Look out for your eye sockets!

I went to swim team this morning for the 2nd time this week...kind of depressing to be indoors when we SHOULD be in the lake, but it's been pouring rain a good bit and windy. I do love a good pool workout, though, and the pool is pretty deserted in the summer so I had my own lane again. By the afternoon, I needed to do something to wake myself up from the post-lunch slump and resorted to the elliptical machine at the gym. I haven't "hamstered" in months and (didn't I say this about the bike trainer on Monday?) I have not missed it.

I really need summer to come back and lake swimming to be appealing and wonderful like it was last week! Summer is so NOT over, that's just not allowed...especially with it being 2 days until the next camping trip.

Speaking of open water swimming, the first 10k open water Olympic swim was today in Beijing. Of course, I didn't see any of it on TV (big bummer), but I looked up the results/story online. When thinking about the distance of this race, I realized that it is about double the distance of Fat Salmon. If I were to double my Fat Salmon race and really beat the crap out of myself, I MIGHT be able to do it in 3 hours. Time for the 10k Olympic swim? Just under 2 hours. Geezis!! Although that little stat is beyond humbling, I did love the article on SI.com about the sport itself and how it's not for the faint of heart (even if I did weenie out and hit the pool this week instead, I'm still an open water swimmer,right?).

From the article, "...adding to... these things, is the intimidation factor.
Though open water swimming may appear a rather placid sport, it's actually a full contact aquatic roller derby. There is punching, kicking and slashing; the ripping off of goggles and caps; there are elbows rammed into eye sockets, and hands grabbing at legs. Overt violence is illegal according to the official rules, but some amount of jockeying within the pack is inevitable and anyway, the judges can't see underwater.
When you add all of these things together, this isn't a sport for the faint-hearted. Which brings us to Wednesday's most impressive first of all: When the 25 female competitors lined up for the open water start, among them was Natalie du Toit, a 24-year-old South African. Du Toit, who qualified for Beijing with a fourth-place showing at the 2008 World Championships in Seville, Spain, happens to be missing the lower half of her left leg. As she dove in at the Shunyi Rowing-Canoeing Park, she became the first amputee to compete in Olympic swimming."

Dude. She got 16th without one of her LEGS, how amazing is THAT?!?!

Languishing???

From dictionary.com:


Languishing: becoming languid, in any way.


Languid:

1. lacking in vigor or vitality; slack or slow: a languid manner.
2. lacking in spirit or interest; listless; indifferent.
3. drooping or flagging from weakness or fatigue; faint.


Yesterday Tatyana accused my blog of languishing(!). Ouch! My cousin, Liz, also sent me an email a couple of days ago to see what was up with my lack of bloggliness. Not to worry!! Although there has been an short absence of regular posting and my blog perhaps has been slightly faint lately, I myself am NOT drooping, listless, or lacking in spirit...This is despite the fact that the weather has been crappy the last day or 2 and that never makes me happy. And for godsake, the Seattleites who say they want a "respite" from real summer weather make me want to shake them! Are you KIDDING me? Anyway, the weather was crap yesterday and I actually dusted off my bike trainer and dragged myself through 50 minutes of pedalling in the Shoebox...I love that thing in the winter, but have NOT missed it while being outdoors the last 2 months, that's for sure. Fortunately, the sun is predicted to return by end of the week.

Let's see...catching up...I had another mountain biking lesson last week with the group which was a total blast, although they probably couldn't tell I was having fun...I had to completely focus and couldn't really multi-task enough to participate in the ongoing banter on the trail. I actually fell, too, which was kind of cool and made me feel like I might actually be able to call myself a "mountain biker" at some point soon. I must, however, find some mountain bike shorts pronto (or, as HH would say, "Stat!") so I look like less of a roadie on the trails...

This past weekend was mostly consumed with working on the Danskin triathlon...I was the bike course coordinator again this year and managed to herd up about 40 volunteers, including HH who got up at 4:00 a.m. (champ!) to support the efforts, and a big team of Cheryl's group who handled the start/finish area uber-efficiently under Nancy's bossiness. I think I put on at least 6 dropped chains on the Day St. hill and pulled up at least 4 cyclists who fell over...but overall, the triage was very minimal and the event was great as always. My BFF, Heather, did GREAT and Karin G. took 6th overall...way cool!

Despite the languishing blog, there are some other writing ideas in the works. HH and I had dinner with her pals, Michele & Jill, on Saturday night and had a lengthy conversation about writing a book about HH's life and antics (yours truly has a serious writing fantasy going for putting this one together). We're at the point of having a title for the book and several of the chapters...and then, of course, everyone picked who they wanted to play them when it becomes a movie and I was thinking about the songs for the soundtrack...HH is hell bent on buying an airstream "Basecamp" which would be the perfect accessory for a book-signing/adventure tour...and guess what, there's one that's a screaming deal on eBay...

T-minus 3 days until the next camping trip...whoop!

Bring on the mountain bike!

Ah, recovery...when I chose to end this tri season at the beginning of August, I didn't even remember that the Olympics would be starting this week...how very cool to be done and watching the real deal on TV. But what the hell is a "water cube?" I just hope they show some of the open water swimming...and that maybe, just maybe, triathlon will get a little air time in between the vaulting, bars, and floor exercise...

So I basked in lazy recovery for approximately one day after last week's race before I started doing things again...but...to give myself a little credit, I have not been killing myself. There were a couple of great lake swims last week including a stellar sunrise swim on Friday... and a couple of short bike rides including one during which a water bottle cage completely broke off my bike and went tumbling with the bottle into the road near Leschi (as I was thinking, "thank god, that didn't happen in Spokane...").

The highlight of my recovery activities, however, was my first mountain bike lesson yesterday. As usual, it takes a village to put me together...Tatyana loaned me her mountain bike and Jenny P. took me to St. Edward's yesterday and very patiently launched me up my learning cliff. The first activity was Jenny making me bounce around in the parking lot on the bike to feel the shocks...when I got a little too excited and pogo-sticked the bike around and started yelling, she reeled me in and took me out on the trails where I promptly shut the hell up and hung on for dear life. As soon as we started, a little kid about 2 feet tall busted down the trail toward us with his dad...he had a cute little T-shirt on with a "95" on the back and clearly, he was about 95 times as confident as I was on a mountain bike...for godsake, this is a sport that could kill someone. I kept catching myself white-knuckling the handlebars and tried to relax a little...and I think I actually improved a little during the hour or 2 we spent out there. Here's what I like about mountain biking...it requires complete focus and attention. I am psyched about the possibility of an activity that can really provide a mental vacation. Although I love long road rides & runs, and swimming in the lake, they facilitate my tendency toward over-processing. If my mind had wandered yesterday, I'd have wrapped myself around a tree upside down (me being upside down, not the trees). I also like going over logs and roots on the bike, way fun. 180 degree turns...not so big on those (humbled, out of my pedals, several times...). Jenny asked me if I'd fallen in love with mountain biking and I said that I'm not sure about that quite yet, but I certainly want a second date. Lucky for me, HH will be back in town soon and I think there will be a group ride on Wednesday where I can embarrass myself in front of a whole bunch of people...She can get her paybacks --and then some-- for me calling her ZigZag in the lake a few weeks ago, that's for sure. Jenny and HH have both threatened to leave me at home if I try to bring a heart rate monitor or any gadgets...another new chapter begins...

Troika Race Report!!

Who knew that the best summer ever could get even better???

HH and I bagged the Seattle swim on Friday pre-road-trip and went for coffee with Tatyana, slowly got our crap together (oh, and HH bought a new Tri Top and some socks at REI on the way out of town because...well, why would you do that more than 2 days before a race, right?) and had a leisurely drive over to Spokane. We stayed with some friends, Barb & Ingrid, whose home could kick any B&B's butt (and let's just say Barb could take Martha Stewart hands down in any cooking contest...effortlessly). They are amazing hosts and we started off the weekend on Friday night with a great outdoor sunset dinner and some wine on one of their patios. Then we slept 10 hours...yup, I slept till 9:00 a.m. for the second time in a month!!

On Saturday, Barb busted out the usual amazing breakfast on their other patio and then we went to the bike shop...because, of course, HH decided to get a bike computer and some aerobars on her bike for the race the next day. Yup, that's right...brand new equipment, untested...that girl nailed the Shotgun Half Iron from beginning to end. And, of course, the bike shop dude, Tomas, was more than happy to fit her (in her skirt and flip flops, of course) to some sweet new bars. We also went out to Medical Lake and had a great swim on the race course...then to the athlete meeting and the big 'ol group dinner in town. Minimal beer, we actually behaved responsibly.

By Saturday night (when HH tested her aerobars for, hm, it must've been 5 whole minutes in her flip flops--good to go, no worries), I was definitely twitching and getting excited...in between laughing at/with her, as usual.

On race day, I woke up at 3:30 a.m. and made myself go back to sleep for an hour...at 4:30, I was pretty much jumping on HH like a kid at Christmas and saying, "We get to race today! We get to race today!!" To which our rookie shotgun triathlete replied, "Can't this thing happen at 10:00?" She rallied, though, like a champ, and we were in the car headed to Medical Lake pronto as my phone started dinging with text messages from Tatyana that started with, "Ready to play hard?" Giddyup!

We beat all the shuttle busses to the lake, got good bike rack real estate next to Stacey in T1, and had plenty of time to visit the portos, set things up, and shoot some photos. It was only about 50 degrees and pretty brisk, so getting in the water was a welcome idea by 7:00 a.m.

SWIM: There were 2 waves...the first wave of yellow caps were the men and the second were pink caps of women and teams. It was a beach start (thus, had to pee standing on the beach, everyone was doing it) and I pushed my way up to the front as my stealth goal was to win my age group...busted right out and had immediate swim space with no combat...sweet. I busted out pretty fast and wondered if maybe it was TOO fast, but settled in pretty well and started picking off yellow caps by the second buoy. Love that. The water was perfect and calm and I had a great swim...31:51. I was the 4th woman out of the water and first in my age group, mission accomplished.

T1: Not the most efficient, but not too bad...I was out on the bike pretty quick.

Bike: First 10 miles: Brrr. It was shady and still cold...toes were numb. I warmed up by mile 20, but didn't feel the toes on my left foot till about mile 30. The bike course was beautiful...great scenery, rolling hills, no wind, some blazing descents...perfect. I kept seeing things like a really cool yard full of sunflowers and thinking that I hoped Heather and Tatyana noticed them (of course they did, we de-briefed later, they were all over the scenery, too). There were lots of big open spaces where I was riding totally solo and could sing when I felt like it...way fun. I made up a new nutrition schedule en route that I really liked...I'd done the usual fillet of PowerBars in my bento box and cut 2 bars into 5 pieces each. I drank Nuun and ate a fillet as soon as I was out of T1 and every 5 miles up to mile 40 and then went with the bottle of Perpetuem for the last 16 miles. Perfect. I really pushed this bike ride more than I have in any other race...I can honestly say that I really left it all out there and met the "slightly uncomfortable" goal. No wondering this time, "Could I have gone a little harder?" I was worried a couple of times (as I had been in the swim) that I might be a little closer to redline than I should be, but I was right on. I finally figured out how to "race" this distance! Psyched about the bike and killed my goal time: 2:58:12.

T2: Wow, they set this up so streamlined and supported...I think I was under 30 seconds. (Now let's talk for a minute about HH's T2 time of something like 3-4 minutes...I had to ask, "jesus, what'd you do, read a magazine?" I wasn't there, but I'm pretty sure the volunteers were telling her she had to get her ass out on the run course and clear out some bench space for the cyclists coming in behind her...too funny)

Run: I hit the portos right out of T2...had to pee for a long time on the bike, but waited till transition. As I headed out on the run, I was again a little worried that I may have pushed too hard on the bike and might not have left enough for the run...I could definitely feel it a little more than usual. But I figured wtf, I'm still learning how to race this and I'll know if I screwed up pretty soon. I set my intention to stay steady and inside my ability...and managed to keep that strategy for the whole run.

The run was out-and-back flat on a trail with some shade, but plenty of sun. Guess who forgot to put sunscreen on (I swear I forgot and didn't bag it on purpose), but fortunately, I didn't get fried. About 2 miles into the run, a chick went blazing by me and we briefly chatted about the fact that she should "just go with it" while she felt good and I laughed out loud when she said, "yeah, you know what they say...if it feels good, just wait, it'll pass!" The run was well-supported with great volunteers, sponges, etc...the only bummer was that they were giving out Heed and I can't friggin' stand that crap. However, I walked a little and drank some at every station religiously. By the turnaround, I'd only been dropped a few times and had counted about 10-12 women coming back toward me. I was feeling pretty competitive to hold my ground...I was also psyched to start looking for "my" people on the way back and saw Tatyana right away, looking strong like always. At about mile 8-9, Heather and I passed each other. She looked really strong, too, and of course, her smile was visible from a LONG way off, as always...so fun! And getting a brief kiss in the middle of the run course was (1) a first and (2) quite the energy boost (and fortunately, despite the fact this was Spokane, we were not assaulted by any offended locals in pick up trucks). I also saw Ann, Stacey, Deb, LaVonne...it way fun to keep high fiving along the route. By the time I hit the last couple of miles, though, I was feeling a little stomach-y and was thanking the universe that this was NOT an Ironman (and that there is no Ironman next month, too, btw). I was really getting DONE and didn't have much left...one more chick passed me, but she wasn't in my age group, and I had no interest (or capacity) for chasing...just finished it out respectably. I was, of course, crunching the numbers throughout and realized that I'd be able to smash my goal time, so I finished pretty beat, but sky high. I was psyched to hit the run under 2 hours. Nancy and Cheryl were at the finish and Nancy led me around like a mom to get some recovery food and my sweatshirt...very sweet.

Run time: 2:58:12.
(Run splits: 9:50--including porto stop, 8:40, 8:50, 8:46, 9:17, 9:21, 7:47 (huh? marker off, maybe), 9:12, 9:46, 8:39, 9:39, 8:43, and last 1.1 = 9:59)

Total time: 5:31:11!!!

I went 3rd in my age group and actually picked up a little hardware later!! Whoop!!!

I didn't have to wait very long until HH came in (Holy crap, 6:08!!). And let's just re-cap THAT story for a minute, shall we? Shotgun Half Iron Girl raced this thing with almost nothing she'd owned for more than a month (other than her sports bra and a pair of the crappiest bike shoes ever that should have been replaced)...her bike, running shoes, tri suit, aerobars, all new...oh, and a running hat of Cathy's she found in her Jeep about an hour before the race started. She also did 2 bricks in her month of training, learned to swim in open water, had no race plan, stopped to pee 6 (that's S-I-X) times during the race including once on the bike course...and basically napped in transition (when she wasn't putting conditioner in her hair post-swim, no I'm NOT kidding, cause a girl can't have tangles, you know). Did I mention she was not nervous one damn bit for this thing, either. All of THAT being said, she did a 6:08 (hmmm, exactly my PR prior to this race after I'd done 3 years of training). Pretty cool and couldn't happen to a nicer person!

Here's a shot of us de-briefing with one of our hosts, Barb, after the finish...

Here's a pre-race shot in T1...

Another pre-race shot with Stacey (in between her doses of Pepto Bismal...way to hang in there, Stace, rock on, sister!)
And another post-race shot of some happy happy girls!

Troika Race Plan

Yesterday was a nice easy 4 mile run near Greenlake in the afternoon. I felt pretty good and didn't need it to be any longer. Planning to get in a lake swim today before the road trip to Spokane, but it's looking pretty windy out there...

I looked over my race plans and race reports from the other 2 Half Irons I've done and have a decent idea of what my race plan should be. I really want to get my time down to 6 hours and hopefully I'll be rested and twitchy by Sunday. At this point, though, I'm not feeling that all the training has quite caught up...good thing it's still 2 days out.

Race Plan:

Swim: Get on the outside if possible and out in front. Settle in, this is the confidence builder...goal time 32-34 min. Smooth and strong, visualize T1 toward the end of the swim.

T1: Calm and efficient.

Bike: This is where I need to do some work compared to other races...I want to push up to "slightly uncomfortable" and be a little less conservative. My base training and hill work is in the bank, so the rollers on this course should be fun and will make me feel strong. For nutrition, I'll have Nuun (re-fill with loose tabs in bento box), 1-2 powerBars on the first half of the ride, and save the bottle of Perpetuem for the 2nd half of the ride. If they're giving out Gatorade, take it. Goal time on the bike: 3:15 - 3:20 (16.8 mph).

T2: From last year's Troika results site, it looks like this one will be super quick. Swoop through the porto if necessary...

Run: On the run, I want to relax and not go out too fast. I will walk briefly through all aid stations and will get ice, sponges, gatorade. Try to work on leaning forward and small steps. I know this course is flat (zzzz), exposed, and out-and-back. It should be really fun to see all the people I know on the run course and get/give energy...look for HH, Ann, Tatyana, and everyone else. Goal time: 2:00 - 2:05 (but with the heat, who knows...)

Total Goal Time: 5:51 - 6:05

Missing some synapses

So I've had a lot of miscellaneous projects and stuff going on lately and have felt a little scattered...I realized that there are a lot of plates spinning when I sent an email to my Aunt and mentioned that the birthday card I'd just mailed to my dad would probably arrive a day or 2 late...and she wrote back and reminded me that his birthday is a month away...um, the beginning of August is tomorrow, not the end of it. WTF!? Whoa, some little neuron guys are running around in my head missing their synapses (or however all of that works).

Anyway...taper week continues. Apparently, nobody told my appetite to taper, though, as I'm (still) hungry all the time. HH thought she bought herself a box of nilla wafers today and yours truly (Hoover returns) snarfed half the box before she knew what happened. That was at lunchtime --after a turkey sandwich-- and by 3:30 I needed yet another feeding...

After work and the various quests for food throughout the day, I went down to Triumph to pick up my bike from its race tune up. I got there about 5:07 p.m. to discover that they close at 5:00 on Wednesdays (huh?). I completely threw myself at their mercy, begged longingly through the locked door, and thankfully, they opened the door and let me have my bike. Shew! I busted home, grabbed my stuff, and rode over to Greenlake to meet Cheryl's group for the Wednesday bike group...caught up with Nancy and Karen D. on the way over and rode with them. I wasn't feeling the need to kill myself AT ALL and just did a few 1-minute pick-ups as the group did hills over in Ballard. I rode about 25 miles total with the to/from, but most of it was pretty chill...good to spin a bit and the bike seems ready for the race even if I'm not quite there yet.

2 days till the ROAD TRIP!!

Human ping pong balls

Ah, taper week...slept in today and it's looking like that could happen every day until race day on Sunday. Sweet! The weather today pretty much went to crap...showers off and on all day, cloudy, 60's, basically, the anti-summer. The only workout on the schedule today was a swim, but I just couldn't bring myself to go indoors, so I suggested a late-in-the-day lake swim for HH, Tatyana, and me. I'd driven across 520 a couple of times during the day and saw the choppy water, but figured what the hell, might be a fun challenge. I texted HH to tell her that it looked choppy, but adventure awaited and, being the consistently good sport that she is, she texted back, "I'm in!" Of course, Tatyana is the only person who's as good a sport as HH, so they were up for anything, as always.

The 3 of us met at Tatyana's condo and hopped off the dock into the cool waves. Pretty immediately, I felt like a ping pong ball in the bouncy water and had to laugh out loud at how ridiculous it was to try to swim with anything resembling a normal rhythm. But it was fun and we bobbed around making some forward progress over to the far side of Madison Beach. HH stopped for a while and when T and I circled back, she suggested a trip to the raft and the diving boards. Since the weather was lousy, the lifeguards must've been sent home early and the beach wasalmost abandoned except for the sign on the high dive ladder saying that the diving board was closed. We promptly ignored the sign and played on the diving boards, T and me following HH who did a perfect one-and-a-quarter (wetsuit protected) belly smack flip off the high dive to lead us off. Totally fun. After a few more flips (HH) and less-impressive dives and hops (T and me), we swam back to Tatyana's. By this time, I was, as usual, damn near hypothermic despite my insulated nerd cap (shoulda worn the neoprene socks, too, oops). T was a sweetheart and let us hop in her shower where I pushed her water heater to the limit while she made some tea.

My feet were numb and looked like cauliflower for a while there... I know there's a name for this condition (other than "I'm a pansy and always get cold"), so I googled, visited diagnose-me.com and self-diagnosed myself as having some form of Raynaud's syndrome, a disorder of circulation also called "wax finger," or, in this case, "wax toe." I must ask the nurse later if she can validate my diagnosis.

Lake swim/dive/bounce/laugh:

45ish minutes

Last Monday double

The rest of the weekend and my "rest day," pretty much kicked my butt...I was in charge of the Seattle Century's Marymoor rest stop and was out there at 6:15 a.m. on Sunday morning. The ride (oh, whose course, btw, was changed at the last minute to omit Cougar Mountain after I climbed that bad boy the day before, thankyewverymuch) was uber-supported with lots of food and pampering and I was at the fried chicken rest stop...yup, that's right, fried chicken. At 6:30 in the morning I found myself among a small mountain of boxes of defrosting/previously frozen Tyson fried chicken and by 8:00 a.m. I was witnessing cyclists actually EATING it...OK, and confession...by 9:30, I peeled all the fried crap off a piece and tried it myself (though I'm not sure I coulda done that if I were actually on the bike). Clearly, I was still hungry from Saturday's ride. Anyway, it was a pretty full day of fun things like putting peroxide on a dude's road rash, locating tampons for a rider, delivering a tube for somebody's flat, and dispensing the chicken, PB&J, etc. I got to see some friends come through the stop and it was a fun day (bicycle guide flashbacks and nostalgia). By the time I got done, I barely had time to get home and take my bike in for its scheduled race tune up. I was seriously considering going to the Storm game last night, but when I got out of the shower and opened a beer, it was all over...hit the wall, no way was it happening. Fortunately, I got the Shoebox cleaned up a bit, had another healthy feeding, and crashed early. Oh, did I mention that even after I gave leftover chicken away to a rugby clinic and a church picnic nearby in the park, there were still 20+ boxes of it to schlep back onto the truck?! Dude, that's a lot of dead birds.

Today I was up and at 'em before my alarm and early to the pool. Had a really good swim with Julie and later got in my typical Monday double and race week interval run (5 x 2 min hard/2 min recovery). The run wasn't exactly easy, but I felt pretty good and was happy with the pace I held on the fast stuff...and it went by pretty quick, that's for sure. I noticed on the downton reader board as I was finishing my run that the temperature was 60 degrees and thought about the fact that it'll be about 30 degrees hotter than that on Sunday at Troika...yikes.

This afternoon I had a major work-related victory and landed a presenting sponsor for next year's Tour de Cure...which I celebrated by going to the grocery store and making a big 'ol dinner for HH and me who should be arriving shortly. Yea!

Swim: 3,200 yards

Run intervals:

1 mile warm up
5 x 2 min hard/ 2 min recoery (30 sec walk, 1:30 easy run on each)
(intervals all .28 - .29 mile with Avg HR = 151-161, max at 171).
.8 mile cool down

4 miles total
34:55

Slammed Saturday

Today was my last longish ride before the taper week for Troika. I am volunteering for the new Seattle Century ride tomorrow and one of my tasks was to "rabbit" one of the routes today to check the signs and "Dan Henry" markings. I was dispatched with a big roll of tape and some extra arrow signs and rolled out of Magnuson solo about 9 a.m. The "50 mile" (nope, it's 60) route goes out to Marymoor, West Lake Samm....then UP and over Cougar Island (holy crap, I've heard of "zoo hill" for years, but had never done it...not for sissies, damn), back through Newport, over Mercer Island, past UW, and back to Magnuson. I felt pretty good throughout the ride...not super high energy, but OK. Definitely feeling the need for some recovery this coming week.

I was supposed to be back at REI at 1:30 for a meeting about tomorrow's event and was already pushing toward being late...but I went ahead and did a mini brick and ran for 10 minutes after the ride. I had no time to cool down and not much recovery food...just busted it back to REI for the meeting. By the time I got out of there, I had to hurry (again) home to shower and then barely made it in time to a massage...ah, slice of heaven and the perfect "one week till the race" activity...my legs feel like they weigh 100 pounds each. And finally...the next stop will be a BBQ with HH where I will be warning the host about how much food could disappear in a short period of time since I still haven't really had a meal today...Hoover, party of 1...

Brick:
60 mile ride
3:50
Avg HR = 121 (max = 161, holy Cougar)
Avg speed: 15.6 mph

10 min run
1.17 mile
Avg HR 141

Another perfect swim day...

Yesterday I was back on a "Ruth day" rather than a "Kate day." I was up at 5:15 and at the lake to meet Julie & Duncan to swim at 5:45. It was a perfect sunrise swim and the water was just like glass...we were loving it. Swam to the yellow house and back with Duncan and we took a break in the middle to continue admiring the day and the perfection of the water. That was the only workout of the day...thought about doing core and lifting weights, thought more about a nap. Unfortunately, neither the nap nor the weight workout happened, but a really bad funky mood sure did for several hours...

I ended the day at the FSA bike races out at Marymoor...I was really into watching the races, but could not stay awake and had to end the "Ruth day" with Stacey giving me crap and asking "isn't Kate here??!!", since I ditched out early at 9 p.m. to go home and crash.

More midweek fun

One of my BFFs, Shemille, is in town this week for a family reunion...went for a fun dinner with she & Joan last night then met up with the usual suspects at Purr. It wasn't too crazy late this time, but I did manage to sleep in yet again until 7:30 (pretty soon I fear that I will be rightly accused of being an almost-normal person).

Later in the day, I got in a nice 8-mile tanning run along Lake Washington and a mile swim with HH at Seward Park. I like it a lot when my "long run" of the week is 8 miles...have I mentioned that I'm looking forward to taper week next week? The sun was back today and Heather was much less zig-zaggy in the water. We swam the mile in about 35 minutes with a headwind on the way back and a tailwind on the way back in. Great day!

8 mile run
1:12:16
Avg HR = 142, Max = 157

Yesterday morning I was back in the pool and happy to find out that the same shoulders that felt like hamburger on Saturday had actually recovered...did the usual 3,000 yards including some fast stuff and they didn't hurt. Yea! Had a good swim with just Julie and me in the lane. Although the lake is my favorite, it's nice to be in the pool once a week, too.

Later in the day I got in some weights and then after work went for a 20 mile ride to Seward Park and back. When I got to Madrona on the way back, I ran into my friend, Peter, who I noticed in his new Tour de Cure jersey. He was riding the other way, but flipped his route and rode with me all the way home...great to chat with him and catch up. Then I ended the day lifeguarding HH so she could get in a swim at Seward Park. While watching her alternate between swimming toward Bellevue and swimming toward Lake Washington Blvd., I told her that maybe her new nickname could be "zigzag." She's kicking serious butt, though, in that lake, I gotta say.

Today was hill repeats on the bike...I did a quick warm up near the arboretum then did 8 repeats of the .5 mile Interlaken hill. I lost 1-2 seconds on each repeat, but was fairly consistent...they ranged from 2:55 - 3:10 and avg HR on each was 143-145. Good quick bike workout.

Camping trip!

HH invited me along to Westport this weekend for a super fun camping trip with her friends, Jenny, Indigo, Diller, and Amy...SO MUCH FUN!! A day or so before we left, we decided it'd be way better for me to take a vacation day today and for the 2 of us to stay for an extra night...brilliant plan. Somehow, in between hanging out on the sunny beach watching surfers and kiteboarders, chatting at the camp site, and generally having a blast, we actually did most of the prescribed training...


Yesterday, we had a brick on the schedule...it was a little cool in the morning before we headed out on our bikes and HH thought it'd be a great idea to wear her snowboarding socks as part of her cycling outfit. Of course, without even planning it, the socks with her omnipresent PINK, actually matched the bike gear...and I was cracking up the entire ride. The ensemble was a big hit with the group at the campsite. We were supposed to do a 60 mile ride with 2 x 10 mile TT's and then a 20-minute run. I was still a bit beat from Fat Salmon (2 Aleve necessary right out of bed in the a.m.) and my legs just didn't have it for the longer speedwork...I managed 2 x 5 miles within the 60 and the headwind on our way back when I was doing them made for a bit of a challenge (including me swearing very loudly at the wind more than once...). However, the ride flew by since the scnery and conversation were great, the run part was fine, and we were back on the beach for a really GREAT afternoon in no time.

Here's me with Indie, Diller, and Amy on Saturday afternoon...gorgeous afternoon on the beach!
Here's Jenny and her very cool dogs...she's the total surfer beach girl...they all were in their natural habitat on the beach and really cute!

And lastly, of course...HH in HER natural habitat...both outdoors AND on the phone with Stacia...

This morning we just wanted to get coffee and start driving back to Seattle, so we procrastinated today's run...by the time we got around to running, it was about 6 p.m. and we went to Seward Park. The run was to be a 6 mile run with 4 mile tempo, but...despite the fact that I slept in today until 9:00 (yup, that's NINE a.m.), I was dragging a bit...we did a 5-mile run alternating miles with moderate/hard/moderate/hard/moderate. I decided it was close enough and the workout was a good way to end a non-stop FUN 3 days!

5 mile Run:

1 mile/8:44/Avg HR = 143

1 mile/7:32/Avg HR=157

1 mile/9:16/Avg HR = 141

1 mile/7:29/Avg HR = 161

1 mile/9:18/Avg HR = 145

Fat Salmon Report

Saturday was the annual Fat Salmon 3.2 mile swim. As always, it was one of my favorite races/events of the year, but this year I wasn't feeling like hammering it...just haven't been doing super long swims this year. I was happy with how I did and how I felt (1:37ish, a little slower than last year, I think) and it was super fun to have HH there before and after the swim and to be in the water with Tatyana, Rebecca, Gary, Robin, and several other of the usual suspects.

After Fat Salmon, my shoulders were both really hurting, so I popped 4 Advil (as prescribed by the nurse on duty, HH), then HH and I packed her Jeep to the gills and took off for a camping trip to Westport with a bunch of her friends. They had taken their surfboards to the coast and were a few hours ahead of us...

Evening (!) Long Run

In the continuing spirit of "new chapter," I slept in until 7:30 a.m. today (!), my toenails became some wacky funky shade akin to candy apple red this morning while I was eating cereal (thanks, HH), and I did my long run in the evening. The color of nail polish currently on my toes has NEVER been on any part of me (I swear this crap will glow in the dark, it's that obnoxious- albeit a hit in the office with Chrystal and Nancy) and it's been several years since I did a workout at night on purpose. However...I must admit, there are some things that actually work for me about all of it.

Today's long run was a 14 miler...the one over-distance run before Troika. I drove down to Madison beach and ran out-and-back to Seward Park. Mere words cannot express how glad I am to not be doing a full Ironman this summer and to have this run be the longest of the whole freakin' summer...it was PLENTY long and there will be some advil before bed tonight (feeling like the tin man as usual). The good news, though, was that I had more in my legs than I thought I would and it was kind of fun to run in the evening with plenty of time...I had nothing planned for tonight and nowhere to be, so it was easier to relax and enjoy the sun and the scenery than it is in the morning...of course, it sucked to pass people having picnics in the parks and going past all the people at the BlueWater Bistro in Leschi sitting outdoors having drinkees (painful)...but there are some good things to be said for the evening run and I do love that time of day. Things smelled good and summery and there were a lot more people and bikes to watch than there are at 5:30 a.m. when I'm the only wacko out there. When I got back to Madison Beach, I hopped in the lake to cool down...another gorgeous evening on the lake.

As I drove home, I realized that I have been down on Lake Washington Blvd. at least once every day in a row for as many days in a row now as I can remember to swim, bike, run, lounge, or various combinations. I'm seriously coveting Tatyana's condo down there...in the summer, I really cannot imagine a better place on this planet to live than Seattle and I don't think I could ever get tired of seeing that lake.

Looonnnngggg Run:

14 miles
2:14:26
Avg HR = 140

Behind on posting again...

Whew, record keeping not happening on a daily basis these days...just the facts, then...

Tuesday...got in some weights and had a fun bike ride with HH around Mercer Island before book club. Being Ms. Mountain Biker, she humbled me on the hills...so much for being a good climber.

Wednesday was a really great lake swim to the yellow house in the morning with Tatyana, Rebecca, and Gary...a picture perfect morning and the water was glass. All was perfect until I locked my car key in the car after the swim...fortunately, I had the rest of my keys in my hand when I did it and Rebecca drove me home to get a spare key and back to Madison.

Later in the day, I got in some not-very-inspired speed work on the bike. The workout was 6 x 3 minutes hard with 1 minute recovery...after 3 of them, I was in the middle of Seward Park and took a longer rest interval, but otherwise, they were all as prescribed on the plan. Didn't have the legs to get my HR up as high as I shoulda, but did some decent work. The highlights of the workout were burning off a little work-related crankiness and then running into Tatyana and riding the last few miles chatting with her.

Bike Interval workout:

6 x 3 minutes: All Avg HR = 144ish, speed = 20.3 - 21.1

Slept in today after hosting a fun party on the roof of my building last night...still gotta do today's long run.

Interval Monday

I took a good rest day yesterday after the pummelling I took on the Vashon ride Saturday. Laid around Madison Beach with Tatyana & crew, tended to several dogs, got groceries, cleaned the Shoebox...and had several feedings including dinner at Cara & Robin's (the moms of the face-biting cat). Great sunny day and I slept great last night.

Today I was back on the training schedule with the usual favorite killer Monday routine. It was another gorgeous lake-tempting morning, but I know I need speed work in the pool so I looked longingly at Mt. Rainier from the Shoebox but went to SU. Julie and I had a good swim that ended with 8 x "Julie 50's" (hard down, easy back)...exactly what I needed. The highlight of the workout was that Emily commented that I'm looking "cut." She qualified it with "the tan helps, but you are looking cut..." As if I need more incentive to ditch the sunscreen and worship the sun, right?

I was out and about at meetings again today (think that's a conicidence?), so I did an interval run in between things along Lake Washington. The workout was a one mile warm up, a tough 6 x 4 minutes hard/2 minutes recovery, then a mile at the end and it really kicked my butt. I started out at Genessee by the dog park and ran down to Seward Park, part way into the park, and back for a total of 6.4 miles. The pace I held on the 4-minute intervals varied from 6:53 on the best one to 7:14 on the slowest one...I'll take it. It felt pretty hot, especially the last half mile on the blacktop, but I was thinking it's probably nothing compared to how hot Troika is going to be...

Swim: 3,100 yards

Interval Run:

1 mile: 9:00

6 x 4 min hard/2 min recovery

(all at 156 - 163 Avg HR, Max at 167)

1 mile: 9:08

6.4 miles total

53:09

Almond Joy

Yesterday was supposed to be a brick with a tempo ride included. And I fully intended to do it, honest. Tatyana and her friend, Matt, wanted to ride together and I'm starting to like riding with other people more and more so I was all over that idea. We went back and forth on Friday about routes and options...and finally decided to go over to Vashon Island and do an interupted brick with the run after the return ferry ride.

We started riding on Vashon a little after 9:00 a.m...and as soon as we climbed the first 1-mile hill right off the ferry and started flying downhill on curvy roads, I started realizing that the whole tempo idea on the hillly Vashon terrain was pretty much shot...oh well, hills are good, too. We picked up a solo rider, Christoffe (or he picked us up?) and the group became a fun foursome for the day. After the first Coke stop at about mile 22, my legs started really feeling it...I was eating all the regular stuff, but my legs and my stomach were starving and my legs really started falling apart. Of course, this was right about the time everyone else was really warmed up and flying...I started whining about how bonky I felt and Tatyana promptly saved my life by busting out a big bag of almonds...I ate a LOT of them (in addition to PowerBars and Perpetuem) and tried to hang in there the rest of the ride. All day my legs just felt like dishrags that someone had wrung out...I'd get a little energy and then feel like crap again. Fortunately, it was hot and sunny and the scenery and company were so stellar that I was really happy. And I was totally on board and thankful for a break every time we stopped to take photos. My workout plan was completely scrapped, but I still feel that I got a good enough butt-kicking and I can probably afford to go off the schedule a bit here and there. Overall, I'd have to say that my biggest physical achievement of the day was peeing in the bushes twice and never hitting my shoes.

We did 53 hilly miles and by the last 10 or so I'd pretty much abandoned the idea of running. When we got to the ferry dock, I sealed the no-run decision. We had a few minutes and there was a Mexican restaurant right there...I was still starving and felt like eating the equivalent of my body weight in cheese, so I got a really great quesadilla for the ferry ride...YUM!

My legs felt heavy the rest of the day and when I got home all I could do was, well, eat MORE (for godsake, I'm wondering by now, do I have a tapeworm???), grab a towel, and take my tired legs to Madison beach to crash in the sun for a while.

Later I had a super great evening...I met HH after her work day at Seward Park and we went for a nice mellow sunset/moonrise swim. It was a sweet warm evening and the water was great, although the 8 zillion boats made for a bit of an obstacle course. We got out of the water at about 9 p.m. and had a great picnic in the park. FUN DAY!!

Buy me drinks and call me Kate

Holy crap, it's Friday and I haven't blogged in about 3 days. I'll let the pictures tell part of the story and come clean with some of the rest (as if the photos aren't enough). Let's just say the "New Chapter" of my life happening this summer now has more footnotes, one of which is that some new cool people in my life have verified my lifelong belief that my name doesn't suit me...and now are calling me "Kate." I wish they had been my pals when I was about 7 years old so I'd have a better chance of adjusting ("Hey KATE?" "Huh? Me?"). Not sure it's going to fly, but I certainly appreciate the gesture and the idea of having a name that isn't for people only over the age of 70 is definitely attractive.

Exhibit A is the picture above from a mid-week happy hour that started in the sun at Linda's and got later and later and happier and happier...Toward the end of the evening, we met this guy from Boston at Purr and somehow, before I knew it, he and I had switched shirts. I'm crediting HH (see below at an earlier time the same day looking quite innocent) with this transaction as I'm pretty sure she negotiated it. Bottom line was that I got a great deal...the shirt I scored is WAY nicer than the old long sleeved T-shirt he left in.

While I was talking with shirt-swap guy, Kamala and HH took a zillion photos of themselves...am I hanging out with girls who have good smiles or what??

Needless to say, the 8-mile run that happened the day after this evening was not my strongest, but it was more than worth it...

In between a lot of sun and running around having way too much fun all week, I did get in all the workouts...and even one extra bike ride.

Quick re-cap:

Wednesday was a super fun mellow lake swim with Tatyana and HH...Heather is kicking ass and veering towards Mercer Island way less often now in the lake. That day I also got in a nice solo hour-ish bike ride to Seward Park and back.

Thursday was the hangover run...which was actually respectable (avg. 9 min pace) for having had beer for dinner the night before. Thursday afternoon I also got to ride with a pro racer, Monique Hanley, who is on Team Type 1 and in town from Austrailia...very cool and an extra hour on the bike in the sun during work hours...SWEET!

Today was a fantastic swim in the lake...the sunrise and the mountain were so pretty when I got to the beach that I was jumping up and down! Then the usual coffee and toast at the Essential...got in weights later in the day today.

This could possibly be the best summer Kate has ever had!!

Tuesday hill repeats

I had a meeting this morning at 7:00, so there was no morning workout...HH was up early and came over for breakfast and then went to swim at the gym when I went to work (she did a mile so I think Troika can now be classifed as no problem). I got in some weights at lunchtime, but there was WAY too much sitting today and I was really jonesing to get out in the sun on my bike by the late afternoon. I decided to do tomorrow's hill repeats today...my legs needed it. I went down to Lake Washington and did Madrona 4 times. Then I went into Triumph Multisport to get my self-shifting bike looked at. The dude was great and fixed it right up...smoothe as silk again now, yea! It was a really perfect hot sunny day and I sort of wanted to stay on my bike for hours... I hurried home, though, because Chase had invited me over for dinner. We barbequed some chicken and had beers and a nice chat. Great summer evening!

Bike Hill repeats:

4 x Madrona (.85 mile)
5:22-5:33 each, all Avg HR = 147ish, Max HR = 158

Total : 1:17
17.6 miles