race season and training b/c this one is waayyy long!

9 days to go!!

11 days....getting pumped! Ironman training / race season summer '09!

So, today was a really good day…truly getting excited about the big race! Last night, I posed a question to Tony regarding my upcoming Ironman……. I asked, “What have I gotten myself into?” He calmly replied by saying…..”I think you have a screw loose!” Awesome! I thinks he’s right. :)  It got me thinking about this crazy thing I do and how far I’ve come this year! Here’s a little recap and then some! 

This is my 4th year of doing triathlons and I can say it’s my first year that I really have been focused on improving my splits and pushing myself to do better each time. I came with a mindset ready to race!

Signing up for Ironman: I signed up for Ironman Arizona in November of 2008 and officially started training towards the end of May / beginning of June. I really hadn’t thought about doing an Ironman before last summer (well maybe a small inkling but that was before I had kids)…..even early last year (2008) I was happy just doing sprints. I told myself I didn’t need to do anything more than a sprint……that distance is just great and fine for me! Well....I started training and hanging out with David Garza! ;) Some how I signed up for my first olympic distance over the summer of ‘08 (Austin Tri) then my first half ironman in Oct. 2008 (Longhorn)......so….2 olympics, 3 half ironman races, and a dozen sprints later and I am doing a freaking Ironman. I remember David telling me on one of our long rides last summer that his wife, Mindy, and he decided that it was a great time for him to do an Ironman. I just said, “Have fun with that!”

Different start: The funny thing is that I started out the 2008 season with a super sprint race (500 meter swim, 11 mile bike and 2 mile run)…..and this year with a half iron distance (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run)…..quite a difference but I think it was a good decision!

Lonestar half Iron: My first race of the 2009 season was the half iron distance in April in Galveston (Lonestar). It was the second race I’d done at this distance and I was excited to do a race out of town. My friend, Kina, and I drove down together and really had fun.  I was excited for her as well b/c she was doing the Aquabike distance for the first time. Swimming at the gulf really wasn’t any different than swimming at Town Lake (other than a couple gulps of salt water). I did smell/taste what seemed like boat gasoline at one point……and that was gross, but not too choppy and it was pretty much a straight shot to our swim out. I felt really strong and overall had a good race. The only thing I fought was a horrible back pain and burning inner thighs on the bike (like on fire crazy burn). I stopped once at the very beginning b/c I felt like my back brake was rubbing (I always think that though….especially when I’m trying to keep up with David…ha)!  It was the first flat bike course I’d done……probably the first flat ride I’d ever done….. When you are used to hills you’d think flat would be easy…..it was actually a lot tougher than I thought it would be. You never get a break and always seem to be pushing those gears….especially when you wanna go fast!

I felt darn good on the run….maybe just happy to be off the bike, but I definitely had my running legs early on and didn’t slow down much at all. It was very windy that day…..there were certain spots on the run course that you knew were coming and you’d have to push through the wind with all your might……coming around certain corners without the wind was like heaven! I think it was a 4 loop run course so it was fun to see everyone and cheer on my friends out there. I had a smile on my face for most of the run….. :) I placed 2nd in my age division!! That was a great start to my season and helped set the mood for a great race season!

Skeese Greets Sprint:  The second race I did was a sprint in May…..yes! I love sprint distances b/c they are short and sweet and you get to go balls to the walls!! It’s a rush! So, I did the Skeese Greets and again got 2nd. I did this one in 2008 and got 3rd….I improved my run pace by a little and had a stronger bike……but slowed down on the swim…..dangit (overall improvement by 2 mins. though)!  

Tri it in Spanish and Pflugerville Tri: Next up would be Pflugerville Tri and a small sprint called Tri it in Spanish….that one was interesting…..pretty much all I can say about that. It was fun though b/c some of the tri group from LifeTime did it and it’s way more fun when there’s people there you can cheer on. I got overall female at Tri it in Spanish…..yahoo!

13 days and counting....

Wow, what a difference a week makes! I am so upbeat and so excited about Ironman I can’t stand it!! I laid pretty low last week and just did what I needed to do and didn’t put a lot of intense workouts in and I know it really helped! I feel refreshed and energized this week. I do have some lingering back (or hip) pain, but I get to go see my chiro again this week and know it will help a lot. I have a feeling it’s going to be somewhat of a bother during my ride at Ironman, but I’m going to just have to deal with it. It’s just kind of a nagging constant throbbing feeling that I feel on the left side (especially on the bike in the aero position). I have started to feel it on the swim too which isn’t very pleasant either, but I will just push through it!

It’s amazing to me all the support I am receiving from the members at the gym. I think they are almost as excited as I am to do this thing! I hope to make everyone proud!

I wish I blogged during this entire journey b/c it’s been so much fun and such an adventure. I am so blessed to have this opportunity and love my hubby so much for his support! He just tells me to do what makes me happy!

13 days to go!!

On my way....

  Wednesday, Nov. 4th……Less than 3 weeks to my first Ironman and I was literally a complete mess today. I had a great morning teaching 2 awesome classes - cycle and strength and then I planned on doing just a short run…. I didn’t feel like it….really my body didn’t feel like it. So, I had my hair cut and styled instead. :) When I got home I felt insanely guilty. I felt like I had let myself down…..which is just silly b/c I’ve worked my bootie off all summer. I talked with a couple friends (both of which have done several Ironmans) and they both said to listen to my body and take a break. It’s always hard for me to take a break…….. I think at times I definitely over-trained and right now I am exhausted! My body has had enough and is telling me to cut it out! So, I will listen! The last thing I want to do is sacrifice all the time and energy I have put into training and racing to have my body quit on me now! Allowing my body to absorb everything I have done leading up to this point is exactly what I’m supposed to be doing (I think)!

  I picked up the kids from school today and really just cherished my time with them. Watching them laugh, play and just have such a carefree attitude helped calm my nerves. It’s an awesome thing to be able to see your own children happy and enjoying life together. Maybe one day they will realize how hard mommy has worked for this goal and how blessed I feel to be able to do what I do! They’re still just too little to get it. 

  I subbed out my class tomorrow so I could get in a long swim.  Dave and I are swimming 2 miles at Barton Springs (which should be refreshing and feel good to my muscles) and maybe get in a light run. I teach a strength class later on today and will probably focus more on upper body work during the class……and hopefully it will give my legs a little more recovery time. 

  What I’m going through is normal I’m assuming…..I’m anxious, nervous, tired, and excited all at the same time and not sure where to go with all these emotions!

19 days to go!!