Two years ago, when I DNF’d at Muncie, I had already signed up for Ohio, which was to take place only a few weeks later. Feeling defeated and not wanting to risk another failure, I opted out of Ohio and thought my Muncie 2015 experience would be my only 70.3. When Ericka expressed an interest this past year in completing a half-Ironman, however, I thought I’d take another swing at it and hoped to finish faster than my 8:00:15 time just three years before.
After Ericka, Karen and I traveled the 3.5 hours and had visited the Athlete Village, checked in our gear and bike, eaten a nice carbo-loaded dinner and gotten settled in for the evening, I received my second video chat from John in Nashville. After trying to figure out a way to make it work for months, I had accepted the reality that because of his dad duties and work schedule he would not be able to come to Delaware to watch me race. Little did I know, he had been plotting with Karen and Ericka for weeks to do just that. Of course, I was completely surprised and in shock at this news, which didn’t help my sleep that evening – knowing that he would be driving through the night, staying at a rest area to catch some shut-eye, and meeting us at the start as closely to 4:30 a.m. as possible. Somehow, he was able to assure me that it wasn’t a big deal, and to expect to see him in the morning.
After a restless night of sleep and 3:00 a.m. wake up call, I was still super groggy as I made my way to that first potty of the day only to find that things were not all well in the GI department. Although I do get nervous prior to tri’s, there was a distinct difference between anxious jitters and whatever was going on with my bowels that morning. My stomach was NOT in a good way, and I could only conclude that it must’ve been the chicken parmesan from the previous evening. Still, I put on my race gear hoping that as the morning went on the discomfort would pass and I would start to feel better.
Arriving at the start, I went back and forth between setting up my T1 area, hitting the potty, and checking on John’s location. The parking area was starting to fill up and I was concerned that he might have a hard time finding a spot if he arrived later than expected. Finally, around 5:00 a.m., after receiving his call, I found him in the crowd and promptly sat on the curb with my head on his shoulder and tears streaming down my face as my stomach didn’t feel any better than it did that morning. My hope was that this would turn out to be either pre-race tummy or a temporary stomach issue, but as the time to take off on the swim drew closer, neither was proving to be true. I spent the next few hours trying to talk myself out of throwing in the towel, debating the worst-case-scenario, and envisioning another DNF and having to tell everyone that knew I was racing that I couldn’t make it happen because of something that was totally out of my control.
John and I made one final trip to the car to grab my swim gear and make our way to the swim start with Karen and Ericka in tow. The way I was moving, you would’ve thought this was a death march more than a swim start, but as uncomfortable and uncertain as I felt, I thought that I would at least start the race and see what happened.
We placed ourselves in the 50-55 minute finishers group, and chit-chatted with some other athletes waiting to get into the water. Karen had gotten a VIP pass, for which she had an extra wrist-band and selflessly gave it to John. This meant they had a front row seat to the swim start and finish, which they took full advantage of with lots of pics and video. As our time to submerge drew nearer, I prepared to wet my goggles one last time for a good seal before taking off on a sweet freestyle for the next 1.2 miles. The water was warmer than I expected, which was a nice surprise even after knowing that it was not wetsuit legal. I proceeded to walk out as far as I could before dunking under, and set off to finish the first of three portions of the race. Unfortunately, the universe had different plans.
After the set of goggles, I had been using all summer began taking in water, I bought a new pair and had had great results from them so far. For whatever reason though, they also began to leak after just a few strokes in the lake. I was so aggravated at this realization but thought that they just weren’t one properly or tight enough so I gave it another try. Nope – same thing. In all, I tried adjusting this contraption 3-4 times before I gave up and decided to get through the entire swim with a breast stroke – a style of swimming I had not practiced all season; this would be interesting. Upon realizing how much slower I was going than my freestyle counterparts, I thought more than once that I was going to end up on a kayak with a DNF on my hands. Rounding the first buoy I checked to see that it had taken me a full 22 minutes to go this short distance. I thought for sure I would miss the 1:10 cutoff time but muddled on just the same.
At the second turn buoy I checked my watch once more, for certain that I was coming up on an hour and tried to figure out how I was going to explain to people that I wasn’t able to finish yet another 70.3. When I saw that I was at 44 minutes, I knew there was still hope, and that I could possibly make it to the finish in time. I tried to pick up my pace as much as I could, and even gave freestyle one more try before realizing that it just wasn’t going to happen and I was wasting more time draining the water and gaining my composure again than what it was worth.
Making the final turn to “swim out,” I mustered as much strength as I could and brought it home. As soon as my feet were able to touch the ground, I stood up and checked my watch: 1:05. I had missed the cut-off by just 5 minutes. This meant that I could still attempt the bike and the run to finish, but that my chances of a PR went way down as I finished 15 minutes slower than in 2015. At this point however, the only thing I cared about was that I was able to keep going. My stomach had finally started to feel better, most of my nerves had been worked through, and I was ready to get on the bike for a smooth, flat 56-miler.
John and Karen were a sight for sore eyes and definitely kept my spirits and motivation up as they yelled for me from the sidelines. Ericka had gotten out of the water prior to me and was already on her way with the bike. My focus, however, was just getting on my gear and heading towards the “bike out,” inflatable to keep this show on the road – literally and figuratively. My adrenaline was pumping now and, unfortunately, this showed on my bike early on as I was pulling out a 19.9 mph for the first 5 miles, and then 18.5 mph for the second five miles. I knew when I saw this speed that I needed to slow down or I was sure to bonk. This was exactly what happened in Muncie in 2016 – I went out way too fast, and between my speed and the headwind, I wasn’t able to make it past mile 40. After getting through my stomach issues this morning as well as my goggle snafu on the swim, the last thing I wanted was to lessen my chances of finishing due to something I actually COULD control. I backed off a bit but kept at around 16 mph as much as I could, determined to beat my Muncie bike time.
The course was described as flat, and boy was it ever! Anyone who knows me in a triathlon capacity knows that I despise hills, so you would think that this course would be perfect for someone like me. Well, it is…. until you realize that you are pedaling continuously for 56 miles without an opportunity to simply coast at all. Still, I would much rather have a flat course that rolls out my legs than constant hills to contend with. Plus, although it was fairly desolate as far as spectators and support goes, it was a pretty course with lots of country scenery to take in.
Because triathlon is such an individual sport, there’s lot of time to think, which isn’t always a good thing. True to form, I did lots of math in my head trying to figure out how many miles I would need to be 1/3 of the way done with the course. Then half-way done and so forth. Simply getting to that 40-mile marker was my mental goal (See: Muncie DNF), which also meant only one more hour on the bike. I had mentioned to John and Ericka recently that my body doesn’t enjoy biking past 35 miles, and this was no less true during this race. It was right around this time that I started to feel myself slow down, both mentally and physically, as I counted down each and every mile until the end. My shoulders and neck were stiff and sore; I had already begun to sit straight up with my hands on my elbow pads just to get a little bit of a stretch – not the most aerodynamic position. At this point, I was going to do whatever it took to make it to the end of the bike course.
Thinking back to the stomach issues of the morning, I knew that I was probably dehydrated, if not well on my way to being. I tried to take in as much water and Infinit as I could on the bike, as well as some pretzels, but despite all this I felt weak and a little light-headed as I rounded the last corner into the stadium. Luckily, John and Karen were both there to greet me and cheer me on in my exhaustive state, as I dismounted and walked my bike at a pace that would’ve made a snail proud. I still wasn’t 100% sure at this point that I would even begin the run, so who was I to care about my T2 time? Luckily, somewhere between sitting my butt on the astroturf and actually lacing up my shoes I decided to give it a shot. I wasn’t sure exactly how much time I had left before the 8:30 cutoff, but I thought I at least had a chance if I could stay upright and keep moving forward. My only regret looking back as I started off on my third and final leg, was that I didn’t take in anymore liquid before heading out. I wasn’t sure my body was going to allow me to run the intervals I had planned, but without something to drink I wouldn’t be running at all – at least until the first water stop.
As I hooked a left out of the stadium I saw John and Karen once again, up ahead on the left. It’s amazing how much someone yelling your name and cheering for you can bring a smile to your face and some pep in your step, no matter how small those steps may be. My biggest smile, however, came when I saw that John had made a sign that read: “My girlfriend is a bad a$$! Go Connie!” Although he had said these words to me many times before, there was something about reading it, in print, during the course of this emotional and exhausting day that made that moment for me!
As I continued on, keeping my eyes peeled for that first water stop, I realized that I may actually pull this off - poop and goggles be damned! And when I finally did get a little liquid in me, it was just what I needed to attempt a little jog to at least get SOME intervals into the run. After just a mile and a half onto the course, runners take a left to get through the first of two loops. I prefer this, as I know what to expect the second time around, and since the bulk of the course was on these loops, there wasn’t a lot of long stretches without turning – something that becomes mundane after a bit.
I tried as much as I could to get into some sort of a 1:1 rhythm, but as tired as I was and being certain that I had plenty of time to finish, I didn’t want to push it too hard and not have anything left for the end of the race. I played with how much and how often I wanted to run, and finally settled on a 4-minute-walk and 1-mile-run plan that suited me just fine. It was long enough of a walk to give me a break, but not so long that I couldn’t get right back into a run when needed. Some folks were on their second loop, while a lot of us were just starting the first. Amazingly, this did not impact me at all. I can sometimes, and mostly do at some point, get into a pretty negative and defeated headspace during endurance races. So, I was pleasantly surprised when I recognized that that was not happening this time around. I mean sure, I did have some struggles during the last portion of the bike, and I wanted to quit many times but, overall, I felt pretty positive and even chatted with some fellow athletes throughout my last leg.
With only a mile and a half left to go I began conversing with a gal who is also from Louisville. She had been walking the entire portion of the run, and was going at a pretty good clip, so I thought keeping company for a while would be a nice change of pace (again, both literally and figuratively). It certainly kept my mind off the last mile for the most part, and when John appeared once more with ¾ of the race left, she took advantage of his kindness and got some finishing times for a few of her friends out on the course.
John informed me that I had approximately 30-minute to finish this last mile. Not to be too cocky or anything, but I could have probably crawled it at this point and still made the cut-off. He soon left me to head back into the stadium and set up for a sweet finishing video, as I trotted along, picking up my pace from time to time, getting increasingly more excited as I heard the announcer and the crowd from inside. As I rounded the last corner leading to the finishers chute, I fell into a near-sprint as I made my way to the end of this awesome day. Crossing that finish line, I was so excited to be completing my second 70.3 Ironman. Many hours of training, sacrificing, and tiring days were put into this accomplishment, and I couldn’t have done it without my amazing boyfriend/Sherpa, John, as well as the greatest cheerleader ever, Karen. Of course, my training partner and ride-or-die, Ericka, has to be mentioned as we struggled through countless hours of training together, and pushed each other to do the best that we could.
As great as this accomplishment feels, I don’t see myself doing another half-Ironman distance triathlon. The training alone takes so much out of me, and I mentioned more than a few times leading up to this weekend that I was most looking forward to getting my life back. Crushing Tri Louisville last month is a good indication that sprints and Olympics are my favorite distance, so I think I’ll be sticking with them from now on. If anything, I’ll make a great Sherpa for those friends that choose to go on to those longer distances – after all, I had the greatest teachers this weekend!
Congrats to all finishers who pulled it out this weekend! So many Landsharks were out there cheering us on, supporting one another, and giving that course hell. I love this sport for so many reasons – the most of which is the comradery that I feel between these awesome athletes! Oh, and this didn't end up being a PR for me. As great as the experience was, I missed it by just under 6 minutes - and I'm perfectly okay with that.
About Me
- Connie
- Louisville, Kentucky, United States
- After four years of long-distance running (5k, 10k, half-marathons) I got a little burnt out and decided to try my hand at triathlons. This blog is a journey into my training regime, as well as the play-by-play experiences I have had while competing in these amazingly fun events!
Monday, July 30, 2018
Monday, June 25, 2018
8-Week Burnout
I have 4 more weeks to get my body prepared and my game face on for Ohio 70.3, and I am definitely getting burnt out on training. I was telling both Ericka and John recently that I was looking forward to getting the triathlon over with and getting my life back again; it seems my entire schedule is currently built around working, training, watching the weather to see how it will impact my training, and making social plans around my training schedule. For instance, while I’ve been in possession of Brandi Carlile tickets for a number of months now, the only thing I could think about was how tired I was going to be that evening after a 50-mile bike, when I should have been elated at the chance to see this amazing artist perform at The Louisville Palace. I’m sorta over it, to be honest.
Some people have told me that they don’t necessarily like racing, but that they love the training aspect of triathlon. I’m the exact opposite – while I like the racing part, I tend to loathe the training. Now, don’t get me wrong – I love what the training provides for me….. a feeling of strength in my body, the building of stamina, seeing my body in a more positive light and (just as important) regular and multiple daily bowel movements! But there comes a point when I look at the schedule and realize that for the next three weeks my long days consist of a 50+ mile bike, a 2+ hour run, and 1.2 mile swim – and I get exhausted just reading my Training Peaks calendar.
Luckily, I am on a recovery week at the moment (I do a three-week build, one-week recovery training method), and am feeling so thankful for the break. Not only am I looking at no more than a 1.5 hour ride/30 minute run/2200y swim, I am also driving to Nashville this weekend to see my boyfriend who was out of the country for nearly two weeks. I think this fact has also played a part in my mindset, as I haven’t had him to look forward to. When my life consists of little more than working and training, it’s no wonder that I’m burned out.
All of this being said, I need to keep myself in check and remember that at least I have the capability to be as active as I am; that I have the mental and physical fortitude to train and race the way that I do (even as a back-of-the-packer most races). Instead of complaining about how tired I am, I need to remember that this kind of sore is the good kind because it means that I’ve been pushing myself to improve upon my endurance and strength. That, given my family history of heart disease and obesity, I’m making a choice every day to live a different lifestyle and try to at least negate some of what my DNA has cast upon me. So… for one more day I make the decision to lace up my shoes or don the bike helmet or slip on the goggles and muddle through another mile.
Some people have told me that they don’t necessarily like racing, but that they love the training aspect of triathlon. I’m the exact opposite – while I like the racing part, I tend to loathe the training. Now, don’t get me wrong – I love what the training provides for me….. a feeling of strength in my body, the building of stamina, seeing my body in a more positive light and (just as important) regular and multiple daily bowel movements! But there comes a point when I look at the schedule and realize that for the next three weeks my long days consist of a 50+ mile bike, a 2+ hour run, and 1.2 mile swim – and I get exhausted just reading my Training Peaks calendar.
Luckily, I am on a recovery week at the moment (I do a three-week build, one-week recovery training method), and am feeling so thankful for the break. Not only am I looking at no more than a 1.5 hour ride/30 minute run/2200y swim, I am also driving to Nashville this weekend to see my boyfriend who was out of the country for nearly two weeks. I think this fact has also played a part in my mindset, as I haven’t had him to look forward to. When my life consists of little more than working and training, it’s no wonder that I’m burned out.
All of this being said, I need to keep myself in check and remember that at least I have the capability to be as active as I am; that I have the mental and physical fortitude to train and race the way that I do (even as a back-of-the-packer most races). Instead of complaining about how tired I am, I need to remember that this kind of sore is the good kind because it means that I’ve been pushing myself to improve upon my endurance and strength. That, given my family history of heart disease and obesity, I’m making a choice every day to live a different lifestyle and try to at least negate some of what my DNA has cast upon me. So… for one more day I make the decision to lace up my shoes or don the bike helmet or slip on the goggles and muddle through another mile.
Monday, June 18, 2018
50 Mile Bike - Longest Ride of the Season
I had my longest ride of the season at 50 miles this past weekend, and while I felt mostly good throughout the entire ride, it definitely whipped my butt for the rest of the day.
I was riding with a new group – one that Ericka had ridden with a few weeks prior, but that I was unfamiliar with. I had ridden this route only once before, a few years ago, so while I wasn’t super familiar with the course, at least I knew what to expect in some sense. We got an early start at 6:45 a.m., which I was completely thankful for after completing a 25-mile ride and 1.5 mile walk the day before, starting at 2:00 p.m. – just about the most brutal time of day to start such a task.
Bill was our fearless leader, and while Tyson and Kenny kept on pace with him, Ericka and I often brought up the rear – more so on the hills. We came across some mild rollers the first 20 miles, including one long sucker that seemed to go on forever! We started at Iroquois park and made our way towards JMF – although we didn’t ride through JMF, which saved our legs a bit on the way out to the flood wall in Valley Station. It was mostly shady, which also helped keep us cool early on. We made a quick bathroom stop about halfway through at the boat docks in PRP, then continued our trek west as the sun only got hotter throughout the morning.
I was playing with my nutrition, bringing with me a torpedo and one bottle filled with Infinit, while another contained only water. I didn’t bring any foods that required chewing, as I really wanted to see how I’d do with ONLY liquid nutrition. As has been the case in so many past rides, I started to feel myself bonk a bit with 10 miles left to go. And it was even more noticeable after the ride when I mentioned to Ericka that while the liquid nutrition seemed to work okay on the bike, I’d be in big trouble trying to go out for a half-marathon right after if I didn’t take in something more. I bought some Belvita breakfast crackers, which are thin and small and should be easy to consume during a ride, as well as some Fig Newtons. I’ll play around with these edibles during the ride next week, which should be a 55-miler or so.
Despite having a proper bike fit last year, my shoulders and neck do still feel a bit sore during and after long rides, but it’s much better than it had been prior – I’m chalking this up to “just the way that it is,” and dealing with it the best I can. My speed was a bit faster during this bike as well, at an average of 15.9 moving pace – the fastest I’ve ridden so far during a training ride. I’m still a bit nervous going into Ohio, especially thinking about the 13.1 mile run that will come afterwards, but I have plenty of long rides coming up during the next 6 weeks that will hopefully ease my mind about that – both physically and mentally. And although I’d hate to see a replay of Muncie 2015, in which I walked most of the half-marathon portion, I know that at the very least walking will get it done just as well as running – it just may take quite a bit longer.
I was riding with a new group – one that Ericka had ridden with a few weeks prior, but that I was unfamiliar with. I had ridden this route only once before, a few years ago, so while I wasn’t super familiar with the course, at least I knew what to expect in some sense. We got an early start at 6:45 a.m., which I was completely thankful for after completing a 25-mile ride and 1.5 mile walk the day before, starting at 2:00 p.m. – just about the most brutal time of day to start such a task.
Bill was our fearless leader, and while Tyson and Kenny kept on pace with him, Ericka and I often brought up the rear – more so on the hills. We came across some mild rollers the first 20 miles, including one long sucker that seemed to go on forever! We started at Iroquois park and made our way towards JMF – although we didn’t ride through JMF, which saved our legs a bit on the way out to the flood wall in Valley Station. It was mostly shady, which also helped keep us cool early on. We made a quick bathroom stop about halfway through at the boat docks in PRP, then continued our trek west as the sun only got hotter throughout the morning.
I was playing with my nutrition, bringing with me a torpedo and one bottle filled with Infinit, while another contained only water. I didn’t bring any foods that required chewing, as I really wanted to see how I’d do with ONLY liquid nutrition. As has been the case in so many past rides, I started to feel myself bonk a bit with 10 miles left to go. And it was even more noticeable after the ride when I mentioned to Ericka that while the liquid nutrition seemed to work okay on the bike, I’d be in big trouble trying to go out for a half-marathon right after if I didn’t take in something more. I bought some Belvita breakfast crackers, which are thin and small and should be easy to consume during a ride, as well as some Fig Newtons. I’ll play around with these edibles during the ride next week, which should be a 55-miler or so.
Despite having a proper bike fit last year, my shoulders and neck do still feel a bit sore during and after long rides, but it’s much better than it had been prior – I’m chalking this up to “just the way that it is,” and dealing with it the best I can. My speed was a bit faster during this bike as well, at an average of 15.9 moving pace – the fastest I’ve ridden so far during a training ride. I’m still a bit nervous going into Ohio, especially thinking about the 13.1 mile run that will come afterwards, but I have plenty of long rides coming up during the next 6 weeks that will hopefully ease my mind about that – both physically and mentally. And although I’d hate to see a replay of Muncie 2015, in which I walked most of the half-marathon portion, I know that at the very least walking will get it done just as well as running – it just may take quite a bit longer.
Friday, June 15, 2018
Interval Running
I started doing interval running in 2009, during a hot half-marathon that I wasn’t feeling from the beginning. I had read a book on Jeff Galloway’s method of running, and had a hard time convincing myself that I would be any faster if I took scheduled walk breaks – it just didn’t make sense to me. For those of you who are unfamiliar, interval running is when you run for so long (usually by minutes) with a pre-determined scheduled walk break in between; this is done over and over again during the entire course of the training run or race. The hardest part of this is making yourself walk early on, when you’re still feeling good enough that you don’t necessarily need a walk break.
I typically go into my runs with an idea of doing either 4:1 or 3:1 and adjust it according to how I feel. Often, I will start off with a longer run, and then change it to something shorter when I become fatigued – this typically won’t happen in a 5k or 10k, but anything longer and I am almost certainly running less than what I started with.
I set out on Wednesday’s run with a plan to do a 2:1 interval. It was just at 90 degrees, and even though I set out at 5:30 p.m. the sun was still beating down, making it difficult to want to attempt a longer interval. The running portion of my intervals tend to be anywhere from a 9 to a 9:30 pace; it’s just the speed my body wants to go. For a 2-hour jaunt, however, I had to check the Garmin periodically to make sure I wasn’t pushing it too hard as I wanted to make sure I could get back home after my initial five miles.
At my turn around point I took note that it had taken me one hour to achieve 5.2 miles. This is significant, as I wanted to see how much distance I could cover on the way home in the same amount of time if I changed my intervals to 1:1. The 2:1 were already become more difficult the longer I ran, and I was trying to conserve water before I could make it another 1.5 miles or so back to a Heine Bros I would be passing on my way back home. I was running at just under a 12 minute-per-mile pace with my walking breaks, so I felt pretty confident that I would be able to get right around the same mileage.
The run was supposed to only be a 4-miler, however, I was feeling good and decided to get my 2-hour run scheduled for later in the week out of the way. If there’s one thing I’ve learned about myself throughout all of my years of training for tri’s and long-distance racing, it’s that I should take the opportunity to complete a longer training day when I’m feeling energetic and in a good head space. Not knowing how I’d feel or what the weather would look like in two days (my regularly scheduled long run day), I knew I’d be kicking myself if I completed a mere 4 miles and then felt unmotivated or overly tired on Friday. By the time I got done with the run, I was happy that I had completed it and gotten it out of the way – this meant that now matter how I felt in a few days, I could at least muster a 4 miler, even if I had to walk it, and not have it hamper my training.
Coming up on the last few miles, I knew I was going to be close to the 5-mile mark for the second half, for a total of 10. It still baffles me that I can run just as much mileage in the same amount of time while cutting back on the amount of minutes I run. But… this is the method I used for Tri Louisville and it seemed to work well for me, so I suppose this will be my same plan for Ohio. I can’t remember what exactly my plan was going into Muncie in 2015, but I walked most of it. I’m determined not to do the same thing this time around, and hopefully have a better finish.
Today, I have a 1:40/:20 brick planned, with a 3-hour bike tomorrow morning. My longest swim will take place on Sunday at 2,550 yards. Like I told Ericka yesterday, with both of us feeling and finishing so well at Tri Louisville, the goal at this point is to keep up the training plan, which will results in (hopefully) the same result in Ohio.
I typically go into my runs with an idea of doing either 4:1 or 3:1 and adjust it according to how I feel. Often, I will start off with a longer run, and then change it to something shorter when I become fatigued – this typically won’t happen in a 5k or 10k, but anything longer and I am almost certainly running less than what I started with.
I set out on Wednesday’s run with a plan to do a 2:1 interval. It was just at 90 degrees, and even though I set out at 5:30 p.m. the sun was still beating down, making it difficult to want to attempt a longer interval. The running portion of my intervals tend to be anywhere from a 9 to a 9:30 pace; it’s just the speed my body wants to go. For a 2-hour jaunt, however, I had to check the Garmin periodically to make sure I wasn’t pushing it too hard as I wanted to make sure I could get back home after my initial five miles.
At my turn around point I took note that it had taken me one hour to achieve 5.2 miles. This is significant, as I wanted to see how much distance I could cover on the way home in the same amount of time if I changed my intervals to 1:1. The 2:1 were already become more difficult the longer I ran, and I was trying to conserve water before I could make it another 1.5 miles or so back to a Heine Bros I would be passing on my way back home. I was running at just under a 12 minute-per-mile pace with my walking breaks, so I felt pretty confident that I would be able to get right around the same mileage.
The run was supposed to only be a 4-miler, however, I was feeling good and decided to get my 2-hour run scheduled for later in the week out of the way. If there’s one thing I’ve learned about myself throughout all of my years of training for tri’s and long-distance racing, it’s that I should take the opportunity to complete a longer training day when I’m feeling energetic and in a good head space. Not knowing how I’d feel or what the weather would look like in two days (my regularly scheduled long run day), I knew I’d be kicking myself if I completed a mere 4 miles and then felt unmotivated or overly tired on Friday. By the time I got done with the run, I was happy that I had completed it and gotten it out of the way – this meant that now matter how I felt in a few days, I could at least muster a 4 miler, even if I had to walk it, and not have it hamper my training.
Coming up on the last few miles, I knew I was going to be close to the 5-mile mark for the second half, for a total of 10. It still baffles me that I can run just as much mileage in the same amount of time while cutting back on the amount of minutes I run. But… this is the method I used for Tri Louisville and it seemed to work well for me, so I suppose this will be my same plan for Ohio. I can’t remember what exactly my plan was going into Muncie in 2015, but I walked most of it. I’m determined not to do the same thing this time around, and hopefully have a better finish.
Today, I have a 1:40/:20 brick planned, with a 3-hour bike tomorrow morning. My longest swim will take place on Sunday at 2,550 yards. Like I told Ericka yesterday, with both of us feeling and finishing so well at Tri Louisville, the goal at this point is to keep up the training plan, which will results in (hopefully) the same result in Ohio.
Monday, June 11, 2018
Tri Louisville - Olympic Distance
The week of the Tri Louisville Olympic triathlon was a taper week for me, as I did nothing more than a short brick (25-mile bike, 2-mile run) and my regular routine of walking the dog rather than 5 workouts in a 7-day period. It was a busy week at work, and I just didn’t have it in me to do anymore. Because I had been consistent with my training plan up until this point, however, I felt confident going into the race on Sunday morning.
I had been watching the weather all week, as the forecast had been calling for scattered thunderstorms with a high near 90 degrees – both of which can make for a difficult race for several reasons. Luckily, I woke up to fairly blue skies and no sign of rain just yet. It was starting to get warm, but it wasn’t unbearably hot or humid as Kentucky summers often tend to be. I got into the transition area around 6:00 a.m. to set up my spot and saw many of my Landshark friends already there. The race director had given our club 6 bike racks, so it was nice to all be set up together.
After taking in some nutrition (Cliff Bar) and hitting the potty one last time, Ericka and I made our way to the start of the swim. Our wave would be going off at 7:48 a.m., which gave me plenty of time to stand around and get anxious. I always get nervous just before the start of a triathlon – I’m not sure why this still is. My nerves at the start of half-marathons ended years ago, but no matter how long I’ve been doing tris (9 years now) I still get super antsy just before; I suppose it’s because so many things can go wrong in a tri versus a mere foot race.
Hopping off the dock and into the Ohio, the water was exceptionally low and my group sank up to our knees in mud. This is the part I was least looking forward to – feeling squishy, gross mud between my toes and the fear of what I would step on as we waited for the gun to go off, signaling the start of our swim. When it was finally time to submerge ourselves and move forward, there was still quite a bit of shallow water to get through, as each swimmer had their own way of muddling through. Some continued to walk out even further until they hit more depth, while I began my freestyle right away, sometimes dragging my fingertips along the bottom of the river for a few strokes.
Being a slow swimmer, I wasn’t surprised to find myself in the back of the pack shortly after we took off. Not long after the start, my anxieties about just how long and daunting this swim was began to sink in and I wondered how I could get myself out of this murky, deep predicament I put myself in. No one could blame me for quitting if I were to have an anxiety attack, right? Of course, this was just a fleeting thought before I convinced myself to keep swimming along – remembering the words of praise and encouragement I had just received that morning from my boyfriend. He had called me a “bad ass,” of a girlfriend, but how bad ass would it be if I were to give up less than 200 meters into a swim? Bad ass or not, I swam along to the first buoy before hooking a left and heading downstream for the majority of this first portion of the race.
Swimming .9 miles in the mighty Ohio becomes a bit mundane after a while, so I can’t quite recall what, if any, thoughts went through my head. I was focused more on where the next buoy was so as not to get too far off course and keeping track of when I needed to make my final turn back to shore. I had long given up on counting, or caring about, the number of swimmers who went off in waves after mine who passed me. When that last turn did finally come, resulting in a now perpendicular-to-the-shore swim, I got a bit concerned that the current would continue to take me down river, so I picked up my pace a bit to ensure that I would safely make it out of the water where I was meant to – at the docks of an abandoned restaurant, lined with volunteers and spectators cheering us all on as we finished up the first of three legs.
Climbing out of the water was a bit challenging, as there were no volunteers there to help us out, and the steps that were to aid us didn’t go down into the water very far. When I finally did get myself up and out of the water, I felt a bit woozy as I made my way to the wetsuit strippers – pulling off my goggles and swim cap in the interim. I was cognizant enough to stop my watch when I hit dry land and saw that I had swam nearly a mile in around 32 minutes – this is a huge achievement for me as it is super-fast compared to the times I typically see in my pool swims.
I walked swiftly to the transition area and plopped myself down on the ground to wipe off as much of the mud and water I could from my feet before donning my socks and cycling shoes, as well as the rest of my cycling gear, before rolling my bike out of T-1. As I got onto my bike I hit my Garmin to signal that I was leaving transition to start my cycle. This technology proved to be my biggest struggle of the day as I was never able to get it to the screen I needed to keep track of my distance and speed. Not wanting to waste any more time, I began to peddle onto the course and go by feel rather than what an electronic device strapped to my wrist told me.
The course for this particular tri consists of 4 loops – starting with the majority of mileage accumulated by heading west through downtown, only to turn around and head back towards the transition area after a brief bypass down River Road. Olympic distance is 24.8 miles officially, so I knew after I finished that first loop in 23 minutes I was making good time. As long as I could finish the cycling portion in under 1 hour 40 minutes, I would stay on par with my training speed of 15 mph. If I could finish in 1:32, I would keep up the same pace I finished that first loop in – this became my goal.
Some people dislike loops, but I don’t really mind them. I tend to do a lot of math in my head in order to keep occupied while running and biking, so being able to check off the number of loops I’ve done versus what I have remaining always helps. Plus, I know exactly what to expect on the course this way. As I rode those 24.8 miles I heard a lot of my Shark-mates cheering both myself and others on as we peddled along. There were so many other Landsharks out on the course that day, and it was great hearing those words of encouragement. And since the bike course runs parallel to the running course, I was also able to shout out a few supportive words to those who had already completed their bike or were doing the duathlon that day. It was truly great hearing and seeing all the shows of support everyone had for one another, and personally kept me moving along at a great pace.
Side note: I’ve been playing around with my nutrition on the bike and took some mini pretzel with me to try out on the course. I shoved three into my mouth at one point and noticed that it is impossible for me to cycle, chew, and breath all at the same time. Because of this I had to chew with my mouth opened while simultaneously huffing and puffing through my peddle strokes. Pretzels and deep inhaling make for a horrible combination, and I ended up coughing off and on during the next 5 miles, feeling the remnants of pretzel tickling my throat. This further proves my theory that, at least for me, liquid nutrition while I bike is probably the way to go.
After hopping off the bike and changing out my gear in T2, I realized that I had 1 hour and 15 minutes to run the remaining 6.2 miles in order to get a PR. My best Olympic time thus far was 3:19:49, which I accomplished two years prior on this same course. And while a 1:15 10k is pretty much cake during a typical road race, it’s not always feasible after just spending 2 hours swimming and biking – but I was willing to give it a shot. I had already decided to do a 1:1 interval, given the heat and my wobbly legs. And although I feared this strategy would get monotonous real quick, I knew that I would only hamper my speed and quicken fatigue if I tried anything more.
As I made my way down the side walk I got some more words of encouragement from volunteers and fellow racers alike. This continued to fuel my endorphins as I felt great both physically and mentally going into my last leg. I had been getting in more brick workouts than I normally do, so I knew that the heavy feeling in my legs would subside the longer I was out on the run. I was able to keep up the 1:1 intervals pretty well and began to play leap-frog with a gal who was running continuously (albeit slowly) as her own strategy. At one point we began to converse about how many times we had passed one another, joking that as long as we kept within eyesight we each knew that our pace was on point. The clouds that had previously rolled in now began to dissipate, and it was back to the late morning sun beating down upon us as we finished up 2 loops of the course.
Ericka, who had crushed my time on both the swim and the bike, was walking more and more as I reached her during the last 2 miles or so of the race. It seemed to be getting hotter by the minute, and I had already lost my leap-frog pal who went ahead of me as my pace also began to slow down. Seeing that I had approximately 15 minutes to finish the last portion of the race before my PR cut-off, I struggled to run as much as I could, making sure I was walking no more than one minute at a time.
Finally, I rounded the last corner and could see the Finish Line up ahead. As I mustered up the remainder of my strength, my pace got quicker as plenty of Landsharks and other spectators cheered from the sidelines, calling my name. As I passed by I threw my arms up in the air and declared, “PR, baby!” I was both relieved and excited to make my last step across the finish line, knowing that I left everything I had out on the course, and that my training had paid off that day.
Despite my initial anxiety getting into the water, the heat of the day and my Garmin snafu, I can honestly say this is the best I have felt during an Olympic distance triathlon. I think the training I’ve put into it as I work my way towards Ohio, as well as having a more positive mindset during my races has helped. There have admittedly been races in the past that I loathed the entire time, for whatever reason. I also now have someone in my life who is so incredibly supportive and encouraging to me, and who I can share and relive these race experiences with that make me much more excited to push myself and compete at my best. While I will always have my friends to support me, being able to verbalize with someone after the fact all of my emotions, worries, concerns and excitements of the day adds a little something special to the experience. And I am so thankful to finally have someone in my life who “gets it,” as much as I do.
Of course, Ohio training continues as we are now down to the final 7 weeks before my “A” race. As long as the weather cooperates, and I continue to follow my training plan I think this race will also be a success for me. I will have my ride-or-die, Ericka, there alongside me with Karen as our Sherpa as we conquer twice the distance of the Olympic (sans the swim – which is a mere .3 miles further). I will need to continue to experiment with my nutrition, and spend some time working out that darn Garmin so that I can actually keep track of pace and mileage for this daunting race. Until then, I swim, bike, and run along building strength and endurance towards my second 70.3 finish.
Final Results:
Swim (.9 miles) 31:55
T-1 5:25
Bike (24.8 miles) 1:26
T-2 2:03
Run (6.2 miles) 1:08:53
3:14:17 - 5+ minute PR
I had been watching the weather all week, as the forecast had been calling for scattered thunderstorms with a high near 90 degrees – both of which can make for a difficult race for several reasons. Luckily, I woke up to fairly blue skies and no sign of rain just yet. It was starting to get warm, but it wasn’t unbearably hot or humid as Kentucky summers often tend to be. I got into the transition area around 6:00 a.m. to set up my spot and saw many of my Landshark friends already there. The race director had given our club 6 bike racks, so it was nice to all be set up together.
After taking in some nutrition (Cliff Bar) and hitting the potty one last time, Ericka and I made our way to the start of the swim. Our wave would be going off at 7:48 a.m., which gave me plenty of time to stand around and get anxious. I always get nervous just before the start of a triathlon – I’m not sure why this still is. My nerves at the start of half-marathons ended years ago, but no matter how long I’ve been doing tris (9 years now) I still get super antsy just before; I suppose it’s because so many things can go wrong in a tri versus a mere foot race.
Hopping off the dock and into the Ohio, the water was exceptionally low and my group sank up to our knees in mud. This is the part I was least looking forward to – feeling squishy, gross mud between my toes and the fear of what I would step on as we waited for the gun to go off, signaling the start of our swim. When it was finally time to submerge ourselves and move forward, there was still quite a bit of shallow water to get through, as each swimmer had their own way of muddling through. Some continued to walk out even further until they hit more depth, while I began my freestyle right away, sometimes dragging my fingertips along the bottom of the river for a few strokes.
Being a slow swimmer, I wasn’t surprised to find myself in the back of the pack shortly after we took off. Not long after the start, my anxieties about just how long and daunting this swim was began to sink in and I wondered how I could get myself out of this murky, deep predicament I put myself in. No one could blame me for quitting if I were to have an anxiety attack, right? Of course, this was just a fleeting thought before I convinced myself to keep swimming along – remembering the words of praise and encouragement I had just received that morning from my boyfriend. He had called me a “bad ass,” of a girlfriend, but how bad ass would it be if I were to give up less than 200 meters into a swim? Bad ass or not, I swam along to the first buoy before hooking a left and heading downstream for the majority of this first portion of the race.
Swimming .9 miles in the mighty Ohio becomes a bit mundane after a while, so I can’t quite recall what, if any, thoughts went through my head. I was focused more on where the next buoy was so as not to get too far off course and keeping track of when I needed to make my final turn back to shore. I had long given up on counting, or caring about, the number of swimmers who went off in waves after mine who passed me. When that last turn did finally come, resulting in a now perpendicular-to-the-shore swim, I got a bit concerned that the current would continue to take me down river, so I picked up my pace a bit to ensure that I would safely make it out of the water where I was meant to – at the docks of an abandoned restaurant, lined with volunteers and spectators cheering us all on as we finished up the first of three legs.
Climbing out of the water was a bit challenging, as there were no volunteers there to help us out, and the steps that were to aid us didn’t go down into the water very far. When I finally did get myself up and out of the water, I felt a bit woozy as I made my way to the wetsuit strippers – pulling off my goggles and swim cap in the interim. I was cognizant enough to stop my watch when I hit dry land and saw that I had swam nearly a mile in around 32 minutes – this is a huge achievement for me as it is super-fast compared to the times I typically see in my pool swims.
I walked swiftly to the transition area and plopped myself down on the ground to wipe off as much of the mud and water I could from my feet before donning my socks and cycling shoes, as well as the rest of my cycling gear, before rolling my bike out of T-1. As I got onto my bike I hit my Garmin to signal that I was leaving transition to start my cycle. This technology proved to be my biggest struggle of the day as I was never able to get it to the screen I needed to keep track of my distance and speed. Not wanting to waste any more time, I began to peddle onto the course and go by feel rather than what an electronic device strapped to my wrist told me.
The course for this particular tri consists of 4 loops – starting with the majority of mileage accumulated by heading west through downtown, only to turn around and head back towards the transition area after a brief bypass down River Road. Olympic distance is 24.8 miles officially, so I knew after I finished that first loop in 23 minutes I was making good time. As long as I could finish the cycling portion in under 1 hour 40 minutes, I would stay on par with my training speed of 15 mph. If I could finish in 1:32, I would keep up the same pace I finished that first loop in – this became my goal.
Some people dislike loops, but I don’t really mind them. I tend to do a lot of math in my head in order to keep occupied while running and biking, so being able to check off the number of loops I’ve done versus what I have remaining always helps. Plus, I know exactly what to expect on the course this way. As I rode those 24.8 miles I heard a lot of my Shark-mates cheering both myself and others on as we peddled along. There were so many other Landsharks out on the course that day, and it was great hearing those words of encouragement. And since the bike course runs parallel to the running course, I was also able to shout out a few supportive words to those who had already completed their bike or were doing the duathlon that day. It was truly great hearing and seeing all the shows of support everyone had for one another, and personally kept me moving along at a great pace.
Side note: I’ve been playing around with my nutrition on the bike and took some mini pretzel with me to try out on the course. I shoved three into my mouth at one point and noticed that it is impossible for me to cycle, chew, and breath all at the same time. Because of this I had to chew with my mouth opened while simultaneously huffing and puffing through my peddle strokes. Pretzels and deep inhaling make for a horrible combination, and I ended up coughing off and on during the next 5 miles, feeling the remnants of pretzel tickling my throat. This further proves my theory that, at least for me, liquid nutrition while I bike is probably the way to go.
After hopping off the bike and changing out my gear in T2, I realized that I had 1 hour and 15 minutes to run the remaining 6.2 miles in order to get a PR. My best Olympic time thus far was 3:19:49, which I accomplished two years prior on this same course. And while a 1:15 10k is pretty much cake during a typical road race, it’s not always feasible after just spending 2 hours swimming and biking – but I was willing to give it a shot. I had already decided to do a 1:1 interval, given the heat and my wobbly legs. And although I feared this strategy would get monotonous real quick, I knew that I would only hamper my speed and quicken fatigue if I tried anything more.
As I made my way down the side walk I got some more words of encouragement from volunteers and fellow racers alike. This continued to fuel my endorphins as I felt great both physically and mentally going into my last leg. I had been getting in more brick workouts than I normally do, so I knew that the heavy feeling in my legs would subside the longer I was out on the run. I was able to keep up the 1:1 intervals pretty well and began to play leap-frog with a gal who was running continuously (albeit slowly) as her own strategy. At one point we began to converse about how many times we had passed one another, joking that as long as we kept within eyesight we each knew that our pace was on point. The clouds that had previously rolled in now began to dissipate, and it was back to the late morning sun beating down upon us as we finished up 2 loops of the course.
Ericka, who had crushed my time on both the swim and the bike, was walking more and more as I reached her during the last 2 miles or so of the race. It seemed to be getting hotter by the minute, and I had already lost my leap-frog pal who went ahead of me as my pace also began to slow down. Seeing that I had approximately 15 minutes to finish the last portion of the race before my PR cut-off, I struggled to run as much as I could, making sure I was walking no more than one minute at a time.
Finally, I rounded the last corner and could see the Finish Line up ahead. As I mustered up the remainder of my strength, my pace got quicker as plenty of Landsharks and other spectators cheered from the sidelines, calling my name. As I passed by I threw my arms up in the air and declared, “PR, baby!” I was both relieved and excited to make my last step across the finish line, knowing that I left everything I had out on the course, and that my training had paid off that day.
Despite my initial anxiety getting into the water, the heat of the day and my Garmin snafu, I can honestly say this is the best I have felt during an Olympic distance triathlon. I think the training I’ve put into it as I work my way towards Ohio, as well as having a more positive mindset during my races has helped. There have admittedly been races in the past that I loathed the entire time, for whatever reason. I also now have someone in my life who is so incredibly supportive and encouraging to me, and who I can share and relive these race experiences with that make me much more excited to push myself and compete at my best. While I will always have my friends to support me, being able to verbalize with someone after the fact all of my emotions, worries, concerns and excitements of the day adds a little something special to the experience. And I am so thankful to finally have someone in my life who “gets it,” as much as I do.
Of course, Ohio training continues as we are now down to the final 7 weeks before my “A” race. As long as the weather cooperates, and I continue to follow my training plan I think this race will also be a success for me. I will have my ride-or-die, Ericka, there alongside me with Karen as our Sherpa as we conquer twice the distance of the Olympic (sans the swim – which is a mere .3 miles further). I will need to continue to experiment with my nutrition, and spend some time working out that darn Garmin so that I can actually keep track of pace and mileage for this daunting race. Until then, I swim, bike, and run along building strength and endurance towards my second 70.3 finish.
Final Results:
Swim (.9 miles) 31:55
T-1 5:25
Bike (24.8 miles) 1:26
T-2 2:03
Run (6.2 miles) 1:08:53
3:14:17 - 5+ minute PR
Tuesday, May 29, 2018
70.3 Training
Since my Half-Ironman training has been going on for a few weeks now I thought I'd document my progress to look back on for future races. My last Half-Ironman in 2015 was completed during the course of training for a full Ironman (which didn't get completed) that same year. I basically took the same schedule from that training plan and tweaked it a bit. Instead of completing all three disciplines three times per week, I'm doing one swim, one brick, one short run, one long run, and one long bike instead. I'm also sprinkling in some strength training when I can fit it in (both time-wise and energy-wise).
My longest swim and bike were both this past weekend, and both continue to be a learning process for me. I needed 40 miles on the bike, but ended up with 47.5 since I was biking with a group whose meeting point was 4.5 miles from my condo. Now that I live so close to the city, I can bike right out the door rather than racking my bike onto the car and driving somewhere. It's super convenient, but also adds on more mileage when I'm meeting others for a ride so I have to be conscious of that.
We met at the base of the Big 4 Bridge at 8:00 a.m. and set off on the same route I did for a my 35-miler just two weeks prior. We were going a bit further than what I'm used to for our turn-around point, but I had been down this additional road once before so I was at least somewhat familiar. The pace was fairly easy - or what felt easy considering I was drafting behind some folks and holding a conversation with a fairly new triathlete named Katie. Keeping the conversation going, those first 15 miles or so felt like a breeze as we cruised at about an 18mph pace. I had brought along with me a 24oz bottle of Infinit as well as an additional 24oz of water, and 3 Gu's. Katie mentioned that the water bottle she brought didn't fit in her cage so she was riding without any hydration. Seeing as how it wasn't unbearably hot, I handed over my water bottle to her so she would have something to sip on throughout the planned ride. It was a risky decision given the distance, but I since I struggle with taking in fluids on rides anyway, I thought it wouldn't hamper my performance much.
At the 18 mile mark we crossed over a highway onto a road that contains a fair amount of rolling hills. The ride had been pretty flat thus far, and I'm never good on hills, so my speed suffered a bit. Even though I KNOW I need to ride more hills to get stronger, they are the bane of my cycling existence and unless I'm forced to do so or someone else is leading the ride, I'll avoid them at all cost. So it was probably a good thing that I let go of a little control and just went with the flow. At the 23 mile mark, Josh and Bill had pulled over onto a side street, stating that the actual turn-around point was a mile or two ahead, but contained a heckuva hill so they were opting to wait there while others chose to go all the way. Since I was already going to be over my mileage limit, I decided to stop as well and took a 5 minute breather before heading back towards our start point. I noticed that I was running out of Infinit at this point, but at the very least knew that I could fill up at the base of the bridge before finishing up my last 5 miles. Although Josh, Bill and Julie opted to wait for the rest of the crew, I headed back on my own knowing they would soon be on my tail as I was definitely bringing up the rear with this group.
Another 7 miles or so back towards home, I gave in and asked Bill if he had any water to spare - I didn't think there was any way that I could make it to the bridge without anything as the day was now getting hotter and I was beginning to feel myself at the first stages of a bonk. I've NEVER been good about getting my nutrition down on the bike, and this is something I really need to work on over the next few months. That July heat isn't going to show me any mercy and my fear is that if I don't get it straight before my race then I'll suffer another DNF - that cannot happen! Luckily, Bill had some to spare - not straight water, but Infinit like what I had been drinking, so I was able to get in some more calories as well. This was definitely a good thing as I noticed myself getting quiet on the ride back in when Bill was trying to have a conversation with me. My lack of verbal response is a tell-tell sign that I am on my way to a not-so-good place while training, meaning I have not taken in the amount of calories or fluids that I've needed to.
Once we reached the bridge I headed back over alone while Bill waited for the rest of the group to catch up in Indiana. Once I reached the base of the Kentucky side, I topped off the rest of my bottle with straight water, which was a welcome relief from the sweetness of the Infinit-filled bottles I had already downed. I had a little over 4 miles left to go and my quads were burning from the previous hills. I had one more long, slow climb up Zorn Avenue, which is always a bear as it's one of the few ways to get back to my place and is situated just 1.5 miles away from the condo. I made my way up and over, then a quick left back onto Brownsboro to my final destination.
Upon my return I had planned to try a short run just to get the legs stretched out and used to moving after such a long ride. However, due to my lack of nutrition I felt a bit light headed and went inside to the cool A/C to grab a drink and relax for about 15 minutes. Although I didn't get a run in I did manage to take the dog for a one-mile walk around the block without incident - success!
Two days later I would complete my longest swim in a year. I wanted to make sure to get to the outdoor pool early enough to snag a good spot where I could relax and tan, but I also wanted to make sure the pool wasn't too crowded for me to get in 2200 yards before it was overrun with kids and families. This particular pool only has one lane open for lap swimmers, which makes sense since it's more of a recreational pool than a training pool. Somehow, getting a swim in isn't as tedious in an outdoor pool as it is indoors - something I was very grateful for given the distance I was about to complete.
I wasn't sure how I was going to break this swim up considering I needed to complete 44 total laps in 25 yard increments. 44 total laps = 88 total touches of the wall before turning back and doing it all again. And again. And again. At first I thought of breaking it up by 200 yards. Then I came to my senses and realized that would take way too long, so I decided to do two sets of 1100. Of course, by the time I reached that 1100 mark I didn't want to stop; mainly for two reasons. 1) I was already on a roll and 2) 2200 yards is 1.25 miles which is just over the Half-Ironman swim distance and I wanted to see how long it would take me to complete the entire length in one go round. Well... the answer is 1:06 - which is still within the time frame of the cut-off so I'm good there. I realize that this pace is uber-slow for most folks but, to be honest, I'm not particularly worried about the swim itself or my swim time as long as I make the cut-off. I'm not necessarily going for a PR (although it would be nice) and know that my struggles will always be with the bike and the run, so as long as I survive the swim I'm okay with whatever my time happens to be. Besides, I am always faster in open water than I am in a pool so I'm fairly certain I can crush this 1:06 time when all is said and done.
Looking ahead at my training plan, I have this same distance on the calendar every single week with the exception of two longer distance swims. At some point I will taper. Until then, I'll keep swimming along and working on my shoulder and arm strength, as well as my endurance. Just like with biking and running - swimming is one of those things that I always dread getting started, but always enjoy once I'm there. I'll just have to keep that in mind the next time I'm moving at a turtles pace for over an hour.
My longest swim and bike were both this past weekend, and both continue to be a learning process for me. I needed 40 miles on the bike, but ended up with 47.5 since I was biking with a group whose meeting point was 4.5 miles from my condo. Now that I live so close to the city, I can bike right out the door rather than racking my bike onto the car and driving somewhere. It's super convenient, but also adds on more mileage when I'm meeting others for a ride so I have to be conscious of that.
We met at the base of the Big 4 Bridge at 8:00 a.m. and set off on the same route I did for a my 35-miler just two weeks prior. We were going a bit further than what I'm used to for our turn-around point, but I had been down this additional road once before so I was at least somewhat familiar. The pace was fairly easy - or what felt easy considering I was drafting behind some folks and holding a conversation with a fairly new triathlete named Katie. Keeping the conversation going, those first 15 miles or so felt like a breeze as we cruised at about an 18mph pace. I had brought along with me a 24oz bottle of Infinit as well as an additional 24oz of water, and 3 Gu's. Katie mentioned that the water bottle she brought didn't fit in her cage so she was riding without any hydration. Seeing as how it wasn't unbearably hot, I handed over my water bottle to her so she would have something to sip on throughout the planned ride. It was a risky decision given the distance, but I since I struggle with taking in fluids on rides anyway, I thought it wouldn't hamper my performance much.
At the 18 mile mark we crossed over a highway onto a road that contains a fair amount of rolling hills. The ride had been pretty flat thus far, and I'm never good on hills, so my speed suffered a bit. Even though I KNOW I need to ride more hills to get stronger, they are the bane of my cycling existence and unless I'm forced to do so or someone else is leading the ride, I'll avoid them at all cost. So it was probably a good thing that I let go of a little control and just went with the flow. At the 23 mile mark, Josh and Bill had pulled over onto a side street, stating that the actual turn-around point was a mile or two ahead, but contained a heckuva hill so they were opting to wait there while others chose to go all the way. Since I was already going to be over my mileage limit, I decided to stop as well and took a 5 minute breather before heading back towards our start point. I noticed that I was running out of Infinit at this point, but at the very least knew that I could fill up at the base of the bridge before finishing up my last 5 miles. Although Josh, Bill and Julie opted to wait for the rest of the crew, I headed back on my own knowing they would soon be on my tail as I was definitely bringing up the rear with this group.
Another 7 miles or so back towards home, I gave in and asked Bill if he had any water to spare - I didn't think there was any way that I could make it to the bridge without anything as the day was now getting hotter and I was beginning to feel myself at the first stages of a bonk. I've NEVER been good about getting my nutrition down on the bike, and this is something I really need to work on over the next few months. That July heat isn't going to show me any mercy and my fear is that if I don't get it straight before my race then I'll suffer another DNF - that cannot happen! Luckily, Bill had some to spare - not straight water, but Infinit like what I had been drinking, so I was able to get in some more calories as well. This was definitely a good thing as I noticed myself getting quiet on the ride back in when Bill was trying to have a conversation with me. My lack of verbal response is a tell-tell sign that I am on my way to a not-so-good place while training, meaning I have not taken in the amount of calories or fluids that I've needed to.
Once we reached the bridge I headed back over alone while Bill waited for the rest of the group to catch up in Indiana. Once I reached the base of the Kentucky side, I topped off the rest of my bottle with straight water, which was a welcome relief from the sweetness of the Infinit-filled bottles I had already downed. I had a little over 4 miles left to go and my quads were burning from the previous hills. I had one more long, slow climb up Zorn Avenue, which is always a bear as it's one of the few ways to get back to my place and is situated just 1.5 miles away from the condo. I made my way up and over, then a quick left back onto Brownsboro to my final destination.
Upon my return I had planned to try a short run just to get the legs stretched out and used to moving after such a long ride. However, due to my lack of nutrition I felt a bit light headed and went inside to the cool A/C to grab a drink and relax for about 15 minutes. Although I didn't get a run in I did manage to take the dog for a one-mile walk around the block without incident - success!
Two days later I would complete my longest swim in a year. I wanted to make sure to get to the outdoor pool early enough to snag a good spot where I could relax and tan, but I also wanted to make sure the pool wasn't too crowded for me to get in 2200 yards before it was overrun with kids and families. This particular pool only has one lane open for lap swimmers, which makes sense since it's more of a recreational pool than a training pool. Somehow, getting a swim in isn't as tedious in an outdoor pool as it is indoors - something I was very grateful for given the distance I was about to complete.
I wasn't sure how I was going to break this swim up considering I needed to complete 44 total laps in 25 yard increments. 44 total laps = 88 total touches of the wall before turning back and doing it all again. And again. And again. At first I thought of breaking it up by 200 yards. Then I came to my senses and realized that would take way too long, so I decided to do two sets of 1100. Of course, by the time I reached that 1100 mark I didn't want to stop; mainly for two reasons. 1) I was already on a roll and 2) 2200 yards is 1.25 miles which is just over the Half-Ironman swim distance and I wanted to see how long it would take me to complete the entire length in one go round. Well... the answer is 1:06 - which is still within the time frame of the cut-off so I'm good there. I realize that this pace is uber-slow for most folks but, to be honest, I'm not particularly worried about the swim itself or my swim time as long as I make the cut-off. I'm not necessarily going for a PR (although it would be nice) and know that my struggles will always be with the bike and the run, so as long as I survive the swim I'm okay with whatever my time happens to be. Besides, I am always faster in open water than I am in a pool so I'm fairly certain I can crush this 1:06 time when all is said and done.
Looking ahead at my training plan, I have this same distance on the calendar every single week with the exception of two longer distance swims. At some point I will taper. Until then, I'll keep swimming along and working on my shoulder and arm strength, as well as my endurance. Just like with biking and running - swimming is one of those things that I always dread getting started, but always enjoy once I'm there. I'll just have to keep that in mind the next time I'm moving at a turtles pace for over an hour.
Monday, May 21, 2018
Chicago Spring Half Marathon
Alicia and I arrived in Chicago the day before the race to a chilly 60ish degrees and overcast sky. I had been checking the weather all week to prepare myself for what was to come, hoping that the rain would hold off at least until Sunday afternoon. Luckily, Saturday ended up being a pretty decent day as far as weather goes as we walked around downtown, accumulating a total of 10+ miles as we checked out many of the touristy things Chi Town has to offer.
After checking out Millennium Park and 360 Chicago, including all of the sites in between, dinner was consumed early as we wanted to beat the crowd This ended up being an excellent idea as by the time we left the restaurant around 7:30 p.m., there was a long line out the door. We made our way back to the hotel and were settling in for the night by 9:30. The race was set to start at 7:00 a.m., but I had to be in my corral by the 6:45 a.m. cutoff, which meant a 5:30 wake-up call. Luckily, Chicago is in the Central Time Zone so it didn’t feel as early as it was.
The next morning, I woke up after a less-than-stellar nights sleep and peeked outside – no rain, but definitely some cloud coverage. After dressing for the day in my usual running gear – shorts, t-shirt with a long-sleeve tech shirt over top, hat and race belt, I headed out the door to make my way one-mile down the city streets to the start line.
I’ve always been excellent with time-management, and this morning would be no different. I allotted myself 45 minutes to get to the start, hit the porta pots, and then wait in my corral for the officials to announce the start of the race. Much to my dismay, however, after letting the first 3 corrals go off with only a 45 second break in between, the race director shared that they would be waiting a full 4 minutes before letting the subsequent corrals cross the start. This meant 35 minutes of total waiting time in the corral – getting a little more anxious and a whole lot colder as each minute passed. While shorts and a long-sleeve tech are great 40 degree running attire, it’s not necessarily the picture of warmth for standing around for half an hour.
Twenty minutes after the official start time, my corral was able to begin our 13.1 mile journey at 7:20 a.m. My plan was to do my regular 3:1 intervals throughout the race, but because I had gotten so cold from standing around for so long I decided to run at least one mile before taking a break; I was definitely looking forward to warming up some. My plan was slightly foiled ¾ of a mile in when I had to stop for a potty break – something I hardly ever do during a race. It slowed me down by 2 ½ minutes, but I was able to make up at least some of that time as I decided to run the second mile straight through as well. Although I was going at a nice pace (9:10 – 9:30), I knew I couldn’t keep that up for long and decided to being a 4:1 interval plan from then on out. I was at least somewhat warmed up by that point, so the one-minute walk breaks didn’t feel so frigid.
Moving right along during this out-and-back route, I felt great and was able to get into a good groove considering the somewhat congested course. The race was mostly flat which always helps and, unbeknownst to me, we were feeling the effects of a nice tail-wind which would prove to be a significant game changer after crossing the 10k turn around point. Running a bit closer to the lake on the way back to the finish, runners got a little splash from the water smashing against the rocks for the first half-mile or so. This coupled with the air that was now blasting against my torso made for an even chillier jaunt as my hands became more and more numb. Because the wind was such a force to be reckoned with, I changed my intervals to a 2:1 and noticed my pace decrease to a 9:45 pace. Since I had had such a stellar first-half, I wasn’t too concerned about how I would finish the final 7 miles – my goal was to just keep up the shorter intervals to the end, no matter how much I needed to slow down.
At some point I began to do the math, and calculated the pace I would need to keep in order to get a PR. Because I was feeling so good, despite the conditions, I was confident that I could at least beat my KDF Mini time from 3 weeks prior. My PR of 2:14 would’ve been a long shot, but if I could end this race having finished in one of my faster speeds, I would be completely satisfied. Having only a 5k left to go, I needed no slower than a 13 minute/mile pace to beat my KDF time – piece of cake.
Rounding the last corner, seeing the finish line up ahead, I checked my watch one last time to see that I would need to finished .2 miles in a little over 1 minute in order to get a sub-2:20 race. The headwind had made my legs feel like I was running through mud, so I knew that increasing my pace to complete such a finish was next to impossible. Regardless, I reached down and pulled out what I could, trying to finish as strong as my body would allow, and ended up with a 2:20:23 official time – my third best finish of what was now 36 total half-marathon races.
As cold as it was standing around at the start of this race, I am now a firm believer that the cooler weather (45-55 degrees) is exactly what I need to perform as fast as I can (fast for me, at least). My PR of 2:14 was in Indianapolis in 2014, and I recall it being in the 30’s that day. I also believe that my hiking adventures on the AT have helped with leg strength, and it will be interesting when I complete the Chicago Fall Half Marathon after another 4 days out on the trail, if this theory holds true. Regardless, I stand firm to a statement I’ve made in the recent past that I am now judging races based on how I feel rather than the time I finish. It just so happens that in this particular race, feeling great and finishing “fast,” were equally applicable. Here’s hoping I can keep up this trend for the Tri Louisville 3 weeks away!
After checking out Millennium Park and 360 Chicago, including all of the sites in between, dinner was consumed early as we wanted to beat the crowd This ended up being an excellent idea as by the time we left the restaurant around 7:30 p.m., there was a long line out the door. We made our way back to the hotel and were settling in for the night by 9:30. The race was set to start at 7:00 a.m., but I had to be in my corral by the 6:45 a.m. cutoff, which meant a 5:30 wake-up call. Luckily, Chicago is in the Central Time Zone so it didn’t feel as early as it was.
The next morning, I woke up after a less-than-stellar nights sleep and peeked outside – no rain, but definitely some cloud coverage. After dressing for the day in my usual running gear – shorts, t-shirt with a long-sleeve tech shirt over top, hat and race belt, I headed out the door to make my way one-mile down the city streets to the start line.
I’ve always been excellent with time-management, and this morning would be no different. I allotted myself 45 minutes to get to the start, hit the porta pots, and then wait in my corral for the officials to announce the start of the race. Much to my dismay, however, after letting the first 3 corrals go off with only a 45 second break in between, the race director shared that they would be waiting a full 4 minutes before letting the subsequent corrals cross the start. This meant 35 minutes of total waiting time in the corral – getting a little more anxious and a whole lot colder as each minute passed. While shorts and a long-sleeve tech are great 40 degree running attire, it’s not necessarily the picture of warmth for standing around for half an hour.
Twenty minutes after the official start time, my corral was able to begin our 13.1 mile journey at 7:20 a.m. My plan was to do my regular 3:1 intervals throughout the race, but because I had gotten so cold from standing around for so long I decided to run at least one mile before taking a break; I was definitely looking forward to warming up some. My plan was slightly foiled ¾ of a mile in when I had to stop for a potty break – something I hardly ever do during a race. It slowed me down by 2 ½ minutes, but I was able to make up at least some of that time as I decided to run the second mile straight through as well. Although I was going at a nice pace (9:10 – 9:30), I knew I couldn’t keep that up for long and decided to being a 4:1 interval plan from then on out. I was at least somewhat warmed up by that point, so the one-minute walk breaks didn’t feel so frigid.
Moving right along during this out-and-back route, I felt great and was able to get into a good groove considering the somewhat congested course. The race was mostly flat which always helps and, unbeknownst to me, we were feeling the effects of a nice tail-wind which would prove to be a significant game changer after crossing the 10k turn around point. Running a bit closer to the lake on the way back to the finish, runners got a little splash from the water smashing against the rocks for the first half-mile or so. This coupled with the air that was now blasting against my torso made for an even chillier jaunt as my hands became more and more numb. Because the wind was such a force to be reckoned with, I changed my intervals to a 2:1 and noticed my pace decrease to a 9:45 pace. Since I had had such a stellar first-half, I wasn’t too concerned about how I would finish the final 7 miles – my goal was to just keep up the shorter intervals to the end, no matter how much I needed to slow down.
At some point I began to do the math, and calculated the pace I would need to keep in order to get a PR. Because I was feeling so good, despite the conditions, I was confident that I could at least beat my KDF Mini time from 3 weeks prior. My PR of 2:14 would’ve been a long shot, but if I could end this race having finished in one of my faster speeds, I would be completely satisfied. Having only a 5k left to go, I needed no slower than a 13 minute/mile pace to beat my KDF time – piece of cake.
Rounding the last corner, seeing the finish line up ahead, I checked my watch one last time to see that I would need to finished .2 miles in a little over 1 minute in order to get a sub-2:20 race. The headwind had made my legs feel like I was running through mud, so I knew that increasing my pace to complete such a finish was next to impossible. Regardless, I reached down and pulled out what I could, trying to finish as strong as my body would allow, and ended up with a 2:20:23 official time – my third best finish of what was now 36 total half-marathon races.
As cold as it was standing around at the start of this race, I am now a firm believer that the cooler weather (45-55 degrees) is exactly what I need to perform as fast as I can (fast for me, at least). My PR of 2:14 was in Indianapolis in 2014, and I recall it being in the 30’s that day. I also believe that my hiking adventures on the AT have helped with leg strength, and it will be interesting when I complete the Chicago Fall Half Marathon after another 4 days out on the trail, if this theory holds true. Regardless, I stand firm to a statement I’ve made in the recent past that I am now judging races based on how I feel rather than the time I finish. It just so happens that in this particular race, feeling great and finishing “fast,” were equally applicable. Here’s hoping I can keep up this trend for the Tri Louisville 3 weeks away!
Tuesday, May 15, 2018
Appalachian Trail Section Hike - May 2018
Planning for a section hike far in advance, you always take a chance on the weather. Because I tend to schedule patient’s in my office up to a month or more ahead of time, I can never just leave town on a whim because the weather looks good. Considering two out of the three days I was out on the trail last year were rainy with some severe thunderstorms, I kept a close eye on the weather for the two weeks prior to this Spring’s journey. Luckily, rain would not be an issue this time around, however, I was not prepared for just how warm Georgia May’s can become.
I used to be someone who was really anxious when it came to planning. Don’t get me wrong, I still like to plan things far in advance – whether it be dinner with friends, trips out of town, or concerts coming up. But I used to have to know exactly what was going to happen, and if there was any deviation from the plan I would get all worked up about it. Somewhere along the way I’ve gotten much better at this, as my second-ever Appalachian Trail section hike had a few snafus along with way that I was forced to navigate from day one.
Back at the beginning of the year when I was planning my trip (distance, days, shuttles and overnight accommodations), I spoke to a B&B owner who told me that a shuttle to Hightower would be free of charge as it was a short distance from their lodge. Not knowing the Georgia area at all, I had to trust in what I was told, and was ecstatic to hear that this would be one less expense to worry about. Imagine my surprise, then, when the morning of my hike the owner and I began talking about where I would be dropping my car versus where I would begin my hike. Apparently, there is a “Hightower,” and a “Hightower Gap.” One of these is a mere few miles (and minutes) from the B&B, while the other is a 2-hour, and $150 shuttle, away. Long-story short, I decided to be dropped off at a different location, which meant cutting my hike by 2 days and 15 miles. Come to find out, this was a blessing in disguise.
Neels Gap to Low Gap Shelter – 11.5 miles
After leaving my car at Dick’s Creep Gap and being dropped at Neels Gap to begin my hike, I was immediately met by other hikers who had been on the trail for up to 5 days, after starting at Springer Mountain to start their own journeys. One of these folks was a solo hiker who had completed a month-long hike in Utah prior to trying her hand at the AT, and who had completed a daunting 20 miles the day prior. The other was a couple; also attempting a thru hike, as well as their female companion who was hanging it up for the time being as the mental aspect of hiking numerous miles, day after day, was getting to her. I was feeling good both mentally and physically as I turned my back towards the last bit of civilization I would be seeing for quite a while and stepped off onto the trail for a long 11.5-mile journey – my longest trek to date on the AT.
I was going at a pretty good clip, and the hills didn’t feel to be too terribly steep as I made my way up and down, up and down these Georgia mountains. As long as I’m camping at night with a group of folks, I don’t mind hiking alone – which is a good thing considering I came across very few people on this first day. The great thing about the hiking community though, is that you never truly feel alone. Everyone you pass on the trail has a friendly smile and a welcoming “hello,” as you pass one another – sometimes going opposite directions, sometimes playing “leap frog,” as your paces and breaks don’t always mesh. But always with a silent connection that says, “I am your pal, and we are in this together.”
A wonderful example of this was when, half-way through the day, I decided to take a break on a large rock next to a couple of gals who were also catching their breath and giving their backs and feet a break. One gal, trail name “Brains,” didn’t stick around long and was up the next mountain like she owned it in a matter of minutes. The other, a section hiker like myself, stopped to refill her bladder from a stream nearby. Unfortunately, her filter wasn’t working properly and I was able to offer up mine for her to use. As it turns out, I was also having issues with my own filter (more on this later), but at least she was able to get a small stream coming out, which was more than what she was getting from her own.
We stuck around on that rock for 15 minutes or so, grabbing a bite to eat (a Kind bar and GORP for me), and exchanging stories about what brought us to the AT. She was a twenty-something named Alexis who was from Florida and, being an outdoorsy type, decided that she’d like to section-hike the AT. We laughed about the inevitable questions from non-hikers about whether or not we would be carrying a gun, if we felt safe hiking alone, and what kind of bear protection we carried. I can think of fewer places than the trail where you can sit and have a conversation such as this without the concern of motive or being looked at like you’re suspect – just two gals shooting the breeze, sharing gear, and having a bite to eat in the middle of nature.
My last 5.5 miles that day were a little more daunting than the first 6, as it began with a steep uphill climb. I remember very little about this second half of the day other than the countless ascents and descents as I made my way towards my final destination and sleeping quarters for the evening: Low Gap Shelter. As I walked into the area, Brains had already set up camp and was giving me the lay of the land – where the shelter was located (we had to camp a small walk away as there were a lot of hikers in the area and not enough room to accommodate us all near the shelter area), where I could find the stream, and how to get to the privy. After setting up my tent and getting prepared for an evening’s rest, I made my way to the shelter where a number of other hikers were eating, refilling their water supply, and conversing amongst themselves about their individual journeys so far. Because there were so many people there this evening, it’s hard to recall everyone that I came across. Most were thru hikers, and the majority of those were solo – I’d say 40% were female.
Because of my earlier discovery regarding my failed water filter, I was able to enlist some help to backwash my filter (didn’t work) and then ultimately borrow one to refill my water supply for the night and the following day. This was made available by a hiker named Vortex, who had hiked the entire PCT (Pacific Coast Trail) the year before. The PCT is approximately 500 more miles than the AT, so the chances that she would complete her goal was more than possible. Later, it was found out that she got the name Vortex from hiking 50+ consecutive days on the PCT without taking a “zero,” day. This is unheard of for most thru hikers.
Wrapping up my day after a dinner of instant mashed potatoes and tuna, followed by a few miniature Snickers bars, I made my way back to the tent to do some relaxation and reading before I was both A) tired enough to doze off and B) it was dark enough for me to do so without feeling like I was wasting the evening. This is one of the few, if only, internal conflicts I’ve found when on the trail; even though the day’s mileage could end up in the double-digits, I would be done with that mileage early enough that, technically, I could hike on, but physically too exhausted to do so. When setting up camp between 2:00 – 5:00p, it’s not always easy to keep yourself occupied during that time before you feel ready to go to sleep for the evening. There’s a reason they call 8:00p “hikers midnight.”
After a fairly uneventful night of sleep, I got out of the tent the next morning to see that most of my fellow compadres had already packed up and began their respective long days. I made my way back to the shelter for a bite of oatmeal and some teeth-brushing, followed by an a.m. trip to the privy before breaking down my gear and setting off for my second day on the trail. I bid farewell to a few of the straggler (one of which being Survivor, who kept me awake half the night with snoring and moaning), wishing them well and looking forward to seeing a few at the next shelter.
Low Gap Shelter to Blue Mountain Shelter – 7.3 miles
Although this day would see the least mileage, it was definitely the hardest of my 4-day adventure. As I set out from Low Gap, the first 3 miles or so was fairly flat with very little hills to climb. What’s interesting about this statement, as I would find out by my 4th day, is that it’s not so much the climbing of the hills that got to me, but the descents of those hills. Imagine – day after day, mile after mile with an extra 30 pounds on your back and your feet continuously pounding the earth on a decline. There are very few people I see out on the trail without trekking poles, but for those that don’t take advantage of them, I honestly don’t know how they do it. Trekking poles turned out to be the least of my worries, however, when I came upon the last two miles of this day’s trip
Already tired at 5ish miles in, the day was shaping up to be hotter than the one before as I found myself navigating some fairly treacherous rocks as I neared the end of my jaunt. Hiking on even ground is one thing; I can even manage having to finagle my way around some roots and gravel for most of the day, but these rocks provided a whole new level of complication that I was not prepared for. I was already moving at a slow 2mph clip – knowing that I had just a few miles left to go and being forced to slow down even more was a hit to the ol’ mentality. By this point I just wanted to be done. Luckily, I spotted the last watering hole up ahead which was just a few hundred yards from my stop for the day, Blue Mountain Shelter. I meandered around for a few minutes talking with some other hikers about the difficulty of those last few miles, then headed up the last hill of the day to welcome my reprieve.
Jan (aka Slow and Steady) was the shelters only resident when I arrived and, man, was she was a humbling sight. 70-something years old, she was sporting a shirt that read “When people ask me about my retirement plan, I tell them…… I’m hiking it!” She was a spunky broad who shared with me her history of hiking with her sisters and other family members several times a year for a number of decades until the others’ lost interest. She states she is now one of the only people in her family that continues to hike. When asked if she was a section or thru hiker, Slow and Steady explained that she was out on the AT “trying to get as far as I can until I can’t go anymore.” She admitted to being slow, hence her trail name, stating she hikes no more than 5-8 miles per day, trying to go from shelter to shelter. Once again, I had to ask for assistance with refilling my water supply, and she was all too happy to oblige while handing me her filter.
Throughout the afternoon and evening, we had a number of other hikers set up camp. “Cables” was a 44-year-old solo thru hiker who shared with me, nonchalantly as we ate dinner, that he “technically still has cancer.” He explained that he was diagnosed recently and was going to try some homeopathic remedies for his ailment before succumbing to radiation or chemotherapy. He said his plan was to thru hike in order to “figure some stuff out,” in his life while his wife and two children stayed back at home in Asheville, NC. He told me that he supported himself as a cook, and that he learned this trade over time as he was homeless for two years and had to do something in order to survive.
I spent most of the afternoon reading in my tent and taking a small nap. Since I had had a rough day of it I wasn’t up for much socializing, even though a small group had gathered around a fire, while another bunch hung out in and around the shelter. That’s another great thing about these hikes – you can spend a little bit of time getting to know the others, then retreat to your own space for a while without anyone judging you or labeling you as “anti-social.” “Hike your own hike,” is a common phrase in the community, meaning you do things your way and I’ll do things mine. This pertains to anything from distance and speed on the actual trail, to how you choose to set up your camp at the end of the day. Wanna take a “zero day?” You do you, Boo. Wanna carry a gallon jug of water in your hand (true story) rather than invest in a bladder for your pack? Go for it. There is no other place I can think of that is so accepting of everyone doing their own thing their own way than on the trail.
Blue Mountain to Tray Mountain Shelter – 8.1 miles
After getting a much better nights sleep, I got started 30 minutes earlier to try to beat some of the heat. It was going to get into the 80’s that day, and I was already beginning to feel the effects of a sunburn I developed over the past few days. I headed out on my trek and began playing leap frog with a couple of young guys I recognized from the camp the night before. I didn’t see many people on the trail this day and was hoping for a faster hike now that those rocks were behind me.
During my day-hiking trip to the area in October, I did a small section from Unicoi Gap to Indian Grave Gap, which is a steep, 2.5--mile section of the trail. This same section was upon me now and I wasn’t looking forward to a repeat performance. If I knew that it wouldn’t cost much money and I was able to get a ride from one side of that mountain to the other, I would’ve bypassed it this time around. This is where my frugality and impatience come in handy, as I wasn’t willing to both shell out money and wait for a shuttle, so I continued on this path as my heart raced continuously for a good hour straight as I trudged up one side and down the other.
When I got to the bottom I met up with the two guys from earlier who were taking a break before ascending Tray Mountain. Both were named Matt and were from the Atlanta area. They were roommates and spoke of keeping busy with a lot of outdoor activities such as biking, hiking, rock climbing and the such. They asked about my trail name, and I explained that I was given one last year (Mom), but that I didn’t like it much so was waiting on a new one. When I asked the same of them, Matt #1 said that his initials were M.D. and so he had named himself “Doc.” On the drive to the trail they had passed a road called Rancho, and so Matt #2 had decided this would be his trail name; no significance, he said, just that it sounded like a good name. We talked a bit longer, hitting on the fact that Tray Mountain was going to be another good climb, however, not as steep as the section we just completed – although a bit longer at 3 miles. They took off ahead of me and I wasn’t far behind as I finished up another Kind bar, chugged some water, and set out to finish up this day’s adventure.
The remainder of my day-3 hike was fairly unremarkable, other than a few good views. There was definitely some climbing, but the lack of steepness of this mountain helped keep me moving at a pretty good clip. I was still getting beat on by the sun, and with my arms positioned at a constant 90-degree angle due to holding my trekking poles, the tops of my forearms were getting the brunt of it. As I made my way into camp I saw Doc and Rancho relaxing in the shelter. There was a couple with them who had just stopped for a quick break and water refill, who were soon on their way. The answer I most often hear when I ask if someone is a thru hiker is, “that’s the plan.” Maybe it’s some sort of jinx to say “Yes,” when there’s so much distance to cover. When you think about it, it’s a very appropriate answer given anything can happen over a 6-month period, especially this early in the game. This couple was planning on completing their own thru hike, so it didn’t surprise me to hear this same response from them.
As the three of us now relaxed in the shelter, we were met by Bear Bag. He was a talkative fella who brought along a beer (surely hot by now) to enjoy after his days journey – a bit shorter than ours as he started at Unicoi Gap rather than Blue Mountain Shelter. After borrowing Rancho’s water filter to refill my bags, I sat down to another dinner of instant mashed potatoes and tuna – my third serving of this by now, and of which I was getting a bit tired of consuming. Vortex soon showed up with her boyfriend Nick (no trail name), who were now catching up after taking off into town the day before. Bear Bag took the liberty of sticking his foot in his mouth by asking if they were on a “Father/son or guys trip,” to which Vortex announced that they had never heard that one before. Vortex laughed it off as she explained that she often gets mistaken for a 15-year-old boy, but clarified that she is, in fact, a female. This was a mistake that Bear Bag would continue to bring up as we hiked off the trail the following day.
Since I still had a lot of time to kill before bed, I laid out my mylar blanket and was reading a David Sedaris book in the sun –which at this point felt good since a breeze had now moved in and I had changed into my long-sleeved sleepwear. Bear Bag had set up his hammock a few yards from me, and as he made his way back and forth between his home away from home and the shelter he says, “I think I have a trail name for you, but I don’t know if you’ll like it.” Intrigued, “what’s that,” I asked? “Senior Discount,” was his reply, “Because you eat dinner at 4 o’clock.” At this explanation I had to chuckle. He wasn’t wrong, and it was much more suitable to me than “Mom,” so I decided to keep it.
Tray Mountain to Dicks Creek Gap – 11 miles
My original plan for this hike was to spend a fourth night after 7.5 miles, and then hike out the next morning. However, after three nights of sleeping in a tent, it was difficult to convince myself to stay the extra night, especially knowing I could hike out on this day and be done. By this point I was sore, smelly, sunburned and ready to eat anything other than products that included the words Idaho or Starkist on the label. Additionally, one of my tent poles had broken the day before, and although this didn’t necessarily hamper my ability to sleep in the tent, my already-claustrophobic quarters were made even more so with the depleted head room. I knew that 11 miles may be tough, but I was hoping that the excitement of my completed journey, coupled with thoughts of a shower and a soft bed would keep my motivation going.
By now, my fourth day on the trail, my feet had formed quite a few blisters and kept coming back no matter how many times they got popped. I had brought along some Trail Toes to apply the morning before my hikes, but I had somehow missed packing it back up after my second night and so it became a sacrifice to the Blue Mountain Shelter. Either that or another, needier hiker would stumble upon it and consider it just the kind of trail magic she needed. My arms and shoulders were getting more burned by the day, and my feet were feeling the extra weight with each and every step – especially on the downhills. As I approached the half-way mark I came upon Bear Bag who was taking a breather before making his way up the steepest and longest climb of the day. At 5.3 miles in I also took advantage of a break and munched on some GORP and downed some lukewarm water – another backpacking staple that I was looking forward to not consuming again for a long time.
Although he took off ahead of me, I soon caught up and it was he and I playing leap frog this time around. I tended to be faster on the up-hills, while he was well versed in the descents. I planned to take a bit of a break at the next shelter, which would have been my original stopping point, but after going 100 feet down a blue-blazed hill and not seeing a structure anywhere in sight, I made my way back to the AT and took another break upon a log. This was just 2 miles or so past my last stopping point, but my body was feeling the effects of so many consecutive days of hiking and I needed the rest.
Taking off again there was just one more hill to go up, followed by an even longer walk down the other side. This is where I slowed way down due to the pounding on my soles as well as my knees. I was trying to put as much weight on my hiking poles as I could with every small step forward, but this strategy was doing very little to ease the aching as my dogs continued to bark. Once again, I was passed by Bear Bag who decided to cut his hike short and was looking to get a ride back to his car some miles away. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to oblige him as I was staying in town that evening before driving half-way home the next morning. Besides, I was about to take my third and final break before finishing up my trip and he would’ve been well past me by the time I got out of the forest and back into civilization.
Coming upon Dicks Creek Gap I began to hear vehicles in the distance and knew I was getting close to my car. It’s fairly common to have your car parked in or near the lot where you plan to end your hike, get shuttled to your starting point and then walk back to your transportation. If anything, it’s more motivation to keep on the trail, as some gaps don’t cross busy roads, aren’t accessible to cars or don’t have good phone service, so there’s little to no chance of hitching a ride or calling a shuttle – you really don’t have a choice but to keep trudging along. Given all of the beautiful nature I had seen, as well as the disconnect from the outside world I have to admit: there was no sweeter sight that day than when I finally stepped onto the pavement and saw my Corolla - beckoning me to come sit on its soft leather seats.
Days on the trail: 4
Miles completed: 38
Blisters: 6
Overall experience: Immeasurable
Aftermath – A cousin of mine also wants to section hike the AT, and we had a plan to go out on her first venture in August. After struggling with the May heat, however, we both agreed that we would move our vacation back to mid-September to keep from making our journey any harder than it has to be. I also discovered that 3 nights on the trail, and 4 days of hiking is just about my limit, so we’ll be cutting our over-zealous plan back by a few days and completing a shorter trip just like this one. I will need to invest in a different filter as mine is still not working despite getting it home and back-flushing it numerous time. I will also be looking into a new pole for my tent – either that or dealing with the extra 3 pounds of my two-person accommodations.
Luckily, I didn’t see any ticks on my person either during or after this trip. There were also no bear or snake siting’s either, which is a good or a bad thing depending on how you look at it. This was a much different experience than my initial voyage in April 2017 – not only because of the two additional days, but also because of the weather; the lack of rain made for some pretty good covered distances, which is exactly what I was hoping for. As usual, I cannot mention how great of an experience it is to hike the AT without focusing some of my attention on my fellow hikers. I’ve always said that hikers are some of the kindest people you will ever meet, and this opinion still holds true. Everyone was so willing to lend me a hand when my filter went on the fritz and were great company to keep at the end of a long, hot day. We were all in this together. Some of us were out there for only a short while, as others were making their way to Maine. Regardless, I am truly blessed to get to experience this adventure with a group of like-minded people who are out there hiking their own hike. Good luck to the AT class of 2018!
I used to be someone who was really anxious when it came to planning. Don’t get me wrong, I still like to plan things far in advance – whether it be dinner with friends, trips out of town, or concerts coming up. But I used to have to know exactly what was going to happen, and if there was any deviation from the plan I would get all worked up about it. Somewhere along the way I’ve gotten much better at this, as my second-ever Appalachian Trail section hike had a few snafus along with way that I was forced to navigate from day one.
Back at the beginning of the year when I was planning my trip (distance, days, shuttles and overnight accommodations), I spoke to a B&B owner who told me that a shuttle to Hightower would be free of charge as it was a short distance from their lodge. Not knowing the Georgia area at all, I had to trust in what I was told, and was ecstatic to hear that this would be one less expense to worry about. Imagine my surprise, then, when the morning of my hike the owner and I began talking about where I would be dropping my car versus where I would begin my hike. Apparently, there is a “Hightower,” and a “Hightower Gap.” One of these is a mere few miles (and minutes) from the B&B, while the other is a 2-hour, and $150 shuttle, away. Long-story short, I decided to be dropped off at a different location, which meant cutting my hike by 2 days and 15 miles. Come to find out, this was a blessing in disguise.
Neels Gap to Low Gap Shelter – 11.5 miles
After leaving my car at Dick’s Creep Gap and being dropped at Neels Gap to begin my hike, I was immediately met by other hikers who had been on the trail for up to 5 days, after starting at Springer Mountain to start their own journeys. One of these folks was a solo hiker who had completed a month-long hike in Utah prior to trying her hand at the AT, and who had completed a daunting 20 miles the day prior. The other was a couple; also attempting a thru hike, as well as their female companion who was hanging it up for the time being as the mental aspect of hiking numerous miles, day after day, was getting to her. I was feeling good both mentally and physically as I turned my back towards the last bit of civilization I would be seeing for quite a while and stepped off onto the trail for a long 11.5-mile journey – my longest trek to date on the AT.
I was going at a pretty good clip, and the hills didn’t feel to be too terribly steep as I made my way up and down, up and down these Georgia mountains. As long as I’m camping at night with a group of folks, I don’t mind hiking alone – which is a good thing considering I came across very few people on this first day. The great thing about the hiking community though, is that you never truly feel alone. Everyone you pass on the trail has a friendly smile and a welcoming “hello,” as you pass one another – sometimes going opposite directions, sometimes playing “leap frog,” as your paces and breaks don’t always mesh. But always with a silent connection that says, “I am your pal, and we are in this together.”
A wonderful example of this was when, half-way through the day, I decided to take a break on a large rock next to a couple of gals who were also catching their breath and giving their backs and feet a break. One gal, trail name “Brains,” didn’t stick around long and was up the next mountain like she owned it in a matter of minutes. The other, a section hiker like myself, stopped to refill her bladder from a stream nearby. Unfortunately, her filter wasn’t working properly and I was able to offer up mine for her to use. As it turns out, I was also having issues with my own filter (more on this later), but at least she was able to get a small stream coming out, which was more than what she was getting from her own.
We stuck around on that rock for 15 minutes or so, grabbing a bite to eat (a Kind bar and GORP for me), and exchanging stories about what brought us to the AT. She was a twenty-something named Alexis who was from Florida and, being an outdoorsy type, decided that she’d like to section-hike the AT. We laughed about the inevitable questions from non-hikers about whether or not we would be carrying a gun, if we felt safe hiking alone, and what kind of bear protection we carried. I can think of fewer places than the trail where you can sit and have a conversation such as this without the concern of motive or being looked at like you’re suspect – just two gals shooting the breeze, sharing gear, and having a bite to eat in the middle of nature.
My last 5.5 miles that day were a little more daunting than the first 6, as it began with a steep uphill climb. I remember very little about this second half of the day other than the countless ascents and descents as I made my way towards my final destination and sleeping quarters for the evening: Low Gap Shelter. As I walked into the area, Brains had already set up camp and was giving me the lay of the land – where the shelter was located (we had to camp a small walk away as there were a lot of hikers in the area and not enough room to accommodate us all near the shelter area), where I could find the stream, and how to get to the privy. After setting up my tent and getting prepared for an evening’s rest, I made my way to the shelter where a number of other hikers were eating, refilling their water supply, and conversing amongst themselves about their individual journeys so far. Because there were so many people there this evening, it’s hard to recall everyone that I came across. Most were thru hikers, and the majority of those were solo – I’d say 40% were female.
Because of my earlier discovery regarding my failed water filter, I was able to enlist some help to backwash my filter (didn’t work) and then ultimately borrow one to refill my water supply for the night and the following day. This was made available by a hiker named Vortex, who had hiked the entire PCT (Pacific Coast Trail) the year before. The PCT is approximately 500 more miles than the AT, so the chances that she would complete her goal was more than possible. Later, it was found out that she got the name Vortex from hiking 50+ consecutive days on the PCT without taking a “zero,” day. This is unheard of for most thru hikers.
Wrapping up my day after a dinner of instant mashed potatoes and tuna, followed by a few miniature Snickers bars, I made my way back to the tent to do some relaxation and reading before I was both A) tired enough to doze off and B) it was dark enough for me to do so without feeling like I was wasting the evening. This is one of the few, if only, internal conflicts I’ve found when on the trail; even though the day’s mileage could end up in the double-digits, I would be done with that mileage early enough that, technically, I could hike on, but physically too exhausted to do so. When setting up camp between 2:00 – 5:00p, it’s not always easy to keep yourself occupied during that time before you feel ready to go to sleep for the evening. There’s a reason they call 8:00p “hikers midnight.”
After a fairly uneventful night of sleep, I got out of the tent the next morning to see that most of my fellow compadres had already packed up and began their respective long days. I made my way back to the shelter for a bite of oatmeal and some teeth-brushing, followed by an a.m. trip to the privy before breaking down my gear and setting off for my second day on the trail. I bid farewell to a few of the straggler (one of which being Survivor, who kept me awake half the night with snoring and moaning), wishing them well and looking forward to seeing a few at the next shelter.
Low Gap Shelter to Blue Mountain Shelter – 7.3 miles
Although this day would see the least mileage, it was definitely the hardest of my 4-day adventure. As I set out from Low Gap, the first 3 miles or so was fairly flat with very little hills to climb. What’s interesting about this statement, as I would find out by my 4th day, is that it’s not so much the climbing of the hills that got to me, but the descents of those hills. Imagine – day after day, mile after mile with an extra 30 pounds on your back and your feet continuously pounding the earth on a decline. There are very few people I see out on the trail without trekking poles, but for those that don’t take advantage of them, I honestly don’t know how they do it. Trekking poles turned out to be the least of my worries, however, when I came upon the last two miles of this day’s trip
Already tired at 5ish miles in, the day was shaping up to be hotter than the one before as I found myself navigating some fairly treacherous rocks as I neared the end of my jaunt. Hiking on even ground is one thing; I can even manage having to finagle my way around some roots and gravel for most of the day, but these rocks provided a whole new level of complication that I was not prepared for. I was already moving at a slow 2mph clip – knowing that I had just a few miles left to go and being forced to slow down even more was a hit to the ol’ mentality. By this point I just wanted to be done. Luckily, I spotted the last watering hole up ahead which was just a few hundred yards from my stop for the day, Blue Mountain Shelter. I meandered around for a few minutes talking with some other hikers about the difficulty of those last few miles, then headed up the last hill of the day to welcome my reprieve.
Jan (aka Slow and Steady) was the shelters only resident when I arrived and, man, was she was a humbling sight. 70-something years old, she was sporting a shirt that read “When people ask me about my retirement plan, I tell them…… I’m hiking it!” She was a spunky broad who shared with me her history of hiking with her sisters and other family members several times a year for a number of decades until the others’ lost interest. She states she is now one of the only people in her family that continues to hike. When asked if she was a section or thru hiker, Slow and Steady explained that she was out on the AT “trying to get as far as I can until I can’t go anymore.” She admitted to being slow, hence her trail name, stating she hikes no more than 5-8 miles per day, trying to go from shelter to shelter. Once again, I had to ask for assistance with refilling my water supply, and she was all too happy to oblige while handing me her filter.
Throughout the afternoon and evening, we had a number of other hikers set up camp. “Cables” was a 44-year-old solo thru hiker who shared with me, nonchalantly as we ate dinner, that he “technically still has cancer.” He explained that he was diagnosed recently and was going to try some homeopathic remedies for his ailment before succumbing to radiation or chemotherapy. He said his plan was to thru hike in order to “figure some stuff out,” in his life while his wife and two children stayed back at home in Asheville, NC. He told me that he supported himself as a cook, and that he learned this trade over time as he was homeless for two years and had to do something in order to survive.
I spent most of the afternoon reading in my tent and taking a small nap. Since I had had a rough day of it I wasn’t up for much socializing, even though a small group had gathered around a fire, while another bunch hung out in and around the shelter. That’s another great thing about these hikes – you can spend a little bit of time getting to know the others, then retreat to your own space for a while without anyone judging you or labeling you as “anti-social.” “Hike your own hike,” is a common phrase in the community, meaning you do things your way and I’ll do things mine. This pertains to anything from distance and speed on the actual trail, to how you choose to set up your camp at the end of the day. Wanna take a “zero day?” You do you, Boo. Wanna carry a gallon jug of water in your hand (true story) rather than invest in a bladder for your pack? Go for it. There is no other place I can think of that is so accepting of everyone doing their own thing their own way than on the trail.
Blue Mountain to Tray Mountain Shelter – 8.1 miles
After getting a much better nights sleep, I got started 30 minutes earlier to try to beat some of the heat. It was going to get into the 80’s that day, and I was already beginning to feel the effects of a sunburn I developed over the past few days. I headed out on my trek and began playing leap frog with a couple of young guys I recognized from the camp the night before. I didn’t see many people on the trail this day and was hoping for a faster hike now that those rocks were behind me.
During my day-hiking trip to the area in October, I did a small section from Unicoi Gap to Indian Grave Gap, which is a steep, 2.5--mile section of the trail. This same section was upon me now and I wasn’t looking forward to a repeat performance. If I knew that it wouldn’t cost much money and I was able to get a ride from one side of that mountain to the other, I would’ve bypassed it this time around. This is where my frugality and impatience come in handy, as I wasn’t willing to both shell out money and wait for a shuttle, so I continued on this path as my heart raced continuously for a good hour straight as I trudged up one side and down the other.
When I got to the bottom I met up with the two guys from earlier who were taking a break before ascending Tray Mountain. Both were named Matt and were from the Atlanta area. They were roommates and spoke of keeping busy with a lot of outdoor activities such as biking, hiking, rock climbing and the such. They asked about my trail name, and I explained that I was given one last year (Mom), but that I didn’t like it much so was waiting on a new one. When I asked the same of them, Matt #1 said that his initials were M.D. and so he had named himself “Doc.” On the drive to the trail they had passed a road called Rancho, and so Matt #2 had decided this would be his trail name; no significance, he said, just that it sounded like a good name. We talked a bit longer, hitting on the fact that Tray Mountain was going to be another good climb, however, not as steep as the section we just completed – although a bit longer at 3 miles. They took off ahead of me and I wasn’t far behind as I finished up another Kind bar, chugged some water, and set out to finish up this day’s adventure.
The remainder of my day-3 hike was fairly unremarkable, other than a few good views. There was definitely some climbing, but the lack of steepness of this mountain helped keep me moving at a pretty good clip. I was still getting beat on by the sun, and with my arms positioned at a constant 90-degree angle due to holding my trekking poles, the tops of my forearms were getting the brunt of it. As I made my way into camp I saw Doc and Rancho relaxing in the shelter. There was a couple with them who had just stopped for a quick break and water refill, who were soon on their way. The answer I most often hear when I ask if someone is a thru hiker is, “that’s the plan.” Maybe it’s some sort of jinx to say “Yes,” when there’s so much distance to cover. When you think about it, it’s a very appropriate answer given anything can happen over a 6-month period, especially this early in the game. This couple was planning on completing their own thru hike, so it didn’t surprise me to hear this same response from them.
As the three of us now relaxed in the shelter, we were met by Bear Bag. He was a talkative fella who brought along a beer (surely hot by now) to enjoy after his days journey – a bit shorter than ours as he started at Unicoi Gap rather than Blue Mountain Shelter. After borrowing Rancho’s water filter to refill my bags, I sat down to another dinner of instant mashed potatoes and tuna – my third serving of this by now, and of which I was getting a bit tired of consuming. Vortex soon showed up with her boyfriend Nick (no trail name), who were now catching up after taking off into town the day before. Bear Bag took the liberty of sticking his foot in his mouth by asking if they were on a “Father/son or guys trip,” to which Vortex announced that they had never heard that one before. Vortex laughed it off as she explained that she often gets mistaken for a 15-year-old boy, but clarified that she is, in fact, a female. This was a mistake that Bear Bag would continue to bring up as we hiked off the trail the following day.
Since I still had a lot of time to kill before bed, I laid out my mylar blanket and was reading a David Sedaris book in the sun –which at this point felt good since a breeze had now moved in and I had changed into my long-sleeved sleepwear. Bear Bag had set up his hammock a few yards from me, and as he made his way back and forth between his home away from home and the shelter he says, “I think I have a trail name for you, but I don’t know if you’ll like it.” Intrigued, “what’s that,” I asked? “Senior Discount,” was his reply, “Because you eat dinner at 4 o’clock.” At this explanation I had to chuckle. He wasn’t wrong, and it was much more suitable to me than “Mom,” so I decided to keep it.
Tray Mountain to Dicks Creek Gap – 11 miles
My original plan for this hike was to spend a fourth night after 7.5 miles, and then hike out the next morning. However, after three nights of sleeping in a tent, it was difficult to convince myself to stay the extra night, especially knowing I could hike out on this day and be done. By this point I was sore, smelly, sunburned and ready to eat anything other than products that included the words Idaho or Starkist on the label. Additionally, one of my tent poles had broken the day before, and although this didn’t necessarily hamper my ability to sleep in the tent, my already-claustrophobic quarters were made even more so with the depleted head room. I knew that 11 miles may be tough, but I was hoping that the excitement of my completed journey, coupled with thoughts of a shower and a soft bed would keep my motivation going.
By now, my fourth day on the trail, my feet had formed quite a few blisters and kept coming back no matter how many times they got popped. I had brought along some Trail Toes to apply the morning before my hikes, but I had somehow missed packing it back up after my second night and so it became a sacrifice to the Blue Mountain Shelter. Either that or another, needier hiker would stumble upon it and consider it just the kind of trail magic she needed. My arms and shoulders were getting more burned by the day, and my feet were feeling the extra weight with each and every step – especially on the downhills. As I approached the half-way mark I came upon Bear Bag who was taking a breather before making his way up the steepest and longest climb of the day. At 5.3 miles in I also took advantage of a break and munched on some GORP and downed some lukewarm water – another backpacking staple that I was looking forward to not consuming again for a long time.
Although he took off ahead of me, I soon caught up and it was he and I playing leap frog this time around. I tended to be faster on the up-hills, while he was well versed in the descents. I planned to take a bit of a break at the next shelter, which would have been my original stopping point, but after going 100 feet down a blue-blazed hill and not seeing a structure anywhere in sight, I made my way back to the AT and took another break upon a log. This was just 2 miles or so past my last stopping point, but my body was feeling the effects of so many consecutive days of hiking and I needed the rest.
Taking off again there was just one more hill to go up, followed by an even longer walk down the other side. This is where I slowed way down due to the pounding on my soles as well as my knees. I was trying to put as much weight on my hiking poles as I could with every small step forward, but this strategy was doing very little to ease the aching as my dogs continued to bark. Once again, I was passed by Bear Bag who decided to cut his hike short and was looking to get a ride back to his car some miles away. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to oblige him as I was staying in town that evening before driving half-way home the next morning. Besides, I was about to take my third and final break before finishing up my trip and he would’ve been well past me by the time I got out of the forest and back into civilization.
Coming upon Dicks Creek Gap I began to hear vehicles in the distance and knew I was getting close to my car. It’s fairly common to have your car parked in or near the lot where you plan to end your hike, get shuttled to your starting point and then walk back to your transportation. If anything, it’s more motivation to keep on the trail, as some gaps don’t cross busy roads, aren’t accessible to cars or don’t have good phone service, so there’s little to no chance of hitching a ride or calling a shuttle – you really don’t have a choice but to keep trudging along. Given all of the beautiful nature I had seen, as well as the disconnect from the outside world I have to admit: there was no sweeter sight that day than when I finally stepped onto the pavement and saw my Corolla - beckoning me to come sit on its soft leather seats.
Days on the trail: 4
Miles completed: 38
Blisters: 6
Overall experience: Immeasurable
Aftermath – A cousin of mine also wants to section hike the AT, and we had a plan to go out on her first venture in August. After struggling with the May heat, however, we both agreed that we would move our vacation back to mid-September to keep from making our journey any harder than it has to be. I also discovered that 3 nights on the trail, and 4 days of hiking is just about my limit, so we’ll be cutting our over-zealous plan back by a few days and completing a shorter trip just like this one. I will need to invest in a different filter as mine is still not working despite getting it home and back-flushing it numerous time. I will also be looking into a new pole for my tent – either that or dealing with the extra 3 pounds of my two-person accommodations.
Luckily, I didn’t see any ticks on my person either during or after this trip. There were also no bear or snake siting’s either, which is a good or a bad thing depending on how you look at it. This was a much different experience than my initial voyage in April 2017 – not only because of the two additional days, but also because of the weather; the lack of rain made for some pretty good covered distances, which is exactly what I was hoping for. As usual, I cannot mention how great of an experience it is to hike the AT without focusing some of my attention on my fellow hikers. I’ve always said that hikers are some of the kindest people you will ever meet, and this opinion still holds true. Everyone was so willing to lend me a hand when my filter went on the fritz and were great company to keep at the end of a long, hot day. We were all in this together. Some of us were out there for only a short while, as others were making their way to Maine. Regardless, I am truly blessed to get to experience this adventure with a group of like-minded people who are out there hiking their own hike. Good luck to the AT class of 2018!
Monday, May 14, 2018
Training/Race Reports for April and May
Obviously, I have had a horrible time keeping up with this blog for the past month-and-a-half. April was a bad month as far as weather is concerned. During the Papa John’s 10-miler it was 30 degrees and snowing the whole race. Despite the cold weather, I had a great time and my mentor, Jeff, kept me company and finishing strong with 4:1 intervals the whole way.
The KDF mini (my 35th half-marathon) came next just three weeks later, and we saw some beautiful temps in the mid-sixties throughout the day. I felt like I had put in some good training runs leading up to the race, and gave a solid performance, coming in at around 2:26. I know this time is considered slow for a lot of folks, but with my PR days long behind me, I’m happy to get ‘er done in under 2:30 for a race of this distance.
Ironman 70.3 training officially started last week, and I’m off to a stellar start so far. My first swim consisted of 1500 meters at a 3:00/1000m pace. VERY SLLLOWWW – but…. at least I know that I can get in a distance such as this on my first time out all season. Now I just have to keep it going for the next 2.5 months in order to finish Ohio within the cut-off time. My last 70.3 (and 70.3 attempt before a DNF on the bike) resulted in about a 55-minute 1.2 miler, so if I can pull that off this year then I’ll be okay with that time. What’s the saying? Nobody wins a race with the swim?? Not that I’m winning any races regardless, but… you get the point.
Throo The Zoo 5k was just this past Saturday, with an additional 5 miles tacked on afterwards on what had to have been one of the hottest runs I’ve ever completed. Despite starting at 8 a.m., the race was warm from the start and only got hotter for the additional hour after the finish. Given the heat and mild humidity, I was able to pull out a 12 min/mile pace – something that I’m almost embarrassed to admit but, considering I had just ran a 5k race and had a 35-mile bike the next day, I was accepting of since I wasn’t planning to push myself too hard. During the first week of official training my goal was to simply get in the time/miles – and that I did.
What really solidified some confidence for me this first week of training was my bike the following day. I had only done two days of biking leading up to it (15 and 25 miles, respectively), and planned on a 35-miler with my training partner, Ericka. Cycling from my condo, I put in about 4.5 miles before reaching the Big 4 Bridge where we met up for an additional 12.5 out-and-back on a long, straight path with very few obstacles such as turns or stop-signs to slow us down. It wasn’t until the last 3 miles or so that we saw some minor hills.
I am historically horrible at keeping my nutrition up on the bike – I cannot seem to force myself to eat, and have a hard time remembering to drink if I’m not feeling the heat, so I can bonk pretty quickly and out of nowhere if I’m not careful. Because I know this about myself I made an effort during this ride to be more aware of my intake. I had a banana prior to the ride, and then sipped on 24 ounces of Infinit throughout the journey. I did have an additional water bottle that I also took in, but that bottle was still mostly full when I arrived back home. At the turn-around point I took in a GU just for good measure. I was so in awe with how good I felt as we headed back home, however, I also know that feeling good at the half-way point doesn’t always mean I’ll be feeling as great near the end, so I didn’t want to take it for granted. Luckily, I did feel about as good as I could have hoped to feel on a 35-mile route, and even managed to keep an even pace up the last hill about a mile or so from the condo.
I had mentioned to a few people this year that I may be retiring from triathlon after Ohio in July. With my new goal starting last year of hiking the Appalachian Trail, as well as wanting to focus on strength training and continued long runs, I wasn’t (am not) sure I want to take away from those things to put towards the time and effort that triathlons require. I may feel differently after my Olympic race in June, followed by my “A” race in Ohio, but right now I’m feeling so good during my training that I don’t know if it’s something I’ll ever truly give up. Spoken like a newbie during just the first week though, right? Ask me again in 3 weeks and I might be ready to throw in the towel. Regardless of what I end up doing overall, I’m enjoying it for what it is right now, and am committed to putting in a real effort to finish my second 70.3.
Now that we have the race/training report out of the way, I will need to spend some time gathering data for my Give it Up challenge for the month of April. I wasn’t nearly as diligent in that area this past month as I should have been, but I’ve had a lot going on. No excuses, though. I also need to write about my second section hike of the Appalachian Trail, from which I just returned less than 2 weeks ago. Even with all of the difficulty of that goal, I still plan to finish the entire duration one slow, small section at a time. Details of that trip are to follow soon.
The KDF mini (my 35th half-marathon) came next just three weeks later, and we saw some beautiful temps in the mid-sixties throughout the day. I felt like I had put in some good training runs leading up to the race, and gave a solid performance, coming in at around 2:26. I know this time is considered slow for a lot of folks, but with my PR days long behind me, I’m happy to get ‘er done in under 2:30 for a race of this distance.
Ironman 70.3 training officially started last week, and I’m off to a stellar start so far. My first swim consisted of 1500 meters at a 3:00/1000m pace. VERY SLLLOWWW – but…. at least I know that I can get in a distance such as this on my first time out all season. Now I just have to keep it going for the next 2.5 months in order to finish Ohio within the cut-off time. My last 70.3 (and 70.3 attempt before a DNF on the bike) resulted in about a 55-minute 1.2 miler, so if I can pull that off this year then I’ll be okay with that time. What’s the saying? Nobody wins a race with the swim?? Not that I’m winning any races regardless, but… you get the point.
Throo The Zoo 5k was just this past Saturday, with an additional 5 miles tacked on afterwards on what had to have been one of the hottest runs I’ve ever completed. Despite starting at 8 a.m., the race was warm from the start and only got hotter for the additional hour after the finish. Given the heat and mild humidity, I was able to pull out a 12 min/mile pace – something that I’m almost embarrassed to admit but, considering I had just ran a 5k race and had a 35-mile bike the next day, I was accepting of since I wasn’t planning to push myself too hard. During the first week of official training my goal was to simply get in the time/miles – and that I did.
What really solidified some confidence for me this first week of training was my bike the following day. I had only done two days of biking leading up to it (15 and 25 miles, respectively), and planned on a 35-miler with my training partner, Ericka. Cycling from my condo, I put in about 4.5 miles before reaching the Big 4 Bridge where we met up for an additional 12.5 out-and-back on a long, straight path with very few obstacles such as turns or stop-signs to slow us down. It wasn’t until the last 3 miles or so that we saw some minor hills.
I am historically horrible at keeping my nutrition up on the bike – I cannot seem to force myself to eat, and have a hard time remembering to drink if I’m not feeling the heat, so I can bonk pretty quickly and out of nowhere if I’m not careful. Because I know this about myself I made an effort during this ride to be more aware of my intake. I had a banana prior to the ride, and then sipped on 24 ounces of Infinit throughout the journey. I did have an additional water bottle that I also took in, but that bottle was still mostly full when I arrived back home. At the turn-around point I took in a GU just for good measure. I was so in awe with how good I felt as we headed back home, however, I also know that feeling good at the half-way point doesn’t always mean I’ll be feeling as great near the end, so I didn’t want to take it for granted. Luckily, I did feel about as good as I could have hoped to feel on a 35-mile route, and even managed to keep an even pace up the last hill about a mile or so from the condo.
I had mentioned to a few people this year that I may be retiring from triathlon after Ohio in July. With my new goal starting last year of hiking the Appalachian Trail, as well as wanting to focus on strength training and continued long runs, I wasn’t (am not) sure I want to take away from those things to put towards the time and effort that triathlons require. I may feel differently after my Olympic race in June, followed by my “A” race in Ohio, but right now I’m feeling so good during my training that I don’t know if it’s something I’ll ever truly give up. Spoken like a newbie during just the first week though, right? Ask me again in 3 weeks and I might be ready to throw in the towel. Regardless of what I end up doing overall, I’m enjoying it for what it is right now, and am committed to putting in a real effort to finish my second 70.3.
Now that we have the race/training report out of the way, I will need to spend some time gathering data for my Give it Up challenge for the month of April. I wasn’t nearly as diligent in that area this past month as I should have been, but I’ve had a lot going on. No excuses, though. I also need to write about my second section hike of the Appalachian Trail, from which I just returned less than 2 weeks ago. Even with all of the difficulty of that goal, I still plan to finish the entire duration one slow, small section at a time. Details of that trip are to follow soon.
Monday, April 2, 2018
Month 2
March proved to be a little more difficult than February when it came to achieving my financial goals. I am finding it difficult to stay within my $80 limit per week when debits that aren’t weekly or monthly expenses come up, such as toiletries, prescriptions, dog groomer fees, etc – which is exactly what happened this month.
While I was able to stay below my grocery budget by $29.36, I was way over budget with the add-on of these additional items by $265.96.
To break it down, here is a view of my spending for the month of March:
Groceries: $220.64
Eating Out: $186.03
Toiletries/Self Care: $184.23
Dog/Cat supplies: $181.56
Office supplies: $45.80
Investments: $35.64
Miscellaneous: Hiking Buff ($7.95), Parking ($1.75), Throo the Zoo 5k ($13.00), Notary ($20.00)
In addition, here are the results of my measurable goals for the month:
OTF (6/8)
Yoga (2/4)
Massage (1/1)
Float (1/1)
Social (9/2)
Outdoor activities (3/8)
Meditation (19/12)
Strength Training (4/4)
Heine Bros/Starbucks (3/2)
Eating out (13/5)
As you can see, there is a strong correlation between the number of times I was social this month and the amount of money that was spent on lunches and dinners out. As I was explaining to a friend of mine, although I’ve limited myself to 5 meals out per month, it is extremely difficult to turn down going out to eat with a friend, or group of friends, when there is also a goal of getting out more socially. Although there should be (and is) more to do with friends than eat out, it seems to be the simplest way to spend time with people when a) you’re going to have to eat anyway, b) the weather has been sub-par and there’s not much to do outdoors, and c) we all seem to be limited on time to do much of anything else. In the end, I decided that spending social time with others was worth blowing my goal of eating out five times per month. Admittedly, however, 4 of these out-of-home feasts were times I went out alone – something that I could look at reeling back in if I am choosing to go out more with friends.
In comparison with February, I was overall less successful in meeting my goals. OTF, Yoga, and Outdoor Activities all came in at a lower number than what I had planned. In contrast, I achieved the goals of Massage, Float and Strength Training, while blowing the Meditation goal way out of the water by more than 50% - I’ve done this by simply making meditation a part of my night-time routine.
Some of these goals will be tweaked, yet again, for the month of April as I would like to put more emphasis on strength training than cardio and will soon be starting my Ohio 70.3 half-Ironman training. It’s been three years since I’ve trained for such an event, and how quickly we forget how grueling and time-consuming training for such a race can be. Since that schedule doesn’t technically start until May, however, I’m going to use April to continue to build my base and work on the goals that I have set for myself – mentally, physically, spiritually and, alas, financially.
Sunday, March 25, 2018
Week 8
Just finished up a yoga session, and it’s amazing how much my practice has been impacted by the mindset I’ve been in lately. When my head isn’t in the right space I find it much harder to keep balanced (both literally and figuratively), and I end up toppling over on many of the poses. Because of this, I cut my session short and decided to pick it up again next week in the hopes that I’ll have less stress going on in my life over the next seven days.
It’s been a rough week, to say the least, which includes a major snafu in my financial plan. To start, I ended up with a 3-day stomach flu resulting in loss of work on Monday and having to cancel seven patients. This majorly hampers my income for this week and I wasn’t pleased to have to call these folks to reschedule. On top of this, I found out that I owe a significant amount of money for taxes from 2017, as well as seeing an increase in my quarterly estimates and payroll taxes for 2018. This means I had to deplete my savings as well as rely on my credit card to ensure that it got paid. I could have possibly set up a payment plan, but the amount of the increase would have meant playing “catch up” for over a year and everything would have ended up being late. Although it sickened me to have to do it, knowing that the taxes will all be paid in full and on time is such a relief to my mind. With the new plan I have drawn up to get the cards paid off, it doesn’t look like the tax situation is going to set me back too far - a little extra a month on one, plus two months additional payments on another, won’t be too much of a burden overall.
March as a whole has had its ups and downs in regards to this challenge as well as daily life overall. I feel like I haven’t been in a very good headspace for some reason, and I opted out of both the Anthem 5k and Rodes City Run 10k this month – two of the three races of the Triple Crown. I’ve done these races every year for more than a decade now, so to back out of both of them in the same year is unlike me. Despite increasing my meditation and social time this month – things that typically improve my mood, I haven’t seen a change in my apathetic (and sometimes downright blue) mood. Maybe it’s the unpredictable weather? Maybe it’s not been that bad overall and the events of this past week are foreshadowing all the good? Whatever it is, I’m ready for it to be over so that I can get back to feeling content and on-track with my goals.
Next week marks the end of month 2 of the GIVE IT UP challenge, and I’ll be recapping the numbers from all of my goals. Some were met, others were not. Some I went above and beyond and blew out of the water. Which ones were they, you ask? Well – with another six days remaining in the month we’ll both just have to wait to find out.
It’s been a rough week, to say the least, which includes a major snafu in my financial plan. To start, I ended up with a 3-day stomach flu resulting in loss of work on Monday and having to cancel seven patients. This majorly hampers my income for this week and I wasn’t pleased to have to call these folks to reschedule. On top of this, I found out that I owe a significant amount of money for taxes from 2017, as well as seeing an increase in my quarterly estimates and payroll taxes for 2018. This means I had to deplete my savings as well as rely on my credit card to ensure that it got paid. I could have possibly set up a payment plan, but the amount of the increase would have meant playing “catch up” for over a year and everything would have ended up being late. Although it sickened me to have to do it, knowing that the taxes will all be paid in full and on time is such a relief to my mind. With the new plan I have drawn up to get the cards paid off, it doesn’t look like the tax situation is going to set me back too far - a little extra a month on one, plus two months additional payments on another, won’t be too much of a burden overall.
March as a whole has had its ups and downs in regards to this challenge as well as daily life overall. I feel like I haven’t been in a very good headspace for some reason, and I opted out of both the Anthem 5k and Rodes City Run 10k this month – two of the three races of the Triple Crown. I’ve done these races every year for more than a decade now, so to back out of both of them in the same year is unlike me. Despite increasing my meditation and social time this month – things that typically improve my mood, I haven’t seen a change in my apathetic (and sometimes downright blue) mood. Maybe it’s the unpredictable weather? Maybe it’s not been that bad overall and the events of this past week are foreshadowing all the good? Whatever it is, I’m ready for it to be over so that I can get back to feeling content and on-track with my goals.
Next week marks the end of month 2 of the GIVE IT UP challenge, and I’ll be recapping the numbers from all of my goals. Some were met, others were not. Some I went above and beyond and blew out of the water. Which ones were they, you ask? Well – with another six days remaining in the month we’ll both just have to wait to find out.
Wednesday, March 14, 2018
Week 6: Social Media
One of the things that I wanted to “Give up,” when I started this project was how much time, and in what ways, I use social media. For the month of February, I was to stay off all social media altogether. However, Facebook in particular has served a purpose in that I have been able to get questions answered and get referrals from other clinicians on some of the professional groups that I am a part of, so this goal was to be a challenge so say the least. I was still taking on new clients at that time, and trying to build up to a specific number, so I didn’t want to stay off social media 100%, however, I needed to find a way to make my use of Facebook more productive and healthier for me mentally.
What I mean by this, is that I tended to spend a lot of down time looking through Facebook posts and it was seriously taking a toll on my mental health. If I was at a red light, I’d whip out the phone and open the app. If I was in a doctor’s office, same. At home alone and feeling bored – I’d pull out the phone or Ipad and spend an immeasurable amount of time looking at others’ updates and “oh so glamorous,” lives. I use that phrase not to be condescending, but to keep it real as to the way I was seeing things from my perspective.
In 2007, before I joined Facebook, I would catch up with friends a few times a month and use that time to learn all about the things that had gone on in their lives. If there was any comparing I was doing between my life and theirs, it was few and far between because I was seeing maybe one or two people, groups, or couples a month. Now, instead of hearing about what a great time the Carrico’s had on their vacation last month, I’m seeing the 50 other couples who are celebrating their date nights, anniversaries, another kiddo and any number of other milestones in their world. Logging onto Facebook forced me to see friend after friend going out on a Friday or Saturday night, living it up while I spent that time cuddled up with a few four-legged friends and some Netflix. And it wasn’t that I wasn’t (am not) happy to see my friends happy, but whether I wanted to or not I was constantly comparing my life with theirs.
Don’t get me wrong, I have a pretty spectacular life and rarely have those woe-is-me moments, but when it looks like EVERYONE is having such a great week, time and time again, it tends to do a number on my psyche. Now, with this constant access, I wasn’t seeing one or two people having a great time, I was seeing ALL THE PEOPLE having a great time. And yes, I know that Facebook and other forms of social media are the highlight reel that we tend to show the world. No one is posting the completely mundane times that they’re being total sloths, or that day or two they were super down in the dumps and didn’t shower for 48 hours - I know this on a conscious level. However, subconsciously, I couldn’t keep from comparing myself to others and allowing it to bring me down at times.
Not only was it the comparison to others causing a negative impact, but it was also the sheer time spent on this apparatus. I felt like a slave to my phone – almost as if it was a compulsion to pick up and eavesdrop on others’ lives whenever I had a spare moment. It was keeping me from being mindful of the things around me, and just taking a moment to breath. It honestly got to the point that I was being affected by the time and mental effort spent on this time-suck.
All of this being said, I wanted to find a way to be more productive with my time on Facebook without having to give it up altogether. As I stated before, keeping up professional contacts, getting information about the AT (Appalachian Trail), putting my name out there in the hopes of a referral are all very good ways that FB can be used – I was just using it in those ways and THEN some… a little too often.
My solution to this problem was this: I ended up unfollowing (not to be confused with de-friending) all 233 of my “friends,” and deleting myself from groups that no longer served a purpose in my life. I didn’t do this to shun anyone, and it’s not that I didn’t want to see what was going on in my friends lives – but I wanted to get updates on my own terms. If I was curious as to any goings on with a particular person, I would go to their page and peruse the posts. Instead of seeing 50 people’s awesome lives, I was seeing one person’s awesome life. The perks of doing things this way was two-fold – 1: I was less apt to do that whole comparison thing I spoke about earlier, and 2: I was able to keep the “catching up,” with folks to the old fashion way of having an actual, live conversation when we got together. No longer did I want to meet up with someone for dinner once a month and them relay some great news about their lives, only to comment, “Oh yeah, I saw that on Facebook!” I mean, that’s the way it was done pre-2007. What was wrong with going back to the old primitive ways again?
Along with this change, I also began posting less, and differently, than what I had before. You know the Timehop feature that comes up on a regular basis? Or the ol’ “On this day,” option that you can click on to the left of your page? What I noticed about my own past postings is they mostly fell into three categories: mundane, negative or humble brags. Think about that. The three things I was sharing most on the platform that was to represent me and my life were either boring, pessimistic or self-serving. I don’t want to be known as that person and I’d like to think that’s not who I am. And if it is, and I want to change it, I certainly don’t want an electronic diary of the unhealthy ways in which I used to put myself out there for the world to see. So… I decided to post less, and to be more mindful about what I do post. If I had to take a guess, I would say the majority of what I have posted over the past 6 weeks has been either pictures or videos of my cat and/or dog, links to this blog for those who are following, or questions that I wanted answered. Yes, sometimes I’d have to catch myself from typing up some nasty rebuttal about a Trump comment or the fact that we’ve seen more snow in the month of March than all winter, but the fact is I DIDN’T post those things. I kept it light, and I kept it positive.
The wonderful thing about this change is that I have noticed a decrease in my woe-is-me moments and overall negativity. I haven’t been sitting at home on a Friday night feeling sorry for myself and asking the Universe when it was MY TURN to meet a romantic partner, or why I couldn’t be out whopping it up with a group of friends, because those things just weren’t popping up in my head anymore. I’ve heard people use the phrase, “Facebook is the Devil.” I would have to disagree. Facebook is not the Devil. It is the way that we utilize Facebook that determines how it impacts our lives. If you’re someone who uses the statement, “I hate drama,” on the regular, maybe don’t comment on posts that you know are going to stir the pot. If you are unhappy in your relationship and are thinking about leaving – maybe pull the trigger and leave that relationship rather than messaging ex-girlfriends and making decisions that go against your values. And if you find yourself being adversely affected mentally and emotionally by what you see and read, maybe take that variable out of the equation and log on less.
What I mean by this, is that I tended to spend a lot of down time looking through Facebook posts and it was seriously taking a toll on my mental health. If I was at a red light, I’d whip out the phone and open the app. If I was in a doctor’s office, same. At home alone and feeling bored – I’d pull out the phone or Ipad and spend an immeasurable amount of time looking at others’ updates and “oh so glamorous,” lives. I use that phrase not to be condescending, but to keep it real as to the way I was seeing things from my perspective.
In 2007, before I joined Facebook, I would catch up with friends a few times a month and use that time to learn all about the things that had gone on in their lives. If there was any comparing I was doing between my life and theirs, it was few and far between because I was seeing maybe one or two people, groups, or couples a month. Now, instead of hearing about what a great time the Carrico’s had on their vacation last month, I’m seeing the 50 other couples who are celebrating their date nights, anniversaries, another kiddo and any number of other milestones in their world. Logging onto Facebook forced me to see friend after friend going out on a Friday or Saturday night, living it up while I spent that time cuddled up with a few four-legged friends and some Netflix. And it wasn’t that I wasn’t (am not) happy to see my friends happy, but whether I wanted to or not I was constantly comparing my life with theirs.
Don’t get me wrong, I have a pretty spectacular life and rarely have those woe-is-me moments, but when it looks like EVERYONE is having such a great week, time and time again, it tends to do a number on my psyche. Now, with this constant access, I wasn’t seeing one or two people having a great time, I was seeing ALL THE PEOPLE having a great time. And yes, I know that Facebook and other forms of social media are the highlight reel that we tend to show the world. No one is posting the completely mundane times that they’re being total sloths, or that day or two they were super down in the dumps and didn’t shower for 48 hours - I know this on a conscious level. However, subconsciously, I couldn’t keep from comparing myself to others and allowing it to bring me down at times.
Not only was it the comparison to others causing a negative impact, but it was also the sheer time spent on this apparatus. I felt like a slave to my phone – almost as if it was a compulsion to pick up and eavesdrop on others’ lives whenever I had a spare moment. It was keeping me from being mindful of the things around me, and just taking a moment to breath. It honestly got to the point that I was being affected by the time and mental effort spent on this time-suck.
All of this being said, I wanted to find a way to be more productive with my time on Facebook without having to give it up altogether. As I stated before, keeping up professional contacts, getting information about the AT (Appalachian Trail), putting my name out there in the hopes of a referral are all very good ways that FB can be used – I was just using it in those ways and THEN some… a little too often.
My solution to this problem was this: I ended up unfollowing (not to be confused with de-friending) all 233 of my “friends,” and deleting myself from groups that no longer served a purpose in my life. I didn’t do this to shun anyone, and it’s not that I didn’t want to see what was going on in my friends lives – but I wanted to get updates on my own terms. If I was curious as to any goings on with a particular person, I would go to their page and peruse the posts. Instead of seeing 50 people’s awesome lives, I was seeing one person’s awesome life. The perks of doing things this way was two-fold – 1: I was less apt to do that whole comparison thing I spoke about earlier, and 2: I was able to keep the “catching up,” with folks to the old fashion way of having an actual, live conversation when we got together. No longer did I want to meet up with someone for dinner once a month and them relay some great news about their lives, only to comment, “Oh yeah, I saw that on Facebook!” I mean, that’s the way it was done pre-2007. What was wrong with going back to the old primitive ways again?
Along with this change, I also began posting less, and differently, than what I had before. You know the Timehop feature that comes up on a regular basis? Or the ol’ “On this day,” option that you can click on to the left of your page? What I noticed about my own past postings is they mostly fell into three categories: mundane, negative or humble brags. Think about that. The three things I was sharing most on the platform that was to represent me and my life were either boring, pessimistic or self-serving. I don’t want to be known as that person and I’d like to think that’s not who I am. And if it is, and I want to change it, I certainly don’t want an electronic diary of the unhealthy ways in which I used to put myself out there for the world to see. So… I decided to post less, and to be more mindful about what I do post. If I had to take a guess, I would say the majority of what I have posted over the past 6 weeks has been either pictures or videos of my cat and/or dog, links to this blog for those who are following, or questions that I wanted answered. Yes, sometimes I’d have to catch myself from typing up some nasty rebuttal about a Trump comment or the fact that we’ve seen more snow in the month of March than all winter, but the fact is I DIDN’T post those things. I kept it light, and I kept it positive.
The wonderful thing about this change is that I have noticed a decrease in my woe-is-me moments and overall negativity. I haven’t been sitting at home on a Friday night feeling sorry for myself and asking the Universe when it was MY TURN to meet a romantic partner, or why I couldn’t be out whopping it up with a group of friends, because those things just weren’t popping up in my head anymore. I’ve heard people use the phrase, “Facebook is the Devil.” I would have to disagree. Facebook is not the Devil. It is the way that we utilize Facebook that determines how it impacts our lives. If you’re someone who uses the statement, “I hate drama,” on the regular, maybe don’t comment on posts that you know are going to stir the pot. If you are unhappy in your relationship and are thinking about leaving – maybe pull the trigger and leave that relationship rather than messaging ex-girlfriends and making decisions that go against your values. And if you find yourself being adversely affected mentally and emotionally by what you see and read, maybe take that variable out of the equation and log on less.
Saturday, March 10, 2018
Week 5
Five down, 47 to go. I will say that March has been easier (?) now that I’ve gotten the hang of how to balance things a bit better. I’m crushing my OTF, Yoga, Meditation and Strength Training goals so far – things that I failed to achieve in February. Making time, not giving it too much thought and just doing it have helped. For instance, not that I typically have a lot of down time, but last Friday I got home from work around 5:00 p.m. and had nothing planned the rest of the day. It was a day that I was scheduled to do some Strength Training, and although I wasn’t feeling it, I had a pep talk with myself: I could either spend 30 minutes on this and feel good that I accomplished the goal, or spend 5 hours sitting on the couch reading, watching TV and perusing the internet while essentially waiting to go to bed. I went with the former and I am now 75% done with my Strength Training goals for the month – and it’s only the 10th!
I’m also on-target to reach all other goals as well, but have had to make a few adjustments to the financial goals I set for myself. I got the opportunity to go on a 10-day European trip in May 2019 for the commemoration of D-Day. What a lot of people don’t know about me is that I have a fairly substantial interest in all things WWII, and this was an opportunity that I didn’t want to pass up. Considering it was so far away, the financial burden wouldn’t be too incredible as I had enough time to break up payments over a 14-month period. Now…. I know what you’re thinking – “But Connie, wasn’t the whole point of this Give It Up challenge to stop making purchases and pay off debts?” Why, yes it was/is. However…. Because another part of this challenge was also to get in the habit of being more mindful of my spending, and to allocate more money to experiences rather than things, I thought I’d give myself a mulligan on this one. Plus, I’m still on target to pay off my debts right around the time this trip happens, regardless of the extra money I’m having to spend on the trip itself. Yes, I am having to put in a few more hours at work than what I originally allotted, however, I’m lucky in that, within reason, I am able to work (and make) as much or as little as I want. To me, the extra time spent in the office was worth this trip.
Another tweak I’ve been thinking about making to my initial plan is the leniency on what I am allowed to spend my “Spending Money.” Currently, I give myself $80 a week to spend – and that goes to any extras from a pack of gum at the store to expenses not fully covered by what’s in my savings account (i.e. $14 of a recent race fee was paid from my Spending Money allotment as I only had $25 in my Race Fee savings at the time). Because the money is an allowance, I’m not sure I want to restrain WHAT this gets spent on; as long as I don’t go over the amount given, does it really matter where it goes?
It’s amazing, however, how quickly this money gets eaten up. Although I technically have it set up to take this $80 out in cash every Friday, if there was something I had paid for with my ATM card, I deduct that amount from what I take out in cash so that I’m sure not to overspend. I also keep track of ALL spending on a spreadsheet so, at the end of the month, I know exactly where the money went. I must say – it’s a good thing I love my dog as much as I do because those treats are EXPENSIVE! Luckily, in the 5 weeks I’ve been doing this I haven’t broken the budget. Here’s hoping I don’t blow a tire or the clothes dryer goes on the fritz!
Next week I’d like to share the changes that I’ve made to the way I’ve been using social media. My goal for February was to get off all social media for the month, but that wasn’t quite the way things worked out - but for good reason.
I’m also on-target to reach all other goals as well, but have had to make a few adjustments to the financial goals I set for myself. I got the opportunity to go on a 10-day European trip in May 2019 for the commemoration of D-Day. What a lot of people don’t know about me is that I have a fairly substantial interest in all things WWII, and this was an opportunity that I didn’t want to pass up. Considering it was so far away, the financial burden wouldn’t be too incredible as I had enough time to break up payments over a 14-month period. Now…. I know what you’re thinking – “But Connie, wasn’t the whole point of this Give It Up challenge to stop making purchases and pay off debts?” Why, yes it was/is. However…. Because another part of this challenge was also to get in the habit of being more mindful of my spending, and to allocate more money to experiences rather than things, I thought I’d give myself a mulligan on this one. Plus, I’m still on target to pay off my debts right around the time this trip happens, regardless of the extra money I’m having to spend on the trip itself. Yes, I am having to put in a few more hours at work than what I originally allotted, however, I’m lucky in that, within reason, I am able to work (and make) as much or as little as I want. To me, the extra time spent in the office was worth this trip.
Another tweak I’ve been thinking about making to my initial plan is the leniency on what I am allowed to spend my “Spending Money.” Currently, I give myself $80 a week to spend – and that goes to any extras from a pack of gum at the store to expenses not fully covered by what’s in my savings account (i.e. $14 of a recent race fee was paid from my Spending Money allotment as I only had $25 in my Race Fee savings at the time). Because the money is an allowance, I’m not sure I want to restrain WHAT this gets spent on; as long as I don’t go over the amount given, does it really matter where it goes?
It’s amazing, however, how quickly this money gets eaten up. Although I technically have it set up to take this $80 out in cash every Friday, if there was something I had paid for with my ATM card, I deduct that amount from what I take out in cash so that I’m sure not to overspend. I also keep track of ALL spending on a spreadsheet so, at the end of the month, I know exactly where the money went. I must say – it’s a good thing I love my dog as much as I do because those treats are EXPENSIVE! Luckily, in the 5 weeks I’ve been doing this I haven’t broken the budget. Here’s hoping I don’t blow a tire or the clothes dryer goes on the fritz!
Next week I’d like to share the changes that I’ve made to the way I’ve been using social media. My goal for February was to get off all social media for the month, but that wasn’t quite the way things worked out - but for good reason.
Wednesday, February 28, 2018
One Down, 11 To Go
Month 1:
The following are the numbers/statistics regarding how I did during the first month of my Give It Up experiment:
% of Income spent
Credit Card repayments: 30%
Mortgage: 14%
Taxes: 12%
Insurance: (life, medical, dental,
car, homeowners) 7%
Work Expenses: 6%
Various Savings Accounts: 6%
Student Loans: 6%
Home Living Expenses (phone,
electric bill, condo maintenance
fees, internet, Netflix,) 6%
Car payment 4%
Monthly pet fees (daycare,
insurance) 2%
Retirement 2%
Medical bills/Health
Savings Acct 2%
CPA fees 2%
Self-care (Gym, Float) 1.5%
Bank Fees .25%
Investments (additional) .25%
Grocery Budget: $200/month – Spent $168.87
Spending Money Budget: $320/month – Spent $315
Other expenses:
I took money out of my “Fun/Vacation” savings to pay for Hall and Oates concert tickets as well as to renew my yoga package. Additionally, I took money from my “Race Fee” savings to pay for the majority of a new triathlon suit, with the remainder being paid from my allotted spending money. I did not include these expenses in my breakdown above, as these savings plans are specifically for such spending.
Measurable “Add On” Goals:
(Number of times I achieved vs. planned)
Orange Theory workout (OTF) 6/12
Meditation 8/12
Outdoor activity 5/8
Strength Training 1/4
Yoga 4/4
Acts of Kindness 4/4
Social Activity 2/2
Massage 1/1
Float Therapy 1/1
Measurable “Give it Up” Goals:
Take-out tea 2/2
Eating out 5/5
Additional Goals:
• I was able to stick to my goal of no spending whatsoever on clothing, home goods, electronics, itunes music, high-end skin care.
• My goal of no pastries or donuts was missed when I did succumb to a tasty cheese danish at Starbucks on morning. Other than this, I
have not gone back on this goal.
• My goal of no snacks at the movies was missed only once when I bought nachos and a coke on a cinema gift card. I’m giving myself half
a win on this – the winning half going to the fact that I didn’t spend any money on said snacks, although the calories were still
there.
• I achieved my goal of drinking only water when eating out, to save on money and calories.
• Although there’s no easy way to measure, I feel like my road rage, cursing, self-deprecating talk and unnecessary apologies have
decreased as well.
Overall, it looks like I did well during this first month. As you can see, a huge portion of my income went to credit card debt as this is one of the main goals of this whole experiment. It’s interesting that I’m spending nearly the same amount on my mortgage as I am on taxes, but maybe not when you think about how much taxes actually cost us. I don’t like that I’m only putting 2% of my income back for retirement at this point but, again, the whole goal of this is to get unnecessary expenses paid off so that I can begin padding those accounts to the max – hopefully this is what I will be able to focus on in 2019.
OTF, Meditation, Outdoor Activities and Strength Training were the only areas I lacked in achieving my measurable goals – which is interesting since these are typically some of my favorite things. I can’t think of any good excuse as to why this is other than “life got in the way.” At the very least this gives me an idea of where I need to step it up for March and beyond.
As for additional spending, I've discovered it’s a good thing I do put additional money back into specific savings accounts for things that come up. As of today, I have separate savings accounts for:
Quarterly and Annual taxes, including CPA fees
Race Fees and gear
Emergency Living Expenses (this doesn’t get touched)
Vacation/Fun Fund
Practice (work) Expenses
If it hadn’t been for these accounts I couldn’t have paid for the Hall & Oates tickets (on my approved spending list, by the way), my yoga package and my tri suit.
The only thing that I’m tweaking for March is the amount of time I’m allotting for OTF, due to tri training starting soon as well as cutting back on monthly expenses, and trading out the “No Sweets” goal for the “No Television,” goal. Unfortunately, I went a little sugar-crazy at my last grocery visit and have some Little Debbie’s and Breyers ice cream left in the condo that are sure to be consumed for the simple fact that they’re there. By April, all of the on-hand sweets will have been eaten so there will be less temptation. To say the least, that will be an interesting month.
The following are the numbers/statistics regarding how I did during the first month of my Give It Up experiment:
% of Income spent
Credit Card repayments: 30%
Mortgage: 14%
Taxes: 12%
Insurance: (life, medical, dental,
car, homeowners) 7%
Work Expenses: 6%
Various Savings Accounts: 6%
Student Loans: 6%
Home Living Expenses (phone,
electric bill, condo maintenance
fees, internet, Netflix,) 6%
Car payment 4%
Monthly pet fees (daycare,
insurance) 2%
Retirement 2%
Medical bills/Health
Savings Acct 2%
CPA fees 2%
Self-care (Gym, Float) 1.5%
Bank Fees .25%
Investments (additional) .25%
Grocery Budget: $200/month – Spent $168.87
Spending Money Budget: $320/month – Spent $315
Other expenses:
I took money out of my “Fun/Vacation” savings to pay for Hall and Oates concert tickets as well as to renew my yoga package. Additionally, I took money from my “Race Fee” savings to pay for the majority of a new triathlon suit, with the remainder being paid from my allotted spending money. I did not include these expenses in my breakdown above, as these savings plans are specifically for such spending.
Measurable “Add On” Goals:
(Number of times I achieved vs. planned)
Orange Theory workout (OTF) 6/12
Meditation 8/12
Outdoor activity 5/8
Strength Training 1/4
Yoga 4/4
Acts of Kindness 4/4
Social Activity 2/2
Massage 1/1
Float Therapy 1/1
Measurable “Give it Up” Goals:
Take-out tea 2/2
Eating out 5/5
Additional Goals:
• I was able to stick to my goal of no spending whatsoever on clothing, home goods, electronics, itunes music, high-end skin care.
• My goal of no pastries or donuts was missed when I did succumb to a tasty cheese danish at Starbucks on morning. Other than this, I
have not gone back on this goal.
• My goal of no snacks at the movies was missed only once when I bought nachos and a coke on a cinema gift card. I’m giving myself half
a win on this – the winning half going to the fact that I didn’t spend any money on said snacks, although the calories were still
there.
• I achieved my goal of drinking only water when eating out, to save on money and calories.
• Although there’s no easy way to measure, I feel like my road rage, cursing, self-deprecating talk and unnecessary apologies have
decreased as well.
Overall, it looks like I did well during this first month. As you can see, a huge portion of my income went to credit card debt as this is one of the main goals of this whole experiment. It’s interesting that I’m spending nearly the same amount on my mortgage as I am on taxes, but maybe not when you think about how much taxes actually cost us. I don’t like that I’m only putting 2% of my income back for retirement at this point but, again, the whole goal of this is to get unnecessary expenses paid off so that I can begin padding those accounts to the max – hopefully this is what I will be able to focus on in 2019.
OTF, Meditation, Outdoor Activities and Strength Training were the only areas I lacked in achieving my measurable goals – which is interesting since these are typically some of my favorite things. I can’t think of any good excuse as to why this is other than “life got in the way.” At the very least this gives me an idea of where I need to step it up for March and beyond.
As for additional spending, I've discovered it’s a good thing I do put additional money back into specific savings accounts for things that come up. As of today, I have separate savings accounts for:
Quarterly and Annual taxes, including CPA fees
Race Fees and gear
Emergency Living Expenses (this doesn’t get touched)
Vacation/Fun Fund
Practice (work) Expenses
If it hadn’t been for these accounts I couldn’t have paid for the Hall & Oates tickets (on my approved spending list, by the way), my yoga package and my tri suit.
The only thing that I’m tweaking for March is the amount of time I’m allotting for OTF, due to tri training starting soon as well as cutting back on monthly expenses, and trading out the “No Sweets” goal for the “No Television,” goal. Unfortunately, I went a little sugar-crazy at my last grocery visit and have some Little Debbie’s and Breyers ice cream left in the condo that are sure to be consumed for the simple fact that they’re there. By April, all of the on-hand sweets will have been eaten so there will be less temptation. To say the least, that will be an interesting month.
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