Well I made up for the day off. I did a triple workout Thursday.. so tired. and then Coach's schedule said 3 repeats on Scripps Poway Saturday. I nearly died midway on the third one. Seriously I just wanted to lie in the ditch and take a nap. Coach says no brick run. WHY? We always run after we ride! It's a 3day weekend. Fine I'll just kill myself on Sunday running up inside Torrey Pines and Portofino for 14 miles. Why must I torture myself? ( I know my coach is laughing right now.) I do love the Torrey Pines North Beach shown in the picture under the bridge for the ocean view though!Yeah! Ride outside on holiday Monday!!! Coach says repeats on the Oceanside 70.3 course hill #1 and THEN brick...ok you win. I'm dead. VERY dead. Weight loss... nothing...I still can't break away from sugar. Stupid. I know. All this work, no fat loss, because of sugar. Crap. Must get brain to shut off the sugar suction.
My next day off was an appointment at Swim Labs which gave a detailed analysis by videoing your own technique (or lack of) with instant feedback (here's the perfect swimmer.. and here's you Oh Lawdy help me) and it helped me really understand the catch and hinge at the top. I was doing it far too late and losing a lot of pull. It's been my focus since this session and I'm seeing improvement.......in seconds... geez. Swim improvement takes forever. I hope to go again as I continue to improve and practice. It's crazy that you don't know how badly you swim until you see it for yourself...the video analysis is so worth the money. Why keep practicing incorrectly?
Finally weather and timing permitted the Great Western Loop ride. I really wanted to ride these hills in my tri bike before Oceanside 70.3 for the first time for at least mental training. Another sufferfest ensued. I felt like a slug, cycling slower than I did a year ago. I managed to get through the brick but very disappointed...But I met Maude the Jackass at the Market so it was worth it.
Sunday was a run covering the SD Half section that is so painful which is shorty Noell St and demonized Washington st. It's only 6/10th of a mile hill so why does it hurt so bad? Cuz you are burning up Noell for 300 feet which sears your lungs at a sharp elevation, then you get 1/4 mile to calm your heart before you go UP Washington, recognizing your pace is dropping dramatically with every step up to see God at the top. It's not that it is super steep, but it's the buildup to it, and then just as you think it is over WAALAAA, it bends sharply upward just to make you squeak out a little cry at the top! I did a u-turn at the top and ran back down Washington to finish another 5 miles but during the race, your brain kicks your ass at the top and says RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!!! you just dropped 2 minutes off your average pace! and so you do... and you run with wings to the end about 2-3 miles down hill. (alas.. hours later... you can't walk because you just shredded your quad muscles from running downhill like you were on fire..NOTE: don't run downhill out of control or you will pay dearly for 3 days!) I have not been able to get my pace back up from a year ago since foot surgery so I can't consider trying to beat my PR time so I will just have to do the best I can and focus on it as a training run and not a PR run. My intensity is just not the same as last year before foot surgery and before employment when my life was all training.I tried to run intervals on this 10 mile run as prescribed but I just couldn't do it consistently. My legs felt like concrete....What the hell is wrong with me??? Well Lisa, you are trying to carry a 10lb bag of potatoes on your back and go faster...why not try something different and LOSE the extra 10 POUNDS!!! Monday, Feb. 23, I made a final decision to cut sugar, add a huge salad before lunch and a Progresso Light soup before every dinner....7 days later, I have dropped 3 lbs! Detox is hell. I was very grouchy but I'm in week 2, still on the no sugar wagon, and I already feel better. I emptied the house of all sabotage too. I will get this extra weight off...I'm determined now. Why did I wait so long?
The NCC Challenge ended 2/28/14. Woohoo this was my 2nd year. I'm happy with this year's results although less than last year in mileage because I worked full time 2014 and last year, 2013, I was unemployed. Last year, I was in AG 45-49 and earned 8th place of 178 with 2947 points . This year was so much HARDER adding a full time job!
Stats:
8th/170 Age Group 50-54
2578.87 total points
2578.87 total points
176th / 3000 overall
176th swim
248th Bike
390th Run
20th/71 TCSD participants
March 1, we had a weekend storm. 4 days of rain...Mother Nature was mean. I knew I wouldn't be able to train outside every weekend up to IMAZ. San Diego has near perfect weather but sometimes we do get that generous helping of rain on the weekend which means long rides will be a sufferfest on a trainer and a long run will be in pouring rain. This is the mental training part of ironman training. It's kind of required to suffer in practice just in case weather on race day is bad and you are prepared. It still sucks though. The best part of suffering is to do it in a group setting and so my 3 1/2 hour ride on a stationary trainer was amazing because of the great company at Endurance House and the wonderful vegan/veggie potluck afterwards. Tina Valle is such an inspiration to us all. Her Beast mode..(and beast balls) are amazing! I was lucky enough to dodge the rain for my 45 minute brick and enjoy running the coast watching the angry ocean. It was amazing! But as I laughed at the ocean on Saturday, Mother Nature punished me on Sunday with a 2:15 hour rain run. It was tough and I had all kinds of mantras to get me through it, but I survived and was grateful for a hot shower and hot soup afterwards!
I was excited to get back to open water swimming but the rain blew out those plans so I replaced it with another attempt at descending 100s. FINALLY I accomplished 15 x 100's 10 sec rest descend 1-5, 6-10,11-15. Not only can I not count laps past about 8 but gradually increase speed every 100 yards 5x so you don't die on the 5th and THEN repeat 3x... REALLY? I got super close this time so I'll take it as win! Just being close kind of made me feel like a real swimmer!...I guess beforehand, I was a rubber ducky.
Well, I will finally venture back into the ocean this Friday. Water temps seem to be 58-62 degrees. Heavy sigh...I've been in the pool so long now that my body only knows 84 degrees. It's in for a rude awakening but better now than on race day, March 29. Hopefully my SD Half run goes well on Sunday too. Stay tuned for the outcome and..drum roll...Ironman California 70.3 shenanigans.
Wishing you the best of luck on your race on March 29
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