Tri!

I was slightly grumbling to myself this morning, along "Why am I doing this race again?" lines - it was an early morning, and there is much complexity to a big-city race, especially in the age of terror - it is inordinately expensive for an Olympic-distance triathlon - and finally and more importantly, it's clearly more fun doing races with a friend, that should be more of a guiding principle for me - but I was sucked into the delightfulness of it all as always!

Had very nice chat waiting for our swim wave start with some other ladies 40-44. Had a LOVELY bike ride - it was amazing, it wasn't really faster than the last time I did this race (when I was, I am sorry to say, 20lb lighter - it was 2009 - if only it were as easy for me to lose weight as it is for me to train a lot of hours!) but I felt so strong and it felt easy and short! I overtook a TON of people. The run was a bit of a slog, as it is pretty darn hot and humid (even leaving my apartment at 4 in the morning, I had sheets of sweat pouring down my neck), but I felt that I held my own. Post-race protocol went very well, I drank a bottle of water and ate a bagel and got free pedicab expeditiously back to transition, then rode bike home - I was home and in the shower by 11:30.

I just really enjoyed the feeling of what a long way I have come since the first time I did this race, five years ago, in 2008 - I'm not a faster runner than I was then, but I'm a hugely more experienced endurance athlete and most of all I have exponentially more confidence on the bike. I raced faster and stronger in 2009 than in 2008, but 2010 was a year of setbacks, and I feel very lucky that I've been able to take the time this year to really try and improve my cycling.

My actual time this year was a little slower than 2009, but it's hard to compare, the assist from the current and wind and heat/humidity really affect conditions. Also I've "aged up," as they say! But I think I should be pleased - in 2008, I was 132/189 in my division (W35-39); in 2009, 104/189; this year, I am (slightly to my surprise - I can only explain it by saying that a lot of first-timers do this race, and people on hybrid bikes!) 56/140 in W40-44. Provisos about population notwithstanding, that really is a result I can feel good about!

Swim: 25:27 (fast assist from current, but not as fast as other years - late wave)
T1: 8:28 (long run from swim exit to transition)
Bike: 1:34:41 (not super-fast, but felt GREAT)
T2: 4:00
Run: 1:04:47 (10:25 pace - given how little I've been running, and the heat/hills/humidity, that is just fine - I didn't push it too hard, as I forgot to take my final dose of asthma medicine when I got off the bike - usually I carry an inhaler in handheld bottle on the run, but I didn't today as there were many aid stations and it wasn't a long one - I was surprisingly ok, I suppose partly because I was walking up hills and still had residual benefit of previous dose - I had to leave an inhaler in the morning swim bag drop, that's the one I would usually have with me on the run course)

Total time: 3:17:22

Notes to self: be super-careful re: arrangements for asthma inhalers, building in redundancy; think about getting a "shorty" wetsuit (I was eyeing them - I didn't swim with a wetsuit, I hate mine, and I think that having a sleeveless one that stops above the knee might be the way to go, easier to get on and less constricting once it's on); figure out why the brakes on the bicycle are making such a strange sound!

Final note to self: I have been spending a lot of money on triathlon this year, that's OK but at a race like this one is chastened and inspired by the people raising money for various charities! Three that particularly caught my eye and that I will make modest donations to later today: Paul's Posse, because I had such a good conversation with the woman who founded this charity to raise money for amyloidosis research after she lost her husband to the disease; Athletes to End Alzheimer's, because it is a cause close to my heart; and the Challenged Athletes Foundation, because nothing is more awesome (in the old-fashioned literal sense) than seeing amputees running on their prostheses, often clearly in pain but ready to endure that for love of the sport.

Week 6 provisional long ride

Really I'm on a ten-day week just for this week - I did my real long ride #5 last Sunday, missed my mid-week notional 3hr stopgap ride due to post-travel fatigue, had 3hr on the schedule for today and will ride long again next Wednesday (so week 6 doesn't really have a long one).

Things did not work out quite according to plan, due to usual inability to get out the door for a run right after I get up (I meant to run down and THEN do my 3-hour spin), but this was a fine substitute, and really I didn't need to run today. Also today it was legit to log Chelsea Piers round trip as bike miles (did double spin plus some extra in the middle) - on the way down, it was rainy and very uncrowded, still quite overcast and though there were more people on the way home, I was riding into a wind almost the whole way, which keeps effort levels honest.

Bike dropoff is 2-9pm. I was very briefly tempted to take the option of leaving everything in transition the night before and taking my chances on bike tires etc., but really it's not worth it. (That said, transition is open 4-5:15, and I need to leave at least half an hour to get there, which basically means getting up not long after 3 - whereas if I were just going to the swim start, which is less than a mile away from home, I could get up at 5:15, eat a quick breakfast and be there in very reasonable time for my c. 6:20 swim wave start. Hmmm, maybe it really is worth taking the chance - as long as I bring my own bike pump, it wouldn't delay me much if I had to pump tires post-swim and pre-bike....)

3:08 spin

Spin/swim

A thoroughly triaspirational day, in its way, from start to finish. Hit the allergy doc in the morning for shots (because the great incentive to get on top of these allergies and asthma is to stop getting the respiratory infections that prevent me from training and degrade my quality of life!). Then to Chelsea Piers for a lovely long midday spin - I think I was on the bike by 11:55, class starts at 12:30 and runs till 1:15, so log it at 1:20. In addition to usual climbing intervals, we did some speedwork that was pretty amazing: 3 sets of 4min in a not-easy-though-not-too-hard gear, with first minute at 100rpm, second @ 105, 3rd @110 and 4th @115. Woo-hoo! Then I had a short swim (600 warmup as 200 swim, 200 pull [breathing every 3, 5, 7, 3], 200 kick, then 6 x 100 on 2:10 as 75 build 25 easy).

I proceeded to do something naughty and entirely self-indulgent - I went to Sid's bikes and took the plunge on the tri bike! I was originally thinking of this but they had an almost unbelievable markdown on the next model up the line (it is the giddiness of consumerism that one finds oneself, in bicycle stores, saying blithely "$400 difference is nothing in the world of bicycles!"), so I went for it. (The salesperson could hardly believe the markdown either, she had to double-check that it really was valid! I guess by this time of year they are making way for 2014 models.) We did preliminary fit stuff on a fit bike, and I'll go back at the end of next week for further tweaking on the real thing. Then I just have to set aside the time to learn to ride it properly - it is going to be PROJECT TRI-BIKE the week of July 22 and July 29, as if I do not feel as happy on it as I do on my road bike, I will need to get aerobars put on the road bike before I leave for Cayman on August 8; I'm keeping an open mind about which of the two bikes I will ride in Wisconsin.

Then I went and attended the race briefing and packet pick-up for the NYC triathlon. Race day is Sunday - I am excited!

I have also gotten 98% towards having replaced the batteries on both my Suunto and my Garmin heart-rate straps. Both have been on the fritz for a while, and it is one of those little jobs that never quite seems to get done; first I got the wrong size battery, then when I got the right ones I found that though the Suunto flips open with a coin, the Garmin needs a tiny Phillips screwdriver. I have just purchased the smallest, cutest Phillips screwdriver imaginable and will soon have restored functionality...

Swim!

It must be said that a day with a 90-minute run in the morning and a 90-minute swim workout in the evening is pretty much my ideal day of exercise. (Would have been even better if it weren't so humid this morning - MEGA-CHAFING!) Very nice lanemates tonight - I hope I can get there quite a bit over the next couple weeks. This is my substantive middle block of training, and though it remains the case that cycling is more important than everything else, it is also fair to say that as long as I am doing sufficient cycling, I can swim and run as much as I like (within reason and realistic capacity!).

Not sure this is exactly right, and I can't reproduce intervals (they were a bit haphazard anyway), but along these lines:

500 warmup with every fourth length back
2 x 200 pull breathing every 2, 3, 5, 7 by 25
4 x 200 with fins as 150 free 50 dolphin kick on back
8 x 100
8 x 50 stroke-free in IM order
100 pull easy
3 x 50 stroke sprint on 3:00 (I did fly, and so did everyone else, it was pretty amazing!)
50 double-arm back

3200 yards total

Run!

I am laughing at myself now, it is so goofy - I haven't been running nearly enough (it's more or less deliberate, it is the price of prioritizing cycling), and that lets a little bit of residual dread build up about running, especially given heat and humidity. My sleep quality last night wasn't great - it seemed like I was awake briefly every hour, with lots of tossing and turning. But I did sleep long, and I feel much more myself this morning. And in fact it was a great run! Central Park loop. Slow as hell, and rather overheated (fortunately it's overcast, but humidity is high and temperature close to 80), but highly enjoyable. Still have that annoying blister on bottom of fourth toe of right foot, need to see what I can do to dispel it. This current training block is my most important one - doing the NYC tri this weekend is inevitably going to throw me off slightly, but the coming three weeks are crucial, I am excited....

1:29, 8.2mi

Out of sorts!

Really I need to be more realistic about post-travel recovery! I had one of those mornings - got up at 7:15 with intention of taking bike on bus to ride on 9W for 3hr, but felt both utterly fatigued and also worried about thunderstorms - figured I'd run instead and ride inside later on at Chelsea Piers - instead I went back to bed!

Felt a little better when I got up again a couple hours later, but still very much out of sorts - itchy (cat dander always hits me hard on apartment reentry), greasy (high humidity), overheated (New York summer weather is not lovely).

(I didn't go to masters swim yesterday, by the way - it was clear that I was just utterly knackered and would be better off having a quiet evening at home.)

Anyway, I rode my bike down to the gym (I'm not logging it, on these crowded summer days you basically have to coast most of the way), got started on what was notionally to be a 3hr ride, but bailed on it shortly after the one-hour mark. I'm not sure that HR monitor strap is working properly (I'm headed out shortly to get batteries for both Suunto and Garmin - the latter is definitely out of juice), that may have been a factor too, but I think it was mostly fatigue that wouldn't let me hold heartrates in the intended zone. First hour, I did 3 x 12min Z2/3 (alternating 3 minutes standing and seated - HR solidly z3 while standing but dropping to high z2 while seated), 3min recovery; then I talked myself into staying on longer by dint of switching to basic zone 2 ride, but as soon as I decided that, I could hardly even hold HR at the bottom of Z2. Got off around 1:10 and went for a short swim instead - that is always more soothing to me, though it doesn't make me less itchy.

I wish it wasn't so hot! I have 2 window-unit air conditioners in my apartment, and I almost always sleep with the one in the bedroom on during the summer, but I tend to avoid using the one in my home office - it makes the cat so crazy when that door is closed. Need to contemplate possibility of cat doors - and in the somewhat unlikely event that I am ever seeking an apartment on the open market, I am definitely putting a premium on central air!

The swim was a good idea. Though I then defeated its purpose by getting very hot and sweaty again on ride home! Warmup: 200 free, 200 pull, 200 kick. 100 IM drill, 100 IM. 4 x 50 fly-back on 1:20. 2 x 100 free on 2:10.

Anyway:

1:10 spin (3 x 12min z2/3 intervals)
(:50 very easy though warm outdoor riding)
1200 yards swim

Yoga!

Excellent flow yoga class. Best possible start to the day after a long bike ride, a day that will be spent in airports - speaking of which, I need to get a move on and pack up my stuff! This visit felt a little short, but it was the inevitable consequence of summer triathlon choices I made a long time ago - I will be back for a longer visit in August, that will be good.

1hr flow yoga

Long ride #5!

That was super. It was clear to me last week that the combination of wind and an unduly taxing recovery week (little exercise, too much everything else) meant last week's three-hour recovery ride was much more arduous than I needed it to be. I was afraid today's ride would seem dreadfully hard and long, but really it was excellent, I enjoyed it pretty much from start to finish (not saying I wasn't ready to stop at the end, but it was genuinely enjoyable throughout, even on the windy stretches). I didn't ride much in the new aerobars - I need to move the seat significantly further back, I thought this already even for the upright position but I couldn't get good power/leverage with my legs from that position with the seat so far forward.

One slightly sorry moment came when I crushed a land crab - there are a ton of them making their way across the road at this time of year, they scuttle as soon as they detect motion but unfortunately it is often in the wrong direction. This was a bigun that self-destructed under my wheel with a resounding crunch...

4:23, 72.36mi, 16.5mph

(Current week's total is 15:11 - I might try and have a short swim later in the very warm sea, though I imagine I am more likely to recline on the couch reading a book. I feel very sheepish that I have gone two weeks without swimming! Didn't run much this week either, but on the other hand this is basically according to plan - I believe in the "keep it simple" school of training, and I pretty much said to myself at the start of this season that as long as I did sufficient quality and volume of bike training, it really didn't matter too much what else I did or didn't get done.)

Short run/double spin

I cannot really explain why I am so partial to Saturday morning double spin. I suppose there's just something very simple about it, it's at a set time and place, you show up and do the work, it requires less willpower than various other long exercise sessions. Picked up my bike - Jerome put aerobars on it for me (every reason to use them here, as it is flat as a pancake and often quite windy), plus did general tuneup - now it's all spiffy for tomorrow's long ride.

2.2mi./:24:31 run (carrying 2.5L water - heavy!)
1:45 spin

Hot yoga!

That was super. It was a bit naughty to go to hot yoga instead of doing masters swim first thing in the morning, but I was feeling selfishly yoga-oriented, and it suited me better for other reasons as well: my bike is in the shop (having aerobars put on!) so it would have been a long walk there & back, and I wanted to do a good three-hour work session before blowing energy on exercise. Sat at the cafe from 7 to 10 and got a lot done before going to 10:30 yoga.

On Tuesday, I must confess that I was very discouraged at how hard class seemed - I was slightly queasy at various points and overwhelmed with heat almost throughout the hour, and I feared I'd lost all my heat adaptation and would have to start from scratch. But class today felt fantastic, I never felt sick or even, really, overheated. In retrospect I think I didn't pay enough respect to the fact that on Tuesday I'd already done a very warm hour of spinning and half an hour walk home afterwards; it is not surprising that I didn't have so much of a reserve, as I am always prone to sweating heavily and overheating. (Notion is that a heavy sweater in warm exercise conditions might be sweating 1.5L an hour - I certainly drink 1.5L/hr. in spin class, easily - so even if I replenish during and after, there's no doubt it's a serious strain on the system to undertake another very sweaty warm exercise session only a couple hours later.) I dimly recall from January that even when I was doing hot yoga almost every day, it made a huge difference as to whether it felt manageable or slightly overwhelming depending on whether I'd already had a warm hour of exercise first thing in the am.

1.25hr lovely hot yoga

Mid-week long 'ride'

Spinervals Wisconsin DVD. It was a solid ride, but I did not manage the intensity levels recommended - I am a little frustrated with myself, it's partly mental but it's also the fact that this particular spin bike has quite uneven tension, so that the difference between a tension that gives me low zone 2 and a tension that's too hard to maintain anything like the recommended cadence of 85-95 is basically a knife's edge. Fine for today, I was in zone 2 the whole time with some bits of zone 3 (really a lot of this ride should be zone 3 with some zone 4), I will ride harder on Saturday and Sunday, but it may be that in August I need to put my real bicycle on the trainer for these mid-week rides.

3hr indoor ride (zone 2)

Revealed preferences

After again flaking out on notional early-morning run today, I think I just have to admit to myself that I am not enough of a morning person to get out early here and beat the heat. Will have to revert to treadmill running I think - early evening is the time I like to spend at home with B.! However this evening was Wednesday Night Run Club - I am a little slower than the slowest of the regular runners, so I fell back and went with the run-walkers - 5min run, 1min walk - I needed a confidence-builder more than I needed a hard workout. Very humid. Took an overly long and deep nap this afternoon after getting overheated in the late morning - have had to postpone long indoor spin to tomorrow morning, but that's fine really....

c. 47min, c. 4mi.

Hot yoga

The heat is overwhelming after being away from it for six weeks - I was glad it was only an hour-long class. Am still pondering things about training schedule and yoga - it may be that effectively "regular" (i.e. non-hot) yoga is a more beneficial complement to the heavy-volume triathlon training, but I am keen on the hot, even if it makes me feel a bit queasy at moments when I am not used to it...

1hr hot yoga

Spin!

Good class at Revolutions. Walked home rather than jogging, I had no vim for it and I had already drunk all the water I brought with me! Stopped en route home to say hello to a lovely dog being walked by a volunteer outside the Humane Society.

:55 spin
(:35 walk)

Week 5 begins

Not very auspiciously, I must confess - my recovery week had too much else crammed into it, I think (book-finishing, doing a lot of errands to get ready to leave town) and I do not really feel at all rested! I meant to run early this morning, but flaked out on it even after I'd taken asthma medicine and gotten dressed etc. - grabbed another hour of sleep, which was beneficial, as really I was up too late last night. Ran outside at midday - it is not quite as brutally hot as usual, though I was still thoroughly overheated by the time I got home - only did 4 miles as I just wasn't feeling it, and wanted to go to 2pm flow yoga to get some stretch. (Yesterday afternoon turned into a long couch-lounging session, I really couldn't face making it back out the door!) Anyway, I feel much better now that I've run and stretched. Tomorrow: 6:30am spin class, midday hot yoga (it's only 1 hour, so hopefully that won't be too overwhelming), evening masters swim.

:42, 4mi
1hr flow yoga