Adjusted Reality

I spent the last post forward focused, but I would be a little remiss if I didn’t comment a little about wrapping up tri season.  I often go back to key points and re-read posts for what was in my brain at the time, so even if it’s not of interest to anyone else, here we go.

Overall:

Looking back: I’m really happy with 2014 and triathlons.  It got off to a rough start with some mismanaged expectations and a bit of burnout, but my last 3 of the year have nothing but warm fuzzies attached to them.  Kerrville 70.3 is really my yardstick each year and taking 23 minutes off my time (under tougher conditions), and more importantly, achieving a lot of process goals during the race showed that I really have upped my game this year.

Going beyond: The goal is to really focus on the longer stuff.  I’ve got two marathons and THREE 70.3s planned next year, with a nice long offseason in the middle of the summer like this year.  I plan to keep up with both process goals and time goals, so even if conditions force my performance off the rails, I can continue to hold to something.

Swim:

2014:

Getting access to that sweet pool and lake has helped my swim IMMENSELY. Swimming brings me 100% joy in my current situation and no frustration at the conditions.  Check with me when I’m tuning up for my early races on how I feel about an outdoor (sheltered/heated) pool, but it was all smiles in August and September.

Also, pushing the pace more often helped, especially in open water.  Obtaining the Garmin 910 that does both pool and lake swim tracking gave me metrics, and made me really aware of how I tend to space out mid-swim in open water, and slow down A LOT unless I’m super focused.

Onward + 2015:

Before December, my only goal is to make my swim miles not be a complete goose egg each month (so far so good for October).  I give up gains in swimming during marathon season and that’s fine, because I always comes back stronger.  It’s ok.  While early in the year I’m going to need to do an easy build because I’ll be out of swim shape, it comes back swiftly and I hope to graduate quickly to sets and speedwork and see if I can crack that elusive 2:00/100m in a race next year.

I do think it will be a lot of “more of the same” from my last training block.  I swam more, I swam more intensely, and unless I found myself out of a job or in a position to have more time to train overall, I discovered some pretty good gains in concentrating on:

1. Having a focus in swim sets.  Once my base is up, I should have two options in the water: a) recovery or b) hurting myself.  Sometimes I had to bail on a hard set because the week caught up with me, but the only way to swim hard in races is to swim hard in practice.

2. Making sure I stay mentally focused.  I conquered my race space outs in Kerrville, but it was by really overworking myself the first few 100 meters, and I’m not sure that’s the greatest strategy in the world.  More open water sets with race pace loops in the middle and having a mantra to come back to if I find I’m wandering (just repeating focus every stroke is simple but it helps) is key.

I’d like to try for at least 1-2 swim heavy weeks before my first triathlon next year.  I really find the breakthroughs when I can swim A LOT, but being that it’s 40 minutes out of my 6 hours and 30, and it’s generally my highest ranked sport compared to my age group, it’s really hard to devote a LOT of time to it.

Bike:

2014:

This cycle is where I started to put on my big girl cycle shorts and realized that I needed to approach my bike training differently.

1. One long ride outside every other week.  On hills.  In traffic.  In the heat.  Suffering through the first one was rough, but the second wasn’t so bad and the third was downright pleasant.  I’d love to be the kind of cyclist who rides outside all the time but let’s be real.  I don’t have a great route to commute that doesn’t involve a bunch of stop and go to get 3-4 miles to work.  It’s not useful training.  I have a decent 10 mile loop near my house, but even that involves close to 10 stoplights.  What is necessary is to get out and ride for a few hours on hills in the weather (cold/hot/whatever).

2. Endurance cycling class.  I credit so much of my 7 minute bike PR this cycle on my Tuesday dates with wattage_cottage.  6:15 on a Tuesday is not the most convenient time to make a class, but I was there most every week because it was worth it.  In a class setting, having someone tell you to do long painful intervals and having everyone around you suffering is the bomb.  Trying to put yourself through those at home on the trainer is harder.

3. Trainer is for recovery or hurting myself.  While it’s not second nature yet to go fast on the trainer, I’ve found by monitoring my cadence and HR, and with the help of videos, I can push myself into working instead of staying in the lollygagging zone.  I took at least 1 hour/week as a recovery spin, but the rest of the week was dedicated to bike work after I got a decent base.

4.  Focused on kicking my ass with hard work over mindless hours.  Every ride had a purpose.  I was a little worried going in – my long outdoor rides were 51, 39, 35, 34 and I pulled a 66 miler on the trainer.  However, I had a lot of 1-2.5 hour rides with lots of intensity, and honestly?  I’ve never felt so fresh off a bike as when I rode that 56 miles in Kerrville.  Win.

5. In the same vein, I also like the way I handled brick runs.  Base building in August – I never ran more than 1-2 miles off bikes.  In September, almost every bike had at least a baby brick run off it.  I replaced the long brick slog (easy 56 bike/easy 10+ run) with an intense brick (1.5 hour bike shred/1 hour race pace run) and did that twice.  I think it worked out better to simulate race day with easier recovery.

Onward + 2015:

Cycling will take a backseat to running for the rest of 2014 to ramp myself up to marathon shape, but I plan to cycle on the trainer or in a class at least once a week to make sure I don’t forget how.  It always takes a little ramp up after slacking on cycling for months, but I’ve got the time to get back to being a fit cyclist before any racing.

2015 will be shaped around this cycle – more of the same.  I enjoyed the cycle of weekend 1: long outdoor bike (with usually a very short run off), weekend 2: long run (with more cycling during the week for balance).  My long runs will be a little longer since I’ll be maintaining marathon form for a while, but I think the execution will be the same.

I loved cycling in G-town and it was convenient with visiting my parents, and it was generally hillier and windier than any of the courses I’m targeting next year so it’s a good workshop for me to continue using.

I’ll handle the bricks the same way.  Very few at the beginning, work in baby bricks to test the waters in the middle, and then once I’m past marathon #2 and recovered, it will be brickie brick brick all day!

I have a few new goals to push beyond this though…

1. I keep saying it, but maybe THIS will be the year I get brave enough to mount and dismount with my cycle shoes on the bike.

2. This also may be the year I decide on getting some new WHEELS.  It’s not a complete faux pas to have wheels that cost more than your bike, is it?  Also, maybe tying #1 to #2 might be a motivating factor (learn to mount and dismount like a big girl, get big girl wheels…)

3. There are so many group rides in Austin, I’d like to figure out how to work that into my life.  I’m sure it would be nothing but good for me, but it’s just so much *easier* to ride inside or solo (with Zliten) and not have to conform to set days and times.  However, it’s hard to make legit excuses when we just found one that starts from a bike shop just a few miles away weekly.  Maybe make a goal of one a month?

Run:

2014:

This was the year of making friends with the run leg of a triathlon again.  While Kerrville’s unseasonably hot conditions made me wilt a little more than expected, I was able to meet the goal of finally conquering the run leg during a half ironman in a time I wouldn’t mutter under my breath for a standalone 13 mile run.  2:30 is an easy, but respectable jog for a half marathon for me, and I beat that, even starting at noon, in the mid 80s, in full sun, after a tiny little matter of 4 hours of biking and swimming.

For my running, number one factor in improving was just simply doing more of it, and maintaining just a wee bitty little base over offseason to maintain fitness instead of starting the second half of the year from zero.  Secondary factors of awesomeness were lots of brick runs and really knowing how to work through that, and making sure to keep on with some speedwork each week to remind the legs how to turn over, even if it was just a few miles.

Honestly, I made most of my large gains during fall 2013-spring 2014, and I knew the summer would just be a matter of maintaining this, because summer running in Austin sucks.  You get better when it’s not eleventy billion degrees outside and all you want to do is run.  Running a BIT in that weather is necessary, but I also made liberal use of the treadmill when needed so I didn’t completely dread and slog through every run mile like 2013.

Where I upped my game this year, I think, is the ability to run OFF THE BIKE.  I had a 2:08 half marathon PR that I got close to but have yet to crack, but my PR off the bike was 2:42. That’s a huge difference in pace.  While 2:29 is still a good 2 mins per mile different, that’s a 2:08 in perfect temps on a flat course vs a 2:29 about 40+ degrees hotter and wayyyy hillier.

I did that, I believe, in 3 ways:

1. More volume overall.  I’m not a high volume runner in the slightest, but I tried to keep my run training around an average of 20 miles a week, higher on run focused weeks.  Huge improvement over last year.

2. Lots of little brick runs off the bike.  Really, the difference is most notable at first when you’re legs are literally changing gears, the rest of the run, you really just feel like you’re kind of having an off day at a standalone race.

3. Practicing race pace off hard cycling efforts.  Running off an easy bike?  I just feel warmed up.  Easy jog off a bike? Once the weird legs go away, it’s a nice cooldown.  It’s helpful in overall training volume, but what prepared me for racing better was smashing my legs for an hour on the bike and then trying to run 10 minute miles after.

Onward + 2015:

I finally feel like I’m back to where I was as a runner about 5 years ago, before I started triathlon.  Now, I’m ready to move beyond.

Periods of high volume with a dash of speedwork, I fully believe, is the recipe for run improvements (with adequate rest – I can’t do that week after week year round).  I had planned on continuing with some higher volume run weeks after the 2013 marathon, but it’s really hard to fit that in while trying to even maintain a base of swimming and cycling and strength, and without a marathon goal, I’m just not motivated to run that much.  So, I think I crested 25-30 as my max weekly mileage (and 15-20 on a more average week so far this year and oddly enough), the speed gains slowed.  Shocker.

This year, I’m signed up for a marathon at the end of November AND another at the end of February.  I’ve never dedicated more than 8 weeks to marathon training, and I’ve never run more than one marathon a year.  I love the distance, I actually love the training, but I’ve always rested and did shorter stuff after.

I plan to do my normal abbreviated cycle for Space Coast in November, take a few weeks to recover and maintain a small base, and then alternate weeks of being a triathlete and being a marathoner until March, and then do an abbreviated cycle like I did for Kerrville for my 70.3 opener for the year.

First Draft of 2015 Race Plan:

Space Coast Marathon – Nov 30 (signed up)

3M Half Marathon – Jan 25 (good crack at a PR, good marathon tuneup race)

The Woodlands Marathon – Feb 28 (signed up)

Rosedale Ride (62 mile bike ride) – March 21 (nice supported long ride and a good cause)

Austin 10/20 (10 mile run) – Mar 29 (signed up)

Galveston 70.3 – April 26

Probably some shorter stuff for fun and games here, definitely Pflugerville, possibly gatorbait, who knows.  Whether I continue training with any level of seriousness or just fart around and show up to have fun will depend on my level of motivation post Galveston.

Off season

Jack’s Generic Tri – Aug 1? (same as this year, just a fun re-entry into tri world again after spending the early summer at the water park)

Kerrville 70.3 – Sept 27? (my happy race)

Austin 70.3 – Oct 24? (I’ve never done my hometown 70.3 – for shame)

Space Coast… marathon? half? (we’ll do the race almost certainly, but it will depend on how we structure the goals between this and Austin 70.3 since I can only really train train for one or the other)

Fun stuff.  I’m currently in that period of marathon training where my legs are just exhausted and I have no idea how I’m going to come out of this a better runner, but this is NOT my first rodeo and I know things will come around eventually.

Let’s keep this train-a-movin’!

It’s race week!  How did that happen?

So, it’s time to geek out a bit about the preparation and planning and goals and whatnot.  Lots of type A stuff and also gooshy stuff ahead.

Race forecast:

While this is not optimal for someone that plans to be racing until 2pm-ish, I’m ready for it.  I might potentially be willing bargain a small piece of my soul for a rogue cold front that bumps that down to something like 75 high, 60 low though!

Nutrition plan:

This is a lot different than it was even a few months ago.  I’m trying to keep my carbs from sources that I know make me feel good, and not bloated and yucky.  Also, I used to be so anti-gel, but they’re just so much easier, guys.  I’ve also trained with at least one flavor of the brand of gels I know are on the course, so if shit hits the fan and I forget EVERYTHING, I can just roll with Cliff vanilla and live off the course and be fueled by frosting.

It kind of scares me how I’m going pretty much anti-what-everyone-tells-you to load up on pasta and bread and rice and stay away from fat and protein and for the love of god don’t eat fruit or veggies for fiber.  However, I’ve had stomach problems at a lot of races since I started following that advice, or even if I didn’t, I always had issues getting nutrition down during the race.  This is what has sustained me lately around my training sessions, I’m able to get down a lot more calories during training, and I’ve felt better than I ever have, so I’m going to give this a try.  Matt Fitzgerald can tell me “I told you so” later.

Pre-race food:

Day before breakfast, probably a bulletproof coffee for the drive and/or maybe some breakfast tacos (on corn) or maybe a kind bar or nuts or fruit or whatever as I’m hungry. Something very tried and true, but trying to never get beyond a state of mildly peckish.

Day before lunch, I’m planning on hitting up the steakhouse that we ate at 2 years ago.  On the menu will be either chicken or steak, potato, and salad.  As much as it will pain me, I’ll stay away from the bread and absolutely NO desserts.

From late afternoon until bed, I’ll snack.  Planning on bringing fruit, some corn or potato chips, maybe microwave mashed potatoes, some nuts/nut butter, and maybe another small iceberg-y salad and I’ll snack to my tastes.  No wheat, rice, beans, or veggies (iceberg doesn’t count) at all.

AM: Purple stuff and kind bar upon awakening.  Maybe some fruit as I putter around.  Another kind bar closer to the race.

Race nutrition:

Yes, I am a dork and have my flavors picked out.  I’m sure it will change on the course, and I’m sure you will be on the edge of your seat to know IF INDEED I TOOK THE PB CHOC AT EXACTLY 2 hours. 😛  And no, my race plan doesn’t involve tacos.  I am as surprised as you.

Bike:

Hydration: start with grape gatorade since it’s my favorite, hit every bottle exchange to fill aero bottle, so that means to be empty by then (which means ~20 oz full strength gatorade per hour).  Keep a downtube of grape gatorade so when lemon lime gatorade makes me want to puke, I can have a reprieve and skip a bottle grab (or use it in between).

30 mins into bike: salted watermelon caff gu

1:15 min into bike: lemonade non-caff gu

2 hours into bike: pb chocolate caff gu

2:45 into bike: apple cinnamon non caff gu

Have a pack of chomps and some jelly beans available.  Eat them as hungry/needed, which shouldn’t be much with this schedule.

Run:

I’ll start this with my handheld of warm grape gatorade (not intentionally, but it will be in my T2 bag from the night before and I remember the change in flavor was worth the temperature) and take aide at the stations as needed.  I can do gels with gatorade, but if I time it right I can take them with water, so I’ll try to do that.  There’s the opportunity to get aide like once every half mile so it should work out.

Mile 1-2 on the run: salted watermelon (caff), or rootbeer (non-caff) evaluate need for 303s (The question I ask – is the pain I’m in general soreness I’d do better without, without risking injury to myself? The last two years, the answer was yes.).

Mile 5-6 on the run: whichever I didn’t take the last time, or my pineapple non-caff if I’m over caffeine at this point, evaluate need for 303s again if not taken.  Also evaluate need for salt pills.  Realize this is a hail mary since you’ve never taken them in training, so this would be a SERIOUS bonk happening.

Mile 9-10 on the run: if I can possibly get another gel down, it will be here. If my stomach can handle it, this will probably help me in a major way the last few miles.  I don’t see myself wanting to caffeinate at this point, so one of my spare gels or grab a vanilla from the course.

Goal Posts:

And, now, it wouldn’t be a pre-race post without some goals.  I can’t lie, I have a time in mind, and I really want to get there.  Everything is showing me that I should be able to do it, and maybe more depending on what I have in me Sunday.  However, I want to also establish process goals so that if the unexpected happens, and that time is out the window, I can still have something to work towards and goals to meet.

A time goal is the time I’m shooting for.  B time goal would net me at least a PR for that leg (that’s how far I’ve come this year, which is already a victory).  A process goal keeps me focused and in it, B process goal is mostly about fun and keeping it light.

Swim:

• A time goal: under 40 (2:04 for 100m).  This could be tough, or the current + wetsuit might make it doable.
• B time goal: under 44 (2:17 for 100m).  I can almost hit this with just steady swimming dragging a safe swimmer in the lake sans wetsuit.  Should be no problem unless conditions are suuuuuper crap.
• A process goal: keep my head in the swim the entire time.  No spacing out.  1.2 miles of work, not paddling.  If I feel my pace stagnating, do some intervals (faster to the next buoy, etc)
• B process goal: don’t drown, and get your wetsuit partway down before the strippers attack.

T1:

• A time goal: under 3 mins.
• B time goal: under 3:25.
• A Process goal: No transition gravity.  Quick, focused, decisive, not fumbling.  Helmet, glasses, shoes, go. Deal with sleeves (if needed) and gloves on the bike.
• B Process goal: remain upright, no napping.

Bike:

• A time goal: under 3:15:00 (17.2 mph).  Biking is really a wildcard for me right now.  This could be do-able, or this could be out of reach.  It’s 0.6 mph better than last year.  What I’ve been riding is way tougher than this course, but I haven’t hit 17 mph average in a long training ride outside.
• B time goal: under 3:22:00 (16.6).  That’s the pace I rode at the x-50 earlier this year, it was a harder course, and I think I’ve improved since then.  Without weird conditions, this should be highly doable.
• A process goal: high cadence whenever possible, strong work, sticking with the hills instead of giving up and soft pedaling up them and recovering on the downs only when pedaling doesn’t meet any resistance.  Feel like I’m giving the effort I’ve found in endurance class or the last two outdoor rides.
• B process goal: don’t let Zliten catch me, or if it works out this way – pass him quickly.  Either way, make him laugh when I see him on the course.  Sing silly songs.  Have fun and enjoy the gorgeous ride.

T2:

• A time goal: under 3:30.
• B time goal: under 3:44.
• A process goal: velcro my visor to my handheld so I can just grab my race belt in one hand and that in the other and go and mess with it on the course instead of having to put anything on in transition. All business, get outta there as quickly as possible.  No gravity.
• B process goal: remember where my bag is and get my bike there, also remember to leave transition going the right way with all of the things.

Run:

This is hard.  I know where my fitness is, and I know what I’ve run off the bike before, and I know what I’ve done in races, and I know I have surprised myself a lot on runs lately and held back a little.  And I know I’m in a whole different zip code with my running fitness than I was 365 days ago.  There’s a huge gap.  I am really not sure where my edge is.  So, here’s a lot of scenarios…

• A+ time goal: 2:10 (9:55/mile).  Ack – this is stretching, but it’s not 100% completely unreasonable if I have a super great day.  I will not go out intending to hit this pace.
• A time goal: 2:15 (10:18/mile).  This is hard, but reasonable if I’ve kept the rest of the day in check and can keep my head about me.
• A- time goal: whatever gets me in under 6:30 total even if it’s over 2:15. If I go out a little too hard on the swim and bike and still get in under my goal time, I won’t be too mad.
• B time goal: 2:30 (11:27/mile).  This was the pace in which I ran my marathon last year and walked a little.  This is as slow (probably slower) as I can see going on the run unless the wheels have truly come off.
• D- time goal: sub 2:42 (12:21/mile).  I mean, really.  I don’t think I’ve actually logged a run in the 12s since November last year.  I’m better than this, but it’s always worth mentioning what would be a PR.
• A process goal: use the first mile or two to see what you have and then build upon it.  Don’t force a pace until you settle in.  Run the whole distance minus stops at aid stations to fill bottle if necessary (aka Gatorbait).  Second half, find the line right before you blow up and stay there and push against it.  Negative split, just like pretty much every training run this year.
• B process goal: run with joy, a positive head, and never give up.  Take each problem that comes, evaluate, decide, and then act and release it into the universe.  Thank the volunteers and spectators if you can use your words.

Total time:

• A goal: sub-6:30.  While if all of my A goals come together I may come in before that, I don’t think that’s reasonable to expect that, and I’ll let that be an incredibly joyous surprise if the day comes together like that.
• B goal: sub-6:55.  I had a pretty great race for my abilities last year.  I’m better than I was last year.  My time should reflect that.
• A process goal: keep pushing.  Race this race.  70.3s hurt, and they have highs and lows.  Ride out the lows knowing it will get better, and try to hang onto those highs the best you can.
• B process goal: continue to think of Kerrville as your happy race.  Enjoy the course as much as the last few years!  Try not to swear too, too much at the big hill each time.  Also, maybe come up with a song you can sing at the hill instead, even if it does involve cursing.

And now, my parting thoughts and what I’ll be trying to hang onto at the race.

GRIT.

Laying it all out there on a race course is always the goal (well, unless it isn’t, but any race that you’re RACE RACING, it is), and I find it’s all about trying to stay out of my own way to get there.  I’m a pretty positive person generally, but races can dredge up this pit of vile, black negativity to where I’m emo-ing harder than Death Cab for Cutie and saying things to myself I wouldn’t to my worst enemy.

Race brain is really weird.  Unless I am prepared with positive things to stick in there, sometimes it can get really toxic up in my cranium.  So, I try to figure out things I can call upon to keep it habitable in my head.

GRIT. FOCUS.

I want to be the type of athlete that hangs on when things start to hurt.  I know that there will be points during the day where I’m challenged to back down.  I’ll start to lose focus during the swim and be tempted to coast instead of push.  I’ll hit that mile where I’m ready to be done with the bike and it will take a lot to keep fighting up the hills so much.  I have no idea what fresh hell the run will send my way, but I’m sure four times going up the killer hill will make the wheels come a little loose, and I’ll really, really be wanting to walk it.  Coupled with the third loop of “not the last loop but you’ve been racing a really long time” downer-ness, the run is always a challenge here.  It makes for great support, but you see the same damn things so many times.

Each time these things come up, I want to be the type of athlete who settles in, looks inside herself, and finds what it takes to keep clinging onto the race I want to have instead of the race I’ll have by default.  I’ve been doing this thing long enough to know that every race has good parts and bad parts and it doesn’t just go good good good bad bad bad end.  It tends to go more like “good bad good good GREAT good bad BAD BAD VERY BAD ok I guess good bad good GREAT UNNNNNGGGG finish”.

I’ve spent the end of this summer sucking some major wind at the pool and the lake.  I’ve emptied my mind and closed my eyes through some CRAZY spin class intervals and rode up the hills in the heat and the wind.  I’ve refused to succumb to the summer shuffle, and I’ve hung onto Zliten running up hills like a mountain goat instead of letting him go.  The thing I’ve found is that I have more matches to burn than I think I do.  I’m not a soft and delicate flower.  Biking up a hill (flick, swish, burn) isn’t going to kill me, I’ll get to ride down soon enough.  Running up a hill and breathing hard (flick, swish, burn) just means I get to recover on the way down.  I don’t want to have a book full of matches at the end of this race.

I can push through the bad and even OH GOD HORRIBLE points without blowing up, because it will get better.  I’ve found those highs and lows and barring a few things like injury pain or dizziness or shitting myself or other red flags meaning the day went completely and utterly sideways, the great thing about endurance sports is the pain you’re in changes up on you every once in a while so there’s something to look forward to, right?  Variety is the spice of life.

And… I don’t want to finish so late I miss the beer tent this year, so, I mean, priorities, right?

GRIT. FOCUS. DETERMINATION. BEER.

And with that novella, I’m going to ride out this week of easy peasy lemon squeezy workouts besides the one little bitty hour of race pace work tonight, and I’ll see you on the other side.