Boca Store, 5:30
30' T.T. with lots of one-legged drills and various intensities
3x7' run, 7 hard, 7 easy, 7 hard
30' T.T. more one-leg drills, 5x1' all-out w/ one minute rest.
Core & stretch.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Sunday, April 22, 2007
HTT #15
Met at Kapiolani Park on Saturday morning. Did a bike ride out to Hawaii Kai and back, going into all the valleys. I went with the medium speed group. I felt a little weak, but I'm thinking I may want to try go with the fast group next time just to see if I can keep up. Our group almost caught them at the coming-back point, so maybe I have a chance. I'll probably get dropped, but if I do, I can just pick up with the next group that comes along.
We were supposed to finish the bike ride with a 2-3 mile run, but I had to go to get to an appointment back in Kailua. I never did get the run in. Bad, bad, bad.
We were supposed to finish the bike ride with a 2-3 mile run, but I had to go to get to an appointment back in Kailua. I never did get the run in. Bad, bad, bad.
Friday, April 20, 2007
HTT #14
The workout for Wednesday was as follows:
10'-15' warmup
3x2000m (5 laps on a track) run at hard, steady pace
1 mile cool down
I couldn't go on Wednesday, so I did the workout by myself at the UH track after work. I was doing each lap around 2'25". Not my best day, but oh well. I had also done a ~1200m swim in class that morning, but it shouldn't really have had much effect. Hopefully next time I'll feel stronger.
10'-15' warmup
3x2000m (5 laps on a track) run at hard, steady pace
1 mile cool down
I couldn't go on Wednesday, so I did the workout by myself at the UH track after work. I was doing each lap around 2'25". Not my best day, but oh well. I had also done a ~1200m swim in class that morning, but it shouldn't really have had much effect. Hopefully next time I'll feel stronger.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
HTT #13
Skipped Saturday's Transition practice to sleep in.
Monday, Ala Moana, 5:30.
short version:
warm up swim, 10'
3 rounds of 200m swim, 1 mile run
1 mile cool down run
core, stretching
Long version:
Damn, that sucked. The first loop was the worst. I did the swim, made a fast transition where I just used my water bottle to rinse off my feet and pulled my shoes on. I didn't even dry off the feet or tie the laces. Headed out on the run and about 30 seconds in doubled over from my stomach cramping. I must have swallowed water, and my tummy wasn't happy. I tried to throw up a bit, but it didn't work. Kept trying to go on, then grinding to a halt. Eventually I managed a slow and stiff jog while I seethed at all the others who were passing me. Finally, the last of my group went by and I got pissed enough to force myself to hang on. I still felt like crap when I got back to the transition.
Then I got in the water, and from then on everything was fine. I don't know what that first lap was about, but I got out of the water the second time and gingerly started the run, and...nothing. I was ok. What the heck? I took it easier than I should have, but at least I didn't have to stop this time.
Third round was better still. Not great by any standard, far slower than I'm happy with. My breathing was so ragged that as I gained on a couple of other runners, they heard me coming and told me I should take it easy. I just said I was having a bad day. They were probably right, but I felt that I hadn't been able to give a hard effort on the other loops, so I should at least do what I could for this one.
I don't know why today sucked so bad. I ate some chicken and rice around 4, but I figured that would be out of my system by 5:30, perhaps not. I also don't get why, even after the stomach issues were gone, could I not get the breathing under control. I wasn't going fast at all, I know I can go faster than that, but the breathing was slightly asthmatic.
Oh well, when we did this workout last year, I couldn't even finish. I was out at the start of the second lap from stomach issues. At least this time I got through it. Thank heavens you go from the swim to the bike in a triathlon instead of directly to the run.
Monday, Ala Moana, 5:30.
short version:
warm up swim, 10'
3 rounds of 200m swim, 1 mile run
1 mile cool down run
core, stretching
Long version:
Damn, that sucked. The first loop was the worst. I did the swim, made a fast transition where I just used my water bottle to rinse off my feet and pulled my shoes on. I didn't even dry off the feet or tie the laces. Headed out on the run and about 30 seconds in doubled over from my stomach cramping. I must have swallowed water, and my tummy wasn't happy. I tried to throw up a bit, but it didn't work. Kept trying to go on, then grinding to a halt. Eventually I managed a slow and stiff jog while I seethed at all the others who were passing me. Finally, the last of my group went by and I got pissed enough to force myself to hang on. I still felt like crap when I got back to the transition.
Then I got in the water, and from then on everything was fine. I don't know what that first lap was about, but I got out of the water the second time and gingerly started the run, and...nothing. I was ok. What the heck? I took it easier than I should have, but at least I didn't have to stop this time.
Third round was better still. Not great by any standard, far slower than I'm happy with. My breathing was so ragged that as I gained on a couple of other runners, they heard me coming and told me I should take it easy. I just said I was having a bad day. They were probably right, but I felt that I hadn't been able to give a hard effort on the other loops, so I should at least do what I could for this one.
I don't know why today sucked so bad. I ate some chicken and rice around 4, but I figured that would be out of my system by 5:30, perhaps not. I also don't get why, even after the stomach issues were gone, could I not get the breathing under control. I wasn't going fast at all, I know I can go faster than that, but the breathing was slightly asthmatic.
Oh well, when we did this workout last year, I couldn't even finish. I was out at the start of the second lap from stomach issues. At least this time I got through it. Thank heavens you go from the swim to the bike in a triathlon instead of directly to the run.
Monday, April 16, 2007
Volunteering at the Lanikai Triathlon
On Sunday, I got up at the obscenely early hour of 4am and caught a ride with A down to the beach. We headed to the same parking lot as last year but soon realized we were in the wrong place and the race had moved one park over to Kailua's 1st park.
When I arrived, I was given a purple volunteer's shirt and sent over to the check-in area where I was given a big black pen and instructions on marking people with their numbers. The idea is to write the numbers on both shoulders as the person faces you. You need to be able to see the numbers as they run towards you. Also, start writing as high up on the shoulder as you can because the lower the number goes on the arm, the harder it will be to read as the person runs, swinging their arms.
So, the next hour or so flew by as I wrote on human skin. It's a very odd thing to get used to, but most athletes seemed to find it as amusing as I did. I even had a few people take my picture. At one point, I was writing on someone, and a flash went off. I paused, looked right, and saw the guy's hand holding a camera off to the side to get a picture of both of us. I looked up at him, he smiled, and I went back to writing. Ok, then. Another time it was a teenager's family taking the picture of him.
There were about 8 of us assigned to this, but I noticed something. A few of the volunteers were teenage girls, and I guess they're in that shy and afraid-to-make-A stage. While I and the other adults would loudly announce that we were available to do markings, they'd stand quietly, afraid to approach anyone. People had to ask them if they were doing markings. I remember that being me. I'm so happy it's not anymore.
It's fascinating to see all the different types of people competing in this. I wrote on professional athletes, a mom doing a relay with her sons (way cool), guys covered in so many tattoos that I wasn't sure the number would show, and people riding their a mountain or cruiser bike. There was even a big guy riding a small bike with huge, chopper-style handlebars.
Once we got hastly marked the last minute stragglers, four of us were handed timing machines and we followed the race director (also holding a timer) down to the beach. We lined up to the side of the first wave (male swimmers) and waited until the count-down. 3-2-1, and we had to hit the "start" button on our machine.
Running back to the check-in area, we dropped off the machines and got ready for the swimmers to arrive through the chutes. We had two chutes and one team of three was assigned to each one. In each team, there was an announcer, a writer, and a chaser. The announcer would read aloud the numbers of the people who came through "their" chute. The writer would write the numbers down, and the chaser would run after people whose numbers were missed (obscured, unreadable, whatever) to retrieve the number. I was the chaser, but I didn't end up having to run after anybody, so I mostly acted as a second pair of eyes/error-checker. I'm very happy I wasn't the writer because for a minute or two there it was a flood of people and that guy had to write FAST.
While it was really exciting to see everyone charging out of the water and into the bike area, it was also sad to see the DNFs, the Did Not Finish people. For whatever reason, something went wrong for them and they never even got past the swim. You feel so bad for them as they sit on the sand and watch everyone charge on without them.
Eventually the last person came in and we closed the chutes. Using the posts that formed the swim chutes, we moved them over to form the chute to guide people out onto the run course, and then we went over to set up the finish line. We were barely done setting up when the first finisher, Tim Marr, came through at about 50'30s. Holy Cow! The second place overall didn't come in for another four minutes!
My final job of the day was to collect the tags off people's numbers as they came through. My partner had the worst of the job. He stood in the chute after the finish line and pulled off the tag, a little perforated strip at the bottom of the number. He would hand the tag to me. The tag has a hole on one end, and I would thread them upside down onto a string with a plastic laminated number on the bottom. There were six of these strings, aka "spindles" and you start with number one. When that got full, the people doing the timing would come and collect the spindle and then I would start on the next one.
I was sooo happy not to be the one pulling the tags off people. Everyone was covered in sweat, and some were so exhausted, they weren't thinking clearly and would just try to push past. About half would get the gist of what's going on and pull off the tag before they reached us, but the rest we had to retrieve ourselves. My partner was probably layered in other people's sweat up to his elbows. Some people practically fell on him. I was grossed out just being handed all these soggy pieces of paper.
It's funny how all sense of decorum goes out the window. Many women had their numbers pinned across their chests, and had no problem at all with this guy reaching towards that area to get the tag. And men would practically thrust their lower sections forward to help us out. It's very odd to have your hands that near to certain areas on a perfect stranger (I had to retrieve a few myself when it got really busy).
There was another teenager with us. The idea was that when someone came in without a number, she would write down the number on one of a stack of blank tags and hand it to me, and I would put it in the proper order on the spindle. I think that was only needed about three times.
After most of the competitors had come in, we were able to relax a little and chat with people. I noticed the teenager whispering and giggling with a friend of hers. I followed their eyes to where they were looking and saw a guy signing an autograph. I must have looked clueless, because one of the teen's mother told me he was "The Bachelor." Apparently, the current guy on the tv Bachelor show is a Hawaii resident and a triathlete, and was standing about 8 feet away. The teens next to me were in a complete tizzy.
I turned my attention back to some incoming runners, and next thing I knew, the guy was standing right next to me. He thanked the girls for helping with the race, and then asked one of them her name. She was completely speechless, just stood there with her mouth open. Yeah, I'm sure that's the impression she wanted to make.
I missed the next part because of another runner (and me trying to hide my laughter) and then I hear "How about a picture of you with all the volunteers?" This came from a guy I'm calling "The Publicist" who was tailing the guy and taking pictures of him with anyone and everyone. I found out later he had sent the bachelor over to us to talk to the gawking girls. Since the guy was RIGHT next to me, I couldn't exactly refuse, so there's a picture of me (and a few other volunteers) out there with the Hawaii Bachelor. Watching him walk away, I noted that the numbers on his shoulders looked like my handwriting. I may have written on this guy and never even knew it.
It's very strange that although I don't watch the show, I've had close encounters with two different Bachelor guys, and I would never have even known it if someone else hadn't told me.
I stuck around for the awards ceremony, and I'm glad I did! The overall winner, Tim, received a prize package that included a $120 gift certificate towards new shoes at New Balance. Since he's sponsored, and already gets his shoes for free, he offered to give the certificate away. Shoko convinced him to have a jun-ken-po contest with the first two that came up. I was one, and another girl from the Boca HonTri group came up. I was a little startled to turn and see it was someone I knew. But we did it and I won on the first try with scissors. I thanked him later for the certificate and he was very gracious and friendly. Seems like a very nice guy.
It was actually a lot of fun, and I'm glad I did it. It was fascinating seeing some of the inner workings of how a race is put on.
When I arrived, I was given a purple volunteer's shirt and sent over to the check-in area where I was given a big black pen and instructions on marking people with their numbers. The idea is to write the numbers on both shoulders as the person faces you. You need to be able to see the numbers as they run towards you. Also, start writing as high up on the shoulder as you can because the lower the number goes on the arm, the harder it will be to read as the person runs, swinging their arms.
So, the next hour or so flew by as I wrote on human skin. It's a very odd thing to get used to, but most athletes seemed to find it as amusing as I did. I even had a few people take my picture. At one point, I was writing on someone, and a flash went off. I paused, looked right, and saw the guy's hand holding a camera off to the side to get a picture of both of us. I looked up at him, he smiled, and I went back to writing. Ok, then. Another time it was a teenager's family taking the picture of him.
There were about 8 of us assigned to this, but I noticed something. A few of the volunteers were teenage girls, and I guess they're in that shy and afraid-to-make-A stage. While I and the other adults would loudly announce that we were available to do markings, they'd stand quietly, afraid to approach anyone. People had to ask them if they were doing markings. I remember that being me. I'm so happy it's not anymore.
It's fascinating to see all the different types of people competing in this. I wrote on professional athletes, a mom doing a relay with her sons (way cool), guys covered in so many tattoos that I wasn't sure the number would show, and people riding their a mountain or cruiser bike. There was even a big guy riding a small bike with huge, chopper-style handlebars.
Once we got hastly marked the last minute stragglers, four of us were handed timing machines and we followed the race director (also holding a timer) down to the beach. We lined up to the side of the first wave (male swimmers) and waited until the count-down. 3-2-1, and we had to hit the "start" button on our machine.
Running back to the check-in area, we dropped off the machines and got ready for the swimmers to arrive through the chutes. We had two chutes and one team of three was assigned to each one. In each team, there was an announcer, a writer, and a chaser. The announcer would read aloud the numbers of the people who came through "their" chute. The writer would write the numbers down, and the chaser would run after people whose numbers were missed (obscured, unreadable, whatever) to retrieve the number. I was the chaser, but I didn't end up having to run after anybody, so I mostly acted as a second pair of eyes/error-checker. I'm very happy I wasn't the writer because for a minute or two there it was a flood of people and that guy had to write FAST.
While it was really exciting to see everyone charging out of the water and into the bike area, it was also sad to see the DNFs, the Did Not Finish people. For whatever reason, something went wrong for them and they never even got past the swim. You feel so bad for them as they sit on the sand and watch everyone charge on without them.
Eventually the last person came in and we closed the chutes. Using the posts that formed the swim chutes, we moved them over to form the chute to guide people out onto the run course, and then we went over to set up the finish line. We were barely done setting up when the first finisher, Tim Marr, came through at about 50'30s. Holy Cow! The second place overall didn't come in for another four minutes!
My final job of the day was to collect the tags off people's numbers as they came through. My partner had the worst of the job. He stood in the chute after the finish line and pulled off the tag, a little perforated strip at the bottom of the number. He would hand the tag to me. The tag has a hole on one end, and I would thread them upside down onto a string with a plastic laminated number on the bottom. There were six of these strings, aka "spindles" and you start with number one. When that got full, the people doing the timing would come and collect the spindle and then I would start on the next one.
I was sooo happy not to be the one pulling the tags off people. Everyone was covered in sweat, and some were so exhausted, they weren't thinking clearly and would just try to push past. About half would get the gist of what's going on and pull off the tag before they reached us, but the rest we had to retrieve ourselves. My partner was probably layered in other people's sweat up to his elbows. Some people practically fell on him. I was grossed out just being handed all these soggy pieces of paper.
It's funny how all sense of decorum goes out the window. Many women had their numbers pinned across their chests, and had no problem at all with this guy reaching towards that area to get the tag. And men would practically thrust their lower sections forward to help us out. It's very odd to have your hands that near to certain areas on a perfect stranger (I had to retrieve a few myself when it got really busy).
There was another teenager with us. The idea was that when someone came in without a number, she would write down the number on one of a stack of blank tags and hand it to me, and I would put it in the proper order on the spindle. I think that was only needed about three times.
After most of the competitors had come in, we were able to relax a little and chat with people. I noticed the teenager whispering and giggling with a friend of hers. I followed their eyes to where they were looking and saw a guy signing an autograph. I must have looked clueless, because one of the teen's mother told me he was "The Bachelor." Apparently, the current guy on the tv Bachelor show is a Hawaii resident and a triathlete, and was standing about 8 feet away. The teens next to me were in a complete tizzy.
I turned my attention back to some incoming runners, and next thing I knew, the guy was standing right next to me. He thanked the girls for helping with the race, and then asked one of them her name. She was completely speechless, just stood there with her mouth open. Yeah, I'm sure that's the impression she wanted to make.
I missed the next part because of another runner (and me trying to hide my laughter) and then I hear "How about a picture of you with all the volunteers?" This came from a guy I'm calling "The Publicist" who was tailing the guy and taking pictures of him with anyone and everyone. I found out later he had sent the bachelor over to us to talk to the gawking girls. Since the guy was RIGHT next to me, I couldn't exactly refuse, so there's a picture of me (and a few other volunteers) out there with the Hawaii Bachelor. Watching him walk away, I noted that the numbers on his shoulders looked like my handwriting. I may have written on this guy and never even knew it.
It's very strange that although I don't watch the show, I've had close encounters with two different Bachelor guys, and I would never have even known it if someone else hadn't told me.
I stuck around for the awards ceremony, and I'm glad I did! The overall winner, Tim, received a prize package that included a $120 gift certificate towards new shoes at New Balance. Since he's sponsored, and already gets his shoes for free, he offered to give the certificate away. Shoko convinced him to have a jun-ken-po contest with the first two that came up. I was one, and another girl from the Boca HonTri group came up. I was a little startled to turn and see it was someone I knew. But we did it and I won on the first try with scissors. I thanked him later for the certificate and he was very gracious and friendly. Seems like a very nice guy.
It was actually a lot of fun, and I'm glad I did it. It was fascinating seeing some of the inner workings of how a race is put on.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
HTT #11
Wednesday, 5:30PM, Triangle Park.
Rode the Kahala Loop until 6:45, then ran for 15 minutes. 5 hard, 5 easy, 5 hard. Had a strong effort on the bike, but phased during the run so I could have done better there. Hip hurts. Tired and a little cranky. Skipped swimming today because I just couldn't bear the thought, that's a first, ugh.
Rode the Kahala Loop until 6:45, then ran for 15 minutes. 5 hard, 5 easy, 5 hard. Had a strong effort on the bike, but phased during the run so I could have done better there. Hip hurts. Tired and a little cranky. Skipped swimming today because I just couldn't bear the thought, that's a first, ugh.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
HTT #10
Met at Ala Moana to start with a stretch and swim. 7 minutes out and 7 minutes back. Then we went through mass water starts. When going into the water during a start, you want to stay on your feet as long as possible. Lift the knees high and make an almost jumping-like motion to get through the water. Given this, if the water start is at an angle, start on the side that goes closest to shore, it's that much further you can go while on your feet.
When diving into the water, look forward instead of down so the water doesn't shove your goggles down. It also helps to keep your arms out in front of you to alleviate some of the pressure of the water hitting your face.
As for coming back out again, the opposite is true. You want to stay horizontal as long as possible. You should have to dig your hands in the sand a few times and pull yourself along. You don't want to stand up until the water is below your knees.
If you're getting kicked in the head, you can cross your arms in front of your head and push down, this will lift up your head and keep their feet down. Also, if you're swimming next to a "bad sighter" who's forcing you away from where you want to go, you can just roll over them. It's similar to the turn you do when about to make a flip while backstroking. When the arm next to the person goes out in front of you, just roll over on it and you'll roll right over them to the other side. It's better than getting tangled up with them or pushing them.
After this, we did the run. 8x500m intervals with one minute rest in between. We did a short loop around magic island starting at the normal stretch/core spot. We would run counter-clockwise taking the first left. It works out to around 4-500m. I kept it between 2:20 and 2:27 for all 8, I think it was 2:20, 2:20, 2:24, 2:24, 2:27, 2:27, 2:24, and 2:20. Not ideal as they should all be the same, but oh well.
Coach said my running form is a lot better than it used to be. Much more relaxed and on my toes. Yay! No more marathon shuffle!
When diving into the water, look forward instead of down so the water doesn't shove your goggles down. It also helps to keep your arms out in front of you to alleviate some of the pressure of the water hitting your face.
As for coming back out again, the opposite is true. You want to stay horizontal as long as possible. You should have to dig your hands in the sand a few times and pull yourself along. You don't want to stand up until the water is below your knees.
If you're getting kicked in the head, you can cross your arms in front of your head and push down, this will lift up your head and keep their feet down. Also, if you're swimming next to a "bad sighter" who's forcing you away from where you want to go, you can just roll over them. It's similar to the turn you do when about to make a flip while backstroking. When the arm next to the person goes out in front of you, just roll over on it and you'll roll right over them to the other side. It's better than getting tangled up with them or pushing them.
After this, we did the run. 8x500m intervals with one minute rest in between. We did a short loop around magic island starting at the normal stretch/core spot. We would run counter-clockwise taking the first left. It works out to around 4-500m. I kept it between 2:20 and 2:27 for all 8, I think it was 2:20, 2:20, 2:24, 2:24, 2:27, 2:27, 2:24, and 2:20. Not ideal as they should all be the same, but oh well.
Coach said my running form is a lot better than it used to be. Much more relaxed and on my toes. Yay! No more marathon shuffle!
Sunday, April 08, 2007
HTT #9
Saturday morning, went to Lagoon drive. Did a one-loop ride warmup up and down Lagoon Drive and then went right into the workout. The workout was exactly the same one as this day in last year's clinic.
The plan was to do three iterations of the following: One bike loop up and down Lagoon Drive (~4 miles), followed by running two loops around a coned-off section of the park (~1k total). This added up to a total of 12 miles of bike and 3k of run, not including the warm-up bike or the cool-down jog around the entire grassy area of the park. Excluding the warm-up/cool-down, I finished in about 1h8m, although I didn't stop my watch right when I finished, so it's within a minute or so. That's a full four minutes faster than last year, and I felt much stronger through the whole thing this time. It probably helped that I didn't wake up feeling ill and I was able to eat a big bowl of oatmeal that morning.
Overall, I'm happy with how I did. My goal was to be the first female to finish along with giving it a very strong effort, and I succeeded in both. I alternated pulling/drafting on the bike with G (this was condoned by the coaches). I think I benefitted from that far more than he did. I'm no where near as strong a biker as he his, so I'm quite sure I did more drafting, also since I'm smaller he doesn't benefit as much in the draft as I do. He also helped me on the final run with challenging me to pick up the pace on the last leg of it (that was HARD).
This time around I made sure to eat and drink. I opened up an energy bar at the start of the second run and took a few bites during each following transition. I also took a gel before the last run as I was pretty beat by then. Still, it was all good. I think I put pretty much everything I had into it and paced myself fairly well the whole way. I was annoyed at how ragged I felt in the run, but I never walked and I pushed myself the entire time.
One nice thing, a fellow in our group came up to me and commented on how strong I was, in both the bike and the run. This surprised me. I don't expect other people to really take notice of my performance, and I hadn't noticed him out on the course, granted I was entirely inwardly-focused during this. Also, I thought my run was particularly slow and ugly. That taken into account, it was nice to know that I looked better than I felt. Also, one of the coachs said "You really tried hard today, didn't you?" I should be self-validating I know, but it still makes me feel good to have a hard effort recognized.
After the workout and stretching, there was a flat tire clinic. I've seen several of these, but I always learn something new. In this case, there was quite a bit:
1.) The most interesting but was how if it's your back tire that's flat, you don't have to unscrew it, you just flip the lever and lift the bike, the tire pops right off. Apparently it's just the front tire that has "lawyer lips" (seriously, that's what they're called) to keep the tire from popping off accidentally should the lever be open. I guess it's a far more serious accident if the front tire comes off instead of the back one, so only the front has it. Anyway, how cool to know I don't have to mess with that anymore.
2.) It's important to keep the back tire's lever closed inside the two frame bars going to the tire. If you close it outside of those, there's a slight possibility that someone else's tire could get in the space between it and your tire and flip it open or bring you both down. If you close it on the frame, it's much harder to open. So, that leaves the space between the frame bars.
3.) I REALLY need to change my CO2 tool. It turns out that I can get the tool that handles non-threaded CO2 cartridges and then I can use the cheap cartidges for paint ball guns. The threaded ones are like 8$ for a pack of two, and the non-threaded paint-ball ones come in a case of about 40 for 8$. They said that the paint-ball ones will fill your tire to about 90psi rather than the ideal 100, but if it's good enough for our iron-man coaches, it's good enough for me.
4.) Changing gear after the tire is off: If you forget to switch down to the smallest ring on the back before taking that back tire, you can switch it while the tire is off. The derailer will just move over and when you put the tire back on, just line up the chain with the smallest ring, it's already good to go. I don't know why I never thought about that, it made total sense when he said it, but I've always gone through the irritation of switching the gear before taking off the tire. This is sooo much easier.
5.) When putting the back tire on again, if it resists going on, just press down on the derailer, the tire should pop right into place. I always struggle with this a little, and he made it look so easy.
6.) I never knew what the little hooks were for on the other side of the tire removal sticks. It turns out that when you need to use more than one, you put the first one in the tire and then flip it down to bring the lip of the tire over the rim, and then you put the little hook on one of your spokes to hold it in place. How did I not figure that out on my own? I'm apparently just a dunce when it comes to bikes and I need to be told everything.
I think I'll have to sit in front of the TV and practice all this a few times to cement it in my head.
On a side note, even though today is Easter, the bike shop was open. I got tri-bars installed along with a new bike computer that does cadence. I'm looking forward to trying my new toys, but I have to wait until Wednesday.
The plan was to do three iterations of the following: One bike loop up and down Lagoon Drive (~4 miles), followed by running two loops around a coned-off section of the park (~1k total). This added up to a total of 12 miles of bike and 3k of run, not including the warm-up bike or the cool-down jog around the entire grassy area of the park. Excluding the warm-up/cool-down, I finished in about 1h8m, although I didn't stop my watch right when I finished, so it's within a minute or so. That's a full four minutes faster than last year, and I felt much stronger through the whole thing this time. It probably helped that I didn't wake up feeling ill and I was able to eat a big bowl of oatmeal that morning.
Overall, I'm happy with how I did. My goal was to be the first female to finish along with giving it a very strong effort, and I succeeded in both. I alternated pulling/drafting on the bike with G (this was condoned by the coaches). I think I benefitted from that far more than he did. I'm no where near as strong a biker as he his, so I'm quite sure I did more drafting, also since I'm smaller he doesn't benefit as much in the draft as I do. He also helped me on the final run with challenging me to pick up the pace on the last leg of it (that was HARD).
This time around I made sure to eat and drink. I opened up an energy bar at the start of the second run and took a few bites during each following transition. I also took a gel before the last run as I was pretty beat by then. Still, it was all good. I think I put pretty much everything I had into it and paced myself fairly well the whole way. I was annoyed at how ragged I felt in the run, but I never walked and I pushed myself the entire time.
One nice thing, a fellow in our group came up to me and commented on how strong I was, in both the bike and the run. This surprised me. I don't expect other people to really take notice of my performance, and I hadn't noticed him out on the course, granted I was entirely inwardly-focused during this. Also, I thought my run was particularly slow and ugly. That taken into account, it was nice to know that I looked better than I felt. Also, one of the coachs said "You really tried hard today, didn't you?" I should be self-validating I know, but it still makes me feel good to have a hard effort recognized.
After the workout and stretching, there was a flat tire clinic. I've seen several of these, but I always learn something new. In this case, there was quite a bit:
1.) The most interesting but was how if it's your back tire that's flat, you don't have to unscrew it, you just flip the lever and lift the bike, the tire pops right off. Apparently it's just the front tire that has "lawyer lips" (seriously, that's what they're called) to keep the tire from popping off accidentally should the lever be open. I guess it's a far more serious accident if the front tire comes off instead of the back one, so only the front has it. Anyway, how cool to know I don't have to mess with that anymore.
2.) It's important to keep the back tire's lever closed inside the two frame bars going to the tire. If you close it outside of those, there's a slight possibility that someone else's tire could get in the space between it and your tire and flip it open or bring you both down. If you close it on the frame, it's much harder to open. So, that leaves the space between the frame bars.
3.) I REALLY need to change my CO2 tool. It turns out that I can get the tool that handles non-threaded CO2 cartridges and then I can use the cheap cartidges for paint ball guns. The threaded ones are like 8$ for a pack of two, and the non-threaded paint-ball ones come in a case of about 40 for 8$. They said that the paint-ball ones will fill your tire to about 90psi rather than the ideal 100, but if it's good enough for our iron-man coaches, it's good enough for me.
4.) Changing gear after the tire is off: If you forget to switch down to the smallest ring on the back before taking that back tire, you can switch it while the tire is off. The derailer will just move over and when you put the tire back on, just line up the chain with the smallest ring, it's already good to go. I don't know why I never thought about that, it made total sense when he said it, but I've always gone through the irritation of switching the gear before taking off the tire. This is sooo much easier.
5.) When putting the back tire on again, if it resists going on, just press down on the derailer, the tire should pop right into place. I always struggle with this a little, and he made it look so easy.
6.) I never knew what the little hooks were for on the other side of the tire removal sticks. It turns out that when you need to use more than one, you put the first one in the tire and then flip it down to bring the lip of the tire over the rim, and then you put the little hook on one of your spokes to hold it in place. How did I not figure that out on my own? I'm apparently just a dunce when it comes to bikes and I need to be told everything.
I think I'll have to sit in front of the TV and practice all this a few times to cement it in my head.
On a side note, even though today is Easter, the bike shop was open. I got tri-bars installed along with a new bike computer that does cadence. I'm looking forward to trying my new toys, but I have to wait until Wednesday.
Friday, April 06, 2007
Swim Class
On Thursday, we started off with series of drills as if we were relearning the basics of swimming, we were to focus on what we had learned from our videos.
25m kick only.
25m kick only on your back.
25m one-arm stroke w/ pullbuoy, switch arms halfway.
25m stroke only w/ pullbuoy.
25m focusing on hand position.
25m focusing on entry point and reach.
25m full swim.
There were a few other things, but I don't recall.
Then we did 16 25m sprints. The first four we went every 35', the next four was every 40', then we repeated those two sets for the second 8. So however fast you swam it, you had to be ready to start the next one 35 or 40 seconds from when you started the previous one.
I'm not sure what I think about this. It's a good workout, great cardio, but I don't know if it was appropriate for the first day after seeing our videos. The issue is that I feel I need to concentrate on form and all the parts. When I sprint, I'm fairly certain my form falls apart. Am I reinforcing the "bad"? She did say we needed to watch our form and not let it fall apart as we get tired, but I don't know that I'm at the point where that's incredibly realistic. Oh well, it's a minor nit. I'll just swim on my own and do the form stuff then.
25m kick only.
25m kick only on your back.
25m one-arm stroke w/ pullbuoy, switch arms halfway.
25m stroke only w/ pullbuoy.
25m focusing on hand position.
25m focusing on entry point and reach.
25m full swim.
There were a few other things, but I don't recall.
Then we did 16 25m sprints. The first four we went every 35', the next four was every 40', then we repeated those two sets for the second 8. So however fast you swam it, you had to be ready to start the next one 35 or 40 seconds from when you started the previous one.
I'm not sure what I think about this. It's a good workout, great cardio, but I don't know if it was appropriate for the first day after seeing our videos. The issue is that I feel I need to concentrate on form and all the parts. When I sprint, I'm fairly certain my form falls apart. Am I reinforcing the "bad"? She did say we needed to watch our form and not let it fall apart as we get tired, but I don't know that I'm at the point where that's incredibly realistic. Oh well, it's a minor nit. I'll just swim on my own and do the form stuff then.
Thursday, April 05, 2007
HTT #8
I wasn't able to be there yesterday (long story), but this was the scheduled workout:
Meet at Palolo Pool. Run 8-10x hill repeats. Stretching and Core work. Swim Palolo Masters.
Meet at Palolo Pool. Run 8-10x hill repeats. Stretching and Core work. Swim Palolo Masters.
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Swim Video
On Tuesday, I saw my video from the swim class. Not so good. I'm swimming "uphill" meaning I was dragging my lower body through the water from it hanging low in the water. The solution is to press down on the chest and focus on the kick, bringing the heels up to the surface. Also, I need to bend my elbows more, bringing the hands more in and under my core. As I already knew, my kick sucks, it's coming from the knees, not the hip flexors.
What I found most interesting was the "dragging" of the lower body. The other video didn't show that, in fact, head on in the boca video, you couldn't see my lower half at all except my toes occasionally kicked into view. The only thing I can think of is the head position. When I look down, as advocated by boca, my lower half automatically goes up. When I look up, as advocated by the UH class, my lower body sinks. Makes sense when you think about the mechanics, but I still have to try and swim with the head up during the UH class. Still, outside of that, I think I'll have to go with the head-down as that seems to work better for me.
What I found most interesting was the "dragging" of the lower body. The other video didn't show that, in fact, head on in the boca video, you couldn't see my lower half at all except my toes occasionally kicked into view. The only thing I can think of is the head position. When I look down, as advocated by boca, my lower half automatically goes up. When I look up, as advocated by the UH class, my lower body sinks. Makes sense when you think about the mechanics, but I still have to try and swim with the head up during the UH class. Still, outside of that, I think I'll have to go with the head-down as that seems to work better for me.
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
HTT #7
Boca at 5:30pm. The schedule looked like this:
25' T.T.
25' Strength circuit/Stretch cords
25' T.T.
20' Run
What actually happened:
25' T.T.
Lots of one-leg drills and various intensity 1-2 minute intervals.
25' circuit
Mostly core and leg work. Crunches: normal, legs-up, lats crunches, etc.
Also did a number of variations on squats (normal, one-legged, hold) and lunges (ouch). Did backwards-step lunges which is much easier on the knees.
25' T.T.
2x12' intervals at hardest intensity you can hold. I did ok on the first one, but I laid it all out on the second. I kept seeing the guy in front of me and thinking if I didn't get a move on, he was going to slaughter me come race day. Closing my eyes and picturing T from last season riding just in front of me and me trying to pass him helped too. I just kept imagining me creeping up ever closer behind him, it's surprisingly motivating.
20' Run
This was called 2x10' with the first 10' hard and the second 10' harder. We ran up and down the road in front of the medical school which is roughly one mile long. Did somewhere over 2 miles. Was exhausted but 10 minutes later I felt like I had done nothing at all. Cool.
25' T.T.
25' Strength circuit/Stretch cords
25' T.T.
20' Run
What actually happened:
25' T.T.
Lots of one-leg drills and various intensity 1-2 minute intervals.
25' circuit
Mostly core and leg work. Crunches: normal, legs-up, lats crunches, etc.
Also did a number of variations on squats (normal, one-legged, hold) and lunges (ouch). Did backwards-step lunges which is much easier on the knees.
25' T.T.
2x12' intervals at hardest intensity you can hold. I did ok on the first one, but I laid it all out on the second. I kept seeing the guy in front of me and thinking if I didn't get a move on, he was going to slaughter me come race day. Closing my eyes and picturing T from last season riding just in front of me and me trying to pass him helped too. I just kept imagining me creeping up ever closer behind him, it's surprisingly motivating.
20' Run
This was called 2x10' with the first 10' hard and the second 10' harder. We ran up and down the road in front of the medical school which is roughly one mile long. Did somewhere over 2 miles. Was exhausted but 10 minutes later I felt like I had done nothing at all. Cool.
HTT #6
On Saturday, we met at the Boca store at 7AM. Ran to Ewa end of AlaMoana beach and then went swimming. Lots of drills: catch-up, fist, kicking, etc. Between each drill we had to do vertical kicking while the next drill was described. Ran back to the store where we split into two groups. These were the same groups that we split up into for swim filming on Wednesday. One group stayed downstairs to watch the video while the other went upstairs for a T.T. workout, then we switched.
Our group watched the video first. Basically, I'm not too bad. I have a slight crossover on occassion, I need to lift the elbows a bit more, but the biggest thing is the kick. I kick from my knees when it should be from the hip-flexors. Good to know.
After this, we did a 45' T.T. workout and then had a potluck. The workout didn't finish until about 11:30, so it was nice to sit, eat, and talk story for a while.
Our group watched the video first. Basically, I'm not too bad. I have a slight crossover on occassion, I need to lift the elbows a bit more, but the biggest thing is the kick. I kick from my knees when it should be from the hip-flexors. Good to know.
After this, we did a 45' T.T. workout and then had a potluck. The workout didn't finish until about 11:30, so it was nice to sit, eat, and talk story for a while.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)