Week 17: In my head?

They say you should always spend the most time training your weakest sport in triathlon.  Mine is the bike.  And I feel like this year I have already made great strides.  But I do get stuck pretty badly in one area.  Riding aero on my road bike.  Matt Cole installed aero bars on my bike for me.  And I CAN ride aero and I do think the fit is good and I am comfortable.  But NOT all the time.  It usually takes me a good 30-45 minutes of warming up on the bike before I will go aero.  And most of that warmup is truly a mental one.  It's very weird to me that last week on the comet, I was actually SCARED of getting into aero for the first hour, but then the second hour I was SO comfortable that I could hit bumps or pass people in tight areas, and it didn't bother me at all.  I'm not sure what that is all about.  I do know that when I watch tris, people who ride aero do so almost the entire ride.  I'm pretty sure I'll get over it...and I do wonder if riding aero on a TT bike is more comfortable than my setup.

So perhaps this was a boring post for the week...but I hope 6 months from now I will look back on it and giggle because aero seems completely natural to me.

Week 15: Nutrition

Nutrition:

One of the things that scares me the most about “going long” is bonking.  So far the longest distance I have done is an Olympic and I think the harder nutrition issues don’t surface until you hit 70.3 or 140.6.  Having a sensitive stomach doesn’t help one bit nor does being hypoglycemic as I found out this past week.

Apparently my body was burning fuel (food) faster than I was consuming it, and 3 days last week I came dangerously close to blacking out.  After training on Friday, Sat, and Sun, I started seeing spots, getting dizzy and almost passing out.  When you grow up with hypoglycemia (kind of the opposite of hyperglycemia which is diabetes), you learn to manage sugar in your body.  I learned to eat as little sugar as possible and to stick with foods that are low on the sugar scale.  Foods which take longer to burn. White meat chicken, brown rice, sweet potatoes. ETC.   BUT that does NOT work when training.  I have to switch over to high sugar foods when training.  You can see where this is going.  Almost the second I stop training, the sugar drops and I black out.  Drinking REAL coke helps until I can get protein and fat in me.  And fake food doesn’t work very well for me…so eating a protein bar doesn’t stop the drop in sugar.  It needs to be natural food.

I have 3 months to figure this out before my first 70.3 or my Road ID will come in very handy. 

Week 14: The second year

Building on Last Year:

2010 was my first year of triathlons.  It was my first year of competing in running and cycling ever in my life.  And the first time in many, many years of swimming competition.  It was a year of mistakes and a year of growth.  One of the nice things about being new to a sport is you have no idea what you are doing and you will try anything.  So my enthusiasm and curiosity were at an all time high.

That could also be said to be a detriment in that my time was scattered and not clearly focused.  And I pushed too hard in some areas resulting in injury and not hard enough in other areas leading to poor results. 

I am certain I will make more mistakes this year.  There is no way to avoid them.  My goal is not to make the same mistake twice.

Last year, it seemed like I had something to prove.  This year I want to grow.  To absorb it all like a sponge.  Watch, listen, and observe.  Whittle away what doesn’t need to be there.  Become strong and efficient.

I already like this second year.  I like it more than I ever dreamed I would.

Week 13: Learning to swim

When I was a child, I was on a competitive swim team for 4 seasons and swam breaststroke.  It was natural and easy and I never remember coaches telling me how to correct my stroke.  I do remember hating to get up early and swimming so many laps that by the end of the practice, I would actually cheat and walk on the bottom of the pool.

When I began swimming for tris, I was rudely awakened.  Freestyle was very difficult for me and I could not understand what I was doing wrong.  I knew my stroke was not efficient and I was not "pulling" the water.  But how do I fix it?  I read books, did the drills, took a private lesson but nothing helped.  I had considered giving up swimming at one point because I disliked it so much and it caused me so much anxiety and pain.

Finally a friend of mine suggested I go to a coach who would videotape me.  But it was nothing what I expected.  She would have me swim a lap, get out, watch it, discuss how to improve, and do it again.  We did this so many times I was getting dizzy jumping in and out of the pool.  BUT IT WORKED!  One lesson had me see what I was missing.  Just one lesson.  Of course, I will continue to go to her because there is so much to learn.

Now I'm excited about swimming.  I can't wait to go and see how much I can improve, and it's become a fun game to me.  I learned over a year that I can't give up.  I can't stop trying.  That even if I fail over and over again, that victory truly can just be around the next corner.  So get out there, ask questions, leave no stone unturned until you find what brings you joy in life.  It's waiting for you too.  :)

Week 12: Anonymous exercise

I train with a team.  A pretty big team.  And like it or not, my ego often tends to get in the way of my training.  Sometimes looking good and trying to fit in doesn't produce the best training results for me.  On the bike, it produces anger and upset.  Why do I keep getting dropped?  In the pool, it produces a lot of wasted energy and my stroke goes to pot.  On the run, it caused me to run faster and injure myself. (But that was last year, right???)

So I had a few new experiences this week.  On my group ride, I finally decided that I wanted to enjoy my long rides. I'm not going to stop pushing.  And one day I will keep up with everyone.  But in the meantime, I'm going to like being last.  The pool?  I hired a swim coach to help me improve my stroke. 

And I've decided to do some training on my own.  I took a spin class at LA Fitness and it was refreshing that I could be anyone I wanted to be in the class and no one cared.  Oh wait, my team probably doesn't care either....but I assure you it's easier when people don't know you.

I'll also be doing some long rides on my own.  So I can relax and just enjoy being on the bike.  It's also good practice for racing when I won't have the support of my teammates next to me.

I joined the team so I'd have people around but I think it's time to do both.  Train with them.  And train on my own. 9 months to go.  Bring it. :)

Week 11: Training in the cold

The friend who introduced me to triathlons once told me he hated the cold weather and preferred the heat.  I thought he was nuts.  All summer long, and 2010 was the hottest summer I can remember, I kept wanting it to be cooler.  Much cooler. 

Now that it's cold, I finally get it.  The heat is better.  Your muscles are warm.  You aren't achey. The clothing options are much easier.  You get to sweat.  REALLY REALLY sweat.  Sweat pouring down your arms and legs and cleaning all the toxins from your body.  You get to breathe warm humid air.

And when you finish, you can plop down on the sidewalk and stretch while you wait for your teammates.  The sun is still out.  You can hang out and relax and then go to dinner.

And you can bike.  You can ride your bike.  You don't have to check the weather every day and figure out whether or not you can ride outside this weekend.  You don't have to dread two hours on a trainer.  You just load up the water and go.  And the wind can cool you off...instead of freeze you.

Come on spring.  Please come soon.  I want to sweat again. :)

Week 10: Slow and steady wins the race

OK, slow and steady might not REALLY win the race.  But it will allow me to train for 70.3 and 140.6 distances this year.  I've started running again.  And I'm back on the bike...albeit on a trainer but it's cold outside.

It's hard when your ego says "GO FAST, GET ON THE PODIUM" and your head says "I'M SICK OF LIVING IN THIS MUCH PAIN".  My friend, Todd, suggested I read Going Long.  A great deal of the book is too technical for me.  Perhaps as I learn more and progress, it will make sense to me.

What I have learned from the book is that for me to go long, I must go slow.  I MUST develop the base that I need to do these insane distances.  And cycling and running fast is NOT the way to get there.  Sure, if I had a few years under my belt, it would be a different story.  I'm brand new at this.  One year of running is simply not enough to make the increases in speed and distance that I did last year.  And it's why I got injured.

So I'm throwing my ego out the door and starting this dance all over again.  I've been running 10 minute miles.  I've been soft pedalling.  I'm taking it easy.  Until I build up the base that I need.  Maybe 2012 I'll get faster, this year is for Going Long.