Random Musings

1.  We had the MOST gorgeous weather at the beach on Tuesday.  Joe and I headed out around 9 for a short run.  Although we complained to each other the whole way down how hot it was, something happened after we turned for home.  The until-then calm was gone, the wind picked up (hello, headwind), and thus cooled we happily trotted back and jumped in the ocean.  The water temperature was in the low 70s and perfect.  With the wind there were quite a few waves, but the tide was out and you could stand out there in the water forever diving through 2-3 foot waves.  Sophie got to ride a few waves too.

2.  We got alot done while at the beach house.  The outdoor shower now has new plywood, we have new (NICE!) chaises and hammock for the pool deck, my parent's old Mexican sideboard was delivered and stocked with lots of games and puzzles, and Maddy's room was reorganized with new lamps and TV stand.  I also was able to get the drapes hemmed and rehang some window treatments and mirrors. Whew.  I will leave the cleaning to others before the renters come in this weekend.  Unfortunately we don't have the house to ourselves again until late August.  Boo.

3.  I am hydrating and trying to keep on top of my nutrition this week because....

4.  I have a race this weekend!  Ack.  Eagleman.  Maybe if I go into it like I did Rev3 I'll pr...

5.  On Saturday, Melissa and I headed out for a ride.  Cheeks were on seats at 7:10 and by 7:12 we were sweaty and hot.  Heat acclimation for E-man--Check!  I was glad to be done and off the bike by 9am.  

6.  On Sunday morning, Joe and I ran the Stratford Hills 10k.  It would've been an awesome run in say April or November, but that day at the 8am race start it was already hot and HUMID.  Here are Sunday's actual temps (Saturday were almost exactly the same.)

Heat acclimation for E-man--Check Check!  No pr, but just a run that was a slog fest and one I was happy to be done with.  I must say, I love the race pic of me at mile 5.  Check out my quad!

7.  We are pretty excited to have new neighbors!  Welcome Melissa and Greg.

8.  News like this is a grim reminder of how others sacrifice for us.  Thank you to all our service members and their families! 

9.  The next two weekends are busy busy busy with races and weddings.  Lots to celebrate.  Then it's on to California!  3 weeks in wine country, with a little Yosemite and Vineman thrown in.  Can't wait to see friends and drink wine.  Yippee!

Ouch

I can't easily do anything today except sit. Yesterday was my inaugural "Return to Weight Lifting" day, so I figured a 1/2 hour ab class followed by a 1 hr Body Shape class would do the trick. The ab class wasn't THAT bad, except for the SLOOOOW leg lifts. Then the perky young chick took over for Body Shape and had us do 8gazillion push ups. I'm not sure I like the whole "lifting" to music thing, especially when it's techno-80s mix at 110 beats per minute and you're doing lunges to the beat of the music. Hello! Can you see that my legs are twice as long as yours? From full lunge to knee lift position takes me 3x as long as the instructor. That and that it seems I'm really out of shape. There was one other girl in the class with an Ironman shirt on. I told her I'd much rather spend 6 hours on the bike than an extra 5 minutes in there.

So I survived that class, feeling like my arms were going to fall off, only to have Masters swim that night. Coach John laughed when I told him what I did that morning. Said something about it being "good for me." Sounds like something Jen would say. I led the lane for most of the warm up, and then decided when I saw that the main set was 3x (3x200s) to go to the back of the line. Time to do a little cruisin'. The first set of 3 200s was the hardest, since we got 5 seconds rest in between 100s on the subsequent ones. Who knew that 5 seconds rest could make or break your swim?! Then I actually took back leading the lane, and I did the last two sets of 200 in the same time, so I wasn't slowing down. Yey me! I then came home, ate dinner, watched Santa Claus is Comin' to Town, and collapsed.

This morning I was still ok, and then went for a massage. ow ow ow ow, with a few aaahs here and there. Pecs and hamstring/glutes were horribly painful (surprise surprise), and of course that is where Brooke decided I needed the most work. I'm going to now pop a few more Advil, watch the Biggest Loser finale, and go to bed, provided I can actually lift my butt up out of this chair.

It's December already?!?

Today I had to go to the mall to exchange some things. Wow. Christmas season is full on. Ack. I was just getting used to the idea that Thanksgiving was here.
I must give a shout out to my friends who all crossed that finish line and became Ironmen at IMFL and IMAZ. They all had awesome races and I had such fun watching all of them come across online. I only wish I could have been there in person! Congratulations Molly, Fave, Jill, Trish, Molly W, Mary, Lynne, Annie, Jackie, Kelly, Lisa, Liz, Sarah! So very proud of all of you! Here's the video of Molly crossing the line:

The weekend before Thanksgiving was my third time back on my bike since July. (How scary is that!) Deanna, Jill, SanDee, and I rode on Saturday. I didn't get the memo about someone dropping the hammer, and toward the end of the 30 mile ride I was sucking wind trying to keep up with their 24mph pace. Ooooph. The following day I ran the Turkey Trot course with some IMFL peeps. The weather was gorgeous and warm, and it was nice to spend a Sunday morning running with friends, even running hills.

We had a very nice Thanksgiving weekend. #1 son Jim was able to come home a day early on Wednesday, so we first celebrated his 25th birthday (am I really that old?!) before getting down to the serious eating on Thursday. We love our now-traditional Turkey Trot followed by a tailgate at my car. Very low key race (even if Joe wanted me to try and beat him), and fun gathering of friends before trundling off for family to-dos. I did not beat Joe (he almost got a PR on the course) but was able to break an hour. SanDee's garmin said that the course had almost 1200 feet in elevation gain. No wonder we needed a nap afterwards! This is of me at mile 5:
We then cooked dinner at my Aunt and Uncle's house in Williamsburg. My aunt is battling uterine cancer and is house bound, so dinner came to her. It was very quiet, just the 5 Olivers and them, but very pleasant. We had great discussions about the future of the middle east, given Jim's impending deployment, and especially Iran (my uncle was stationed there during the fall of the Shah) and we watched football.

Sunday I again went riding with SanDee, her husband Gregg and another friend of theirs. 40 miles and 5 counties! The route we took had a little bit of everything: farmland, barking dogs, friendly dogs, lakes, bridges, hills, tailwind and headwind. The weather again was very cooperative, sunny and gorgeous and about 70 degrees. I was a little over-dressed, but better to be taking layers off than freezing. Post ride we all hit the Hanover Tavern for brunch.

I've had my off season, and now the base training is back on. Which means it's time to get back in the pool. I thought I had it well planned when, 3 Mondays ago I showed up at 7:29 for Masters at the Y. John, the coach on deck, said I had a minute to get it done. I thought he meant to get in and warm up, but no. He meant a minute to do the whole workout. Masters, it seems, starts at 6:30, not 7:30, and has since forever. Ooops. Now that Jen also knows that, my Monday workouts in TP say something like "Masters--AT 6:30PM!!" so I can't show up late anymore. I have now made it on time for the past two weeks, and absolutely got my a$$ kicked this week when John put 600m in of both back and breast stroke drills. I really suck at breast stroke, and don't even ask about butterfly. That is NOT in my repertoire. I think I have forgotten how to swim properly regardless of the stroke I'm doing. My shoulder hurts.

I am also trying to figure out how to get in the strength training. I see everyone is enjoying that! I might take Michelle's challenge to heart and see if I can build up to more than 1 pull up (frankly, I don't even think I can do one...that should be fun.)

This coming year I want to nail down my nutrition, both for racing and in general. Joe is in the midst of reading Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food (we've both read The Omnivore's Dilemma) and so he's asking questions about how we can change where/how we get our meat. We are shopping at Whole Paycheck much more and trying to cut down the processed foods that come into the house. It is a challenge with kids--what do you send for snacks other than fruit or pita chips? Joey in particular likes things that are full of unpronounceable stuff, especially the premade frozen waffles, the kind that are chock full of HFCS.

We are looking forward to a quiet Christmas, post party of course. We'll head up to Northern Virginia to see my neice and nephew in the Nutcracker the weekend of the 19th, and then drive to the beach. It'll be our first Christmas holiday actually there for present opening and whatnot. We'll be bringing bikes and games and running gear, and there are always lots of house projects to keep us busy. Sophie will have a great time chasing the birds!

Conquering the Red Baron?

In January I blogged about a rare run with my husband (read it again here). Back then I wasn't able to keep up with his pace--which is usually right around an 8 minute mile. My husband has the gift of natural speed. Here's a guy whose dad--who started running when he was 45--has run over 20 marathons, including Boston. Joe ran his first (and possibly his last...) marathon the year he turned 40. He found a training plan online and ran it almost to the letter, cranking out a 4:05 marathon. This was before I started the ironman journey and now I keep wondering how he'd do with a little coaching, some track workouts, and a better nutrition plan... Running with Joe was a lesson in humility about how slow I was, and that day in January I was left cursing him with raised fist, much like Snoopy at the Red Baron.

Yesterday we ran together, my regular 4.5 mi loop. Sophie pulled me along as usual, but where I'd normally reign her back with a strict "NO PULL!" I was keeping up with her just fine. And I was also keeping up with Joe. He might have slowed down a bit since his marathon training year since he hasn't been running as regularly, but he's still pretty quick. And yesterday was the culmination of the biggest running milage week for me EVER--almost 40 miles of pounding the pavement. And I did that loop in about 40 minutes and could've kept going!

I'm liking this new running pace. I'm sure at some point I'll still get my ass kicked by Lynnie, since she's getting better and stronger every day. But you know what? I'm thinking this 4:30 marathon thing is in my reach. Now all I need is a trio of farm animals to boogie with at mile 20!

Tuesday Mishmash

This past Friday was LONG RUN Friday. 3 hours. All alone. Yuck. Maybe I should back up and let you know what I did Thursday. Thursday was "run hills with Lynnie and Jilly" day. We ran Riverside Drive on the south side of town, up and down, up and down. At 6:30am (or a little later because if you know me you know I'm always late). Bleh. Oh, and we're running at Lynn's new pace, which is pretty fast, especially on hills at o'dark thirty when I still haven't had my morning coffee. I kept reminding myself as I looked for those two girls waaaay ahead of me that I chose to do this over running 1:15 by myself. Here's the route:

So Thursday's run was hard. Then I get to top it with another tough 3 hr run with 30 minute intervals building from easy to zone 4. As I was putting on my running togs, Sophie starts bouncing up and down, "oh boy oh boy oh boy we're gonna go for a run!" I felt so bad that she wasn't going to be able to come with, but dragging a half dead Viszla after 10 miles wouldn't be fun. So home she stayed. I loaded up the fuel belt with gu and water, mapped out my run, and headed out. It was a beautiful day, thank goodness. Not too hot. The first 4 miles were good, and even included MORE hills as I ran up to Grove Avenue from the UofR/CCV cut through on Tapoan and Iris. I took in the first gu at Starbucks, refilled the water bottles, and was waiting for the light to turn when I ran into a friend. He's training for the Tour de Tucson that is our local JDRF office's fundraiser this year--lucky guy just got a new road bike, all carbon with better gearing. He's amazed at what a difference it made! So chat chat chat, gotta run...and off I go down Grove. I was cruising along and just ahead along the curb of the road was a turtle. Can't leave the turtle there to wander into traffic, so I ran holding him for a block or two looking for a good place to put him out of harms way. Someone's walled garden was just the place, but I think the roofers working there all thought I was nuts for saving a turtle.

I hit the 195 overpass and it was time to put it in high gear. Time for that zone 4 area. ooof. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to run this part on sidewalks that are buckled and wobbly. Oh well. Bounding over curbs and whatnot helped keep the hr elevated. I picked the route since it's familiar territory, and has ample water and potty stops along the way. It took me exactly 1:25 to get all the way down to the VCU campus. Time to refill the water bottles, so I wandered up to my old MFA program stomping grounds and found Rob! Poor guy, I left sweaty bottom prints on his chair and sweaty elbow prints on his desk. But it was nice to see him and catch up briefly before heading back out.

The way home wasn't half as fun. It was getting late (it was about 12:30 when I turned for home) and was quite warm. I was drinking as fast as I could refill those bottles, and taking in my gu every 3 miles. I did run into Sophie's trainer and was able to put the bugaboo in his ear about her staying at Vizsla heaven (he owns 2 viszlas) while we're in Florida. Trudge trudge trudge on home. The guy at Starbucks looked at me and said "You again? How far are you running?" The downhills back by CCV hurt, but not as much as the last hill up to our street. Home at 2pm, in the ice bath by 2:10. Then it was time for a nap. Then packing for the beach. Whew. Here's the map of my route:

We had a great weekend at the beach. Saturday was cool and overcast and since (HOORAY!) I didn't have a run to do, we took our bikes down to the Back Bay Wildlife Refuge to bike to False Cape State Park. I loved biking with the family. I think this is the first time we've ever all been on bikes as a family (the four person ones with the canopy on the boardwalk don't count). The kids are totally ready for new bikes though, and could probably use ones with gearing. Once at the park, we went out to the beach and had some impromptu races. The ride back wasn't nearly as much fun due to a headwind (welcome to my life), but the kids were troopers and handled it well. Next time we'll try biking all the way to the North Carolina border, which is about 5 miles further down from the Park.

Of course the day we have to pack up and leave was gorgeous. The guys went to hit some golf balls and Maddy and I goofed off. I did get my run in, with Sophie. We have a regular ~5mi loop where we run down on the road and back along the beach. She must have run an additional 3-4 miles just running ahead to chase birds then coming back to me. Tired dog = happy dog! We stopped in Williamsburg on the way home to visit with my uncle. My aunt is still in the hospital, but will be coming home soon we hope. I still need one of those pink "Cancer Sucks" splish suits.

I hope everyone had a great weekend!

When the husband's away....

my workouts go to hell in a handbasket. Now that Joe is home more, I am enjoying the guilt-free "gotta go work out now, honey" evenings. This past week and two weeks ago were great--not a single workout missed! Whoo hoo! Last week, not so much. Joe took a much needed break to hike the mountains of Peru, and as a result I got about 70% of my training in. Maybe it's just the increase in volume (Saturdays are now 70+ miles on the bike with at least 6 miles pounding the pavement) that totally wears me out by midweek. But combine that with the pleasures of single parenting and its associated little league practices and games, play dates, dance carpools, and having to figure out dinner every night and all I want to do is fall asleep at 4pm. Luckily, I am not alone. My friends Kellye and Jennifer also blog about the challenges of motherhood and training--it's nice to read another perspective and know I have company in my angst. Giving myself over to others that need me (mainly Joe and the kids), is important but also helps me appreciate my workout time as my own.

While the time away from training weighs heavily on me (to the point that I am sometimes afraid to confess my missed workouts), I need to be able to step away from a workout or two and let the rest of my life reclaim me. It gives me a chance to rest, recover, and heal. It seems to me that many of the people I care about are in the process of healing--from injury and surgery, lost jobs and loves. Those are things that ice baths, compression socks, and chocolate milk can't easily fix. Time will work its magic, I'm sure.

My new favorite thing...

...is running! I am having a hard time believing it too, but even in crappy weather, or when I'm tired, I can still find the joy in it. I surprise myself because until this year, the run was the worst of three disciplines for me, a necessary evil. Some of my angst with running is probably due to the fact that I was plagued by injuries last year (ITB syndrome, Baker's cyst) and poor running form! But since Ironman Florida, something has clicked. Even during the hardest parts of that Ironman run, it didn't suck nearly as much as I thought it would! (And man, did I think it was going to suck!)

Don't get me wrong, I'm not all of a sudden running 6 minute miles (FAR from it) or banging out 30+ miles a week. I leave that to rr. My speed is what it is right now, which is a very consistent 10 minute/mile pace. My tempo on long runs is perfect for me--I can pick it up to get across streets quickly, and I have just enough gas in the tank to sprint out the last 1/2 mile. My form has improved dramatically from 2004, when I first started running tris. I used to run rather haunched over and remember very specifically at mile 22 of my first marathon how much my abs hurt. (I know that my core strength has improved significantly since then.) I now can run my half mile repeats in about 3:46, and my timed mile (which usually for coach Marco Diablo came after repeats or a long run) were just over 8 minutes. I'm fine with that. I know when we start our tempo workouts later this month I'll be pushing my pace and heartrate.

My normal running route takes me down towards the James River, through a very quiet neighborhood where I can let Sophie off the lead to traipse through the woods. While I run that same road at least once a week, the scenery never gets boring. Earlier this week when there was still snow on the ground, you noticed what lay farther back in the woods--woods that are hidden most of the summer by lush greenery. During peak foliage time, it is quite magical too, raining leaves and glittering gold and red. My 6 and 8 mile routes take me along that part twice, with the way home a one mile climb back up the hill. I have started leaving the ipod at home more, and nothing beats running in the rain, listening to the water hit the leaves, pavement, and brim of my visor. There are days when I'm tired and need the music to motivate me (like today), and sometimes it's nice to find a catchy tune that pushes me up the hills or through the last painful mile. Today's song was

what i like about you
you keep me warm at night
never wanna let you go
you know you make me feel alright
keep on whispering in my ear
tell me all the things that i wanna hear
cuz its true thats what i like about you
thats what i like about you

I am looking forward to the second half of this year, when I start training earnestly for a fall marathon. Nothing like a morning run in the crisp fall air, with leaves cascading around you and crunching underfoot. Bliss.


On an unrelated note, I want to bitch about something....people who chat chat chat away during spin sessions or who obviously don't have enough tension on their trainers. Hello?! It's a workout. If you're still chatting through the intervals, your trainer needs to be tightened up. I can barely put 3 words together and am gasping for air. Social hour comes during the warm up or afterwards, not during the "hardest gear! stand!" part of the session. Hardest gear to me means it better be damn hard to maintain even 60rpm standing. I'm talking sweat dripping down, being focused on form to pull and push HARD. Still doing 80rpms in your hardest gear does not do you any favors once you get outside. And seriously, isn't that the point of coming to the workout? Thanks for listening, I'll step off my soap box now.

Swimming to Florida

It appears that my taper workouts will have to change. At this point, I am swimming (or more specifically PULLING) my way to Florida since I'm having issues with my hip. I was very lucky not to have fractured/broken any bones in that bike crash two weekends ago. I did, however, really whack my hip when I hit the pavement. The evening after the accident my hip was really swollen. The bursa in my hip are still inflamed--with blood. The sports medicine doc was going to give me a cortisone shot in the hip to alleviate the pain yesterday, but instead ended up drawing off a few cc's of blood. Yeah, I almost passed out seeing that syringe! Her Rx: ice the area for 30 mins 3xs a day to get the swelling down; no biking or running; use a pull-bouy in the pool. We will reevaluate by the end of the week. If I can get the swelling under control, I can then go in Mon/Tues for a cortisone shot before I leave for Florida.

My PT and my coaches say I am trained and will still be ok for the race. I am trying to remain calm, follow doctors orders, and focus on getting all my stuff ready for the trip. But then there's that nagging little voice in the back of my head, screaming "WHAT???? You've got to be f*%#ing kidding me?!" I turn my bike in on Saturday to ship, and won't see it again until maybe Thursday or Friday next week. That would mean the last time on my bike would have been this past Saturday, and the last time I ran...well too long ago. Don't panic, don't panic. Just make like Dora in Finding Nemo: "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming, just keep swimming, swimming, swimming. What do we do? We swim." (Right, Marit?)

The good, the bad, and the truly SCARY

First for the good:

Today we took the kids apple/pumpkin picking. It was the most gorgeous fall day--about 60 degrees, crisp, and not a cloud in the sky. Several years ago, Joe found a nice p.y.o. place about 20 minutes south of Wintergreen, in the Blue Ridge. Dickey Brothers Orchard has been in the same family since the 1750s! We try to get there at least once a year and on several occasions have sent some of their apple gift boxes. This year we went with a co-worker of Joe's, his wife, and daughter. We came home with 4 pumpkins and 54 lbs of apples. Mmmm mmmm. After that, we took a short hike up toward Crabtree Falls, on part of the Appalachian Trail. The family portrait was taken by hanging the camera in a tree. Here are the pictures (Bree, I tried to get shots of the foliage for you):




The bad:

I spent all day Friday in the hospital, keeping my uncle company while my aunt underwent surgery for cancer that was discovered earlier this week. Stage IV uterine cancer. She is facing a long haul of chemo and radiation after she recovers from the surgery which went well. Saturday's workout was something of a bust. I didn't get home from Williamsburg Friday until about 9:30--and getting up at 6:30 for our last long brick was not a fun prospect. I met up with Sharon and Shawn at 7:30, and I remember as I was pulling into the parking lot that they seemed overdressed--tights, jackets, ear warmers...you name it, they were wearing it. Duh. It wasn't even 50 degrees that morning, and I was SEVERELY underdressed. I barely made it through 30 miles; it's hard to bike when you can't think straight for being so cold. When I got home I had to take Joey to the doctor (ear infection), but I was so tired I fell asleep in the waiting room. Joey apparently amused himself by taking pictures of his lego men and me sleeping. I came home and slept some more (3 hours!).



And finally, for the truly SCARY:

My Ironman Florida bib number is 83!

Is it time to panic yet?

Does anyone remember that scene from "Diamonds are Forever" where Sean Connery and Jill St. John are on this oil rig and some guy keeps counting down, "SEVEN SECONDS AND COUNTING" while all hell breaks loose? I've got that voice stuck in my head, but it's saying "17 days and counting...."

I must say I'm doing alot of visualization--of myself running down the finish chute whiles Michael Reilly says, "Kate Oliver, YOU are an Ironman!" But that has also been tempered by dreams of being late to the swim start because I haven't organized all my stuff or pumped up my tires.

After last night's brick--our last out at West Creek for the year--Sharon and I went to Mojo's for a small "circle of happiness" hour. Our coaches say we're ready. I'm not sure I quite believe it. I felt more ready just after ChesapeakeMan than I do right now. Maybe part of it is the crash, or maybe it's that feeling that I think many people fall victim to of "oh my god, I haven't done everything I can to be ready." It could also be that I think I've caught whatever virus Maddy had at the beach last weekend, so I'm feeling run down and tired. Thank goodness this is our last long workout weekend, and it's just a 50mi bike/10mi run!

A crash course in breaking in a new bike

This past week, the kids had both Thursday and Friday off from school as a combo Yom Kippur/Columbus Day long weekend. Off to the beach we went, with Joey's friend Zan in tow. The weather was supposed to be iffy--calling for rain late Thurs/Fri, but clearing up and windier on Saturday. It worked pretty well that the kids had those days off since the Ironman Florida and Arizona girls had a fun century ride/brick planned on the Eastern Shore on Saturday.

I was super excited to find my new bike had been delivered to the beach house on Wednesday, but I couldn't get it put together at the local bike shop until the compact crank came the following day. Thursday turned out quite nice, with the kids spending most of the day on the beach. They even swam in the ocean and pool. This is Zan and Sophie:



Around 2pm the crank was there! I loaded my Kestrel, new crank and bike in the car and took off to the local Conte's--only for the mechanic/bike fit guy to say he couldn't have it put together until 5pm. So much for that Thursday bike ride....but then I spent 2 hours on the trainer with him later that evening during the fit. While warming up, the gears on the new bike kept slipping. Turns out the brand new Dura Ace chain was broken! Argh. On with a new chain, and of course I needed to pay for it. He tweaked quite a few things from my fit and I was wondering how Saturday was going to feel--luckily I had Friday to give it a go.

The weather Friday had turned overcast, with some intermittent drizzle, and much more wind. Joe took the boys to the Go-Carts, Maddy had developed a fever and was lounging/reading in bed, so off I went for an hour and a half ride around the Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge. I'm glad I only rode that long. The new saddle that came with the bike was PAINFUL! At just 10 minutes into the ride, my pubic bone was screaming, and I knew something had to change if I was going to ride 100 miles on Saturday. Back to Conte's I went after my ride. Luckily they had a saddle that would do the trick and SCORE! it matches the bike beautifully! (If anyone out there wants a white Fi'zi:k Arione Wing Flex saddle, let me know!) That evening, my poor Maddy was feeling lousy and was running a fever, so we put all the kids to bed pretty early. Before I hit the sack, I tested Joey's blood sugar, since he was at the lower end of his target range before bed. He was dangerously low (35!) so I stayed up pumping him full of juice to get his blood sugar back up before hitting the sack. I was due to get up at 5am for the drive up to the Eastern Shore to meet up with my TriGirl peeps.

I forgot to set the alarm on the cell phone to ring on the weekend. Ooops. I glanced at the clock around 5:10 and, thinking it was probably just a few minutes off, thought I may as well get up. Nope, the clock was right. After scrambling around getting dog and crap and bikes together, I kiss sleeping kids and husband goodbye and drive off with breakfast in my lap. I don't recommend driving across the bay bridge/tunnel at 6:30 am when it's windy while trying to eating yogurt and granola. I got to the cabin at Kiptopeke State Park with about 20 minutes to spare before everyone was headed out. Whew!

This was the third TriGirl-organized century ride from Kiptopeke, but my first visit there. The cabins--built in 2007--are great! Ours slept 16 people in 6 bedrooms, with a comfortably furnished main room with full kitchen and 3 bathrooms. They even had all the beds made, and towels provided. The park is on the bay side of the peninsula, just 3 miles from the southern most tip of the eastern shore. There is a swimming area, playground, places for campers or RVs, and even yurts! According to the website volunteers capture, examine, weigh, band and release resident and migratory birds each year and observe and band hawks, kestrels, osprey and other birds of prey from September through November.

Our century route took us up the eastern shore on flat, mostly well paved (the first and last 15 miles were pretty BUMPY), and very scenic roads from Kiptopeke to Onley and back. We got to see lots of interesting sights, like turkey vultures picking at a dead deer, tidal marshes, tomato fields, old falling down farm houses, and fields of green and yellow. On the way north, we had some tough head/side winds. We stayed in a pretty tight pace line--tight enough that at mile 48, my front tire got clipped by Heidi riding in front of me in a gust of wind from our right. I over corrected, and ended up lying in the middle of the road. Ouch. Luckily Charlotte riding just behind me was able to avoid me, and there was no traffic coming right behind or ahead of us. I lay in the middle of the road for a while trying to figure out how bad I hurt. After a few cars went by asking if I needed an ambulance, I decided I would be ok and slowly got up. Road rash on my elbow, a contusion on my ankle, and one hip that will surely turn a beautiful shade of black/blue soon. My helmet was ok, and luckily my beautiful new bike was relatively unscathed.

The next 10 miles to our turn around/rest stop were tough. I maintained a good distance behind people in front of me, and staying aero hurt my elbow. At the rest area, I was able to buy some Tylenol and gingerly rinse off my arm. Walking hurt, more than pedalling. I figured that if I crashed during Ironman, I'd want to do my best to finish the race, so I looked at the second half of the ride as a test. If I can get through this, I can get through Ironman. We were happy to be headed with the wind though, and were able to maintain an 18-19 mph pace for most of the way back.

Then Shawn announced we would rotate the lead in a pace line in 5 min increments...

Shawn led first, then Sharon, and Patty. Those three girls kept us right at the 18-19 mph pace. The rest of us thought the purpose was to push hard for those 5 mins up front. Heidi pushed on, and then Kate G. I was working hard to keep up with Kate, not realizing everyone else was falling back. Then it was my turn. I got up front and pushed really hard. After 3 mins it hurt, and I kept checking my watch for my turn to end. I had not moved my bike computer over to the new bike, so I had no idea how fast I was going. At the end of my five mins, I started dropping back. But there was no one behind me. It turns out I apparently was going about 25mph! I had stopped, thinking the other girls had stopped for some reason, then they caught up and flew by me. Now the shoe was on the other foot, and I had to catch back up. But by then my legs were shot. Those last 15 miles were really hard. Heidi, Kate and I stuck together after that. We were so glad to see the green house indicating our final turn back to the cabin. After the ride, we grabbed the Sophie monster and ran for about an hour. This is us before the run:


Those showers afterwards felt great, as did the beer! Karen, who is in her hard-earned "taper" for HalfMax in Las Vegas, made the best dinner of meat loaf, mashed potatoes, and mac and cheese. We gorged ourselves on the good food and promptly went to bed at 9pm. We repeated the gorge fest at breakfast...mmmm mmmm!



Home now, I am feeling quite stiff, and tired. I am still in love with my new bike.


So let the taper begin!

Many congratulations to Rachel Ross, who placed 3rd in her age group at Kona this Saturday. Amazing!

Fall's arrival.....zzzzzzz.

As I headed out this past Thursday morning for a bike ride, the temperature gauge said it was about 55 degrees outside. You could tell fall was on its way. To me there is a certain smell to autumn, a crispness to the air that's hard to define. I was wearing bike shorts and my Ride to Cure Diabetes jersey, and once on the bike, it was downright chilly. It might be time to break down and buy some arm warmers! On my first two solo laps around West Creek, I saw a group of deer grazing close to the edge of the woods.

My friend Rab joined me and we headed out to Goochland for a 40ish mile loop. Since he hadn't ridden out there, I picked a route that would be easy for me to follow, but I forgot how many hills were on that course. Rab sets a pretty good pace, one where I'm always working hard to stay on his tail especially on the hills. I am learning that those long training sessions take a lot out of me, and I feel their effects for days, especially when combined with missed meals or snacks. Most of the roads we were on were pretty empty--up to the main drag back toward West Creek. I think there are several quarries or something along that portion of road, and we got blown around by many many dump trucks whizzing by. I finished up 50 miles by 11am, and as Rab left to go to work, I was eating my lunch and trying to gear up for another 50 by myself.

No sooner had I broken out my peanut butter sandwich, than I was overcome by exhaustion. I was so tired. I decided to sit down in my car, and I just leaned my head back to close my eyes for just a minute and fell fast asleep for over 20 minutes! After I woke up, I gulped down the rest of my lunch, reloaded my water bottles, and got back on the bike. I made it another 10 miles before my body was saying it was done--go home and go back to bed now! So that's what I did.

Friday afternoon Joey went to play with a friend after school and Maddy had dance team try-outs, so I was able to get in the pool for an hour. At the Y, all lanes in the lap pool except one were taken up by older gentlemen swimming really slowly. Surpise! Rab was in the other one, grinding out a speedy 1000m main set. I joined him in his lane and tried to count how many times he lapped me (too many!) while I swam the first half of my steady 2600m. As he was leaving, Rab commented that I'd be a lot faster if I did flip turns. Apparently Mr. Collegiate Swimmer doesn't realize that real triathletes don't do flip turns. After that I was thinking that I am so going to get my ass kicked by Jen at training camp in February.

Friday evening Joe and I had a fun dinner date with 5 other couples to celebrate my dear friend Lynn's birthday. At the restaurant, I tried to be good considering my 20 mile long run workout on tap for Saturday morning by limiting my wine intake to 2 glasses. Yet after dinner, we decided that the party needed to keep going, so most came back to chez Oliver for more wine and games of pool. We called it a night at 2am. Needless to say, I was not up in time to make our 6am start at Maramarc. After a pretty lazy day of recovery and cotillion shopping with Maddy, Lynn joined me this morning for all 20 miles of my run. It was another blessedly cool morning, but when we finished at 1pm it was close to 80 degrees. Brunch at Boychick's deli never tasted so good!

Tonight I'm going to bed at 8pm.

Sunshine and Happiness...

....and a sore crotch!

Another long training weekend down! Yey! Saturday a group of us TriGirl/Maramarc folks did the Heart of Virginia century ride. To date that is the farthest I've ever ridden a bike. It wasn't the most hours I spent on the bike; that was last year's Ride to Cure Diabetes in Sonoma, a death march bike if there ever was one of brutal (some over 26% grades) hills. Total time on the bike then was 9.5 hours, yesterday we came in just under 7 hours. I am stoked about how we did--since it was a pretty hilly course and we stopped for two flat tires, one of which was mine. After our 80 miler two weeks ago, I still had doubts about my cycling, but slowly I'm gaining confidence and am ALMOST looking forward to the next one.



Before the ride....



During the ride....and post-ride ice cream sitting in the A/C. BLISS!


I kept up with my nutrition leading up to Saturday and during the ride, and it really helped! (Duh!) With the weather so warm, I made sure to drink almost everything in my water bottles too. This weekend was back to hot and humid weather, with yesterday topping 93 degrees, and today supposed to hit 97. We stopped at mile 60 for the provided lunch--sandwiches, grapes, and chips. I'm going to have to figure out how to eat that much during ironman, since I'm not sure how I would've done eating just clif blocks, sport beans, and gu's all day. Ideally I'd love to bring cash and hit a McDonald's drive thru, but I hear you can get DQ'd for that during the race! I have several more century rides, including ChesapeakeMan AquaVelo in two weeks, to figure that out.

Joe had taken the kids to the beach Friday evening to give me the weekend to get the workouts done with no guilt. After we talked Saturday afternoon I missed them and wanted a day to play at the beach with the kids, so I quickly showered, grabbed some food, and threw Sophie in the car and drove down yesterday evening. Surprise! We had a good family game and movie night evening and then this morning I got in that 9 mile run before 9am. It was already pretty blistering hot, but I made good time (1:20!) and can now enjoy a day catching up on my magazines/catalogues while lounging on the beach!

I hope everyone has a fun, restful Sunday! Many hearty congratulations our Iroman Wisconsin finishers Aimee, Blake, and Dr. Rick. This was Aimee's first IM, and she did amazingly well. We're so proud of you guys!

I need some rrrreeeeeee eeeeeeeest...

So, I'm not Lily von Schtupp, but I can so sympathize with her right now. Like many other blogger friends, I am hitting a point where I just don't seem to recover enough from our long weekend workouts to feel like I'm making any progress on my mid-week ones. On Tuesday I was dropped on the bike and couldn't for the life of me catch back up to the pack. My swim yesterday felt like all I was doing was inventing a new way of drowning, creatively. And then today's long ride/short run sucked, it was so hot out there. This may be TMI for some, but usually on our long bikes, I work hard to stay hydrated and end up having to go to the bathroom (or the woods...) quite a bit. Today I only went once during a 3.5 hour ride, and I had taken in 3 bottles of Endura and one of water. I guess there's some relief in knowing that I will not be hitting the start line in Florida after having biked 80/run 13 just a few days before, but right now I'm having a hard time seeing the forest for the trees.

Tomorrow is a day off, thank goodness. I have PT and then I'm driving up to Northern Virginia to visit my parents' grave (tomorrow would have been my mother's 73rd birthday). I'm packing bottles to take with me so I'll have plenty to drink all day--Saturday we bike 1 hr and run 18.

Taper? We don't need no stinkin' taper!

Saturday dawned quite nice--in the mid 60s, and not humid at all! I was a little late meeting up with Lynn and Fave for their last brick of the season. On tap for them, a 1 hr bike and 6 mile run. On tap for me, a 2 hour bike and short transition run. I rode my first 18 miles with them, then caught up briefly with Susie Q, and then did one last 6 mile loop. It seemed those 35 miles went quickly--but it could have been the fact that I just put my Zipps on my bike in preparation for Timberman. I got home in time to help Joe and the kids spread mulch. Not just a pick-up truck full, but a whole DUMP truck full of mulch sitting in our driveway. Joey was in 7th heaven--at least when it was first delivered. After about the 200th wheelbarrow load, however, his enthusiasm for mulch was gone--and so is mine. I was the 'barrow filler. That's hard work, so I needed a 2 hr nap in the afternoon. This morning oh how stiff my back was!

Since Shawn, Sharon and I did our long ride last weekend, this weekend was a scheduled long run. Luckily Sunday was just as pleasant as Saturday. We met up at Shawn's house at 7:30 and headed out for our first loop. Shawn chose our route this morning and gave us the option of one long 14 mile loop or two shorter loops--an 8 and 6 miler. We chose the two loops which allowed for a water/potty stop back at the house. The 8 mile loop was quite enjoyable--running through Ginter Park and oogling the beautiful houses--with the exception of the crazy lady in the BMW convertible that yelled at us to "get out of the road," when we were running single file and there was NO other traffic. Dumb ass. The second loop was painful and seemed much longer than the first. I did get to run through Bryan Park, a first in my 13 years here in Richmond and spend some fun time bonding with my fellow IMFL peeps. On my return home I sat in an ice bath, then again took another 2 hour nap. Yum.

Getting Caught Up (part 1)

The past week has been surprisingly busy, with the exception of Sunday that was spent lounging pool-side. I'll rewind to last week, and see if I can remember what I was doing...

Thursday I rode out in West Creek alone--accomplishing a 30 mile ride in about 1:45. I was able to take advantage of Joey's morning playdate to get the work out at 11am instead of waiting until 5:30 when I had scheduled a babysitter. I'm not particularly fond of riding alone, since I never feel like I push myself hard enough and my average speed drops to like 12mph. Not this time, though! I managed to keep my speed to between 17 and 18mph for each 10 mile loop at West Creek. By the time I got home at 1pm, it was about 98 degrees out and miserably hot. Joey and I hit the pool, which was surprisingly refreshing. Too often when we've had back to back to back days in the high 90s the pool starts feeling like bath water or even a hot tub. Yuck. That evening, I noticed my supposedly "good" knee was quite swollen, especially the area right behind the knee. I've been trying to ignore some twingy things--feeling a little instability in that knee, swelling, and sometimes not being able to completely straighten the leg. I haven't had any pain in that knee, but it's just annoying. Squatting and kneeling are tough. Plugging those symptoms into a google search is never a good thing--I kept coming up with dire diagnoses like a torn PCL. Considering the workout on tap for the weekend (70 miles on the Blue Ridge Parkway) I was anxious to figure it all out.

Friday morning I called over to Dr. Cutter's office to see if they could get me in for him to look at the knee. By 10am I had seen him and an MRI scheduled in an hour--luckily he said the knee felt stable, meaning no ligament damage, but the swelling could be from a torn meniscus. Joey was a champ for sitting through first the doctor's appointment, then waiting while I had the MRI. He was entertained with his new Star Wars lego set that the grandparents had sent for his birthday. I spent the afternoon close to the phone, doing really fun stuff like mopping the kitchen. I finally heard from Dr. Cutter at 4. I have a Baker's cyst, also called a popliteal cyst. It is caused by knee joint fluid protruding to the back of the knee (popliteal area of the knee). The knee joint fluid is compressed by the body weight between the bones of the knee joint, and becomes trapped and separates from the joint to form a fluid-filled sac--thus the bulge behind my knee. Dr. Cutter said surgery was not necessary, and just prescribed over the counter anti-inflammatories and ice. If it gets any worse, they can drain it with a needle or give me a cortisone shot. He suggested that riding hills may not be good since that's harder on the knees. No BRP for me, which given the ride that those who went had may not have been such a bad thing! (For details, read Fave's blog.)

With hill riding out of the question, I was able to join three of my fellow IMFL trainees Shawn, Sharon, and Patti, along with IMWI trainee Heidi, and TriGirl Jill for 75 miles of East End fun. Shawn and Sharon like to start early. Rendezvous time was scheduled for 6am at a boat landing about 15 miles south of the airport. I got up at 4:30 to pack the car and load the cooler with drinks and food, including a few post-workout Coronas. After a quick stop to pick up Jill, we zipped down the Chippenham Parkway and only took one wrong turn before finding the boat landing and pulled in at 5:55. Other than the Bass Master guys, we were the only TriGirls there. HELLO?! Kate Oliver early for something? Notify the papers, the armageddon is at hand.

Shawn and Sharon soon showed up, putting to rest my fears that Jill and I would be riding around blind for hours, waiting for that magical "70" to show up on my odometer. Just as we were ready to pull out, Patty and Heidi pull up. Those girls got ready lickety-split! In less than 5 minutes, they were locked and loaded, ready to ride. Our route took us through some great riding areas--Richmond Battlefield Park, Charles City, and beautiful back country roads. We all paced well together and after the 50 mile mark didn't have to brow beat Patti into staying single file anymore! RR, you missed our local (dead) fauna: in addition to the 4 opossum, we saw 1 rabbit, 1 skunk, and 1 fawn. I worked hard to stay aero as long as possible, and managed to keep on top of my nutrition. Our new joke is now not how far you've ridden, but how many blow jobs it was. Saturday's ride was a 3 blow jobber. (I am not convinced that Gu's are the way to go--I have a real hard time swallowing!) I still need to work on getting in the electrolytes. Our 40 minute T-run at noon sucked--it was really hot and I just died out there. Shawn, who took in her electrolytes at our last stop on the bike, was the picture of stick-to-it-ness, and Jill--well, she's a special case. She's now our resident over-achiever. When we were all done, we formed our little circle of happiness in the shade and popped those beers. Those Coronas never tasted so good!

While I was out riding all over the middle peninsula, Joe and Joey drove west to pick up Maddy from camp. Three weeks was a long time without my Moo. She had such a good time, and came home full of stories about having swum half a mile, dancing with boys (!), and singing new camp songs. On the way back from camp, Joe took them to the Mitchie Tavern for lunch, which is my kids' absolute favorite place to eat. Think "colonial" fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and canned green beans all served up on pewter plates by costumed waitresses. A visit to Charlottesville is never complete without eating there. That night, we were all exhausted, and I was in bed and OUT by 9pm, barely beating the kids to sleep. The family is now all joking that come September, the kids will be putting me to bed before 8. Now wouldn't that be bliss?

More to come...

C'ville Oly Race Report

The weekend brick was shortened since many of us IMFL girls were racing the Charlottesville Olympic distance tri today. So Saturday morning bright and early, I met up with Fave for a 12 mi bike and, for me, an 8 mile run. Since Timberman is her last race, Fave had to run 10. Other girls not doing C'ville biked 24 and ran 16. Oooph.

Fave and I made it through the bike, and met up with Lynn to do the first 8 miles together. Man, I love running with these girls. We chatted, laughed, and ran. The time always seems to go so much faster, and goodness knows that misery loves company. Lynn has become such a strong athlete--with two ironman races under her belt in less than a year, she has developed such stamina. This week seemed a managable amount of training for me until Saturday afternoon, when I went to lie down for just a few minutes and ended up sleeping for 2 hours. I got up just in time to shower and get dressed for a dinner date with Lynn, her husband Derek, and a another couple at Havana 57. I did manage to limit myself to ONE, yes ONE, mojito. Today's early (4:30am) wake up call meant that it was a good thing we skipped out on wine/cigars on Lynn's deck in favor of bed at 10pm.

I picked up Grandison a little after 5am, and we headed west. It seemed as the sun came up that it might be overcast, which I think is the best kind of race weather. Most of the 2007 IMFL girls had done this race last year, and loved the course. Charlottesville is nestled up against the Blue Ridge, so picture lots of rolling hills, and horse farms. Emphasis on the ROLLING. The lake was warm (about 82) so no wetsuits, but they sent us off in nicely-sized swim waves--not too much chance to get knocked around jockeying for position. I felt very good about the swim, and was able to quickly settle into a rhythm. Sighting wasn't bad, and I came out of the water about 6th in the swim wave of women 40+. Swim time: 33:08.


Right from the start on the bike, I was passed by Patty. I couldn't catch her to save my life. (And she ended up placing first in her age group!) The hills came one right after another, and there seemed to be more grind-it-out-in-your-lowest-gear gradual climbs than bomb-it-downhill runs. Bummer. I'm starting to really enjoy getting in a tuck and flying. Anything to help that average mph! I still have a lot of work to do on getting enough food in me on the bike. Even ClifShots start sticking in my throat after an hour, so I'll have to work on that this coming weekend. Total time on the bike: 1:31.


The run sucked. It was entirely on trails, very hilly trails, and I was getting tired. You couldn't look up and enjoy running through the woods for fear of tripping over a rock or exposed root. I know, in the picture I'm smiling, but inside I'm not. There is something very humbling about being passed by a 75 year old man (whose swim wave took off just 3 mins before ours). By the second loop of the course, I did manage to catch up with him again, and we played leap frog the rest of the way in. I was so afraid this man was going to trip (which he did once) and break a hip or something. My sucky run time: 1:16. Yuck.


The way home went quick--aided by the iced coffee and wrap sandwiches Grandison and I found just outside UVa. It was nice to have time one on one with my TriGirl coach, and chat about everything. We beat the thunderstorms home, but only by a couple of hours. This afternoon was lazy: reading in bed, napping a little, and then fixing dinner. Looking ahead to this weekend, I know I'll need all the extra rest I can get. Our third and final Blue Ridge ride is this coming Saturday, 70 miles of hills and FUN!

The Blue Ridge Part Deux (of Three)

This weekend, we survived--albeit with a couple of casualties--our second installment in the "Blakey-blake's Terrible Trio" of hills up on the Blue Ridge Parkway. The majority of us were on board for a beautiful but challenging 50 miles to start from mile marker 23--IMWisconsin and Louisville folks rode about 80 miles, while Coach Blake himself rode about 120 (does this tell you anything about the man?!) Early that morning, Lynn met me at our Wintergreen rental condo for some power breakfast--coffee, pancakes, eggs, bacon, and toast--before we loaded up our bikes, and kissed the husband and kids goodbye. The rest of the Oliver family had a great day planned, full of hiking with the Sophie dog, swimming, and golfing.

We started the ride at about 8:30, heading to mile marker 13 and back. That 10 miles went pretty quickly--about an hour, as we are all getting over our fear of bombing down the hill at 40+ mph. Along the way back UP to mile 23, Shawn, Derik, and I stopped for a little action-snaction, wild blackberries! The self-portrait was taken early that morning. I wasn't looking so happy later on...



Following a quick rendezvous at the cars to refuel and pee, it was off again, this time headed south to mile marker 38. Ah, what glorious downhills. There was one stretch that was dead straight and blistering fast. No need to worry about cars, turns, or shady spots hiding pot holes. I think I'm glad my spedometer/odometer is broken--I really didn't want to know how fast I was going. My butt was up off my seat, my head was low over the handle bars, and I just FLEW. I didn't give a second thought to how I would feel headed back up this bugger. But I did think "Thank God half the bike in Placid is downhill...no need to pedal." Ha. Down, down, down we went for 15 miles....uh oh. At the turn around at mile 38, everyone was bemoaning our return trip, and how much it was going to SUCK BALLS.
And it did. For the record, I much prefer not stating the obvious--why remind myself of what pain and torture it is or will be to climb for miles going all of 8mph? I tried to tune everyone around me out, and focus on my pedal strokes, pulling up as much as pushing down, and just turning that crank. I held on to Lynn and Shawn for dear life, knowing if I fell behind I'd only become demoralized with my slowness. Headed back up that straight downhill, just 4-5 miles from our cars was tough. At that point, I'd had it with climbing in the saddle. I had to stand up and grind through it, otherwise I'd quit. I was so glad to finally see mile marker 24--the end was in sight.
All in, the 50 miles took about 4 hours. Many folks said their average speeds were about 12-14mph. A newbie BRP'er, bless her soul, had cleat issues and could not stop on the way back without having to remove a shoe before exiting her bike. We all battle our own demons out there, and I must give kudos to TriGirl40, who admittedly HATES hills and stuck it out and finished all 50 miles. She did not look happy at the end, but as always looked amazingly strong. Back at our cars, we happily met for our picnic on the pavement--a tradition begun on our first Blue Ridge ride last year--to rehash the ride and refuel. The party continued on at Bethany and Bart's, with tons of yummy food and Sandy's great Mai Tais.

Today we packed up our kids and dog, and drove Maddy to camp before driving the 3 hours back to Richmond. Maddy'll be at camp for 3 weeks, having a great time. We'll miss her so! Home now to long runs, laundry, and packing for Placid!

Whew!

Just a quick update--about a dozen of us started yesterday's bike at about 6:30am in an effort to beat the heat. TriGirl Sharon put together a nice 30 mile loop, out on country roads with some welcome shady spots. I still had to work hard to keep up with Karen and Shelley, on their first bike ride post IMBrazil, and stay in their draft. Off the bike, many were leaving to run in shadier spots (if running at all). I dropped my cooler, plugged in the ipod, and took off. Having the fuel belt really helped--I had frozen the bottles filled w/Endura, and 10 minutes into the run they were drinkable. The schedule called for 8 miles, but running our regular loop of that distance would have included two really big, no-shade hills. Instead I opted to do the 6 mille loop and shady "nub," for a total of 7 1/4 miles. With two stops at the cooler to refuel and cool off, the run took me 1:15. Not blazing by any stretch, but I was just glad to have done almost all of the workout before the heat really settled in. Our record breaking high temp yesterday in Richmond--over 100!

MANY CONGRATULATIONS to Jen Harrison who placed in the top 10 of her age group at ITU worlds in Vancouver!!!

Heat Advisories

Joy of joys. At 6am tomorrow it will be in the mid 70s, with almost 90% humidity. By 9am, it's supposed to feel like 90 degrees, with almost 70% humidity. I went out and bought a fuel belt last night, and the little bottles are full of Endura and currently sitting in the freezer. I'm sure by the time we start the run, they'll be liquid again. I've got the cooler, clif shot blocks, and extra water ready to go. I'm hoping IronKateMonster is right and training in this crap makes us stronger (as long as it doesn't kill us)! Best wishes to those racing this weekend--at Eagleman and Vancouver, and especially to TriGirl40 and TriMom Jonah swimming the Chesapeake Bay 4.4 miler on Sunday! I wish you all cool(er) temps, gentle breezes, and a following current!