TFIE

Thank God I'm Eighteen. Otherwise, I definitely couldn't have made it through a 4150yd workout on Friday with about 3 hours of sleep the night before. Funny thing? Practice wasn't too bad, either. We did a really awesome set of 3x300 pull with paddles, 1x200 Fast, and kept doing it while increasing the second distance by 100 until we swam an all-out 300. Since this is an honest blog, I am going to come straight out and say that 300s SUCK. Give me 20 all-out 50s, 2x1000 pace, but do not make me go all out on anything over 200. I have no idea how to pace for those strange, not-quite-sprints. I am sure with time and practice, I will figure it out, but for now, whenever I see those on the board in the morning, I sort of want to scream.
     Today brought an easy, hour-long spin in the morning, shopping, and a 1:30 run. What, you don't consider shopping to be exercise? Because trying on piles of clothes and shoes and walking around the store definitely wears me out the same way a track workout does, and require the same amount of nappage, i.e. I slept from 4:30-6:30. This sort of ruined my plan of starting to run at 6, but I still managed to hop on the 'mill before 7. We are in the middle of another heat wave, so I have had to stick to inside workouts until the heat index drops below 116. I definitely find it harder to get my pace down on the treadmill- when I am outside, I can push myself no matter how awful I feel, but on the treadmill, having to constantly either run at the same speed or change it up sort of messes me up. Also, all I have wanted to do the last couple of days is grab my iPod and run long, so I was so disappointed when this morning my Dad informed me that when he ran, the air quality was soupy and awful, and that running over 3 miles would be 1. unenjoyable and 2. unwise.
    Tomorrow I have a 2:30 ride and :30 transition run on the schedule, but since I have to work until 3 and be there by 10, the brick is going to have to be done after work. Mentally, I just need a jam session though, so I am planning on waking up a little early and sneaking in a nice, easy 3 or 4 miles before work to pump me up for the day and get the juices flowing. I am not a pleasant person when I don't get my sweat on in the morning, hence why I still swam on Friday when I probably could have used the z's. Such is the life of an endurance athlete...

Rant

Yes, I just posted 2 minutes ago, but I wanted to keep that workout update short so I could have this post to rant and rave.

Rant:
-I am working way too much and am starting to resent some of the unruly boogers I teach to swim at camp
-I am tired all. the. time.
-As much as I love the structure of my training schedule, sometimes I mentally and physically need a run, but I know that my body is already working hard, and that more weight-bearing exercise might send it over the edge
-I AM HUNGRY ALL THE TIME
-I have an open water swim next weekend, and I haven't touched the open water yet...
-I am craving a race, and can't decided if I should do a 10 mile race or a moonlit 15k?

Rave:
-I absolutely love swimming. I cannot wait to join the club team in college. Since I can't always get those "junk miles" in through running because of my body's limitations with mileage, I have taken to doing some easy night swims. I LOVE THEM
-My running is stronger than ever. I think this triathlon stuff might really be what I need to be successful and reach my goals
-I feel like I have finally found a training plan and as sport that works for me, and this makes me SO. HAPPY.

Mad Face

So yesterday I went to take a nap before gearing to teach a quick swim lesson and go to my track workout. Fell asleep around 1:15, woke up at 3 with THE WORST STOMACH ACHE. Sometimes this happens if I am really hungry, so I went and ate some PB&J toast and a few veggie chips. Bad. Idea.
    After calling off the swim lesson, texting my coach, and taking another long-ass nap, Coach SuperW told me to go on the bike for an hour *if* my stomach was feeling better. I lifted, went on the bike, and around 8:45, felt like I could choke down food, and choke down I did.
    My legs were feeling so fresh yesterday, and now they are literally BEGGING for a run, so I really hope one is on the schedule Coach sends me today. After some great IM sets in the pool that really worked my upper body, my legs are itching for some movement.
   

Things You Shouldn't Forget

Because I forgot to put on padded bike shorts during my 2 hour trainer ride on an incline and my butt totally suffered for the last hour and required large amounts of foam rolling and pillow-cushioning, I have compiled a list of everything you should NEVER forget during a triathlon-related workout... and yes, this list does include Peanut Butter:

for the swim:
-goggles
-swim cap
-bathing suit (note: I have nearly walked out of the house without this. I have also had bad dreams about going to Masters and stepping out of my shorts in front of everyone, only to realize I am actually in my undies, not my bathing suit)
-change of clothes ESPECIALLY UNDIES (I once thought I forgot undies and had to put on my wet bathing suit under dry gym shorts. Then, I went to get my shoes from the pool deck, and saw my undies lying on the table where we all throw our stuff. They had fallen out of my bag. Wonder if my coach noticed...)
-towel
-shampoo, conditioner, soap, body wash
-water bottle (had to go without this the day I got my wisdom teeth out. I was so thirsty by the end of practice that I actually considered drinking the disgusting pool water in which we regularly find strange, prehistoric-looking bugs)

for the run:
-gels (or PB toast, for those of you who have stomachs that do not rebel at the sight of solid food anywhere in the 2 hours before or after a run)

-water with nuun OR gatorade (really important not to forget this. During my first full, I only had 1 cup of water at each aid station, and never switched to gatorade. My sodium levels were so low that by the finish, my face had swollen up like a balloon..Exhibit A:

-shoes

-socks (I have run without these before. After 3 miles, I had blisters the size of Idaho. And no bandaids. And I was insane and decided I would stay at the gym and lift weights afterwards, so I just stuffed papertowels in my shoes to soak up the blood. Committed? Yes. Sane? Debatable.)

-clothes (although I have recently read of actual "naked" http://nakedpumpkinrun.org/home.htmlSounds chafetastic.)

for the bike:

-PADDED BIKE SHORTS PADDED BIKE SHORTS PADDED BIKE SHORTS

-fuel such as gels, water with perpetuem, shot bloks, etc.

-clips & pedals (I know that not everyone uses these, and I myself just recently purchased them, but after one ride I can offically say that I. am. hooked.)

-helmet

-sweet sunglasses (totally necessary, trust me. You wanna be the one nerd who isn't sporting sweet, standout shades?)

-a bike. including both wheels. (because yes, one time I was going to get my bike fixed and had taken the wheel off to put it in the car. And then locked the house and started the car without it....)

Pain in my Rump

Speed workout on the treadmill last night. Luckily, "Definitely, Maybe" was on, and seeing as, unlike all The Hills episodes I watch, I have not seen that movie 5,000 times, (or ever, actually), I had a good distraction in cases the workout got dicey. Luckily, it didn't, and I was finished the 9-mile (with warm-up and cooldown) ladder of 1 mile, 2x1200, 3x800 and 4x400 in just under 75 minutes, and my shoes weren't even that squishy afterwards. However, there is a serious twinge in my left glute that I am blaming on doing a speed workout and then immediately parking my bum in the movie theatre chair for 2 hours and 10 minutes while I watched Harry Potter 7 for the 2nd time. In 3d. It is worth the butt cramp!!

    Other exercise I am now counting as legitamate: Giving 8-year olds piggy-back rides and helping them stand up on my thighs. These should totally count as squats and resistance training... right??

Sore Shoulders Like Woah

   Ever had one of those swimming sets where you finish your warm-up, look at the board where the set is written, and start laughing? Well, it happened to me today. Finished a 900yd warm-up, looked at a set full of IM and stroke, and started chuckling to myself. Because I had lifted 12 hours before. And my arms were threatening to fall off. And I went to bed at 11 because I was watching Degrassi (NEW EPISODE. SO GOOD). Luckily, my coaches know that a little motivational phrasing ("YOU CAN DO THIS!" "COME ON, EM!" " Just tryyy it") works almost as well as offering me pancakes at the end of practice, so of course I did the whole thing...
    I had to take off a bit of yardage to make the 200 IM intervals, but I managed to finish 2300yds of IM. In the process, I learned
-how to properly do backstroke (thanks, Coach! I had no idea I had been doing it wrong since the age of 10... glad we found out now, before Club Swimming starts and I look like a fool)
-today would have been a good day to run. My legs feel fresh and rearin' to go
-Eating only froyo for my afternoon snack on Tuesday and then not eating again until 9 o'clock does not bode well for my morning appetite, aka stomach growls from 5:30am-on
-Guns and Roses can be quite motivating for the last 400 IM

    All in all, not as bad as I thought. Pessimistic chuckles not needed. However, if club swimming makes me race anything but freestyle, screams will be heard.

BIG-A$$ Weekend

       This weekend was CRAZY busy. Friday night was my friend's birthday, which meant 3 am bed time. It was so much fun, until 5:30 am, when I suddenly woke up. Darn you, internal clock! I guess I am so used to waking up for swimming that I naturally get up at that time, but you can bet your bottom dollar that I made my best effort to go back to sleep after that. I got home around 8:15 am on Saturday, and had work at 10 and then had a play right after work to go to, so I knew that the 12 miles I had on the schedule had to be split up. A couple of months ago this would have totally thrown me for a loop; I was obsessive about my mileage and training to a T, but now, I know that time on my feet is time on my feet, and that though training is a major part of my life, it is not my entire life, and so it was that I set out for the first 4 of the 12 miles at the lovely time of 8:45. And that is not sarcasm, people- it was perfectly cool and breezy outside, and my legs felt better than they have in perhaps a week. My pace was 8 flat, and I felt fantastic despite little sleep and too many potato chips the night before.
    It did not stay cool, though, and by the time I got to work at 10, I was covered in sweat. Luckily I no longer care about the health of my hair, so I jumped right in the pool without even considering that I had just washed my hair an hour ago and was now subjecting it to chlorine that may/may not get washed out until Monday morning.

   The heat here can actually get a little oppressive at times, so by the time I got home at 3 I knew it was dreadmill time, because a run outside would most liekly result in decreased pace, increased crankyness, and me once again cursing how many inclines there are in my neighborhood (seriously, it's suburbia- I do not understand how there can be so many hills!!!). The pace was a little slower, but despite massive sun fatigue, I still kept it to an 8:20ish clip for the 4ish miles. I may have also been extra motivated by the extreme scandals on the Degrassi marathon on the TV- that show is SO dramatic.



Go see the movie. SO GOOD.



    Yesterday I somehow managed to wake up at 6:20 after getting home at 11 o'clock from a Midsummer Night's Dream. A brick was on the schedule, so I did a 20 mile ride in 1:30 and a 4 mile brick run in :30. Fastest. Brick. Run. Ever. Made even better by the fact that I had about 8 pancakes afterwards. After work I was supposed to do an open water swim clinic before going home and spinning for an hour and lifting for an hour and thirty minutes, but by 11 am I knew that nap>OWS. Plus, there's another clinic next weekend on the first Sunday I have had off since before I got my wisdom teeth out, so I can actually work out and keep my compression socks on instead of having to rip them off right when I go to work (apparently they aren't part of the lifeguard uniform.. then again, neither is the bike grease left on my legs during my shift yesterday. Yes, my boss noticed).

VOTE

http://www.refuelwithchocolatemilk.com/grants/vote/

     See the link above? Click it, vote for the girl on the left, and continue to do so every day until August 15th. Why, you might ask? Well, if I get enough votes, I get a $250 grant that is either going towards my Goofy Challenge race fee, or my HAT 50k race fee.

GrumpyPuss

This week has been quite the frustrating one, training-wise, and it's only Wednesday. Monday was a good Master's workout, complete with my fastest 100 time to date (knocked 3 seconds off since 2 weeks ago- BOOYA!). However, the rest of the day I felt like death. Luckily, the country club closed early so I got to go enjoy froyo with two friends, and any time I get frozen yogurt, I am a happy camper.
   I was not, however, quite so chipper on Tuesday morning. Luckily, neither was anyone else at practice, since we all sat on the edge of the pool talking for a HALF HOUR before getting in, and ended up only doing about 2600yds. That's the shortest swim workout I have had since April...
   Last night called for a track workout. In 100 degree weather. And guess who *forgot* to hydrate yesterday? This chick. Which lead to so-so fartlek intervals and 4/6 quality 400s. I wasn't with the lead pack that I normally am during the fartleks, which really bothered me, but I managed my fastest 400 in a while, which would have made a normal person happy, but at that point, the horribly vulgar beats eminating from my iShuffle were the only things keeping me going. Well, that and the thought of consistent 7:45 miles during Diamondman...
    Today's swim practice? Um... HOLY CRAP IT HURT. It wasn't the hardest workout we have done, not by a long shot, but with only 10 hours since the track workout and less than 7 hours of sleep, it was challenging. 5x50, 5x100, 300 recovery swim, repeated 3 times with each consecutive set decreasing in time, so by the end I got about 1 second of rest,and had to shave off a 25 from 3 of the 100's. It was the worst I have swam in a while- I didn't feel smooth, my times, with the exception of the last set, sucked, and I just generally felt fatigued. I mentioned this to Coach SuperW last night, and she pointed out that I shouldn't beat myself up since it's 1. freakin' hot as balls outside (my words, not hers, although she does tend to use such phrases) 2. I had a huge weekend, training-wise and 3. On top of the huge amount of weekend training, I also worked 17 hours between Saturday and Sunday.
    Thank goodness I have a Coach. It's nice to have someone to remind me that I am not invincible and that contrary to my belief, I have human chromosomes and it's okay to feel like collapsing into bed with a bottle of powerade and the salt shaker (yes, in case you were wondering, my electrolytes are depleted to. Hooray for high sweat rates!). In honor of this, I am going to go nap. Then lift. Then shower. Then teach a swim lesson. Then bike for an hour. Then eat. BUT then I AM GOING TO BED.

New Swag

          So Wednesday was my birthday. It was awesome, but bittersweet. I am no longer a child- instead, I can now legally vote, buy porn, cigarettes, and a lotto ticket, and (what I am most excited about) sign up for races without parental permission!!! I lifeguarded all day, and looking at the kids in the pool, I envied them their childhood innocence. They didn't know about SATs or college applications or careers or any of the worries that are either in my recent past or near future. All they had to worry about was what type of jelly they wanted on their PB&Js.

   Luckily, a 90 minute bike ride was on the schedule for that night, so I got to give my inner-child some play time as I sped down the hills in my neighborhood, riding through sprinklers, going both too fast and too slow. It was probably one of the best rides I have ever had. Distance didn't matter (well, it did, but I just didn't keep track of it until I stopped my watch), pace wasn't an issue, and all I had to do was just enjoy the wonderful summer evening weather.

     My parents, ever supportful and sensitive to my interests, gave me a ton of triathlon stuff for my birthday. I nearly peed my pants with joy. New breathable, blister-resistant socks? CHECK. Race number belt so I don't have to continuously poke holes in all my race clothing? CHECK. Gift card to the local running store for all my fuel needs? CHECK. New bathing suits for Masters practice? CHECK. New goggles? CHECK. Plus, my Mom got me flip flops I was in desperate need of, and a gorgeous pair of earrings that look like globes because, as my parents told me, right now, I have "the whole world in my hands." Best birthday ever!!!

   The rest of the week was filled with the usual work and training, and the weekend brought a BIG BRICK on Saturday and a long run on Sunday. First 2:30 ride on Saturday followed by a half hour run went perfectly- my legs felt great afterwards, and the fueling talk my Coach had given me on Friday really helped me strategize how to properly take in calories so I had enough energy to kill it on the run. Yesterday's long run was HOT HOT HOT and the first 4 miles were torture. It felt like someone had replaced my legs with leaden sticks- they were heavy, tight, and creaky, and only after mile 5, when my friend Jon started slowly picking up the pace, did I actually get my a into g and go for a solid 8:00 pace. I know I need to get used to running in the heat, because Diamondman is smack-dab in the middle of Indian summer here, but I realized I will be doing AT LEAST SIX STRAIGHT HOURS OF CARDIO that day. In the hot sun. Um...

   

Prepping for College

In order to prepare myself for nights of 5 hour rest followed by long days of classes, swimming, running, biking, lifting, yoga-ing, and a social life, I decided it would be a great idea to stay at my friend's house until 11:45 last night, go home to bed, get up at 5:30 and go to practice, then go to work, come home and do
-laundry
-iTunes downloads
-bathroom cleaning
-kitchen cleaning
-laundry cleaning
-reading
-going to the bank
-going to the library
and eventually... a core workout followed by a track workout

  ALL ON FIVE  HOURS OF SLEEP.

This morning when I got up I wasn't tired at all, and I figured all the extra rest I had gotten over the weekend would allow me to power through the day, but I am in serious need of a cat nap.
   I better get used to this feeling, though, since I am DEFINITELY doing Beach to Battleship next October, which means at least 9 months of training, so I'll have 25 hour training weeks+class+social life. Can you say 8 p.m. bedtime?

Alas, No More Wisdom

   Saturday's workout was amazing- I had to do a 2 hour ride on the trainer because I couldn't risk hitting uneven gravel or any hills that might cause me to clench my jaw, but the ride went along fairly smoothly since Moonstruck was on. The run that followed? HOLY. COW. IT WAS AWESOME! 2.75 miles in 20 minutes. I felt like I was flying! Sure, I had lead-leg after so much time on the bike, but I am starting to realize that I actually run better after a hard workout beforehand.

Examples:
Tuesday: Lifted right before my track workout, and ran solid 12x300s the entire time, with the last set of 4 faster than all of my previous ones.
Last week: Ran right after swim practice and kept up a sub-8 pace for 4 hot, sticky miles without water OR shade. Booya!


Favorite. Movie. Ever.



Got the wisdom teeth yanked on Wednesday. I took the earliest appointment they had, which was 8am, so thankfully I still had time to fit in a Master's practice. The gradually increasing soreness in my gluteal region provided a nice distraction from any anxiety I might have experienced about a dentist exploring my trap for an hour and yanking out pieces of bone. Alas, practice seemed to end too soon, with too little yardage, and I was left to rush up the stairs to the locker room, take a 5 minute shower, throw on clothes, drive home, and hop into my Dad's car to get to the appointment. Which only took an hour...

    Obviously one of the first things out of my mouth when I sat into the dentist's chair was "heyy when can I work out again?!" I proceeded to tell him that I am training for a triathlon, to which he responded "Wait... so you run, bike, AND swim?!" Yessir! Friday I was able to go back to swim practice, but my times were about 5 seconds slower. My coach always calls out our times at the end of our sets, and I was about to get out and rip the watch out of his hand instead of listening to "19.2" for my 25 time once again. 3 seconds off. What. The. Heck. And flip turns=major pressure in the jaw region. I had to switch to just touching the wall at the end of each lap, which annoyed the daylights out of me since it takes so much longer, but getting moving did feel awesome after 2 days of inactivity.
  I wish I could have enjoyed the fantastic weather we had today and gotten in my 90 minutes on foot, but my body was having none of it. I had heard that the 4th day post-op is often the worst, and BOY was that right. I couldn't sleep because I didn't take my Ibuprofen at 1am like I was supposed to (I have been taking it every 4 hours to keep down the soreness and swelling) so I got to writhe in soreness for two hours while the worst thunderstorm I have ever heard occurred right outside my window. Needless to say, I got no sleep last night and therefore slept away the entire day. Normally, I power through it and put on my gear because I know that once I get out onto the pavement, I will feel better, but I knew that today was not one of those days. My body needs to heal, and if I want it to continue to perform at work and during 21 hour training weeks, I better let it sleep from 1:30-4 if it needs to.
   Of course all the downtime just gave me ample time to look up races and now I am HUNGRY for another triathlon to train for after Diamondman. Yes, I do know what an offseason is. I just don't take them...