Recovery Week.. OR NOT!

This week was recovery week. The idea? Push for three weeks... HARD! And then take one week to regroup. But there was a catch.. there always is! Didn't your mother teach you to read the small print? It ALWAYS has a catch! OR they wouldn't say.. It's too good to be true!

SO... We had two tests this week.. A RUN Test and a SWIM Test. That is the CATCH!

My tests... Run Test made me realize that my run has come so far in ONE Year. I impressed myself! See.. my run is my weakness. AND.. I've spent alot of time paying attention to it, working it and improving it. SO.. when it came to 20 second sprints and I felt like a gazelle.. I was impressed! The 20 minute run was an all out hard effort. AND it was hard. I was blessed to have my Tom running around the track with me. I did pass him.. which made me so very happy. But it was his companionship that I really loved! He was there.. sprinting his sprint for 20 minutes too..why? Not because he had to.. but he wanted to...to support me. I was glad to have done the test on the indoor track versus the treadmill like everyone else.

THEN... The swim test. I have met my match in swimming in my Ironman group. His nickname.. Bean. Bean is an incredible swimmer!! So.. I convinced him to show up for the Swim Test and test his swimming against me. Why? I'm not sure. He swam his entire collegiate carreer, unlike me. Bean swam the entire swim test hung over, held 1:06 AND passed me. I was very disappointed with my swim test. I never really found my stroke. I did swim all 10 - 100s on an average 1:17, but I didnt feel amazing. I didn't have that awesome stroke or that adrenaline going into the turns. It was a HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT for me. You see, swimming is the one thing I am good at. I feel confident about it. It makes me happy and I get a groove in the water like no where else. I don't have a good explination for it.

This weekend's workouts are "easy". I have a 30 minute swim, a 50 minute run, and an hour bike. THEN... next week starts the BIG push again.

ONE LAST THING... Bean mentioned I need to ride the course at least seven times this summer. I'm putting this information here now.. so you hold me to it. SEVEN RIDES from Fireman's park.. I will get 'er done. I can't wait for 9/13... it's only 200ish days away. That terrifies me!

Jen

Trip to AZ

Hi! I've been in AZ all weekend training with my gurls and enjoying the beautiful weather. On Saturday we rode 35 miles up Usery pass and then ran 15 minutes. My first brick in a VERY long time!! I learned that you should bring both your pedals, your shoes and YOUR SEAT! I think I'll be back to "normal" soon. OH BOY! Then today we went out to the Desert Duathlon! I raced it last year and LOVED it! This year... we volunteered at a run aid station. Then I ran pieces of the course, including the hill. It was a BEAUTIFUL day! I saw some good friends race while we hung out. It was like old times with lunch and beer to follow. So many laughs and good jokes! I will have a hard time getting on the plane tomorrow, but have no fear. I'll be back VERY SOON!

Smiles, JG

Lactate Bike Test

I'm sitting with my legs up, I've eaten and I'm starting to feel the nausea go away. That is comforting.

Tonight... we had our Bike lactate test. It was 20 minutes all out to see our max wattage/weight and heart rate abilities. Let me say.. It was HARD. I did what coach asked.. I gave it EVERYTHING. I felt nauseous after 13 minutes. But I knew I had to give it just seven more minutes. Funny.. as I write this now, 7 more minutes doesn't seem that long. It DID feel like it was a LONG time, but I just put my head down and kept going. I was happy to have my ipod, it helped me keep the blinders on. I felt so successful and it made my "self talk" very motivating! I'm looking forward to the analysis of my numbers. I'll keep you posted. Glad to have this in my "back pocket!" as my BFF says.

Sleeping now sounds like a great idea...

Week 2 Coming to End...

I'm three workouts from finishing Week Two of my Ironman training. Observations so far....

1) I actually miss YOGA. I never thought I would say this. My old coach and my friend Tom MADE me go. I slowly but surely went and now that I am not there, I miss it. It turns out... it was good for me.

2) I need to find a fast swimmer to swim with. This is always a obstacle for me. I have a great swim coach but I need someone to push me to the next level. I'm thinking about joining the Elite team for swim practices on Mondays.

3) I'm getting better at eating. My nutrition has been a mess with all this moving and new places. My coach has made it clear... good food = good workouts. Its improving...

4) Team Dynamic does matter. I know I'll be myself on Ironman day with 2000 + athletes. But until I get there, I am glad to know I have friends to laugh with along the way.

5) Psychosomatic... If you think it.. you will feel it. My legs have been very sore, but I'm going to start thinking about my muscles growing, not hurting.

Have a great weekend!
Jen

First day of Ironman Training

Today was my first day of Ironman training at my new gym with my new coach. Changes again... I live in the city now.. about 7 minutes away from the gym. I have linked the website here..

http://www.wellfitinc.com . It is great!!!! You can see from the pictures and what not...its state of the art and geared toward triathlon.

So.. my training group... There are 12 of us. It is men and women mixed with people of all ages and triathlon abilities. Today.... we talked about why Ironman and rode for about 40 minutes working on our cycle stroke. I came home and ate my new recovery food... English muffin with peanut butter and raw honey. I have to admit.. It really wasn't bad.

I'm headed to bed soon.. put in a long day at work. Next IM Group adventure, swim practice at 6am on Thursday morning. It should be interesting.....I'm a swimmer!