86 Days of Training

She's a brick -- house. The lady's stacked and that's a fact,
ain't holding nothing back. 

Ok, so I am nowhere close to being a brick house, but I can dream. Today was my first brick workout of my training, and I am pretty pleased how well it went. During last season's training, the first mile of the run was more about convincing myself that I am not a big fat old slow loser, which is exactly how I would feel as I began each run, but today's run segment was awesome. I changed my shoes, put on my hat, grabbed my water bottle, and ran 3.1 miles in just over 31 minutes. Nothing hurt, I breathed easily, and my legs didn't feel like they were filled with cream of mushroom soup. Some days, for no particular reason, you just nail your workout - that was today. 

It wasn't long, but it was good.

I tried to find a relatively flat 10-mile loop, and this is what I came up with.

Only one hill around mile 6 that gave me a bit of grief. Oh, and the deer that decided to run in front of me on my 32 mph descent.

The run was completely shaded along a babbling brook -- very nice.

...and it was flat!

  

88 Days of Training

Hamstring Horror

Ok, "horror" is a bit over-dramatic, but I was shooting for alliteration.  I woke up on Wednesday with a VERY sore hamstring. I do not remember pulling it while I was running last Monday or Tuesday, but it sure did hurt. I stuck to riding and core work until it felt better. So, here we are almost a week later and pain free. Super! I'm about 2 miles into my run and it starts to hurt again. grrrrr.... All the experts (none of whom I have met nor checked their credentials) warn that these injuries can be chronic and worsen over time. Piss off, experts!!  I stopped running at 2 1/2 miles, stretched, and I am now icing and blogging. The good news is that riding does not seem to hurt my hamstring at all. My next race isn't until September, so worse case scenario, I kick but on the bike and hobble in the 10k.

Training Schedule Check-up

I am happy to announce that my bike and run training is pretty much on track with my training plan from beginnertriathlete.com. In fact, my cycling is well ahead of schedule. The swim training, on the other hand, has been non-existent this Summer. As soon as I return to Florida with my warm Atlantic Ocean, indoor pool at Bally's, and my own backyard pool, this will all change.

Eating & Sleeping

As much as I will miss Vince, and Kitty, and Ithaca, I must admit that I am looking forward to returning to my old eating and sleeping habits. Large dinners at 9:00 pm followed by sitting on the couch and watching TV until 11:00  is not the evening habits of a triathlete -- not even a back-of-the-packer like me. 

Weekend Pictures

 We did two rides this weekend: a 45 mile loop around Lake Keuka and a 36 mile ride around Lake Scaneateles (pronounced Skinny Atlas.) Holy Moly, the Finger Lakes are positively gorgeous, and I will miss this place dearly.

 This is Lake Keuka. It is shaped like a Y, and it is absolutely beautiful. The homes around this lake appear to be mostly Summer getaways. On this particular ride, the lake was full of sailboats and the air was full of children's laughter and the smell of bbq.

Vince and I at the tail end of the Keuka Ride.

This is at the top of Nunnery road on the East side of Lake Skaneateles. This ride was only 36 miles, but it was far more challenging than I had anticipated. Two hills I had to walk up, and one of our roads turned out to be 1 1/2 miles of uphill gravel, so we were both forced to walk that part. 

Vince walking his bike up Bacon Hill Rd. --I did not smell any bacon whatsoever!

                    
                 

Just another picture of me in front of a gorgeous lake.

The village of Skaneateles was founded in the mid 1800s as a Utopian experiment community. The town existed for a little over three years and consisted of several hundred liberal progressive abolitionists, all of whom tended to the operations of a large and profitable farm.   Geez, seriously? Look at this guy's pad!

94 Training Days

Tweakapalooza

It's time to blow the dust off of Trixie and show her the lovin' she deserves. I set her up on the trainer this morning so that we could get reacquainted  with each other. I then spent the next three hours tweaking the fit. I have only had Trixie for less than a year, and we completed 3 sprints together last season, but I just never got around to getting a proper fit.

The first place I started was here on slowtwitch.com. This site had very useful information and diagrams, but it babbled on about geometry and angles and numbers and stuff, and, quite frankly, it made me want to poke out my eyeballs with a plastic spork.


A bit more research brought me to a youtube video advertising bike fit software. This proved to be the most helpful. I watched the video about a dozen times, and then started tweaking my bike and videotaping myself until I was set up in a similar fashion as the athlete in the video. Now, if only I could look like her (and swim like her, and bike like her, and run like her.)

Here's a picture before I started the tweaking process:

My leg is a bit too straight and and my arm needs to be closer to a 90 degree angle. My butt is also far too wide, but there's not much I can do about that.










Here's a post-tweak pic:

I lowered the seat and moved the saddle forward a bit. This helped with hip and leg angles, but I was still having trouble with the position of my arms. Finally, I moved my aerobars in about half an inch, and that seemed to do the trick. I did an easy 10 miles on the trainer focusing on form rather than speed, and I felt pretty good. I'll take her out in the real world tomorrow and see how we get along.

95 Training Days

Yikes! While I was on vacation, my training days dipped into the double digits! I must confess, I am beyond nervous. The Adirondack foothills just about demolished my confidence as a cyclist, not to mention being accompanied by Vince "the machine" Richards who never seems to get tired and has the lung capacity of a friggin' elephant. The good news is I just went for an effortless four mile run this morning, so I guess wheezing, moaning, and crying up category climbs must have improved my cardiovascular endurance.

Here is a link to my first ride of vacation. We got a little lost, and I still think I am missing a piece somewhere because the mapmyride distance does not jive with the bike computer reading. The most impressive part is the elevation data. Check this out:

 I plan on creating a separate page with links to all the rides from our Tour de Champlain. Please stay tuned for further developments.

I am also back to logging everything I eat and drink on my food diary. Although I logged hundreds of miles and climbed crazy hills, the fact remains that I was on vacation. I ate huge campfire meals late at night, drank more wine than usual, and visited a fair share of microbreweries (my number one dietary weakness.) Now, it's time to get back on track. 

116 Training Days

I guess I completely forgot to blog yesterday. I will try not to let this become a habit. I have well-intended abandoned blogs strewn across the blogosphere paving my way to hell. So, yes, yesterday I ran a bit over three miles in a bit over 30 minutes. I know I need to run longer distances, so I will, starting tomorrow. No, really, I swear I will. I have the very best of intentions.

Let's talk about today. Today I spent some quality time with Trixie, my tri bike. I have been neglecting the poor girl ever since I began training for the MS 150. Well, now I am training for a half ironman triathlon, so I need to show her a bit more lovin'. I took her out on the flatest road Ithaca has to offer. The plan was to just ride back and forth and back and forth as fast as possible. The flat rode I chose was absolutely treacherous - craters, ridges, bumps, gashes, roadkill - it may have been flat, but it was far too dangerous to spend any considerable amount of time in the aerobars. The end result: 12.87 miles, max speed 31.9 mph, (Woohoo! Yay for gravity!) average speed 12.9 (Boo for uphill.) Following my ride, I attempted a trail run, which was really more like a trail trot due to the rolling hills, stair climbs, and my own cardiovascular limitations. Overall, I got a great workout and some great pictures.

Scenes From an Ithaca Trail Run.

118 Training Days

Today is a rest day. Vince installed my new handlebars, and now he is making lasagna. Nice!

119 Training Days

Needless to say, Stormtrooper needed new tires.

Here she is in her new sexy red pinstriped rubber. Oh yeah, Baby!

So, we take her out on the most beautiful bike ride in all the land, the Lake Owasco Loop. I am pleased to announce that there were two hills on my rides I was unable to ascend; there is now only one. Most importantly, Vince and I rode like a well-oiled machine. We kept a pace of 18mph on the straights, and there were only a handful of hills where I lagged far behind. No flat tires, no pissy attitudes, no near-death experiences. Oh, and fireworks after our dinner at the pub.

The Route

The Elevation

Just a couple breathtaking shots of our ride around Lake Owasco.

120 Training Days

What A Fiasco!!!

Flat Tire #1

 This happened just after the most ridiculous hill climb I have ever attempted. In full disclosure: I walked Stormtrooper up the  last 1/3 of the hill (read K2 mountain stage.) No worries, I can fix a flat tire. What I can't do, however, is remember that Stormtrooper has larger wheels than Trixie; therefore, I must not grab spare tubes from Trixie's bag and place them into Stormtrooper's bag. That's what I can't do. Fortunately, the ever-prepared Vince had two, yes two, spare tubes. It's all good.

Flat Tire #2
This happened as a result of a near death experience where my bike and I went airborne and I uncharacteristically began to pray. Vince was far ahead, so I began to walk down what would have been a pretty sweet one mile descent. A fabulous couple, who had spotted us earlier in the day while out running errands, noticed Vince standing alone on a hill. Consequently,  they decided to take a swing back and see if I were OK. So sweet. They found me and gave me a lift to Vince's hilltop. Remember, Vince still has a second spare tube. No biggie. 

 Flat Tire #3

I really don't want to talk about it. Here I am waiting for Vince to return with the car. It was a beautiful view though. 

121 Training Days

She loves hills, she loves them not, she loves hills, she loves them not, she...

Basically, it's a love/hate relationship. Just like everything challenging in life -- relationships, higher education, dental appointments etc. Ultimately, the benefits outweigh the discomfort, so we soldier on, keeping our eyes on the prize as Defeat nips dangerously close to our heels. By the time I leave Ithaca, I want to give Defeat a big fat kick in the snout as I ascend the 3-mile Cat. 3  climb from the house with a smile on my face. 

Training today went pretty well. 3.25 mile run in 32:08; not particularly speedy, but a nice comfortable run on a positively gorgeous day: 74 degrees, 10% humidity, and not a cloud in the sky. A short evening ride of 18 miles was a challenge because of the hills, but that will get better soon. I find myself getting aggravated as I ride with Vince. I am used to riding with a group, keeping a pace line, and communicating road hazards and speed changes. Vince is used to riding all alone at whatever speed he likes and looking out for no one but himself. Therefore, I do not get any benefit from drafting or an extra pair of eyes. As I ride, particularly climbing hills, I tend to get a little pissy about this situation, but then I remind myself that drafting and teamwork will not be a component on race day; therefore, I need to suck it up and depend on my own ability and tenacity. grrrrrrrr......

122 Traing Days

Damn that delicious beer!!

Everything was going just fine and dandy with my caloric intake goals until I decided to meet Vince down on the Commons for a couple of beers. Two Cascazilla Reds from Ithaca Brewing Co, and I went 117 calories over my daily allowance. Did I mention that I lack discipline?

Well, now for the good news. I had a great day of hiking through Buttermilk Falls State Park and biking around the city of Ithaca, my new handlebars came in for Stormtrooper, and I ordered a new stem for the hybrid. All in all, an awesome day.

123 Training Days

Typing out everything I eat really sucks, so I started a "diet diary" on myfitnesspal.com. Feel free to take a gander at everything I shove down my throat here. I'm sure it will keep you on the edge of your seat.

I cycled a little over 12 miles today, just around the beautiful town of Ithaca. I stopped to do a bit of shopping at the Commons, where I bought myself a new pink skirt at a second-hand store and a multi-wrench tool thingy (yes, I'm quite sure that is the correct name) for my bicycle.

Multi-wrench Tool Thingy

If you like it, you can purchase one here

 I do not like running in the evening; however,  Vince runs every Wednesday evening, so I have decided to join him for quick short Wednesday runs. Tonight was my first QSWR, but it wasn't very quick. 2.25 miles in 21min 22 sec. Next Wednesday will be better.

124 Training Days

Last night I rode for a bit over 20 miles. hills hills hills hills hills...

Today, I ran 3.25 miles through Cass Park. My legs are pretty worn out, so I will concentrate on arms and core for this evening.

Tomorrow: City cycling on the Trek hybrid. Slow speed, exploring the city, taking coffee breaks, and reading my book by a waterfall.

Diet: I need to lose some weight. I am quite certain I will be faster if I am lighter. I have decided to log everything I eat here. Now, if it people are actually reading this blog, I would appreciate it if you let me know if my consumption list is helpful. Please do not tell me I need to eat meat. I eat what grows out of the ground when it grows out of the ground. On occasion, I will eat eggs from a local farm and organic cheese. That's what I like, so that's what I eat.

 Here's Breakfast

 

Granny Smith apple slices, fresh ground peanut butter on whole wheat toast, and black coffee.

Lunch: I reheated some of Vince's FABULOUS lentil and eggplant moussaka.

125 Training Days

30 mile hill training - I still have a looooong way to go. 

My first day back on the bike in Ithaca hills. All in all, I was pretty pleased with myself. I did not have to walk the bike up any hills, nor did I fly over the handlebars coming down. I used Stormtrooper, my Kestrel road bike,  for this ride. I think I will save the tri bike for my mid-week training rides and bricks.

To celebrate my return to the hills, Vince made a delicious veggie pizza. I made a mixed green, apple and goat cheese salad, and the Ithaca Brewing Company made the Hop Stash IPA.

127 Training Days

I am not prepared to compete in a half Ironman race; however, I believe I can prepare to participate in a half Ironman race. I have 127 days. 

I am loosely following the the half ironman training plan from BeginnerTriathlete.com. Although, spending the Summer in Ithaca, NY far from my beloved warm waters of Hollywood, FL, the swim training will have to wait until my return home.

Here I will post how I eat, train, and feel. I will also post plenty of pictures, recipes and links. I will NEVER post my weight, as I believe weight is an inadequate measurement of health and fitness.

That's it. Let the training begin!