Tupper Lake 1/2 Race Review

I had a great race! I have to state that before I start analyzing everything on what I could have done better. So for me the most important thing I learned from the race is that I am on target in my training and will have a great IM Race. But now on to the details......the swim was typical. I finally got to start in the 1st wave. It consisted of men and women ages 25-29. There seemed to be a lot of aggressive guys at the beginning. I got a good kick in the face and a guys swimming over me trying to get to a group of guys. If you are one of these people that feel like you need to hang on someone to get a good swim....stop. You are way better off sighting yourself and going in the correct direction. I ended up being the 1st female out of the h20 in my wave. I took it nice and easy and avoided getting my heart rate eye. Definitely felt like I good easily have swam the loop twice. Got on my bike and just started pedaling easy. Find a nice comfortable rhythm. Made sure to spin up the hills and not go too hard on the downhills. My goal was to go under 3 hours and I got back in 2hours and 55minutes. Thank you Luke for getting me a new crank. I was so concerned about not being able to spin up the hills with my old gearing system so Luke put his cylcocross crank on my TT bike and it worked like a charm. On to the run. This was my main focus of the race. I wanted to be able to run my 1/2 time that I ran in the spring (2.08) but I also just wanted to feel strong. The transition from the bike to the run went surprisingly well. My back was a little tight but nothing like I felt in training. I had a nice steady pace going. I somehow did not see the mile markers so I wasn't able to get my splits. I started to walk through the rest stops. I felt like I had enough food but I was tired and felt like I let my heart rate was getting to high and then I would walk to get it down. I wish I would have pushed through and not walked. I ended up running around 2 hours and 16 minutes..not too bad, but not what I wanted. The good part was that everyone was saying it was a slower run and had slower times than usual. My overall time was 5 hours and 44 minutes. Best time! I am ready to get back to training and am going to really put in the effort to focus on the bricks and run workouts. Especially running at a hard intensity. http://www.sportstats.ca/display-results.php?lang=eng&racecode=44405&first=&last=gerhart&bibnum=&page=&sortby=place&city=&sizeofpage=200&limit=2000

Boston, NY, Vermont =EXHAUSTED

The past few days have been very busy and I AM TIRED! I went from the training clinic in Boston, home to Vt, did my long run, woke up at 5 for Masters, drove to Tupper Lake, NY, rode the 1/2 course, did a t-run, drove home and woke up bright and early from work and am pulling a 12-hour shift. Oh and I snuck out for a short run. I intended it to be for 60-minutes but could only pull off 30 because I am tired. The good news is that I really think I like the bike course at Tupper Lake. It starts off with a lot of steep climbs but then gets pretty rolly with a lot of great downhills. The key to success will be holding back on the downhills trying to avoid pushing a big gear and to spin up and over the hills. This is all I can manage as this week is going to a tough training week but Monday will be a nice short 4-day taper for TUPPER!

Getting Educated

Wow, I do not even know where to begin this post. I am in the middle of USAT's Level 1 coaching certification weekend. First of all, I have to say that Luke is the Best Boyfriend in the world. He made it possible to attend this clinic on such a short notice. I have been wanting to attend this clinic for many years but I have always had poor planning with it selling out or not having the cash to attend. This year's clinic in Boston sold out before I even knew that it was happening. Luckily, a second clinic opened (which I discovered through a random email) and I was able to get in (b/c of my wonderful boyfriend lending me the moola).
This weekend has been above and beyond anything that I could have imagined it to be. First off, Bobby McGee (http://www.bobbymcgee.com/) was the presenter for Running Skills and Mental Training. Unbelievable! He had coached some of the most amazing athletes and is one of the most engaging speakers I have heard. He also passed on the critical knowledge, which I had most of down, but helped reinforce. Yesterday, Bob Seebohar (http://fuel4manceblog.blogspot.com/) lectured on Sports Nutrition. Again, one of the best out there and also gave me lots of new info! This workshop has really lit a fire in me to get out and find a way to get involved with coaching again. It has also helped me know where I need to improve and where I am successful.
Of course, the training has been limited. Before leaving, I had a great TT (i think, results have not been posted yet). The breathing felt better and I felt like I could push hard. Nice long run with a 20-min race effort in the middle on Thursday. I got out on the bike today and all I have to say is "I love VT"! Very funny considering that I am always telling Luke that I want to move around. I have completely lost any skill that I had for riding in traffic. Tomorrow is only a 1/2 day of lecture so I should be able to get back to VT for my long run and then off to Tupper Lake to ride the race course on Monday! Having fun and feeling good :)

Not a Fun Race Report

So Sunday was my 1st triathlon of the season. And it was not the way that I wanted the season to start. I should have thought something was not right when the day before everyone that I talked to seemed to think I was tired or sick. Mentally, I was ready and excited to race. The tri started out with a 500 meter pool swim. Normally, I go out really hard and die because you have been sitting around waiting for 1 hour to swim. I was smarter this year and went out easy and ended up winning the swim. Although it was fun to finish first, my time was 3 seconds slower than last year. Not a big deal but I could begin to feel that something was off. The bike course did not get any better. I tried to spin as much as I could but I could not go anywhere. I could not get my body to push itself. The run: ahhhhhh.......i do not know where to begin, I have never felt so bad off the bike. My chest felt like it was compressed, I had to keep popping my ears, and I walked so much. It was kind of scary having that feeling of not being able to breathe. Very weird and also very embarrassing considering the race was only 3.1 miles. I am not sure what was wrong with me race day. I have been having allergies and a sore throat all week but I am not sure if that could have produced such an awful race. I do not get too upset over bad races and am feeling very confidant in my training. The bummer is that this is the only tri that I am doing before my 1/2.
Monday was much better with a long 70-mile bike ride. I have to get my long ride in on Monday because of the race this weekend. My breathing was better because I was working at such a low intensity and it did take a good 50-miles for the legs to warm up. I guess I will just have to try to push my brick workouts a little harder to see if that will better prepare me.

Fitting it all in!

When I started my IM training I thought that it would take a lot of motivation and drive to keep myself from missing my workouts. Lately it seems that I am having trouble knowing what to cut out and keep in. For instance, this Sunday I will be racing in the Swimming Hole Tri. It is a local race with the swim being held in the pool. It is not something I am training for but I still want to do good. In my mind, I am planning a long run on Sat and a long ride on Sunday, knowing that this will probably not be the best for my body. I also want to be able to compete in all of the time trials and the fun Elmore Tri's. Again, knowing that I need to tell myself to just pick one. And it would be nice to get a full day off. But for now, my motivation is high and my body is feeling really good.
Wednesday was a new TT on Country Road in Montpelier. It was a very hilly, rolling course. I felt strong but know that I did not push as hard as I could have simply b/c of not knowing the course. It will be interested to see what my time was in comparison to the others once results are posted. I had a great run yesterday with 4x4 minute pick-ups. I am really feeling strong at my pick-up pace and am hoping to push that paces this Sunday.
My goal for this race is to stay mentally strong on the run and work the hill section on the bike course. I know that if I stay strong and fast feet on the run I will place well with a good time. Every year that I have done this race I have choked on the run. This year will be different!

Back in the Swing of Things

So after a rainy, cold week and a very busy time at work I am finally back on the training wagon. I really only missed 2 workouts during a recovery week but left me feeling out of sorts. I also had to do my long ride on Monday and actually skipped my long run. Although I will be doing my long run today but again skipping my long run next week because of a race. It is very hard to set your schedule when working weekends and although I know it doesn't matter if my long rides/runs are not on the weekends it just doesn't feel right. But anway, my long ride went awesome yesterday. 56 miles on my time trial bike and I would guess that I spent at least 3/4's of the time in aero position. My legs felt strong and my nutrition was great. I did a fast-paced 15-minute T-run afterwards. I am trying to get my body used to a hard heart rate for this upcoming race on Sunday. My mission this week is to search our a great women's saddle for my tri bike. I made some small adjustments to my seat yesterday (or I should say, Luke made the adjustments) which did help but the seat is just crappy as it is.

I also am officially registered for the 3-mile Kingdom Swim on July 25th (www.kingdomswims.org) . I am also contemplating if I should race the Musselman 1/2 on July 19th. I did this 1/2 last year and it was great. The only 1/2 I will be racing this year is Tupper Lake at the end of June. I feel like it would be beneficial to get in 2 1/2s before IM but the dates are not what I ideally would want. I feel like I should have more time in between to rest and get in solid training time. I know races are great for you but it drives me nuts when I don't get in everything I designed in my training placed (OCD).

Today, nice 8-mile Stowe loop and weights.