Week 3 = Exhausting!

I've completed my 3rd week of Ironman training and it was an exhausting week.

Mondays are suppose to be rest days, but I find it difficult to get both the swim and bike workout done on Tuesdays after spending a full day at work. So this past Monday evening I did my 1600 yard (.909 mile) swim drills. Tuesday, I set up my bike trainer on my porch and completed a 90-minute long hill spin interval (15 minute warm up, followed by 10 minutes in hard gear with last 2 minutes standing, 3 minute spin in easy gear with set repeated five times, then 10-minute cool down). On Wednesday & Thursday, I prepared for my Thanksgiving feast as well as fit in two runs and strength training. Friday, I completed my 1600 yard swim drills.
Saturday was a long training day in San Ramon. Coach Alex started us out with 45 minutes of dynamic run drills (high knees, butt kicks, side steps, quick steps, strides) and then 45 minutes of strength training repetitions of push-ups, planks, bicycle crunches, kneeling leg presses and dipping birds. At 10:30, I changed into my bathing suit and had a quick snack before 90 minutes of swim drills.

I love the coached swim drills because Coach Nancy, Skip & Scott were all there on deck to provide me instant feedback on what I am doing wrong with my swim. I learned that I am not swimming level. My forehead is above the water thus causing me to swim at a slight angle creating drag. I need to practice pushing my chest down more so that my head is below the water which should level my body and even my kick to be from the hips. I need to break the habit of looking forward when I swim and concentrate on looking straight down at the bottom of the pool. I was introduced to closed fisted swim drills and learned how to use my forearm as a tool to power through the water as well my hands. I will keep all this in mind and practice this week.

After the swim, we set-up our trainers for 3 hours of brick workout led by Coach Dave as well as a sweat test. Before each brick, we weighed ourselves with our water bottles to figure out how much water we were losing. In all, I lost one pound, which means I needed to drink at least one more bottle of water. We did 3 repeats of 30 minute spin and 20 minute run.

During my second brick run, I felt hot and tired and my mind was turning negative and filling with doubt on what I signed up for. We were already working out for over 6 hours and I was wondering if I would be able to complete Vineman within the 16 hour time limit. I shared my doubt with Coach Alex. He said to concentrate on the training at the moment and not think about anything else. He said Vineman is 8 months away and I shouldn't be worrying about that right now. Just concentrate on the drill at the moment. His words really helped. In my 3rd brick run, I ran my strongest and fastest.

I was so tired when I got home but knew that I had to eat. My husband and I went out for Chinese food for dinner. I was sound asleep by 8:30pm and slept 9 hours. I woke up sore but not sore enough to skip my 5 mile run. I weighed myself this morning and did not lose weight after working out so much this week. I blame it on water retention from the Chinese food that I ate last night. Will try weighing myself again tomorrow.

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Weekend Workouts

Saturday, I completed my first brick workout. What's a "brick" and why is it named so? Brick = Bike + Run + ICK (that's how your legs feel for the first part of the run). A brick is usually a bike/run combo, which simulates the bike to run transition.

Yesterday, I rode my bike on my trainer for 60 minutes, which was immediately followed by a 55 minute run. I actually didn't feel too bad on the run part, but my legs were getting tired on my run back home which is a steady and steep uphill climb that seems to go on forever.

Today's workout was to go on a bike ride with rolling hills for 45 miles. I knew that I would be scared to ride such a distance by myself in the middle of no where, so I hooked up with IronTeamers Belinda, Maria and Tony (who did a great job mapping the route). We started in Danville, rode past Blackhawk up to Highland Road to Livermore and back.

My Garmin shows that we rode a total distance of 48.88 miles, moving time 3:34:24 with total time of 4:19:23 and total elevation gain of 3,122 feet. The coach's workout description shows that the 45-mile rolling hill workout should take approximately 3 hours. I have a lot of work to do in the next eight months to improve my cycling time if I ever want to finish Vineman within the time limit! At this pace, it's going to take me over 10 hours on my bike ride, which I don't want to happen.

At the end of Week 2, I've lost 1.2 lbs, which is 3 lbs less than when I began training 14 days ago.

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Week 1 & 2 IronTeam photos

Body Balance Drills

This evening, Coach Nancy led us in our first coached swim workout at the Pleasant Hill Adult Center's large, salt water pool. Temp outside was 54F and it was definitely warmer being in the pool than out. In our first drill, Coach wanted to see if we could naturally float without moving our legs or arms. While I did float, my arms and legs sank, which apparently indicated that I would need to work harder to stay in a balanced position. Next we did body balance drills. Unfortunately, I did not swim balanced like this guy on the YouTube video.

I did learn that I need to narrow my kick, not bend so much at the knees when I swim sideways, use my whole leg more and point my toes. I am suppose to imagine myself swimming through a narrow tube. With a narrower kick, I would encounter less water resistance thus swim more efficiently. I'll practice this more when I swim again on Friday.

Tyler's Thanksgiving Thankful list

Tyler is one of my IronTeam's honorees, who is currently battling non-hodgkin's lymphoma. When our workouts become challenging, I will need to keep in mind what Tyler endures every day. I received this e-mail today from Tyler's mom, Holly.

Tyler was in the hospital last week to have a Hickman central line put into his chest, and then get some high dose chemo. We thought he’d be in the hospital through the weekend, but luckily, he responded well enough that he got to come home on Friday. Physically he’s doing well, but he was feeling very depressed about the Hickman. Until recently, he had a Port central line, which was completely under his skin. Unfortunately, they had to remove it because the doctors thought it might be the source of a fungal infection, so they replaced it with a Hickman, which has two fairly long lines that come out of the chest. Tyler really had a hard time with it the first few days. He cried a lot, and talked about the things the he wouldn’t be able to do with the Hickman, such as sports, running, and bending over. Most of the things he was worried about are actually still possible to do with the Hickman, but I think he’s had so many changes recently, that he focused his anxiety on the Hickman.

Then, last night, Tyler told me he wanted to write a “Thankful” list for Thanksgiving. Here is his list, which he told me was in order of importance:

1) Family (that made me tear up a little)
2) Love
3) Food
4) Drinks
5) Medicine
6) His Doctors
7) His Hickman

I was really touched by the list, and also surprised he included the Hickman. When I asked him about it, he said, “Yeah, it took me a few days to figure out the good things about the Hickman. Last week it was getting in my way and making me sad, but now I’m used to it, and I’m happy I have it.”

If you know Tyler, you know this is just another example of how resilient my little guy is. He has an amazing capacity for taking a tough situation, processing it, and then deciding it’s a good thing. I think that is at the top of my “Thankful” list this year.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Holly

The Power of Together

When I began training for my first marathon in 2006, a friend e-mailed me this video about the Hoyts. Brenda, Louie, and the Hoyts planted the seed in my mind that it is possible for me to complete a triathlon like they have. We all have some sort of challenge that we face. In the end, if the program is followed, it's down to mind over matter and strong will and desire to accomplish our goals.

Together, Dick and Rick Hoyt have run in marathons, competed in triathlons, and once even trekked 3,700 miles across America. It's truly astounding when you consider that Rick Hoyt is unable to walk or talk. But with Dick supplying the ability and dedication and Rick the inspiration and motivation, Team Hoyt exemplifies the power that is in "Together."

Met Jessica & Marin this morning in Martinez for a 30-mile round trip bike ride from Martinez to Danville. It was 50F when we started at 7:15am and the left side of my head was cold and numb throughout the whole ride from the wind chill but the rest of my body was fine. I definitely rode faster riding with people than if I rode by myself.

Stats from my Garmin Forerunner 305
Distance: 30 miles
Total Time: 2:18:03 (we waited at a lot of stop lights)
Moving Time 2:05:45
Moving Speed (mph) 14.2 avg; 30.4 max.
Elevation Gain (ft) +1284 /-1231 (72% Flat, Ascent 17%, Descent 11%)

After my first week of training for Vineman, I weigh 1.8lbs less than 7 days ago. Let's see if I keep it off.

Catch up day

No team workout today so I was able to go on a leisurely 90-minute walk on the Clayton trails with my AAUW friends. Nice sunny day, 78F, no wind. I loved seeing the fall colors as well as all the green sprouts of grass from the rainfall received two weeks ago.

Prior to the walk, I completed my run as well as the strength workout that I didn't have time to do on Friday. I need to go catch up on household chores now.

Week 2, Day 8:
Run 60 minutes on Oaklhurst/Clayton Loop (4 miles)
Strength Workout (3 sets):
Lunges 15 reps
Calf Raises 20 reps
Front Planks 30 seconds
Side Planks 30 seconds each side
Crunches 1 minute
Bicycle 1 minute
Push-ups 20 reps
Dipping Bird 10 reps each leg
Kneeling Leg Press 20 reps
Bird Dog 15 reps

This evening at 6pm, the temperature was unseasonally warm at 70F with clear skies, still air and a full moon (earthquake weather???). I opted to go for a swim rather than the bike and run workout listed on the calendar to see if I could improve my time from the Tuesday swim workout.

After I finished a 500 yard warm up, another swimmer asked if we could share the lane and the guy was Michael Phelps!!! Well, he wasn't actually the Olympic swimmer, but he swam fast--50 yards to my 20. As he propelled forward, the water divided in front of him, followed by lots of little bubbles and a big wake that always swept me into the plastic swim lane separators. I concentrated on imitating his arm stroke and the way his body turned like a corkscrew with each stroke. I saw a slight improvement (10:34) and shaved 1:15 off my Tuesday 500 yard baseline time. Still room for much more improvement.

Week 1, Day 5:
Total swim time: 35:00

Wednesday Night at the Tracks

I know that this is only Week 1 o f the next 9 months of my life...and I've only been on the IronTeam since Saturday, but so far I AM LOVING IT!!!! Tonight, IronTeam Mentor Kristie led us in our strength and run work out at the Diablo Valley College track. (The track is brand new and just reopened after a full summer of it being closed for upgrades. Running on the new track almost tops my swim yesterday in the crystal clear pool water.) When I got to the track I was happy to see my marathon buddy Danette, who is training for her first triathlon, Lavaman. Personally, I'd like to see Danette switch to the IronTeam and complete Vineman with me. I was also happy to see that my Solvang Century cycle Coach Lorraine, made the decision to join the IronTeam in celebration of her 50th birthday next year!

We began with a 10 minute warm-up run, followed by core exercises, and then more running. The weather was perfect for this evening's workout. 58F, clear skies, no wind. I could see my breath when I layed down at the end of the field doing my crunches.

Kristie was too easy on us for our first strength workout:
Double Leg Squats 3 sets of 10-15 reps
Calf raises 3 sets of 20 reps
Crunches 3x 1 minute
Bicycle 3x 1 minute
Push-ups 3x 20 reps
Kneeling Leg Press 3x 20 reps
Supermans 3x 10 reps

Our main run was a warmup for 3 minutes, accelerate for 3 min 30 sec to threshold, decelerate for 3 min 30 sec to aerobic, steady aerobic for 3 min 30 sec, repeat this cycle 4 times and then cooldown for 3 minutes. I lost count right away and decided it was easier if I accelerated on the straight parts of the track and decelerated in the curves.

Total run: 4.20 miles in 40 minutes

Swim & Bike Trainer workout

Did two workouts today...swim and bike. The focus of today's swim was to get a marker to send to Coach Nancy on my 500 yard swim time (11:49:05). I've always just been a recreational lap swimmer and I just seemed to swim at the same speed and couldn't figure out how to make myself move through the water faster. And I can't seem to concentrate on two or more things at once, such as remembering what lap I'm on or the higher level pace I'm suppose to swim at and remembering to extend my arms further. If I lost count on the lap, I always erred on the lower count or started counting over at the last lap I was most sure of counting. One thing that made the swim great today is that Renaissance ClubSport just reopened their swimming pool after a thorough cleaning and the water is almost crystal clear.

Hopefully, I'll improve in time as the season progresses. In Vineman, the women's wave begins at 6:45am and the swim course closes at 9:15am. 2.5 hour limit for the 2.4 mile swim portion.

The second workout of the day was trainer workout, held in front of my favorite store, SportsBasement Walnut Creek. Coach Dave had us do peddling drills for an hour on our trainers. I overdressed again and had a puddle of sweat under my road bike by the time I was done. The spin class was fun and energizing. I'll need to get a cadence sensor so that I can track my cadence.

Week 1, Day 3:
Swam 1450 yards =.823 miles (Total Time 39:06:07)

Peddle Drills (1 hour)
Warm-up 10 minutes in middle-middle chainrings. Repeat the following drill set TWICE. Stay in big ring up front the entire workout, Shift to 3rd from largest ring in back. Alternate removing one foot from the pedals for one minute at a time, returning to two footed pedaling for one minute @ 90 rpm between single leg efforts. Repeat 4 times per leg.(12 minutes total). Shift to 4th from smallest gear in back. Pedal at 85 rpm. Focus all mental energy on the 1:00 to 3:00 position of the pedal stroke for 2 minutes. Focus all mental energy on the 4:00 to 6:00 position of the pedal stroke for 2 minutes. Focus all mental energy on the 6:00 to 9:00 position of the pedal stroke for 2 minutes. Focus all mental energy on the 9:00 to 12:00 position of the pedal stroke for 2 minutes. After second time throught the drills, shift to middle middle and cool down at 90 rpm for 10 minutes.

Louie Bonpua Tribute

Louie Bonpua is my inspiration in my goal to complete Vineman and become an Ironman. I hope that this video moves you as much as it inspired me.



If you would like to learn more about the cause or donate on my behalf to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, please click here.

Mt. Diablo Hill Repeats

Today I officially began my base phase.

Description of today's workout: Hill Repeats. 20 miles (approx 2 hours) on a roadway with a sustained uphill grade or uphill rolling terrain of at least 3 miles. Emphasis is on hills. Peg your heart rate at a steady level 5-6 aerobic level for the entire climb. Recover HR to Lvl 1-3 during the down hill return to the bottom of the hill. Complete this at least 3 times or untill you have ridden 18 miles (including the downhill). Plan your route to include at least 15 minutes of Lvl 2-3 warm-up and cool down.

I did my hill repeats at Mount Diablo North Gate. The temperature was 55F and I was overdressed and heated up after I finished my warm up. I removed my base layer before I began my first 3 miles. It's been a long time since I've been on my road bike and I felt out of shape and was breathing hard climbing up. I caught up with another cyclist who was stopped on the side of the road and he said he would follow me up a little bit. The man was 76-years old and said that he rides up to the Mt. Diablo Summit (3800') every weekend! I hope to be able to do that one day.

At the 3 mile point, I turned around for the descent. My biggest fears in road biking are riding on busy roads with cars and riding down hill on curvy roads. Luckily, I only had to deal with the down hill curvy road today. I grip my drops so tightly while constantly pumping my breaks that my arms and hands cramp up. I also tend to hold my breath while riding down hill. So I had to keep reminding myself to breath because I don't think I could have held it the whole 3 miles down. Finally, I hit the ranger station and turned around to go up my second time. The second time up, I did a lot better and did not breath as hard going up. And the second time down, I felt a little more comfortable since I knew what to expect. The third time up, I was getting tired and so were my muscles. Coming down the third time was harder than the second time since my arms were tired.

This was a nice, scenic ride with blue skies and no wind. Hopefully, at the end of this nine month period, I will be able to ride up Mt. Diablo as quickly as all those thin cyclist passing me. I'd like to try to lose 10-15lbs and reduce body fat by Vineman in 9 months. Hopefully the increased workouts will help achieve this goal if I also watch my caloric intake.

Miles 1-6: 37:40
Miles 7-12: 31:20
Miles 13-18: 36:50

Total Mileage: 21 miles; Elevation Gain: 3,029'

Weight: 137lbs. 31% body fat; 30.8% muscle

How it all started

When I was in the sixth grade, my childhood friend died of leukemia. Back then, I didn’t really understand what that meant, but I thought that I would never forget about Eric. When I was 30, I developed a goal to run a full marathon before I turned 40…because Oprah did it. Crazy idea – since I wasn’t even a runner. At 36, I signed up for various races to build up to 26.2 miles, but ended up injured during the marathon since I didn’t train properly.

In 2006, at age 39, my deadline was coming near and it looked like I wasn’t going to meet my goal. During this time, I developed a friendship with Brenda, a 36-year-old mother of two young spirited boys, who was in remission from leukemia. While in remission, she had completed the same half marathon that I first did by myself, a full marathon, as well as an Olympic distance triathlon. Brenda convinced me to join Team in Training to get professional coaching for my marathon, and in exchange I would raise funds for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Wow, I thought, this would allow me to achieve two life goals at once…honor the memory of Eric as well as complete a marathon!

I shared my goals with friends and received strong encouragement and support. As well, I began to develop a long list of honorees to run for as my supporters asked me to run in memory and honor of their family members and friends who battled leukemia, lymphoma or myeloma. Once I made my promise, I couldn’t turn back and this cemented my goal to complete the marathon. While training with Brenda, her cancer returned. She received a bone marrow transplant but later developed host vs graft disease of the lung and sadly passed away the following year. I had another name to add to my list.

Since meeting Brenda, I have completed four marathons and a century ride. Because of Eric, Brenda, Chip, Shelby, James Henry, Cole, Maxx, Victoria, Caroline, Ray, Maddie, Richard, Thomas, Kendra, Joseph, Porter, Paul, Vanessa, Frank, Cheryl, Sandi, Ruth, Ellie, Chris, Ian, Justin, Lynn, Corinne and Sonny, I am beginning my third year of continued involvement with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and plan to complete my first triathlon, The Vineman Full Triathlon on August 1, 2009, an Ironman Distance event with 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike & 26.2 mile run with a 16 hour time limit. Team in Trainign will provide me the training in exchange of me raising funds for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Visit my fundraising page for more details about the cause.

I'm looking forward to these next nine months. I feel excited, anxious and scared, but confident that if I stick with the training, I will be an Ironman in 2009. I will use this blog to document my journey and daily workouts. I hope you visit often to follow my progress and offer words of encouragement because I will need it.

Today was the IronTeam Kick-Off. I met my coaches & teammates and received my initial base-phase training schedule (Mondays rest...Tuesdays swim & bike...Wednesdays strength train and run...Thursdays bike and run...Friday swim and strength train...Saturday Coach workout... Sunday bike). Coach Alex, our strenth coach, also took a baseline of our current strength level.

Day 1: Strength Baseline: 42 push-ups, 15 right planks, 25 left planks