This weeks long run will be held in...Phoenix???

After 3 weeks of long runs in other states, I am back home.  Today Peggy and I ran 16 miles through downtown Phoenix.

Bridle Path in central Phoenix; felt like we were
running in some gentrified southern city.

Today's mantra was: THE FASTER YOU RUN, THE SOONER YOU GET TO EAT PANCAKES!

We were starving for half the run!  By the time we got our pancakes we were downright giddy.  I am sure our server (and the people at the next table) thought we were nuts.  Nothing tastes better than a meal you earned!  A good workout followed by a good breakfast is at the top of my list of the best things in life!

About 6 miles into our run I started daydreaming about the Ironman marathon, something I am extremely prone to on my runs lately.  I was imagining encouraging other runners, and seeing my friends and family, and keeping a smile on my face, then eventually getting to the finish line chute...then I looked down at my watch, then looked back at Peggy...and she was way behind me!  I had inadvertently sped up during my daydream!  If just thinking about it makes me go faster, imagine what kind of energy it will give me to actually be there!

Peak training focus

7 WEEKS TILL IRONMAN!

Expect me to begin a post like that at least once a week until race day.  It is crazy to think that I started this journey almost a year ago (more than that; because I had it in my head and started swimming back in August!), and now it is only 7 WEEKS away!

Going in to this last month of peak training, I am focusing on the following:

1. Running off the bike.

2. Eating very healthy.

3. Riding as much as possible.

I am aiming to run immediately after at least 2 rides a week, and increase the length of the transition run after my longest ride.  This really is at the heart of triathlon: conditioning your body to run after a taxing ride.

I am trying to eat very healthy; lots of whole grains, fruits and veggies, and no sweets (except for fast energy during long workouts).  I need to fuel my body exceptionally well right now to meet the demands I am putting on it and allow it to perform, as well as recover.  Also, I would really like to lose a few more pounds of body fat, which would allow me to 1) go faster with the same effort and 2) look better in my triathlon clothes.  Mainly the first one.  But who are we kidding?  You put in a year of effort, you want to look like it.  I want to show up among these thousands of well-trained triathletes and look like I belong there!

Although I am indeed a terrible swimmer, I am not concerned about that.  Like I decided previously, it is not worth the huge time commitment required for minimal gains.  I can hold my own without ruining my race.  What I am worried about, however, is the bike.  I am seriously worried about not making the cut off!  I keep a pace on my long rides that would allow me to make it, but that is when I am riding.  I will make it at that pace if I hold it non-stop for 112 miles.  But that doesn't factor in potty stops, slowing or stopping to refuel at aid stations, and the always possible flat tire or other mechanical difficulty.  Of course I have never done a ride without major stops before, because I have to be responsible for all my own fueling; no aid stations on training rides.  So I spend probably a good 40 minutes over 80 miles at stores refilling water, ice, food, etc. My first 100 miler (THIRD ATTEMPT at 90+ miles, so I don't want to get ahead of myself) is this Monday, so I will try to be efficient and then have a better idea of how worried I need to be. Regardless, biking is definitely my limiter, and the biggest chunk of the race, as well as the thing that can make or break my run, so I want to get as good as I can.  To that end, I am adding a 4th weekly ride to my schedule until taper time.

The run, I am not worried about.  I am so much better than I was when I did the marathon in February!  Every transition run I do off the bike feels great.  I have gotten myself to the point, mentally, where when I get tired, instead of slowing down I speed up!  When I feel myself getting tired I focus on my form, consciously taking smaller steps, but more of them.  This attention to efficient form makes me run faster, so I often end up running faster when I am tired than when I am fresh!  Of course, that's 16 miles, not following a 112 mile bike ride; but I am fairly confident, because it is not a mental technique I possessed 8 months ago!  Also, what used to be my hard pace is now often my comfortable pace, and the pace at which I used to do long runs seldom even appears on my gps anymore!  Before the marathon I was struggling to keep my pace below 11 minute miles on long runs, and now I seldom go slower than 10 minute miles.  Today I ran the last 3 miles of a 16 mile run at 9:30 miles!  After a 1hr 45min ride+5 mile run combo workout yesterday.

2 things I developed during my tempo run yesterday:

MANTRA:

DON'T SLOW DOWN.  IT WON'T MAKE IT HURT ANY LESS. IT WILL JUST HURT LONGER.

RACE PLAN:

SURVIVE THE SWIM.

KEEP UP ON THE BIKE.

KILL IT ON THE RUN.

Flats!

So I have had some issues with my bike tires lately.  Bike tire, actually; just the back.  I got a flat tire right before we left San Diego, so when we got back to Phoenix, I changed it.  Turned out it was a nightmare to change.  It was so hard to get the tire off the rim that I seriously thought I was going to have to take it to a professional!  I did finally get it off, changed, and back on, but the process took close to an hour!  This was in the morning right before my scheduled 85 mile ride.  It takes me about 7 minutes to change the tire on my Cannondale, start to finish, so this difficulty was not normal, and it definitely worried me.  I have to be prepared to change a flat (or multiple flats) during Ironman, without it taking so long that it puts me out of the race.  This had not been a concern for me, because I am fast at tire changing, but this new wrinkle changed everything. Anyway, once I had the tire changed I went in to get dressed and sunblocked, and when I went to get on the bike, the back tire was flat as a pancake.

Thus began my second tire change in less than an hour.  This one was slightly faster, but still a nightmare.  Finally I was on my way, 2 hours behind schedule.  That was the day I rode 87 miles.

Last Monday I planned a 90-mile ride.  23 miles in...you guessed it!  Flat again!  Same tire!  I actually wasn't too upset, because I obviously need practice with changing this tire before the race, but in my attempt to get the tire off the rim, my tire levers (plastic tools that loosen tire from rim) snapped in half!  Thus I was completely unable to even change the tire!  I called Karin, who was getting off work in 45 minutes, to tell her I needed a ride.

We went to Performance Bike to get the tire changed, so that they could check it and hopefully figure out why it kept flatting.  I never had that problem with my other bikes.  He checked it out and decided the rim tape had been shifted (I believe when I was struggling so hard to loosen the tire), exposing the end of a spoke, which punctured the tire.  So he re-taped it, replaced the tube, and I was on my way.

Unfortunately that was my only day off that week, so I never got in my 90 miler.  The next day I worked in the afternoon, so I rode as far as I could before work, which turned out to be 50 miles. Great ride, though very hot!  It was 108 when I finished my transition run!  But no tire issues!  I left my bike in the car while I was at work, and when I came back, BOTH tires were flat; I assumed it was the excessive heat that had caused it.

So I changed both tires.  The front one took about 10 minutes, the back one took about 30.  What is up with that tire?!  I have to get it switched before Ironman, or one flat will end my race!  But I changed both tires successfully and did the rest of my scheduled rides on the trainer that week.

Then, this past Monday, I was scheduled to do my first 100 mile ride!  23 miles in, flat again!  This time it took 25 minutes start to finish.  Getting faster!  40 miles later...FLAT. AGAIN. SAME. TIRE. WHAT WAS GOING ON HERE?????

Now I was out of tubes, but I changed it one more time (15 minutes!) putting the old tube back in, hoping it would at least hold so I could get somewhere.  It didn't even last till I put away my tools!

Karin to the rescue, again!

This time we went straight to Performance, a different location in the area closest to where I flatted, and I told them what was happening.  Karin insisted on speaking to a manager (I am surprisingly ineffective at being assertive in these situations) and the end result is that they changed the rim tape and the tire itself (for free!), to a different type; the same type I have on my Cannondale, so I know I can change that!

In the end, based on the evidence, I have concluded that the cause of this crazy series of flats was as follows:

The first flat, in San Diego, was a legitimate, regular flat from running over something on the road. In the process of struggling to get the tire off to change that flat I shifted the rim tape, thus exposing a spoke, causing the next flat.  Then both tires popped from the heat, and every subsequent flat after that was likely caused by minute punctures from my tool as I struggled to get the tire back on each time.

If my conclusion is accurate, I shouldn't get another flat for a while.  And when I do, it should be easier to change, which should avoid further damage to the tubes from struggling with the tire.

The worst part of all this is that I haven't gotten in a ride longer than 62 miles in weeks!  By now I should have done a 90 mile ride and a 100 mile ride, and I have done neither!  I am way behind! So I hope my tire problems are behind me, because I don't have time for any more!

Speaking of which, it is now...

LESS THAN 8 WEEKS TILL IRONMAN!!!

The next 5 weeks will be the peakest of peak training, with up to 20 hours per week of working out! Then the last 3 weeks before the race are the taper, when I gradually reduce the volume of my training to be rested for Ironman.  Basically I have 5 weeks to build my fitness as much as humanly possible, then 3 weeks dedicated solely to not screwing it up! 

Am I getting nervous?  Hell yeah!  But also very, very excited!

It is highly unlikely that during the next 5 weeks, I will engage in any activities, conversations, or thoughts that do not have to do with Ironman!

18 miles in San Francisco

This is what rocks about having a friend who a) is on my flight benefits, 2) loves to travel and 3) is training for a marathon: I can say, "Do you want to fly to San Francisco on September 21st to do an 18 mile run?"  And her response will be, "YES!"

So that is exactly what my roommate, Peggy and I did yesterday.  We flew to SFO Friday night, where we stayed at a hotel Peggy had gotten for a great deal on Priceline; then on Saturday we got up, ran 18 miles, showered, had chowder and beer, and went back to the airport and flew back to Phoenix.

Ready to run! Night before set up in the hotel room.

We found a route on mapmyrun.com, where other runners log their runs, so you can find routes in any city.  The weather report showed a 30% chance of rain, so naturally it started raining at mile 6 and didn't stop until mile 15.

We crossed the Golden Gate at mile 5, and I was running with a perma-grin.  It was so beautiful, and after training in 100+ degrees in Phoenix, and around 80 in Seattle, running in 60 degrees seriously felt like floating.  I didn't even feel like I was working!  I just kept looking around and smiling at Peggy and saying, "Isn't this amazing?!"  (I think Peggy may have been getting a little annoyed with my enthusiasm.)

We crossed back over the bridge and consulted a map to plan our next move.  I knew there was some kind of coastal trail, and we found it on the map, but part of it was closed.  But there was a detour, and we managed to find it with the help of some friendly runners.  (There were tons of runners out!  Tons!  And they were all friendly!)

So we followed this awesome coastal trail, which had a lot of hills, and then a lot of STAIRS, but led us to this gorgeous view

It had started to rain a bit on the bridge, but by the time we got here it was a total downpour, and the path led uphill in every direction!  Peggy was getting pretty irritated with the conditions, and she actually didn't want to run anymore! (We were at least 6 miles from our hotel, so stopping wasn't really an option!)  Peggy is training for the NYC marathon, so I said, "What are you going to do if it rains in NYC?  Stop running?!"  And she said, "Yep!"

So then I said, "You need to work on your mental toughness!  And this is a perfect time to do it!" Then I sped up, because I think she wanted to punch me.

Yay stairs!

When the wind and rain hadn't let up by mile 11 we decided to make it a 16 mile run instead of 18. But at 15.72 miles, a right turn would have led us back to our hotel a half mile away.  By then the rain had finally let up, and we were at the Embarcadero where all the World Cup sailboats are, so I said, "If we just go straight for less than a mile, then turn around and come back, we can do an 18 miler like we planned.  Whataya say?"  (I sensed that she really wanted to have accomplished 18.  I knew I had her.)

Sure enough, she agreed.  But around mile 17, when I saw a gorgeous little park off to the side of the road and said, "Look at this cute little park!  Let's run through here!" she may have gone back to wanting to punch me.

The fact is I loved every minute of the 18 mile run!  My enthusiasm drove Peggy to the brink of madness, and likely just confused everyone else.  But it never occurred to me to stop or slow down or even be upset.  That was the run, and those were the conditions.  And it was so beautiful and different, that it just flew by!  Karin says I may be different than most people in this way.  I am hoping that will hold me in good stead for the Ironman!

And, of course, after the run and the hot shower, there was the reward that had really kept us going all long...

I finally found THE ONE!

I realized I had not officially announced that after a lot of hemming and hawing and research and Craigslist stalking and bike riding I finally decided...TO KEEP MY FUJI!  I actually came to this decision before we left San Diego.  Since then, I have not even been on Craigslist, nor have I Googled different bikes and compared their components and prices.  Also I have not even been on the triathlon forums!  I have finally just accepted that I am on the path I am on and all I have been doing in regards to training is...actually training.

This is what I finally realized about my bike: It is the best bike for me for Ironman.  I realized that a big part of my struggle was that I don't really see myself doing a lot of long rides just for the sake of riding after Ironman.  Thus I was trying to find the best bike for me long term, which would also be the best bike for Ironman.  Turns out these 2 bikes cannot be the same bike.  By the time I realized that, I had made some adjustments to the Fuji which made it very comfortable (except the saddle!...more on that later) and we had been on a lot of rides together and, quite frankly, we had become attached.

Well, once I realized that this was in fact, my bike, there was the matter of naming it.  I enlisted the help of my bike-enthusiast friend, Carol, who came up with BRUISER, because it's black and blue!  It seemed perfect!  So, without further ado, I would like to introduce...BRUISER!

So Bruiser and I are partners now.  We are in this together.  But there was still something between us.  Something standing in the way of our happiness.

The saddle.  I have been through 3 so far.

#1

#2

#3

I don't think I have gone into too much detail on this blog, because, let's face it, we are talking about delicate areas here.  But each saddle turned against me around 30 miles.  And on my 87 mile ride the saddle caused me so much pain that I was on the brink of tears for the last 20 miles.  And I was not back to normal for days after that ride.  I understand that there is a certain amount of discomfort associated with an 87 mile, much less a 112 mile, ride.  But there is no way I could have stayed on that saddle for 25 more miles!  And if I can't ride again for days, how am I supposed to train?!

If I had placed a personal add looking for the perfect saddle it would have gone something like this:

SWF (Slow White Female) Looking for a saddle that is supportive yet gentle, doesn't put pressure on me, enjoys long rides.  Looking for a long term relationship.

Cue SADDLE #4.

It is kind of hard to tell in the pictures, but this last saddle has very little padding.  It's like the others were pillows and this is a rock.  But I learned that gel and padding can actually work against you on long rides.  The longer you sit on it, the more the gel compresses under your butt, and consequently bunches up under the exact delicate areas you are trying to keep pressure off!  Thus, they turn against you around 30 miles!

I rode 23 miles yesterday, and 50 miles today, and I had NO ISSUES with this saddle!

I finally found THE ONE!  (We are registered at Target and Bed Bath and Beyond.)

Meeting new people (Some BRAND NEW to the world!) and running in other cities

Wow it has been forever since I posted!  The main reason for that is that I have been traveling a bit and haven't had my computer with me.  The reason for that is that I accidentally vacuumed up my computer cord the day we left San Diego.  So I have been waiting for the replacement to arrive.  In the meantime, I have used Karin's laptop, but it is big and not handy for travel.

So, let's catch up!

In the last week I have been to Boise, ID and Seattle, WA.  Karin and I went to Boise to attend the wedding of her college freshman roommate, Michelle.  We had a great weekend there, I got to meet a bunch of really awesome people, and we really liked the town of Boise.  The weather was great, and I managed to get in a 13 mile run along the greenbelt that runs for miles and miles along the Boise River.  We could have happily spent more time there and will likely go back.

View from my awesome run along the Boise River.

Free breakfast at the hotel after my run!  My favorite: Biscuits and Gravy!

From Boise I flew straight to Seattle, because on August 31st this adorable little bundle arrived:

My new niece! Peyton Ellis Johnson.

One of the many great things about flying for free is that I get to see family fairly often.  And when a new baby arrives I can fly to Seattle to hold the newborn, visit my nephew and other niece, and try to help out my sister.  I feel extremely lucky to be able to do this!

I am also lucky that everyone in my life is ridiculously supportive of my Ironman training, and my sister, Kristen, sleep deprived and overwhelmed with a brand new baby and 2 other kids, was like, "Okay, what training do you need to do?  When do you want to do your run?"  My gym, LA Fitness, has a location not far from her, so I drove the family minivan, car seats and all, to the gym to get in a swim workout.  I also got in a hill workout--2 mile warm up, 10 times up a hill and back down, 2 mile cool down.  Actually, every run there is a hill workout!  Her house is surrounded by hills, so even the warm up and cool down were hilly.

I also got in my 15 mile long run.  I was so relieved not to have to do it in Phoenix.  Fortunately I have barely had to do a run over 10 miles in Phoenix yet!  A month of long runs in San Diego, then a run in Boise and one in Seattle, and next week my roommate, Peggy and I are flying to San Francisco for our long run.

On my 15 miler in Seattle.

Mile 13 of my 15 mile run in Seattle was completely uphill, for the whole mile.  I thought I was going to die, and the rest of the run after that was a struggle.  I feel like my running has been coming along nicely, and that is the one area in which I actually have a shred of confidence, but this run scared me.  The last mile was such a struggle, just to keep going, that I got pretty worried about the Ironman marathon!

The thing about Ironman is that it is not just a huge time commitment, but a big financial one as well.  On the current list of things to buy: Yet another bike saddle (still haven't found my saddle soul mate), handle bar tape, bike speedometer, new helmet and new sunglasses.  Unfortunately, all my traveling and time off has actually been pretty good for training; not so much for the budget.

When all is said and done I will compile a list of exactly what my Ironman dream ends up costing me!

Long, long rides

Wow it's been a while since I posted anything!  I suppose that is because I have actually been busy training!  And recovering from training.

Last week my dad drove out to San Diego to do my 80 mile training ride with me.  We planned to do the same ride I did the previous week-out to Coronado and back-with an extra 10 miles tacked on somewhere to cover the 80 miles I had scheduled.  I was worried about my dad's fueling even before our ride.  I have spent the last 6 months using my long training rides to practice properly fueling my body not just to survive the ride, but to be able to run afterwards.  I have a basic system in place, with a good idea of what and how much my body needs to keep going.  My dad, on the other hand, has told me how he "bonked" near the end of a 50 mile ride with his riding buddy, Juan.  My dad can out-ride me any day of the week, but he has no fueling system!  This 80 miler would be the longest either of us had ever ridden, so I talked to him the night before about making sure to take in enough calories, fluids and electrolytes.

My dad showed up in San Diego with jersey pockets stuffed full of potatoes.  This sounds ridiculous to the uninitiated, but it actually is a fantastic source of the quick carbs endurance athletes need.  Things seemed to be going pretty smoothly for the first 55 miles or so.  Then my dad started slowing down.  This phenomenon was new to me.  He suggested we find a store where we could get some Gatorade to refuel.  We finally found one, and we drank a bunch of water and Gatorade.  Unfortunately, I think it was too late.  He was already depleted.  Within a few miles his legs were cramping so badly he could barely pedal.  Eventually, around mile 66 I think, he decided to stop and have me come back and get him in the car.  When I realized he would be sitting there while I rode 14 more miles before I reached the car, I called Karin and she came to get him.  I know he was disappointed that he couldn't finish, but since he is a dad, I hope his disappointment was at least tinged with pride at my improvement.

See,both  my dad and I sweat a lot, but I have learned how to replenish what I lose from all that sweat, while he has not, because he just finishes his rides and then goes home and replenishes.  Despite this turn of events, it was great to ride with my dad again.  It just goes to show that my "talents" lie just where they always have: simply outlasting the competition.

My Dad replenishing just a tad too late.

On Friday we drove back to Phoenix.  Our awesome month in San Diego is over.  On Saturday, back in Phoenix, I got up at 4 am to get in my 14 mile long run before it got too hot to function.  It turned out to be not crazy hot, but crazy humid!  I ran with my roommate Peggy.  Peggy is training for the NYC marathon November 3rd, so we have been able to do some long runs together.  This is working out great for both of us.  Our plan was to go to breakfast after our run, but between our sweat and the sprinkling of rain during our run, our clothes were literally soaked through and plastered to our bodies!  So we went home and took showers, then went out to breakfast.  Then we took naps.

Sunday it was back to work!  First day of work in a month!  It was a pretty easy day, fortunately.  I got to ease back in.  After work I did a 1 hour swim, then later I did 45 minutes on the bike trainer, followed by a 20 minute run.  Swim, bike, run.  2 hours of exercise.  The funny thing is, at this point in my training, that is what I consider an "easy day."  It's like, oh, just a swim, a short ride and a short run.  But even my 14 mile run, which is a big workout, didn't feel that big.  I mean, around mile 10 it felt hard to keep going, but a few hours after I finished, it felt like I hadn't even done anything that day.  Maybe it's because I did it so early; but it felt like an old memory by 11 am!

Do you know what IS a big workout?  An 87 mile bike ride!  That is what I did yesterday.  Ouch!  Boy was that rough.  The first 50 miles flew by!  I felt great and it was nice to be out on the road.  But after mile 50, my "undercarriage" was screaming in pain.  I am now on my 3rd bike seat, and while this one is better than the first one I had, they all seem to turn against me after 40 miles or so.  Between my bike seat region, an extreme pain at the base of my neck (I assume from constantly looking up while my body is hunched over the bike), and overall fatigue in every muscle of my body, the last 20 miles were sort of like my own private hell.  With about 19 miles to go the whole sky got dark, and movie special-effects quality lightning and thunder showed up.  Then all of a sudden it downpoured.  Then it started to hail!  This turned out to be an awesome distraction from the pain!  10 minutes after it started, it stopped.  Then it was just like pedaling in a sauna.

By the time I got home, I was just so happy to get off the bike that even though I was exhausted and it was the hottest part of the day and I felt like I had cooked my brain, my transition run was almost a relief, just because I WAS NO LONGER ON THE BIKE.