I am have been meaning to post about this, but have opted for naps and sleep instead!
The IM WI camp was last Friday to Monday. There was about 12 people who went along with 3 coaches. It was a lot of hard work. I got there early Friday afternoon, and immediately had a short 1 hr 30 min bike. It is amazing that this amount of time seems like nothing to me anymore. We had a 30 minute run following the bike and I immediately learned my first lesson from one of the coaches. He said, "Keep your pride at the door". As many of you know I am not the best runner in the world. I was one of the slowest at this camp. I had to remember I am not competing against these people for this race, I am competing against myself. So, another girl and I went at our pace for the run. We had a little time off after the run and went for an hour swim. The water was pretty bad, it has the blue green algae stuff. The coaches even called the health department to make sure it was safe to swim in. A website states the water temp to be 79 degrees, one degree over the limit for wetsuits to be allowed. The pros are definitely not going to be able to use one. For supper we went to my all time favorite restaurant in Madison - Tutto Pasta. Mike and I went here all the time in college and it is exactly the same. The same great bread and most of the same great entrees. All of us carbo loaded for the next day's workout.
I woke up at 5am on Saturday to eat and get some coffee. We rode the whole 112 mile bike course starting at 7am. HOLY CRAP is the course hard. It is rolling hill after rolling hill with some monster hills scattered in between. The good and bad part of the bike course is that it is 2 loops. You get a preview and then, when you are getting a little tired, you get to do it again. SCS did an awesome job of supporting it, with plenty of aid stations and cars driving the course with us. It was worth all the money for the bike alone. It takes about 15 miles to get out to the first loop, which means there are 15 miles back after the end of the second loop. On Sunday we did one loop of the run course. Other than one big hill, the course is manageable. I get to run by all the places I went to in Madison and got to relive the memories. I already know I will cry when I am done. It was emotional being out there on a non-race weekend.
The SCS coaches (www.scsmultisport.com) also did a good job with their non-training agenda. There is so much to consider for a race like this from nutrition to dry socks on your run. I also met a lot of cool people like me. Before starting this season, I had been hanging out with a lot of typical moms. I am not saying that is bad, it just did not fulfill something that was missing. All of these people had families and kids and significant others that fully supported them. Rather than having to justify time away from the kids, we all just talked about how training was going and fears for this race. It was such a breath of fresh air in the midst of a long season.
My roomie was also awesome. I have been swimming with her in Masters since May and we did not talk all that much. It is amazing what type of doors open when you stop being shy and just start talking to people!
I am so grateful to have such supportive family and now new friends to share this experience with.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Monday, July 21, 2008
Spirit of Racine
I did my first half Ironman on Sunday. It was a little more grueling than I anticipated....
On Saturday I looked up directions on how to get to the race site and saw that the water temp was 56 degrees. That made me a little nervous along with the fact that it was supposed to rain all day. I took my bike to the race site on Saturday afternoon. There was fog in the air and it was drizzling. Luckily I got there early enough to get a good transition spot.
I woke up Sunday at 4:30am since I was leaving from my parents house which is an hour away from where the race was held. My dad drove me down so I could rest a little on the way. When we got there, there was a lot of fog. In fact there was so much fog that the race was pushed back 15 minutes. This was actually a good thing for me. It allowed me to get in a short bike warm-up. After the warm-up, I found out the race was pushed back another 15 minutes. I walked the mile up to the swim start.
The swim was a point to point. I decided to go into the water for another short warm-up. It was COLD. It took me 15 minutes to get comfortable up to my neck (by this time the race was pushed another 15 minutes). I took a few strokes and immediately got a headache. Every time I put my face in the water, my head started to pound. After another 15 minutes push back, the race started an hour late. I found someone I knew and she had Vaseline and told me to put it on my face. Shortly after I lined up at the start in the front because of being a strong swimmer. Right when I entered the water my goggles broke. I freaked out a little then just went. Since there was no chlorine, the swim without the goggles was bearable. The transition from the water was really long, longer than a football field. I was out of the water in just over 27 minutes.
My T1 went well and I was off on my bike. It was really crowded, way too many people. I thought for sure that I got a penalty going up a hill. The USAT officials were all over the bike course. The bike course was not as bad as I thought it was going to be. The hills were doable, nothing like the website made it to be. It was a fast course and by the end all the fog had lifted. I had a cliff bar right at the beginning and my Accelerade was gone within 30 minutes. I took the bottles of HEED at all 5 stations. I am lucky it did not make me sick since I have never had it before. I drank each bottle in about 20 minutes. I was super thirsty. Looking back it was watered down and probably not enough calories (read how things went on the run below). Since I kept drinking it so fast my coach said that could cause bloat. I felt super bloated coming into T2. I did the bike in 2 hr 38 min or 21.3 mph. The girl that I swim with caught me right at the end. I was happy I held her off until then! I knew I could not hold her off for the run since she ran in college.
T2 went well also. I was in and out. Besides feeling really bloated, I thought everything was fine. There were 2 big hills in the beginning, but the rest of the course was relatively flat. At mile 2 I started feeling really bad - really dizzy. I had to walk almost a mile. I got some nutrition at the aid station and felt a little better. Up until mile 9 or 10 I stopped at every aid station to drink, eat, and walk. I probably walked 2 miles or more of the course. The course was a double loop so at mile 6 I knew I soon had 2 big hills to look forward to. I started to feel fine at mile 11. So, I ran the last 2 miles in. Mike and the girls were there to see me finish, which was really nice. My run took 2 hr 27 min or 11:17 min per mile. It was really slow.
My total time was 5 hr 37 min. I was faster on the bike than I thought I would be and a lot slower on the run. Coach told me I probably did not get my nutrition right and will help me with it this coming weekend at the IM WI training camp. I know I should be happy with my results since this was my first half IM, but I am still disappointed. I am getting nervous for WI.
IM WI is in 7 weeks. These next few weeks I will be concentrating on nutrition and endurance. I only have 5 weeks until the taper begins.
I got a much needed massage today. I don't recover like I used to!
On Saturday I looked up directions on how to get to the race site and saw that the water temp was 56 degrees. That made me a little nervous along with the fact that it was supposed to rain all day. I took my bike to the race site on Saturday afternoon. There was fog in the air and it was drizzling. Luckily I got there early enough to get a good transition spot.
I woke up Sunday at 4:30am since I was leaving from my parents house which is an hour away from where the race was held. My dad drove me down so I could rest a little on the way. When we got there, there was a lot of fog. In fact there was so much fog that the race was pushed back 15 minutes. This was actually a good thing for me. It allowed me to get in a short bike warm-up. After the warm-up, I found out the race was pushed back another 15 minutes. I walked the mile up to the swim start.
The swim was a point to point. I decided to go into the water for another short warm-up. It was COLD. It took me 15 minutes to get comfortable up to my neck (by this time the race was pushed another 15 minutes). I took a few strokes and immediately got a headache. Every time I put my face in the water, my head started to pound. After another 15 minutes push back, the race started an hour late. I found someone I knew and she had Vaseline and told me to put it on my face. Shortly after I lined up at the start in the front because of being a strong swimmer. Right when I entered the water my goggles broke. I freaked out a little then just went. Since there was no chlorine, the swim without the goggles was bearable. The transition from the water was really long, longer than a football field. I was out of the water in just over 27 minutes.
My T1 went well and I was off on my bike. It was really crowded, way too many people. I thought for sure that I got a penalty going up a hill. The USAT officials were all over the bike course. The bike course was not as bad as I thought it was going to be. The hills were doable, nothing like the website made it to be. It was a fast course and by the end all the fog had lifted. I had a cliff bar right at the beginning and my Accelerade was gone within 30 minutes. I took the bottles of HEED at all 5 stations. I am lucky it did not make me sick since I have never had it before. I drank each bottle in about 20 minutes. I was super thirsty. Looking back it was watered down and probably not enough calories (read how things went on the run below). Since I kept drinking it so fast my coach said that could cause bloat. I felt super bloated coming into T2. I did the bike in 2 hr 38 min or 21.3 mph. The girl that I swim with caught me right at the end. I was happy I held her off until then! I knew I could not hold her off for the run since she ran in college.
T2 went well also. I was in and out. Besides feeling really bloated, I thought everything was fine. There were 2 big hills in the beginning, but the rest of the course was relatively flat. At mile 2 I started feeling really bad - really dizzy. I had to walk almost a mile. I got some nutrition at the aid station and felt a little better. Up until mile 9 or 10 I stopped at every aid station to drink, eat, and walk. I probably walked 2 miles or more of the course. The course was a double loop so at mile 6 I knew I soon had 2 big hills to look forward to. I started to feel fine at mile 11. So, I ran the last 2 miles in. Mike and the girls were there to see me finish, which was really nice. My run took 2 hr 27 min or 11:17 min per mile. It was really slow.
My total time was 5 hr 37 min. I was faster on the bike than I thought I would be and a lot slower on the run. Coach told me I probably did not get my nutrition right and will help me with it this coming weekend at the IM WI training camp. I know I should be happy with my results since this was my first half IM, but I am still disappointed. I am getting nervous for WI.
IM WI is in 7 weeks. These next few weeks I will be concentrating on nutrition and endurance. I only have 5 weeks until the taper begins.
I got a much needed massage today. I don't recover like I used to!
Thursday, July 10, 2008
New Use for a Bike Pump
Monday, July 7, 2008
Fireworks, workouts, parties, and trips to the doctor
Weekends at the Collins' house are never uneventful. Being the 4th of July this past weekend was no exception. We started the 4th off at my in-laws swimming and having a little BBQ. The rest of the day was spent at the neighbors house. They have 2 boys a little older than our girls, so the girls were entertained most of the evening. I only had 1 beer due to the fact I had a long workout the next day. We went to the fireworks and got home about 11pm - way past my bedtime. The girls did not sleep well that night so Mike and I were up on and off until about 2am. This was probably due to the fact that the air is not working in our house so we were all laying in our own sweat for most of the night.
I planned on getting up at 7am on Saturday to start my 5 hour ride followed by an hour run. I woke up at 5am just to make sure I had something to eat before I left. I fell back asleep and the next thing I knew it was almost 9am. Normally I wouldn't care, but Mike invited people over and they were coming at 4pm. According to my calculations, I would be home just in time to take a shower before they got here. I left the house a little after 9 and headed out Minnetonka Blvd. I took the route I took for one of my other rides. It has some rolling hills in the beginning and some really big hills when you get out to Chanhassen. I did a loop for the SA part of my workout. Part of that loop consists of a hill that I can barely climb. By the time I was done with the hard portion of my workout, the temperature had climbed considerably. I went to a gas station to fill up on water and something to eat. I drank more in the first half of this 5 hour ride than total in my last 5 hour ride. At about the 3hr 30 min mark I was close to home and feeling a little hungry, so I quick ran in the house, used the bathroom, got a PB sandwich and was out the door. I also got more water and Accelerade. I finished the remainder of the bike around my house. The last part of my bike was brutal. I should have eaten more. I got home and felt really light headed. I took a little longer than the normal transition time to start my run. I drank and ate something light and 15 minutes later I was out on my run in the heat of the day. The first 40 minutes of the run went well. I crashed the last 20 and felt like I was not going to make it home. I still managed to run 6 miles, which is not bad with 6 minutes of walking.
I took a shower and immediately helped Mike get ready for our guests. Per my coach telling me to eat really well, I ate pretty good. Again, only 1 beer, corn on the cob, strawberries, veggies and 1/4 rack of ribs. It was nice to have people over at our house for once! I fell asleep before the girls that night and slept a whole 12 hours. It was the most splendid sleep I have had in a long time. Again I was planning on getting up early for a swim, but it was not in the cards.
Ellie woke up Sunday morning with severe neck pain. After a few hours of crying, we decided to take her to urgent care. She could not move her neck to the left without agonizing pain. After seeing the doctor and, thankfully, ruling out meningitis we went home. We were told that if she was not feeling better in 4 hours to take her to the ER. The doctor said to just give her some Tylenol and rest it, so we did. We sat inside most of Sunday morning and early afternoon watching Barbie movies and making sure Ellie was ok. After about 3 hours, she was feeling better. By this time it was 3pm and I still had not run. Mike wanted to take the girls swimming because all of us were so hot, so we went to his parents for q quick dip in the pool. I was getting a little concerned I was not going to get my run in, so Mike brought me home and I started running about 6pm. This is not my ideal time to run, but it worked and I may be running at that time for my IM. I had a really good run. I ran all but 6 minutes of the 2 hour 20 minute run. It was really hot and muggy and there were dark clouds south of me the whole time. I did miss my swim, but there was nothing I could do about that.
Today I got another massage. I got one 2 weeks ago and this week the massage therapist got more knots out. I am getting another massage in 2 weeks the day after the Racine 1/2 IM!
I planned on getting up at 7am on Saturday to start my 5 hour ride followed by an hour run. I woke up at 5am just to make sure I had something to eat before I left. I fell back asleep and the next thing I knew it was almost 9am. Normally I wouldn't care, but Mike invited people over and they were coming at 4pm. According to my calculations, I would be home just in time to take a shower before they got here. I left the house a little after 9 and headed out Minnetonka Blvd. I took the route I took for one of my other rides. It has some rolling hills in the beginning and some really big hills when you get out to Chanhassen. I did a loop for the SA part of my workout. Part of that loop consists of a hill that I can barely climb. By the time I was done with the hard portion of my workout, the temperature had climbed considerably. I went to a gas station to fill up on water and something to eat. I drank more in the first half of this 5 hour ride than total in my last 5 hour ride. At about the 3hr 30 min mark I was close to home and feeling a little hungry, so I quick ran in the house, used the bathroom, got a PB sandwich and was out the door. I also got more water and Accelerade. I finished the remainder of the bike around my house. The last part of my bike was brutal. I should have eaten more. I got home and felt really light headed. I took a little longer than the normal transition time to start my run. I drank and ate something light and 15 minutes later I was out on my run in the heat of the day. The first 40 minutes of the run went well. I crashed the last 20 and felt like I was not going to make it home. I still managed to run 6 miles, which is not bad with 6 minutes of walking.
I took a shower and immediately helped Mike get ready for our guests. Per my coach telling me to eat really well, I ate pretty good. Again, only 1 beer, corn on the cob, strawberries, veggies and 1/4 rack of ribs. It was nice to have people over at our house for once! I fell asleep before the girls that night and slept a whole 12 hours. It was the most splendid sleep I have had in a long time. Again I was planning on getting up early for a swim, but it was not in the cards.
Ellie woke up Sunday morning with severe neck pain. After a few hours of crying, we decided to take her to urgent care. She could not move her neck to the left without agonizing pain. After seeing the doctor and, thankfully, ruling out meningitis we went home. We were told that if she was not feeling better in 4 hours to take her to the ER. The doctor said to just give her some Tylenol and rest it, so we did. We sat inside most of Sunday morning and early afternoon watching Barbie movies and making sure Ellie was ok. After about 3 hours, she was feeling better. By this time it was 3pm and I still had not run. Mike wanted to take the girls swimming because all of us were so hot, so we went to his parents for q quick dip in the pool. I was getting a little concerned I was not going to get my run in, so Mike brought me home and I started running about 6pm. This is not my ideal time to run, but it worked and I may be running at that time for my IM. I had a really good run. I ran all but 6 minutes of the 2 hour 20 minute run. It was really hot and muggy and there were dark clouds south of me the whole time. I did miss my swim, but there was nothing I could do about that.
Today I got another massage. I got one 2 weeks ago and this week the massage therapist got more knots out. I am getting another massage in 2 weeks the day after the Racine 1/2 IM!
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