Triathlon training goals for 2013

My life kinda fell into shambles after Eagleman in June, hence my lack of posts and my lack of miles. My husband and I decided just two weeks before Eagleman that we were going to separate. Not a huge shocker to me, but a life-changing event nonetheless. Two months later I raced Steelman, which I did on Joanna's encouraging so I'd have something to focus on to keep me motivated. I raced, I had a great time, but I really felt pretty down when all was said and done.

But, during this time of flux, I've been reevaluating who I am, who I want to be and what I want out of life. What I've determined is that I'm not going to let a change in my relationships status determine the outcome of my life. So I began plotting out my race schedule.

Every good triathlete has a night of drinking with an equally crazy friend to determine their race schedule for the following year, right? No? Well, that's what I do. Don't judge. Anyway, we started researching Ironman race courses. We wanted a flatter course, but not pancake flat, but shouldn't be major hills, like Lake Placid. We found Ironman Cozumel, and fell in love. But the realist in me knows that with my life influx, maybe an Ironman in 2013 isn't a great idea. However, if I make 2013 a building year, and Ironman in 2014 is a certainty.

Here are my goals:
First, I'm going to run a marathon. Probably a good idea if I'm considering an Ironman, right? This was another decision made during a night of drinking, but this time it was with my cousin, who was up this way from Austin.

She said, "I think you should run the Austin Marathon. It's in February and it's a great time to be in Austin. Plus our condo is 2 miles from the start, right along the race course." While sitting at the bar, I sent a quick email to Joanna asking her if she thought I could be ready for a marathon by February. She said, and I'm paraphrasing, if we start soon, I think you'll be ready.

A few days later, I registered, booked airfare and committed my brain to a marathon. Beginning Oct. 1, Joanna will be helping me train for my very first marathon.

Heaven help me.

Next on the list are a few Olympic distance races for 2013. I'd like to do Red Bank again. It was a beautiful course and I'd like to redeem myself from my terrible showing on the bike. I also want to do Steelman again because it was so much fun. My crazy triathlon friend suggested the Bethany Beach Triathlon, that I'm considering that as well as New Jersey State Triathlon.

As far as another half distance next year... I haven't decided yet. I think it might be a good idea to do one, but I don't know which to do. Eagleman was too hot and really early in the season. Diamondman was fun, but I'm not sure I want to repeat that again. So, I'm open for suggestions. I'm thinking Pocono 70.3, but I'm not 100% sold on it yet.

Ironman Eagleman 70.3 Race Report

I've been working on this post for months. The whole reason I started this blog was to write about this triathlon, Eagleman. The race that was going to take me to the next level. Instead, I was humbled by this race and this report is just not writing itself. So, let's start at the beginning.

We had plans to stay at my friend Tammy's in-laws place in Lewes, Del., about an hour and a half away from the starting line. This wasn't an ideal situation, but it was free accommodations and there wasn't a hotel within 50 miles of the race that had any open rooms. But, in an extraordinary stroke of good luck, Joanna had a nutrition client who booked an extra room and offered it to us. So on Saturday, I met Tammy and fellow dailymiler Patrick, in Media to start our trek to Cambridge, Maryland. 

I had no idea until I got here that Ironman was such a community event. Clearly businesses welcomed us.

Once in Cambridge, we went to the race expo and packet pick up. There was a pro athlete forum that was going on while we were picking up our race packets. We stayed just long enough to take a blurry picture ...

Ironmen

... and pick up our race numbers. It was so hot and crowded.

Packet pick up and expo

Next stop was the transition area to rack our bikes and check out the transition area. We did some stalking while we were there... you know, killing time.

Transition area with bikes racked

Yeah, so it's not every day I come within feet of Ironman Champions

After checking into our hotel room, heading to dinner and packing, unpacking and repacking everything we needed for the next morning, we settled in at about 8:30 p.m. for our 4:15 a.m. wake up call.

"Shuttle," AKA school bus, we took in the morning to transition. Patrick is pictured.

I have to admit, I was not nervous about the race. I did have a few moments of anxiety, but generally I felt pretty confident that I was going to conquer this race.

We quickly learned that if Patrick was anything, he was positive.

We learned that for the first time in two years the race would be wetsuit legal, so my confidence was pretty good. The pros started at 6:45 and Tammy and I had an hour to walk around and wait for our wave start.

Transition area set (sort of) and ready to go.

The swim:
At 7:40 exactly, our wave was ushered into the water. As we walked toward the water, volunteers handed us safety pins to put on our timing chips if our wetsuits didn't cover them. I thought this was a brilliant idea since at my last half iron, my timing chip fell off twice during the swim. Anyway, two minutes later, the blow horn sounded and we were off.

Choptank River, not nearly as scary as described by athletes.

I will admit that the stories of jellyfish, sharks and rough waters of the Choptank River (you can't make up that name), scared me a little prior to the start. But I found the waters to be cool and lightly salted. Not nearly has salty as the ocean. I had some trouble sighting because my goggles were super foggy (Patrick, the defogging stuff did NOT work) and the buoys were a little further apart than I'm used to in races. I stayed pretty wide and to the left throughout the swim because I did not want to get kicked in the head again. The first half of the swim I stayed calm and took my time. About half way through I remember that there was no reason to hold anything back today, and I picked up my pace. Before I knew it, I was coming into to the swim finish. I felt strong and ready for the bike. I finished the 1.2 mile swim in 44:49. In transition, I stripped off the wetsuit, took a long drink and hopped on my bike.

The bike:
I pushed the entire time on this ride. The course was completely flat, not a single hill. We road through some scenic parks with a lot of trees. Of course there were stretches with nothing more than an open field, but my confidence was high. I was passing a lot of riders on the course and with little effort maintaining an easy 18-19 mph pace. Around the halfway mark, maybe a little further, I was honestly trying not to look at my bike computer and only watched the time, I hit some headwind that pushed me to a pretty steady 14 mph. That was a little harder to recover from, but I kept pushing. This was about the time I saw a woman throw up twice while riding. My first thought was, "That woman is hardcore." My next thought was, "I wonder why she's getting sick."

The last 6 miles seemed to take forever, but those last six miles is where I started to see the runners. Many were walking. No one looked happy. At the end of that 56 miles, which I did in 3:11, I walked my bike back to my transition spot. I was in no rush to start this run.

Picture of the sun taken by my husband while waiting for me to finish the race.

The run:
After putting socks and sneakers on and taking another long drink, I trotted out of transition and onto the course. Immediately my quads cramped. I tried to ignore it and took two Enduralytes, but the cramps coupled with a shooting pain on the right side of my right foot forced me to a walk. Less than a mile into the course Tammy caught up to me. I think I said outloud, "Oh seriously." She was in good spirits and walked with me for a bit. I encouraged her to keep running. A few feet later I met Dan, an athlete wearing a knee brace. He and I walk about 3/4 of a mile together until the first water spot. He walked through it and I stopped and strategically placed ice in my tri suit and wet my sun sleeves hoping to stay cool. After that, I walked/ran the entire course.

I stopped at every water spot and poured ice water all over myself. The temperature was 100 degrees and there wasn't a single patch of shade anywhere. Patrick described it as a death march and I can't think of a better description than that. I watched seasoned triathletes walking. Men and women who I am sure are much stronger and fitter than I am put their pride aside and simply walk. Where there were neighborhoods, many residents had tents out and sprayed athletes down with garden hoses. If any of them ever read this, THANK YOU!

After the first 6.6 miles, I realized my hopes of having a half iron in the 6 hour time range was not going to happen. I ate a snow cone, and the sugar helped push me the next 4 or so miles.

The last mile and a half was the absolute worst. I felt my body actually falling apart. I had been drinking water and electrolytes and taking Enduralytes like they were candy, but I wasn't eating. I would've killed someone for a pretzel or potato chips. I needed salt, I needed calories. I had three Gus in my pocket the entire run, but I couldn't bring myself to eat them. Probably my downfall. But the heat called for drinking, not for eating. With each step I took, I felt weaker. With one mile left, I choked down a Gu and it only served to turn my stomach.

With 400 yards left, a group of athlete sat in the shade encouraging, no, yelling at us to run. "There's only 400 yards left, one loop around the track. Run! Don't be weak," I heard them shout. So I ran. I ran and I have no idea how I did it. It was the longest 400 yards of my entire life. Each step was filled with pain. Every muscle in my body hurt, my feet burned and I was crying. I saw my kids right at the shoot and I lost it. Crossing the finish line I just bent over and sobbed. 3:09 was my run time. A medic came over to me and put a wet towel on my neck, held me up and asked me if I wanted to sit down. No, I wanted to see my kids.

Hobbling toward the finish line.

The entire time I was walking/running, all I could think of (when I wasn't in shock at how my body felt like it was falling apart) was all the time I had spent training. All the hours, all the effort, six months of training and nutrition and my half iron time was 4 minutes better than the last one.
4 minutes.

After cooling off, eating and pulling myself together, I texted Joanna. I said, "Finished and getting ready to leave. That may have been the hardest thing I've ever done. Wow" She called me immediately. I don't know how I managed to not cry while talking to her, but she was nothing but encouraging. She knew my goal and I failed. I failed. She said, "I don't think you would've finished the race at all if you didn't train the way you did. You can't prepare for that heat. You did the best you could. I am proud of you." Those words meant the world to me.

The truth is that I didn't fail. I finished a race where many did not. I improved my swim time by 11 minutes and my bike time by 7. I took an extraordinary 6+ minutes in transition from bike to run this time and my run time was increased by 11 minutes from the last race. The heat was brutal, my nutrition fell apart and therefore my body fell apart. I have always been my biggest critic and I continue to be that critic.

I did it!

I walked away from the race with a few thoughts: 1) I will never do a half iron again. It's just not my race. Eagleman decided that. 2) I am strong. Those were two facts I held fast for the last two days as I've hobbled from one place to another. I held fast as I suffered through dehydration and the inability to keep food down for the last two days. I held this truth until I thought about my next race. When someone said, "So, what's next?"

Truth is, I will race again because I am racing against myself. Probably not this year, but I will next year. Actually, who am I kidding, as soon as I am able to train again I will probably find a race and shoot for it. I will not let this stop me from doing what I love. I am a triathlete. I am strong. I will reach my goal of a 6 hour 70.3. 

Triathlon speed suit: Do you wear one?

I've been obsessively tracking the water temperature for the Choptank River since Eagleman is only a few short weeks away. I'm fully prepared for the fact that it will not be a wetsuit legal race since the water temperature is currently 71 degrees. Ironman rules state the water temperature must be 76.1 degrees or lower to be wetsuit legal.

Because of this, I've been exploring the whole speed suit thing and I'm not sure exactly what the benefit of one is and if it's worth the cost to get one. Here are my questions:

Is a speed suit legal in ALL water temperatures?
Is there a benefit swim-wise for wearing one?
Is that benefit worth the cost?

What are your thoughts/opinions on the matter?

Digging deep to find my game face

Transition setup at Diamondman 2011.

As time ticks on closer and closer to race day, there is a tiny bit of panic brewing in my head. Truth is: I’m tired. Very tired. I feel like I’m at the point where my body is screaming for a day off, but it’s also the point at which I need to listen to my coach the most. I need to trust her. I’ve come this far following all of her triathlon and nutrition instructions and workout plans, now is not the time for me to fall off the wagon. So I trudge on, trying to keep my head in the game and focus on form and technique as the miles get longer and longer.  

Along with this physical exhaustion I’m feeling, I’m having some mental “game day” issues. You see, I have a reoccurring problem associated with “racing.” As race day approaches, I start to distance myself mentally from the event. Eagleman is less than 6 weeks away. SIX WEEKS! I think back to when it was six months away. I was calm, cool and confident. Now, as we get closer, my once cool demeanor is changing to denial.

I can remember specifically standing at the edge of the water before Diamondman helping my fellow athletes zip their wetsuits (by the way, an absolutely fantastic way to distract yourself if you need it) thinking, “I cannot believe I’m about to do this.” What a ridiculous thing to think when I had spent the last 6 months preparing for that exact moment. Even as the race started and I took my first couple of strokes through the water, I could not wrap my head around the fact that I, ME, of all people, was there.

This is where I am mentally right at this moment. I hope it passes.

I am not an android... I'm a triathlete

After breaking the VO2 testing machine the last time I was there, the Performance Lab let me come back last Friday. Turns out, even though I resemble one in this photo, I am not an android at all.

The first time I found myself in the lab, it seemed so surreal. Here I am, regular old Diane, standing in a room with real athletic testing equipment... for real athletes. Like real, serious athletes. I couldn't help but giggle pretty much the whole time I was there. How did I end up here?

The Performance Lab, located in Cherry Hill, N.J., is "powered by" the Rothman Institute, which is a super awesome orthopaedics specialty group that I went to as a last resort to work out this hip issue of mine. Basically I thought, if they can't help me, no one will. 

Enter Dr. Michael Ross, fellow member of the Philadelphia Triathlon Club. After meeting him at his office and getting X-rays of my hips, he determined some physical therapy would help my hip... but wanted to take it a step further. He wanted to find out why my hip injury will not go away and stay away. He suspected it had something to do with my asthma and the way we figure this out is we test. 

As a less than amateur triathlete, the idea of getting these complex tests done was super cool. I mean, really, how freaking cool is it that I can learn how my body burns fat, carbohydrates, at what point lactic acid takes over and learn about my overall lung function from the inside out? Pretty freaking sweet in my book.

The first thing that happens is they fit you with this very android looking device, see above photo. Next they measure, I think, my lung capacity. I take a giant breath in and then blow it out until my lungs are empty. Next is a hyperventilation test where I breathe in and out quickly (hyperventilating). I will be honest, I have no idea what that measures. I didn't take notes. Bad blogger.

After doing those tests, the real testing begins. Starting out walking on the treadmill, we increase the miles per hour every two minutes until I can't run any more. 

This doesn't take nearly as long as you'd think. At least for me.

I topped out at the end of the 2 minutes at 8 mph. This is a 7:30 running pace. I can't run faster than that. I simply could not keep up with the treadmill any longer.

What we learned:

My asthma is not nearly as controlled as I thought. My large airways stay open, in fact, they actually increase as I exercise, but the small airways do not. They get smaller and decrease by as much as 50%, which significantly decreases the amount of oxygen getting to my muscles, which speeds up fatigue. This, in turn, makes my small muscles work harder than they should and helps contribute to my hip injury never really staying better. So, Dr. Ross prescribed some new meds that seem to be really working. We'll retest in a few weeks.

We learned lots of other things like where my body stops burning fat and starts using carbohydrates, my lactic threshold and how I can get faster, but I don't really want to bore you with all of it because it really is only interesting to me ... and Joanna. What I will tell you, is that the longer I'm in triathlon, the more I learn about myself. Whether it's that I sometimes shock myself with my competitive nature or how lung function can directly effect muscle fatigue, the real lesson in triathlon has less to do with swim, bike run, and much more to do with what the individual athlete learns about themselves through the training process. 

Oh, quick update: I was supposed to run the Iron Girl Half Marathon in Columbus, MD, Sunday, however both Joanna and Dr. Ross decided it wouldn't be a great idea for me to try and muscle my way through a half marathon and potentially injury my hip even more, which could ruin my chances of racing Eagleman in June.

It's good to know people in triathlon

I've been a bad blogger, a very bad blogger. I haven't written in some time because, to be completely honest, I've been struggling with some mental setbacks. I haven't run more than 12 minutes in a row in nearly 3 weeks and I have a half marathon scheduled for April 29. I've been assured by my doctor and Joanna that I'll be able to run the race, but I'm starting to wonder if it'll really happen.

Shhhh! I snapped this picture while I waited for the doctor. 
Oh, what lovely bones I have...

Last Thursday I went to the Rothman Institute for an appointment to find out, once and for all, what is wrong with this hip of mine. As you can see in the above picture, my bones are fine. But, turns out, I have injured my gluteus minimus because my gluteus maximus is weak. Everybody laugh... I'm a weak ass. But what it means is that I'm not using my rear to its full potential while running.

That's not all... on Friday I went in for a VO2 max test at the Performance Lab (which was a really super awesomely cool experience that I promise to write about before the end of next week) to see if my asthma may be making my smaller muscles work harder. The test showed that my asthma is under control (good news), but my muscles aren't storing sugar for very long. This means that when I do longer, faster runs (bike rides or swims) my body doesn't burn fat for energy unless I'm running really, really slow - instead it's burning muscle. According to the test, I need nearly 200 per hour from carbs while working out. That's two Gu's an hour! From what I can tell, it's a vicious cycle for my body that nutrition counseling and physical therapy should fix.

Thank goodness my coach is also a nutritionist... who knows my doctor who happens to be a fellow member of the Philadelphia Triathlon Club, which takes me out of the translation loop. That's great news, since you can tell I'm terrible at explaining medical garble. 

The newest member of the disabled list

I'm on the DL. Yup, that's right, I have literally run myself right on to the disabled list.

About 2 years ago, when I really started running, I injured my hip. I was diagnosed with some mysterious hip injury that I can't seem to remember or find out from anyone. Six weeks of physical therapy and a therapist who boldly stated, "Some people are meant to run, others aren't. You just aren't one of them," I was able to run with no pain and have been relatively pain free since. Although the therapists comment is one of the catalysts that put me on track for my leap into half iron distance triathlons.

Anyway, 've done it again. Two Saturdays ago, I was in Delaware visiting my sister and ran what started as a really great 10 miler with my husband. About 8 miles into the run, my hip started bothering me. Ever the go-getter, I stopped, stretched and kept pushing... in fact, I pushed so hard that we were practically sprinting the last two miles. In a lot of pain and holding back tears, I gritted my teeth and just ran. When we got back to the house, I popped some Motrin, rubbed some Biofreeze on my hip and stretched, hoping it would be fine in a day or two. I got a massage that week and basically didn't do anything that would aggravate my hip further

But the pain persisted. I waited a full week before trying to run again. Last Saturday I tried again. I made it 4 miles. That's it. I limped for the rest of the day. Today is Thursday, the fourth day of my recovery week, and I am still in a bit of pain. I'm able to walk without limping, but if I try to run or do anything that involves impact, I can feel the pain. Thanks to some great suggestions by my fellow Philadelphia Triathlon Club members, I made an appointment to see a specialist at the Rothman Institute, but I can't get in until April 5. Until then, I just have to wait it out and focus on swimming and biking.

It totally sucks, but I'm pretty sure I will get through this. I made it through before and I'll make it again. It's just a little glitch in my plans, but I'm thankful to have a really understand and helpful coach and great support group of friends.

Ask the coach: Triathlon training cycles

Last week I did not train at all. I had some very important personal issues that needed my complete attention so training was put on hold. Fortunately, it couldn't have come at a better time because last week was an "easy" week.

Joanna has me training on a four week cycle. We build for three weeks and recover on the fourth. I can't tell you how happy I am when I get my weekly training schedule on that fourth week and it says EASY week. By that point I'm spent.

Anyway, the last time I had a recovery week, someone asked me on dailymile what I was "recovering from." So, I asked Joanna to explain training cycles and recovery. Here is what she said:

Recovery weeks are there so your body can recover from the usual three weeks of intensity building workouts. Without the recovery, you can keep pushing and pushing, but your body will crap out on you after about six to eight weeks. OK, maybe not crap out but your body will slow down and you will be very tired. 

Your performance will suffer as your body will not be able to push as hard as you need for any length of time. During workouts your heart rate will either rise really fast and get to its max number when at 75% effort quicker, or you won’t be able to get that heart rate to move up at all. 

You are usually at your best performance-wise after a few days or weeks of rest or easy workouts, which is why we taper for our races. As fatigue goes up, performance usually goes down. But there is that little window where the performance remains high while fatigue starts to fall - that is when you want to race or do your monthly testing to see if you are improving. Then once that fatigue falls, you still have a week, sometimes less depending on the sport, to start that training all over again and build for three weeks until the next rest/recovery cycle.

I usually say you can choose to take an easy week now, sleep in and recover, or you can wait until you have no choice but to sleep in and recover which usually is when you are sick, injured or are so tired that even easy workouts seem difficult.

So next time you see a post on dailymile where someone is recovering, it might not be from an injury but that they are taking a break from the intense workouts so they body can heal and be ready for the testing, racing or another training cycle ahead.

New bike is ready to ride... and so am I

I have been a horrible blogger so far this year. I have lots of great ideas for posts, but there are only so many hours in a day and I can't seem to find the time to write. Between training, work and my family, I have about zero seconds of free time each day. Even as I sit here and write, I have a million other things I really should be doing, but I need to write a bit now.

We are exactly 4 months until my race. 4 MONTHS! When I started training in December, June 10 seemed a million years away. In the last two weeks, Coach Joanna has upped the intensity of my workouts. I believe we are still in the base building stage of our training, so my weekly mileage is still relatively low, but with higher intensity workouts, my body is tired like it's much higher. Add the fact that every single person in my house is sick and I can actually feel my body fighting to stay healthy, I'm whooped.

Here's a little update. A few months ago, I mentioned that my husband was building me a new bike. As of this past Sunday, it's ready to ride and it's gorgeous. I absolutely love it and I cannot wait to ride it.

Unfortunately, it's sitting in the basement mocking me each and every day that I sit on my old bike attached to the trainer. I'm waiting to take the new bike outside to ride it for the first time. So help me out and do a little praying for some warmer, weather in the very near future so I can get riding! 

Racing for a cup of coffee: Using caffeine to improve athletic performance

Today I am sitting at my desk enjoying a fresh cup of Dunkin Donuts coffee. A treat I have enjoyed countless days before today. Today is different. This marks my first cup of coffee since my detox.

I've had this coffee now for about 2 hours as of the writing of this post and as you can see, I'm a little less than a quarter of my way through this delicious brew. Here's the thing, I'm pretty sure I will not be able to finish it.

Before weening myself off coffee, I could easily drink this cup - in a lot less time than it's taken me to get through this small amount. In fact, I'd say I had a full blown coffee addiction. Sure, there were people out there who drank more than me, but I was pretty comfortable with a cup of coffee.

But now... now! Wow, I'm sitting here at my desk and my mind is racing... my heart is pounding... my hands are a little shaky... and, oh my goodness, I hope no one calls me because I'm talking so fast. Or at least I feel like I'm talking fast.The worst part of all of this is that even though I feel like I'm going a mile a minute, I'm tired. It feels almost like my body is exhausted from the effort of racing, which in turn makes me pick up the cup and take another very small sip.

I've read some articles online about the benefits of caffeine while training. So, I am curious about your coffee/caffeine experience. How do you use caffeine to improve your training ... or do you avoid it? 

Sometimes you need a break... and some confidence

Hi, how ya been?

No, no, not you, silly. My bike, my sneakers and my swimsuit.

Yes, I've taken a few weeks days off.

In all seriousness it's been a full week. This holiday season has completely destroyed my motivation. I'm exhausted and the pile of toys that's taken over my living room keeps calling my name, so my workouts have taken a back seat for now. I'm planning my big comeback soon, just not today.

During my unscheduled hiatus, I have noticed a few things worth mentioning. First and foremost is my times are getting faster. It's only a few seconds, but I really believe the structured workouts Joanna is giving me are doing their job. I was skeptical at first, but you can see the times yourself.

The other thing is that aside from improving my times, what I really need to work on is my self confidence. In my phone, I have a short list of motivational quotes.

Among those quotes is this, suspiciously alone, but for some reason I've kept it.

Confidence, I lack it. Clearly. I have no reason to not feel confident in my abilities, but something holds me back, each and every time.

Every run, if I feel like I'm going out too hard, I pull back. Don't want to lose my breath. If I start out too hard on the bike, I pull back, don't want to bonk half way home. If I'm swimming, I take things slow and easy, prefer not to drink the pool water and clearly drowning is a fear.

So, I wonder, what is it that holds me back. I've set out on bike rides that I have to repeat to myself over and over again, "I AM a triathlete. I CAN do this." Like I need to convince myself each and every ride that I am capable of achieving my goals ... on purpose. Not by a freak accident. 

Now, to be clear, I am not totally down on myself. It's not like I'm walking around feeling like I can't do anything. It's mostly just finding that certain something that pulls you through when you're body is screaming "NO" (or I DON'T WANNA GET OUTTA BED).

So, in addition to getting my rear to Eagleman, I am working on my confidence. My question to you, what do you do to boost your confidence? Love hearing from you, so don't be shy.

Asthma and a new bike

I have a love/hate relationship with this time of year. Sure, the weather is gorgeous, but it also screws with my lungs.

Wednesday night I started to not feel well. I thought, well, here we go again, I'm totally getting sick. In fact, I was pretty sure I getting bronchitis. Thursday morning I couldn't breath very well and I has a cough. Yup, it's bronchitis, I thought. I even tweeted it.

Turns out I was wrong - again.

For some reason, every time I have an asthma attack I try to ignore the fact that I have asthma and let it go until I end up at the doctor wandering why in the world I can't speak a full sentence without coughing or walk up the stairs without panting. I am truly in denial about this disease.

Anyway, here I sit, sucking on a nebulizer two to three times a day trying to keep my lungs open. Workouts will commence as soon as I can breath again.

All of this is going on when my husband bought this for me:

It's a 2010 Ridely Asteria. OK, I didn't get the whole bike, but I got the frame set. If you bought the whole bike, it comes with decent parts, but we're going to fit it with lighter wheels and better parts and I'm sooooo excited to get this bike together.

The fact remains that I cannot ride anything until I can breath properly.

So the wait is on...

Learning to be flexible

Wow, what a week this has been. Seriously, Friday I hurt my hip flexor, road Saturday, skipped Sunday workout so I could finish Christmas shopping for my kids and Monday hurt my back carrying a laundry basket, of all things, up the stairs. Today my son has surgery scheduled to get a second set of tubes put in his ears. I also have a swim and bike workout on the schedule that I totally plan on doing.
The truth is, however, is that I'm feeling a little overwhelmed trying to fit everything in each and every day. It probably would be easier if, say, I didn't have a full time job or kids, but I wouldn't trade either of them for extra time to train - of course.
But what would also make my life easier to remaining injury free.
My hip flexor is the direct result of me not stretching after each and every (or any) workout. Talking to Joanna about this pain, she stressed the importance of stretching and yoga through a long and detailed Twitter exchange.
Side note: I can't imagine how coaches managed contact with such high maintainance clients like myself before twitter, Facebook and even email.
Anyway, through such contact, Joanna was able to adjust my training schedule for this week to take into account my inability to run and to add more stretching. Also, when I'm able to run again without pain (hopefully very soon), I'll be taking it a little slower to make sure I don't reinjure myself right away.
The point being is that communication with your coach is key to a successful relationship with your coach. It's just as important to have a coach who is not only willing to listen, but also willing to adjust their training plan to fit the client's needs - especially, in my case, during the base-building phase of training.
In the meantime, I gotta get my kid to the surgery center. Life happens, being flexible - both literal and physical - will make me stronger.

Tomorrow is another day

This week I slept through my alarm and missed a workout, which prompted me to ask you how you deal with the guilt of missing a workout. To be completely honest, I wasn't feeling as much guilty about not working out, but more about not doing what my coach asked me to do.

I guess deep down I'm still that little girl who is trying to please my parents, so to speak.

What I learned from those who did respond was that a missed workout isn't important, what's more important is that you listen to your body and if you need to sleep, sleep. There will be another day and another workout.

Since many did not comment on this site, but instead commented on my dailymile page, here is what they said:
Steve H.: I don't beat myself up, tomorrow's another day. :))

Mike M.: Pick up again the next day. Your body probably needed the rest and that was its way of telling you. 

Tamara L.: Ah, rest :) 

Dale T.: Try not to dwell on it... Easier said then done :) 

John D.: I don't train anything in the morning...

Joanna C.: life moves on....sometimes you do have to sleep. and you cannot make up for a missed workout....i think the universe sometimes tells you in weird ways that is ok to sleep in. and heck, this weather? sleep all day if you can!

This, the sole comment on this site, was actually extremely informative, so I thought it bears repeating:
Patrick said...
*If you're going to miss a session, now is the time. The closer you get to race day, the more important each one becomes.
*Get used to it, it happens and you'll need to accept it. Sometimes it may even be a good thing. Listen to your body.
*Listen to this podcast from endurance nation: http://enation.libsyn.com/return-on-investment-a-new-perspective-on-triathlon-training-part-i-introduction

The point being is that it happens. Workouts are missed, hot water heaters explode, alarms don't go off and kids get sick. After my last race, I decided that if I was going to do another half iron, I was going to enjoy the process, not panic or freak out about it. I hired a coach to help keep me on track, to help me develop in ways I cannot do on my own. I hired someone I could trust and who understands that I have a full-time job, kids and a husband. If you can't have fun throughout the journey, how are you going to celebrate when you reach your goal?

Triathlon is about swimming, biking and running,yes, but for me it's about so much more. It's about pushing myself. It's about showing my children the benefits of a healthy lifestyle. It's about proving to myself that I can do anything I set my mind to do, even if it seems impossible. Missing a workout is not the end of the world. It does not prove that I'm weak or that I don't have the commitment needed to improve my times. What it means is that I need to go to bed a earlier - that's pretty much it.