Wandering Dawn

A California girl exploring the world

brick workout

3 Weeks until Race Day!

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Ironman Cozumel is 3 weeks from today, we leave for Mexico 2 weeks from Tuesday, and TriBikeTransport takes my bike 1 week from today!  That sh*t CRAY!  The good news is that I feel way more prepared than last time and therefore less nervous.  I’m also trying to eat a TON so I don’t lose weight before race day again.

I had an interesting (sh*tty) week in Vegas for work at the SEMA show, but was able to come back home and get in a solid training weekend, despite my setbacks earlier in the week (sick w/ a cold and a bum foot.)  Here’s my recap.

Monday 10/29: Flew to Vegas. Realized I was super sick with a cold and spent the afternoon in bed.  This is normally my rest day anyway.

Tuesday 10/30: Took an extra rest day and loaded up on Zicam and emergen-c.  Was already starting to feel better!  Worked the show from 9-1…then realized I had resurfaced my foot injury from August.  Noooo!

Wednesday 10/31: Had a spooky swim in the hotel’s rooftop pool that is most definitely NOT a lap pool and swam back and forth for about 40 minutes.  It felt good to be moving again.

That night, I dressed up as an angel for Halloween.

What? We got bottle service so I could stay off my foot, AND I’m wearing flats – in Vegas!

Thursday 11/1: I had this day off from the convention, so Coach Trevor gave me extra work to do.  The morning was 1:40 on the hotel spin bike, and the afternoon was a 3,500m swim.  I brought my bike pedals and shoes so I could manipulate the hotel’s spin bike, but I didn’t have the proper pedal wrench to get their pedals off, so I was stuck using standard equipment.  At least I found a 25m lap pool to swim in, even though it was in the ghetto.  I normally swim in a pool that is 25y, so it took me a little longer to complete my sets in the 25m pool.

–          Bike: 20 mins HR zone 2-3 at 95+ RPM, 20 min zone high 3-4 at 70rmp or less.  Recover 2-3 mins and repeat, only with HR zone 2-3 at 70rmp and zone 3-4 at 95+.

–          Swim: 25 x 100 (at various paces), then 1 x 1,000 comfortably fast

Friday 11/2: I was supposed to work out in the morning and try running on my foot, but I literally got out of bed, got dressed, realized I was exhausted, and got undressed and back into bed for another 90 minutes.  4 nights in Las Vegas will do this to you.  I had to stand on my feet for the convention from 9-4 and then head straight to the airport, so I justified skipping this one.

Saturday 11/3: Back in San Diego for my brick workout!

–          Open water swim: 75 minutes

–          T1 practice

–          Bike 3 hours: warm-up 90 mins, 4×5 miles at 88% effort, cool down

–          T2 practice

–          Run 5 minutes

OUCH! At least I won’t have to wear a wetsuit in Cozumel. Apparently I can’t put on the Glide correctly.

 

After my workout, I had my first ART session to address my hurt foot.  It was a little over a 60 minute session, and this guy seriously knew how to make me hurt!  It was worth it, though…

Sunday 11/4: …My foot felt so much better today!  My calves and right foot were sore from my session, but I was ready for my 2 hour run.  (Think of ART as an extremely painful deep tissue massage, targeted towards everywhere you HURT.)  Nicole and I ran together, and Mike and Jeremy ran together, for a united Team WODS training session!

I decided to put both of my feet in a 20 minute ice bath post-run, even though my right foot is the injured one.  I am a big believer in ice baths for recovery.  I also iced my calves today.  (It wasn’t convenient to take a full on ice bath.)

Tomorrow I don’t get my typical rest day since I took an unintentional rest day on Friday, so I better get to bed now.  Spin in the morning, and a run at night!

How do you workout on the road?

108.8 Miles on Fiesta Island

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I recently had a BIG training milestone.  It was both physically and mentally demanding and gave me an indication of what race day could look like at Ironman Cozumel.  I completed a 7 hour brick workout on Fiesta Island.  I rode my bike for 6 hours and then ran for 1…all around the same 4.1 mile teeny tiny loop!

Fiesta Island

For those of you unfamiliar with this “island” in San Diego (it’s connected by a tiny strip of land), let me fill you in.

1. It’s only 4.15 miles around its largest point.  Think about how many times you could bike around a small island in 6 hours…

2. There is a strong headwind on at least one section of the island.  In my case, it was windy for most of the ride and got worse in the afternoon.  Great practice for Mexico.

3. There’s not much to see besides campers, porta potties, and a large body of water.  Bring your own drinking water, though, because there are no facilities on the island, and porta potties will become your best friend.

4. It’s next to Sea World and Mission Bay, 2 beautiful places that attract many tourists.

5. It is popular among cyclists, runners, dog owners, fishermen, and people with campers that like to water ski, jet ski, etc.

The workout

I was both excited and anxious for this long day.  It would be flat and windy, like IMCZ, and I wouldn’t have to deal with stop lights and San Diego traffic.  I could just ride and ride and ride with no major distractions, without stopping, for as long as I could handle it…except for when I’d have to go pee.  (Me and my tiny bladder!)  I will not pee myself on the bike.  I’ve heard that can cause chafing.

While cars are allowed on this island, they typically go very slowly since the island is packed with outdoor enthusiasts.  Signs say “Vehicles, Cyclists, and Pedestrians Share the Road” so it’s a friendly place to do a time trial lap or two…or 25 in my case.  The Tri Club of San Diego has club races there, there are bike time trials held there, and the Rock n Roll full marathon has its last 2 miles there.  It’s a popular place!

The night before my workout I was tired but couldn’t sleep.  I got nauseous and restless and then teary eyed.  I think I started having an anxiety attack.  Why was I panicking over a TRAINING SESSION?  I started psyching myself out.  If I was panicking now, what would I be like on race day?  On race week?  I definitely need to figure out how to manage my emotions!  I think part of me was worried I was going to fail at this workout.  It was my first true test to see how fast I could maintain my speed on a long, flat course.  All of my other long rides had some kind of hills involved or were recovery rides along the coast.  This was supposed to be a race simulation.  This was going to be a true test.  At Ironman Coeur d’Alene, I couldn’t even hold a 13mph average.  Granted, it was extremely hilly, but that’s how slow I was that day.  I am NOT a fast cyclist, and no, I am not being modest.  It’s the truth.  Cycling did not come easily to me.

Saturday morning we rolled out of bed at 5am (goal time was 430am, but I think my lack of sleep didn’t help), arrived at Fiesta by 630am, and were riding at 7am.  Look at the beautiful sunrise we had waiting for us when we arrived on the island!

Sunrise looking out from Fiesta Island

getting ready to ride!

The ride went WAY better than I expected.  I completed 102.8 miles (25 laps) with an average speed of 17.19mph!!!!  This is a huge milestone for me!  My biggest fear going into Ironman attempt #2 was missing the bike cutoff – again.  At this speed, I will not be in danger of the 10:30 hour swim + bike time cutoff.  WOOOOO!   pushed through the windy parts and hammered the fast parts.  All the time thinking positive thoughts, positive thoughts.  Sometimes I would sing to myself too, (99 bottles of beer on the wall…) but usually I was focusing on calories, liquids, speed, and cadence.  Time went by somewhat quickly because I stayed extremely focused.

My back felt funny when I tried to get off the bike after 6 hours (even with my 5 pit stops in between), so I almost fell as I unclipped.  Note to self: Do not fall off the bike during dismount during the actual race.  I might need a catcher earlier than I thought!  My body was not used to being in the aero position for 6 hours.  Again, good practice.  I grabbed a handful of pop chips and started my run.  We were both pretty slow going during it, but we hung on.  I ran 6 miles.

Here are some key metrics from my ride so I can compare it to my next Fiesta Island ride.  That’s right.  Coach Trevor has asked me to do it 1 more time, and this time, try to increase my average speed by 0.5 mph.  Ironman Cozumel, here I come! 

Summary

Fluids: 6 bottles of water (1 bottle per hour): 4 straight H2O, 2 with CarboPro (400 calories per bottle) + Nuun fruit punch tabs

Calories: 300 calories per hour (the most I’ve ever managed to take in!  Apparently, that is good for my energy levels.)

Food Consumed in addition to CarboPro calories:

– 2 PB&J uncrustables

– 2 packets Amy’s fruit snacks (Changing it up from GU Chomps. These were easy to shove down my throat, but I dropped a couple of them.)

– 2 Bonk Breaker bars (Apple and Fig flavors)

Salt: 3 tabs (1 every 2 hours)

Run: Ate a handful of pop chips before the start.  Ran out of water, so was extremely grumpy and dehydrated during the run.

Another note to self: Next time, bring 2 gallon jugs of water!  Maybe bring Coke too since that will be available on the run course.

What has been your biggest training milestone?

Ironman Training Day 6

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Day 6 – Sunday 12/11/11

Morning
11:o0am – 28-30 mile bike ride up the 101 (mostly flat).  I felt good on the bike today which surprised me since I ran 16.5 miles yesterday.  I actually wasn’t even that sore when I woke up.  Success!  I still foam-rolled my quads and calves before getting on the bike, and Nicole and I took it pretty easy, cruising up and down the 101.  I even got to sleep in today because Nicole had a prior engagement, so that probably aided in my recovery.
Nutrition: Poor! I had my 2 egg + avocado wrap before my ride, but then didn’t take in nearly enough calories on the bike. I guess I figured since it was a flat and easy ride, I didn’t need as many.  I made myself a water bottle with 140 calories (1 scoop CarboPro and 1 scoop Vitalite), but I only made my way through half of it because I didn’t drink fast enough. (I also had to pee and was too lazy to stop and get off the bike!) I didn’t take my GU either, which would have been another 100 calories.  By the time I got home and off the bike, I felt a little light-headed and hungry, so I finished the rest of my drink and immediately had a bowl of cereal.  I still don’t know exactly how many calories per hour I’m supposed to take in while on the bike.  One of my training books says it’s about 120-500/hour depending on your size.  Since I’m a 108lb female, I figure I should take 120/hour, and that’s what I typically strive for on the bike.  (Failed today.) 

Afternoon
2:00pm – 1 hour TCSD swim class at Boys and Girls Club Solana Beach (combo of technique & masters)
Nutrition: 1/2 Honey Stinger Waffle (80 calories) 15 minutes before the swim
This was a new (free) swim class put on by the Tri Club of San Diego (TCSD).  I was excited to try it since it’s close to my house and in the afternoon so it’s much less cold outside compare to the 7:30pm weekday swims.  I worked with a new swim coach today and she had us spend most of our time perfecting our stroke.   I picked up some new drills today that should help me become a better swimmer.  The swim is my key limiter in triathlons, so I need to focus on it as much as possible.

After I rushed from bike to swim, I then dashed to a TCSD Christmas Caroling event!  A group of 25-30 of us sang Christmas songs at 4 assisted living homes around north county.  I loved seeing the joy we brought to so many of the elderly living in these homes. Such a fun and active triathlon inspired Sunday!