Friday, May 02, 2008

Moving on

I miss Boston. :( I miss talking about it and wearing my medal around the house and I miss being sore. Let's be honest, I miss the attention. I hope some of you can relate... I mean, we train our asses off 365 days a year and on 1 or 2 of those days people actually give a crap. I know you all give craps year round, and that's why I love you, but it is so neat to get emails from family and friends and all that. Sigh. I swear I'm not bitter, I'm just rambling here. I actually forget about the "glory" for most of the year and then as I approach the finish line at that goal race it all comes rushing back to me and I am on top of the world for about a week. But life goes on. The un-supported, solo, spectator-less 6am morning runs are really what it's all about, and I love it. I love the alone time, the solitude, challenging myself knowing no one will know about it besides the 12 people that read my blog. Anyway, that's what's going through my post-Boston brain these days.




Also taking up space in my head: TRIATHLON!!!! Bike bike bike bike. Did I mention my sweet new bike?

I've set up my training schedule for my Half Ironman race on August 2nd, which is just over 13 weeks away. I'll be on that bike a lot. Here's the basic foundation of my schedule, feel free to comment:

Monday am: run 6 ish

Monday pm: Masters swim class (scary!)

Tuesday: bike 20-30 miles

(only workout scheduled for that day, gives me some wiggle room to move workouts around or do strength training or add workouts)

Wednesday: same as Monday

Thursday: same as Tuesday

Friday: rest

Alternating weekend schedules:

(Endurance Weekend)

Saturday: Long run (8-12 miles)

Sunday: Long bike with group (40-60 miles)

(Brick Weekend)

Saturday: Bike 30-40 miles plus 3-6 mile run

Sunday: Open Water Swim plus short 2-3 mile run

It all looks more organized on paper. I based the schedule kind of on one I found on trinewbies.com and I got the alternating endurance/brick weekend idea from some article I read but can't remember where.

I have three races taking place between now and August. Two are sprint tris and one half marathon (see side bar for specifics). The tris take place on Brick Weekends and the half marathon takes place on an Endurance Weekend so it works out perfectly. I would do an Olympic distance tri but couldn't find one that fit my schedule.

The schedule technically began this week but I have just been doing my own thing since I'm still recovering from Boston and Zach has a tri this weekend. He's doing the next sprint tri with me and also the half marathon, so our schedules will kind of overlap (like master's class and group rides). We'll really get on the schedule next week.

Well, here's what I've been doing this week. I certainly haven't been lazy but it's nothing crazy.

Starting last weekend- on Saturday we went for our first open water swim of the year. Only about 300 yards but it was nice to try out our wetsuits and get those first open water heebie jeebies out of our systems. Sunday I rode my old bike 19 miles which I mentioned in my last post, and then got my new bike. :)

Monday: 17 miles on new bike! AWESOME.

Turns out I totally over-thought the clipping out thing. It wasn't hard at all. In fact, clipping out of the pedals is the easy part. It's getting clipped IN that's hard! The bike felt comfortable and smooth. The only place I felt discomfort was my forearms from the new handlebar position. Everything else was great. Our time was 1:14:40 which is 13.6 MPH but that includes my clipping in/out practice. I got one of those wireless digital bike speedometer thingies which is great for tracking speed and distance, but the timer is a little annoying because it basically keeps running when you stop. Well, it pauses eventually, but it captures a lot of that stopped time which f's up my average pace. I guess it's no big deal but it bugs me. Anyway, YAY bike!

Tuesday am: swim 1000 m (250 crawl, 250 backstroke, 500 crawl)

Tuesday pm: 3 miles/27:41/9:13 average pace Easy run with Zach after dinner (we were bored).

Wednesday pm: 4 miles/36:14/9:03 average pace Another easy run with Zach after work.

Thursday am: swim 1000 m

Thursday pm: bike 17 miles/1:06:00/15 MPH (approx) We've been riding on the Iron Horse Trail until I'm comfortable enough to go on the roads, which will be soon I'm sure. Again, I think the average speed is misleading because we were doing about 15 MPH on the way up into a headwind, and more like 18-20 MPH on the way back. It was a very fun ride. I feel so cool when I'm on my bike. :) I was even singing a song about "how cool am I" until I realized that singing a dorky song significantly reduces my coolness. My compromise: humming!

Friday 3.0 miles/26:09/8:43 average pace Finally getting a little speed back! Ran this morning before work with Zach. We're leaving tomorrow to drive up to Napa with his parents. We'll stay at a hotel and then his race is on Sunday. I will take a lot of pictures and cheer him on, it will be so fun. He's definitely ready to race. Which is amazing because he just had surgery 2 months ago and was completely out of commission for a few weeks after that. What a comeback! GOOD LUCK ZACH!

Last but not least, big shout out to my MOM who is officially retired!! Congratulations Mom! Wish we could be there for your big dinner tonight. Love you!

Have a great weekend everyone, thanks for reading this super long post.

18 comments:

Michael said...

Sounds great Jen -- no doubt you'll rock the Tri. Congrats on the new bike, congrats to your mom, and good luck Zach!

Paul said...

Suhweet ride. Nothing beats a new bike.

21stCenturyMom said...

Congrats on signing up for Barbs! I am doing Vineman 70.3.

Hadn't signed up for Showdown at Sundown but maybe... maybe...

Nice ride! My bike computer has 2 settings and 1 of them makes it only work if the wheels are turning. See if yours has that, too.

Also - GOLDEN BEAR! May 10. Tilden Park. Just sub Oly distance.

Aron said...

i was wondering if people get "sad" after their marathon is over (esp one like boston!)... i am sure i would feel the same way. at least you have great things to look forward to and train for!! you will do great and good luck on all the training! glad you love your bike :)

Judi said...

You are so obsessed! Wow! What kind of pedals did they get you? I ride speedplays, really hard to clip in and out at first but I haven't tipped over yet.

Don't get all weird about your average speed. The thing won't stop when you stop so most of the time it's not even acurate.

Can you do me a favor and email me your half IM training schedule? judir6@gmail.com

Oh, and wish me luck in my race this weekend. I will have the post marathon blues next week too.

P.S. You have way more than 12 people who read your blog silly girl.

Mir said...

Your post-Boston feelings are totally understandable! It's hard to come down from a high like that. But I'm so excited to read about your tri workouts this summer!

KK said...

Hey Jen!
You REALLY translated what I have been feeling (missing!) about Boston, thank you for putting such articulate words to your thoughts :).

Also, I am sooooo glad to hear you didn't have any clipless debacles in your new pedals. You are a natural.

How did you enjoy the master's swim class?

I just got done posting about the transition from running specific training to triathlon training and I am comforted to know that I am not the only one who's doing this. I look forward to reading your future posts!

P.S. Good luck to Zach this weekend!

P.P.S. I used to sing to myself on the bike too (still do sometimes). A particular favorite is "I love the mountains, I love the rolling hills, I love the flowers, I love the daffodills..." you know, from elementary school music class. Just so you don't feel like you're the only one ;)

P.P.P.S. There are WAY more than 12 people who read your blog!

Train on, girl!

GB said...

Jen, I loved all your Boston pics and I loved your report. Was that not just the BEST time ever out there or what! It looks like you're recovering well and looking onward to the next set of goals. I am so in awe of you training for the half Ironman (that's still just a dream of mine). You're inspiring, woman! Keep training strong!

Ewen said...

Go Zach!

You're right Jen - we in the know give craps year-round. It's the training that makes the glory days possible.

Speaking of which, I know little about tri-training, but that looks like a good schedule. I like the brick sessions.

Be careful you're not caught humming dorky tunes whilst riding that bike ;)

Gotta Run..... said...

YES...YES...YES!!! I can see it now... Robin and Jen take on IM ARIZONA 2009. Next November... think about it :)

Wow so much in your post... the clips are the key as you are already seeing. I need to practice clipping out on the left side. Love the roads now and the traffic does not scare me any longer.

Zach is doing great. You two are a great team. So is he jumping in all of the same events. That would be really cool.

I am hitting the trails today... first time in forever..then bike... then swim last. I just love this all!!!

My email address is on my profile page. Send me a email and we can talk Tri stuff :)

Anonymous said...

Jen, I found your blog by way of SillyLilly's and must say that your recount of the Boston experience and photos/video have really encouraged me! I recently started running again after several years off and am looking to radically change my lifestyle, and your blog has really served as some awesome motivation for me. Congrats on such an awesome success. You're exactly right when you say that the 6am runs are what it's all about. As a full-time college student and mother of two little boys in diapers, I find the solitude incredible, and it's honestly what gets me through the tough days, knowing that I can hit the pavement and pound out my frustrations and enjoy the quiet. You've earned yourself a new reader. :)

Tomas said...

Bike, bike, bike, it's all about the bike...
Shit... I'm not spending enough time there...
Best of luck/work in your training!

ShirleyPerly said...

Lucky you had no problems learning to clip out. I fell over on my very first day out and quite often for six months!!

Sounds like a great tri training plan. I wish I could find a masters swim group nearby me. Have fun!!!

jahowie said...

Aren't new bikes great? :-)

I'm sure that you'll be great in the tri. Maybe you can record some crowd noise and listen you it while you train. LOL!!

Nitmos said...

Post-marathon depression should be expected. And its even bigger after Boston. But, you have new goals and a new motivation to keep you rolling.

Ryan said...

You miss Boston? Me too, but at least you were there this year!! :( NEXT YEAR!

Best of luck on your tri endeavors. Your bike looks awesome. With all the pride you exude, I had a flashback of Pee Wee's Big Adventure.

Bob - BlogMYruns.com said...

OK Boston Hat OFF ...TRI Hat ON!

See how simple that was --LOL

Love the New ride you have !!

Alisa said...

I've been reading through your old posts about tri training. It's awesome to read these and read your posts now and see how far you've come since 2007!

I MUST get a new bike if I want to continue this tri thing =).

I love how you were scared of traffic and downhill then and now you cruise them at 35+ MPH. Totally gives me hope that one day I won't do the death grip =).