My First Race of the Year

After Hillary's wedding we came home and got back into our normal routines. Training ramped up again (lots of biking...) and I turned 35...

Instead of birthday cake we went for Campfire Pie at Cindy's Backstreet Kitchen in St. Helena. It is basically a really good S'more with Oreo cookie crust. This would probably be a good treat after Vineman 70.3--just an insider's tip :)

Jaromir and Storm showered me with love.

The following Sunday I got ready for my first race of the season---a 6k XC race in Golden Gate Park. I was excited to dust the cobwebs off, work hard and get an idea of how my fitness was progressing. I knew I was going to be lining up against a lot of real runners which made me nervous but it was a good way to learn how to suffer on the run.Here we are before the race. All the girls were in their early 20s (to be young again!) and coming off the NCAA Cross Country Championships in November. As they were announcing the field I heard a lot of "all american at Stanford" and "olympic trials qualifier" in 5k and 10k track events. My goal was to make it hurt the first 2k and then hopefully build a little bit on the last 2 laps of the 3 lap course. I went out and stayed just behind the group of 6 women in front of me. Needless to say, when I realized I had run a 5:35/5:40 in the first mile (w/ a hill) I knew that I might have gone out a bit too fast. I figured I was either going to have a major breakthrough or I was just going to suffer a lot during the last 15 minutes of the race. I looked great coming around the first loop and then after that my cadence and stride seemed to slow ever so slightly. I was hurting a lot the last loop but that was the point! I came into the finish without the kick the young ladies who finished ahead of me had in the last 100 meters. Either way, I felt dizzy and like I was going to vomit so I figured it was a successful outing.

I rewarded myself by hitting Lululemon to spend the gift certificate my parents gave me for Christmas and then we gorged ourselves at The Dipsea Cafe. It was a wonderful Sunday with my husband :)

Wedding of the Year....

Over the holiday weekend Andy and headed down to the LA area to celebrate the marriage of our friends, Hillary and Maik. We socialized a lot, stayed up later than usual and did some special workouts at the request of the bride and groom.

Here we are before we started our 100x100. Luke is looking quite smiley before we started. I'm standing closest to the pool in our special suits we had made for the swim. Ours said "the bridesmaids" on the back while Hillary's said "soon to be Mrs. Twelsiek" on her bum. The standout of the swim was Tara, she is 7 months pregnant and finished all 100---hard core!

Andy did not swim or run but he earned his keep by playing photo assistant to Eric Wynn while the bride and groom had some pictures taken.

The fog rolled in during the ceremony but it was still beautiful. Maik even made a vow to help Hillary through another Ultraman smashfest. That is love!

The view from our New Year's Day ride. Surfing in January! I like California.

Happy New Year Everyone!

Numbers, Numbers and More Numbers

"Information is not knowledge." -Einstein

I think it is easy to get caught up on numbers in training. We have all sorts of things telling us watts, elevation, heart rate, pace and the list goes on. All this information is great and helps us become fitter, faster and more efficient but I believe there comes a point when you have to remember how to listen to what your body is telling you. I used to start my watch before races and then I found I kept looking at it for splits. In doing that I also think I was letting those splits influence how I "felt." As in, I anticipated I would be going X speed and should be at Y point by Z time. First, that is a lot to think about during a race and I know my math stinks during physical exertion; I mean, seriously, have you ever trained to add and subtract during a race?!?! It is ridiculous. Second, instead of thinking about those numbers I think it is better to be thinking about the process and putting together a good race. I will get to find out my time at the end.

Some days I find the numbers overwhelming in training. I look down at my Garmin and see my heart rate and watts and if I am not careful I might think "my HR is high and my watts are low, I must be tired." If I had not had looked maybe I would not have thought my legs were tired. Now, all of a sudden, I am focused on my so called fatigued legs. Are they really fatigued? Or, do they just need some time to warm up? My intervals sometimes call for me to hit certain wattages. If I stare at the Garmin it sometimes seems to be more difficult to get the power up than if I just look at the road and pedal hard. I usually glance at the watts a few minutes later and low and behold the watts are where they should be.

My advice---use the numbers but don't let them define how you feel. And, make sure you go out there without any technology a few times a week. I think we all should know what "hard" feels like without having to look at the HR monitor on your wrist every 5 seconds.

I think I am racing without a watch at all this year. A bare wrist is more aerodynamic anyway, right?

Do or Don't

I am now firmly entrenched in the season of "racing less." I don't like to say "off" season because, let's be honest, I am never really off. I may have taken 2 weeks of basically no activity except for a few easy swims however, after that it was game on as far as getting healthy and starting to build a base for the 2012 season.

I headed out on a run this morning sans Ipod because I used it yesterday and then, instead of turning it off when I was finished, I put it in my pocket still on. So guess what? No battery power this morning leading to a silent trail run. I used to get annoyed by running without music but I have learned to embrace it and to be honest, sometimes the quiet is nice. I did not even have a watch or garmin beeping to keep me on pace. Yep, I was just putting time in on my feet. Paces, heart rates and intervals will come soon enough.

For me, part of the racing less-season includes planning for the RACE season. I just started putting together a race schedule for 2012. I have a few "for sure" races and then I am filling in around those races with others. My plan is to hit up as many TriCalifornia events as I can along with Rev3 and a few independent races of varying distances.

Since I have nailed down a few races my mind was free to wander this morning and I got to thinking about goals. As I looked back on my first 2 years competing as a professional I found that my main goal was just "to improve." As I continued to think about this approach I came to the conclusion that it is a bit limiting. There is no question I am improving. However, how much can I improve? How will my goals help me to push harder in training? I think if my goal is just to improve I run the risk of allowing myself to just do "good enough." I am afraid I won't hold myself to a high standard during the really tough times in training and I will be allowed to let myself off easy. If I have concrete, steadfast goals I won't be able to let down in training, or in racing, for that matter. I will either have to DO it or DON'T.

The concrete goals--say top 5 at Alcatraz--mean that I have to commit, work hard and get it done on race day. It will take tenacity, confidence and trust in myself and the work I have done. It will also take sheer competitive drive. As I was running I pondered this question of competitiveness for awhile. Do I have it? Or do I allow myself to just do good enough? For example, do I think in a race-- "6th place, that's pretty good and I am going faster than I used to. This means I have hit my goal." To be honest, I probably do. Why do I want to endure more pain than I already I am if I am hitting my goal? Since I was calling myself out I decided to remember a time when I was intensely competitive. I worried I was not going to think of anything. Then, something popped into my head....

It was my senior year in high school. We were having our league swimming championship. Preliminary heats were on Friday and then Finals on Saturday. Since I was a pretty strong swimmer I had the luxury of being able to cruise the Friday heats, make the finals and save up some energy for the next day. The only goal of the day was to not get DQ'ed and secure a lane in the finals on Saturday. I was swimming the 200 IM. A girl for the rival school, Lakeview, named Jayna Kurti was a very strong swimmer and was in the heat before me in preliminaries. She swam her race and put up a good time. I was in the final heat as the top seed going into the meet. I swam a solid race that evening but held back in an effort to save up for the next day. I touched the wall and qualified for the final in second position behind Jayna. I looked over at my coach who gave me a thumbs up---in the finals without tiring myself out, perfect! I glanced over at the Lakeview coach, Dave Stubbs, because I heard him yelling. He was high fiving, screaming out "yes!!" In typical teenage fashion I sneered and rolled my eyes. Doesn't he know that I cruised it? Doesn't he know that tomorrow is when it really counts? I went up to my coach and said defiantly, "Coach Stubbs can cheer all he wants right now because he won't be too happy tomorrow. Jayna and I are not going to even be in the same zip code." My friends on the team were asking me about it since everyone on the pool deck saw and heard Coach Stubbs' reaction. My response was unwavering---I would win BIG on Saturday. My mind did not have any doubt that I would win. Of course, there was a chance I would fail but I guess my mindset was "I will win and if not, guess we will deal with it if it happens." I was so unafraid of failing I did not even consider that it could happen. Perhaps being a jerky, defiant teenager served me well in competition. To end the story, I won the league championship the next day. As I had predicted it was not close. Jayna was a great competitor and pushed me from the time I was 10 years old until I graduated from high school.

After I recalled this race in my swimming career I came to the realization that I am extremely competitive and I do have the ability to get the things done that I set out to do. Ultimately, I need to set the bar high (Top 5 at Alcatraz?) and not be afraid to fail. If I say out loud, or on my blog, that it is my goal then I am going to go for it. I am going to find a way to get it done. I am not going to worry about what people will think if I fail, if I don't get 5th. I think being afraid of failing is only holding me back. I will focus on myself and get the work done day in and day out and will execute the best race I can on June 10, 2012. I will dig deep and focus on MY RACE to achieve MY GOAL. I will not settle for less. I will be confident and trust in my ability. Ultimately, I believe I am capable of more than I think I am.

In closing, a couple fun pictures....

This is me swimming for UM in 1998. I loved those winged helmet caps. Notice the head tilted to the left. I always do that when I am working hard...

At Alcatraz this year. I'll be digging deeper next June.

Hmmm, still drop that head to the left!

Is this Fun?

Last week while I was coaching my swimmers one of them looked up at me and asked, (insert a bit of 15 year old attitude) "After this set can we do something FUN?" Luckily, she pushed off the wall right after she said it so she did not have time to see my blank stare and "huh" face. I thought to myself, isn't this fun? Swimming some different sets with your friends, being outside, challenging yourself? When she got back to the wall I asked for more information. What do you consider fun at swim practice? Do you like challenging sets? The answer was---I don't know what is fun at swim practice but this is not it AND no, I don't like challenging swim sets. Well, that leaves me with 2 ideas 1) sharks and minnows or 2) relays. Since neither of those were feasible at the time I came up with a set involving some underwater flip turns and then some sprints. It was definitely not what she was looking for---I got the 'this is stupid and boring look' from her. Honestly, I felt a bit bad I could not satisfy her need for fun. I want my swimmers to enjoy themselves at practice but let's be honest---no matter how you disguise it you are still swimming back and forth staring at a black line. That by itself is just not fun. I am a swimmer and I can recognize that aspect of swimming. I try to keep it interesting with varying distances, some challenging intervals, kicking, etc. but there is only so much I can do. I think the fun aspect of swimming also needs to come from your motivation to push yourself in a workout.

Since I am a swimmer who thinks swimming is tons of fun I'll list some of the things I like about it:

*trying to make challenging intervals

*the burn I get in my arms during and after a swim

*water that is just the right temperature (probably on the warm side for most but that is how I like it)

*swimming butterfly (only when it looks pretty though, gets ugly after a 50 nowadays)

*band pulling (seriously, love it)

*focusing on my high elbow pulling in freestyle (yes, I am a dork)

*best average sets

*The Fernando Special (an awesome set and it never gets dull)

*sprint 25s

*flip turns

I admit I am dealing with a special population when I coach---teenagers. What they think is fun varies from day to day. Some days I get them and they want to work hard and listen to me; other days, not so much. I just try to roll with it and show them what I think is fun about swimming. They will probably appreciate it---in 10 years or so.

My Apple a Day

It probably comes as no surprise that I am crazy about physical activity. Doing something active each day has been a part of my life since before I can remember. I grew up in a neighborhood where all the yards and houses were connected so my friend Cary and I used to be busy running around playing in the neighborhood all day long. We played hard climbing trees, jumping in the river and running through the woods. I ended up busting my head open one day and Cary fell and broke her kneecap another time. Neither of those injuries stopped us. I was at it the next day with a bandaged head and stitches above my eye (check out my left eye next time you see me, the scar is still there) and Cary was an extremely fast runner with her cast on. She just changed her gait a bit---imagine someone running with a straight leg and swinging it out to the side. I remember when our parents would call us to come in the evening we would responds by 1-ignoring their calls, 2-asking for "10 more minutes" or 3-yelling back "it's not that dark yet."

Cary and I both swam when we were younger. As we got older I stuck with swimming and she got more serious about running. We both kept at it through and college. Cary now lives in Portland and is a marathoner. She has qualified for the Boston marathon several times and helps out her running club pacing people at local races like the Portland marathon. Physical activity has shaped who we are as people and taught us a lot throughout our lives. I was lucky enough to be able to have dinner with Cary when I was in Portland for my grandmother's 100th birthday. It was awesome to catch up and reminisce about our fun back in Albion, Michigan.

Cary and I. We don't look any older than we used too!

Since sport has shaped my life so much I tend to get frustrated when parents and children push it aside and/or do not see the value of being on a team and staying physically active. I am a swim coach and recently several of my swimmers have not been showing up to practice much (or at all) because of massive amounts of homework. I believe that education is important but I think that people are missing the value of what sports can teach their kids. Plus, it is extremely important in teaching them about maintaining their health as they get older! Have you seen people who have not kept physically fit? They age pretty quickly!

There needs to be balance in everyone's life. School, sport and social time with friends are all keys to having fun and learning as you get older. I don't think teachers should be assigning so much homework that all the kid can do everyday is go to school and then head home for 4-6 hours of homework a night. I remember hearing from some extended family members that their kids had to quit this sport or that sport because they needed more time to study so they could take more AP classes so they got into the "right" college or university. This leads into the whole debate of what is really defined as success? My senior year in high school the teachers were selecting the students who would be a part of the National Honor Society upon graduation. One of the teachers approached me and said that if I wanted to be a part of the NHS I would need to increase the number of "activities" on my resume. I remember telling her (probably with some attitude, I could be that way) that if I thought it was stupid that she wanted me to do several activities half-assed vs. one activity (swimming) at a very high level. I told her I was not adding activities just for the sake of being in the NHS. I did swimming and I did it better than anyone ever had at our school. If that was not enough to be in the NHS then I did not give a sh** or want to be in it (more attitude from me).

To be totally honest, some of my family members probably question what the hell I am doing with triathlon. They might believe I should be working at a more stable "job" and adding a lot more cash to my 401k. I did that for a long time. I worked 60-80 hours some weeks at a law firm as a paralegal. It was challenging and the lessons I learned in college about working with others, balancing tasks and being organized helped me do a good job but ultimately, it was not what made me happy. I was lucky enough to get a chance to coach at UIC and have more time for triathlon training. I also was able to work with swimmers and make an impact on some of their lives like my swim coaches did for me.

As a college coach my swimmers will probably tell you that I challenged them and did not take a lot of crap. However, I respected their lives outside of the pool and placed value on their education and social life. They are in college and they should be having fun with their friends. At the same time, when they walked onto the pool deck for workout I expected them to be "all in." I am no dummy---I know what a Saturday morning training session is like after a raucous Friday night, but if you are in he water you better be ready to go--I don't really care if you need to puke in the gutter. You get the WORK DONE.

I hope my few swimmers with a lot of homework find their way back to the pool and I want their parents see the value in what swimming (or any other sport) can offer their child. Their parents did get an earful, in a politically correct way, and I hope they hear what I am saying. As a former swimmer and triathlete I think I can be a good example of where sport can take you. It can be unexpected and down a road you never thought you would be on but isn't that what makes life exciting?

The Off Season is Now

The plan for the season was to end with Austin 70.3 on October 23. However, my body had other ideas. After Pacific Grove I was fatigued and sore but not overly so. I had a few days of very easy swimming and biking with no running in hopes that everything would feel better. I ran 3 days after the race. It felt better but not great. However, it seemed "manageable" so I carried on. After 2 weeks I realized that my body was screaming at it me that it needed to be done for a bit. I was fatigued in all 3 disciplines, running was painful on my right leg and I dropped 3 lbs! After one final attempt on the treadmill I decided that training through my pain and fatigue would most likely yield a lackluster result in Austin and the real possibility of a serious injury. Game over. I got off the treadmill and decided to start my off season. It took me a few days to taper off the training. For example, I still did the scheduled swim after I got off the treadmill. I swam the next day and then I shut it down and did NOTHING for the entire weekend.

Ending a season without a final race is definitely disappointing. I like to finish leaving everything out there in a race. It is a bit anti-climatic to step off a treadmill and declare the season over. I was sad and down and felt a bit like a failure for not being able to finish out what I had set out to do. Nevertheless, I have to think about the near term AND months down the road. Lets face it, I am not getting any younger and I want to maximize my years of competing in triathlon. One year builds on the next and I want to have a healthy and productive "off" season that will set me up for more improvements next year.

The plan right now is rest and physical therapy. It seems that my hip and glut are weak so I am working on strengthening and mobility. I have still been in the pool 3-4 times a week because as a former swimmer losing my "feel" for the water drives me crazy. Plus, as my physio said, "you'll go crazy if you don't move a little so swimming is perfect right now." Next week I'll do some easy biking and then start to add in some running the week after that. In the long term the rest will do me well and the strengthening will help immensely. My swimming background serves me very well in some aspects of triathlon but in other ways the lack of leg activity on land for 15 years of my life throws me some challenges every now and again. I do have goals for this lack of activity time---I want to do it REALLY well. So I sit on the couch, use my new Recovery Pump boots and surf the internet watching all the Kona coverage videos I can.

This weekend we are heading up to Lake Oswego for my grandmother's 100th birthday party! A very special weekend. I have scoped out the internet situation due to a big race being held in Kona :) When I can't be watching the video I'll have my phone and will be checking twitter and text updates religiously. Please keep me updated everyone!

Since I had no training planned, Andy and I had a little fun last Sunday. We went shootin' with my training partner John and a few others. We shot at targets and clay pigeons. I had a good time but I was a bit bruised from the recoil of the shotgun into my bony shoulder. We also took some time to take a few fun photos (as seen above).

Good luck to all racing this weekend and later on this fall. I wish I would be joining you. I'll be ready to kick ass in March and April though! Plus, I have to be healthy for a wedding/training weekend over New Years! It is a take no prisoners type of wedding....I must be strong! I'll give you a hint on who it is---a certain GCM will be WAY out in front this weekend on the bike.