Archive for the ‘Training’ Category

Bouncing Back

Yes, usually when I stop blogging for a while, it means things are NOT going well! It’s been a rough 6 weeks, but I am finally feeling good and bouncing back!   I struggled with a foot injury leading up to FL70.3 and racing on an injured foot was definitely not a good idea.  The race pushed me over the edge and I was officially on the “injured wagon”for a good 5 weeks .  As a triathlete, not being able to run isn’t the end of the world, because we can usually swim and bike enough to keep from getting too depressed.  Unfortunately for me, it was my foot, and I had to scale back on biking and be very careful with swimming, because even kicking hurt it!  After  a great 10 mile run last weekend, I can confidently say “I am healthy again!”

Last week was a great week of training, not just because I am healthy, but because I am training again with Kelly!  Kelly is training for Ironman Lake Placid. She is on a roll, incredibly strong in all 3!  Our goal has always been to race an Ironman together, but it looks like that goal is going to have to wait….until October, maybe Kel?????   I decided to skip Lake Placid this year. This was a very hard decision for me.  If  I  could only pick one race  in the world to win, it would be LP.  I have raced there for the past 5 years, finished 5th, then 4th then 2nd twice.  After last years struggle on the  course, I decided I needed to take a break from LP.  I’m not saying I’m giving up on my goal, I am just taking a leave of absence from LP!   I know there will be part of me that will be really sad to be on the sidelines, but I also know that it will get the fire brewing more than ever for 2011!  July 25th will be all about Kelly!   She had a solid race at IMCDA last year, but her training was very spotty due to a foot injury which required surgery.   She ran a 3:16 off the bike with 1-2 days of running per week!! Now she is totally healthy and all I can say is WOW!  Kelly has supported me so much over the years and I am so excited to return the favor;  sherpa, training bitch, water girl…. bring it! 

As for my plans, as long as my foot continues to do so well, I am hoping to jump  in 2  70.3’s  over the next couple of weeks and then it’s Ironman time.  I am not 100% sure which one that will be.  I am exploring options now and I am considering IMC, IMLOU or IMWI.  All great races…..exciting stuff!! 

Here are some pictures of our training camp at Lake Placid; Kel and I ready to tackle the LP course, Kel ripping it up on mirror lake (very impressive 17 mile run off!), Angie being a great water girl, and then soothing the soreness (note; the bottles were empty, were not that gross!!) FUN TIMES!

Spring is Here!

I am sooooo excited that the snow is melting and the temps are rising.. finally!!  I had a great weekend of training.  I realized while I was out climbing App Gap that is has been 6 months since I have been able to ride outdoors in Vermont! We”ll that’s a little stretch.  There were a few days back in October when temps were tolerable, but I was nursing an injury and had to pass.  Last Saturday, we had a record breaking day so I suckered Kelly into a nice long ride up App Gap.  It was a beautful ride and it was awesome to be training with Kelly again!

Training is going really well.  It’s amazing how much you loose in a 2 week recovery block!  I’ve been back at it now for 2 weeks and the speed is slowly coming back.  I have 2 more hard weeks to go then a rest week leading up to the TX 70.3 National Championships.  Who know’s maybe I’ll sucker Kel into it!

Back at It!

Yup vacation is over! I had a great little break after Ironman New Zealand. I love training camps, traveling and racing, but I do get a bit homesick! The week after the race included alot and I mean ALOT of sleeping, a great ski day up at Smuggs and even an 80’s flashback Bon Jovi concert with a few highschool friends. Fun stuff, but now it is back to the grind!

It feels great to get back into my training routine. I’m back working with my swim coach, and did my first hard run since IMNZ. It wasn’t pretty, but I’ll come back! I’m now running in the new 2010 K Swiss shoes and they are really reall sweet! The Keahou II has great cushion, but also has a fast and responsive feel to it; a great combo and therefore a great shoe for both long runs and tempos. My plan is to spend the next few weeks working on getting some zip back in my legs and racing a few 70.3’s over the next few weeks.

I get alot of inquiries regarding my training for Ironman New Zealand. How do you train indoors for an Ironman?? So, I thought I would post a typical week for a Vermont girl training for a winter Ironman. This is a typical week in January. Note, my build was 8 weeks long, end of December to mid February, then a 12 day taper.

Mon. recovery day: 5k swim, easy 90 min spin on trainer
Tue. bike 2.5 hours threshold work: 5×1 min power intervals, 5×10 min(5′easy). pm treadmill run: 5×1 min pickups, 6xmile at 5:30(2 min easy)
wed. 5k swim, 3 hour bike w/hill reps, 45 min run of at ironman pace to faster
Th. 90 min progression run. swim 3k, pm easy 90 min spin on trainer
Fri. easy recovery day. 5k swim, 45 min easy run
Sat. bike 4 hours tempo and hills combo: 40 min tempo, (10min easy) 10 min hill climb hard (10 min easy) 30 min tempo(10 min easy) 10 min hill climb (10 min easy) 20 min tempo (10 min easy) 10 min hill climb.
Sun. long run on hilly snow packed trails or 18 miles flat and fast on the tready if it was below 10F!. pm 4k swim

There it is, my quality not quantity plan!

New Bike Sponsor

I am very excited to announce my new partnership with Parlee Cycles! I made the trip down to Peabody, Ma a few weeks ago to visit the Parlee crew and saw firsthand the fine craftsmanship that goes into Parlee bikes. I’ve been training on the TT bike for a week now and have been very impressed. It is incredibly comfortable, which as we all know is essential for not just a strong bike split, but also a strong marathon! I am proud to partner with a company who is just as passionate about cycling and triathlon as I am. Check it out:

I am fortunate to be working with many of the same companies in 2010; K-Swiss, Zipp, Sram, PowerBar, Fuel Belt, Blue Seventy, Vasa and my awesome local bike shop, The Ski Rack in Burlington VT. I am so gratetful to have such an amazing support crew and look forward to a great year!!

Ironman Louisville Race Report

I was excited to race Ironman Louisville and excited to test my fitness out in Kona like conditions. Race temps over the past few years have been in the high 80s to low 90s, so I thought it would be a great preparation for Kona. As race week rolled in, so did a cold front and we were greeted with much cooler than normal race temps. It wasn’t exactly Kona like conditions, but it did make for a fast day.

My training has been going well and I was excited to race and see what the day would bring. The swim was a struggle as usual. Somewhere along the half way point, my arch started to cramp. I was really wishing we were wearing wetsuits at the point! Fortunately, it worked its way out and I didn’t even think about for the rest of the race. I entered T1 with a lot of catching up to do.

I started the bike with a huge deficit, but I did my best to keep my anger and emotions in check and focus on the next task at hand; a solid bike split. My plan was to bike more conservatively than I typically do with the hopes of nailing my nutrition and running a fast marathon. I was really impressed with the bike course. Within a few miles, we were out in the Kentucky countryside surrounded by green rolling hills and horse farms. I felt great on the bike from the start. My P3 paired with an 808 front and 1080 rear was the perfect set up for this course. The longer I biked, the better I felt. My stomach and legs both felt great. I knew I would have a good run. I entered T2 in 4^th place, only 6 minutes down on 3^rd .

The run course was flat and with a predicted high of 76 degrees, I knew it was going to be a fast day for everyone. I opted to run in my new K-Swiss racing flats. They are incredibly light and perfect for the flat fast course. My plan was to go out a little harder than I usually do. I wanted to just run by feel and if I felt good, I would go with it. My opening miles were 6:30s and I felt great so I just tried to run sub 7s for as long as I could. Around mile 7, I moved into 3^rd place. I was gaining on the top 2 women, but the time lost in the swim was insurmountable. I ran from mile 7 to the finish in no man’s land. I knew I was close to a run PR and the course record, so did my best to time trial it to the finish. I crossed the finish line in 3^rd place and accomplished all of my goals for the day, a top 3 finish, a Kona slot, a new run PR and a run course record!

My trip out to Louisville will be a memorable one. We had the BEST homestay host and made some new wonderful friends. My legs are recovering well and I am looking forward to my Kona preparation. Once my legs are ready, I will head out to Tucson for a heat training camp then off to Kona for the Ironman World Championships. I am fortunate to have the support of K-Swiss, Powerbar, Cervelo, Zipp, Trakkers, Blue Seventy, Fuel Belt, Katalyst Multisport, Ski Rack, Rocket 7 and Vasa, Thank you all for taking such good care of me and I look forward to seeing you on the Big Island!

Some Long Overdo Updates!

Wow, my last blog was 8 weeks ago! Jeez how do some athletes remember to take the time to blog everyday! ??

Well, alot has happened since my last blog. I had a great time in CDA watching Kel race the Ironman. Once I returned home, it was time to buckle down and put the finishing touches on my IMLP prep. My training had gone really well and I was fortunate to be able to spend several long weekends in Lake Placid, thanks to my good friends Lethe and Frank. My pace on the run and bike course were the best they’ve ever been and I was really excited to race my favorite Ironman.

Unfortunatley, the day before the race, I woke up feeling extremely fatigued and queezy. I thought it was just from having a really bad allergy season or from the new allergy meds I was put on. I woke up race morning and felt worse; nausceous and weak. I chalked it up to nerves and moved on with my morning. By the second loop of the swim, my breakfast was coming up. As if swimming isn’t hard enough!! I tried to bounce back on the bike, but it was just one of those days when you wake up sick and cant keep anything down. I am not going to go into the gory details of the day. I quit at mile 10 of the run. Quitting is always a hard thing to do, but I believe there are times when we should push and there are times when we should throw in the towel and save it for a better day. I trained very hard for Lake Placid. I was fit and I want my hard work and fitness to be rewarded with a GREAT race. I had to look at the big picture and look at my goals for the year, which are to get to Kona, get back into the top ten there and have a GREAT Ironman. I was pretty bummed out after the race . Ironman Lake Placid is a very special race for me. But, the more I thought about it, the more I know I made the right decision. I know I will not become one of those people who just quit because they are having a bad day. I had some pretty bad races, where I soldiered on and finished. I woke up sick and if I finished, I would have had a very long recovery and that might have been the end of my year.

So what now, well I still have my goals and I am not giving up on them, so I will be at the startng line in Louisville where I hope to get my Kona slot and have a great race. I know as a pro, I am really fortunate to have this opportunity to make a little comeback and get a second chance. I don’t take this for granted. I will seize this opportunity and I will cross the finish line!

IMCDA

Some photos of our week in Coeur D’ Alene. Special thanks to Cindy and Kevin for welcoming us into their beautiful home for the week!

Checking out the bike course

Some Updates

Once again it has been a very long time since I blogged. After being harassed by all my friends for the past year, I finally broke down and joined FB, so that has been enough computer time for me!

After China, I stretched my recovery out to 2 weeks. Racing in such horrible conditions and then getting a stomach bug really took its toll on my body. Over the past 6 weeks, my training has gone really well and I was excited to test my fitness at Kansas 70.3. We arrived in Kansas on Friday and were fortunate enough to get set up with a GREAT homestay, Marc and Kim (thanks for making us feel so welcome!!). The race was just so so. I’ve been working really hard on my swimming since China. My 100Y pool times are about 5 seconds faster now, but I still swam slow! Open water swim season has finally began here in VT, so hopefully that will help. On the bike, it was just one of those days when you just cant get comfy. I switched my saddle the week before the race and felt like my position was off and I just couldnt generate much power. It was hard to be so far back, but I just kept telling myself that I would have a great run. Having a good run split was my main goal of the day. I have been struggling to run well off the bike, so I have been doing quite a bit more volume that I typically do; lots of hills and tempo, but very little speed work. I was a little worried about feeling fast off the bike. The week before the race, I went to the track and banged out mile reps in 5:30. It was good confidence builder to be able to do that without any speed work, so I thought I was ready for a sub 1:20 run at Kansas. I ended up running a 1:20 and finishing 6th place. 6h place was a little discouraging, but if you look at the start list, it’s not too shabby. I am feeling strong as I enter my final hard month of training before Ironman Lake Placid.

Yes, I am racing LP! I know I wrote a post at the begining of the year about making changes and trying some new races, but as July got closer and closer, I just couldn’t stay away!!! We all have that race that we think about when we are training hard, when we are hurting and when we are pushing hard day in and day out. For me it’s Ironman Lake Placid. 5 more weeks!!

California 70.3 Race Report

After a long hard block of training, it’s always feels good to get out and race and test the fitness. It doesn’t feel so good when things don’t go as planned. My race last weekend was a dissapointing one. I was excited to get out and race my first triathlon of the year. My Ironman China build went really well. My run build up was short due to a little achillies tendinitis which I got from too many runs on the snow back home in Vermont. However over the past 4-6 weeks, it has gone really well and I was clipping off some pretty good tempo runs and long run paces. My biking has been strong as well and my pool times had gone down remarkably from where they were last year. So, I was excited and ready to get out there and RACE! Unfortunately, about 2 minutes into the swim, it felt more like a lonely training day. I really believed my faster pool times would translate into a faster swim leg. Unfortunately swimming is not like running or biking and hard work doesn’t always pay off!! argggg…..The dynamics of 70.3 racing has changed over the years. With more and more ITU girls stepping up to 70.3, and more pack riding, the swim is becoming more and more important, even in Ironman. So, I will not give up! I’ll keep swimming 5 times a week, keep up with the stretch cords, vasa and look forward to the start of open water swimming back home in VT!

Back to the race, on the bike I actually felt pretty and was surprised that I didn’t pass more women and rank a little higher in the bike split category. But just like the swim, I was all alone on the bike. Looking at the results you can see how beneficial it is to have other girls around you on the bike. Seems all the girls who swam 24 minutes biked within 2-3 seconds of each other. Onto the run still in no mans land! I ran steady holding 6:30s. I haven’t done much speed work, so I wasn’t sure if I would be able to hold a much faster pace than that. By mile 8, I still felt really good, so I picked it up a little and a little and a little more and ended up running the last 2 miles at 6 min pace crossing the line in 10th place.

Every time I race, I try to draw something positive out of the day. This one was a hard one, but it is a good sign for my upcoming Ironman that I felt strong throughout the day and ended up with a big negative split on the run. That is a good sign that I am strong, which Ironman is all about!!!!

I have one more week here in Tucson before I head out to China. This is the hardest part of being away from home and tapering. Feeling lazy and bored!!!!

Final Weeks In Tucson

Just wanted to post a little update about my final weeks here in Tucson. I can’t believe I have been here for almost 2 months already. We’ve had so much fun training out here with some amazing athletes and my new coach Cliff. With just one more hard week of training left before I begin to taper down for CA 70.3 and Ironman China, things are finally starting to click and I am feeling great, tired, but GREAT! Last week was exceptionally hard. I had the longest brick workout of my life on Saturday, a great 22 miler on Sunday and afew new swim PB’s thanks to Cliff coaching me on deck! The weekend felt like an Ironman so I capped it off with my favorite post race food, BURGERS! It was so good!

Brian flies into Tucson on Wednesday and will make the trip out to California with me. Camp has been great, but I am ready to race and look forward to getting back home just in time for Spring!

Kel and I doing a Track workout.

Kel Climbing Madera Canyon

Aggy making sure I am ok after passing out after my 22 miler. ActuallyI think she was really just looking for half eaten gels!