NYC Triathlon and Altitude Attitude Adjustments!

Long time no write! Between some traveling on both our parts (Amanda is actually still away, but more on that in a moment), there hasn't been much time to write, nor much to write about, training-wise, as it has been pretty consistent thus far, until the past week!
Neither of us has spent much time at altitude...my time has pretty much been limited to assorted ski trips over the years, when I'm too focused on my imminent doom and my pounding heart and a zillion other tings to really worry about something so inconsequential as air. But I took a little "family trip" out to Snowmass/Aspen, CO with the hubs and the hound and while I felt great on the hikes we did (Sasha was SUCH a champ, I can't even properly put it in to words!), when I rented a very nice road bike from the folks at Aspen Velo, I was in for a very rude surprise.

My Everest!

I'll first state the obvious and say that there is no flat riding Aspen/Snowmass.  You're either going up a mountain or down one.  I suppose you could cut across the center of the Roaring Fork Valley, but that's Highway 82 and while the guys at the bike store said it "was totally cool to ride on it," that didn't seem like a very good idea to me, as there were no real shoulders, not on the highway nor the other roads.   And the hills are not hills.  They are mountains.  6-8 mile steady climbs are the norm, and it's literally just up and up, no straights to rest or catch your breath.  And here's where the lungs started to burn, then the legs, and before I got the pass-outs, I would have to pull off the road and de-clip (hard to do when you're already going so damn slow it's hard to stay up as it is), and gasp for air while waving off kindly motorists who were asking if I needed help.  I would get so frustrated that by the end of the week, I almost broke down in tears! It was probably one of the most disheartening moments when it came to IMAZ training thus far, and the downhills didn't help me catch my breath/rest either, because now it is just down and down and down and it's windy and terrifying!

This was about what I felt like on those hills

But I guess that's why the real toughies go train at altitude and really stick it out for a whole season for their bodies to adapt.  It obviously would be possible in a few days, but I did come back feeling stronger and will never ever fear anything I come across out east (at least until I try to tackle Bear Mountain, although at least that is at sea level!!).  My best workout was a 15 mile ride (so basically 7 up and 8 down)) and then I ran about 8 miles back to where we were staying in Snowmass, essentially straight back up the mountain on a trail.  Running was hard as hell, too, but somehow easier to work through than biking, likely because during long uphill spells on which I was super winded, I could slow down to a shuffle and catch my breath, which just isn't possible for me on the bike.  And I could run on the trail too, which helped a lot mentally, too, since I didn't have to worry about cars or see that daunting black stretch of road go up and on and on!

I got back to NYC on Friday and the NYC Triathlon was Sunday, and while I felt a bit wobbly on my Cervelo after a week on a road bike to start, I was quite pleased with my race! I took four minutes off from last year, and though the heat and humidity was pretty insane, I felt really strong on the run and bike, and ironically, I think where I messed up was the swim! I just don't think I was as aggressive as I could have been, and veered around too much instead of holding a better line, and my time could have definitely been a minute or two faster, whoops.  My transitions felt solid (the NYC Tri has about a 600-700 meter barefoot run from the swim exit to transition, so there's 3-4 minutes right there) and I could have been a touch more aggressive on the bike downhills (the course has a lot of rolling hills), but the conditions of the road we bike on can be a bit treacherous (LOADS of divots and potholes and joists and rumble strips) and I didn't want to risk a bust or a flat, and tried to make up for it on any stretch of freshly paved road, flats and uphills.

I got 9th in my age group, yay, and looking at the splits of the other girls (esp the top 3), I'm right on par with them in terms of swim and run (in fact, my run was faster than most) but they're 10 minutes ahead on the bike...still a lot of improvement to be made there!

And now for an update on Miss Amanda.  Speaking of altitude, the 8,000 feet of Snowmass/Aspen is small potatoes compared to where she is: Leadville, Colorado, the second highest city in the entire US, and the staging ground for the infamous Leadville 100 Ultramarathon featured in Born to Run at a nutty 11,000 feet.  Amanda is in Leadville for an Army/field medicine training course that works out the intricacies of field medicine/trauma, etc. at high altitude.  Very badass, and they're doing a lot of bivoucing, etc. so she should have some interesting stories about her experiences upon her return! She isn't going to have any time for any swimming/biking/running, but hiking around in full body armor with her field kit/pack/etc. at 11,000+ feet has got to do more for mental toughness than anything else, not to mention those lungs!

P.S.: while hiking the Rim Trail, we saw Lance Armstrong.  Sasha tried to sniff his mountain bike, and he smiled at us. He was on the phone, so no chance for further dialog.

4 hours on the move and counting!

I did my first big continuous brick workout on Saturday, and woo-wee, am I tired!

The plan called for a 3 hour bike ride, followed by a six mile run.  Ordinarily, I would have rallied and gone out 9W for the long ride, but truth be told, the first and last 10 miles are not really training riding, since it is through the city, and I like to go with a group for safety (and then you always end up taking a break at the cafe in Nyack) but couldn't get a group together/buddy that was not light years faster than me, so I ended up just waking my butt up early and riding loop after loop in Central Park.  Not the most exciting, but good for mental toughness and enough hills for spice.  By the end it was getting crowded, but 8 loops plus one extra mini loop for an additional Harlem Hill/mile put me at 50 miles and change in about 3 hours, and then I dropped my bike back off at NYAC and hit the park AGAIN for six miles.  It was all I could do not to puss out and just do a couple of laps around the reservoir (flat) to get up to 6 instead of doing the real loop with hills, but I was glad I didn't waver, as four hours later, I was quite proud! I actually ran at a good clip, holding about 9 minute miles, and felt like I kept a pretty decent pace on the bike...definitely within the 16-18MPH "elite" speed bracket called for on the training plan (vs. 12-15 for "age groupers") and managed my nutrition right, as I didn't feel shakey or dehydrated or completely wiped out/bonked at the end.

Nutrition wise, I had a peanut butter sandwich in the morning for breakfast, plus some coffee and a bottle of water, then during the bike I had a GU and two bottles of water + ACCELERADE mix.  Between the bike and run I ate a banana and then carried a bottle of water + ACCELERATED with me, along with another GU, which I ended up not eating, but I did go through the bottle (about a liter in size).  I bought one of those bottles that go between my aero bars with a straw and that thing is literally I lifesaver! When the bottle is in a cage on the bike frame, I never drink out of it, but with that nifty thing I drink regularly and often.  Huge! I just stopped after 30 miles and refilled it with the bottle in my frame cage, and took off again.

This is your friend!

At the end, was I tired? Yes.  Mad at myself for not remembering to re lube parts of my feet (and other body parts) with Body Glide? Yes.  And I will DEFINITELY remember sunscreen reapplication, too.  I didn't get burned, but don't want to risk it next time as the weather continues to heat up.  Wrinkle prevention...vanity is my favorite sin!!  But
I definitely felt in control and like I did the brick to my fitness level/wasn't overwhelmed by the work out.  And considering the only other time I've ever done anything physical for four hours was when I ran the marathon two years ago, not too shabby!

I have been very focused on the bike length lately, and am still wound the most tight about that without a doubt, but my friend Cameron, who did IronMan New Zealand last year, told me that I can't run enough between now and November, and he's a fit dude, so I'll take that advice to heart.  I felt strong on those 6 miles, but at the end, I was definitely ready to be done, not ready to run another 20 miles! And I only did half the bike...and no swim! Waah!

The two biggest training blocks are still to come, though.  Next week is the last week of our aerobic block, then a week of "recovery" and then on to the "endurance" phase and "competitive" phase.  "Competitive" is the one that has the toughest workouts/longest days, so there's that to look forward to!

Heads are heavy. Legs are amazing.

When Amanda started her Brain Module in her anatomy class recently, she had two things to say:

1. Brains are cool.  She already likes it better than the kidney and lung, if she were to rank her "favorite organs" like one would rank one's favorite animals.

2. Brains are heavy.  Surprisingly so. When she held one in her hands after taking it out of the cadaver (yikes!), that was her takeaway.

I may not know much about brains beyond what she tells me, and despite my paradoxical goals at college to simultaneously expand my mind through reading, class and brilliant professors while simultaneously killing brain cells through shots of Popoff Vodka and far too many helpings of cheap beer, I can at least now attest through personal experience that brains, and therefore, heads, are heavy.

The neglect to mention the neck and head!

I had a lovely 33-ish mile bike ride on Saturday, the first on my Cervelo since last autumn, and while my legs felt in fairly decent shape thanks to the trainer, my neck started killing me after about an hour.  I realize now that it was because holding my head up in the aero position was using all these strange muscles in my neck that hadn't really been used before.  I always tried to stick in aero during the trainer sessions, but never realized that it was not just the arms and back but the neck/head, too.  I was always looking around/watching the TV/whatever.  When I am actually ON the bike, I have to have it forward 99% of the time so that I can see where the hell I'm going and watch for rumble strips, potholes, wayward pedestrians, etc.

So I spent the remainder of Saturday with a sore neck, but a few aspirin, a light 2 mile job with Sasha, and a FANTASTIC MICHIGAN BASKETBALL VICTORY cure everything, as does a good nights sleep. Today, my neck felt fine, and I had a nice swim to further loosen it.  2,000 yards total, and then a 6 mile run in the park right afterwards.  I was a bit worried my legs would feel weak/sore/tired after the bike yesterday, but I felt great on the run! Loose and smooth.  Granted, a swim-run is not a bike-run/brick, but the legs seemed to adapt to the relative fatigue level I was feeling when I started amazingly well.  

Week 6 starts next week, and to coincide with the warmer weather, bricks and outdoor riding are starting in earnest.  I need it!

Week 1 down!

Last week was our first "official" week following an Iron Man training plan that we downloaded from Triathlon Geek.   So far, so good! In fact, it was not that difficult...not that it won't be extremely challenging down the line, but I was pleased that the first week was really quite straightforward...it meant that I had been doing a good job staying in shape/keeping my fitness level up these many months, despite work and the move's best efforts to sabotage me!

The training plan is broken down into "Adaptation," "Endurance" and "Competitive" segments over the course of 37 weeks, with a "Taper" leading in to the race, as well as "recovery weeks" between the three main segments.  So obviously "Adaptation" is going to be the easiest, helping us build up to things like "90 mile bike ride followed immediately by 10 mile run with a break after 6 hours"....HAHA I don't even understand that, that is how crazy that sounds!! I don't even get to SLEEP for more than 6 hours often enough, so there's that to add in to my bewilderment.

Within each daily workout, there are also three different levels: Age Group, Elite and Pro.  I am going to try and stick with Elite/Pro for as long as I can/as long as I feel comfortable doing so, especially for the swim, as the Age Group swim is definitely too easy for me, but I'll adjust the run/bike as the distance/time begins to build. 

Run, Sasha, Run!!

Today's workout for the Elite/Pro is a 45/50 minute timed run, with some sprints thrown in mid-way, and an ab session afterword.  One thing I like about the plan is that it forces me to do some strength work that I would never do otherwise.  As I've said before on this blog, Amanda loooves to lift weights/has to keep up a certain level of base strength for her Army fitness tests, etc., whereas I am happy to stick with push ups/squats/carrying Sasha around and telling her what a wiggle worm she is.  I don't see that listed as a workout in the plan, ha, but I may have her join me for those springs today out in the park! She is a speedster!

Swim, bike, run, but not in that order...

As Amanda mentioned in her previous post, we both really fell off the wagon last week with our moves/study schedule/general life madness.  I couldn't even pop out for a quick run last week because I couldn't find my shoes or sports bras! I wore the same socks for three days, ha, but at least Sasha's toys were packed on top so she wouldn't be too traumatized by the chaos around us.

The most precious commodity of all!

That said, Monday was the start of a new leaf, and I had already scheduled in a swim with some of the NYAC folks, but was also dying to get out there and run, as the weather was half-decent, so I did a 6 mile run in Central Park and THEN the swim workout, which was surreal to say the least.  We used to always run then swim in the morning in college, but I wasn't running much due to residual injuries from a broken leg, and also, when I was finally back up and running, I had the benefit of youth.  No small thing to take into account, I am realizing!

Anyway, I actually felt good during the run (probably because I was so RESTED), but when I jumped in the pool, I literally felt like I weighed 700 pounds! It was a struggle to get "up" on top of the water and gain any sort of speed, but about halfway it finally picked back up, phew. Not that swimming after running is anything relevant for the Ironman per say, but being able to transition your body from one thing to the other is a key element, even if it is in reverse order!

Yesterday, I finally got my trainer set up in the new place and popped the bike up on that for about an hour.  Now that hurt! I was sore as could be this morning, but our training plan begins in earnest 3/1, so I guess I should get used to the feeling!  Amanda and I are settling on a formal plan in the next few days or so for the "8-month-out" marker.  Crazy!

Race recovery

To echo Amanda's latest post, we had a great, if extremely cold, half-marathon on Sunday! I was quite pleased with our 8:10/mile pace, and while I was definitely sore yesterday and this morning, I learned from Amanda that I can be a bit more aggressive with my out-going pace on longer runs that I have been.  I tend to start them out very conservatively and then when I am halfway, start to turn it on, but I can clearly be more aggressive, as I felt like I was really moving for the first 6 miles on Sunday, and was able to still finish strong, as we almost even-split the race.  Truth be told, some of that might have been due to the cold.  I have a feeling our first mile was the slowest, as by the time the gun went off, even though we had only been waiting around from 10-15 minutes, my toes were truly NUMB.

Not us.

But as far as pacing goes, Amanda is the opposite, or at least so she says.  She tends to take it out too aggressively and really die at the end, so us racing together was a good learning experience for us both! I think a lot of my soreness is from the mini fartlek's we were doing in the beginning to zip around people, as well as all the clenching we did in the beginning at at the end of the race as we scooted back to our room at NYC, clutching our space blankets, bagels and frozen apples.  Also, I didn't hydrate very much during the race, since the water was ice water (or frozen) and I didn't want to get my already freezing hands wet! Or my face! I was really jealous of all the people who had those big balaclavas over their faces.  I brought a neck gaiter to wear in the beginning, but ended up taking it off after 4 miles, as then I was just getting sweaty on my neck while still being cold everywhere else!

After the race, I swam a bit with the hubs (like, about 500 yards verrry slowly) and then got in the hot tub and sauna for a bit to stretch and continue warming back up.  I did a real swim with the NYAC tri club on Monday night, which felt great and definitely helped move any last bit of soreness out of my legs.  Today, I was a bit stiff in the morning when I woke up in my calves but did a nice hour-long spin on the trainer.   I did some interval work, and then some serious stretching afterwords.  I think I will be 100% tomorrow and ready to keep back at it! I think Amanda and I will have a great running base built up by the time the weather gets warm and we can kick it in to gear with the biking, which is going to be our biggest hurdle for the Iron Man, as it is definitely our weakest link of the three, and also the longest segment by FAR.   If we can drop in 15-18+ mile runs no problem by early spring time, I feel like we'll be in great shape to start building up our base on the rides, and focus on running off the bike, too.

Staying on track in the cold

While Amanda dominated her training this weekend, I was not quite as adept as she at getting out on that unexpectedly warm Sunday and doing a brick.  I had committed to doing a 12 mile run come hell or high water, and so that's what I did, and carried a fleece beanie in my hand the whole time, since I didn't realize how warm it was until I was a few miles in.

And then as soon as the warmth was here, it was gone.  It is now a balmy 22 degrees here in Brooklyn, and due to some work commitments, I wasn't able to do my usual Monday-night swim with my NYAC teammates, but got in a solid 90 minutes on the trainer and was as aggressive as I have ever been on the trainer, workout and interval-repeat wise.  Thank goodness I have some old seasons of Project Runway downloaded on to my laptop and Sasha was zonked out after chasing some squirrels that must have been low on nuts earlier this afternoon (why else would they leave their warm dens and venture out in this cold!?), so I didn't start to get bored after an hour.

Now that Amanda and I have MATCHING Cervelos, we are comparing notes on some random fit issues and how it feels to be in aero and shifting up and down from that position.  I still feel like I have to yank it when I am in the highest/lowest gears...or else my finger flicks just aren't strong enough yet! 

This guy is becoming my steady companion now that the temperature is in the mid-20's!

Also, I don't have a bike computer installed yet on my Cervelo (Amanda is bringing me one this weekend when she comes to visit me in NYC for the half-marathon on Sunday, yay!), so I don't know how many miles or RPMs, but I know deep down when I'm falling off my cadence and did my damnedest not to fall off when in the higher gears or getting tired in the later intervals.

Here was my workout:

20 minute warmup

10 x 30 seconds hard in high gear, 30 seconds rest, low gear

3 minute recovery/easy spin, 2 minute build back up

10 x 1 minute hard in high gear, 1 minute rest, low gear

5 minute recover/easy spin/back stretch-out

15 minute strong, keeping cadevnce steady in a higher/harder gear.  Not so hard I'm over-gearing, but 1/2 gears below.  Still high enough though that it is tough to maintain my cadence after a few minutes.

5 minute recovery

5 x 20 seconds fast spin, 40 recovery

10 minutes steady, 5 minute cool-down.

I was really burning in the ol' thighs at the end, and I'll defintiely need to get some new ideas (and a computer) as I try and up it to 2 hours.  I have a feeling it will be a while until it is warm-enough again for me to bike outside, so will have to content myself with the trainer, and hopefully I can get a session in early in the morning (when my husband is also awake, as it is loud enough that it would wake him up in our apartment) and then a run during the afternoon, before it gets dark/too cold. 

Did 12 miles in the park today...

...not bad for a Tuesday, and then I even met our library rep for a beer. I hogged the entire bowl of "bar popcorn" but whatever.  I felt great on the run! Even tried to negative split it.  The hardest part of the whole thing was honestly the fact that my HANDS were FREEZING after the first 15 minutes, and I was already wearing gloves AND mittens!

Swimming, biking and lots of running

The freakishly warm weekend allowed both me and Amanda to take our bikes back outside.  She was quite ballsy and cranked out 50 miles!  I stuck with Prospect Park loops ad nauseam, combined with some runs afterwords, but during the riding portions in the park, I really tried to become more and more comfortable in aero on my Cervlo, which was easier said than done, since the park was relatively crowded due to the warm-ish day, and I kept popping back up in to the break bars, worried about random people running out in front of me, etc. but I kept at it loop after loop, and really tried to stay in them, especially for the one big hill, to get used to shifting in that position and as Amanda discovered on her ride, too, having to truly use just your legs in isolation.

Hold that position!

On my runs I felt great, but was not logging in more than 5 miles on any of them, and what with a half marathon coming up in just two weeks, tomorrow I am doing two loops in Central Park no matter what! I don't want to loose the great run conditioning I built up training for the NYC marathon, and so it will be interesting to see how I feel tomorrow on that second loop and then I can gauge what I need to do between now and the 27th a bit better.  Amanda and I both plan on running this half marathon "tired" but we're anal enough that we want to do it well, too, and not just struggle through it!

Today, I was back in the pool with the NYAC tri club for our weekly swim workout, for a total of 3,000 which felt great, but I plan on limiting my swimming to just these Mondays so that I can keep focusing on building up my running and of course the biking, which will be mostly on the trainer now that the weather is going back to chilly, but once it starts to warm up, off to Nyak and 9W I will need to go! 

Pacework on a crammed schedule

I was hoping to take advantage of the warm day yesterday to log in at least 8, perhaps even 10 miles in Central Park, but since people would not. stop. calling. me. (or screwing up what they were supposed to have completed two days ago for that matter) I was WAY behind schedule and had dinner plans but was determined to get a run in and had left my gear at NYAC (near central park) on purpose.  By the time I got out of the office, up to NYAC, and changed, I had literally 30 minutes to run, and then 10 minutes to get back to the locker-room, change (no shower, just a towel-off), and be back outside getting on the subway. 

Quick like a Bunny! But not a morning pug (or person for that matter)

Sadly, the 6 mile loop is not possible for me in 30 minutes...if it were, I would be happily living large off my endorsements!  But could I bang out 4? Off I go (sans hat so I wouldn't get my hair sweaty and thus hide the fact that I had not showered once at dinner....vanity! vanity!), pounding it out as fast as I could. 

'Round the loop I go, and holding steady 7:25 pace, wheeling back through the doors of NYAC and into the locker room with almost a minute to spare.  How a four-mile hard factors in to my over all Iron Man training scheme I'll never know, but sometimes it is all about the small victories and just getting something, anything, in when the real world is closing in around you.  Plus, even though I was definitely pushing my pace, I still felt in control the entire time and never like I was about to die or fall severely off.  

And yet, while this is all very well and good, it just reinforces the notion that once I hit the start of my formal training plan at around the 7 month mark, all workouts must be taken care of in the morning during the week, with few exceptions.  There is just too much that crops up during the day that encroaches on a late-afternoon/p.m. workout, especially once I factor in travel time and the fact that my actual workout time is going to get longer and longer.   Time to start getting in better habits now!  I am NOT a morning person, so there will be some grumpiness in the future, but nothing coffee can't fix.  You'd think that all those years of early-morning swim practices since the age of 15 would have fixed this, but I actually think it has made me crave sleeping in even MORE!

Choosing a training plan

After a lovely and much-needed Christmas holiday, Amanda and I are ready to start the New Year off with a bang!

I did some biking, running and even an outdoor swim over the holiday.  I was down in Richmond visiting the husband's family and their club has an outdoor heated pool--heaven!! I miss swimming outside so much...it is the one thing I can't get in NYC and the fact that it was the middle of December and only crazy people desire to swim outside in such conditions, it meant I had the entire pool to myself.  I logged in 3,000, even doing 10 X 100 of intervals/1:20 pace/1:15 for the last few, so thrilled was I with my outdoor solitude.  100's of any multiple more than 5 was something I had swore I'd leave behind in college (along with 200's of butterfly), but I was feeling spry, and the opportunity to have an empty pool on a winter's day all to myself won't come again for quite some time!

Now, the time has begun for Amanda and me to find a training plan and schedule out the upcoming ten months.  It sounds crazy, but with our respective schedules in the real world (school, work, travel, family obligations, etc.) along with the other races we plan to do in the summer, the further out we can plan our training, especially long rides, I figure the better-off we will be in terms of sanity and making sure we are prepared to perform to the best of our abilities come November.

Does any one recommend a particular Iron Man training plan?  We are both of a relatively high fitness level.  I've run marathons before and we've both competed in almost a dozen Olympic races between us.  I personally feel comfortable with the longer runs, leftover from my marathon training earlier this autumn.  I want to especially focus on my bike endurance--both time in the saddle and just being able to run off the bike effectively.   I prepared to integrating doubles back in to my life...shades of college and high school swimming all over again!

This is one free training plan I found online, but welcome recommendations in the comments!

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/cms/article-detail.asp?articleid=441

And then a few other options on Training Peaks for a fee of course:

http://home.trainingpeaks.com/what-are-you-training-for/triathlon-ironman-training-plans.aspx

Will be exciting to take the next steps!

No Patreaus sightings, alas!

Spies!

Mixing up my usual run-route, in which I either hit the W&OD trail on foot instead of bike (which is sometimes discouraging, because all I can think at every land mark is "Aw man, I'm only HERE" versus on the bike), or else two trail runs near our house, I decided to hug Georgetown Pike coming out of my parent's neighborhood and run out to the CIA and back.  The foot path runs along the periphery of my old high-school (where our 4-peat Virginia State wins for the swim team are still listed on the outside brick, booyakasha!), all the way out to the CIA, where I can't help but voyeur through the barbed-wire fence and eyeball all the security cameras. 

The guards are probably rolling their eyes at me loping along, but I couldn't help smiling "back" at them as I envision General Patreaus and Paula Broadwell (or whomever) taking their "runs" along this same route.  For some strange, voyeuristic reason, I was OBSESSED with that story when it first broke.  It was all so weird and just plain silly in some respects, and sad too, especially for both of their respective spouses. 

But back to the task at hand.  The run is about 8 miles and I tried to hold it to sub-8 minute mile pace, although that was easier said than done come the end, as my legs were definitely getting tired and wobbly, no doubt due from the impromptu long ride the other day.  I probably won't be taking many more long rides before Christmas due to some traveling, and I can't go swimming for at least a week because of a scratch on the inside of my eye (ouch!) and chlorine is a no-no,  so there will be a lot of running in the next few days.  I'm hoping to get a true long run in prior to Christmas, between 14-15 miles, perhaps even tomorrow, since right now, my legs feel pretty fresh.  It is almost as if the run helped shake out some of the lactic acid/kinks from my ride.  Perhaps I'll try for along the Potomac.  I'm sure to have some sort of gossip-politico sighting there!

Feet are our friends! My transition to minimal shoes.

I think our poor feet are our most abused body parts, even if you're not doing copious amounts of running.  We stuff it in shoes, mash them in high heels, polish and pedicure then to an outward sheen, despite how the inside of those tootsie may feel.  We pound any on them day after day after day, and yet most people think feet are gross and smelly.  Hygenie aside, the human foot is actually pretty amazing.  If there is anyone out there that somehow hasn't read or heard of the incredible book Born To Run by Christopher McDougal, I'll sum up his argument in that regard: our feet are natural weight-bearers.  Miraculous weight-bearers, even, utilizing one of the most perfect weight-bearing structures, the arch, to it's advantage.  The foot is springy and sensitive and actually grows stronger the more of a beating it takes.

What has happened to our feet in recent decades is that they have become weak.  They are weakened because shoes have started to do most of the supporting, denying the muscles and tendons a chance to strengthen themselves and adjust to protect our more fragile joints, like knees, from absorbing the shock of our bodies against the pavement when we run.  When McDougal watches the Tarahumara, the elite tribe of ultra-runners down in Mexico's Copper Canyons, the one thing he notices (besides the fact that they can run hundreds of miles at insanely fast speeds without ever getting injured), is HOW they run: with a soft, mid/fore-foot strike, one that we regular folks also run with whenever we are in bare feet.

I won't purport to know all the nuanced arguments raging out there in the running community about shoes vs. barefoot running, minimalist shoes vs. stability trainers, heel strike vs. mid-foot.  The number one person who has any say about your running is you! If it works, great.  If not, there are always new ideas to try.  I've heard that triathletes tend to be very open to new tips, techniques, and training, since triathlon is a very young sport.  Super!  I know I know nothing, I can barely fix a flat tire on my bike, ha, so I'm always ears wide open. 

Case in point: When I was training for my first marathon three years ago, I wore stability shoes (Mizuno) and as I upped my milage, I started to develop some plantar fasciitis, bane of runners all over the world.  And my knee was starting to hurt.  From a life in swimming, I knew that often times when joints hurt, it is because the surrounding muscles are weak.  I know every shoulder-strengthing exercise in the book from my swimming days as a butterfly-er.  And knee exercises were plentiful on the internet.  But how to strengthen my feet?

As luck would have it, I had also picked up a copy of Born to Run at the airport and was riveted by the stories of Caballo Blanco, The Deer, Barefoot Ted, Jenn & Billy and the fascinating Tarahumara.

Seeing as no one seemed to have an answer to fix plantar fasciitis, just mitigate the symptoms, I drank the Kool-Aid about barefoot running and bought a pair of Vibrams.  At worst, I'd be out $90 and still have PF.  But maybe I'd be surprised!

The shoes I wear now, except in green!

And surprised I was! I felt GREAT.  For about a mile.  And then alllllll the tiny muscles in my feet, calves and ankles shouted at me for using after a lifetime of letting them relax.  I was SO SORE for three days, I actually contemplated scooting down the subway stairs on my butt.  But it was only soreness, not pain.

In a few days, I wiggled those toes back in to those vibrams and hit the road again (briefly).  And then just kept building.  I now can't imagine going back, and my PF has disappeared, although my feet still get sore when I up my mileage to anything over 10-12 miles.  I eventually moved from vibrams to Newbalance Minimus shoes so I could wear socks for chilly days and blisters, and so far so good!

I don't pretend this transition is right for everyone.  Amanda still wears the same type of Mizunos she's been loyal to for years.  She says my vibrams creep her out and I don't blame her.  But I'll never ignore my feet ever again! I roll them every day and night on my trusty Theraband roller (a GREAT Christmas present, by the way). I won't deny that I still love my un-sensible shoes for a night out, but always try to take a pair of flats, and once I'm home, the shoes come off! Let those puppies run free in all their glory.

Animal of the run part II

I am very jealous of Amanda's cats and kittens sightings during her very impressive long run.  My animal sightings in NYC can range from none whatsover, to very cute and smiley dogs, to squirrels, which I instinctively stare at nowadays since I am always dragged along towards them whenever I am with Sasha, although a few times in Central Park I have seen several raccoons (in the twilight hours) and the odd bunny.   I suppose I see a lot of horses too from those wretched carriages that I am still surprised are legal, but I just feel sorry for them and then feel like I have gritty teeth for the remainder of my run/ride from the horse doots that are swept up into the air from passing cars.

Run! There is a trashcan full of hot dogs ahead!

I plan on going for a long run myself tomorrow.  Amanda, you will be my motivation! I don't think I am up to 15 miles yet.  Even though I trained for the NYC Marathon this year, my mileage has definitely fallen off since then and I think aiming for a solid 12 will be right on target! Otherwise, my feet will be too angry with me to handle high heels I plan on wearing to the publishing holiday shing-ding on the docket for Wednesday. Shallow, but such is life!

Weekend warrior

I had set three goals this weekend: work on this biography of ballerina Alicia Markova I am editing (amazing!) and get in a long run and long bike/trainer session, as the upcoming week is pretty crazy with work obligations during the day and after-hours.

Saturday was gloomy and gray but I was jonsin' for that long run, so logged in 10 miles around Brooklyn and over the Brooklyn Bridge and back.  Dang, it is WINDY up there! I usually stick to Prospect Park when trying to do long runs, but I don't want it to get too stale for me, so figured that on a less-than-ideal sightseeing/bridge walking day, the tourists would not be clogging the bridge up too much and I'd have some freedom to run it at a fairly quick clip.  While I was trying to hold a fairly steady lope of 8:30/mile, I tried to make sure I integrated a few speed bursts every 2 miles or so, setting my watch to beep every 17 minutes.

I am one of those runners that hold basically the same pace for a 5K as a 10K, and while that is great for me in a lot of ways as I increase my distance for the Ironman and has served me well in marathons, I won't get any faster in the end if I don't integrate a bit more speedwork.  I plan on signing up for a few mid-winter 5K's just to stay sharp.  Plus, every time I run with Amanda back home when we're at our parents house I hate when she schools me on a final sprint/kick! Additionally, while the ultimate goal of 2013 is this Arizona Ironman, I have at least two shorter triathlons on the dockett: the NYC Triathlon and a sprint up on Montauk with the hubs.

I am definitely a touch sore today from the run yesterday, and plan on having a good long spin on the trainer this afternoon to keep building up my aerobic base and get used to riding in aero.  I am still fiddling with my seat angle as I am still getting a bit of rubbage in some less-than-ideal spots when riding in aero, so good to address this now!

Run, Sasha, Run!

Sasha: But I want to go on your long run!

I am putting it out there--I love my little dog Sasha an absurd amount.  My husband and I were on our honeymoon in Greece, and I swear that we spent half of our time wondering what Sasha was doing at my mom's house.  She's a ball of energy and spunk and no pigeon or squirrel in Brooklyn is safe from her adorable "stalk and hunt" act.  She's also a really fast runner.  At a full sprint, I can't even come close to keeping up with her, and the expression on her face is unparalleled.  That is something to always remember--forget the pace or how many miles you have to log in--just running to feel the wind in your hair (or ears as the case may be) and enjoying the exhilaration of speed is its own reward!  Even my sister's dog, Cosmo, would zoom around the backyard in loops with a funny little pug-grin on his face.  He's so old now, he doesn't have the energy for too many yard-loops, but ever once in a while, he still will take to the fence and run along side some kids walking home from school.

Here in Brooklyn, Sasha gets most of her runs in Prospect Park, running back and forth in the main field between me and my husband, stopping for a few seconds with each of us for a kiss and bite of grass before zooming back to the other. 

One evening, after we both had been cooped up all day due to a crazy work crisis on my part, I put on my running gear and thought I'd take her for a walk and then head right back out for a night run along the Brooklyn Heights Promenade.  Round-trip from my door, it is probably only 4 miles, but it's well-lit and safe, and ideal for stress relief after a long day when anything else is just not in the cards.

So, I leashed her up and right when we headed out the door, she kept pulling me forward. She was in no mood to just walk.  Faster! Faster! So I broke out into a run, and instead of trying to zoom off ahead at full speed, she settled in to a nice trot just ahead of me.  At our usual turn-around spot for walks, I didn't have the heart to do it so--she looked so happy and was clearly eager for more.  So we kept running.  

Up into Brooklyn Heights, along the Promenade, and garnering a few funny looks a long the way.  I had the biggest sh*t-eating grin on my face for having such a sincere and adorable running buddy, and Sasha is so tiny (15lbs) but so fast, no wonder people stared!  We were hauling!

When I reached the end of the hill at the base of the Promenade, I crouched down to see if she wanted to take a rest or walk the rest of the way back.  After she licked all the sweat off my face, she turned around and started pulling to go back up the hill the way we came.   So off we went! All the way back home.  And it was even a bit of a fartlek workout on the way back, and the closer we got to our apartment, she's lay on little bursts of speed and I'd have to keep up! No way could I let a little bean like her finish me off!

I had always told Amanda that some day I wanted a dog I could run with.  Who knew that this tiny little Cavalier Spaniel was already the one! She's 2 years old and at her physical peak, and the vet said to keep it steady and not go too far too fast, but as long as she's happy to set the pace/lead, go for it!

We now go running together 2-3 times a week, at about 3-4 miles.  She loves it so much, that this has to be built into my Ironman training, whether it is her reward for waiting for me to come back from a bike ride or get off the trainer, or I do 3-4 with her and then drop her off back home and continue on for however many miles to complete my long run.  Every time she sees my lace up my running shoes, she gets that look! And how can I deny that little face?!?!

Hopefully we'll see some of you at a Brooklyn/NYC Doggie Dash in the near future!

There are many great things about this blog for me.  Not only does it force me to do some sort of workout everyday so I have something to write about, but it also makes me think through my workouts, for good or for ill, to figure out what to write about.

Damn you water fountain!

Today I did a longish run (11.2 miles in about 1:30) along the Rock Creek Trail in Bethesda, MD.  As I was plodding along thinking about what to write for this post, I decided to go with something we have to do in medical school (another sign that school is taking over my life): analyze our feelings and context...so here goes.  I felt GREAT for the first 50 minutes.  The weather was great, it was sunny, I had some sweet tunes queued up on my Ipod, I was holding a good pace, all was good in the world.  Around 37 minutes I passed a water fountain along the trail, but alas it did not work.  At this point in my run it didn't bother me, but in about 20 minutes it would make me SO annoyed.  Around 50 minutes, I hit a sort of wall.  My pace slowed way down and I could feel myself getting a blister.  The run was no longer feeling that great and I was definitely feeling annoyed about my lack of physical fitness.  The peak of my irritation was when I passed that same water fountain 20 minutes later, but this time I was extremely thirsty and it was just sitting there...not working...taunting me!  At this point I was about 1:10 into the run.  It was time to make a decision.  Was I really going to waste energy being annoyed for the rest of my run?  Or was I going to suck it up and push through?

Well, I distinctly remember thinking the IronMan is 80 bigillion times longer than my run, so I better start learning to suck it up and be positive.  As a result, the last 20 minutes was similar to my first 50, minus the fast pace.  I'm not sure whether my happier attitude was because I was on the home stretch or because of my mid-run attitude adjustment, but I suppose having a good end to my run is all that really matters.  Overall, what I really took out of this run, besides the physical exercise, was that I can't let a slower pace or non functioning water fountains get me down!  Better to just stay positive and push through those hard parts in the runs, as I'm sure there will be many more.

As I'm writing this post I'm a little giggly because we have to write very similar essays to this quite frequently in medical school.  Somehow writing those just aren't as fun...My professor for that class, Dr. Auster, would be proud.