IMLP Training Recap: Week 24

It's a little scary that we are in May and that week 24 is here -- 6 months in!  That is a lot of training.

Last week wasn't a bad one training-wise.  I had a rest day on Monday and then training was light at the end of the week because of the Devilman tri.  I had to skip a workout because I was in a car accident ... I am fine thank goodness and my car is repairable.  I was actually en route to do a little shake out run and then to get the kids.  Thankfully they were not with me in the car when the accident happened.  Also thankfully my bike was not on the back of the car, as the bike rack is destroyed and the bike would have been destroyed too if it were on the rack.

The big issue this week was the rain.  Whoa my goodness.  Wednesday was my long run and it was also an incredibly rainy day.  I lucked out and ran super early when it was just drizzling and got in most of the run in decent conditions.  But by the end, the rain picked up and I was a soggy mess.

Week 24:  8:35 hours

Swam: 2:33:17 (6,990 yards)

Biked:  3:18:29 hours (no clue about mileage)

Ran: 2:37:05 hours (17.1 miles)

Workouts:

Monday: rest day!
Tuesday: easy endurance bike
Wednesday: long run
Thursday: long swim
Friday: Tempo/Endurance bike & shake out run (run did not happen)
Saturday: Easy 20 minute bike & easy open water swim.
Sunday: RACE RACE RACE! Devilman Half-Lite.

Here's the thing about rest days: I love and hate them.  Love because it is so nice to do nothing.  Hate because it breaks the momentum, I feel a little guilty, and I find it hard to gear up for the workout the day after one.  But that said, I am a fan of the rest day.

Tuesday was an easy endurance bike - just 50 minutes at endurance pace.  Nice.

Wednesday was my long run.  It was 8 miles in the rain.  It was not romantic and it was not really fun.  I wore my favorite running rain jacket and it worked great.  I kept telling myself that it could rain this hard in Lake Placid (though it would not have been as cold) and that I should embrace the training opportunity.  It worked.  I had a killer* shuffle on my iPod and that helped too.  (*note "killer" is subjective as most people would actually want to kill someone or something due to the songs).

Thursday was a long swim and I did it in the outdoor 50 meter pool at the local Y, which just reopened for the season.  It's heated, but still a bit brisk when you first get in. Amy and I went to the pool together, which was fun.  It started raining on the swim, which was also a first.  When I got out of the pool, there was a gorgeous, vibrant rainbow.  I wish I'd brought my phone with me, but alas.

Friday was a tempo/endurance bike on the trainer.  And in the afternoon I was supposed to have that 3 mile shake out run, but that plan was derailed by my accident.  I'm thankful I am ok and thankful that I was able to race on Sunday.  My sister, a massage therapist, was clutch: she gave me a great shoulder/neck massage the day before the race.

Saturday I had an easy 20 minute spin on the trainer in the morning.  Afternoon I went to the race site and was able to swim for 15 minutes in the open water -- the lake where the race was held.  It was my first time in the open water since September and even in that dark, cold, murky water, I was so happy to be back swimming outside.  No black line, no walls, just a big ol' lake ... err ... pond.  Big ol' pond.

Sunday was the race!  I recapped it here.  This picture, and my face, recaps how that experience was:

This week things are picking up again, but I have a rest day on Mother's Day, which is nice.  I will probably do a quick 1000 yards in the 50 meter pool in the morning as a little treat to myself.

See you swoon,

Race Recap: 2014 New Jersey Devilman Half-Lite Triathlon

Hello and happy Monday!  I'm going out of the usual order today because I had a big race yesterday and I want to share that first.  The IMLP training recap will go up later this week.

Yesterday was my first tri of the year: the New Jersey Devilman Triathlon in Cedarville, NJ, which is the town next to my hometown in South Jersey.  I was really pumped about this race: I wanted to beat my time from last year and was especially excited to see how I would do in the swim.  I did the "half lite" distance: .8 mile swim, 41 mile bike, 8.8 mile run -- it's essentially 1/3 of a full Ironman and is a great long distance early season race.  My coach called the day before the race with my race plan (which was the exact same plan Amy and Bill had):

• treat the race like a training day with the focus on the bike;
• enjoy the swim
• really hammer the bike: treat it like a time trial.  Go all out;
• take your time in both transitions: dry off, get comfortable, walk out of transition;
• survive the run: you should not feel great on the run if you've biked according to plan.

OK. I could do this.  Here is our team before the race - ray to go!

  

Conditions were absolutely perfect.  It was warm with a bit of a breeze (the breeze later turned to wind, but luckily only by the time I was almost done the bike), sunny for all of the swim and bike, and sunny for half of the run and cloudy for the other half.

I finished in 4:07:48, which was good enough for a third place in my age group.  What the what?  The blingy medal was nice, but more than that, I was thrilled with my swim and with my bike.  And also thrilled to beat last year's time of 4:27:44 by a solid 20 minutes.  

And as the incomparable group En Vogue once said: now it's time for a break down:

Swim:  23:30 [last year's time: 31:51]

Hello good swim.  This lake isn't the best.  It is actually the worst.  It's dark and murky and small, and the bottom feels like it's covered in gelatinous hair.  But the temperature wasn't bad especially with a wetsuit.  September was the last time I was in the open water, and even though I have been in the pool about twice a week since November, it's not the same.  So the day before the race, I went to the race site and swam in the lake, which they opened up for warm-ups. I'm so glad I did this.  I swam in the water for about 15 minutes and it was the confidence builder that I needed.  

This swim is a .8 mile swim.  If you do the half lite distance, you go twice around the buoys.  The lake is small -- more of a pond really -- so body contact with other swimmers is a given.  Plus, the men start their wave about 5 minutes before the women, so you know the faster men will meet up with you when you're on that first loop.  

The swim was great!  The women entered the water around 8:30 and the guy yelled, "GO GO GO!" around 8:35.  I started my watch, put my face in and just started swimming and singing ABBA. It worked.  I didn't freak out, my heart rate was nice and comfortable and I just swam like a boss.  I looked up after what seemed like 10 seconds and was at the first buoy!  There was a point around the first and second buoy when I felt a little dizzy, but I think it was the choppiness of the water.  

I swam shoulder to shoulder with another woman for most of the race.  We collided a couple of times but it wasn't a big deal.  I also got hit hard by a man on his second lap and on my first. I was glad to start my second loop because I knew the men wouldn't be behind me anymore.  The water was so dark that it was just impossible to see in front of you.  I got out of the water and my watch said 21:30 or so ... awesome.  The 23 minute official time is because of the placement of the timing chip.  

I actually found myself really enjoying the swim.  I tried to appreciate being outside and being at a point in my training when the open water was something I really loved versus something I had to survive.  This swim alone was a true high point of the race. 

T1: 2:43 [last year's time: 3:10]

Nothing special here. I took my coach's advice and took my time.  Last year my time was slower because it was colder and I put on arm warmers.  This race that wasn't necessary.  I just took off my wetsuit, dried off my feet, put on socks and bike shoes, put on helmet and glasses, grabbed one of my little peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and went to bike.  Gotta say I was psyched to see so many bikes still racked and to have a lot of company in transition.  That meant my swim was a good one.  

Bike: 2:13:23 (18.5 mph!!) [last year's time: 2:28:44 - 16.7 mph]

Dudes.  Do you see that?  18.5 mph average?  I feel the need to SHOUT IT THAT I BIKED AN AVERAGE OF EIGHTEEN POINT FIVE MILES PER HOUR.  That is huge.  I decided that I would allow no one to pass me on the bike.  I was going to pass people.  I got in my aerobars immediately and decided to bike like a boss and give it 100%.  It was hard work.  The Devilman course is very flat, so you are constantly pedaling for 41 miles.  I focused on staying in aero, eating and drinking and passing people.  Happily, I made my goal of not letting anyone pass me.  I played leap frog with a few people but ultimately didn't see them after my last pass.  

I was so psyched to see my friend from high school had worked with another high school friend who happened to live on the course and set up a huge cheering section for me.  As soon as I saw "golden goddess" I knew my friend Angie did it.  It was a great boost and made me cry.  

Biking that fast was really fun.  And also really, really hard and totally not sustainable for me.  At the end of the bike, as per usual, I was ready to get off the bike.  However, unlike most bikes I do, I was worried about the run.  I had pushed super hard on the bike, just like my coach told me to do.  I wasn't sure how I was going to run 8.8 miles.  Eek. 

T2:  2:12 [last year's time: 1:35]

I again took my time in transition.  I racked my bike, changed shoes, took my helmet off and put my visor on, drank some water, put water on my shoulders and head and then walked out of transition (another directive of my coach).  

Run: 1:25:58 [last year's time: 1:22:22]

And the wheels came off.  I did not run like a boss.  My coach said I should be cursing him for the first mile, which I did.  I also cursed him for the remaining 7.8 miles.  Wow - that run was a battle.  I decided to do a run/walk combo  like we've been doing in training and would run to each water station and walk through those while drinking water or sports drink.  My legs were absolutely shot and it was a real effort to run.  My paces for the first few miles was decent: low 9s.

The run is flat and there is very little shade.  It's honestly a kind of boring run (especially without music).  One thing I loved was there was a ton of houses with lilac bushes, which were in full bloom and smelled amazing.  

Around mile 2, Amy came up behind me and the two of us ran together for a good chunk of the run, which was great and took my mind off of the pain.  With about 3.5 miles to go, I needed a walk break and I could tell she was having a really good, sustainable strong run (I could tell this as soon as we started running together!), so I told her to go ahead.  She made sure I was OK, I was, so she ran ahead.  From that point on, I vowed I would keep her in my sight. I knew I couldn't catch up with her, but I could make sure I saw her.  I did, which was good.  I started playing leap frog with a woman in my age group.  She was also doing the walk/run combo.  Once I hit the last water station, I passed her and promised myself I would not let her pass me again.  I picked up the pace and hammered the final mile.  I didn't know it at the time, but that was the difference between 3rd and 4th place!  This picture that my mom took pretty much summarizes the entire run ... I was pushing hard and exhausted and I had no idea how close behind me that other woman in my age group was.  I imagined she was on my heels, but she was about a minute back:

HA.   Even though my run was a good 3.5 minutes slower than last year, I am pretty happy with it.  I biked so much faster and harder this year, so that I could still have a respectable run after that shows me my fitness has improved a lot with all this training.  It was also a great, palpable reminder of what happens on the run if you hammer too much on the bike!  I do not want to feel like that at IMLP ... so being smart on the bike is super important. 

I love this picture of Amy and Bill at the finish.  So cool.  Amy finished in 4:06:13 and Bill finished in 3:34:12.  Team Awesome. 

And here are the three of us after a hard fought race!

It was a great day.  I'm sore today (and was rewarded by my coach with a rest day - yeah!!), but I'm truly thrilled with the race.  Here's hoping the weather is this spectacular at Lake Placid in a few months! 

See you swoon,

Tri-Shorts - a bunch of reviews

I had hoped to be able to share a big ol' playroom reveal today.  But, alas, I cannot.  Because I am not done.  Because I have not yet painted the furniture.  Or done anything at all since my last post about the playroom.  Because triathlon training is taking over my life.  And when I have a free moment, honestly, I want to sit on the couch, watch questionable television and eat snacks and drink beer.  I will get around to painting the furniture.  Just not today.   I should add that I am having some computer/internet issues lately and am working on fixing them.  In the event I cannot do so, my next week's posts may be a bit delayed. Cross your fingers that's not the case!  Eek. 

Anyway. Back to today's post. Instead of a house post, I will review a bunch of tri shorts.  They are:  (1) DeSoto Femme Carerra; (2) SOAS; and (3) Coeur Little Black Tri Short.  

I've found the search for the perfect triathlon short to be a search for the holy grail.  Maybe I am too picky, but I don't think so.  I need something that is comfortable for a 112 mile bike ride, that will get me through the swim and that will feel super comfortable on the run.  So a few months ago, I dropped about $300 on 9 different pairs of tri shorts.  And I returned 8 of them.  The one that made the cut was the DeSoto.

1.  DeSoto Femme Carerra Triathlon Short

I loved the feel of these shorts when I put them on.  They seemed padded enough and I liked where they hit on my leg.  I also loved the waistband, which is a stretchy yoga-pant type waist.  They were true to size: I wore a size Small.  However, when I got on the bike, all hope was lost.  After about 5 minutes, the padding was clearly not enough and the shorts were riding up my legs.  It was a very uncomfortable bike ride.  I've since tried them out twice again and have vowed to never do it again.  They just don't work for me.  At all.  Here they are.  

2.  SOAS Tri Short

I've had these shorts since the Fall and I really love them.  They're the Nantucket Navy style and I have the matching tri top.  They are super comfortable, the padding and chamois are just right, they hit my leg in the exact perfect spot, and the waistband is comfortable.  They are true to size: I am a size small and they fit just great.  Plus, they have pockets in the back and are super cute.  The only drawback: they are lined in white.  I don't understand why SOAS did this!  They are otherwise perfect little shorts!  And granted the fabric is dark, but the white lining brings a host of problems for me.  I may still wear these for shorter races, but I'm not sure they will work for a long race.  The top, on the other hand, is a winner.  I will absolutely wear this top at IMLP.  

3.  Coeur Little Black Tri Shorts

Ding ding ding! Jackpot.  I am in love with Coeur's Little Black Tri Shorts.  While I like the look of the SOAS shorts a little better, these black shorts by Coeur are the absolute winner.  They're very similar in terms of fit and feel: the chamois and padding are perfect.  The waistband is nice and comfortable and hits at a very good spot.  There are back pockets for storage.  I wish they cut a little higher on the thigh, but that's OK.  They are black lined in black!  The sizing is a little nuts - I'm a size medium.  I emailed Coeur about this and they acknowledge that the sizing is off and that the shorts right now run small but that they were adjusting their line so the sizes were more accurate.  Here they are on me:

I'm wearing a polka-dot tri top by SOAS in these pictures, but I like my Nantucket Navy one better, even though the polka-dot one matches a little better.   

So there you go - three reviews.  It's so hard to find a comfortable, stylish tri kit.  Overall, I've found SOAS and Coeur offer the best options.  I just wish their range of sizes was a bit more expansive than it is now so that all women, of all shapes and sizes, could wear them. 

Have a terrific weekend!  Mine will be spent in NJ with Sunday at Devilman, my first tri of the season! It's a "Half Lite" distance: .8 mile swim, 41 mile bike, 8.8 mile run.  I'll be sure to let you know how it went. 

See you swoon,

What I Wore {post 41}

Happy Wednesday!  Bam - here are some outfits.

* Chambray Shirt, Navy Pencil Skirt, Brown Leather Boots & Belt, Scarf *

This picture is a little blurry. I know I need to stop using my phone but it's so easy.  I have this scarf and really love it - it is years old and it's made up of scraps of all different types of scarves.  It was a gift from Anthropologie.  I wore it with a pretty blank slate of an outfit: chambray shirt with navy pencil skirt (the bottom to a suit), and brown belts and riding boots.  I like it. 

* Pale Pink Sweater & Blue and White Skirt *

I bought this skirt at Target last Spring and love it.  Love love love. It's a very Spring/Summer print, so I'm thrilled to be able to bring it back into rotation.  I tried something new with it: a pale pink sweater.  I wore with my taupe patent heels.  

* Anthropologie Watercolor Dress *

I wore this old (circa 2004) dress to a wedding recently.  It's comfortable and easy to wear and, I think, has stood the test of time pretty well.  I love the print.  I wore it with my fun bubble necklace from Banana Republic outlet and my Jimmy Choo gold heels from Neiman Marcus (not anything resembling an outlet).  I wore my hair half up/half down with a little curl that fell out after about 5 seconds.  

Funny story with the dress.  During dinner, the waiter slipped and dropped a piece of lettuce on me and a tiny bit of salad dressing got on my silk dress. I was like dude.  Bill was kind enough to grab me a club soda and I tried my best to get the stain out.  Later after dinner and with cake, I got decaf and promptly spilled a huge amount all over my dress.  HA.  It dried quickly and the stain did not show at all thanks to the color and print of the dress.  But that is so my luck. 

Enjoy the rest of your day! 

See you swoon,

IMLP Training Recap: Week 23

Happy Monday!  This weekend was a blur.  I had my son's First Communion, a wedding, my son's birthday party, a 30 minute run, a 60 minute bike and a 60 mile bike.  Yes, miles.  Eek.

This past week was the first time in a long while that a workout was sacrificed to that crazy thing called life.  I was supposed to swim on Tuesday, but I could not fit it in, as I had a huge project at work and then in the afternoon, I had Big's birthday and baseball practice.  So I couldn't do the swim.  Instead, I decided to ride my bike for an hour or so ... and it's a good thing I did because as I set to calibrate my power meter, nothing happened. I realized that the battery was dead.  Luckily, I had a battery on hand but by the time I figured it all out, it was too late to ride.  So I had an accidental rest day.  My coach was cool with it - I had told him that Tuesday was going to be tough.  He said do your best, if you have to rest, no biggie.  I let myself off the hook and figured if he was ok with a rest day, so was I.  But ... ugh.  I hate missing a workout.

I should add that Amy and Bill had a race - their first tri of the season. It was a local sprint tri and they crushed it! Amy came in 1st in her age group and Bill was 2nd in his age group. Woo hooooo!

Onto the workouts.  Long runs on weekdays.  Over 100 miles on the bike.  It's getting real, ya'll.

Week 23: 11:07:09 hours

Swam: 57 minutes (2,650 yards)

Biked:  7:01 hours (101.02 miles)

Ran:  3:08 hours (20.64 miles)

Workouts:

Monday:  endurance bike
Tuesday:  swim with speed <-- didn't happen.  unintended rest day :/
Wednesday:  bike with tempo and 3 mile shake out run
Thursday:  swim: distance
Friday:  long run
Saturday:  endurance bike
Sunday:  long bike [60 miles] + 30 minute run

Monday and Saturday's bikes were just easy - endurance speed on the trainer in front of the TV. I love those bikes because I can watch TV, catch up on email and magazines/blogs.  They were each 60 minutes long.

Tuesday was my unintended rest day as I mentioned above.

Wednesday was a bike with some tempo pace which is harder work.  It took about an hour.  Then in the afternoon I had a "shake out" run for about 3 miles.  That was a gorgeous run!

Thursday was my one and only time in the pool this week, but I made it count.  It was a really good workout.  Coach had me do 200 yards to warm up and then 4 sets of 600s broken down by doing 150 yards easy/50 hard.

Friday!  I was so excited for my Friday run and it did not disappoint.  14 miles!  The only thing ... my coach is having us do a run-walk going forward.  So he wants us to run 9 minutes and then walk 1  minute (edited: thanks maya! I previously had walk 1 mile. No no no.) and repeat.  I was a little upset about this. I love my runs and I've put 20 years of running in so that I don't have to walk.  But his take is on IM race day, we will be doing a combo walk/run.  So let's train now.  It makes sense and it makes me feel better that he makes *all* of his Ironman athletes do this run-walk.  Even with the walking, I had a pretty darn good time.  And it was a gorgeous Spring morning.  Perfect for a run. The temp was about 40 degrees, and here's what I wore.

Here's my watch.  I really like the calories burned data.  1,276.  Woo hoo omg. 

Sunday ... that was my long bike.  I decided to focus on biking in aero position and getting used to the new fit of the bike, so I sought out paved trails near me.  I managed to do all of my miles on the Chester Valley Trail and Schuylkill River Trail and I biked from one to the other.  I was in aero about 95% of the time, which was fantastic.  I had a great ride and it was a shot of confidence in the old arm.  The 60 miles were fine (and granted not a ton of climbing), and later that afternoon, I did a 30 minute run, which again was a walk run: 9 minutes run/1 minute walk x 3.  

I've got my first triathlon of the season this coming Sunday!  Devilman, which is in my hometown and which I did last year.  My coach wants us to treat it like training and focus on the bike and bike hard ... even if it means we have to run/walk the run part.  I just want to beat my time from last year.  You know I will let you know all about it.

Have a great week! May ... May!  It's here!  The Summer is almost in sight.

See you swoon,