Tri-4-Real #1

Yesterday was my first olympic distance race of the year, and my first race since Wildflower. It was sort of a toss because I have taken some time off after WF and only really trained for about a week before this race. Luckily, fitness isn't completely lost that quickly ;)
Actually, it was not a bad race. No PR; but you get what you train for right?
The weather was perfect. Absolutely perfect. This was the first time I have raced this course and not totally died from the heat and lack of shade.
The swim was tricky with my goggles so fogged that I had to stop 3 times to pull them up and be sure I was still on course. And guess what! I was. Everytime. I guess I just need to trust my navigation skills more. :) But then there was the wetsuit. I really neeed to get a new wetsuit. This is the second race that the velcro has failed me. Luckily this time it stayed zipped at least. Did I mention that I REALLY need to get a new wetsuit?!
Anyways... on to the bike. Not to bad, but there was some wind that was impossible to tell which direction it was coming from. I think it must have been switching up on us. Still it wasn't too strong, so my bike time came out just on the slower end of average.
The run was the most comfortable run I've had in a long time. Perhaps I shouldn't have been so comfortable. I missed second place by 2 minutes. I should have been able to get that!
At the end of the day, I finished third in my age group with a 2:32:55. Three and a 1/2 minutes from a PR, 7 minutes from my age group winner, 17 minutes from the overall female winner, and 2 minutes faster than losing my self respect. Just about what I expected.

Arizona training has begun...

The season started out pretty good this year with Wildflower long course as my opening race. I did not do as well as I was hoping for, but all-in-all it was a good race and I took 15 minutes off my time from 2008.
Final time was 5:55:52...
Swim- 32:46
T1-3:18
Bike- 3:08:??
T2-1:??
Run- 2:08:??
The official results were messed up somehow so I don't have the exact numbers except for swim and finish time. Apparently they were having trouble with the timing chips. A lot of people were missing times :(
Next year I'm going under 5:45, assuming I'm racing. Certain circumstance might be affecting my training ;)

After a few weeks off, I am back on the road. Gearing up for a great season.
3 local olympic distance races
Lake Stevens 70.3
Big Kahuna or Half-Max Championships
and finishing it off with
Ironman Arizona.

Gaols for this season....
-Go under 2:25 for Olympic, 5:30 for 70.3, and 11:30 for Ironman
-Swim 31 minute spit at Lake Stevens, 1:05 at Ironman
-Run 1/2 marathon in 1:55, Marathon in 4:00 or less
-Bike 2:50 at Lake Stevens, 5:45 at Ironman
-Win the local time trial series
-Win the local olympic series

There you have it!
Some lofty goals, but if I'm not going to be racing for a while... I want to go out with a bang :D

Getting Better... And Faster

It's been a week since I've been "sick" and I think I'm finally kicking it. It's the strangest thing. I never really felt sick. I just felt weak. And had a bit of GI issues one day. I'm thinking it must have been some sort of mild food poisoning
At any rate, I'm feeling back to myself. Only the normal fatigue from training. :)
This is a rest week, which is probably a good thing, so my body can recover from whatever is going on. I've only trained a little over 3 hours this week and I am enjoying the rest.
Today was my long run day. I did 9 miles in 80 minutes. That's the fastest I've ran distance in about 2 years. I felt great! And I felt like I could keep going. :D
I'm hoping to break 2 hours on my run at Wildflower in 6 weeks.
Final time goal... 5:30 (Last year I did 6:11 with a hip injury).

And today was not....

Apparently I spoke to soon. My body has not yet recovered.
Today was not a great day.
I woke up this morning just feeling off. A bit shaky and just.... you know... off. I had my usual pre-workout oatmeal, hoping that I would feel better after I ate. No improvement. I ate some dry Ramen on my way to workout. No improvement. I was shaky still and having trouble concentrating.
I started out easy on my bike... still hoping I would feel better. Nope. I made it about half way through my workout and finally just decided to call it quits.
After putting away my bike, I was freezing. I laid down in the parking lot in the sun. It helped me warm up, but my body still felt like crap. No energy. No reserves.
I drank 2 gatorades, ate a granola bar, and came home to take a nap.
I slept for 2 1/2 hours. When I woke up I still feel like crap.
And here's the thing... I don't feel "sick", I just feel like I haven't eaten. I'm wondering if my body is having trouble processing nutrients or something.
I'm really wanting this thing (whatever it is) to go away.
This is not fun.

Some days are just great...

Today was one of those days.
Unfortunately, the past few days have not been so great.
I've been feeling kind of crappy lately. I don't know if I got mild food poisoning or what, but I've been having GI issues (so bad I couldn't get through a workout), super tired, and just drained. The past few days I have been starving, even after eating a ton! And then when I go to workout, I feel like I haven't eaten all day. Just that shaky, low blood sugar kind of feeling. No energy at all. And I've been taking 2 or 3 hour naps every day. Basically I've been feeling like crap. And not at all like the super triathlete I try to pretend that I am.
But....
today, whatever it was, broke. Today I was great. All my issues seem to have resolved. I still was hungry all day, but I had energy. I actually did all three sports today: an easy bike (teaching spin), a fantastic swim, and a great run.
In the pool, I was faster than I have ever been. EVER!
Something just clicked. I did a 100 in 1:19! And it was comfortable! On my long sets I was averaging about 1:25/100. I felt great every stroke... and the best part... the headaches I tend to get when I swim? Nothing. No pain anywhere!
Running was sprints and then hill repeats. I wasn't going superfast on the hills, but I felt comfortable. I felt like I coud keep going for another hour (and this was at the end of the day).
I'm not sure what my body has been doing, but I am okay with this result. If I can keep this up, I should hit my goals this season with no problem.
I love feeling fast. I love feeling strong.
Today I was a super triathlete :)