BRICK

What did I do this weekend?

Well, Shaun and I ran 90 minutes on Saturday for a total of 9 miles. It was a nice run that we got in at the end of the day. We ran along the bay and it actually got quite dark at the end of the run but I had my protector with me so all was okay!

On Sunday I got up and did my first Brick. A brick is a workout where you stack one sport on top of the other (get it? Brick?) I did 40 miles on the bike (in 3 hours and it was hilly and that means I'm getting faster =D ) followed by a 30 minute run. For the run I had to keep my heart rate around 125 so I only got in a little over 2.5 miles. It felt great though. I definitely felt the 9 mile run from the day before when I got on the bike, but about 8 miles into it, I was fine. I got to do some speed work and there was this dude who really didn't like being beat by a girl. He kept trying to pass me. He would pass me and then have to slow way down because he peddled so hard. I was mean and made the comment "Oh you must be doing speed intervals too" He said "No, I only have a single speed on my bike" Which sir, means you're that much more stupid. I ended up totally smoking him (yes, he only had one gear. BUT, he was using ALL his heart rate zones and I was only using 3 :) )

This morning I taught a class and then swam. My shoulder has been bugging me. So Friday and today I only did half the workout. I think I need to stretch it a little better and perhaps get a massage (Shaun?) because my neck and shoulders are really tight.

That's all for today folks!

8 Minute Mile

This entry is from last Thursday (1/25)

Holy WOW!!!!! I did strength this morning followed by running. This was the first time we got to get into Zone 3 HR with our running. It was intervals of 3x8 minutes of Zone 3 HR with 2 minutes of Zone 1-2 in between. With a warm up of 5 minutes and a cool down of five minutes. I did:

4.25 mi in 39:01 = 9:10 pace

BUT my fastest loop was 1 mile in 8 MINUTES!!!!! and I didn't even get into Zone 4 (and there's a Zone 5 people!!!!) I'm so excited!!! I'm getting FASTER!!!!!

SAND STAIRS

On Sunday, I ran the Escape from Alcatraz run this weekend. It's described as: "8 mile run to Baker Beach Battery by leaving the Marina Green heading west into Crissy Field, turning right to run along the shoreline of the Golden Gate Promenade and under the Golden Gate Bridge. From there runners will battle the trails within Presidio Headlands, the Coast Trail to Lincoln Boulevard, and run above the Coastal Bluffs until they arrive at Baker Beach. Upon arrival at the beach, participants will encounter the deep sand and the notoriously dreaded 400 step Sand Ladder. This experience will drain the legs of even the best professionals, as there is nothing like it anywhere else within the triathlon event community. After committed athletes have crossed back under the Golden Gate Bridge and return to sea level"

When you watch the race on TV the pros walk up the stairs. That chick up there is pulling herself up them.

It was challenging to say the least...but it felt great to get up them.

Last week was a "recovery week" where you do 10-20% less to let your muscles recover. Man, does that work!!! I am so strong this week...it's insane!

Holy COLD Toes!!!

On Saturday I went for a 56 mile bike ride with about a 2000 feet elevation gain. For those of you not in California right now, it is COLD!!!! When I started it was 29 degrees out. I wore ski socks but they didn't do much. The ride was WONDERFUL but my toes WERE NOT!

I went yesterday and bought "toe warmers". Yum. Can't wait to try these puppies out!!!

Time

Amanda asked: "Hey Chelsea! I know you won't know until you do it, but how long do you estimate that the whole Ironman event will take you to complete?"

A: You have to finish in 17 hours or you're not considered a finisher. There are cut-off times for the swim, bike, and run.

Coeur d’Alene Cut-offs:

Swim: 2 hours 20 minutes
Bike: 1st lap: 4 hours 10 minutes from swim cut-off. Final cut-off: 8 hours 10 minutes from swim cut-off
Run: 6 hours 30 minutes-from bike cut-off

The race starts at 7 am and you must be done by Midnight or you DID NOT finish*.

That being said, I would like to finish in the 12-14 hour range. If I did it in 12 hours I would be absolutely ecstatic!!! (last year that would have put me in the top 15 in my division W25-29)

The woman who won my division last year did it in:

10:20:29

The woman who finished last in my division last year did it in:

16:46:05

And 6 didn't finish...

The pro woman did it in:

09:31:07

I think it's safe to say that I just want to a) get there and b) finish

* My most favorite time was Sister Madonna Buder at the Ironman Championship in Hawaii. She's a nun who is 76 and has competed in 13 Ironmans and completed this year's in 16:59:03, 57 seconds before cut-off. She's a bad-ass.

Unintended New Habit

I have a Tall Soy Latte every morning now. I don't even need the sweetener any more. What is happening to me?!?!?!

Time Trials

The running time trials went really well. I have no clue why something like that would make me nervous but it did. I did 13 laps in 30 minutes which is about 9:09 minute mile. The last lap I did in 2 minutes, which was much faster than my pace but that's how it goes with me. I take forever to warm up.

Last night I had a bit of rebellion. The idea of waking up at 4:45 am just didn't appeal to me. It's only week 2 people! I have 23 weeks to go and I can't be rebelling!!! I am really tired and ready for the weekend when I can sleep in. I have my fingers crossed that my body is going to get used to this. It should, right?

Next week is a rest week so perhaps I'm supposed to feel this way? And by rest week, I mean that I work out 10.5 hours rather than the 15 of this week. That will be nice :) It's still a lot of exercise but I think I do need to rest. What am I going to do on the 17-20 hour weeks?!?!?!?! Deep breaths...I can do this!!!!

Thanks!!!!

Everybody's support is AWESOME!!!! You all rock!!! I just hope that this will be somewhat entertaining for you to read =D

I'll have to report back either tonight or tomorrow on how the time trial goes tonight. I did not make it to yoga this morning, I just did strength. My body was begging for an extra hour of sleep so I listened!!!!

Okay, back to work....

Oh My Aching Quads!!!

They hurt today. I can't quite figure out what it's from. Could be from Saturday. Or it could be from Sunday. Or it could be a combination of both.

What did I do?

Let's see:

Saturday: Woke up at 6 am to get the car packed and bike loaded. Taught my last Saturday morning cycle class and then high tailed it to Marin for my first training ride with the group. When I got to the meeting place (in the middle of the boondocks) my gas gauge was on negative-oops! I did a 10.5 mile time trial-in about 34 minutes. That's an average of 18.5 MPH. There were some slight hills and there was wind. I'll take it =D My average HR was 157.

After the time trial we did a 24 mile bike ride along the coast. It was beautiful, if a bit cold. There were some hills, but it really wasn't too bad. I really need to invest in some toe warmers!

After the ride I had to wait for AAA to come and give me gas. There was no way I was getting 15 miles to the nearest gas station.

The group was great, I had a good time and with the easy cycle class (I took it easy-it wasn't easy for the people taking it!) I did about 45 miles on Saturday. Not bad.

Sunday I woke up and did a 70 minute run. It was all elevation. I gained about 1500 feet and descended 1500 ft. I did about 6 miles, which for hills, I'm happy with. I kept my HR down with an average of about 130 and a spike of 148. I think this may explain the pains in my quads. WOWZERS!!!!

This morning I taught a class and I took it easy. I'm supposed to swim today (not cycle) but since I cycled, I'm going to cut the swim since I'm so sore.

Tomorrow:

-Strength
-Yoga
-Running Time Trial (wish me luck-I'm scared!)

Zone 3-I love you!!!!

Got up at 4:45 this morning and walked to the gym in the rain. Got on the spin bike and did 20 minutes at zone 1-2 work and then 20 minutes in ZONE 3!!!!!!! YAY!!!!! Zone 3-I missed you. And then the rest of the hour in cool down mode.

When you are "base training" (which I am now) you need to keep your heart rate (HR) low so that you can build a base to be stronger for the race. There's all sorts of science behind it but I won't bore you. What this means for me is that when I'm on the bike I need to keep my HR below 135 and when I'm running below 145. This is HARD for an adrenaline-junky like me! But I've diligently been doing it like a good girl.

BUT!

Coach D's workout called for 20 minutes at Zone 3 today-ALL THE WAY UP TO 150-YIPPEEEE!!!! Can you tell, I'm excited?!?!?!?!?!

After that glorious ride (love you new PINK ipod for making the time pass) I went to an hour of Ashtanga Yoga. That made my body very happy and I wasn't nearly as tight as I thought I would be but feel much more limber now.

Tonight it's back to the gym for strength training. We'll see if I can use the heavy weights today!

I'm back for reals :)

Started "officially" training yesterday. I did a strength training routine where I majorly upped the weight. The highlight was doing single arm bicep curls with 17.5 # dumbbells. Not bad for a girl ;)

I taught a class last night too. I'm trying to stay within Zone 1 and 2 and that's hard when teaching. It didn't help that my NEW HRM broke 22 minutes into class. Well...not really new I guess, but really it shouldn't have broken. I'm stuck with my old jankady HRM until I can either send the new one in for service or get a better one (I'm leaning towards option 2-you surprised?)

This morning I woke up an hour early (YAY for exercise!) at 4:30 and went to the gym to do a swim time trial. Here's what I wrote to Coach D:

"Okay, here's the deal. My pool is 25 meters and if I had done the research last night I would have known that I could swim 900 meters and that would be approximately 1000 yards but I didn't do that. So my 500 meter time was 9:09 and my 1000 meter time was 18:35 or so. For swimming in a meter pool (which I'll be doing most of the time) the equation equals around 1:55 or 115 seconds for my base interval.

I also went to http://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/results/conversions.asp
and did the time conversion from meters to yards and my time would have been 16:39. So, if I'm swimming in a yard pool my base interval should be 1:50 or 110 seconds.

I know obsessive.... "

Yes, seriously obsessive.

I capped that off with a 40 minute run. Staying in zone 1. It felt so good! I used my new PINK Nano and rocked it. I ran 3.26 miles in about 38 minutes which is slow but I couldn't let my HR get above 135 so I'll take it ;-)

That's it for today. I promise to write more often than every few months and now I probably have no one checking here for updates....I'll figure that out later...