20,400 yards in 6 days. I can feel parts of my shoulder and back that I didn't know existed.
I also ran about 35-36 miles this week. That might have been a bad idea. I could feel my shins today for a bit.
Biked a wimpy 24 miles outside and 2 hours inside on the trainer. I blame the weather and the lack of people to bike with. Really, I just need to toughen up. For all I know Lake Placid could be wet and windy again. I think I did run out of mental energy this week though and running is the easiest and least brain taxing thing to do.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Somehow
101 miles biked and 6600 yards swam this weekend. Lead off with a 7.7 mile run Friday afternoon. Don't ask how, I'm kind of surprised too.
Followed up yesterday's mental failure on the bike with an easy 3000 yd swim. Told myself I'd go bike today again but even 30 miles would be good. Waking up to 40 degree outside temperatures and the forecasts of 10-20 mph winds makes it hard to get outside. But it was sunny and dry and with winter approaching I feel I can start to count how many days left like these on my fingers, so it was time to suck it up and get out there. There was, as predicted, a very strong south wind and somewhat strong west wind. Despite the feeling that I was really not going anywhere despite my legs hurting I managed 15.1 mph average for the 43.7ish miles. I assume this was helped by the tailwind whenever I went north. And on the last stretch going north I got up to 28mph on flat land with a tailwind.
Then I raked the lawn... I am never owning a lawn. Or I am never planting trees in my lawn. Or I am moving somewhere where leaves don't fall. I don't care if it looks pretty it's just a pain!
Finally I went to the pool. And swam what I would like to think, a hard 3600 yds. Hard for two reasons. One, it included 10 200s on 4 minutes or less, which for me by myself is pretty good. And that I managed to descend them with my last 200 being the fastest! And two, my legs were burning pretty much from the time I got into the pool.
So, for the week, despite the wanting to die because of school, I got 17300 yds swam, 101 miles biked plus about an hour on the trainer, and 22 miles ran.
Followed up yesterday's mental failure on the bike with an easy 3000 yd swim. Told myself I'd go bike today again but even 30 miles would be good. Waking up to 40 degree outside temperatures and the forecasts of 10-20 mph winds makes it hard to get outside. But it was sunny and dry and with winter approaching I feel I can start to count how many days left like these on my fingers, so it was time to suck it up and get out there. There was, as predicted, a very strong south wind and somewhat strong west wind. Despite the feeling that I was really not going anywhere despite my legs hurting I managed 15.1 mph average for the 43.7ish miles. I assume this was helped by the tailwind whenever I went north. And on the last stretch going north I got up to 28mph on flat land with a tailwind.
Then I raked the lawn... I am never owning a lawn. Or I am never planting trees in my lawn. Or I am moving somewhere where leaves don't fall. I don't care if it looks pretty it's just a pain!
Finally I went to the pool. And swam what I would like to think, a hard 3600 yds. Hard for two reasons. One, it included 10 200s on 4 minutes or less, which for me by myself is pretty good. And that I managed to descend them with my last 200 being the fastest! And two, my legs were burning pretty much from the time I got into the pool.
So, for the week, despite the wanting to die because of school, I got 17300 yds swam, 101 miles biked plus about an hour on the trainer, and 22 miles ran.
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Mental Strength
I realized today how much mental strength triathlon requires. On weeks where my mind is completely on school I have almost no motivation to work out. And as much as I would like to think my mental strength is infinite, it is unfortunately finite, though probably stronger than a lot of people.
Nothing much to report, other than that I am still somewhat alive. I did not have the energy to do the olympic-distance-ish brick the tri club was holding today, so instead I did a 57 mile bike on my own. I'm actually not sure that took less strength though, since the wind changed direction and I seemed to have a headwind in every direction and I started bonking the last 10-15 miles.
I really miss home, whether it be Austin or New York. I think I'm just tired of being in the cornfields all by myself. I think the mid point of the semester just passed though... but the second half looks to be far worse than the first half, and the first half was horrible enough.
Nothing much to report, other than that I am still somewhat alive. I did not have the energy to do the olympic-distance-ish brick the tri club was holding today, so instead I did a 57 mile bike on my own. I'm actually not sure that took less strength though, since the wind changed direction and I seemed to have a headwind in every direction and I started bonking the last 10-15 miles.
I really miss home, whether it be Austin or New York. I think I'm just tired of being in the cornfields all by myself. I think the mid point of the semester just passed though... but the second half looks to be far worse than the first half, and the first half was horrible enough.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Milestone
I have been following the Ironman World Champs all day... starting with watching the swim start to watching the finish... amazing. This gives me inspiration for next year. Or now, actually.
And this morning I did a ride with a few guys from the tri club... About 15 miles straight south into a headwind, pacelining average 19mph! And then coming back was a nice tailwind though not so serious pacelining. And I added on 14 more miles to average 18.3 for a 44 mile ride. And this was NOT a race!
I think my goal for the coming year is to get fast on the bike. To see women splitting 20mph+... crazy. I want to do that!
And this morning I did a ride with a few guys from the tri club... About 15 miles straight south into a headwind, pacelining average 19mph! And then coming back was a nice tailwind though not so serious pacelining. And I added on 14 more miles to average 18.3 for a 44 mile ride. And this was NOT a race!
I think my goal for the coming year is to get fast on the bike. To see women splitting 20mph+... crazy. I want to do that!
Friday, October 10, 2008
Ironically
my time for the run wasn't that slow! At least not for me. I averaged an 8:10 minute mile which I guess felt slow since the other girls were clipping by me at 6:55 minute miles and 7:10 minute miles. So no wonder I thought I wasn't going anywhere. I did have the fastest female bike split though (out of 11)! I think it would have been faster too had my chain not gotten stuck when I was trying to get on after coming out of T1. And overall my bike split was 12th fastest, out of 32.
Official results:
400m swim: 8:55
Rank: 13
T1: 2:35
Rank: 29 (haha my wetsuit got stuck on BOTH feet)
12 mi bike: 38:45 (average 19.2mph)
Rank: 12
T2: 1:00
Rank: 22
3 mi run: 24:31 (average 8:10min/mile)
Rank: 24
Overall: 1:15:47.70
Rank: 17 (5th female)
So basically I got killed on the run. Which I guess was to be expected. So this week I took it easier and ran Monday and today for probably 11-12 miles total. The weather looks to be nice this weekend (like 70-80!) so I will probably take advantage of it and do some bike rides.
Speaking of which, yesterday I discovered that poor nutrition (and probably poor sleeping habits) really do affect the perceived exertion on the bike. Having been on a junk food binge since Saturday and not really eating anything nutritious or healthy, I pretty much died on a 50 mile ride I did with a friend from the tri club. And then I almost did die when the mailman almost hit me when I was riding back to my house after getting back to Urbana. But note to self, must eat better!
And taking a note from Pat's blog, I think eating healthier can go hand-in-hand with living more frugally. Instead of wasting money on junk food I will only buy healthy, nutritious staples that I need.
Official results:
400m swim: 8:55
Rank: 13
T1: 2:35
Rank: 29 (haha my wetsuit got stuck on BOTH feet)
12 mi bike: 38:45 (average 19.2mph)
Rank: 12
T2: 1:00
Rank: 22
3 mi run: 24:31 (average 8:10min/mile)
Rank: 24
Overall: 1:15:47.70
Rank: 17 (5th female)
So basically I got killed on the run. Which I guess was to be expected. So this week I took it easier and ran Monday and today for probably 11-12 miles total. The weather looks to be nice this weekend (like 70-80!) so I will probably take advantage of it and do some bike rides.
Speaking of which, yesterday I discovered that poor nutrition (and probably poor sleeping habits) really do affect the perceived exertion on the bike. Having been on a junk food binge since Saturday and not really eating anything nutritious or healthy, I pretty much died on a 50 mile ride I did with a friend from the tri club. And then I almost did die when the mailman almost hit me when I was riding back to my house after getting back to Urbana. But note to self, must eat better!
And taking a note from Pat's blog, I think eating healthier can go hand-in-hand with living more frugally. Instead of wasting money on junk food I will only buy healthy, nutritious staples that I need.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
End of Season
For real. Effectively it ended July 14 when I fell and life hasn't been the same since, but yesterday was my last race (or a sad attempt at racing, depending on how you look at it) so now it's... now what? Ordinarily in a past year I would be ramping up mileage at this time in preparation for a marathon or ultra, or perhaps tapering because a road race is looming, but right now my shins hurt and I am mentally tired. So I think that means it's time for me to make friends with the elliptical and the weights and my yoga DVDs. But I think I will continue with the biking as long as the weather allows.
I swam a lot this past week. Just over 15000m. Everything else was moot. As was the super short sprint race yesterday. Still waiting for official times and then will do some analysis of what not running for over 2 months on concrete/asphalt surfaces can do to a person.
I swam a lot this past week. Just over 15000m. Everything else was moot. As was the super short sprint race yesterday. Still waiting for official times and then will do some analysis of what not running for over 2 months on concrete/asphalt surfaces can do to a person.
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