KDF Mini - 25th Half Marathon

Per my post a few days ago, I've been fighting some kind of cold/flu/infection over the past three days. I woke up yesterday feeling a bit better, and today felt almost completely healed. My glands are still swollen and sore, but my throat doesn't hurt nearly as much as it has been, and the body aches are pretty much completely gone. Regardless, when Jennifer asked me this morning if I would be going for a PR, I told her I wasn't sure. I wanted to try and take it easy - not wanting to push myself too hard and set my health back at all. I knew my PR for this course was 2:20:38, and with my health and the projected rainy race I didn't want to plan for any particular outcome, so I told her I was gonna "go by feel," and see what happens. We started in Corral D, and it took a while to get to the actual Start line. Once we got going though, there was no turning back. As usual I started out way too fast and had to force myself to slow down. I went from a 9:30 to a 10:00 pace and attempted to stay steady for at least the first couple of miles. An ex boyfriend and I had talked a little smack via text a few days prior, and I told him I'd wave as I passed him on the course. Well, low and behold, about 4 miles in I see his running buddy stopped on the side waiting for the ex to finish up a potty break. When I caught up to him they had just begun to take off again. We said a quick hello and he asked how far back I started in the Corral's. I told him D, while he started at C. This meant that I was already technically ahead of him given the difference in the times we took off. Because I was doing one minute walks at each mile marker, it didn't take long for them to lose me - although I was able to keep them in my sights from time to time the remainder of the race. I was going along quite well for those first 6 miles (splits: 9:42 (1), 9:58 (2), 9:51 (3), 10:16 (4), 9:44 (5), 10:10 (6) but miles 6-9 were a bit of a bear. My legs felt like lead and I could muster little more than what felt like a shuffle for the next three miles (10:27 (7), 10:42 (8), 11:22 (9) I ended up walking a minute at mile 8, thirty-seconds when getting into Churchill Downs, and another minute when leaving the track. I got through Mile 9 a little slower due to a slight incline, and even looked down to see that I was averaging an 11:25 pace. At this point I remember telling myself, "An 11:25 pace is still moving forward." Anything to keep my spirits up. At mile 10 (10:58) I decided to start a new strategy: Walk for 30 seconds every half mile. By this point I was quite tired and ready to get it over with. We had gotten quite lucky with the weather thus far, with just a few spurts of mist here and there, but by mile 11 (11:11, coincidentally), it had started to come down a bit harder and more consistently. It didn't take long for my shirt to get soaked through and my shoes to become squishy. At mile 12 (11:10) I saw the ex had started to walk and I was slowly catching up to him. I tell ya - if you ever need motivation for a PR, stay quasi-friendly with an ex who also runs most of the same races you do. With only that last 1.1 mile to go I decided to run it in, no matter how fatigued I felt. Not only to show up someone from my past, but I had also realized at this point that I had 15 minutes to beat my course PR and I didn't want to take any chances. I turned down Main Street with approximately .6 miles to go, and finished my 13th mile in 10:44. Crossing the finish line, I hit my watch and looked down to see that I had beat my previous course PR by more than 3 minutes (2:17:15)! Overall, I felt mostly good about this race. The mental aspect of things never got to me, but having decided to run to music today, the tunes did get on my nerves after a while. Seeing so many of my triathlon and running buddies out on the course really helped as well. I did notice that when I see someone I know or get caught up in the roadside cheering sections, my heart-rate feels like it goes up significantly. I don't know if it's anxiety or what, but it's a slightly uncomfortable experience. Next up: Tough Mudder Chicago in two weeks. My FIRST TM (yikes). Oh, and that ex that I spoke of earlier? Yeah, I beat him.

And Illness Sets In. :(

I started to feel sick yesterday - woke up with a sore throat, swollen glands and throughout the day my body felt more and more tired and achy all over. I thought for sure it may be the flu, but I never ran a fever, nor did I feel any cold-like symptoms such as coughing, runny/stuffy nose, sneezing. I ended up seeing two patient's in the office and canceled the rest. I managed to get a swim in that morning, but I wasn't feeling it much and ended up with only 1000 of the 1650m I was supposed to do - better than nothing I guess. From 3:00 p.m. on I spent the rest of the evening on the couch. Normally such a thing wouldn't bother me much, but with the KDF mini coming up tomorrow, I've been a bit concerned. Waking up this morning, my glands still swollen and throat feeling on fire, I rolled out of bed at 10:30 and decided to go downtown to get my race bib. I figured getting out of the house would give me a better opportunity to really gauge how I am feeling. After three hours of being up and around, my body definitely feels drained again, and I am forgoing the 20 minute slow run that was on the training schedule for today. My plan is to rest up for the remainder of the day, and go ahead and complete the race tomorrow. Thing is: it's supposed to be about 45 degrees and rainy at the start - not optimal racing weather, but even less-so when you're sick. But....other than a few times when my depression got the best of me, I've not opted out of a race and tomorrow will be no different. If anything, I will have all day Saturday afterwards to recoup and relax on the couch with some movies. Besides, if it is going to rain all day, I probably wouldn't be doing much else regardless. I had planned on trying to beat my 2:20:38 PR on this course, but with the weather being what it will be, and me feeling like I do, I've decided my new goal is to finish feeling the best that I can. Whatever that means.

Training Officially Begins

Well, I decided to go with a coach after all because I just feel that I need the discipline, expertise, accountability and custom plan to make this thing happen. I am now on day 4 out of the last 5 working out and I AM EXHAUSTED! 1500m swim Thursday, rest-day Friday, 40 mile bike Saturday followed by 20 min. walk, 1700y swim plus 6.42 mile run yesterday and another 1600m swim in the pool today. My body is sore and I've felt like I am about to fall asleep since arriving to work after the swim this morning. I'm definitely getting enough sleep (9 hours last night, probably 10 the night before) so I know it's not that. I'm assuming this is just my body getting use to doing so much in a short amount of time. I'm trying to do what a lot of people are telling me on Facebook, which is to just look at one training day at a time so as not to get overwhelmed, but I must say - Thursday's rest day is looking awful good right now. I have an hour bike tomorrow followed by a small run, and another swim on Wednesday before I get that much-needed break. And although this fatigue is definitely draining, I'm looking forward to all of this hard work paying off (and being well worth it) in October!

40 Mile Ride Through The Knobs (See: Hilly)

After last week's ride I was SUPER ANXIOUS about the hills on this 40-miler. Yes, it's 8 miles less than what I did last week, but I have heard horror stories about the "hills in the Knobs," and this had me worried. Nonetheless, I got my butt out of bed and met a good crowd of riders at the NA YMCA to start our journey. I had looked at the elevation map prior to the ride, and knew there was a large hill about 5 miles in, as well as another STEEPER monster about 35 miles in. Todd told me the one at mile 5 wasn't so bad and, truth be told, it wasn't exactly horrible. It was a slow, gradual climb that I managed to make all the way to the top using the lowest gears while spinning my wheels. As we continued on I thought, "this isn't so bad." After last week's hills I thought for sure I'd be a mental-case once again, but I kept my wits about me and kept on keeping on. There were some small rollers, and some not-so-small, but overall it wasn't that bad and before I knew it we were making a stop at the half-way point for folks to refuel and use the potty. I had learned my lesson after last week's nutrition fail, and ate a Bonk Breaker prior to the ride, filled my torpedo with Infinit, as well as two water bottles full of water and a few Gu's. I tried to drink the Infinit when I could, but at times I felt nauseous when I would crest a hill and the last thing I wanted to do while slowly recovering was take a sip. I did manage a Roctane Gu at the halfway point, and felt fine getting that down. After the stop we were off yet again and made our way around Huber's, which wasn't too bad. Again, a couple of big rollers here and there, but mostly flat with a few small hils. Around the 30 mile mark we all stopped to meet up once again, and I mentioned to Todd that I had seen on the elevation map that there was a large, steep hill up ahead. One thing that I learned from this cycling experience: Never believe a word Todd says. He played dumb at the time and said, "I don't remember that, but if there is one coming up I'll let you know ahead of time." Well, low and behold about 2-3 miles ahead what do I see in front of me? The worlds largest hill (okay, I'm slightly exaggerating here, but after 30+ miles it sure looked like it.) By this time my legs were toast and I was struggling. Just a little ways up the hill I unclipped and decided to walk my bike up - which ended up being quite a workout for my calves, to say the least, since the clips on my shoes had my toes angled upward. I got to the top and again, we rolled out. Along we went, small roller after medium roller until, once again, we get to the bottom of another hill. This one not nearly as steep or as long - I would probably compare it to Zorn Avenue, but with the last hill still fresh in my mind, as well as my legs STILL feeling the burn, I once again hopped off and hoofed it. Truthfully - I probably could have gotten up this hill, and had it been earlier in the ride I would have definitely handled it just fine, but by this point I was more than a bit tired and knowing that the end was coming up soon and I had already completed a ton of hill work, I felt no guilt. Continuing on, once again, I looked forward to a large downhill that we just coasted down (see: riding my breaks the entire time) as it was hella-steep. I'm not familiar at all with New Albany, or Indiana for that matter, so I was clueless as to where we were - I just knew we had about 3-5 miles left before my poor little legs (as well as my bum) could finally get a rest. When it was all said and done I felt pretty decent and very accomplished and proud of myself for sticking it out and muddling up those hills. I would like to try that route again, and am sure I will, to get up that huge fella that had me down at mile 30. It will be nice to see how much stronger I become in the coming months. A few thoughts post ride: 1) Happy I got the biking bibs, but not sure it made a huge difference. My pooniny is still sore and tender, as well as my fanny, but I will continue to ride and see if that ceases. 2) I didn't get emotional at all on this ride, and I think that was due to being better prepared with my nutrition. I will continue to play with this and see what works. 3) Cycling gloves are amazing - my hands feel much better than they did last week. 4) And as always, I appreciate so much the support and encouragement, as well as the knowledge that I continue to obtain from this wonderful group of people. I wouldn't be where I am today without them!

48 Mile Bike Ride

I had been toying with doing the Shelbyville Series Tri #3 today, but late last night I decided to commit to a long bike ride instead - since that's where I need a lot more of my training. I met some Landshark's on the Indiana side of the Big 4 Bridge at 1:30, and it was already a more-than-warm and sunny day. Most everyone had planned to do 50 miles, but since my longest ride to-date (sans a 50-mile 4 years ago) was the 27 I did last week, I figured I would go approx. 35-40 at the most. A group of about 17 of us took off down a long stretch along the river, and made our way to the point where we turned around last week. This was the first time I'd ever taken the tri bike out for an actual ride, but having ridden around the Tom Sawyer parking lot a few days before, I was already fairly comfortable clipping in and out, and getting into an aero position. Much like last week, most of the group took off at a high rate of speed, but luckily I had either Todd, Geri or Carlos to keep me company at any given time. I felt fairly good for that first part of the ride, and was even surprised when Todd told me that I was averaging about 17mph (I had forgotten to hit the Start button on the Garmin when we took off, so I was clueless). Still, this was a flat stretch of road, and with the tri bike being a bit lighter than the road bike, I could tell a significant difference in how it rode. We pulled up to stop at the place where we turned around last week, and I told the group that I didn't think I could pull off 50 miles just yet. Again, having only completed 27 last week, I felt that I wasn't prepared. Plus, I had only brought a certain amount and type of nutrition with me, and was concerned about bonking. The group affirmed that I could turn around about 5-8 miles up, and so that was the new plan. We crossed the highway and made our way into a mass of hills. None of them were too terribly steep, but there were definitely some rollers. We continued right, and then left, down another stretch before coming up to Charlestown. At some point around this time I told the group that I tend to get emotional for some reason when I get into some endurance length training. I did get a bit tearful at this point, but with jokes coming from Carlos, I was able to muddle through without a flow of tears - at least for a little while longer. The guys went ahead and pretty soon it was just Geri and I going up and down continuous hills. At some point she stopped near the top of one and pulled off into a driveway. It was here that I lost it a little bit. I had only taken in 2 Cliff chews and some water, and was feeling really fatigued and hot. Geri told me that it was probably best to take in some protein and she offered me a Cliff bar. I took a small bite and felt nauseous. Took another and that's all I could muster before swigging some water and pulling myself together for the last 5 miles of the 50 miler. (Yes, at some point I think I inadvertently succumbed to doing the full length because, why not?) We went ahead before finally catching up to Carlos, and went a few miles further before seeing the remainder of our group heading back the other way. We decided to go ahead and turn around with them and head back to the bridge. At this point I was thankful to be heading back - my quads were becoming toast, my bum was a bit sore (not to mention a somewhat numb pooniny), and my shoulders were getting somewhat tight. We stopped for a small break at a convenience store to reload, and I filled up my two water bottles and managed to swallow down the remainder of the Cliff bar offered by Geri earlier. At this point, I had already downed a protein-filled Gu she had also given me, and I was feeling significantly better than on the way out. The way back wasn't nearly as bad (probably because, mentally, I knew it was almost over), but the hills persisted until the last 14 miles or so. At that point it was mostly flat which, honestly, is almost just as bad since you have to consistently pedal and never really get a break for your legs without losing speed. Todd kept me company for most of Utica Pike, and the conversation helped to take my mind off just how much longer we had to go, and how tired my body was getting. At this point my quads were toast, my shoulders were hella-sore, and sitting upright caused my shoulders to burn while sitting down in aero put a decent amount of pressure on my nether-region. Pulling up towards the end, the group had pulled over to wait for me, one last time, before bringing it in for the last mile. Coming up on them, they all clapped at my accomplishment and I felt awesome to have such a supportive, understanding group of people to help get me through this day. A couple of things I've learned: 1) Bike shorts (i.e. more padding) is probably best for these longer rides. 2) I definitely need to work on my nutrition. I had taken some sort of fizzy-lemonade disc and plopped it into one of my water bottles for extra electrolytes. I wasn't crazy about it as it had a bit of carbonation and made me a somewhat bloated. I will also be bringing more protein with me for the next ride, and maybe less sugar. 3) Sun screen is going to be imperative for these rides - I now have a nice little tank-top sunburn across my upper back. And 4) I will never take my tri-mates for granted, EVER! I never could have done this without their encouragement and support, and I am so thankful to have them with me on this journey. Final mileage was 48, and the clock time was approx. 4 hours - however, with so many stops I think it was probably closer to 3.5 hours. Total calories burned: 1,942.

Longest Bike Ride Of The Season

I had planned on a bike ride today, and although my longest ride of the past three years was only 20 miles, I agreed to a 26-miler in order to push myself a bit and build up to Muncie and ultimately IMLOU. Since I had just completed the PJ 10-mile run yesterday I was looking forward to what I was told was a "nice and easy" ride. It was a gorgeous day to start, and the ride required only a pair of bike shorts, wicking shirt and windbreaker. Me and a crew of 5 others met up at the Big 4 Bridge at noon for an out-and-back into Indiana on a flat course. 3-4 miles in it was clear that this crews idea of a "nice and easy" ride was vastly different than mine. Looking down to see my 15-17 mph speed wasn't enough to keep up with their, what I can only guess, was 20+ mph speed. But.... since I had been wanting to get with some people that would make me push myself it was just what I needed. As I said, the ride was mostly flat and, luckily since it was a straight shot, there was very little chance of getting dropped. Even so, Geri stopped once or twice and kept looking back to make sure I was still with her. We pulled over about 9 miles in to meet up with another cyclist, and were surprised to find yet another gal (Anastasia), who had apparently started late and missed our start, catch up with us. We took off for another 4 miles or so, which included a long but not-too-steep hill. Once again, I was on my own as the other's took off, but we caught up at the turn around point where I was met with thumbs up and words of encouragement. The headwind on the way back was fairly brutal, and I was getting a little tired - not to mention my nether-region was getting a bit numb (TMI, I know, but it's the nature of the beast of cycling, so I hear). I was averaging about a 14.8 mph speed which I was a bit disappointed in to be honest, since my rides WITH hills average about 13.5. I was certain that on a flat course I could average much more. One of the riders asked if the bike I was using (my Trek road bike) was the one I would be racing with. I told him no, that I had bought a Scott Plasma, but that since it was tri bike with aero bars I wasn't quite ready to get out on long rides just yet. He told me that I will be surprised at what a difference the bike makes - so that gives me hope that I can continue to get faster and stronger as the months go by. For a large portion of the ride back one of the guys, Nick, rode alongside me and we talked a bit, making the time go by faster. Before you know it, we were pulling up to the Indiana side of the bridge and met up with Linden once again. They stuck around there for a bit, while I went ahead across to finish up my ride. I ended up with a total of 26.91 miles in 1hr and 50 minutes at an average of 14.8 mph. My shoulders and neck feel a bit tight, but I'm hoping this is just something that comes with getting used to the ride. I've been fitted for my bike already, but it's not unheard of to require an adjustment one you get out on it for a few rides. I guess only time will tell if this is the case or not. Closing thoughts: I still need A LOT of work on the bike. I'd really like to know what would be considered a decent average pace, and work towards that. Training officially starts a week from tomorrow, and after yesterday's 10 miler coupled with today's ride, I'm a bit concerned about just how tired I'm gonna end up being over the next six months. I gotta tell ya - I'm beat!

First Continous Swim and Papa John's 10-miler PR

Today marked my fifth day working out/racing this week and I'm super-stoked about my continued progress. I decided to do a bit of a time trial while swimming yesterday, and swam for 45 continuous minutes to see how far I could get. Ended up with 1525 meters. It was a bit boring, I must admit, but I figured I gotta get used to it sometime and I need to get in the water more often anyway, so why not just go for it to see where I am and what I need to do as far as improving. About halfway through I noticed my form was getting a little off, but I muddled through nonetheless and finished up feeling fairly decent. It always takes me a few hundred meters to get into a good groove and get my breathing down, so it'll be interesting to see how this pans out on race day for both Muncie and IMLOU, especially if there is no opportunity (or if I just don't take advantage of the opportunity) to warm up before the start of the race. This morning was the Papa John's 10-miler. I had some GI issues in the morning, and was a bit tired from not getting to bed as early as I had hoped, but a few miles past the start line I fell into a good groove and kept at it. I told Jennifer prior to the race and I was probably gonna go with my one-minute walk at every mile, but since I did so well in Indianapolis last fall with a walk at every two miles, I thought I'd try that again. Well.... that lasted the first 4 miles until we got into the hills of Iroquois Park. I walked probably three times, no more than one minute at a time, through the park, which is really only 3 miles anyway, so technically I averaged one minute walks per mile regardless. Out of the park I saw my fastest mile, but by mile 7 the GI issues had somewhat returned and I was feeling a bit fatigued, so I slowed down quite a bit. I decided to walk a time or two prior to coming up on mile marker 9, knowing that turning down Central Ave. brought with it a nasty hill for probably .2 miles. I walked most of the hill, but then it was all business on the downhill and then the last half mile into the stadium. I can't say I wasn't REALLY tired by that point, but knowing since mile 6 that I was on pace for a PR, I didn't want to take a chance on bonking at the end and missing my goal. Crossing the finish line, I got an official 1:41:20 finishing time, which is more than a 5 minute PR. I'm super proud of this finishing time, and looking forward to see what I can do with the Derby Mini in three weeks. Fastest mile: 9:20. Slowest mile: 10:24.