“To swim faster, don’t flail faster, make your stroke more powerful”
These are words out of the advisory bag of my swim/strength training coach, Fran Cegelka. He drove to Murfreesboro today to help me with a session in the pool and the weight room. Then, unlike MOST coaches, he also gave me the most wonderful massage EVER.
The direction in gave me in the weight room was so helpful, and the coaching in the pool was invaluable. I can’t wait to apply all the tips and advice to my workouts. I’ve got someone lined up to help me with the running, and I’m good on the bike, I think, so I’m ready to improve, speed up, become stronger, and more efficient.
Brick tomorrow – bike 25, run 6 – I’ll try to have some new pics to add!
I love my bike. It’s a Lemond, I’ve had it about three years, and we are completely bonded. I’m in an argument with my entire family about whether or not to purchase a new, fancy-ass, traithlon bike for this event. Their argument: “When else would you purchase a tribike if not for completing an Ironman?” My argument: ” “. I know they are right; I just can’t picture breaking it to the old girl that she won’t be making the trip to New Zealand. But that’s a blog for another day.
Today’s bike-related issue is about yet another bike. Jesse and I have purchased new trail bikes for an upcoming tip the end of October to the C and O canal. It runs from Pittsburgh to Washington, DC, and is an old mule path/rails to trails conversion, almost every mile of which is gravel. Not appropriate for our road bikes, of course, which is why we’ve gotten the new trail bikes. Nice, fat tires, upright posture, not quite a mountain bike, but not really a hybrid either.
This trip will take place in another two weeks or so, so Jesse suggested we take them out for at least a short spin before we’re out with no bike stand/tools/etc. So for today’s 25-miler we hit the road (or Greenway in this case) with the new Treks.
yeah, they're even matching
We were on a paved surface, and did 25 miles, and even so, we were both bitching about them when we finished. My back hurt, my hands hurt, my wrists hurt, my elbows hurt. I think most of our issues can be resolved with some tweaking here and there, but miles and miles on gravel on this bad boy does not hold much appeal.
It was overcast and wet in Murfreesboro today, but the Greenway always offers its own brand of beautiful scenery…
by the new Greenway water featureup close and personal
It’s my intention to blog from the trail when we do the trip, but I don’t know about the cell reception for the internet, so we’ll see…
Today also included a strength training session, which, if you are keeping track, is my favorite workout, and today was a great one.
iPod random shuffle of the day: Chuck Berry, My Ding-A-Ling
After a week of travel, then a week of ill health, I decided to register for and participate in a little mini-sprint race at my local college campus. One of the sororities, something-something-Pi, sponsored this little event: 300 yard swim, 10 mile bike, 3.14 mile run (get it?). I missed online registration, so I just showed up this morning around 6:45, paid my fee, got my number, and set about getting all that crap in place.
This is the inaugural effort for this event, and truthfully, they really did a great job overall. They had door prizes, t-shirts, volunteers cheering you on through the bike course – lots of time and effort went into the race. The one thing I needed, the one critical piece of information I missed was that there were 2 transition areas. What this means to a racer is that when the time came to transition from the bike to the run, she is directed into the second transition area where she has no running shoes! MTSU’s campus is not that big, but I didn’t even really know where the gym was. After riding around for a few minutes, and after having started at the tail end anyway cuz of the late registration, I bailed on the run leg of the race.
Transition 1 yeah, it was cold, and that trisuit is still wet here!I know, no color sense AT ALL
Jesse and Aden were there waiting for me, and breakfast at Cracker Barrel sounded wayyy better than the door prizes looked, so off we went!
post-race breakfast at the Barrell!
And now, a word from our sponsors…
This afternoon, again, remember the week of travel (wit limited workouts), the week of sick (with no workouts), and this morning’s events, I scheduled my bad self in for a massage (THE perk of owning a massage therapy practice). My few days of being under the weather included lots of aches and stiffness in my neck, back, and shoulders. This massage was absolutely delicious! Colt is a relatively new therapist on our team, and he went above and beyond with his work today, and I was not an easy client with all those knots and chords. He was gentle and patient and I feel like a new human, so…
Let this serve as a rounding endorsement to incorporate massage therapy into your training regimen. This is what sent me to massage therapy school in the first place, this difference in recovery after a hard event, and my wanting to educate others about this affordable enhancement to a training series. You don’t have to visit my practice, but visit somebody’s!
No iPod today, of course…but thanks to all the girls of whatever-whatever-Pi (note to self: find name of this group because they deserve the recognition, and I mean no disrespect).
Just because I haven’t been blogging doesn’t mean I haven’t been training!
I just returned from a week in California visiting daughter Amy and hitting a few wineries along the way. I also was able to get in a run, a swim, and a strength training session!
me and my girl
I have said this before, on this blog I think, that if I ever go missing, the first place you should start looking in Napa and Sonoma counties, in California. I love the entire winery experience – this is my 4th trip out there in a year.
at the winery harvest festival
Back to regular training and eating tomorrow, and posting. Thanks for being patient, and as always, thanks for reading.
A brick in triathlon terms is a two-sport training event, either swim/bike or bike/run, since that’s how the race is run. I have mixed them up before, and this series I intend to do several three-sport training events. However, today was a pretty simple swim/bike session.
I am determined this time to do the majority of the swim training in open water; it is so vastly different than swimming laps in the pool. So with my trusty support guy, we loaded the truck with all the crap it takes to accomplish a brick:
why people don't do triathlonsyes, I am aware of the hotness factor of the swimcap AND goggles
The nearest open water to my house is the southern end of Percy Priest Lake. The lake has the reputation of being filthy. It is well deserved. It wasn’t so bad swimming in it, but it was the charming, pond-scum aroma it left on my skin, hair, and trisuit afterward that was so disgusting. Jesse paddled about in the canoe (the leaking canoe) while I swam, and we were out there about 50 minutes.
sexy, huh?trying to ruin the camera, but you just had to see the Titanic going down
We rode past the Nashville Motor Speedway, where I thought we should have done a criterium on the track, but instead we headed down a peaceful, rural two-lane. Peaceful until the first of THREE dogs ran us down for a confrontation. One was so fat it couldn’t keep up, one we surprised as he bounded out of the woods, and one was a boxer that I actually hit with my bike, but we both survived it without too much damage.
Does the water look that bad?between dogs 1 and 2
So this brick is done – felt very strong in the water and on the bike. Thanks to Jesse for patrolling the water and keeping me safe from ski boats, fishermen, and Kraken.
Wore the iPod, but as my ears filled with water, it sounded less like music, and more like your neighbor’s stereo through sheetrock, so choice of the day is Creedence, Proud Mary, cuz that’s the one I could most easily recognize.
Dreary, drippy, drab day – and a great day for a run!
Just a quick 50 minute out and back; was planning on running on the farm, but that sloppy, squishy, soggy idea changed in about 100 yards. I hopped back on the driveway and just headed out, looking for a turnaround at 25:00. It felt so good to be out, running shoes on, iPod blasting, cars throwing water all over me (jk about that part).
For some random reason I decided to wave to each and every driver who passed me – kinda felt like representing the running population as a happy lot. It was amazing to see them wave back, smile, honk – I chose to interpret that as a little “attagirl” whether they meant it that way or not. I wanted them all to jump out of their cars and join me – especially when I’m totally groovin some rock-out, feel-good, Queen-type song – I can’t imagine how crazy I must look bobbing my head, singing my song, smiling and waving to everyone passing by. Don’t care. Life. Is. Good.
Got the whole calendar marked for the training sessions based on the March 6 race in New Zealand; still haven’t registered for it yet (don’t analyze that). Daunting distance, that 140 miles.
iPod shuffle choice of the day: from a mixed CD (don’t know the artist or song) “I’m happy, feeling glad, I got sunshine in a bag, I’m useless, but not for long, my future is comin on it’s comin on it’s comin on it’s comin on”. Some counter-culture kid could help me identify it???
So daughter Glenda is living in Paris for her sophomore year at UT. The Paris. In a flat. With other exchange students. Visiting the Louvre for fun on a Friday night to sketch Egyptian sculptures. Working in an Irish pub called, I kid you not, the Green Balloon. With her boyfriend across the Channel in England. The WHOLE PACKAGE. I’ve been just dying to see her (Skype is great, but not that great), so when hubby said he had a 24-hour layover in Frankfurt, and that we could arrange her a train ride to meet us, naturally I thought about it for 13 or 14 seconds before I said, in my quiet way, “Hells to the yeah!”
Once again, a quick flight to Atlanta, a very near-miss with a seat on the flight, and 9.5 hours later, there she was. Running to me in a train station in Wiesbaden, arms wide open, pink hair flying, smiling, laughing, almost as loudly as me.
me and my girlWiesbaden town square
Does any of this have anything to do with training for a triathlon? Well, in a word, yes. The visit itself was wonderful – strolling through the town, eating, having coffee, window shopping, trying to make a little sense out of the 9-syllable German words. It passed in a flash, and the next day we’re putting her on the train back to Paris, and we ourselves have another 12 hours or so before we head to the airport. The crew hotel loans out bicycles, there were 2 available, and we are Jordans, so..
our top-of-the-line gear from the hotel garage
We head out of town, in a random direction, and ended up on a delightful trail through a lovely wooded park that was a steady incline for an hour or so, but at its peak brought us to a beautiful view of the city. (You can see the church in the distance where Jesse and Glenda posed earlier).
City of Wiesbaden from atop a big-ass hill
Honestly, we were on the bikes about 3 hours (one of which was spent imbibing in what Germany seems to do best), but the bikes were 3-speeds, so the climb was a tad bit of a workout (not keeping a very straight face as I write this). I guess it WOULD have been a workout if I weren’t accustomed to 3 and 4 hour, 50, 60, 70 mile training rides. It was uphill a lot of the way. Did I mention they were 3-speeds? (Give a sister a break – it was all I had to work with – it COUNTS).
Anyway, back to the US and the grueling reality of training, but the little diversion was nice. Tomorrow: strength training and something else – bike or run if weather cooperates, swimming if not.
It’s September in Tennessee. The days are either brilliant, flawless, clear, beautiful college football days, or drippy, dreary, soggy too-cool-to-wash-the-car-in-the-rain/too-warm-for-a-fire days. Today is one of the latter.
One of the joys of training for an actual, outside event (as opposed to a PR or distance treadmill goal) is the opportunity to train in whatever weather the multiverse sends your way. Today’s challenge of choice is rain. Steady, moderately heavy rain. I’ve read since yesterday more than one Facebook status with reference to arks, canoes, and kayaks.
I strap on my Otter (waterproof iPod case), lace up my sneaks, put on a baseball cap, and head down my soggy, soggy gravel drive. Then I turn onto the soggy asphalt (soggy asphalt?) for my 4-mile loop. I have never minded running in the rain as long as it’s not too cold (it wasn’t), and I don’t mind running in the cold if it’s not too wet. I was drenched in a very short time, but the run felt terrific. Tunes were good, legs felt strong, attitude was right – run was over pretty quickly after it started.
soaking wetpost-run, cooling off, looking into my soggy backyard
This series of training I’m attempting to keep up with the accumulated miles running, swimming, and cycling – everyone seems to do that and it’s impressive, so in that spirit, today makes 16 miles running. (Not that impressive yet).
Heading to Europe for an extremely quick trip to see exchange-student daughter in France – only 24 hours on the ground, so likely no workout til next week, but I’ll get in a quick strength training tomorrow. Be back Monday to start it all over again.
Best random shuffle: Cash: Ring of Fire; Ray Charles: I’m Gonna Love You Like Nobody’s Loved You; Dylan: Desperation Road
I know it’s a big deal, but I am surprised by the limited number of Ironman events around the world. I haven’t given up looking, but so far I have found 3 races that fit my parameters: Taupo, New Zealand in March, Australia in April, or Utah in May. There’s one in China, but I’ve kinda ruled that out cuz trying to get ANYONE to go with me requires a Visa, shots, etc. The Taupo race sounds fabulous; its only drawback is that it is March 6, a smidge on the early side of my window.
Today was strength training and swimming, and both went very well. I had a reflective moment before getting into the pool, thinking about all the hours of training ahead of me, and the magnitude of what I am undertaking. My Sam is doing as big a race in February, it just has kayaking instead of swimming, but it’s a two-day run/bike/kayaking event in New Zealand. The date fits in quite nicely with the taper and travel and dateline adjustment. I have til Oct 31 to register before the fees go from extortion to blasphemy levels. Sam’s fees are more than mine, so is that better? Anyone wanna sponsor a slow, old, Athena triathlete?
The thing I’m most looking forward to after picking the race is the backwards scheduling written out in OCD fashion on my calendar, and the other race lengths along the way. I don’t want to be too influenced by those; I want to pick the Iron on its own merit, then see what fits rather than the other way round. They don’t all have to be tri’s either – I’m looking for bike and foot races.
I’m also looking forward to comparing training notes with Sam, as he will train just as hard as I will. (re: Tri-ing with Amy, blog, June 09). I’m so proud of you Samson.
Tunes in the water: Meatloaf, Bat out of Hell; Sheryl Crow, Run Baby Run
Tunes in the weight room: Woody Guthrie, Alice’s Restaurant; Johnnny Cash, The Wall
Happy. Healthy. Heathen. 