TGIOD!

Thank God its Off Day!!


My two rides this week were hard. I had a horrible time keeping my heart rate in Zone 3, but Coach Ken says that's from overtraining. He wasn't too surpised or concerned. I have a hard weekend coming up, but then a lighter week to get ready for the KC Triathlon next Sunday.


SATURDAY: Start with a 15 mile bike ride in Zn 1. Conduct a smooth transition to the run. Run 4 miles in Zn 1/2. Transition back to the bike and ride 10 miles in Zn 2 (bit of Zn 3 on the hills is fine). Conduct a rapid transition and run 2 miles Zn 2 (again avoiding Zn 1). Finally transition back to the bike for one last 5 mile ride in Zn 3 or above. This last ride is at or above your race pace - all out effort. Then do a very fast transition to one last 1 mile run in Zn 3+ then an easy 1 mile cool down jog/walk.


SUNDAY: Swim 1900m without stopping. 40 mile bike ride. (I'm probably going to do this all out at Clinton Lake.)


I had a massage yesterday. Suzie is my savior. I have this huge knot in my upper back, and though I thought she was trying to kill me, I feel better today. I'll go in next week to make sure its gone for good.


I'm really looking forward to this weekend to focus all my stressors into my workouts, and having a couple good parties on Saturday. The Annual Huston Memorial Day Weekend Pool Opening Party and "Denim and Diamonds" at K-Mac's place. Yes, you'll see all my friends in "jorts" and denim jumpers and tacky rhinestones. Should be fun.

And miles to go before I sleep...

Note: To help readers determine which athlete is recounting training tales and Ironman ideas, we are color coding our blog entries. Trish will write in "cookie monster blue" and Chelsea will write in "speed racer red." Enjoy your reading, and keep the comments coming!

Sleep is something I'd really like more of these days! All these miles are adding up and wearing me out! I had a great weekend of training. Here's the scoop.

Saturday I went out to Clinton Lake with Jamie and April. There were also a bunch of guys out there riding, but we know they don't count. This day was about training with the girls! Now, of course Jamie and April were faster than me. I'm used to that. Especially on the way out, when my endurance isn't a factor. Its the way back where I kept up and was able to hammer longer that I realized my training is helping me take major strides in improvement. The Ironman Kansas course is no cake walk. Its 56 miles of rolling hills and hideous crosswinds. Plus, Saturday morning I wasn't expecting it to be sooooo cold! Good thing I had my MTC jacket in the car to keep me a little bit warm!

Here's the course map:

And here's the topography:

Yikes. And its truly that difficult. Luckily there are a few weeks of training left before I have to tackle it on race day. I want to PR at Kansas 70.3, but really if I finish and stupid storms hold off, I'll be pretty happy. Last year a thunderstorm blew in when I had 6 miles left to run, and then blew thru by the time I made it to the car. Grr. I know there were lots of unhappy athletes just waiting to get back at IMKS70.3 and Mother Nature on June 14.

Sunday brought the Mothers Day 5k with my mom. A year ago she had just gotten out of a 2 month stint in the hospital for brain surgery and now she did a 5k with me! She thought she'd do about a half mile - but did at least 2 of the 3.1 mile course. I'm so proud of her!! Let's hope she signs up for another... :-)

Then we had a great mothers day brunch and I got a nice, long (ahem, 3 hour) nap before my long run. Unfortunately that nap meant I had to fight the rain. It got soooo cold! I'm so ready for summer so I don't have to deal with cold anymore. I'd so much rather be hot. But my running is improving too, so I'm pleased with that. I'm getting to be more steady and comfortable going harder longer.

Monday was a rest day and just yesterday I did Masters Swim in the morning, then a downtown airport ride in the evening. I just missed the rain, and I was so happy! This was a workout I was NOT looking forward to. 20 minute warm up, then 45 minutes in HR Zone 3, then cool down. Yikes! I have a hard time keeping my HR that high. But I did it, and did it well! I could have probably doubled my time, so I'm very pleased with yesterday's workouts!! Maybe IMKS and IMOO won't be too bad after all.

8 Mile Run Outside!!

Yep, you read that right, I ran/walked my 8 mile workout outside this weekend. As in, on actual pavement. And the best part... No pain!

Granted, I was supposed to run for 80 minutes in the pool (thank you, Coach Tim, for having patience with my experimentation), but I was in Iowa for Mother's Day and the Y wanted to charge me $10 for a day pass. Not only was that ridiculous, but it was also a beautiful day that I wanted to spend outside with my mom. So, I went home, told my mom to put on her walking shoes, and the two of us went for a workout together.

I walked a half mile with Mom, ran a mile out and back to her, walked with her for another half mile, etc. The best part of it was getting to spend time with Mom :) The second-best part was that my average pace for the 8 miles was 11:20 - 40 seconds faster than the average pace of my 3.5 mile run this past Wednesday!



An added bonus was my Sunday workout: 30 miles on brutal roads with really strong wind, and a 1 mile run after with a 9:27 minute/mile pace. That's not the world's fastest pace or anything but I was really excited to be able to run - again, with no pain - after taking so much time off! And now, because I've promised what feels like 100 people I'll take care of myself, it's back to the pool for my long run this week... IMOO 2009, here I come!


Side Note: Congrats to my Mom for walking her longest distance ever - 6 miles! And congrats to Linda, Trish's mom, for finishing the Mother's Day 5K. It was a great weekend for the IronMom's!

Long distance training weekend brings progress!

Last week's training was spotty at best. Ah, who am I kidding?! I did Jack because I felt sick pretty much all week. I'm still coughing. And coughing. And coughing. I got in Tuesday's ride with Sheryl which was great, but otherwise I laid low trying to get this to pass.

Saturday morning brought a 30 minute ride and 12 mile run. Pete and I enjoyed the first 8 miles together, and then Bailey and I suffered through the last four. I did run by the Farmer's Market in Old OP with both dogs. Pete enjoyed it. He would've stayed to hang out had I let him. But poor Bubba had a hard time. Not only did he embarass the heck out of me by making the street his potty, but then he "almost ate Riley's neice" when he got freaked out by the band. Poor guy. Luckily he recovered nicely and didn't freak when we ran by the horse drawn carriage sculpture a half mile later. That's progress.

The second half of the run was much harder, but I was trying to push myself a bit. My knee did pretty well, considering. There were a few moments when I really noticed it, but I was able to push through.

By the time I was done, I was running late for the KC Multisport Swap and Shop. I had to help get everything set up at Leahy Chiropractic before everyone arrived at 3:00. Dr. Meagan offered quite the spread, and we had several new club members come which was awesome. But where were all you longtime triathletes with all the good gear to get rid of?? It was the first time the club tried such an event, so hopefully it will grow. After a quick nap, I met a bunch of friends at Paddy's for the end of the Royals game and karaoke to celebrate Josh's birthday. Let me tell ya, I haven't been out in a while and I had a blast. I'm a cheap date though, thats for sure!

Sunday I got to sleep in, which was great because I stayed out WAY too late on Saturday (especially for having been sick) and then meet a bunch of Midwest Triathlon Coaching athletes for a group ride. I was really frustrated with myself for most of the ride. I got dropped early and rode a lot of the miles solo. But I kept reminding myself who else was on that ride... my brother, Barry, Bryan Evans, Jim, and a TON of really fast and successful triathletes, so I couldn't feel too bad. Hell, I averaged over 15mph for 50 miles which I haven't done all season yet! Plus, it was great to ride with Coach Ken for a while and get some great tips. Why I never paid attention to my cadence is beyond me, but it really does help!! I kept it between 85 and 85 as much as possible (except on the hills of course) and that made a big difference in my run.

I did push myself really hard Sunday, so by the time I was done, I was EX.HAUS.TED. I ate some sushi and fresh berries with Jim and Melissa at Dean and Deluca (aka Dean and Delicious, I love that place!) and then crashed. Early to bed was the best thing for me! Although I was up half the night coughing, but I feel better today. Not every muscle on my body is sore and screaming at me, so that's progress.

Here's to feeling better this week, regaining health both in my lungs and my legs!