It's been awhile

Wow. I haven't posted anything at all in almost three months. I suppose I have a couple good excuses...I moved across the country and am now living in the lovely City by the Bay, San Francisco. I've officially been a resident for three weeks today, but it's been almost exactly a month since I left Nashville. I can't believe it's already been that long. It seems like yesterday! I miss my friends more than I ever imagined I would, but at least I'll get to see them when I'm back in Nashvegas next month pre-Ironman. And yes, I'm still planning to race. Never once did I even consider not following through - I mean, I've spent the last eight months training for this thing so there is NO WAY IN HELL I won't do it...I have had a few terrifying moments in the last few weeks, but I think it's completely normal. Yesterday I had one of those moments - and it was more like one of those days. I went out on a ride with a bunch of guys and it's no lie, riding out here is a completely different ball game. Gone are the days of rolling hills. Yesterday I actually said to Johanna via text, "I miss the Trace!" WHAT!? Yes, I miss the Trace. The route we road yesterday makes the Natchez Trace look like child's play. We road up Mt. Tam, along Highway 1 and all over Marin County. It was absolutely gorgeous. I've never been on Highway 1 in a car, let alone a bike so it was an interesting experience to say the very least. At one point, we climbed for almost an hour. Straight up. I guess it will be good for me come race day. The only downside to yesterday was that I only got 70 miles in on my bike outside so I came home, cried and then went to the Y to get on a spin bike for two hours. I am insane. That was when I realized that this is just crazy. I am so excited for August 29th to get here, I almost can't stand it. All I can think about is crossing the finish line and am trying to avoid the inevitable nightmares of not crossing the finish line. It's just not an option for me at this point. I feel like it's my wedding day - I've been preparing for this day for so long and if it doesn't happen, it will be really tough to deal with. But, like I said, it's not an option so I'm just going to try and keep that out of my mind.

35 days and counting...only two more insane weekends of running, swimming and biking and then it's TAPER TIME! Unbelievable how quickly it has arrived.

View from Highway 1 (the Pacific Coast Highway)


Mt. Tam

my latest discoveries

I've spent much more time than usual surfing the interwebs and stumbling upon genius content, both related and unrelated to triathlons. Here are a few of my favorites:

1) A conversation about the Boston Marathon. Amazing. "And you wore a fuel belt in your 5K marathon?" Speaking of Boston, congrats to Amy and Lynn for their unbelievable races! Amy even made the Boston Globe!!!!

2) The trailer for the movie "Living is Winning".People never cease to amaze me.

3) I don't even know what this is, but my GOD it's genius - http://www.weebls-stuff.com/flash/466_horse3.swf. Proud to say that I've learned all the words to this song. Thank you, Mr. Sconzo, for sharing.

Why do we do this?

Brilliant.

"Why Do They Do It?"

Pretty sure I do this for at least 1.5 of these reasons.

AERObars.

I got 'em. They're good for a few things, namely riding faster. I also think I could get some serious work accomplished if I had a trainer at home!

beyond exhausted.

This weekend was the longest weekend ever, as will be the case with pretty much all weekends from now until August. I ran 14 yesterday (well, ran 12 and walked 2 thanks to minor dehydration issues) and rode 60 miles and ran 2 miles today. WHEW! I'm worn down, but at least I will sleep like a baby. And even better, I have tomorrow OFF.

It was a gorgeous weekend, but it's definitely starting to warm up. Johanna and I rode the Trace out 30 and back 30 today. It is so beautiful out there right now. The Trace, for those of you who don't know, refers to the Natchez Trace Parkway which runs from Nashville all the way to Tupelo, MS. It's a popular place for both motorcyclists and cyclists because there is very little traffic and some of the most amazing scenery in the entire world (in my humble opinion). Here are a few photos from today's adventure!

We stopped at Puckett's in Lieper's Fork about 13 miles in and ran into a bunch of our buddies who started much earlier. Wayner was munching on "Fried Gu," a.k.a. a deep fried apple pie. Not sure how well that would have gone down, but Wayne is an anomaly.



This is my absolute favorite view. I want to live in that house!



I knew we were really effing far out when I saw this sign. I wouldn't DRIVE to Columbia. Ever.

The Finish Line

It's unavoidable. I cry every, single time I watch this video of Ironman Louisville 2009. I don't know if it's because I was there or what, but it still makes me cry, especially when they announce the oldest finisher at age 72. Incredible. I hope I'm still able to swim, bike, run when I'm a senior citizen.


http://www.ironmanusalive.com/RaceVids/imlou/RaceVid-2009-LOU-low.wmv

By the way, someone needs to upload this to YouTube so it's more easily shared. As is the case with nearly all of the videos I post, I watch this when I need a little mental boost or as a reminder of why I'm doing this. Pretty sure I'm going to lose it when I hear those six words at the finish line.

Who's Your Daddy?

More motivation:



The background music is a song called "Who's Your Daddy." You can get it here. I wonder if I'll be convinced between now and August 29th, to purchase one of those goofy aerodynamic helmets? Hmmm...hope not.

Lawdy dawdy I likes to pawty...

I spent Wednesday through Friday in Austin, TX at SXSW (South by Southwest). Had a productive work week, came back with a lot of new ideas and heard SO MUCH great music. Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings are my new faves. If you haven't heard of them, check them out here. Also saw Ozomatli live on Wednesday night (thanks to my friend Pablo for making me go!). CRAAAAAZY! I took this crappy video of their performance. It can't possibly do them justice, but they were incredible. The sax/ clarinet player blew me away...he made the clarinet much, MUCH cooler than I ever did.



I was hoping to stay for Friday night, but the cost to change my flight was a bit steep and I knew I needed to get back for the weekend of training. I've been struggling with motivation lately - but mostly because it's springtime and this is when everyone comes out to play. I've also been more sore than ever in the past week from running (not jogging) the Tom King. I didn't do a damn thing while I was in Austin aside from take meetings and walk miles upon miles. Oh, and I also drank beer and margaritas and listened to some effing fantastic bands. It was awesome to have a few days off from training, but I did come to the realization that there are two VERY conflicting mes. There's GTK (Good Time Katie, a nickname I was given by the oh-so-charming Craig R) who likes to stay up all night long, and there's normal, disciplined, well-behaved Katie, who likes to get up before the crack of dawn to get her swim, bike and run on. These two people do not get along. At all. I am just going to have to suck it up and find a way to balance it all out because it just isn't possible for me to give up my social life. Here's to the next (less than) six months!

PR!

Tom King 1/2 marathon was yesterday. Everyone's been telling me how flat this course is so I was pumped to run yesterday in hopes that I would run the 1/2 in under two hours. I BARELY finished in under two and am totally excited about it, but seriously, the course was NOT easy. I have never been more sore in my entire life. I would blame it on the bike ride we had to do this morning, but I was this sore before Todd's class today. WTF?

Anyway, race was great. I beat my PR by 12.5 minutes which was really exciting. All of my buddies totally killed it as well - Johanna, Tilghman, Kathryn, Ross, etc. I bonked a little right around mile 10, but somehow managed to recover. That may have had to do with the fact that 8 miles was the furthest distance I'd run since Birmingham on V-Day. I don't think my poor leggos have completely recovered from that race, but I guess that's the point. We need to get used to running on very tired legs. UGH! I asked a friend of mine who did IM last year if this is how she felt the entire time and THANK YOU, LORD, she said no. I don't know if I would last another sixer feeling like this! :/

exhausted.

Nothing better describes how I'm currently feeling than this here istock photo.



This weekend was brutal. There will be weekends in the future that will be far worse. I'm looking forward to it more than you know.

Why can't I pee?

I have not yet mastered the art of taking a pee while in the act of swimming. Of course, I do my very best never to pee while in a public pool, but what about when I'm racing? Swimming always leaves me with the incredible urge to pee, but no matter how badly I need to go, it's impossible to make it happen when I'm actually swimming. I've wondered why for quite some time and have been checking around for some scientific explanation as to why it is impossible. Apparently, it is possible, it's just incredibly difficult. According to this blog, it's because you use your core muscles to stabilize and because there is so much external pressure on the body which makes it difficult to contract the bladder. Awesome. So I CAN learn to do this! I promise, all of you Excel-ers, that I won't be whizzing in your lane so don't be afraid to swim with me! I'll wait for Sunday swims at the lake! Kidding.

For those of you non-triathletes that may be disgusted by this post, bodily functions of all types are things that we must become very comfortable with - sometimes disturbing, but very necessary, as we need to understand what's happening when we put our bodies through this torture!

BRICK(S)!

Here's what's on tap for this week! I think this means that it is all real!



14 hours, 53 minutes. 10 minutes less than this week. 90 miles on the bike, 9,950M in the pool and 22.1 miles on the road. The Tom King half-marathon is on Saturday. I haven't ever done this race, but I've heard great things. I'm hoping to PR in this race and am shooting to run it in under two hours. We shall see! I haven't run more than 5 or 6 miles since Birmingham so it could be a challenge.

Road 45 miles today which was the farthest I've ever gone outside. I think this is where the milestones begin. Next week we have 50 miles and we'll start doing brick workouts. YIKES. I am going to need my beauty sleep. I sure didn't get it this weekend!

More motivation?

My friend Keith who finished the Beach to Battleship IM in November, sent me a few of his favorite "motivational" videos. Love most of them, but not 100% sure about this one...



Till the roof comes off, till the lights go out
Till my legs give out, can't shut my mouth.
Till the smoke clears out - am I high? Perhaps
I'ma rip this shit till my bone collapse.

Until the roof
The roof comes off
Until my legs
give out from underneath me

I will not fall,
I will stand tall,
Feels like no one could beat me.

Great song choice. Love me some Em and Dr. Dre.

Mom and Dad, you might not want to watch this one. I sure hope that none of us feels like this on August 29th, but these people do amaze me. I just have to keep telling myself that it's all about pacing!

Back at it.

After four whole days off, I was back at it again today. I started my Sunday morning off with a bang in Todd's two and half hour class and then went to Excel for the always difficult T30 (swim as far as you can in 30 minutes). It is amazing how you can lose so much fitness in just a few days. I was only supposed to have Wednesday and Thursday off completely, but Mother Nature reared her ugly head and I was stuck in New York until late Saturday afternoon. It was gross, but I did get to spend some good, quality time with my old roommate, Grant, on Friday night and enjoyed what could possibly have been the BEST pizza I have ever had. EVER.



Doesn't this look delicious? It was. I promise.

I was supposed to stop eating pizza and drinking wine LAST week, but that clearly didn't happen so I'll say it again this week...GAME ON! Kat's got me training just over 15 hours this week and said that next week we'll get into our first brick workouts (i.e. bike + run consecutively in order to get used to the feeling of coming directly off the bike and beginning the run). YIKES. It appears to be warming up and the days are getting longer so hopefully I'll be able to start training on occasion at night post-workday. We shall see!

GAME ON.

Alright kiddies, I guess I'm going to have to resort to using this blog as a means of keeping myself accountable. Last night was Tilly's birthday celebration which meant that we all ended up a bit intoxicated, up WAY past our bedtimes, eating pizza and sending drunken text messages to boys who shall remain nameless. Good Lord it was a lot of a lot of fun, but now it's GAME ON. I'm getting TWO recovery weeks in a row which is actually really hard for me to deal with because it means I have to significantly reduce my caloric intake and that means fewer Fat Tires and glasses of delicious red wine! Boo effin' hoo...seriously? I shouldn't have such a difficult time with this, but I do. SO, keeping in mind that my 30th birthday is only two months away, I've got time to shed several more pounds so I don't feel so guilty come the weekend of hard core celebration. I would like to cut alcohol out of my life completely for a couple of months, but with work travel this week to NYC and next month to SXSW, that will be virtually impossible. And, given my love for socializing, it just isn't realistic for me to impose something so drastic on myself. I can keep it under control though...especially if I want to look like this for Ironman (sans the grease, of course, because that's just, uhhh, greasy?!).



This is Erin Densham. She's apparently a badass Australian triathlete. I should probably know who she is, but I don't. I do know that I would give my right arm to have that body. This is highly unlikely, as I would need a complete body transplant, but maybe JUST maybe with Mari-Etta's help and a little discipline, I will be able to avoid feeling the least bit uncomfortable in those oh-so-flattering wetsuits and tri kits for race season 2010. :)

Race Weekend Recap

Birmingham is probably a cool city, but we didn't get to see much this weekend. It was also Valentine's Day so finding a restaurant on Saturday night was next to impossible. We finally found a place and managed to sneak up to the bar and eat. I mean, we HAD to be in bed by 10 (preferably earlier because I am old and sleepy). We opted not to drive the course on Saturday night because I really just didn't want to know. In the past that seems to have worked for me, but I think if I had to do it all over again, I would have driven it because then I wouldn't have taken off so fast and probably would have done a better job of pacing myself. The course was a doozy and the hills? Well, those were BRUTAL! Here's an elevation chart so you can see what I'm talking about.



I didn't exactly meet the time goal I had set for myself which was really anything better than Dublin, but I can't be too torn up over it considering the course. I came in right at 4:21:48, EXACTLY a 10 minute pace on average. I felt great nutrition-wise and stuck to my plan, but like I said, I didn't do the best job of pacing myself. My 10K pace was 8:42, 15K 8:51 and 25K 9:06, 30K 9:13 and then a 10 minute average overall. I may have been better off to take it easy on the front end. I should have been running around a 9:10 - 9:20 average for the full race, but felt so good for the first 12, I just didn't want to hold back. Probably should have. I felt like absolute garbage at the halfway point. Maybe it's because Birmingham is a loop and at 13.1 you are reminded of the fact that you have to do it ALL OVER AGAIN! Watching all of those half-marathoners pass me by for the finish line was slightly painful. Once I hit the 16 mile marker, I felt good again, but only for about four miles. 20 - 25 were hard and 25 - 26 were just impossible. Thankfully Johanna showed up around 25.5 and pulled me through to 26. I look pretty, pretty happy here crossing the finish line (photo credit to Emmit Martin).



Had I known how my legs would feel two hours later, I might not have been smiling so big! My legs hurt like they've never hurt before! I still can't believe Tilghman, Amy and I managed to fly back from Europe less than 24 hours after we ran in Dublin. That might not have been possible after yesterday.

I did learn a few things this weekend...first, is that I have to be better at pacing myself, especially now that I'm running faster than I ever have; second is that I will be running my next marathon on a flat course; and third is that I really do need to focus my next three months on losing these few pounds that are holding me back. 20 pounds would have made a HUGE difference in getting up all of those crazy hills yesterday so, it's on. Back to drinking MGD64 and Bud Select 55's with Johanna!



and p.s. Big congrats to my friend Kathryn Wiseman for finishing her first half-marathon in Austin and for signing up for Chicago marathon 2010!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Heading down to Birmingham, AL this afternoon with Johanna. Tomorrow we're running the Mercedes Marathon and half-marathon. This will be my second 26.2 ever! I think I'm ready, but definitely would have preferred to get a bit more rest this week than I did. It was a stressful week at work and once (or twice) again, my social life took over. I did, however, get to see a rockin' band on Wednesday night at 12th & Porter, Jonathan Tyler & the Northern Lights. Check them out. They've officially made my marathon play list (I'm obsessed with Devil's Basement). I don't get out much for live music these days which is completely inexcusable considering I live in "Music City," but this show was definitely worth the lost sleep!

Hoping the weather cooperates for tomorrow. They've been calling for some snow/ rain, but it looks like the temperature will be somewhere in the 40s. PERFECT as far as I'm concerned! Kat's got me shooting for somewhere around a 4:04 finish. That's about 16 minutes faster than Dublin. Who knows if I can do it, but we'll just have to see tomorrow. Trying not to put pressure on myself, especially since this is supposed to be a "training run." I need to get acclimated to the feeling of running for hours and hours on end. As Amy said to me once, "you just have to put one foot in front of the other." Starting at about mile 22, I'll probably be saying that out loud or screaming expletives in my usual fashion. Really though, I'll be thinking about the finish line at Ironman, as I always do when it gets difficult. Sally sent this video earlier in the week of IML 2009 - watch it if you've got 15 minutes to spare. If you've got 5, fast forward to the 9:40 mark for the finishers and maybe you'll understand why I can't wait to do this. I've watched this everyday for the past week. Only 7 months to go!

I'll report back tomorrow or Monday with the race report! Happy Valentine's Day, ya'll and Happy Birthday, CB, if you happen to read this!

Motivation

This video excites me. I've watched it hundreds of times, especially when I need a little motivatin'. "Swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles, run 26.2 miles. Brag for the rest of your life." I'm not the bragging type, but I am the anxious type and I can't wait to do this!

The Cast of Characters

There are a whole lotta characters who will be involved with my IM training over the next 7 months. Since I'll probably be referring to them all the time in this here blog, I thought it might be good to make an introduction.

First and foremost is Katherine K, my coach for Ironman, aka "Coach Kat." She'll be the one I look forward to hearing from every Sunday afternoon with my schedule for the coming week. Tomorrow should be a good one, as it's TAPER TIME! I met Kat last year when she was coaching some of my crazy friends through IMKY. Each and every one of them finished with flying colors which is incredible, so she must've been doing something right. :)

Next is Johanna, my partner in crime through all of this. We signed up together and are now torturing ourselves together on a weekly basis. She comes from the great state of Wisconsin and also works in the music biz here in Nashville. I couldn't ask for a better accountability partner. Thankful to have someone else around who has to force down the MGD 64s instead of a delicious Fat Tire and who also has to call it an early night because of a 6 am run or 7:30 am appointment with Todd! This is our pre-Ironman photo taken on New Year's Eve. Hoping to see some drastic changes by the end of August! We're aiming to look like Pink as she appeared on the Grammys!


Speaking of Todd, he's our "bike coach." A pretty incredible bike coach, I might add. He owns a studio here in town called Endeavor Performance and just about everyone who does triathlons or cycles in Nashville takes this class. Why? Because he kicks your ass every single time you go in there. And, it's just a good, old fashioned good time - loud music, free flying expletives and the sweet smell of DaVinci's pizza from across the street. It doesn't get much better than that. Here's a photo I took last week from his class. That's Todd in the back in case you were wondering.




And then there are Tilghman, Amy, Kathryn, Patrick (aka Sally) and Keith. Tilghman, Patrick and Keith are all former Ironpeople. All of them finished their very first IM tris last year and I was lucky enough to see Tilghman at Coeur d'Alene and Sally at Louisville. Amy's the resident runner, having finished 10 (?) full marathons as of Dublin last year. Next up for her is the Boston Marathon in April and then the ambitious gal is planning to ride all 440+ miles of the Natchez Trace Parkway in July. Kathryn is my swimming and lifting partner - she's also the person with whom I communicate most via various electronic means (gchat, Facebook, BBM, text, phone, email, etc.). She is currently prepping for the Austin half marathon and several tris in the spring. No doubt in my mind that she'll be signed up for Ironman in 2011. Keith is probably the craziest of them all. This fool must be bored because he signed up for the Leadville 100. Yes, 100 miles ON FOOT in the mountains of Colorado in 30 hours or less. Sweet JESUS that's insane, but so admirable. I can't wait 'til August for him!

These are the important folks who will be by my side over the next seven months. I am so very lucky to have them. And there are so many other people encouraging me along the way, especially my parents, baby brother and other friends. They all think I'm completely insane (and I am), but have been more than supportive so far. I can't wait to have them all there on the big day (sounds like I'm planning a wedding or something)!

Month #1: Mission Accomplished

Well, I survived my first full month! Yippee! I guess this means I'm in! The first three weeks were pretty tough. I had a couple of 14 to 15 hour training weeks and it was tough to balance the schedule, but somehow, I was able to get through everything and managed to complete most of the workouts Kat gave me. The weather has been a bit tough for the last two weeks, but thanks to good friends who keep me accountable (Johanna, Amy, Tilghman, Kathryn), I have managed to overcome my hatred of being outdoors in inclement weather. I've felt good for most of my workouts. Last Sunday in my bike class - my really, really long Sunday morning bike class - I bonked about an hour in and just couldn't get my energy back. I've been testing various nutrition strategies and the oatmeal chocolate chip cookies just didn't work for me. That sucks because I really don't like shotbloks (shitblocks, as a fellow triathlete likes to call them) and all that gooey crap, but those things work like a charm and keep me going and going and going...I'll be trying something else this week so we'll see! I'm headed into taper week for the marathon...we're just over 9 days until Birmingham. I can't believe my second marathon ever is going to be a "training run." That's just hilarious to me. I'm excited though - and perhaps I'll win that Mercedes at the end!

As for everything else going on...work has been in. SANE. I am a firm believer that this training is the one and only reason I'm able to keep it together. I've not yet managed to 'sacrifice' that social life that I was talking about a couple of weeks back, but that day is coming soon. I actually went out last night and stayed up until...gasp...1 am! I haven't been out that late on a school night in awhile. I sure paid for it today and tonight on my run. I try to hang with the cool kids and I just can't do it anymore. I need that beauty sleep now more than ever so I need to learn to just say NO. When it comes to cute boys though that's nearly impossible. Which brings me to another issue. Dating. Dating while training is just a bad idea. It's even worse if you're trying to date someone who doesn't understand the strange world of triathlons and triathletes. Oh well...IMKY will have to keep me warm at night for now!

I ran 20 miles on a treadmill...

Seriously. I did indeed run 20 miles on a treadmill Saturday morning. It was ridiculous and I'm very likely to never do it again. It was just so cold outside and I couldn't risk slipping on any black ice, as I'm not the most graceful of gals. I was at about 10 miles and considered strapping on the CW-X tights and heading outdoors, but I figured that a) I had the energy and focus at the time to actually finish my 20 inside, b) an incredible play list and c) it would make for a great story - and it has so far. That was the end of training week #1. Went well, I must say. We'll wait to make any further judgments as to well vs. not well in week #20.

So, I've been listening to this Dave Ramsey CD that Johanna gave me last week. It's called "High Performance Achievement." Incredible. I'm not really one to dig motivational speakers, but this one is right up my alley. I won't go into the nitty gritty details, but it's really got me thinking about some heavier-than-usual stuff. One of the topics he talks about is sacrifice - as in, what are you going to sacrifice in order to achieve what DR calls your "Big Hairy Audacious Goal?" I've thought about that a lot. I've never been good with the whole sacrifice thing - I just try to fit it all in, but I now realize that I have to give something up. It's not an option. There aren't enough hours in the day to fit EVERYTHING in and work certainly can't be sacrificed. There are few things in this world that I love more than I love my job, so my sacrifice is probably going to be the social life - Saturday nights at Taproom, Sunday Funday at Brewhouse, KU basketball games (except for March Madness) and the occasional happy hour after work. Waking up at 4:30 in the morning doesn't go so well with a hangover.

14 hours, 52 minutes...

Hmmm...I might as well have a part-time job because I'll be working out 14hrs and 52 minutes over the next 7 days. Coach Kat sent me my very first training schedule this morning and like she said, "it's a doozy!" Looks a little something like this:

Monday - swim 2,100m, strength train 45 mins
Tuesday - Todd's class, run 5 miles
Wednesday - swim 2,500m, run 8.5 miles
Thursday - track workout, spin class, strength train 30 mins
Friday - OFF (yippee!)
Saturday - run 20 miles (incoporating hills)
Sunday - swim 3,000m, bike 25 miles

Holy. crap. I suppose the good news is that I'll be able to eat more and still hopefully lose some weight. I didn't exactly drop the 20lbs I had planned on, but now that the holidays are over and Good Time Katie is officially in her off-season, I should have no problem trimming some of the fatty fat fat in the next couple of months! Yesterday, Johanna, Kristi and I kicked off the new year with a freezing 15 mile run out at Grassland. We were seriously bundled up and parked Kristi's car at the halfway point in case we chickened out, but somehow we made it...



So, Happy New Year! Hope you enjoy my rather boring accounts so far of training, but stay tuned, this will surely get more interesting!