so the countdown begins...

The buzz lately (in my head and amongst a few esteemed colleagues) has been that my beloved Eddie is too small for me. In case there was any lingering doubt, our web captain captured this shot of me last Saturday...

So. One year until I can pony up the funds to trade up...because, let's face it--Eddie IS my entry-level bike. The next one has got to be a step up.

At least maybe I'll be a bit better at descending on a bike that fits me properly...or maybe I'm just destined to go downhill like granny-in-a-skirt. But look at those shoulders! Maybe they won't hurt as often.

look at me...

Today's main set:

10 rounds for time of:
2 pull ups
4 push ups
8 kettlebell swings (16kg)
total: 11:34

...and those pull-ups were unassisted. Every one of them. I surprised myself, big time. Rawr.

lesson learned

Never, ever let someone lean their wheel against your leg while they are inflating the tire up to 100+ psi--especially if they have just changed a tube for the first time.

For just a split second, the thought entered my head "should I have this thing leaning against my--"

Bang. Snakebite. Blew the freakin' tire right off the rim.

My ears felt like they were full of cotton for a full 10 seconds before they started ringing... and I now I have a lovely welt on the side of my leg.

Silly coach.

Wildflower, take 1...

Aaah...back in the Bay after a stunningly successful Wildflower practice weekend at Lake San Antonio.

Our team met up with 2 other LLS chapters and Sv Ironteam this past weekend for their own exclusive preview of the entire course. I am so proud of ALL of them. I have no doubts now that they are all fully capable of finshing the race, barring unforseen things like flats, illness, accidents, and inclement weather. They are all certainly fit enough!

Practice weekend is always an illuminating and fun experience. It's one of the reasons I love spring team so much--everyone becomes so much closer after a couple weekends camping together out in the middle of nowhere...it's no wonder that the spring team seems to beget the lion's share of future TNT and tri addicts.

Anyway. The weekend was hot and beautiful, but surprisingly, we had very few cases of heat-related illness. It was pretty brutal out there, but everyone ended up okay.

I arrived with Christine and Caroline on Friday afternoon at about 2. I'd been hoping to get out and ride the Oly course, or at least head out backwards on the Long course and meet up with the girls getting an early ride in. Unfortunately, tent drama precluded that plan...so after getting everybody settled, it was about 430 and dinner was happening at 6. I headed out for a little solo run toward the other end of the park. I only went out for about 40 minutes, and thank goodness for that. It was HOT, and LSA is notoriously hilly, dry, and devoid of shade. Still, it felt great to just MOVE.

Friday night, all-coaches meeting. I had never fully realized just how complicated it is to run practice weekend out there. The course is so big and spread out, and the roads are rough with relentless hills. Coordinating water stops, sweeps and SAG is a big job, and I have to hand it to our head coach Dave and head captain Larry--they've got it down to a science. It's fun, but we have to be on top of things! I received my assignments: Saturday, lead the age-group (read: slower) riders out on the Oly course, Sunday lead the elite (read: intermediate) runners on the Oly course.

Saturday morning I was up at 6, ready to ride as soon as the swim was over. I was glad for my swim parka--it was COLD. We had the whole team ride down Lynch with all their transition gear to get ready for the swim at 8. The water was actually quite nice, probably between 66 and 68 degrees, though it had just turned over and was rife with algae.

After the swim, we gave people plenty of time to transition. It was starting to warm up, so I began to shed layers for the ride. We all met up so that the head coach from Orange County could outline the course for everyone. Long course peeps were off and riding at 930, and we started sending the faster Oly riders out in groups of 3 at 10am. Then all the intermediates...and finally my group. :-)

I led out and headed up Lynch. I quickly caught up to a few intermediates, including one girl having a serious meltdown. I hung with her and managed to get her a quarter mile further, but no dice. She ended up clipping out and walking the rest of the way up. I stayed with her until I had a chance to hand her off to one of her own coaches, breathed a sigh of relief, and took off to catch everyone who had passed me.


It ended up being a nice leisurely ride for the 20k out to the turnaround. I couldn't take my eyes off the scenery. The Wildflower course is one of my all-time favorite places to ride. It's beautiful and challenging. The hills are humbling, the descents exhilarating, and the flats are...well, there really are no flats. In April there are rafts of wildflowers (hence, the name) checkering the meadows along the course. The poppies are nearly fluorescent!


I reached the turnaround back up at the head of the group and settled in to watch them roll down and head back, offering a few words of encouragement, until...I fell to peer pressure. Barney, Julie, Meabon, and a couple other girls were planning to take off to Jolon and back and asked me to go....ermmmm....okay! Out to the Interlake/Jolon SAG and back, where I hung out for a while reapplying sunscreen, refilling bottles for my longer-than-anticipated ride, and cheering on the last few long coursers headed through. For a moment I toyed with the thought of following them. Just a moment, though. :-D


We headed back after about 15 minutes of slacking, and since there was no one to sweep, I opened up and spun the heaviest gear I could hold above 90. In seemingly no time at all I caught up to the newer and slower Oly riders, and so spent plenty of time zig zagging up and down hills to talk people through them. Soon I caught Caroline on her way back in, and we headed into the last SAG for one more party at the side of the road. Then back into the park and down to the lake for a nice, cold swim!


A pretty early end to the day, really--that put us back to the campground at about 2, and we were some of the last people in. The whole team spent the rest of the day cleaning up and getting hydrated...and "hydrated." In the evening we had our catered dinner and honoree speaker from the Ironteam, and then back to the campfire for an evening of swapping war stories and mischief. I even lost a [stupid] $100 bet...I crashed hard at 11pm after a long day of cooking out in the sun, riding, and, um, imbibing.

The mystical forces of Wildflower somehow ensured that I woke up at 6am feeling refreshed and hangover free. WTF? I just went with it. Most of us rolled out at pretty much the same time, and once coffee was on, set about to packing as quickly and efficiently as we could so we could get home relatively early.

At 745, we all headed down the hill as a team to meet up with the other chapters for the run. I was slated to lead the intermediate Oly runners, but since we had a lot of support on the course, I agreed to stay with Christine to help talk her through the run if she wanted. She had been doing well for the whole weekend, but she was beginning to show a few symptoms of her Crohn's flaring up and needed encouragement. After letting the long course peeps start the half marathon followed by the crazy fast Oly's, we got started on the run at about 930. Again, can I rave about how much I love this course? The run hugs the shore of the lake for about 2+ miles, and then swings away from it up a biiiiiiig, long hill that the long coursers call "the Pit."

We did pretty well--probably walked about 3/4 of the Pit and were able to get going soon after we reached the top. The next couple miles paralled the road on a dirt trail, so the surface was a little more comfy to run on. It was really starting to get warm, so we needed to stop a couple more times to let Christine's gut adjust to the environment a bit. We topped the other sizeable hill on the course fairly quickly, and then headed right for the run down Lynch.

Yeeeeahhhh...I like running down Lynch. It's a mile, but it's so steep and I'm good enough at letting inertia take me that I can probably do it in 5 minutes, maybe less. I opened up my stride and cruised past a whole bunch of people that had passed us back in the Pit. Yahoo!

Once I reached the bottom, I crossed the road (narrowly missing 2 descending cyclists--oops) and waited for Christine so we could run in to the finish together. We ran into the makeshift chute lined by a whole bunch of the team. We did it in about 1:07. I hugged Christine (ew sweaty Liz) and told her how happy I was to have her back...that last spring '07 hadn't been the same without her. We started this whole tri journey together, and it just feels wrong if one of us isn't there. We made a pact to do an Ironman together for our 40th birthdays.

After cheering (and occasionally mooning) everybody in, some of us headed down to the lake and jumped in to cool off.

Then Christine and I hopped in the Element and jetted back up north, stereo up all the way. :-D

neoprene nightmare

Lynn, Hayley, and me sporting our wetties at the Stevens Creek Reservoir practice triathlon.

still got it

Wow--I had a tiring weekend! That, by the way, is a not-so-great shot from the top of Sierra Road.

Saturday was the team's Ride-n-Tie workout. A great brick for them, and fun for the coaches to watch, as partners come and do the event in costume. People always end up pushing themselves more than they previously thought possible, and they have fun doing it! Always a breakthrough day for lots of people on the team.

Anyway, instead of doing the Ride-n-Tie workout with the rest of the team, Lynn and Hayley (clad hilariously as Fook Yu and Fook Mi) and I decided to run the Lexington Dam later in the day. We met outside Blendz at 4 and struck out on the flats first, so we had a mile or so to warm up before grinding up the steep hills to the top of the dam. We tacked on a bit extra at the top by heading out toward the boathouse before finishing the loop up another steep, curse-worthy hill and then heading down the switchbacks back into Los Gatos. Not sure how far we ran--probably around 5 miles or so.

As if that weren't enough...Sunday, Lynn had a buddy ride planned. The route was to be the Sierra Loop backwards, heading up Old Calaveras and Felter Road, and then descending Sierra back into San Jose. Holy HILLS. I don't think I have ever gone up a hill that big. It was 2000+ feet of climbing and it just went on and on! On the other hand, it was a beautiful ride. Heading along the crest of the hills on Sierra was amazing--I've never climbed so high on my bike. At the top, we celebrated. The last four or five of us to round the corner (we were plagued with some mechanical issues) were treated to the sight of five bare butts in the middle of the road. The participants really got to know their mentors and captains, I tell ya. After getting a quick group shot from a passing cyclist, we headed for the descent. Descending Sierra was just about the steepest 4 miles I've ever rolled down--I happily rode my brakes all the way in. My hands and wrists sure are feeling it today!

Building a pyramid

It's week 5 of the season, and everyone is looking absolutely amazing.

Last night at track, we did a pyramid workout. This is a great component to add the build phase of a running program, and very valuable for beginners just learning the pacing associated with different rates of exertion.

This week I was paired up with Barney and we were responsible for coaching the Age group. A little background: our team has about 100 people on it, of very different fitness levels. For each sport, we encourage them to seed themselves into different groups based on their ability--beginner, intermediate, advanced and/or slow, medium, and fast. There are three racing divisions in the sport of triathlon: Age (where the masses are sorted by their age), Elite (super-fast amateurs with day jobs AND sponsors), and Pro (triathlon IS their day job). Hence, our three groupings are Age, Elite, and Pro.

Anyway, our Agers did a 200/400/600/400/200 pyramid, with the expectation that they would be running harder (read: more out of breath) as the pyramid progressed.

I have not worked much with the Agers on the track. It takes patience, because coaching Age groupers means spending a lot of time explaining, encouraging, reassuring, and reiterating. In short, it takes more, well, coaching. This is a challenge for me at times, because I work with individual clients all day long who require a lot of teaching and cueing, because it's what they pay me for. I love coaching the Pros because they know what they're doing; I can rattle off the workout, recoveries, and intensity--and they get it the first time. They know the terminology. They keep track of their own splits; I just have to call them out. Once they're off on a set I can just sit back and watch what the human body can do, which I love.

Coaching Agers, though, is rewarding in so many different ways. Often Agers didn't even know that they could run around the track once, much less that they could make a mile without stopping. Agers ask me the best, most probing questions about my training knowledge. Agers make me a better coach, and by trying my patience, a better person.

Becoming a better athlete is like building a pyramid. You have to have all the basic elements, a base, in place--tissue and joint integrity, and aerobic foundation, decent strength, and decisiveness before you can see steady improvement.

Becoming a better coach is the same. I need to be reminded occasionally of what it was like just starting out. I have to prove myself, TO myself, over and over again.

this week's workouts...

...were sparse following a three-day, mostly downhill backpacking trip sat, sun, and mon.

tues and wed, off.

thurs: rx'd x-fit workout: 400m followed by 50 squats, 4 rounds for time (12:44), then balance and agility with the team, 6 rounds.

friday: modified x-fit workout: max reps of DB press and pullups, 5 rounds. used 20# dumbells and medium sized band. totals were...

30/7
32/9
26/8+
24/7+
18/8

really died on the chest press. shaking wildly on last set. pullups are getting a lot better, though.

now, i'm trying to whip up the desire to go work out again...after freezing my butt off on the pool deck all morning. sigh...when nothing but a mug of hot chocolate and a book sounds any good to me.

and another thing...

My spin class rocks. My legs are shaky and burn-y, 1.5 hours after its end.

This past weekend, I was a lot faster on the road. A lot faster.

Go to Trek Bikes in San Jose. It's the best!

all about me

I haven't checked in on myself in a long while...at least not in the blog.

I have temporarily abandoned endurance training in earnest for a while. While I am coaching, it's too time-consuming. Too, I've decided that my body could benefit from an extended rest, so I am dropping the long runs and rides (mostly) for the next macrocycle or two.

For now, I'm focusing on cycling and strength training. On the side, a little bit of running and always the avid pursuit of hiking up great big hills with a pack on! :-)

Lately I've been playing around with crossfit workouts. I do some of them as posted, but I'm also writing, naming, performing, and prescribing my own based on a lot of the same principles. It amazing, I'm seeing changes already...in me and in some of my clients.

Yesterday I did 20 dips, totally unsupported. Big step for me.

Some of my goals for 2008:
Do at least one wide grip pullup
Do at least one L pullup
Do at least 5 handstand pushups
Someday, somehow...do 1 muscle-up
Become a vicious climber on the bike!

thus begins week 2...

Wow. Week 2 of Spring season already!

Week 1 flew by. Track practice on Thursday night was a ton of fun. About 75% of the team turned out at Foothill for a little bit of running, a little bit of strength training, a little agility, and a lot of ice-breaking!

Saturday morning we had our first swim/bike practice at Burgess. What we thought would be a logistical problem turned out to be a boon--we are now finding ourselves with ample extra time for clinics and extra strength and stretching...and a set-up that permits all riders to go out at once. This is great because it keeps the staff from getting overly split up, and makes SAG a lot easier.

Unfortunately, while we were out on our ride, we came upon a man laid out in the left turn lane who had clearly been badly injured. He was being tended to by several other cyclists and a motorist, and an ambulance was already on the way. I don't know what has become of him, but it's likely that he suffered a pretty severe head injury. It was scary and sobering, and probably upsetting for the participants that saw it. I was riding with a group of about 10 people, and once I was sure it wasn't one of ours who had gone down, I sped past everyone and shouted...

"Always wear your brain bucket!"

detoxified

I quit caffeine last Thursday. It's now day 8 and I'm doing pretty well. The headaches are gone and I'm sleeping better than I have in a couple years! I do crave the sweet java, though...drool... Anyway, since I felt so good today, I celebrated by doing the workout (well, most of it) that I had slated for last Thursday when my headache was too deep and clangy for me fathom such a feat.

Filthy Fifty:
50 Box Jumps
50 Jumping Pull-ups
50 Kettle Bell Swings (18kg)
50 Steps Walking Lunge
50 Knees to Elbows
50 Push Press (45#)
50 Back Extensions
50 Wall Ball Shots

...and the last two, which I ran out of time for and so didn't do today:
50 Burpees
50 Double Unders

I was trying to finish in less than 1 hour--in time to get [marginally] cleaned up for a client. I had to modify a few things to get through them. I was surprised by which things ended up being easy and which were hard for me.

Box Jumps: no problem. I probably didn't use a big enough box. I hear I have decent hops for a white girl.
Jumping Pull-ups: Holy crap. This took forever.
KB swings: Had to break it up into two sets of 25, to keep the back from kicking in.
Walking Lunge: Burned, but easy overall. By now legs were pretty wobbly, though.
Knees to Elbows: Yow. I managed 25 from a hanging position, and then had to switch to floor jackknife.
Push Press: Unfortunately, this became 5 sets of 10 Push Jerk. Still--tough.
Back Extension: First 25 on the GH Raise, second 25 on the LB Ext.
Wall Ball Shots: There is no suitable target indoors here, and it was raining outside...so these ended up being oblique med ball wall tosses. Arms now complete jello.

And...I'm kind of glad I didn't get to the Burpees or Double Unders. I think that I might very well have puked.

Anyway. I'm not training for any endurance events now, but I am dabbling a bit in crossfit and trying to cycle and spin more. The effects are already apparent to me after about 3 weeks. My quads are looking pretty good to me! :-)

Now, about all that wine consumption...

Gratuitous coaching shot

Okay, okay, so it's not as exciting as racing. But, "hooray," anyway. ;-)

Movin' on up!

Well, it's official. I'm an assistant coach for the Spring 2008 tri team!

I had initially been torn between deciding whether to coach or to race this season. I gave it some thought, and concluded that I need to take advantage of the opportunity to coach this team while the option is open to me!

It's going to be a big job. The spring team usually has around 100 participants, and we train them to participate in one (in some cases both) of two of triathlon's marquee events: the Wildflower Triathlon Festival at Lake San Antonio and King's Trail in Maui.

I'm so excited!

Two things, in brief

...to re-establish my blog presence.

1) I had the good fortune of spending last weekend at a tri clinic with Dave Scott. He added volumes to what I learned earlier this year at USAT in Colorado Springs. More to come.

2) I have a new favorite LBS (that's local bike shop). Trek Bikes (formerly ST Bikes) in South San Jose. Excellent customer service, knowledgable staff, and one kickass Tuesday night spin class...for free! More to come.

Now, off to the dentist to finish the major overhaul. :-)

so ends the fall season...

What a weekend!

Due to a huge, horrible oil spill in the bay, the SF tri at Treasure Island was a bit altered. While this was disappointing for our participants, me, and the other coaches, it was obviously far more detrimental to the delicate and already tenuous ecology of the SF bay. I feel terrible thinking about all the birds and fish that are dying.

At any rate, once we heard about the oil spill and the extent of the damage, the event was touch and go. On Friday afternoon Tri Cal finally posted the official announcement, the water was deemed unsafe for swimming and the swim portion of the event was to be cancelled.

However...the show had to go on! This year's tri at T.I. just happened to be the ITU Pan Am championships, and a double points event for pros and elites trying to qualify for slots at Beijing next summer. It was settled then--the event would happen anyway, modified to be a duathlon.

This was great news, but I still felt pretty bad for our participants. These people had been training for a triathlon for the past 14 weeks. For most of them, it would have been their first tri. Between them (and there were barely 30 of them) they have raised over $75k for cancer research. For some of them, their triumph would have been magnified by the fact that they could barely swim at the beginning of the season! All of them were ready for their first competitive open water swim.

Luckily, the LLS stepped in at the last minute and gave them the choice of rolling 75% of the money in their Paycor accounts to another fundraising season; that way they'd be able to salvage most of their fundraising efforts and train for a different event.

It was a tough choice for some members of the team. Some people had friends and family that had arrived from out of town to support them. All of them had made room in their lives for nearly 3 months to train for a multisport event--a time consuming committment, especially for people who already have full-time jobs and families--and were unsure about committing to another season.

In the end, about 40% of the team went through with the event as a duathlon. I don't think a single one of them regretted it. By the time you finish a 10k run immediately after a 40k bike ride, evidently you're too tired to care (or even remember) that you didn't get to start with a swim as originally planned.

In training for a triathlon (or any endurance event), it's the journey that counts. Race day is one day. Only ONE DAY. What's to say you won't wake up that morning with the stomach flu? What if you get a flat or two and run out of tubes? What if there IS a catastrophic oil spill? Whether the race gods are with you or not--if you didn't enjoy the training leading up to it, it was all pointless.

I think TNT people are better off for it than others. They spent the season changing their lives, and getting in shape. They made connections, networked, laughed, smiled, and learned about things like how to change a bike tire, what the hell Body Glide is, and that you're never too old to pick up a new hobby. At the end of the day, they did something selfless; they raised thoursands of dollars that will save lives. They honored their fighting and fallen friends and family members stricken with blood cancers.

Treasure Island time!

Race weekend is almost here!

Right now the team is in the middle of a taper: a period of reduced activity following intense training. This allows for tissue repair/rebuilding and gives the body a chance to top off its liver glycogen and muscle glycogen stores.

Most of our participants are racing Saturday morning in the Olympic distance event, and a handful are doing the sprint on Sunday morning instead.

I'm so excited--I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone finish on their big day! So many of our participants have come so far, and I'm so proud of them. There isn't anyone who isn't fully capable of finishing on race day. I'll just keep my fingers crossed and will away illness, injury, disqualifications, and mechanical issues with bikes!

I hope we've truly prepared them. I hope we haven't forgotten anything in training, and that they have all the information they need. I hope it doesn't RAIN!

a busy weekend

This past weekend was a busy, active one!

Saturday morning, met up with the team for a light swim and run down in Aptos. Two laps around the USS Palo Alto, followed by a two mile run along the shore.

Saturday afternoon, went surfing for a couple hours. The weather was beautiful and the waves were perfect. Low tide was smack dab in the middle of the day. Conditions at the Hook were just right: nicely formed, regular sets, about shoulder high. A bit crowded, but didn't get barked at by any locals.

Saturday night, dinner with friends, followed by an awful (if not slightly amusing) movie.

Sunday morning, an easy bike ride out and back on Canada with a few members of the team (who had joined me in surfing the day before).

Sunday afternoon, a friend's baby shower.

Sunday night, dinner at home with my cousin: scrambled eggs, bacon, biscuits, and champagne. ;-)

FYI

Question of the day (from a client and fellow trainer):

"How long does it take for the water I drink to enter my bloodstream?"

Hmm. I'll have to give my usual answer to such questions: it all depends. It depends on...

1) The temperature of the water
2) Your current activity level (are you sitting around drinking water, or are you racing in a triathlon and drinking water?)
3) What is already in your stomach (a high carb concentration slows stomach emptying)
4) How much is in your stomach
5) How fast or slow you drink the water (If you drink a lot, enough to slightly distend the stomach itself, stretch receptors in your digestive tissue will trigger faster emptying)

detox

In addition to way too much candy, yesterday's dalliances included an appletini and two glasses of wine. Oh, and that horrid ice cream thingie.

I tried to buy candy that I didn't like, really, I did. And some of it WAS stuff I hated. Twizzlers, for instance, taste like plastic. Why are Twizzlers so popular? I think I might stuff one or two in my bike tool kit--they might be useful next time I need to change a flat or something...

I digress. On top of the fact that I've been consuming way too much garbage this week, I've also been a lazy, lazy girl.

So, today...speed squats.

*10 minutes spinning
*Followed by specific speed squat warmup (as detailed previously)
*8x2 speed squats @ 95# (That's right. Sets of TWO. I'm trying to get fast, here! And there was exactly 1 minute of rest between each set).
SS 1: Zercher press 3x12x95#/Single-leg Deadlift, 3x12x15#DB (each side)
SS 2: BB walking lunge, front squat hold, 3x24x30#/BB side lunge, 3x12x30# (each side)

Now, the hour hath arrived. I must go pull out onto the parking lot usually known as the freeway. But hey, on the way home, I'll get to see my little god-daughter.

Maybe I can muster up the motivation for a run around the neighborhood tonight...or at least a spin on the trainer.