Lonestar Report

Well, good thing today's an off day. I have lots of catching up to do with school projects and a couple of errands to run- among them taking my tri bike to the shop for a complete strip-down and tune up...I haven't gotten full work done on it like that since I bought it, so it really needs it.

The weekend went good. I stayed with with my coach's wife, Staci, and her parents at their house on Crystal Island which is a short ferry away from Galveston. Baby Ali came too, he's adoreable and a really good kid- the only time he cries is if he's hungry or needs to be changed. otherwise he smiles and makes funny sounds :) It's weird to think that when he's my age I'll be 40!!!!! OMG that makes me feel ancient.

Anyway, onto the races. In general- the course was a blast- flat and fast, only a minor crosswind riding parallel to the shore. The weather was ideal for my liking: humid, in the 70s and the sun even popped out by the run. Also, it's cool to do the winding through Moody Gardens. The ocean swim was very calm as it was on the bay side, and the temps were perfect with a wetsuit- not too cold and not too warm.

Saturday was the sprint. My swim did not go well. I lost my draft about 100m in and the next draft I caught was a ways behind where I wanted to be. It comes down to absolute focus for me and learning how to hurt in the water. I've picked up hurting on the bike the most and the run pain is coming along too (as neither of the three sports is my background and in tennis the "hurt" is more mental struggles than physical in the middle of a match). On the bike, I rode as strong as I could and got passed once near the finish by a guy whom I held on to the rest of the way. On the run, my legs felt pretty fresh and I pushed as hard as I could. Ended with a 20:56 split which had me content but definitely not overjoyed. I gave it my all on that run and was happy about that but talking to Ahmed later I did the bike all wrong (and would repeat this on Sunday's race hehe, oops) and should have gone way easy until I got passed from the BEGINNING stuck with that person, until another pass, go with them until another pass, etc etc etc. Stay with the person I'm drafting off of no matter how slow or fast. I'm talking legal draft of 3 bike lengths of course.

So for Sunday my focus was primarily on the swim- get it right. Concentrate place myself behind who I want to get out with and stay on them period. Swim as if there is no bike and run. Result- failed. I got next to Amanda Lovato and was with her oh, say, 50m until I screwed up. I should have been on her left side because breathing to my right is more comfortable for me in a race than breathing to my left thus having her on my right wouldn't hinder my ability to make sure I'm still on her as there'd be no need to sight. The rest of the swim I got behind some guy and came out of the water in a mediocre position and what coach called terrible, ha.

To the bike, and back to my mistake...I tried to justify myself to Ahmed but he wouldn't take my excuses- fair enough I need to learn and am absolutely not going to *&%^$ up on this strategy anymore. My stuborness led me to push as hard as I could on the bike from the beginning and try to put as much time into catching the lead girls as possible as they're all good runners. I raced the elite wave, and no, not because I think I'm pro yet, but for the learning/experience, the challenge, and seeing how close I could get to them. So my thought was if I let up even a little on the bike, Andrea Fisher, Amanda Lovato, and the other (not officially pros) in the wave- Michelle Leblanc, Peggy Yetman, and Julie Crosno would cream me bad. What should I have done? Bike very very very easy until another athlete passed me, go with them until another one, etc etc etc. And move along the bike course faster and faster while saving my legs as much as possible. Of course my rookie ego and head wouldn't let me and instead by the time I tried to hang with a couple of fast guys that went by after the tunraround, the lactate had me standing no chance.

Run time- CRAP! My legs were toast. Haha...it wasn't pain from "I'm going hard and it hurts, but it's good and I need to block it out"...it was fatigue and heavy/trashed leg feeling of "this is going to be the longest 6.5 miles of my life- and it was. I'm dead serious, it felt longer than the marathon in Kona.

Ahmed's explanation: "because you got 1 (the swim) and 2 (the bike) wrong, your run sucks more than it should". Love it!! That's why this weekend's races were great- I got spanked and learned my lessons. It took me a couple of training races but I get it now. I really do hehe and next weekend I'll have the chance to do it at another local sprint- following exactly that plan on the swim and bike and going into the race with absolute ignorance and carelesness about anything else. I have to get it right then because the weekend after is Collegiate Nationals and, though not an A race, it's not a race I want to lose focus on.

Ok now I gotta go to the bike shop.
Later!

Home

We got back from Galveston about 2 hours ago. Immediately I dropped the luggage wherever it would fall and raced out to get the largest amount of food I could get my hands on!!!!!
After that and going through my emails that I hadn't been able to check all wknd without wireless....I'm now going straight to bed- EXHAUSTED!!!!!!!!!!!
It was a fun weekend...cool race, great weather, lots of people. I'll post race reports and share a bit about the wkdn in general tomorrow.
Good night ;)

Time for good news

So it's practically mid-week for me now and things are clicking again. I felt great on each hour session of S/B/R/W Monday and today had an awesome ride on the trainer...again the workout from last week which is killer but I love it: 30min training pace, 1hr with 2X20min race pace and 5min easy in between, 30min training pace. After that the whole morning was spent at school (exam! ugh :() but by the time I got out and did my run it was 73!!! Ahhh it's indescribable what happens to my physical abilities in warm weather. I thought my legs would feel a little heavy from the morning ride but nope, they were pretty loose and I ran my favorite 1hr out and back at White Rock. After that, did my swim...I was gonna go to DAM at 630pm but don't really like getting out that late and eating dinner at 8pm. By then I'm usually in bed and working out that late screws with my sleeping. The swim wasn't the greatest, it took me about 20min to get a feel for the water but overall I felt good.
So, that's that, everything is looking back to normal. My allergies are still there but I'm taking Zyrtec and it's working well, and the asthma/cough is minimal now, especially today running in warmer temps and slight humidity.
Also, things are right on track with nutrition. I'm on point in losing the couple of pounds put on in the off season ;)
Now I just need to continue this positive streak without anymore nonsense interruptions!

Getting in rythm again

I'm hoping I can get back in training rythm this week and not have to miss anymore workouts due to allergies and asthma. Today's pretty packed- 1hr weights, swim, run, and bike...and since none are bricks that's time consuming but I'm gonna try and squeeze in seeing in the doctor.
Friday we leave for Galveston The weather should be nice if the rain holds back. There's a good field participating from what I've been told so it should be fun!
Hope everyone enjoyed Easter ;)

Myself again

It seems all I've really done these past few days is sleep, get up and do a little homework and eat, and back to sleep. Finally yesterday I got in the pool- mostly drills and easy swim. Today I'll bike for an hour and do some core.
Who knows what next week will bring...I wonder if Ahmed will ease me into the week to make sure I'm definitely not sick anymore, or if we'll jump right into intensity and pretty high volume- as was the plan this week. Hmmmm...well, I'll know before the day's over :) As for now, more sleep...heck I might as well take advantage of all this downtime.

Sick Day #3

I'm slowly getting back to normal. What's annoying is that it's all respiratory crap, below my chest everything feels perfect. Today I had the Uptown 8km Post World Invitational Challenge and am really bummed I can't go. I'd be leaving right now for the race site :( Only 8 people in each age group were selected based on times to run the 8km course (they also have a 5km event open to anyone) shortly after the start of the elite runners wave, which features some world class peeps.
Hopefully today will be the last day of absolute rest, or maybe coach will let me do a swim later. I'm turning into a glob!!!!!!!!!
No matter what Monday I'm going to go see my allergy/asthma doc because this cough is ridiculous and I have be at 100% asap.
Next Friday we leave for Lonestar in Galveston so I'm crossing my fingers that missing this race and resting so much will have a positive effect.

Sick Day #2

At least today I'll be able to stay in bed all day as there's no school cuz of Easter.
:(

There's no way around it, cold and me don't mesh well

It's almost 7am...just got back from dropping my brother off at masters. Yup, that's right no swimming for me today, or riding, or running, or weights, or yoga, or ANYTHING! Why??? Because thanks to the race Saturday I can't stop coughing- my asthma really got bad after the race. Thank God I put on the jacket after the swim otherwise who knows in what condition I'd be in right now.
Sunday and Monday my throat hurt but since the allergies were bad and my nose/eyes itched too I put it off as simply all allergies. I knew I wasn't sick, like a cold, because even today my body feels perfect. Tuesday it was pouring so my group ride got turned into a two hr trainer ride as 30min training pace, 1hr with 2X20min race pace efforts with 5min easy in between, and 30min training pace to end. I felt great but my breathing sucked, and after I got off the trainer, showered, ate breakfast...from the neck up I felt like hell. Then yesterday it was only a 1hr swim and 1hr run so I managed the swim just fine, since it's usually humid at the indoor pool...however the run was not good. I could only stay about 2-3 beats into training pace because at any higher intensity the air I would breathe in burned my throat. Got off the treadmill (no way could I run outside with the wind and in the 50s like this) and the coughing was unstopable.
So Coach Z said take today completely off. Saying I'm pissed is an understatement. Today I'm missing the group ride (AGAIN!), a swim, and track. I know today doesn't have a significant impact on my season but those are pretty key workouts and when your entire body except your throat feels bad it sucks!
Hopefully resting today does the trick if not then was it really worth taking off in the first place, or would it have gone away on its own????
:(

My new thirst quencher and replenisher...

From now on, I'll be using coconut water (from O.N.E.) as my sports drink before/during/and after training and racing. Coconut water has more potassium than a banana, has natural sugar, contains a similar amount of electrolytes as those found in our blood, and other numerous health benefits. It's nature's Gatorade.
As an athlete I'm extremely conscious about my nutrition, making sure that everything I eat has a purpose for helping me as I go into a workout as well as recovering/building. With this switch, I'll be able to keep my "diet" free of any added/refined sugar :)

Drink up!

Back to work

After a nice easy week...the next one will be solid quality training:
7 swims/7days. That'll be a new record.
Tuesday and Thursday morning group rides with the guys.
One easy hour ride, and a 3hr ride Sunday
4 runs, an 8km race Saturday.
Weights
Bonus: two exams, and three group projects to work on.
Bonus #2: taking care of my brother (he's staying with me for his spring break wk) and making sure he gets good training in.

Bring it!

St. Patricks Sprint

Today was an experience :)
Keller had some much lower temps than Dallas in the morning...it was low 50s and very windy.
Yesterday my flight got in at 4pm and I headed out to packet pick up immediately which was out near the race site (about 45min away). But there was no way in hell I was going to make it in Friday Spring Break rush hour.
So I got my packet this morning before the race start- things went smoothly... I managed my 10min bike, run, and swim warm ups, took my powergel and was ready to go.
Lesson #1- I suck at pool swims! I think I hit my head on the lane lines switching over after the flip turns on every 50 ;)
Stacy and Mina were the two I was hoping to be close enough out of the water with to "draft" off of on the bike. However, their numbers were a good ways ahead of mine for the swim start and given that they can swim well I never saw them until the run.
I put on a jacket in transition as with a pure swim suit I would have frozen to death. I felt fine on the bike- the legs were only slightly numb. The whole ride was windy and I had no one- 3 guys passed me in the two loops but they were instantly gone so no hanging 3 bike lengths behind them. I was riding strong and pushing as hard as I could- maybe by some miracle I could catch Stacy at least. But I didn't, coming into T2 a couple of seconds behind her.
Lesson #2 NEVER EVER EVER EVER ride without shorts again!!!!!!! I chafed so bad on my inner thighs that I started to bleed pretty bad. I didn't notice until I crossed the line and leaned on my knees. Haha, it didn't look right- let's just leave it at that. The race pictures will be dreadful to look at. The good thing is while racing I only felt a slight sting, nothing to impact my riding or running.
Anyway, on to the run the legs felt very fresh and despite going pretty hard on the bike I felt good overall. The air was chilly which doesn't do my breathing a favor, but no biggie. It was a cool little winding course- "trail" which in texas means sidewalk along a path of trees and bushes-.
I saw Mina about 1/2 mile before the turnaround so no catching her, and Stacy right before the turnaround, but ran out of real estate on her too.
All in all, a good race, fun and interesting.
I have no idea how I placed since the results were screwed up (ie they had the female overall winner as beating the male OA even though she was one of the last people into the swim start and swam a 7-8min 300). Pretty sure Mina took the win...and I was somewhere in 3rd or 4th.
Well, lots to do the rest of the day- homework I didn't touch while in San Antonio. On top of that, they had a running race/parade on Greenville, which is right near my apartment and every street is blocked so I just made it home like 30min ago!
Hope everyone that raced had a cool time too :) It was good seeing a lot of familiar faces out there. Tri season has begun!!

Giving Back

2 days off was enough!! I couldn't wait till 5am this morning to get to the pool!!! As my brother had his last swim practice before his spring break yesterday, I got him out of bed this morning too. That was pleasure- turning on his lights at an un-Godly hour "Get up Daniel, you have 10min to be at the door, grab a banana and put on your suit" :)

This may seem mean but as soon as he jumped in the pool he was all smiles and admitted after we finished that he felt awesome and wanted to do this everyday....that's the thing, it's only a beating to get out of your warm covers but 50meters into the swim, you're glad you did it.

Unfortunately, I'm not here everyday to make sure he makes it past step one of getting out of the bed to go workout before school...but last night I came up with a brialliant idea (or at least, I think it's brilliant).

Him and his friend Iker, who happens to be born on the exact same date, have known each other since birth (our families are real close). Anyway, Iker is trying to lose weight. His parents have put him on diets, he's seen nutritionists, etc...but he'll lose lbs and then put them back on. So his mom asked me to talk to him yesterday and share some things I know about nutrition and fitness and help him out for an hour in the gym.

So I did...I told him frankly diets don't work. He needs to eat,real wholesome foods, and workout- all to boost his metabolism and keep him energized and satisfied all day. Also, working out shouldn't have to be a dread, it should be a part of his day he looks forward to- a time to dedicate to your body and well being- in kids terms, a time to play...play swim, play bike, play run, play weights- hence my coach's philosophy and company name: Playtri.

Anyway, being the tri geek that I am, my first inclination was to convince the kid that nothing in the world is better than triathlon for the simple fact that it's a lifestyle, it gives you soemthing to train for, it's individual, and it's a crosstraining sport in itself.

Well, needless to say Daniel and Iker are signing up for Captex Sprint on Memorial Day in Austin and I'm going to train them for it :) Yay!! I'm going to send them their weekly schedules via email, and come down sometime in late April for a weekend to work with them on transitions and other race day details, and hopefully they can join me for the Playtri Buffalo Springs Camp a week before Captex. They obviously won't be riding or running long but can listen in on the lectures, learn open water swimming and be exposed to a number of people who share the same passion for a healthy and active life.

I'm really excited to do this. I've been lucky enough to be helped and mentored by seasoned pro athletes and other incredibly knowledgeable people and feel a responsibility to younger generations. I love triathlon- it's such an infant sport and I want to have a role in its growth. Hopefully they'll fall in love with it as much as I did and want to continue training and racing. The sky's the limit if they put in the work at such a young age.

Alright I'm off for a ride now. It's soooo nice outside- not a single cloud and should be mid 70s by noon ;)

It's Raining....

and I'm not complaining one bit! Actually, rain on off days rocks. I woke up this morning to take my mom to school. Yup, that's right, switching roles now I dropped her off at real estate school. I'm so proud of her working to get her license. She's been remodeling homes since I can remember and really has amazing talent and an eye for design. Then I came back home to make her "miracle juice" of raw cranberry juice, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, fresh lemon and orange juices...she's on this total detox that lasts 2 weeks. The pre-sequal of 7 days eating super clean foods, all organic, a one day fast (of the miracle juice), and a sequal of the life-long habit of eating as bodily-fucntion-friendly as possible. I would love to try this myself except the whole no salt on the pre-sequal thing threw me off. I can't imagine training without sodium in my diet, that probably wouldn't last long, ha. I do, however, drink raw vegetable juices as much as possible.
Anyway, then I picked up my brother from school during his lunch break and my mom as well, so we could go eat together- well, obviosuly my mom would just be watching, hehe. It was cool going to get my bro as he's in 8th grade at Alamo Heights, where I went for elementary, junior high, and some high school...they've remodeled some of the buildings but the layout remains the same and it brought back a lot of memories.
So now I'll just be chilling around the house and later stop by Container Store- I have to interview the store manager on "managing diversity" for this huge group project we're doing on the company in management class.
-I'm out-

Off to SA

Hopefully my parents and brother don't happen to read my blog today as I plan on surprising them with none other than yours truly :) tonight...not too worried as my brother, if he's home at all, wouldn't part from xbox, my mom has better things to do, and my dad probably can't point out the button to turn on a computer.

So why am I suddenly going? Well, as it's spring break, and I'm the only nerd out of my friends staying in Dallas to "train" there's NO ONE here and I just got next week's schedule which I thought would be at least mildly heavy and keep me busy, but it's basically all R&R- Mon and Tue off, then max of 1hr rides, 30min runs, and 1hr swims until the race Saturday.

This is the perfect time to head down to San Antonio. I haven't been there since December of '06!! Since I have to drive back Friday for packet pick-up, I'm gonna go ahead and leave tonight. I just have a 1hr ride to left to do on the trainer, will eat dinner, stuff a backpack of clothes, and get in the car :) The great thing too is I won't even have to take my bike, for 1hr training pace rides, the spin bike will do just fine.

Ok, time to get my little adventure underway!

DFW Running Article

Posted following yesterday's event:

http://clinesrunningcorner.com/people.htm#tatiana

Trinity River 10km

I woke up this morning kinda dreading the departure from my warm bed and out to 30 degrees. I will never EVER get used to the cold. Despite that, I really wanted to get this race underway. My last 10k, and the only 10k I've done (outside of triathlon), was last year's Irongirl Run in Solana Beach at the end of July. I had a great race, running a 40:45, which was solid for me in the middle of Ironman training. Coach basically told me one thing for this run: "40mins or better". OK, cool- that would mean a PR and pain :)
This week has been quite intense...some 2hr rides with hard intervals, weights, 6 days of swimming, and 4 hrs of running. So, I knew if I had a good race today, it would really give me a boost for the season- as it gets underway in the next couple of weeks (YES!!!!)
I did 20mins of warm up with some accels, had my powergel and toed the line. My HR monitor stayed home, and my watch would not be looked at- my plan was simply to go by feel. I've gone out a bit fast the last few races so I would back off at least the first 1/2-1mile and then pick it up to the highest sustainable effort for 10km. I would go hard and if my legs had a sub40 in them they would go there.
At the start line I eyed a girl that I know is a very good runner and without second thought decided to let her pace me. If I discovered I was the stronger runner and could pass her with a pace I could continue to hold, then I would...if not she was my guide- no matter how hard she ran I would run right with her.
The course had to be altered due to the rain/snow/sleet/&*$^#up Dallas weather the last couple of days so it went something weird like this:
out 1 mile, turn around, pass the start/finish, out 1.1miles the other direction, tunr around (that's 5km right there), back past the start/finish, out the first 1 mile way, back to the finish.
The first 2-3min I played conservative and kept her in my sight. Then I picked it up and was right on her feet at the 1mile turn. I continued this way through the entire race. There were about 2 times where I felt that sudden energy/strength and thought of passing her but i didn't want to use this quick burst and blow up/have her pass me back (maybe I should have? I'll never know). So all the while I kept waiitng for the last 1/2 mile to pass.
The whole thing was on dirt/gravel/packed mud with two hills. I felt great- that "great" where it really hurts but realizing what you are accomplishing makes you smile.
At the last tunraround (with 1 mile left) she picked it up. I responded and decided then that I would pass her, I got about an inch from passing her and she took off- by then there was about 1/2 mile left and I had no more bursts in me- so that was that...I came in about 10-15 sec back. 1st AG 2nd overall (this is becoming a pattern- hopefully in triathlon it will be broken and there will be no more 2nds hehe).
This was my best running race so far. I love competing like that and gained a lot from the mental aspect this race took from me.
As I didn't look at the watch, I figured out after finishing we had run a little over 40 but I was still stoked as I am positive on pavement this would have been a PR for me. I ran better than ever before.
Next weekend the St. Patty's sprint will mark the official start of the tri season for me. I'm ready and fired up for 2008 to begin :)

Spring Break!!!

...Starts tomorrow!!! :) Normally I have theatre class M/W/F 8am but thankfully the prof canceled it.
The downside? It's 27 and raining outside :( tonight and tomorrow it's supposed to snow. What the hell??? It's March. I stayed in TX for college to be in warm southern weather and it has failed me annually Nov through mid-May....tha's basically 1/2 a year that keeps me staring at a wall on my trainer and running on the stupid treadmill. GRRR!!!
Hopefully it will warm up even a little this weekend for the 10k Saturday. In any case, by next week it should be back to normal making the sprint "race-able" for my standards.
No big plans for spring break...I'll be staying in Dallas. I had planned a trip to San Diego but the wallet isn't so hot right now. Last year's trip out there during SB was epic as I got to train with Heather Fuhr the whole week. It changed my outlook on the whole season and made me fall for the sport even more- I had never ridden hills (mountains) and run trails as scenic and challenging as California has to offer.
But since I'm not "Ironmaning" and thus don't have 4-6 hour rides or very long runs...I won't miss out on much staying here, and will avoid breaking the already feeble bank.
Today I got my 2hr ride done early before school and am now just waiting to get out of marketing research class (YAWN!) for a swim and run. The pool doesn't open till 4 though so either I'll run before or take a big nap :)

Change of Plans...

Won't be doing the "Dash down Greenville" 5km next weekend, and instead going out to the St. Patrick's Day Sprint. It'll be something new as I've never done a pool swim race. Hope to see a lot of the Dallas peeps out there!

By the way, nice pool!!

Thursday Morning Ride

Ignorance is bliss, and therefore per coach's orders I will be joining the group of guys that meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays at White Rock Lake for 2 and 3, respectively, fast loops around the lake. All I could do was laugh when Ahmed wrote me the following email today, after I confirmed the time and the fact that I'll need a light since it's still pretty dark at 6am: "Yep. I want you to stay in the back, draft as comfortable as you can, don't be agressive, don't crash, not yet. When you get dropped go training pace for the remaining distance".
Hahaha gotta love the don't crash yet part....and hey, what makes him so sure I'll get dropped?! J/K I probably will, and quick, but that's why I can't wait until Thursday to find out how long I can hang and get beaten up in the process!!!!!! :)

5 Triathlon Fundamentals

In leiu of the lessons learned over numerous talks with my coach, and looking back at all my previous races and those I've watched, I've written these down and will carry them with me throughout my racing years:

1. Doing great means following your race strategy

2. Winning is independent of time and race strategy (You can win with a good/"fast" or bad/"slow" time, and by following or not following your race strategy. There are numerous outside factors one cannot control that shape the outcome of placement).

3. Time is irrelevant unless you want to PR...and even so, unless you're on the same track trying to nail a set distance, courses and weather (among many other things) affect time. Via correct pacing, your heart rate could be kept lower at key parts of the race to achieve an optimal finishing time. Shooting for a time goal is a risk to winning anyway as you're likely going all out to either finish in that range or not be able to cross the line at all.

4. Ideally you want to win with the easiest HR/effort (go as fast as you can, as easy as you can). If the goal is to win a race, as in an A race where the results matter a lot to you (perhaps to qualify for Kona, Nationals, a World Cup, the Olypmics, whatever) it's great to take advantage of fluffy egos and let them pull/pace you (you're taking in nutrition, drinking, just sitting back waiting for your planned attack...while they're at max effort ready to blow any second- greatness!)

5. At the end of the day, no matter what happens, if you're a true athlete (and a progressive one at that) you take it as is and learn as much as possible from it.

"I'm a triathlete"...excuses me from my otherwise abnormal behavior

This morning I had a 5k at White Rock which started at 8 so I arrived at 6:15 to do my hour ride at the race site and make it as close to a "brick" as possible. Yup, there I was on the trainer next to my car all triathlete-like(I could have looped the lake but it was still dark) as people started to arrive- looking at me all confused, ha. Anyway, the race was cool, we started from the same point as the last 5k I did about a month ago...but thankfully this time we ran the other direction so it was a good change. The weather was ok, mid-50s- a little foggy and light drizzle. Again, HR>hard (175+)was the plan. My legs were a bit stiff but didn't feel heavy so that's always a plus. First mile I hit in 6:10. Had the focus been on time/placement I'd be disappointed that I went out too fast, as playing it conservative probably would have yielded a faster finishing time. But I have to remind myself that the purpose was simply to keep at the right HR throughout...I was on 177 pretty much steady to the turn-around and then 179 on the way back, so great race. One girl passed me just before mile 1 and I had her in sight the whole time but not near enough to pass her back. So 1st in my age group, 2nd overall.
Ok now I have to do a crapload of homework!! GRRR!