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Swim

250 with pull buoy to warmup. Then 8 x 200 on 2 minutes rest

1 – 3.25

2 – 3.19

3 – 3.15

4 – 3.17

5 – 3.17

6 – 4.09 – extra laps I got confused

7 – 3.19

8 – 3.25

Few minutes swimming with the pull buoy to cool down

I researched some of the Burlington area for vegetarian food today and thankfully I found a bunch of options. This makes me pretty happy going into the trip.

Got a massage today for the first time in a year. Yeah I was wayyyyy overdue for that. It is probably something I should fit into the schedule more often. Sometimes I get so focused on the training. I forget about really working the recovery too. It’s probably the area I lack most in my training overall. 

I also got my knee kinesio taped. I have been doing it myself but this is a little different so no I will start doing it this way. I really hope it helps. I am icing and trying to be really good. this is just such a nagging injury.

overall feeling pretty good after the massage. tomorrow is the dreaded packing for the trip.

Screaming Fast

My knee was better today than yesterday. Thankfully because I was crabby yesterday from the pain. Took a ride on Micah doing some climbing and descending getting ready for the hills in burlington. Had to do this over my lunch hour because it rained this morning so i didn't have much time to ride. Did 13.78 miles plus my 5ish commute.Climbed 1,143 ft.avg 13.1 mph. used stefan because the roads were wet. avg hr 134.  Got my new aero helmet today. Also put the race wheels on damon. gonna swim tomorrow and take a shake out ride with the new gear probably thursday. most likely take friday off, since i didn't get a rest day in this week yet. and race saturday. at least that's what i am thinking at this point.

Can't Wait

Swim – warmup 2 x 200 Distance per stroke. On the first lap I was able to hit 15 but I usually settled into 17.   While these are good numbers it certainly was not fast swimming.  Then 4 x 150 build on 25 seconds rest. Took a little break between this and the next set as I was more tired than I thought when I went to the pool.  Then 10 x 100s fast on 25 seconds rest. I did these with Jeff and I did really well on the first couple hitting them at 1.29 but I couldn’t sustain that through the whole workout. I was able to hang with jeff through the first 50 but I was falling off of him for the last 50 pretty consistently.  Cooldown swimming with the pull buoy. Didn’t  count the laps it was only a few minutes.

My knee was really sore again this morning from the running yesterday and it made me crabby!  I’m so tired of it really. I am considering finding some kind of knee support that will force my  knee to track properly when I run. Just so I don’t have this pain anytime I run. Not to use forever just to use to get through this. Although I think I am done running until race time. No need to flare this up if i am not going to be gaining any fitness from it.

At crossfit  - did some stretching and 25 stepups onto a 20 inch box with 15 lb dumbbells each leg both forward and lateral. My knee actually felt a little bit better after these but something in my other legs doesn’t. I just can’t win.

I ordered the aero-computer mount from xlabs for my tri bike. I was waiting for it to come in forever and my local bike shop and I’ve just had it with waiting for them. I should have it for my race this weekend.

wb tri

Today was the wb tri.  I was the swimmer on the Secret Society of Female Cyclists. Did it in 32 minutes. It was wetsuit legal. Thankfully because that lake is just GROSS. there are two sections of weeds to pass through. The first the weeds are all torn up and they wrap around your arms and face. Then the lake smells like diesel fuel. yum! And finally when your swimming into the chute the weeds are so high they tickle your belly and your hands are tearing them out. I know I am whining about it but of all the places Ive raced this is consistently the worst. I never enjoy swimming there. I think I swam a 36 there last year. The water was choppy this year and it rained a bit after we started. The course was also setup different and actually a little weird. instead of swimming in straight lines you had to swim each section as a diagonal. I have no idea why.  I think my sighting was decent. I had to correct myself a few times but i was never way off. I felt like i was able to swim tight to the buoys. My wave was the last one to go in, it was the relay wave so it was a little rough at the beginning especially since it is a beach start. Overall a fine swim. Then I ran up the beach to my biker who actually stopped before taking my chip off and said are you ok?  I guess I put in a pretty good effort. I felt fine afterwards. I've been eating a gel before a swim and it working out well. I don't really need it for this kind of thing but for the longer distance. The race was lite on entrants this year. probably because of it being so close to nationals. They really didn't enforce a lot of the normal rules this year either which was weird.

 on the training plan for today was 10k run.  Ran it on my first set of hills on asphalt with my husband in some light rain.  I didn't feel great going into it. I don't think my knee is really completely recovered from yesterdays ride but I needed to get it done. I never felt like I was moving very well but I got through it. All I know is burlington is going to be rough with the hills. Especially since i haven't been training them. I don't feel strong going into this race esp running wise. I know i will get through it but  it isn't going to be easy. Today's effort took me an hour and eight minutes. 450 elevation gain. avg hr 147. ma hr 180 sadly im tired from it too.

Stingers...

Decided to go on a group ride today and it was fun. I got stung by some kind of flying insect on my way down to the ride. I felt it flew into my helmet but that happens so i kind of ignored it as they usually just fly out. Well this little bastard stung me in the temple. So i rip my helmet off to see what it is because i am allergic to bee stings (anaphylatic) and i can't find it. So i ride the rest of the way to the shop and have people look at it because my epi pen isn't with me.  My face started getting red patches like hives on it but my breathing was ok. So i went on the group ride and did fine. We rode Alden Mountain which was tough for me since i haven't been riding hills. It's kinda funny because true to form some guy passing me goes your a good rider but you don't like hills do you. Story of my life brother. Basically he kept catching me everytime we were climbing something. I'm gonna get my ass handed to me climbing up burlington! There isn't much I can do about it at this point since  i had to stop riding hills because of my knee it is just too late to get anything like that back now for burlington. Hopefully I will have it back for pocono mountain. I rode in the front until we got to the major climb. Then I got dropped but i was able to hang with the first chase group for most of the ride. So once the big climb up the mountain was done. We take a couple of minutes to wait for the rest of the group. So I pull out my honey stringer waffles that the managers of wegmans gave me to try out since that is a new product they will be carrying and damn this are really good!  I highly recommend trying them out because compared to gel and chews etc. they taste fantastic. They taste like real food. I will def pick some up because when you get to the point where you don't feel like eating they can be nice. anyway, they have a little picture of a lance armstrong riding his bike on them and another guy goes to me soooooo is that jay? I go . nope that's lance armstrong.  I just found that hysterical. I try to hang with the boys the rest of the way i'm riding hard 150-160 HR. I eventually get dropped but i'm still riding well for me so i'm trying not to worry about it. I ended up getting lost and adding a couple of miles onto my route but it's all good. To make me feel better one of the guys tells me how much he likes riding behind me because i have really beautiful legs. Now i want to see what my legs look like on a bike! lol! Comes from a guy that bikes and run i'll take it as a compliment. Rode 47.5 miles in 3 hours and 2 minutes but some of this was slower city riding. I averaged 15.6 mph. with a really fun 45 mph descent down the mountain.  if we took out the slow getting out of the city stuff i think it would have been a higher average.  I should start doing these rides more often because i think i push myself more when im already fatigued. Also it shows me when i get off things.  Like when im descending with them if i get offline i can see it. avg hr 144 ma 166. climbed 2220 ft. my legs are pretty tired now. have to go pickup my wb tri stuff and get ready to do my swim there tomorrow. They are calling for rain all day (big surprise) and thunderstorms in the morning so I hope I actually get the swim in! Also supposed to do a 6 mile run tomorrow. well see how the legs are feeling after today. My knee held up ok while riding but was stiff afterwards so im nsaiding and icing and hoping for the best. this knee better start behaving. I made some plans to train with a friend of mine that is great mountain biker and cyclocross guy. I want to try some of these races out in the offseason with him. Because if eagleman showed me anything it is a need to be able to hammer harder on the bike. At this point I feel like i have to ability to hammer for shortish distance like TTs or sprint Tris' and do really well but when the distance gets longer like eagleman I just don't have the legs for it yet. But i want them and have them I shall. Sometimes I wonder if it's the crossfit. I can ride 20 mph but I can't sustain it for 56 miles yet. Then again I rarely ride that kinda distance.

Desolation Row

Yesterday I ordered a few bike items for my upcoming races. I got toe covers as it is gonna be chilly and lazer tzardik aero helmet in while with silver accents. One of the biggest selling points was the aquavent on this helmet. I most likely won’t need it in my next few races but for hotter days it could be a great thing.

Swim wod this morning – 500 of drills as warmup. Then 3 x 10 minute TTs on 3 minutes rest. 1^st and 2^nd reps – got 23 full laps was just starting the 24^th. On the 3^rd rep I was just finishing the 23^rd lap. Did an easy elementary backstroke as part of my rest. 200 of catchup with pull buoy to cool down. This was a great workout to do before the wb tri where I will be swimming for a friend that bikes and runs and wants to start doing triathlons but doesn’t have the swim yet.  I’m curious to see what my swim time will be. I had a horrible swim there last year. It was pouring last year for the whole race. It is expected to rain again this year. Not sure if it will be wetsuit legal or not. It’s a pretty disgusting lake so it would be nice if it was! This year ill be swimming in the relay wave which will be tough with the real swimmers in it. But it’s all good. It will be a warmup for next weekend!  I downloaded the race info for next week. The weird thing is they will give you time and splits when you finish but they will not give you race results until the actual awards ceremony in the evening. This is probably to get people to go to it.  I wasn’t planning on attending it unless I actually got a position at worlds. They are broadcasting it live on the web.

Cf wod – 50 step ups both front and lateral with 15lb dumbbells in each hand for a total of 30 lbs. Last time I did it with 20 lbs total. My knee started to hurt about half way through this workout, maybe due to the step up in weights. I iced it afterwards. I did these in sets of 5s. I put 2 pullups in between each set just to work on more pull-ups. I have to say my real pull-ups have gotten much better now that I am not kipping them.

things have changed

Well planned rest day today! Got in late last night from the Bob Dylan concert so it was very nice to be able to roll over in bed this morning and sleep in for awhile. Also it’s my favorite farmers market day so I got to go load up on farm fresh produce at lunchtime. Got myself stocked for some good nutrition. Got a few more days of training coming up then next week is a taper week for nationals. I missed the webinar last night for it but they are supposed to put the info online so I can check it out before I head up there.  So today is T-365 to Ironman NYC! That was a bit of a shocker. I was looking at it as far away which it still is but this time next year I will really earn the nickname I am called at work which is ironmary.  I am still concerned about the knee. I really want to get this thing healed up. I don’t want to be fighting this thing all the way through IM NYC.  It’s been dragging on for so long now I almost feel like it isn’t going to go away. It has gone from acute pain to just annoying pain but it’s a daily drag to have to deal with it.

I’ve been walking forty miles of bad road
If the Bible is right, the world will explode
I’ve been trying to get as far away from myself as I can
Some things are too hot to touch
The human mind can only stand so much
You can’t win with a losing hand
People are crazy and times are strange
I’m locked in tight, I’m out of range
I used to care, but things have changed
 - bob dylan

whining wednesday

The knee continues to improve yet it also continues to be incredibly frustrating for me. When is it just going to be completely gone already! I guess that is just the way sprains are. They took FOREVER to heal. Ok not really but I am very impatient with it.

Bike ride this morning = 10 minute warmup then 3 x 3 minutes all out on 1 minute rest. Went to a local school and did loops around the complex so that I could really just go all out the whole time and not have to deal with traffic, etc. especially since it was such a short one. I felt like it went well. In the big ring about half way down the cassette per Jay’s instructions.  I did ok with the gear. I did a rolling start into each one. Did a 10 minute easy cooldown. This was the least stiff my knee has been after riding and while I would like to celebrate this and believe it is a good sign. It is most likely due to the fact that this was a really short ride.  Didn’t even need to ice it or anything afterwards. I have been working on my stretches. Not sure if they really help or just make me feel like I am attempting to do something about healing it.

CF wod – overhead press – 1 rep @ 45,50,55,60,65,70,75(with a spotter) then did a few push presses at 80,85,90. None of them were max weights for me.

Ok time for more whining! I really hate strength wods. They are boring to me and just feel like a waste of time. I know I need them but that doesn’t mean I have to like them! But for the most part I feel like I did nothing at the box today except maybe stretch and socialize. The one rep maxs are the worst because I really don’t think they are as effective at build strength as sets of 2, 3, 5.

Well since it was a light day on the schedule, I should be fully energized to see bob Dylan in concert tonight! (yes, again!)

Tomorrow is a full on rest day too.

tuesday

Swim – warmup – 200 swim 200 pull then 6 x 100  - times around 1.35 for these. Then 15 x 50  - all on 20 seconds rest. The swim felt pretty good today. I look forward to getting back in the water later in the week and to swimming in the WB tri this weekend. Well I am mostly look forward to that. Harveys lake is def one of my least favorite places to swim because it is kinda gross.

Cf wod – amrap 20 minutes of

5 pullups (rings)

10 pushups

15 Kb Swings @ 35lbs/situps

14 complete rounds

Used the rings for my pull-ups because I can’t kip with my knee and I don’t have that many strict dead hang pull-ups. Did 6 rounds with the kettlebell. The tear in my hand was just killing me by then making holding the rings and the bell not easy so I changed mid-wod to situps.

And of course I need to do a knee update. I think it is still very slowly getting better. 

Ah the glamous life of a triathlete. Icing down the knees!