Changes in my racing attitude have been made.
I will not be racing except for twice this year. Once in July for the Ironman 70.3 and once in October for the Chicago Marathon.
This doesn't mean I still won't be doing a race every month until December. It just means those will be totally for fun and I will not be pushing any pace on the hunt for a PR. I determined at my last sprint tri that in fact something needed to change otherwise I'd quit racing all together after this year. True racing is pushing your body to it's limit. It's a total physical and mental challenge. It takes total control and focus. Not just during the race but before it as well. It causes me to have a lot of race day anxiety and I just don't need any more of that in my life right now.
So my next race is May 15. The Chicago Spring 1/2 marathon. The weather has got to be better by then right? Anyway, I made the announcement to everyone that I will not be racing. I will be running with my Dad. When I told this to my father he looked puzzled. Why would you do that? Because I want to Dad. He proceeded to tell me his pace and that it would be slow. Yea, I know Dad that's ok with me. Running with him in Disney was fun and I decided I need more fun.
My mantra:
It's all about the medals.
It's not about time.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Monday, April 18, 2011
The Last Miami University Triathlon
This year marked year number 4 for this race and it is to be the last year. With my sisters ending their college education there is no way I would drive 6 hours to race a sprint tri. But of course it was much more about spending time with friends and family. Enjoying college life even at age 39 with a sprint tri thrown in for fun.
Ha, did I say fun? This was not fun, at all. I realized the other day that I don't find racing fun anymore. That is not a good thing. How to get the fun back is back on the top of my list. What's the point in doing these races if your miserable? I need to relax, calm down and breathe. I need to not worry about what might happen and just enjoy what does happen.
I get terrible race day anxiety and Sat morning was no different. You would think after 3 years of doing the same race at a distance that should be easy for me would not cause such stress. I couldn't eat, I paced, I waited for the car to get packed and headed the whole 1 mile to the recreation center where the pool swim is located. Picked up my chip and headed to transition. The weather, did I mention the weather? Crap is what it was. As I set up my stuff in transition I had to make the decision to bag most items to keep them dry or to risk leaving them out and hope the rain would hold off. I decided better safe than sorry. It added time to transition but at least when I got back to transition everything would be dry.
With a temp of about 50 you would think perfect. Wrong. It was 50 but with 20-25 mph winds, rain, hail.
After what seemed like an eternity we were called out to the pool. With my Dad behind me off we went. I took my sweet time for the first 100m just to make sure my breathing stayed under control. I passed a few people and by the time I hit 150m there was no one in my way so I sped up slightly. With a swim time of 8:48 plus running around the transition area before hitting the mat the time was 9:22.
It was now raining. Socks, bike shoes, shirt, jacket, sunglasses, helmet, bike. Off I went. This course was new this year. Hoping it could never be worse than years past, I would be wrong. This by far is an extremely challenging course of 12.8 miles. There was really no flat parts. I would say 2/3 were uphill and the other third a combo of flat and very steep downhills. With the roads being very wet and rain pelting you and the wind knocking you around there would be not much time in areo position. It was a matter of just getting through it. With a time of 50:52 I was not very competitive on the bike.
My husband told me prior to the race that he wanted to run with me. The run portion is a basically flat 5k through campus. However it seems to be one of the hardest 5k I've done. It seems to take forever to get to the 1/2 way mark. This year was no different. I had to slow my husband down at the beginning as I still had my bike legs attached to me. The first 1/2 mile, torture. I wanted to walk so bad. What's funny is you have no concept of how fast your running after you get off the bike. It felt like 11 minute miles at first then to 10 then to 9:30. Then at the end I figured I hit about a 9:15 pace. In the beginning of the run my husband pulled me through by the end I was pulling him. We both were ready to stop! My run time was 28:37 a pace of 9:12.
I ended up with a total time of 1:32:02. 53 seconds faster than last year. It's not much but since the weather was horrible and the bike course harder any improvement is great. I was hoping to hit under 1:30 but it wasn't meant to be. Had the weather been right I would of hit my goal.
Some of you may know I that had another very specific goal that day. To beat a particular guy whom shall remain nameless. Last year I had the same goal and he beat me by 53 seconds. I was determined that wouldn't happen again. However I was told the night before the race that he was not registered and wouldn't be there. Smart man. Had he shown up I think not only would I of practically killed myself to beat him but others were in line to give him a piece of their minds too. So with my 53 second faster time this year. We tied. Really??? Tied?? Guess I'll never have the chance to chick that 22 year old guy.
Typically I am wiped after a race. Stomach in knots, can't eat, drink and am miserable. Again no fun. This time I tried something different. I ate IMMEDIATELY after the race. I ate a doughnut and had a big glass of OJ. My stomach flipped and it was opposing the food but I forced it down quickly. After a few hours and lunch I was back to normal. YES!!!! I could actually enjoy the BBQ my sisters had with friends and family that afternoon, yes even in the rain. Played some games, ate lots of food, had some beer.............good times.
Kudos go out to the family who stood outside in the rain probably colder than I was since they weren't racing. To my sisters and friends for being involved with the triathlon organization. To my oldest who volunteered his time for a total of about 9 hours in the crappy weather to help out the racers. To my husband who kindly ran with me. I think I may want him to do that again. How about the 13 miles in the 1/2 ironman? To my Dad who keeps me doing these races.
Special mention to Kristy my sister.............she was the one who made sure every racer had a medal this year. So after 4 years I now have included a Miami University Student Foundation Triathlon medal to my rack.
This year it's all about the medals.
Ha, did I say fun? This was not fun, at all. I realized the other day that I don't find racing fun anymore. That is not a good thing. How to get the fun back is back on the top of my list. What's the point in doing these races if your miserable? I need to relax, calm down and breathe. I need to not worry about what might happen and just enjoy what does happen.
I get terrible race day anxiety and Sat morning was no different. You would think after 3 years of doing the same race at a distance that should be easy for me would not cause such stress. I couldn't eat, I paced, I waited for the car to get packed and headed the whole 1 mile to the recreation center where the pool swim is located. Picked up my chip and headed to transition. The weather, did I mention the weather? Crap is what it was. As I set up my stuff in transition I had to make the decision to bag most items to keep them dry or to risk leaving them out and hope the rain would hold off. I decided better safe than sorry. It added time to transition but at least when I got back to transition everything would be dry.
With a temp of about 50 you would think perfect. Wrong. It was 50 but with 20-25 mph winds, rain, hail.
After what seemed like an eternity we were called out to the pool. With my Dad behind me off we went. I took my sweet time for the first 100m just to make sure my breathing stayed under control. I passed a few people and by the time I hit 150m there was no one in my way so I sped up slightly. With a swim time of 8:48 plus running around the transition area before hitting the mat the time was 9:22.
It was now raining. Socks, bike shoes, shirt, jacket, sunglasses, helmet, bike. Off I went. This course was new this year. Hoping it could never be worse than years past, I would be wrong. This by far is an extremely challenging course of 12.8 miles. There was really no flat parts. I would say 2/3 were uphill and the other third a combo of flat and very steep downhills. With the roads being very wet and rain pelting you and the wind knocking you around there would be not much time in areo position. It was a matter of just getting through it. With a time of 50:52 I was not very competitive on the bike.
My husband told me prior to the race that he wanted to run with me. The run portion is a basically flat 5k through campus. However it seems to be one of the hardest 5k I've done. It seems to take forever to get to the 1/2 way mark. This year was no different. I had to slow my husband down at the beginning as I still had my bike legs attached to me. The first 1/2 mile, torture. I wanted to walk so bad. What's funny is you have no concept of how fast your running after you get off the bike. It felt like 11 minute miles at first then to 10 then to 9:30. Then at the end I figured I hit about a 9:15 pace. In the beginning of the run my husband pulled me through by the end I was pulling him. We both were ready to stop! My run time was 28:37 a pace of 9:12.
I ended up with a total time of 1:32:02. 53 seconds faster than last year. It's not much but since the weather was horrible and the bike course harder any improvement is great. I was hoping to hit under 1:30 but it wasn't meant to be. Had the weather been right I would of hit my goal.
Some of you may know I that had another very specific goal that day. To beat a particular guy whom shall remain nameless. Last year I had the same goal and he beat me by 53 seconds. I was determined that wouldn't happen again. However I was told the night before the race that he was not registered and wouldn't be there. Smart man. Had he shown up I think not only would I of practically killed myself to beat him but others were in line to give him a piece of their minds too. So with my 53 second faster time this year. We tied. Really??? Tied?? Guess I'll never have the chance to chick that 22 year old guy.
Typically I am wiped after a race. Stomach in knots, can't eat, drink and am miserable. Again no fun. This time I tried something different. I ate IMMEDIATELY after the race. I ate a doughnut and had a big glass of OJ. My stomach flipped and it was opposing the food but I forced it down quickly. After a few hours and lunch I was back to normal. YES!!!! I could actually enjoy the BBQ my sisters had with friends and family that afternoon, yes even in the rain. Played some games, ate lots of food, had some beer.............good times.
Kudos go out to the family who stood outside in the rain probably colder than I was since they weren't racing. To my sisters and friends for being involved with the triathlon organization. To my oldest who volunteered his time for a total of about 9 hours in the crappy weather to help out the racers. To my husband who kindly ran with me. I think I may want him to do that again. How about the 13 miles in the 1/2 ironman? To my Dad who keeps me doing these races.
Special mention to Kristy my sister.............she was the one who made sure every racer had a medal this year. So after 4 years I now have included a Miami University Student Foundation Triathlon medal to my rack.
This year it's all about the medals.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
It's Here
I'm 3 days away from my first Triathlon of the year.
This will be my 4th attempt at this race.
Hoping to break the 1:30 mark. With the predicted weather, I'm not so sure that is going to happen.
There are medals this year, YEA!!
So what am I doing to prepare for this race? Nothing. The only thing I have done so far is change up the schedule for the week. Yet in the next two days I have to figure out how to fit in a 40 mile bike, 4.6 mile run and a 9.3 mile run. That isn't much of a taper. So I think I may scale that down. How about a 20 mile bike today followed up with a 4 mile run if I feel like it and tomorrow a 7 mile run?
I hesitate to do any workout as I'm more sore this week than I have been since training started. We are in week 3 of base training and the volume is getting high. With that I have done yard work and two days of painting in the last week. This makes for a very sore all over body experience. Even my Recovery e21 tablets aren't doing the trick. I think I'll take a little more of them today. Lucky for me next week is a recovery week. Can't wait.
Did you know Easter is almost upon us? What have I done to prepare for this? Nothing. I see a pattern here. Sounds like I do a lot of nothing. Yet I seem to be constantly on the go right now. Between training, home improvements, appointments, chores, track, baseball and the school play I always have something to do or a place to be. Mix this with poor sleeping and anxiety and you have a very sore and tired Mom.
Maybe instead of that 7 mile run tomorrow a massage would do the body better. Yeah, right, like I would do that. The whole time I would be thinking about what run I'm missing.
We hit the road on Friday to spend the weekend at Miami University. One of the last times I'll be visiting. My sisters graduate in a few weeks. It's been a fast and fun 4 years watching them enjoy those college years. Reality is right around the corner for them. But for this weekend it's all about racing, family and fun.
This will be my 4th attempt at this race.
Hoping to break the 1:30 mark. With the predicted weather, I'm not so sure that is going to happen.
There are medals this year, YEA!!
So what am I doing to prepare for this race? Nothing. The only thing I have done so far is change up the schedule for the week. Yet in the next two days I have to figure out how to fit in a 40 mile bike, 4.6 mile run and a 9.3 mile run. That isn't much of a taper. So I think I may scale that down. How about a 20 mile bike today followed up with a 4 mile run if I feel like it and tomorrow a 7 mile run?
I hesitate to do any workout as I'm more sore this week than I have been since training started. We are in week 3 of base training and the volume is getting high. With that I have done yard work and two days of painting in the last week. This makes for a very sore all over body experience. Even my Recovery e21 tablets aren't doing the trick. I think I'll take a little more of them today. Lucky for me next week is a recovery week. Can't wait.
Did you know Easter is almost upon us? What have I done to prepare for this? Nothing. I see a pattern here. Sounds like I do a lot of nothing. Yet I seem to be constantly on the go right now. Between training, home improvements, appointments, chores, track, baseball and the school play I always have something to do or a place to be. Mix this with poor sleeping and anxiety and you have a very sore and tired Mom.
Maybe instead of that 7 mile run tomorrow a massage would do the body better. Yeah, right, like I would do that. The whole time I would be thinking about what run I'm missing.
We hit the road on Friday to spend the weekend at Miami University. One of the last times I'll be visiting. My sisters graduate in a few weeks. It's been a fast and fun 4 years watching them enjoy those college years. Reality is right around the corner for them. But for this weekend it's all about racing, family and fun.
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Questions
I think I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed. What did I get myself into? In two weeks I have my first triathlon of the season. It's after that race that I'm worried. I have a race every month with the exception of June for basically the rest of the year. I have some very difficult training and racing ahead of me.
Today I barely gutted out a 5.5 mile run. I mean barely. I stopped to many times to count. Ate two, yes two packs of beans and nothing would help me feel smooth. I got two side stitches. My heart rate was a tad high but still in zone 2 yet I felt like I just couldn't do it. I slowed down. Shuffling along felt just as difficult if not more so until I picked it up again and realized nope 10:40 minute miles would have to do for the rest of the run. Three tenths of a mile after that I stopped. I quit.
Now for the past hour I have thought about what I did. Did I quit and give up? Or did I listen to by body and give it the rest it needs? Did I just make next weeks 8.4 mile run that much harder? Maybe I should change my long run day? After having 10 workouts in 5 days then having to run long on Sat maybe isn't smart. But is it? Running on tired legs and body is exactly what you have to learn to do for racing. I haven't slept well or at all for 4 nights this week. Did that have something to do with it? Dinner last night was fish fry. YUCK. Nothing healthy, all fried. I came home last night feeling like I had a brick in my stomach. I'm on this new medication. Is it affecting me enough that I should stop taking it? So many questions.
I have been struggling with the running lately. It now has become the hardest of the three sports for me right now. Funny as that is how I started this athlete life of mine. Each run no matter how long or short seems harder than it should be. I can't tell you the last time I had a truly easy run. This worries me as I might have bit off more than I can chew. Two 1/2 marathons, a marathon, and a 1/2 ironman demands a relentless number of miles on foot during training.
That anxiety is stirring inside as I sit here. I feel it. The tightening of the chest. The strong breathing. How on earth if I can't even go out to dinner with out feeling like I'm about to explode can I get through all these races? Maybe it's just a bad day. Maybe a bad week.
Maybe I can just pretend today's run never happened. Tomorrow is a rest day. I need to truly make it a rest day. Not only for my body but my mind. I need to not think, to not get anxious. Is that even possible?
Today I barely gutted out a 5.5 mile run. I mean barely. I stopped to many times to count. Ate two, yes two packs of beans and nothing would help me feel smooth. I got two side stitches. My heart rate was a tad high but still in zone 2 yet I felt like I just couldn't do it. I slowed down. Shuffling along felt just as difficult if not more so until I picked it up again and realized nope 10:40 minute miles would have to do for the rest of the run. Three tenths of a mile after that I stopped. I quit.
Now for the past hour I have thought about what I did. Did I quit and give up? Or did I listen to by body and give it the rest it needs? Did I just make next weeks 8.4 mile run that much harder? Maybe I should change my long run day? After having 10 workouts in 5 days then having to run long on Sat maybe isn't smart. But is it? Running on tired legs and body is exactly what you have to learn to do for racing. I haven't slept well or at all for 4 nights this week. Did that have something to do with it? Dinner last night was fish fry. YUCK. Nothing healthy, all fried. I came home last night feeling like I had a brick in my stomach. I'm on this new medication. Is it affecting me enough that I should stop taking it? So many questions.
I have been struggling with the running lately. It now has become the hardest of the three sports for me right now. Funny as that is how I started this athlete life of mine. Each run no matter how long or short seems harder than it should be. I can't tell you the last time I had a truly easy run. This worries me as I might have bit off more than I can chew. Two 1/2 marathons, a marathon, and a 1/2 ironman demands a relentless number of miles on foot during training.
That anxiety is stirring inside as I sit here. I feel it. The tightening of the chest. The strong breathing. How on earth if I can't even go out to dinner with out feeling like I'm about to explode can I get through all these races? Maybe it's just a bad day. Maybe a bad week.
Maybe I can just pretend today's run never happened. Tomorrow is a rest day. I need to truly make it a rest day. Not only for my body but my mind. I need to not think, to not get anxious. Is that even possible?
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