Aquatic Park & TRX workouts

Yesterday April 27, I celebrated my 42nd birthday by enjoying the day off from work and swimming 3450 yards (1.96 miles). It was a good day as well because I survived the Sunday swim at Aquatic Park.

Sunday morning was beautiful in San Francisco. Sunny, mid-50s, blue skies, no wind. We were to swim 3 laps around the buoys at Aquatic Park (about 1 mile) or no more than an hour. The San Francisco Bay water is a greenish teal color and full of particles in which I cannot see my hand in front of me while underwater. The water felt cold initially and was tolerable once I started swimming. When small waves of water splashed into my mouth as I turned my head to breath, an instant burning sensation was felt in my throat from the salty water. I flinched and paused each time I felt something touching my hands or wrapping around my fingers. OMG! Is it the stinging jellyfish??? I would pause from swimming, lift my hand out of the water and fling the slimy seaweed off and continue swimming

Reflecting back 4-5 months ago when I was being introduced to open water swimming, I've since come a long ways. I did ask wonderful Mike Kyle to swim alongside me at Aquatic Park on Sunday since I've never swam there before. Having someone swim with me initially is sort of like a security blanket until I know what to expect. But once I started swimming, I realize that I do now know what to expect. I didn't have a panic attack or hyperventilate as I did in my swims a few months back. This is progress!!

Total time in water to swim the three laps including my first ever pit stop (just had to do it) took 53 minutes. On the beach, Coach Dave was bringing in his kayak and said, "Jennifer, I have something for you." On his paddle was a 2" swimmer-eating jellyfish that he pulled out of the water. Photo on right is of a jellyfish floating on top of the the mucky bay.

After the open water swim, we went to Coach Doug's TRX training center less than a mile away and did TRX strength drills. I think I would have enjoyed the experience better if we were doing the workout outside. The studio's atmosphere (air and bright yellow walls) gave me an instant headache when I walked inside, but once back out in the fresh air, my head cleared up.

Evening Swim at Shadow Cliffs

This evening, swam for 45 minutes at Shadow Cliffs Lake. I stayed in the swim lanes since John and our yellow lab Mimi were waiting on shore. Mimi had gone for her swim earlier in the lake for dogs. I swam 8 laps in the swim lanes, which I think is a little over a mile. I don't swim fast enough to keep with the other IronTeamers swimming across the lake.

Afterwards we had a great dinner at Izzy's Chop House in San Ramon. Been awhile since I've had a nice prime rib, gratin potatoes and a nice hot cobbler a la mode. This will give me enough fuel for tomorrow morning's 30-mile bike ride and 6-mile run.

Upcoming Open Water Swim

This weekend, our team will be swimming in Aquatic Park in San Francisco. Earlier this week, the San Francisco Chronicle posted a story about that started like this:

Schools of creepy brownish jellyfish known for their painful stings are lurking in San Francisco Bay waving their long, poisonous tentacles like they own the place.

Dozens, if not hundreds, of sea creatures known as Pacific sea nettles have been spotted in the bay feeding on small fish and plankton when they aren't stinging swimmers.

One touch from a nettle's long, brown tentacles will result in a powerful, numbing jolt that can hurt for hours and sometimes days. Read more.

I e-mailed my coach last night if I should be worried about this. He sent an e-mail out to the team:

A recent article in the San Francisco Chronicle about Jellyfish in the bay has a few folks on edge this week. I did an extensive search of the available data and asked on a message board for local triathletes within the last few days. Several people reported they swam at AP and didn't see a single jellyfish. The receptionist at the Dolphin club said he swims every day and as of this morning had not seen a single jellyfish in the water at AP in over 6 months. It appears the jellyfish are not in the AP area. I will paddle out and check it out before everyone hits the water just to be sure but I'm pretty confident we will be just fine.

I was actually feeling pretty good after Coach Dave's message and was sharing this story with others when somebody had to say, "You can always be the first to see one." My anxiety level instantly spiked upon hearing this.

Double Centuries

My legs are finally recovered from this past weekend's double centuries. On Saturday, I road the Tour of Napa County century route with 7,453' total elevation gain. On Sunday, I road the Primavera Metric Century with 6,121' total elevation gain. Both days were hot, but Sunday was hotter with temps up to 92F. I hydrated well and never bonked or cramped. At each water stop, I refilled my hydration pack and water bottle. I took electrolyte pills every 30 minutes. The rest stops had very sweet Gatorade, so I stuck with my GU2O packets. I was trying out new cycle shorts on Sunday and fortunately didn't have any issues with saddle sores. Love the Chamois Butt'r.

I didn't have any mechanical issues or flats either day. Although at one point going downhill on steep Calaveras Road, another cyclists said to me, "I think your breaks are rubbing against your tire. Your bike is going so slow downhill." "It's me, not the bike," I responded. My fastest down hill speed on Sunday was 31mph. Any faster I feel I'm not in control. My day would be ruined if I road off the cliff.

Overall, I was happy with the weekend. After Saturday's 100 mile ride, I didn't think I was going to be able to ride another 100 miles on Sunday. At the last minute, I decided not to ride the full 100 miles at Primavera, which I think was a good call for my body's sake. It was getting really hot and all the climbing was starting to wear me out. After riding 158 miles, I was suppose to run immediately afterwards for 20 minutes. I chose to skip the run and got a nice long full body massage at the finish instead.

Week 23: Bike Focus

This week's focus is on the bike! To prepare for all the riding that I'm doing in the remaining IronTeam training months, a couple weeks ago, I put on new brake pads, tires, tubes and chain on my bike.

On Tuesday, I had a 90-minute spin workout, Wednesday biked 1 hour and this evening I biked a little over an hour up Mt. Diablo to the 1000 foot marker, back down and up to the marker again.

This Saturday, I will be riding the Tour of Napa Century route (100 miles) and on Sunday will be riding in the Primavera Century. The tempertures this weekend is suppose to be in the upper 80F... a bit too hot for the over 5000 feet of climbing I will be doing on both days.

If any one wants to join me on either of this weekend's rides, let me know. Registration is still available for the Primavera Century on the day of the event cash only ($55 for the 70K, 100K and 100 mile ride. Saturday's ride in Napa is just a training ride and is free.

Week 22: Swim Focus

Last week's focus was on four days of swimming: Tuesday (3500 yards), Wednesday (2500 yards), Friday (3500 yards) and Saturday, one hour open water swim at Lake Del Valle. My upper body definitely felt more toned by the end of the week.

Lake Del Valle actually felt more comfortable than my past swims there and I didn't hyperventilate or have a panic attack. I think this is due to a combination of lake water not being as cold and now knowing what to expect. The underwater visibility was better too from previous 3-inch visibility to about 3 feet visibility.

Following the swim, we ran a hilly but very scenic 10.25 miles on the trail along the lake where I came across a rattlesnake crossing my path. (I stopped and waited about 10 feet back until the snake was fully off the trail. If it stopped and stayed on the middle of the path in front of me, I'd probably be still standing in the same spot today.

Prior to the swim, we had a guest speaker, Tim Borland. In 2007, Tim ran 63 marathons (26.2 miles) in 63 consecutive days to raise money and awareness to a rare and fatal children's disease called Ataxia Telangiectasia (A-T). In 2008, he ran 50 miles a day for 13 days throughout Canada. He shared his experience on how he prepared for this feat as well as how he mentally tackled and persevered even when his tank felt empty. His next goal is to run a mindblowing 130 miles a day for 130 days to raise awareness of the over 130 million orphans in the world. When Tim was speaking, I couldn't help but think about Forrest Gump.

Cinderella Classic & Mt. Diablo Run

On Saturday, I rode in the 33rd annual Cinderella Classic, a metric century (65-miles) that winds through the Amador, Livermore, Diablo and San Ramon Valleys, with 2971' total elevation gain. There were three rest/food stops along the way with a sandwich bar at the second. This ride is only open to women cyclists of all levels. My goals today was to start by 7:45am to 1) get ahead of the crowds of novice cyclists who have no road etiquette; and 2) reach Mile 25 before the 10:30 am cut-off time and decide whether or not to ride the Cinderella Challenge, an additional 30 miles with an additional 2000 feet elevation gain.

At the mile 17.8 rest stop, I lost my right glove while making a quick pit stop. Bummer. While riding, I passed a few gloves on the road and was tempted to pick them up, but decided not to since you never know what kind of germs may lay in these gloves. I reached Mile 25 at 9:45am and decided not to ride the Challenge route since it was super blow-me-over-sideways-on-my-bike windy and I only had one glove. Miles 25-42 were tough as I had to ride against the fierce headwind. Funny thing is that my friend Rita also road the ride and sent me an e-mail that she was happy with the minimal wind this year. Hmmm...how'd she get minimal wind when I was getting windburn on my face and right hand?

In all, my total moving time was 4:38:14 plus 13 stops totaling 52:53 (2 snack stops, lunch stop, and 10 lengthy signal lights). I was back to the Fairgrounds at 1:15pm. I could have done much better if I only stopped for the port-o-potties and resisted the food. But my kryptonite is food...and each stop had good food and cookies to eat that I couldn't resist. Waiting at the finish was hot minestrone soup. Yum!

Today (Sunday), I swam 3300 yards followed by a 90-minute trail run in Mt. Diablo State Park in Mitchell Canyon. There was a 500-yard timed marker set which I completed in 9:45 (24 seconds faster than on 1/21/09 and 2 minutes 4 seconds faster than my first swim on 11/11/08). I happy to see that my time continues to improve.

The first 45-minutes of the run felt difficult. I was getting out of breath quickly and my heart was beating rapidly. I couldn't figure out why the run was so hard. Did the swim wear me out? Should I have eaten more than an apple after the swim? It wasn't until after I turned around to run back did I see the downhill slope. Somehow I didn't notice the uphill slope so much when I was going up. The trail appeared sort of level. But I suppose that if I was running on a 6-mile trail that leads to the summit of Mt. Diablo at 3800', up is the only way to go. I think I'll run this every couple weeks to see if I improve in effort and distance.

The best thing about my Ironman training is that it gets me outside to experience and explore this great area that I live. It's been awhile since I've been to Mitchell Canyon, which is only 3 miles from my home. The trail begins with an oak woodland with the Blue oak as the dominant species (and also the name of the street that I live on.) and the coast live oak as another common tree on Mt. Diablo. The wildflowers (blue bush lupine, California poppies, monkey flower, non-native mustard & thistles) are in full bloom on the mountain. I was also running into many ladybugs. I found out that the ladybugs spend the winter in semi-hibernation on Mt. Diablo. When the weather warms, the ladybugs mate and fly off on prevailing easterly winds to the coastal valleys where they will lay eggs to produce the next generation of ladybugs.

A special thought for Victoria today

Today marks the 1-year anniversary of the passing, Victoria Curley-Wallach, an amazing person dedicated to finding a cure for blood cancers. Her sister Daya put together this tribute video shortly after Victoria's passing. The video reminds me of why I continue to honor her as well as others and why I continue to raise money for finding a cure for leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma.

http://www.dayacurley.com/video/victoriasvideomemorial.htm