Biking a Marathon

Oswego Harbor is missing it's lighthouse!

Lately I've been going easy on the workouts in an attempt to recover from what I think was either over use or just the result of taking on way too much and getting run down. Everything was going pretty terrible for the past week or so, unrelenting foot and leg cramps in my swim workouts, a general inability to breathe while running and breathing and muscle fatigue every hill on my normal bike route. If all of this was caused by donating blood then I think I'll wait to donate again after Tri season is over. Thankfully after a few days off, some iron pills and three absolutely wonderful days to sleep in, I finally feel better.

We took it easy yesterday and did a mild 12 mile bike loop cutting out most major hills. I felt like I could handle a bit more today but even I was surprised at what we accomplished. Angela and I took off with our bikes on a new route that brought us up and over some killer hills. We rode a 26.6 mile loop mostly on back roads out to Sterling and back. We stopped once to check out a possible open water swimming locale and then hiked back to the bikes to head for home. We stopped again to refuel at Ontario Orchards, looking like what I'm sure were some real beauties. I like taking our time and stopping along the way, especially when it's a warm day and I'm running low on water. So after our banana break we finished our 26.6 miles with a loop around the college in the crazy cold fog that has been hovering around the shores of lake Ontario as of late. When I say crazy cold fog I m

ean it. The temperature must drop a good 15 degrees and you can't see 50 ft past the shore. The lake water is pretty cold still but I don't remember any summer starting off with so much fog.

Oh and you'll be glad to know I wore my sunscreen both sunny biking days and despite a slight farmers tan I remain as blindingly white as ever : )

As usual the jumpstart back into training was a big one, hopefully with a little luck things will get back to normal this week.

The Steam station disappearing in fog

listening to: Everybody Needs Love/ Drive By Truckers

Definitions

pathetic |pəˈθetikadjective1 arousing pity, esp. through vulnerability or sadness : she looked so pathetic that I tried not to watch out of embarrassment for her. See note at moving .• informal miserably inadequate : her running ability was pathetic.
Today I could hardly run a full mile. Boomer stopped to sniff something and when the leash came to it's end he flipped ass over tea kettle. People looked at me like I should be reported to the animal abuse authorities. I felt bad about it but kept running and he bounced right back. I've seen the dog run full on into a wooden fence while looking the wrong way. He's a bigger klutz than I am, and that's saying something. Earlier today I managed to slam the freezer door under my chin which created a chain reaction of ricocheting my head off the wall and almost managing to get my head stuck between the two. I'm not sure how these things happen to me but it's clear now that Boomer and I are meant for each other.
regression |riˈgre sh ən|noun1 a return to a former or less developed state. : she was lax in her training and the ensuing regression had brought her back to square one.
Friday I donated blood for the first time, it was no where near as bad as I thought it would be. Just to be on the safe side I waited 24 hours before heading out for a real workout on the bike. I felt a bit light headed after our 12 mile loop but I was fine after a big lunch and a bunch of water. The next day I attempted the 12 miles again and had a bit of trouble. I also got a wicked sunburn, cycling requires sunblock, when will I learn? So I gave myself the next day off cause I was starting to feel run down. The next day I could only manage 20 minutes on the elliptical. Today my throat felt like it was closing and my whole body felt like lead. Running was not kind to me tonight. I can only hope the 3 day weekend will revive me, or else I'm going to ask for my blood back and hope my missing energy returns.
hopeful |ˈhōpfəl|adjectivefeeling or inspiring optimism about a future event : a hopeful sign | [withclause ] she remained hopeful that she could pull herself out of the slump she was desperately fighting to get out of.

Operation: Just Go Faster

I can now somewhat easily swim 600m

I have been able to bike 17+ miles for awhile now

I have successfully finished a 5k run

So this year will not be a matter of whether I can finish the triathlon it will be more about how fast I can finish.

I'm sort of over being disappointed with my 5k time. It was less than ideal, but I'm sure I didn't run my best that day. From this point forward I will be adding in drills and sprints and some faster shorter runs. In the pool I'll work on finding a good warm up, continue using my zoomers, throw in a few sprints here and there and push my overall distance further. On the bike I'm going to start riding the relatively flat tri course and getting some speed work outs in after our longer rides.

It would be infinitely more helpful to have some sort of coach or triathlon veteran to get a little advice from. The organized bike rides always seem to leave too early and I just end up watching the others quickly disappear ahead of me anyways. Maybe if I got the clipless pedals I'd stand a chance. I just wish everything to do with triathlons didn't cost so much! Tack on the pedals, shoes and cleats to aero bars and a wet suit and I'll be broke for the rest of the summer. I might have to make do with the gear I have this year. My wish list is always longer than the digits in my pay check can keep up with. I think I would seriously consider swimming the first leg of the Tri-Oswego race as a relay team if I had the wet suit. I have to have some protection from the evil seaweed and various fish monsters that live in the harbor. Plus the lake has to be freezing, I don't think blue is really my color.

Maybe I'll win the lotto or something. fingers crossed.

Results are In

Official race Results:

31:09 Net Time

10:02 Pace

961 out of 2003 overall

52 out of 127 in my age group

526 out of 1382 women

Weather Widget Woes

(insert expletive here)

First Official 5K

Well I met one of my goals today, I ran the whole race, albeit slowly. I actually don't know what my time wound up being. I think it was around 31 minutes which surprised me a little. I guess it's hard to gauge distances when you're just running random routes all the time. I was hoping I had been running at least a 9 minute mile pace lately. Guess it's a bit slower and I have a lot more work to do. At least now I know what to work on. The extra mile wasn't too hard to handle and I still had a lot left over to sprint for the finish line, once I realized I was so close to it. The start was hard because I wound up having to dodge a bunch of walkers and slower runners in front of me. I ran with Katie for the first mile and a half until I felt like I wanted to get the race over with. Once I took off I think I was maintaining a much faster pace but I was still at the tail end of the runners. I hope by the Triathlon I can get up to at least a 9 minute mile. After the swim and bike I feel like, for me, that would be a decent pace, last year I was around a 10:45 pace, mostly because I walked a bunch of it. No copping out this year, I'm not walking the swim even if I can touch and I'm not walking the run even if every nerve in my body is screaming out in protest. And my next 5k will be under 30 minutes whether I like it or not.

I'm not a runner but if I'm sticking with the Triathlons I'm at least going to make myself respectable. I should be faster than I am. I will be.

They had left over medals from the Kids run so Katie and I scored one on the way out. Hey, we're still kids at heart : )

Night Before Komen

Not working out is bad for me. I'm sitting here downing a pint of Benny & Jerry's Dublin Mudslide, which I gotta believe contains some sort of highly addictive substance. Other than stuffing my face I'm waiting out the wash cycle on my laundry so I have something to wear to the Komen Race tomorrow. There was an article in Runner's World recently about a guy getting tasered for running naked in a marathon. I'm thinking clothes are preferable to a taser. I walked around Sports Authority for 45 minutes today trying to find a new running shirt but I couldn't stomach spending $20 on a tank top because it has a check mark on it. Plus I really don't want more pink workout clothes and I think they were fully stocked for Komen. Or maybe there's just a high percentage of women's athletic clothing made in pink... which I resent if true. Anyway it's not a fashion show, it's a race, my sneakers are pink so I feel like that's enough to be supportive of the cause.

I gave the running a break for the last two days so yesterday I finally made it back to the pool. After my initial 600m on and off, 150m with Zoomers, and about 4 or 5 more laps the remaining swimmers left and I had the pool to myself. I started a circle swim in half of the pool and decided to see how far I could get. Before long 3 laps turned into 6 which turned into 10 and finally why not just do the whole 600m? And that's exactly what I did. No stopping, no gasping for air and not once did my feet hit the bottom. I wasn't even that tired or out of breath. Further confirmation that a mental block rather than of lack of ability is holding me back. Good to know I'm capable of the distance already but I'll have to focus more on getting over the panic in open water.

My goal for tomorrow is to run the full 5K, no matter how slow. If I'm being honest under 27 minutes would really make my day. Running with other people can sometimes mess with my rhythm so I'll have to concentrate on keeping a steady pace in order to finish strong. Apparently running with an ipod is frowned upon. If it weren't, my hypothetical playlist would be as follows:

4:05 See You Later, See You Soon/ Stephen Kellogg & The Sixers

Good pace song & aptly titled for the start line 4:05

4:21 Peaceful Easy Feeling/ Eagles

Good running rhythm song 8:26

4:04 I need a Dollar/ Aloe Blacc

I like the groove in this one 12:30

3:35 This Town/ OAR

This song was stuck in my head when I went skydiving, it apparently has a calming affect 16:05

3:25 Comeback Kid (That's my Dog)/ Brett Dennen

Past the halfway point, need to pick up the musical pace at least 19:30

3:36 Misery/ Maroon 5

I will most likely be wishing I didn't have a whole extra mile left at this point 23:06

3:26 Shot in the Dark/ Augustana

I love this song lately hopefully it'll inspire me to keep it up for a few more minutes 26:32

3:34 Fight Like a Girl/ Bomshel

I have a feeling in this race this song would be a good one to bring me home 30:06

I had to leave a lot of my favorites out, guess I'll have to learn to run longer.

My laundry is done, I need sleep, I'll report back tomorrow!

Sugar High

This week I'm all about the Komen Foundation Race for the Cure 5k on Saturday. Today at work we had our 4th annual bake sale to raise money to donate. I tend to get a bit carried away, both with making baked goods and also eating them. I was up till 12:30 last night putting the finishing touches on my mint chocolate covered oreos, peanut butter m&m dipped pretzels and white chocolate orange brunch muffins. My self restraint was tested to the limit today and sadly I have to report I caved, many, many times. So my day mostly consisted of roller coaster like sugar highs and the resulting crashes that followed. But I'm definitely not going to say I regret those awesome rice krispie treats I snacked on all day : ) Besides the money is going to a great cause and I've been running like crazy lately anyways, calories don't count when they're for charity! We managed to raise over $300 this year, not bad for a bake sale! I was pretty happy with that.

I'm thinking about making a ipod playlist for the race incase I don't run with anyone and need some motivation. I might have to include the Top Gun theme... it's very inspiring, as I learned on my run last night.

Little by little I've been going further, so with any luck and some determination I'll be able to run the entire 5k without stopping. I realize most people think of a 5k as a warm up run or as something any normal healthy adult could manage without much effort but to me it's a challenge. I think if this summer goes well I'll maybe attempt the 10kan this fall if I don't do the biking. I need some new goals. Angela's already talking half marathons, which sounds nice, but to a jogger-not-a-runner like me, it sounds nearly impossible. I much prefer cycling to running anyways. Oh and despite conveniently avoiding that other triathlon sport lately I do plan on someday in the near future returning to a pool. For now I need sleep, 4 hours last night was definitely not enough.

Theme song of the Week: Fight Like a Girl/ Bomshel

Bike Run Serve

Sleeping in today (till 7:45 anyways) was absolutely wonderful. I was feeling a lot better today and anxious to get out and enjoy the sun. By midday Angela and I were out at the lake ready to go out on our bike ride. The original plan was to ride the 12 mile loop but once we got going and warmed up a bit we added a few more turns and the 12 mile loop turned into a 20 mile, with a banana break at Ontario Orchard in the middle. I wanted to be proactive today so I had twice the normal amount of shotbloks plus the banana and thankfully I managed to avoid the leg cramps. As we rolled up back at our cars Angela said she felt like running, so off we went on our two mile loop. I very quickly remembered why a bike/run workout is called a brick, it takes a good mile before your legs quit feeling like lead. As we ran past the tennis courts we saw a few people playing and since it was such a nice day out we thought, why not make the best of the weather? So after the run we volleyed for a little while until hunger got the best of me and we were forced to seek nutrition.

So in essence, Angela and I did our own brand of Triathlon. Bike Run Serve : )

If I can stay motivated tomorrow I'll head to the pool and work on the other official sport of triathlon.

Listening to: The Big Bang/ Rock Mafia

Hit the Road Cold

Lately the only thing running is my nose.

I've never had a cold last so long. I thought it switched over to allergies late this week but I got fed up with feeling like crap and went to visit the doctor. Other than a low grade fever and typical allergy symptoms I got a clean bill of health and a bunch of blood work done. I won the doctor appointment lottery and got to be the practice patient for the new nurse who seemed like it was her first time ever drawing blood. The normal nurse declared I had beautiful veins and I would be perfect to practice on. Nice, I didn't even have to work for that compliment. Needless to say the rookie missed. A few years ago this would cue blue lips and tunnel vision but I think I've conquered my irrational fear of needle pricks. I mean after the tetanus shot that made my arm feel like someone beat me with a baseball bat, I talked myself into being a grown up for the uncomfortable minute or so that it took to successfully draw my blood. Maybe I can apply this adult mentality to the open water swim that completely terrifies me. We'll see soon enough, I think the CNY Tri club started their practices at Oneida Shores, I'll have to make my way out to one before long.

It would be nice to find a quick fix for my fatigue, like take this vitamin and you'll magically want to work out for 3 hours each day. My hopes are not high for the simple solution but if nothing comes up I'm thinking of cutting wheat out of my diet. I should probably cut out the excessive amounts of candy, but if I'm being totally honest even if it was a magical cure I'm not sure I'd make the sacrifice : )

So tomorrow come hell or high fever I'm hitting the pavement and getting back on track, this stupid cold will have to give up eventually right?

Listening to: Bleed Red/ Ronnie Dunn (seriously, I swear)

Ode to the Goat

This morning I woke up feeling a little better. I decided to tag along and be the personal photographer to my friends, the motivated Mountain Goat runners.

Angela and Amanda at registration bright and early, we left just before 8:00, I feel like that's like 5:00 AM for a weekend. The first race after the little kids were done was the 3K that Angela and Amanda ran in. They both did well and finished with good times.

After the 3K wrapped up the 10 mile Mountain Goat runners set off and we said goodbye and good luck to Kris. I still hadn't found Elyssa but I caught her as she crossed the finish line just before Kris came into view.

What a great way to find some motivation. I love being around active people, I always get inspired to sign myself up for another race whenever I go watch one. Even though it was a long day and I crashed in the afternoon for another serious nap, I had a lot of fun today.

Awesome Job guys!

After the nap I managed to pull my groggy and head cold ridden self into some semblance of a human being and went for a run with Boomer. We did our two mile loop again at a reasonable pace. If I'm feeling better this week I'll try to add some running drills into my run workouts or possibly add on a little distance. Gotta get ready for Komen!

For now I'm forced to stay up late to finish laundry. I washed all my workout clothes but not my work clothes, I think my priorities remain in the right place.

Listening to: Honey Bee/ Blake Shelton (I know, but it's catchy)

Running Partners

While we were at the Mountain Goat today I found out there is a 5k supporting the SPCA and people run with their dogs. Boomer's leash manners could use a bit of brushing up and two Syracuse 5ks in one weekend would probably be a lot for me to handle. It would be a lot of fun to bring my furry mutt of a running partner along for a race. If I hadn't already signed up for Komen I would have done the Six Legged 5K as I believe it's called.