A 10K swim . . . Yeah, I'm Interested

Doesn't a 10K swim sound AWESOME.

Last night at masters the idea of a 10K open water swim and a 10K pool swim were brought up to me.  A woman asked if I was interested in it.  

I answered "Yeah, I'm interested, let me know the dates and I'll see if it works with the Ironman training schedule"

Then I got in my car and here's the thought process I went through:

Ok, so how much time commitment are we talking about here, A 10K is a little over 6 miles.  Last year at Ironman I swam 2.4 miles in 1:17.  So I would think I could do 3 miles in about 1:45.  But then put in fueling, a  slower speed due to the longer distance, I would probably be able to do 3 miles in 2 hours.  OK, so then I will probably be swimming for at least 4 hours.   Ok, when can I do a 4 hours swim this summer that won't interfere with my bike/run schedule . . . . WAIT, 4+ HOURS OF SWIMMING  . . . Ok, so if you are going to do this you need to start building up your swimming distance also, so if your going to do that you will get bored.  So you should invest in a water proof MP3 Player.  Ok, great! Another thing to buy.  But really how cool will it be to have a water proof MP3 player.  The 10K is the perfect excuse to buy a new toy! Ok, I'm starving, what's for dinner . . . .   

Today reality set it:  I e-mailed coach to ask her if I could do it.  Here was the e-mail chain:  

                

                  From: Harper, Tory
                  Sent: Thursday, April 28, 2011 9:52 AM
                  To: 'Elizabeth Waterstraat'
                  Subject:

        Would you be ok with me doing a 10K swim?         

                  From: Elizabeth Waterstraat [mailto:XXXXX@yahoo.com]
                  Sent: Thursday, April 28, 2011 10:41 AM
                  To: Harper, Tory
                  Subject: Re:

                  No!

Wow, this what not the response I expected.  I thought for sure she would say yes.  I thought about e-mailing her and asking her why, but then I realized that her short response said more than enough.  The fact that she could so easily say no means that the distance is to long, that it will take to long to recover from and that their isn't room in the schedule to add more volume to get me prepared for that kind of distance.  If it had been anything close to a good idea she would have responded with something like "You can do it but you will need to make sure you recover hard after ward" or "You could do it, but I don't suggest it. It will really interfere with the training and you need to make sure you are ok with that". But she didn't say that, she made it clear with her simple, one work answer, "NO".  

In hindsight I think about 4 hours of swimming and it does actually sound pretty hard.  Swimming burns a ridiculous amount of energy.  In the middle of a college swimming season an athlete can eat something like 4,000-5,000 calories and not put on an ounce of weight.  I don't even know how I would fuel and stay hydrated for something like that.  

Sometimes the Iron mentality isn't so good.  The iron mentality is what I refer to as "nothing is to hard, it's all about getting in the right mental state to take on a solid training plan".  Becuase of this, when someone puts an idea in front of me, I rarely say no to it.  This also explains why I signed up for the American Triple T.  I just figure that I can work through the mental toughness and get it done.  

This story is another example of why I have and need a coach: to tell me no and keep me focused on the goal: Ironman.  

Maybe next year the 10K swim will be my goal.  

                

No Half Marathon

I was supposed to run a half marathon this weekend.  Last night I was informed by my coach that I would not be running the half marathon this Sunday.  Technically Sunday marks the last day of the three week recovery period for my broken toe.

I guess it makes sense, maybe it's not smart for your first run back from a broken toe to be a half marathon race.

I'm still not happy. I'm not happy because when I planned my race schedule at the beginning of this season I planned this race because it was perfectly timed out for the distances we were running and the program thus far. Plus, based on my race schedule it was perfectly timed on the calendar so I wouldn't be tired from another race or exhausted form training in general.  the Exhaustion starts getting into the swing of things in about a month or so.  June, July and August are pure exhaustion.

So yeh, I'm bummed.  I need to move past this broken tow and the debbie downer it has been so far.

Riding Outside

I have yet to ride outside and I am racing in 4 weeks.  

I'm ok with this, I really am, and here's why:

I live in a city and there really aren't places to do a good ride in the city limits.  So that means, every time I want to ride outside I have to get in my car and ride out to the burbs.  Door to parking lot (where we leave from) is 50 minutes.  There's usually traffic just to get back into the city after the noon.  So that means at a minimum, 1:40 minutes of driving.  I haven't done a ride that is longer than 2:50 so far.  If to do a ride outside would take me 4 1/2 hours.  So think about that time commitment versus riding indoors on the computraininer.  It takes me 20 minutes to get the the gym, 10 minutes to get set up, water bottles ready and on the bike, then I ride and I'm showered within 10 minutes and walking out the door 20 minutes after my ride.  So yeh, It's been hard to convince me to get outside so far.  I know that by the time the summer comes and I'm riding 80+ miles at a minimum so I will be driving to the burbs, Wisconsin, Western Illinois, etc.  Every weekend will be spent out of the city.  So I'm just trying to hold onto the city for as long as I can.  

This weekend is a 3 hour ride, there is a chance I will ride outside.  There is also a strong chance I will just shack up on the wellfit computrainer and grind it out indoors for the convenience factor.  I haven't decided yet.  

Update on Test week: The Swim

For a more positive note, I did my swim test last night and I improved by 2 seconds per 100 meters.  Just to refresh your memory, the swim test is 10 X 100 with 20 seconds rest.  

Considering the results of my bike test on Tuesday night, I'm happy with my results.  I've been working hard at Masters and I am able to see results!

Yippeeeeee

This weekend will be all about rest, relaxation and hanging out with my best friend.  Yessica flew in from Philly last night and is here till Monday morning.  Yessica is awesome, a true ironman supporter.  Last year she came to Ironman and at the end of the race handed me a copy of "Big Girl Panties"

Let the weekend begin! 

Rest/Test week half way done

This week is rest/test week.  I've done the bike, the swim is tomorrow. I can't do the run due to my broken toe.

I'm not very happy with myself, training, etc.  I did a bike test (20 minutes as hard as you can go, recording average watts, average HR and max HR).

My power to weight ratio after this test (so the amount of whats based on my weight I can put out) is slightly below where I was last year.  I'm frustrated with this test result because it was like the entire time i just saw the numbers slipping through my fingers.  I went out REALLY hard for the first 3 minutes.  Then I just saw my average watts just drop, and drop and drop some more.  Then I just couldn't get it to move up from the number.  From the last 3 minutes I was out of my seat, telling myself to just get one more watt.  It still wouldn't move though.  It was so frustrating.  I thought if i went out really hard I could just tell myself to fight through the pain until the 20 minutes was over.  It didn't work.

Sigh

There's just this disappointment in myself.  I'm telling myself to make this a learning opportunity so I never have this feeling again.

Tomorrow is the swim test.  Hopefully that has improved.

Biggest Loser meets Ironman!

Ok, so as I've explained in previous  blog posts, I LOVE the biggest loser.  I cry when I watch it on TV.  I just love seeing people change their lives.  I found this video of Matt Hoover, biggest loser season 2 winner who raced Ironman Kona 2009.  

My favorite quote is:
"There's something about pushing yourself beyond your limits that people need to do once in their lives, they need to take the chance one time to see what they can really do.  And once they do it they're never the same"

That quote can't be any more true.  I believe that life is about finding your limit . . . and then pushing yourself beyond it.  Whether your limit is a 5K, or climbing a mountain, or learning a foreign language.  Stop being afraid of being amazing and go after it.



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Lane 4 . . . BOOYAH!

I moved up. I am no longer in lane 5, I am now in lane 4!

I swim with the Smelts, a masters swim team in Chicago.  There are 5 lanes and up until last night I swam in lane 5.  I love swimming with the Smelts because everyone is cool, they say hi, the workouts are solid (I'm sore after them) and I push myself to be faster.  Also, I like it because if you have to leave early, or miss a couple of weeks no one looks are you funny.  Up until last night I swam in lane 5.  Lane 5 being the slowest lane. To give you an idea of what that means to swim in lane 5 and be bumped I have explained the lane system and what each one represents below: 

Btw, the following descriptions are MY OPINION: 

Lane 1: AKA "Big Ten" -   I refer to it as big ten because everyone in that lane is really fast and many of them swam at Big 10 schools.  At practices there is at least one Ohio State, Michigan or Indiana cap.  That's not intimidating at all.   I was always wondering what happened to all the swimmers who didn't make it to the Olympic trials and now I know, they end up in lane one at the smelts!  This lane is always smiling and looking relaxed during workouts.  Perhaps this because these workouts are a joke to them? or because they spent so many years being intense during practice and now it's just about relaxing and getting in a workout.  

Lane 2:  AKA "Division 3 throwdown" Yes, the name says it all.  These are the swimmers that either swam in college, were top high school swimmers who could have swam in college but chose to party instead, or have been swimming on the team for 7-10 years and have earned their speed.  They know their lane order, they know the intervals to do for each set without even discussing it.  They just shut up and get the workout done.  

Lane 3:  AKA "SMELTS for LIFE":  This is the lane is full of the hard core smelts.  Hard core meaning they attend meets, lots of practices, have been a member of the team for a long time, wear the team gear, organize socials, etc.  This lane is interesting.  You can tell that people are a little competitive with each other, their lane order changes each day based on who's there with an 'In it to win it' attitude and who is there to just workout.  This lane is the reason the smelts exist.  The Smelts are a fully volunteer based organization and the people in this lane make sure dues are paid, people are registered for meets, relay teams are organized, etc. 

Lane 4: AKA "Work it, Own it"  These people are pretty consistent.  They show up, they work hard in practice.  Most of em started swimming as an adult and have been getting faster over the years.  They go to meets but don't take the thing to seriously.  They are similar to lane 3 but dialed down a few notches and their split is 10 seconds slower. 

Lane 5:  AKA "I'm new, injured or I need an easier workout" - This lane is full of the people from all over the board.  There's usually one person who hasn't been to practice in a few weeks, one person from lane 3 who is nursing an injury, a new person and then lastly, the slow people that aren't fast enough for any other lane.  I had been told when I started that if I was consistent about coming to practice I wouldn't be in lane 5 for long.  The coach was right!

Moving from lane 5 to lane 4 was hard.  I spent a lot of time telling myself  "Just focus on staying right behind this guy, don't fall back, don't fall back". Here was the workout:

Warm Up:

400 Swim

300 Pull

200 IM 

Main Set:

5 X 50 - Easy, Medium, Fast, Medium, Easy

5 X 200 - Easy, Medium, Fast, Medium, Easy, on the 3:10

5 X 150 - Easy, Medium, Fast, Medium, Easy. with 20 seconds rest

2 X 100 IM, Fast, 20 seconds rest

200 Cool Down

I knew when I read the coach announced that we were doing pyramids (the Easy, Medium, Fast, Medium, Easy) that this would be a tough workout for me.  And it was.  When my lane was on the easy, I was going at my medium.  When everyone else was swimming medium I was swimming fast.  When the lane was on the fast, I was on 'swim so you don't get run over'.  Like I mentioned above, as a result it meant that my turnover increased, I kicked hard all the time and there were even some times where I was trying so hard that I couldn't manage to breath on both sides. 

My dad always tells me:  If you want to swim faster in a race, you have to swim faster at practice.  Well Dad, I'm swimming faster at practice now!  I know that over time it will get easier.  There are always growing pains with this sort of stuff.  I'm sure in two weeks I will be fine in this lane! 

so BOOYYAAAAAH!!!!  

Update on the Toe and training

So, I can bike and swim I just can't run.  In place of running I will do the elliptical.  Yes, it will stink to ride the elliptical for 1:40 minutes this weekend but I can handle it.  Next week is rest week so that means nothing to crazy on the elliptical or boring.  Then I have one more week and I can handle that. :)  

OK everyone, brace yourself, I'm about to explain to you something that portrays me in an emotionally vulnerable state.  If you can't handle it now is the time to stop reading.  

So I'm riding on Tuesday with the group and were doing an intense brick session which is made up of a 20 minute bike warm up, 15 minutes running, then a 50 minute really hard slow cadence set, followed by 30 minutes of running.  After my the first group run, where I am on the elliptical, I get back on the bike and I start thinking about how bad it is that I can't run. I can look at the other athletes next to me who just ran and I can see the huge fitness gains they made during that run and I can see the lack of fitness gains I made with my time on the elliptical.  That turns into a panic that I will lose everything I've been working toward.  My faster paced mile in zone 2 that I've achieved this season, my faster turn over, the longer stride, everything.  Gone, out the window.  All of it, I mine as well give up now because there is no chance I will beat my run time from last year.  NO WAY IN HE$#, and this broken toe it to blame for it.  

Next thing I know, I look at myself in the mirror and there are tears swelling up in my eyes.  I quickly drop my head down so I'm down deep in my aero bars and no one can see my face, better yet so my coach can't see that I might be on the verge of tears.  I'm afraid of crying in front of her.  She's not the 'warm and fuzzy' type, she's the 'suck it up and grow a pair' type.  I take my towel and wipe my face down and just tell myself to focus on what I'm doing now, focus on making this workout the best workout it can be and that I need to shut up about the next three weeks cause nothing it going to change between now and the end of the workout.    

This is part of why I love training for an Ironman.  Learning how to work through the bumps instead of letting it get in the way of my goal.   That's what it is about.  This training challenges us in ways we never expected.  Is not running for three weeks a positive thing for my training? No.  But it's not something that will stop me from finishing.  Not running for three weeks when it's 4 1/2 months out from the race is something that I can work through and gain mental toughness from.  

So last night I showed up to masters swim practice ready to show this "bump in the road" that it was not going to get in the way of my goal.  Yes, I was ready to throw down just for the sake of throwing down.    I was happy I had made it to practice cause we had a nice hard set.  Below is the workout in case your interested.  

Warm Up

400 swim

300 pull

200 IM

Main Set

2X through: 30 seconds rest between each 300

300: alternating: 25 finger drag and 3rd breath, 25 with only 2 breaths, 25 swim

300: every 100 on the 1:40

300: IM

8 X 50 Kick 

500 Pull

200 Swim

200 cool down

 

Nothing like a bunch of 300s to get my head back in the game! 

Toe down

I broke my toe this past weekend.

My big toe on my right foot to be exact.  I stubbed my toe on a shaved off street post while walking Memphis.  I am so annoyed.  If I had the time and energy I would sue the city or the school (it was in front of the catholic school right next to my house).  I'm not sure who is technically responsible but if I was one of those people that needed to blame the results of my spacing out on someone else then I would definitely sue. . . for EVERY LAST PENNY!

When it happened I was more annoyed because I sliced the top of my toe pretty badly.  So I realized I had my tetanus shot 7 years ago.  Apparently they recommend that if you get cut and you haven't had a tetanus shot in 5 years you should  get one within 48 hours. Well that doesn't seem to make a whole lot of sense to me, why don't they just have people get the vaccine every 5 years then.  It can't be an expensive vaccine, I mean we've been giving them for 60 years now.

As for the impact this will have on my training, the answer is, I don't know.  I'm not supposed to run on it.  The swimming and biking aren't impacted at all.  The running will be a test.  Coach said that your not supposed to run on a broken toe, but you can.  I personally think that sounds like she's telling me to suck it up and keep running on it.  I will let you know in a couple of days if I decide to suck it up.

No Talking

Last weekend I was on computrainer at Wellfit with 15 other athletes doing a 2:10 minute ride.  We were past the warm up and in the main set.   I was in the zone, you know, the feeling where you're focused and your in a good pace.  Next thing I know the girl next to me starts talking to me.  I don't even remember about what.  She asked me something.  I responded with a short BS answer, hoping I could quickly just get back to my zone.  Then another question came, and another and as she's asking me these questions, trying to have a convo I can feel my zone just slipping through the cracks.  I'm thinking in my head, doesn't this girl see that i'm trying to focus on the watts, my cadence and my heart rate and between those three things there is no room for a converation?

Then Tuesday night's group rolled around.  I started a little earlier than the group in an effort to get home earlier. So I expected to be a little interrupted by noise while I was doing the main set.   Well, the warm up is over, I'm 20 minutes into the whole thing and next thing I know someone actually sits next to me and tries to start a conversation with me.  Was so shocking about this is incident is that I have sweat coming down my forehead in buckets, i'm bright read (it was a really hard power set) and I look like I could throw up.  Physically I didn't look like I was in the mood for a convo.  I was in the opposite mood for a convo in fact.  

I used to be able to talk during workouts but something has changed in me.  I like everyone in the group.  They are all cool people (despite me bi*&%ing about them talking to me at practice and my opinions of how they alter workouts).  I really do, It's just when I'm on my bike, i'm focusing on the goal.  I just need workouts to be about working out right now.  Let's save the socializing for the the bar afterward.  

So please don't take it personally if I don't engage in a conversation with you.  I want to talk to you but no till we're done with the set.    

What is Race Day About Anyway, a lesson from Heather Dorniden

I recently posted this video of Heather Dorniden on facebook.  I decided to also post it here because I can't stop thinking about it.  I've watched this at least 5-6 times and each time I just can't help but think that this is what racing is about.

THIS, right here, the moment when she got up from falling, and returned to win the race, is what racing is all about.

Wait, really, this is what racing is about? Well, what if I don't fall in the middle of a race?  Did I race the true race?  If I race my whole life and never have a moment like this have I really experienced racing?  The first time I watched this I thought "Wow, now that's a competitor".  I was also jealous that she was able to have the opportunity to come back and win that race.  I was jealous she had a moment that tested her as an athlete.

As I watch this video over and over again, I get goosebumps.  I realize that she did what she did because of what she did before the actual race.   Racing is about putting everything together and not being afraid of the outcome.  Combining desire, a training plan, mental preparation, and a dream and you get A RACE.  

Heather Dorniden has trained for these races.  She has what people refer to as natural talent and she's taken that and combined it with training seriously, putting her heart and soul into running and as a result of it she is a very decorated athlete.  While running at University of Minnesota she was a nine-time all america, competing in every NCAA championship in cross country, indoor track and outdoor track.  She holds nine school records and was a semifinalist at the 2008 U.S Olympic trials in the 800 Meters.  She currently is a professional athlete, racing and training with Team USA Minnesota.  She most recently placed 3rd in the 800 Meters at the USA Indoor Championships. 

She has raced hundreds of races.  In this one, she tripped.  At that moment,  all of her training, her practicing, her desire, the dream, gave her the ability to get up and go.  Now THAT is what racing is about.  Racing is about preparing yourself to be able to take on whatever race day thows at you.  Not every situation on race day is controllable.  Training, preparation, determination, dreams, and practice is what racing is about.  Most of the time, if we've done those things, race day goes smoothly, no trips, no crashes, no major hiccups, no drama.  But every once in a while, something that we have no control over, something we had seen happen to other athletes but never thought would happen to us actually happens.  At that moment we must rely on the culmination of the dream, the determination, the training and the mental preparation to get us through the race.