Weekend in review

First the good news. My weight this morning was 155. Down 5 pounds from last Monday. I haven't been starving myself but I have definitely been watching the portion sizes. Plus I've been holding myself to 1 or two miller lite beers at night.

Saturday I joined Doug, Ken, Mike, and Matt on a ride. After some confusion about when and where we were to meet we all got together for a ride out to the west side of Phoenix. Good time, I took my share of turns at the front and kept my heart low the rest of the time.

A little drama at the end. We were fighting a strong crosswind on a long stretch when a jerk in an SUV swerved towards us and honked his horn. I caught up with him at the next gas station and gave him a piece of my mind for about 5 minutes. I was pretty beat up at the end. Mike bailed a few miles before then and I went home. Doug and company had 20 miles or so left.

Sunday I managed to drag myself out of bed and get on the road before 6. The sun was just coming up so the first half of my run went well. The second half was uphill and I found it to be quite uncomfortable.

Saturday afternoon I bought a FuelBelt with water holder on it. Very Very Very nice and comfortable. It holds 4, 8oz bottles of water on it. Much better than the device I was using before. Turned out to be just a touch less than I needed though. I ended up walking the cooldown plus a little extra and finished in just under 10 minute miles.

Tired

My legs are just jelly. Ride home last night went OK. I think I'm used to the heat because it really didn't bother me.

My legs are very tired. I'm fine on the flats but as soon as the road tilts up a bit there's some pain and just a big sense of exhaustion from my thighs.

I didn't run this morning because I'm a little concerned about it. I've pushed through about 7 weeks without a real rest so that might be the cause of it but I don't really feel like I've done THAT much work either.

Latest Facebook entry of Katie's

Katie Edlebeck Petrine 127*F waiting for Paige



We have to ride home in this....

Yet again...

Tuesday night I fixed the the flat tire on my bike and rode to work yesterday. I rode home without incident.

This morning as I got my bike down to ride to work, you guessed it, another flat.

There wasn't time to fix it and drive to Mike's so I just threw my bike in the car and drove over to Mike's house and fixed it there.

Halfway to work that tire went flat. I borrowed a tube from Mike and made it the rest of the way in.

I just checked and the tire is still full. Keeping my fingers crossed it can stay that way for three more hours.

Three COMPLETELY UNRELATED Facts

1. I haven't worked out in two days.

2. I haven't had any beer in two days.

3. I've lost 3 pounds in the past two days.

Two forced rest days

All my big talk yesterday came to a screeching halt when I got home yesterday morning and discovered, you guessed it, another flat. I should have just fixed the tire and rode in to work but as has been my pattern as of late, I just drove in.

Anyway, during the day my legs felt worse and worse. I failed to take an ice bath after my run Sunday and I think that contributed to my pain. As the day went on I felt worse and worse. Climbing a set of stairs really was literally a pain by the end of the day. My shins and calves were definitely injured.

Last night I soaked in a tub for a half hour or so. I had the water so hot that I thought I was having a heart attack. Sweat was just pouring off my head the whole time. Afterwards I gave my shins and calves a good massage and I felt pretty good by the time I went to bed.

This morning I still didn't feel 80% so I stayed in bed an extra hour. I really do feel pretty good right now. I think the next couple days riding and I'll be good to go on Friday for my next run.

Weekend and weight

Was up in Flagstaff again this weekend.

Saturday I rode up to Flag and met Ken up there. We rode up to the top of Snowbowl. Went very easy up the hill. I'd like to say it's because my knee was bothering me. It was but the truth is that my legs feel very sluggish these days. I don't feel like I have tons of strength and speed in them.

Took my old handlebar cam up with me and filmed the descent from the top of the hill. I almost get killed right after I pass Ken and then again at 7:41 I stop paying attention for a second and almost ride off the road.

I went pretty slow down the hill. I didn't / couldn't push it at all on the last mile or I might have at least gotten close to my best time of 10:03. I think I ended up at 10:33.



Sunday was a long run. I have one more week of 2 hour runs until my rest week and then the time starts increasing by 10 minutes / week. I think my three hour run is in Cabo. I'm hoping there's a nice beach to run on.

Just like the ride my legs felt very sluggish. I'm glad to say that my heart and lungs felt very good. I'm hoping all this training at altitude pays off.

I cannot seem to cut weight. In August 2007 I must have lost 15 pounds riding so much after we got back from France. I don't remember for sure but I must have been starving myself as well. I do remember bonking several times on the way home from work.

I'm stuck at 160 right now. I'll go a pound or two above or below but I really seem to be stuck here.

I'm at 89 days right now so I think I have to cut 15 pounds over the next 60 days. That's roughly 900 calories / day or 6,300 / week. That's another 1+ hour of exercise every day or cutting calories or both!

I have said this before, but I really need to get in the pool. If I do that three times / week that should get me about halfway there. I think I'm going to cut beer out except on weekends.

Jeez, did I really just say that?

I can't remember where I heard this, but recently I heard that if you drink a diet drink, 20 minutes later you crave something sweet. This is because your body is fooled into thinking that you just drank sugar so it starts to create insulin. I don't know if I believe this but cutting diet coke out of my diet is probably not the worst thing I can do for myself. Ok, I'm going to add a little food blog and try and keep track of what I eat.

More later

Kind of exhausted

Rode to work today. Feeling rather exhausted. Might hitch a ride part way home with Mike tonight. Supposed to run 7 miles tomorrow and then big rides in Flagstaff on Friday and Saturday.

Did I mention I'm a bit tired?

Cute story

I can't remember the last time I had a flat tire.

I used to get them all the time. I couldn't go more than 2 rides without one. When I started riding in Flagstaff that went down to one ride. There are these tiny, tiny wires on the road that are the remnants of truck tires when they shred. They are like little needles and a bike tire is a magnet for them.

I switched to Continental Gatorskin tires and Performance puncture resistant tubes. That was a couple years ago and I have had maybe one flat since then.

Oh, wait. Mike (the guy I carpool with) suggested that I do Ironman last November with lighter and faster tires and tubes. I did so without incident. Two rides later I got a flat and switched back to the Gatorskins.

Yesterday we drove back from Flagstaff in the morning and I rode to work. When I went to leave; you guessed it, I had a flat. I went to change the tire but at some point I think I loaned my spare to someone and never replaced it so I was stuck waiting for a ride home from work. Fortunately my sister-in-law Vicki works right by here so she picked me up.

I ran this morning and a really nice thing happened. I was on my second recovery jog and I was trying to figure out how I was so close to home. I realized that I only had one more interval left. That's the first time I ever felt good enough to think I had another inverval left in me.

Ankles hurt a bit now.

Sunday Run

After my ride yesterday I checked my training schedule to see where I am supposed to be.


I should be riding 5:00 long rides and my long run should be 1:40 at this point.

I've been running too far. I've been doing 2 hours runs for the past month and I accidently trained through a rest week.

I'm a little tired but I think I can push through another 2 weeks of this until my next rest.

Back to the run. I got up a little late and sat around for a few hours. By the time I got out of the house it was 11:00 am. I ran in some heat and wind but the hills up there are what beat me up the most. Got through it and after an ice bath I am feeling no pain.

Saturday

We went up to Flagstaff this weekend. Saturday I got up and hit the road about 8:00.

I planned to do Snowbowl. I was excited about the ride up because I am back to being able to ride the 20 miles up to flag in under 1 hour and I was able to keep my heartrate in level 1 - 2 the entire trip.

It's another 8 miles or so to the climb. The winds really started to kick up but I was doing fine until I got a couple miles away and saw a sign that said "Road to Snowbowl closed until 11:30". I rode up there to see if it was true and sure enough they had security turning everyone around.

The ride home was a bit tougher into a strong headwind but I think I finished the entire ride in about 3:10.

I know when I've been running enough...

I always like this part of my training when I start losing toe nails.

100 Days... Again!

From Thursday, January 04, 2007:

100 Days and counting....
Where I think I stand with 100 days left to go...

Run: Call me crazy but this has definitely become my favorite discipline. I don't really have any clue how fast I'm going to be able to go after swimming and riding but I think I could run a 1:30 half marathon if I had to.

Bike: What can I say? I love being on the bike still. The long rides are slightly burdensome because of the "have to" aspect to them. Or as Doug put it, "We're not riding with Marc today. We're riding with Marc's heart rate monitor."

Swim: Today I really think for the first time the stroke and the breathing all came together. I think I finally have a stroke that can get me through. It's all about the drills and the speed now.

I'm probably behind on the bike in terms of endurance and fitness but pretty close on strength. I think I'm way ahead of where I was prepping for last year's race. Can't say how I compare on the run though. I certainly had not yet experienced an injury while running then. The thought that I might get hurt hinders my runs.

I was pretty happy to have read that post about the swimming. It means that as bad off as I am right now with the swim that I am ahead of back then. I know that 1:30 is a really slow time but I can live with that. I do need to swim though.

Raining

Weather forecast was for a slight chance of rain this afternoon.

I guess there's still a slight chance that it will rain this afternoon so they might be right. But right now it's pouring out.

I have to remember to eat a handful of redvines before my next ride because that's what I ate yesterday before leaving work and I cut more than 5 minutes from my previous best time. I just pedaled strong the whole way home and felt great the entire time. I even did a nice warm up and cool down.

Not sure what to do today. I'd like to keep this string of workouts going. Maybe if the rain lets up I'll try out my Riptide.

Checking in

Doing well. Probably on track with running and riding. Still haven't spent any time swimming. Time management here is the inhibitor.

Running three times / week. Actually probably actually averaging two. My long runs are up to 12 miles and I'mg getting in another 12 during the week. The ice baths are saving my life I think. So far no unmanageable pain. Another running tip I have picked up is to stay off streets and sidewalks whenever possible. Treadmills and trails are best.

Riding a decent amount. My plan this year is to continue strength rides and climbing until the end of this month and then put the aero bars on and switch the focus to endurance for 60 days. I've climbed Snowbowl 3 times and I think I'll get another 2 - 3 climbs in this year.

I'm a little down because my weight is up. I can't seem to break through below 160 for any length of time. Back in 06 when we got back from France I probably weighed about the same as I do today but within 60 days I had dropped 15 pounds and all I was doing was riding. I don't remember starving myself or cutting out beer. I lost another 10 in the next few months training for my first IM. I think the only thing I'm doing different right now is not swimming so I guess I just have to throw another 3 hours / week of that into the mix and see what happens.

Long Run

Great run this morning. I almost repeated yesterday's non-workout. It was 47 this morning.

Somehow I managed to pull myself out of bed and get out on the road. I swear, back in 2006 & early 2007 I just bounced out of bed to run. Maybe I'm getting old.

I really like the run up here with one caveat; it's 2 miles practically straight down the hill from our place to the freeway. It's tough to run downhill and keep your pulse low. You almost have to work to keep from going fast so you end up going very slow. It's a warm up anyway.

I need to look at the data on my computer to know for sure but after I get to the freeway it's about a 2 mile gradual climb to Schnebly Hill Road. This is the road you can drive on to Sedona. It's not paved but any SUV can make the drive. Anyway, after a mile or so on that the road starts to drop and I'm on that for another mile or so. Then I turn around and go back.

Anyway I really felt great as I turned around and 10 minutes or so later as I got back on the freeway (huge shoulders to run on) I said to myself that I have to make a note of what I ate (2 packages of instant sugar-filled oatmeal, dry) because it was really working for me.

Anyway, I got to the Munds Park exit and then I got to the bottom of the on-ramp and I was about 8 minutes ahead of schedule so I took a little detour down a fire road. Then it hit me: All the fatigue from my legs pounding up and down the hills. Ugh. Just this overwhelming tiredness in my legs. My lungs felt fine but it was a struggle to keep picking up my feet and the whole time I just kept thinking about what was left - 30 minutes of climbing, 10 of it as a cool down.

Anyway, I got there. Iced down my legs and I ended feeling pretty good for the rest of the day. I'm going to run 2 more 12 mile long runs before my next rest week and then take it up 1 mile per week and hopefully get to 20 miles before the race November 22.

Flagstaff

I've ridden Snowbowl the last 3 weeks that we've been up in Munds Park.

This morning I got up and it was 42 degrees out. I gave the finger to the thermometer and went back to bed.