WW04: Jan 19-25 + a race report

Only 10hrs and 12min of training this week due to a rest day and easing up for the 3M Half Marathon this morning.

Overachieved this week and got 26.3 miles total, so still on track with a little buffer now.

Work has been getting more and more stressful and it's a good day when I can get out to do my training sessions when I planned them. Overall, life is pretty exhausting - physically from training and mentally from work - with not much time to recover. I'm either sleeping, working, or training.

I dislike not being able to give my all in races; I pay money and get up early to do them so I want to be able to give my best effort. However, even I have a mental limit, and I hit mine this past Friday at work. Then, all the Saturday errands, plus needing to do some work and knowing I'd be working Sunday afternoon after the race definitely did not help with the mental exhaustion or getting me in the right mindset for the race. Originally my goal had been 1:30-1:35, so with the recent events, I went in hoping for a sub-1:35 but not really knowing what was going to happen.

The start was cold; I had on a long-sleeved Atomic shirt, long capris, and compression socks plus a throwaway hoodie on top. I started with the 1:35 pace group but going strong at the start has never been a strength, and my feet were frozen. So I let them go and ran with a friend for about the first 5-6 miles. Overall, ended up slightly under pacing the first half.

Around mile 6 the legs decided they were ready to start moving, so I picked it up. And in typical Amy fashion, I ran out of miles to quite make it in the 1:35 target. But back to the mental fatigue - it was definitely a challenge the whole way through to keep my mind keep going. My legs have run 13.1 miles many times over, at slower paces for sure, but I was confident they would survive the distance. It was one of those "meh" races. I know in other scenarios my brain would have locked on the sub-1:35 goal and I'd have executed better, but this time my all  to give was a lot less all.

Part of my disappointment lies in that 3M is known as a PR course - it's net downhill with no steep uphills. I've been running more this year, yet it's less than 3 minutes faster than the Austin half last year. And, so far, not even sore. I'm exhausted from getting up early and all the work, but not the satisfying leg soreness that comes from a great workout.

WW03: Jan 12-18

Both work and training load increased this week. Something like 60 hrs of work, mostly front loaded, and 14.25 hrs of training. With that amount of work there's pretty much no time to recover - basically if I'm not training or sleeping I am working. Hence, I am tired.

Hit the running quota at 20.3 miles over 3 runs. Jocelyn and I are still on track!
Other accomplishment: Swam 15000 yards for the first in a week in quite awhile as well.

WW02: Jan 5-11

11 hrs and 48 min for the week.

24.4 miles over 4 runs.

Biggest challenge - fitting everything in. When the first meeting of the day sometimes starts at 7a and the last meeting ends around 8:30-9pm, it means I'm thinking about work for ~14 hours each day. Trying to fit workouts around all the meetings and daily deliverables gets interesting at times. Sometimes I wish I had a computer program for my life that could give me the optimal way to schedule everything.

Jan 1-4

Jocelyn and I are trying to run 2015 miles this year. So that means 1008 miles each, approximately 20 miles per week.

Jan 1-4: 18.75 miles (abbreviated since 2015 started on a Thursday)

Total training load for the entire week (Dec 29 - Jan 4) : 11hrs 24min (a 50%+ increase over any week in December)

2015 Forecast

My last post was a summary of 2014. Basically, 2014 was the year of trying to do everything but not doing anything well. I had 3 different job functions throughout the year (usually overlapping); started living with my boyfriend and his cat; continued faithful attendance at Atomic (3x a week most weeks); and raced a full ironman, 2 halfs, and a bunch of shorter races.

So therein lies my 2015 goal - FOCUS. 2015 also happens to be my tenth year in triathlon and my last year in the 25-29 age group. It is also the first year in a 6-year goal to make it back to Kona by 2020. I could probably write my life story and how I grew as a person in those 10 years, but that's for another post.

To commemorate 2015, I bought a new Cervelo P3 in November and hired a new coach, Scott DeFilippis. My old tri bike was from 2009 and there have been numerous aero improvements in the years since. I also haven't been coached 1:1 since 2012 when I was training for IMLou. Thus, I figured a good way to get myself back on track was to go back to 1:1 coaching to get me a bit more focused (pot committed and personal responsibility motivations).

I'm also planning to cut back to 2, maybe 3 once in awhile, sessions at Atomic. Their 16-week strength cycle based on Juggernaut just ended, and think I made some structural gains that will help prevent injury this coming season. Also, my shoulder hates bench press.

The races I have lined up for 2015 so far are:

• 3M Half Marathon (Jan 25)
• Austin Half Marathon (Feb 15)
• Burnet Tri Olympic (Apr 12)
• Challenge Knoxville Half (May 17)

The second half of the season is still up in the air. Probably Redman Half in OKC in September since it is USAT Long Course Nationals and a qualifer for Worlds 2016... also in OKC. 

There is also Jocelyn's wedding in September to be planned and attended. That's my biggest non-triathlon event so far. 

My other 2015 goal to work on is to eat more carbs. In non-sugar form. This will always be a work in progress; I've been a disordered eater since I was 16 and old habits die hard. Pump and Shred in 2013 taught me the importance of protein and this past year I've been reading a lot more on carbs and trying to get it through my brain that carbs will enhance my performance and not just make me fat. So as in 2014 where I structured my meals around a protein source, I will go into 2015 still making sure to get adequate protein while also putting an emphasis on eating carbs around workouts and during workouts - anything to help optimize performance on the road, in the water, and at the gym.