Should I be worried?

This coming Saturday, January 3, I will be doing my first open water swim at Lake Del Valle. I've never swam in open water before and am quite nervous. I went to the Lake Del Valle website, which states that the mean water temperature at the end of December is 48F. That's freakin' cold!

Unfortunately, I did a Google search on 'cold water swimming'. One website said that acclimating to the cold water is a skill. "If it doesn't kill you, you'll be just fine." The United States Search and Rescue Task Force cold water survival website also provided the following information:

What happens to the body when suddenly plunged into cold water?

The first hazards to contend with are panic and shock. The initial shock can place severe strain on the body, producing instant cardiac arrest... Immersion in cold water can quickly numb the extremities to the point of uselessness. Within minutes, severe pain clouds rational thought. And finally, hypothermia (exposure) sets in, and unconsciousness and death.

Expected Survival Time in Cold Water

50-60F (16-21C) 1-2 hours exhaustion or unconsciouness; 1-6 hours survival time
40-50F (10-16C) 30-60 minutes exhaustion or unconsciousness; 1-3 hours survival time.

I will be wearing a wetsuit, but I think that I need to find myself some neoprene gloves, booties and swim cap. The coach says that for our first open water swim, we'll spend a lot of time getting use to the temperature by running in, swimming for 5-10 minutes and coming back out and doing push-ups and other exercises before jumping back in. Wish me luck.

Week 7 Recap

I've survived 13 days straight of workouts and it wasn't so bad. I don't even feel sore or tired, but maybe it's because I took Christmas week off from work.

Mon. 12/22: We had a coached swim workout at the nice, new Doherty Valley Aquatic Center. In addition to swim drill review, Coach Nancy had us try swimming across the pool (25 yards) taking 3 breaths or less. During our event, we need to be prepared not to be able to breath as often as we're use to, especially if area around us is crowded or choppy water. I was able to swim the whole 25 yards without taking a breath. We also concluded our workout with some fun relay races. Total: 2000 yards (1.136 miles)

Tues. 12/23: Swam 1800 yards in 38:01:58 focusing on pace; also completed 60 minute spin workout simulating hill repeats.

Wed. 12/24: Ran speed intervals for 40 minutes as well as core strength exercises

Thur. 12/25: Ran 60 minutes

Fri. 12/26: Swam 1900 yards in 40:20:33 focusing on Ironman pace during the main set.

Sat. 12/27: Rode 42 miles on bike in 3:12:28, starting at Canal Trail in Walnut Creek by BevMo onto Iron Horse Trail to Dublin and back. The ride was smooth and blissful. I like having not to deal with cars on the Iron Horse Trail, which follows the Southern Pacific Railroad right-of-way established in 1891.

Sun 12/28: Ran 74 minutes. Was only able to cover 5.88 miles with hills. I probably could have run much better if I didn't eat the bagel with cream cheese, two pancakes and two sausage patties before my run. I felt full.

I maintained my weight this holiday week and didn't gain or lose, which is good considering I spent much of the week eating rum cake and other delicious holiday foods. During this week's recovery, I will need to make a conscious effort to eat less calories. I'd still like to lose 10 more pounds by next August.

Sunday Open Water Swim

Today, we had a choice of either doing a 30 mile bike rolling hill bike ride or an open water swim. Since it was going to rain this morning and I don't like riding my bike in the rain especially going downhill, I opted for the open water swim. I've never swam in open water before and wanted the practice in a controlled environment. Heather Farms Park Swim Center removed the lanes of their 50 meter x 25 yard pool and place three buoys in triangle formation to simulate an open water swim. This also allowed me to practice sighting.

When I arrived at 9am, seven other IronTeam members were there including Coach Dave and Coach Wayne. After warming up, Coach Dave thought it would be good for us to practice what a mass crowded swim felt like with bumping and touching. Like a school of fish, our little group swam tightly together around the pool. The first lap was a bit overwhelming for me at first since I've always swam with a wide buffer around me in a swim lane. When I turned my head up to breath, a wave of water from the arm stroke of the swimmer to my right landed in my mouth and down my throat. I know my swim form faltered as I just tried to swim balanced in the crowd. We did variations of this drill a couple more times and I was beginning to get use to it although I will need a lot more practice to get use to what I will experience next August.

Below is a video of the swim start at Ironman Lake Placid on 7/20/08. When I watch it, I just think, "What have I gotten myself into?"

Saturday's 7 hour workout recap

Yesterday was a beautiful, clear, crisp winter day in San Francisco with temps at 45F. Mayor Gavin Newsom and I passed each other on our runs. And I saw the incredible Zepplin float quietly over the bay. I made it through the first three hours of Saturday's workout without eating for 17 hours prior. The coaches wanted us to experience what bonking felt like in a controlled environment. During the first three hours, we were only to drink water. No food or electrolyte drinks that had calories (like Gatorade) were allowed. Non-caloric electrolyte tablets were fine. Lorraine shared her Endurolytes with me.

In endurance sports, particularly cycling and running, hitting the wall or the bonk describes the condition when an athlete suddenly loses energy and becomes fatigued, the result of glycogen stores in the liver and muscles becoming depleted. Symptoms of depletion include general weakness, fatigue, and manifestations of hypoglycemia, such as dizziness and hallucinations. I experienced hallucinations, weakness & fatigue at the San Diego Rock N Roll Marathon at mile 19. When I started freaking out mentally, it took me awhile to recognize that I was hitting the wall but once I knew that, I knew how to take control.

The first three hours of my workout yesterday was brick workout where we would do spin drills on our trainers for 40 minutes then run for 20 minutes, repeated three times. I had a beautiful view of the Golden Gate Bridge for my whole spin workout from the Presidio. I also had great views of the bridge, Alcatraz and the San Francisco skyline as we ran along in Crissy Field. For the first repetition, I felt fine. During the second repetition, my stomach growled a lot and I had a harder time keeping up my cadence. Midway through my third rep, my left foot and calf kept getting cramps. Coach said that my electrolytes were imbalanced.

Finally, noon came and we had a 15-minute break to eat lunch. I had a peanut butter & jelly sandwich, mini-blueberry bagel, tangarine and Gu2O. I felt a lot better.

The next two hours, we practiced bicycle drills and I learned a lot. The first thing that Coach Wayne had us do was to remove our front wheel and spin it between our hands and turn the wheel to the right and left while it was spinning. I felt the wheel wobble and get unstable. The same feeling I get sometimes riding fast downhill around curves. Coach Wayne explained that the front wheel is like a giant gyroscope and that most people on bikes steer incorrectly. He had us do the same drill again, by loosing the grip on one arm. So when I turned the spinning wheel to the left, my left hand grip was just merely there to hold the wheel up, while my right hand pushed the wheel to turn to the left. The wheel turned without a wobble! He had us hold the wheel so we could actually feel the difference. Afterwards, we practiced counter balance steering on our bikes so that we could react quickly if we had to avoid something on the road. We also did slow balance drills, practicing balance and turning on a short obstacle course. I wasn't successful at this.

Coach Dave ran us through several nifty bicycle drills.
1) Water bottle hand-off. During the cycle event, we will be actually handed bottles as we ride through the aid stations. He taught us to make eye contact, identify by shouting out to the aid person, grab the bottle and then say thank you.
2) Setting down water bottle on ground without it falling over while moving. This is suppose to help us focus on several things at once - balance and what's ahead
3) Picking up water bottle on ground while moving
4) Riding hands free
5) Riding and lifting front wheel off ground to avoid running over objects if you can't steer to the right or left.
6) Riding and lifting back wheel off ground
7) Riding and lifting both wheels off ground
8) Putting fallen chain back on while still riding bike (this was the second best thing I learned yesterday since this happens to me once in awhile)

The last hour was dedicated to run drills and strength training. Strength Captain Doug introduced us to the TRX suspension trainer, which uses one's own body weight to build strength, balance, flexibility and core stability. We also did 90 reps of fire hydrant, 5 minutes of bicycle crunches, 75 kneeling leg presses, 30 dipping birds, 5 minutes of crunches, and 60 lunges with trunk rotation. Needless to say, I can feel the muscles in my core today.

What I'm like when I don't eat

I was reading the e-mail I received describing the training details for Saturday 12/20. Starting at 9am in San Francisco, the workout will be 8 hours long involving bike, run and strength training drills. No swimming. What caught my attention was the big red bold statement:

NO BREAKFAST FOR ATHLETES other than water and electrolytes. Last meal is previous evening prior to 6pm. No food for the first 1 hours 15 minutes of workout. Athletes are meant to work without caloric intake, only water and electrolytes. No liquid or solid food. Small lunch at 12:30.

What's up with that??? Any one who knows me well knows that I get very irrational when I haven't eaten for more than 4-5 hours in the day. I'm a grazer. I need to keep my sugar level up otherwise I can't think, get irrational, whiny, grumpy...I don't even want to be around myself when I hit this point.

Twelve years ago, my manager at the time called my husband and told him that I was never to show up to work without having breakfast first. Since then John has made me oatmeal or some sort of breakfast every morning. Tomorrow will be the first time in twelve years when I haven't eaten breakfast. I don't even know if I will be able to think rationally on my drive to San Francisco. Gotta go...I have 35 minutes until 6pm....I better get something to eat for dinner!

Improvement in Swim Time

This evening I did my swim workout and compared my time today with previous workouts.

Date_____Total Yards__Total Time
11/12/08___1450_____ 39:06:07
11/27/08___1600_____41:42:11
12/18/08___1700_____40:12:22

I'm so happy to see swim time improvements in just a month. Hope that this improvement continues!

Next 13 days...

Received e-mail from IronTeam Head Coach Wayne about our workout for the next 13 days straight:

"Yes Virginia there is a heart that benefits from repetitive aerobic effort in that chest of yours.

From Tuesday the 16th through Sunday the 28th of December, you are an IRONMAN machine, churning out physical efforts day in and day out. The efforts are not hard, but they are efforts. Listen to your body and if you require a day off in there somewhere then be honest with yourself and take the day off. The evaluation of your ability to sustain effort over those 13 days comes down to three categories.

Pain....Discomfort...Fatigue.

If you are in pain, stop. If you are in discomfort, monitor and if your form is faltering due to the discomfort then stop. If you are fatigued, suck it up and keep going. Fatigue makes you stronger, discomfort tunes your body to your mind, but pain sets you back. Don't endure pain, listen to the discomfort and drive through the fatigue."

Prius vs Hummer

I've been very busy with work, training and household chores that I haven't had time to update. Last week, I kept up with all the training although I had to catch up on my swims during the weekend. This past Saturday, I road my bike 30 miles followed by a 40 minute swim workout. On rainy Sunday, I completed a 60-minute speed interval on my trainer followed by a 55 minute run.

Trainer rides make up a good portion of the early season bike program because it is consistent, repeatable and can be done when it's raining cats and dogs outside. Also, the variables of traffic lights and road hazards are removed so we can focus more on the specific workout. Specific pedaling drills are best done when stability is highest, like when the wheel is locked in the trainer.

On Sunday morning, I finally got a chance to set-up on my rear wheel and pedal the gadget I ordered to monitor my cadence on the trainer using my Garmin Forerunner. The gadget worked perfectly for this workout! I warmed up 10 minutes in the middle chain ring. The main workout was to practice speed intervals maintaining 95RPM for 3 minutes followed by 90 seconds at 80RPM while using my hardest gear possible maintaining RPM and aerobic heart rate zone. I repeated this drill 8 times. Even though it was 42F outside, I still had a puddle of sweat on my porch. Immediately following this 60 minute workout, I ran for 55 minutes and felt great.

Coach explained that it is very important to stay aerobic in the base phase and not anaerobic (higher heart rate). "Think of your body as a motor vehicle. you have a finite amount of gas that will fit in your tank. On a long day like Ironman, what would you rather be, a Hummer or a Toyota Prius? If you train aerobically (lower Heart Rate), you are training like a Prius. If you train Anaerobically (higher heart rate), you are training like a Hummer. You see, in the presence of Oxygen (Aerobic training) your body can convert one molecule of glucose into 36 molecules of ATP. In the absence of oxygen (anaerobic training) your body can only produce 2 molecules of ATP from that same molecule of glucose. We train at level 5-6 to increase your body's aerobic capacity and get it used to going long and steady, just like you will on race day."

I hope to run efficiently like a Prius by next August.

The Power of Your LLS Donation

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) is the world's largest voluntary health organization dedicated to funding blood cancer research, education and patient services. Since it's founding in 1949, LLS has invested more than $600 million for research specifically targeting blood cancers.

This list shows how every dollar donated to LLS really does help make a difference in the lives of those affected by blood cancer. Skip that $5 latte and consider making a donation to the cause by clicking here.

$1000 supports one week’s salary for a medical researcher at UCSF, Stanford, or Berkeley who may discover key information to developing curative treatments for blood cancers.
$500 provides a blood cancer patient with financial assistance for one year to help with transportation and co-pays
$500 allows 10 patients to log on to a webcast and hear the latest information in treatment for their disease.
$200 funds one Family Support Group meeting of 9-15 participants; the SF Bay Area chapter has 9 monthly support group meetings.
$150 allows 5 patients to make a First Connection with a trained peer volunteer.
$100 provides 3 patients access to an information teleconference.
$75 is the average cost of tissue typing to become a bone marrow donor.
$50 is the cost of a CT scan
$40 is the cost of sending a comprehensive packet of information for children with cancer.
$35 pays for transportation expenses for a patient living in Northern California’s most rural areas to treatment at a comprehensive cancer center.
$25 covers a single prescription co-payment.
$5 is the cost of sending a newly diagnosed patient information about support and their disease.

The time is now for year-end donations. Your gift will help us continue to invest in research and help save lives.

Donate today!

Set Your DVR

If you want to see what Ironman is about and what I hope to accomplish on August 1 at Vineman, set your DVR to the Ford Ironman World Championships on NBC on 12/13 2:30-4pm ET (11:30-1PT).

Week 4: Recovery

Thank goodness that this was recovery week. My calves were hurting for three days after last weekend's tough workout. I completed my swim drills on Tuesday and Friday, but skipped the bike, run and strength training during the week to let my sore muscles recover.

Saturday morning was cold with dense fog. We had a bike ride that started in Pleasant Hill and went over Reliez Valley Road/Alahambra over Pig Farm Hill to do the Three Bears/San Pablo Dam Loop. The first hour of the bike ride was though thick fog with 5 feet visibility on a two lane, narrow and curvy road. Temperature at start was 34F and 45F at finish. The purpose of the ride was just a marker set so we could time this ride and see later in the season how much we improve in time. This ride had a total elevation gain of 4927 feet, total distance of 37 miles, and total time of 3:49 including stops (total moving time 3:23:36).

We had some long climbs and with long climbs comes long descents. This time last year when I was first learning how to ride a road bike, I road this Three Bears loop. The first time come down Papa & Mama Bear, I was terrified and in tears and had to stop midway down the descent to regain my composure. I've improved since I didn't have a nervous breakdown nor did I have to stop, but I still came down the hills cautiously. I never exceeded 27mph speed in descent. I wish I could learn to just relax, feel confident, and just let go like the other cyclists who pass me down hill at 40mph or more. Iron Teammate Belinda was great and always waited for me at the bottom.

This morning, we had a 90-minute Coached Swim workout followed by a 50-minute run. It was another cold (38F) and foggy morning. We first took a team photo. I'm the one in the red knit hat. All that white behind us is the fog.

After a 10-minute warm-up and some drill work, the coaches timed us on how far we could swim nonstop in 15 minutes at a level 5. I swam 15 laps (750 yards) in 15 minutes. The next concept that the coaches wanted to introduce us to was "sighting". I've always swam up and down the length of the pool for years and have never swam in open water. In the pool, it's easy to swim straight with the lane lines and the black line at the bottom of the pool. Not being able to swim straight in the open water can add unwanted distance during the race and impact time. So the coaches want us to learn how to sight to see where we are going.

Today, we learned how to lift our head at the beginning of a breath. I was suppose to lift my head just enough so that my goggles are just above the water to site the object on the other end of the pool. It is actually more difficult than it sounds, because every time I lifted my head to look forward a bunch of water would go up my nose, my legs would sink semi-vertical and it would take a stroke or two to even out again. I'll need to practice more sighting this week so I get more graceful and comfortable with it. As I was doing this drill in the pool, I worried about the open, cold and choppy water that I will swim in the next few weeks. But then I remembered that I need to concentrate on the present drill and not think of anything else.

After the swim, we did a 50-minute out and back run. The first 15 minutes of my run was difficult. It was 42F and my hair was still damp from the swim. My head felt cold with an onset of brain freeze developing and I became light-headed. So took a couple minutes to walk and take some Gu. After that I felt better. Completed 4.5 miles.

I've completed my first four weeks of Ironman training and I am loving it! So far it's a decision I don't regret and am looking forward to the new things that the coaches have scheduled for us in the upcomings. Thank you for donations to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society that I received this past week from Julie, Jill & Pete, and Jeanne & Don!!

My calves are so sore today

After Saturday's workout I felt tired but not sore. Sunday I felt stiff, but was still able to run 5 miles. I think that Sunday run did me in. Today, my calves are so sore. I feel like I just ran a marathon. I should have taken an epsom salt or ice bath. Will try massaging my muscles with the foam roller today.

Last night, I got an e-mail from Coach Nancy stating that this is Recovery Week. "Keep in mind that we DO want you to recover this week, so if you think the workout is not enough PLEASE trust us and do not do extra. The body needs a break in order to then ask a little more of it in the next 3 weeks. This periodization method has been proven very effective." You don't have to tell me twice to not do extra.

These are photos of me stretching at the end of Saturday's workout. I'm the one at far left end. Nice to see muscles in bum and legs firming up.