Coach B is trying to murder me

Last week in summary:

Tuesday- Up at 5:25 am, Swim ~2700 yards.

Afternoon/Evening: Jason, Run 15 miles with 30 minutes hard effort; Kim, Run 13.1 miles with hill intervals.

Dinner at 9:15 pm and off to bed.

Wednesday- Bike ~2 hrs 20 minutes with hill climb intervals (very hard effort during climbs), dinner again at 8:30 pm and to bed we go.

Thursday- Swim at 6:30 am; Evening Run (Jason 19 miles with 55 minutes hard effort, Kim 13.2 miles with 40 minutes...gotta add the .2 miles because it felt like an extra 10 miles!) Also, I forgot to mention the blizzard like conditions on our run, it was snowing/raining and cold!! This was my worst run of the year, no injuries, just no gas in the tank and utter exhaustion. Attempt at sleep, but little luck, my body felt like I had been hit by a freight train.

We also met with Rikki, who is the bomb digity sports nutrition expert. She has worked with me a lot over the last couple years for our racing/training nutrition, but this is the first time Jason met with her. We reviewed everything we have been taking and she is helping us with our race nutrition for IM CDA. The photo above shows everything we are taking to make sure our bodies are properly fueled to their greatest potential.

Friday- Thank goodness I had today off from work, we slept in! We lifted weights at the gym and then biked ~2 hours of recovery spinning. This helped loosen things up and we were feeling better afterwards.

Saturday- Woke up at 6:25 am and headed to Master's Swimming, swam ~4000 yards.

Today was an absolutely gorgeous day in Anchorage, but we were confined indoors on our bike trainers for about 2 hrs 20 minutes (with 40-50 minutes of hard effort). Today we were both wondering why we had signed up for this race......

Sunday- Today our plan was to do another time trial (35k TT) race that was on the Seward Hwy, about 25 miles from Anchorage. We loaded the car and were all set to race; however, with the temperature dropping significantly (36-39 degrees) and pouring rain, we decided to scratch from the race. When we were training for IM Florida a couple years ago, we did a few rides on the Seward Hwy with rain and low temps and it was miserable. Our Plan B led us to ride from Anchorage where it wasn't raining. Our other friends that were also going to do the TT met us (Jim, Brendan & Coach B). After 1 1/2 hour ride, we did a good effort 50 minute brick run. Everything felt great! Today was fun, this is why we signed up for the race! ;)

Moose Run Time Trial

Alaskans are tough. The first bike race of the season continued despite getting a big dump of snow a few days prior. I was unsure that I would race since it was cold out and not very motivating with white all around. Plus, Jason had a minor mouth surgery and was told by the doctor that he couldn't exercise until this Wednesday (nothing serious, just a crown lengthening and he is doing fine, just a bit tired). When your training partner goes down, you have sympathy pains and can convince yourself that your tooth might be hurting too and it's a good excuse to think of anything and everything else to do but work out! ;)

Coach B and Brendan already signed up for the race, so I too decided to give it a shot. In bike racing, there are different categories of racers: Beginners, Masters (ages 40+), Sport (which I have always raced in the past) and Expert. Coach B told me that she was going to race in the Expert division and that I also needed to move up a level. The word Expert alone should have deterred me from that decision, but I went for it. Seldom did I get passed in the Sport division in prior years; however, in the Expert category, I not only had ladies flying past me, but the Expert men as well. It was a bit discouraging and something that has inspired me to improve. There were only 6 ladies in my category, 1 of which had a bike dysfunction; otherwise she would have been at the very top. Coach B also questioned our thought process and had a tough race day as well. She's an animal when it's 90 degrees, but freezes at anything below 80! ;) Brendan did awesome and had a great race! He'll soon be keeping up with Jason! J volunteered during the race and was a flagger for traffic, thank you Jason! He was bummed he couldn't race, but will be at the next one!

On Sunday, the weather was so awesome that I decided to take my road bike outside and do a 2 1/2 hour ride followed by a 65 minute run. Elizabeth met me for a portion of the day and it was really fun to have company and get some fresh air. It was also awesome to get off my TT (time trial) bike and onto my road bike, which is so much more comfortable and fun to ride!

Mondays are our days off from exercise! This is the only night where we eat dinner before 8 pm and I have a few minutes to actually get online. EEKS, we only have 10 weeks until race day!!! I hope all of this work comes together!

Back to the "real" office

Too bad my days in the office now actually evolve around 4 cubicle walls instead of the ocean, palm trees and lava! Last week was a very rough transition back to reality. I started a new job (still with Alyeska) and have a lot to learn. The great news is that I finally moved out of the accounting/financial world and am working with our contracting department. Jason is looking for a new job and has had several offers but is trying to figure out how to be his own boss. Someday I hope he can be my boss too. Since being unemployed, he has cleaned about every bike component we own....too bad I couldn't get him to have as much interest in cleaning kitchen components too, ha! :)

Our training is in full swing. Last week was a doozy! We had two long runs (mine was about 14 miles and Jason's was 17) as well as some difficult bike sessions. Over the weekend, we probably put in close to 130 miles (Friday-Sunday). We are struggling with the time change, so missed our morning swim workouts and will pay for that this week as we try to get back in the pool.

We have been totally exhausted, but I think this week will be better. The heat from Kona took a major toll on us. It has been awesome running outside in Anchorage, it is much easier to run in cool weather and on roads that aren't totally slanted. Anchorage has an incredible trail system and our house is a few blocks away from one of the major trails in the city.

The first bike race of the season is on Saturday and it's my favorite, the Moose Run Time Trial! It's a 10 mile race and it's an all out effort with a race against the clock. Ten miles doesn't sound that bad....at least that's what I thought before I did my first one. ;) Hopefully we don't get any more of the white stuff, which would cancel the race.

Back to life, back to reality

We arrived back in Anchorage around 5 am this morning. I took an hour nap and then headed into work. I am taking a lunch break right now, trying tough to keep my eyes open. Anchorage is warmer than when we left and snow is definitely disappearing. I wonder how long it will take to adjust to working again, hopefully soon or I'm in trouble.

Tick Tock

The final countdown of our journey on the Big Island is almost here, sadly we go home tomorrow. I think I might shed tears when I get on the flight....the thought of going back to work after all this time off is really tough! If we only had another 7 weeks! :)

This morning J and I went on our last ride with Beaker (aka Coach B or also known as Rebecca). Brendan opted out of the ride since he had done the 100 miles with us yesterday. We just went on an easy spin for an hour to loosen up. Overall, we feel pretty good from the long ride. I have some serious saddle pain, but that is nothing new and something I am just learning to live with.

After the ride, we ate and headed to a long day at the beach with Brendan and Beaker. It was pretty cloudy for most of the day, but it ended up sunny so we stayed to watch the sunset. Tonight, Jason packed up the bikes and we are getting ready for our flight tomorrow evening. In the morning, we'll swim and run before enjoying our last day at the beach before we head back to the frozen north. Mahalo to this awesome island for the many fun memories!

100 Miles

Jason told Coach B that before he left Hawaii he wanted to get at least one 100 mile ride in. Coach B also asked me if I had the same desire and I wasn't as excited about it but somehow I guess I must have agreed because it ended up on both our training plans yesterday. :) Coach B and her husband, Brendan, were planning to ride some/most of the ride with us. So, at 7 am, we all hit the road. We biked on the Ironman course, first going to the town of Hawi (pronounced Ha-vi), which is known for very strong winds. Jason and I have never made it all the way to the town, I have turned around before because I have always been afraid of the winds that feel like you are going to be blown off your bike. Today, we all made it.

Jason was very far ahead of the 3 of us since he is so fast. The 3 of us made numerous stops to get water and go to the bathroom. We passed our initial starting point and we had 42 miles to make it 100. We still hadn't seen Jason so we thought he went on to Kona. Coach B and Brendan had never biked over 60 miles and were still feeling pretty good and willing to try 100. So, we continued on. Still not seeing Jason, we thought that maybe he did the full Ironman course and likely didn't stop as much as we had. We made it to our turnaround point, which had a very brutal headwind. We stopped again for water and checked our phones and Jason had written a message an hour and 1/2 before saying he didn't feel great and went home. He still clocked 62 miles, which isn't anything to be upset with. Had we all known that, we too would have quit earlier. I guess it was probably good we didn't know or we wouldn't have made the trek. Way to go Brendan and Beaker....they were much stronger than I was today!

I feel bad that J wasn't feeling well....but he was probably the smartest one out of all of us. In ironman training, you have to listen to your body, some days it just needs a break. He'll come back stronger in a week or so once he feels good again. I actually didn't have a great ride either and probably should have quit. Despite all the nutrition I took in, my body just felt like the effort was really hard and my heart rate was really high. Just how much nutrition did I take? Yuck, 7 Gu's/Gu Roctane, roughly 80 ounces of Gatorade & G. Endurance, ~100 ounces of water, a couple electrolyte pills, and a granola bar....all in 5 hours 55 minutes of riding! I've met with a sports nutritionist to go over nutrtition while training in Alaska; however training in this heat is a completely different ball game and I would definitely need to talk to her again if we lived/raced here.

Below are pictures from last night's sunset. My seat....is still sore today. How does Lance do this?!?

Kauai

These pictures were from Jason's trip to visit his Dad, Garrett (aka Hawk) & Shannon in Kauai. His sister, Jessica and husband, Anthony, were also there for a little while. He had a great time and now thinks he should be a body surfing professional! ;)

Rest in Peace...

Gerry (Elizabeth's sister) passed away on March 31, 2010. Elizabeth and many family members were with her. Obviously a very difficult time for Elizabeth, so keep sending her prayers. The memorial services are tomorrow.