Yet Again

I know why I keep going back to Coach. Well, if you mean twice...

Anyway, I think you have probably learned I can jump on the Crazy Train with the best of them. Some of you (*cough*) may know this a tad bit better than others. So I am sure it's no surprise that my emails to Coach may sometimes (*cough* often *cough*) tend toward crazy and rambling. And instead of editing my super long and over detailed emails, I just hit send. He is used to reading what he needs to and tells me what to do.

Well, the same thing has been happening the past 3 days. He wants me to take the weekend off of a long ride and only do a long run. THE HORROR! I KNOW, Right!?!?! Anyway, I was okay with this until I realized that next weekend is the ASLP HALF (Amanda/Sandy Lake Placid half - more on that later)! That would mean 2 WEEKS with only 90 minutes and 56 miles of riding. AHHH!!!! Remember, Ironman Moo is less than 2 MONTHS AWAY!! Hence the most recent Crazy Train rambling email.

His response "I like your crazy e-mails! When i sign on and see all kinds of athletes e-mails, If i see one from you, I open it first. :)" And this is why he continues to be my Coach.

Oh, and this morning I made it back to Hains Point. For a 2 hour ride. And 30 run around the Tidal Basin. And it was 91 degrees when I got back in my car at 8:52 AM. Yup, it was warm. But the bike/run felt okay - considering the heat. So, yay! Tomorrow, run and swim.

Thursday, June 16th Post

Something was going on with Coach because he gave me Wednesday off too. He was pretty happy with the 'long' run, but also worried about me getting sick. All the up and down weather had me feeling a bit off. So, I got another day to sleep! WOOT! But it was up early Thursday morning for my brick of the week.

The weather didn't look so good, but I went anyway. Because I'm hard core. And I had plans that night so I really didn't have the 'choice'. Loop 1 was pretty uneventful, but I did see Karen, Erica and Katie after my turn around. Knowing Karen, I thought "I bet she tries to catch me". Sure enough, about 3 miles later, the ladies rolled up. I hung on with them until Erica and Katie peeled off and I told Karen she could just go. Instead, she hung back with me and I speed up a bit to keep up with her.

Half way through loop 3, it started to rain. Not down pour, but a nice drizzle. Of course, I wanted to stop, but I already said I had to do 3 big loops and 1 small loop. So, we started the 4th loop. Then I looked at the time, realized I was way faster than normal and had time for a full big loop. That was 4 big loops with an average about 1 mph faster than previous rides (thanks Karen!!).

I was a tad concerned of how the run would go after a faster ride, and I got to do a 5:1 (not just a 4:1 - holla!) but I felt pretty good. So I started, and had a fantastic run. It was still drizzling, there was no one around, my form felt good, and I felt great.

Realistically, I did have 2 days off and was pretty rested from the swim, but still. It was raining, Karen and I proved we are water proof, and my workout kicked butt.

Stupid. Really.

This morning was my brick of the week. By know you know I hate getting up early, so when the alarm went off at 5:30, I was super close to going back to bed. But, there was a heat index of 100+ and a code orange day - so I knew it was the morning or never. And never isn't really an option right now - so I got out of bed and headed to Hains Point.

The first lap was pretty good - slow and low HR, but mostly in areo which felt good. Then I remembered that my nickname became Squeaky because something was going on with Blain. I thought it was the pedals again so I gave them some chain lobe - but no luck. Every time I sat up (not in aero), it was so loud. Then I remembered Casey saying "are you sure it's not your saddle?" I blew it off - pretty convinced it was the peddles - Blain didn't squeak when I wasn't peddling so that was my assumption.

During my second lap, I noticed I couldn't see the line for where my saddle was supposed to be. So after lap 2, I stopped and sure enough - the bolt for my saddle was pretty lose. I adjusted it a bit and just figured the line and worn off. But something kept me moving the seat post around and sure enough - I kid you not - I raised my seat 1.5-2 INCHES and there was the line. Over the past year, my saddle had fallen 1.5-2 INCHES!
Then I started to think

• For the race in Columbia, I thought it was strange the sticker didn't fit better on my seat post. I just assumed the sticker was bigger
• When I saw Hillary clip out, I thought - wow, she is really high off the saddle - her legs just dangle. Mine don't do that anymore.
• Often when I would get into aero, I felt cramped, but figured it was just the way it was...
• Recently, I had to stand for some hills and thought I was because I was getting better and sitting through the hills wasn't working

And a whole slue of other thoughts over the past year but NOT ONCE did I check my seat height. Lesson learned.

So, when I got back on Blain for laps 3 and 4, I was instantly 1-1.5 mph faster! Also, I felt it in very different parts of my legs. Almost like I was re-teaching my muscles how to ride. Thank goodness I figured this out now, and not 3 months from now right before IM Moo. Casey - thank you for suggesting the saddle. I honestly don't think I would have ever thought of that on my own.

The rest of the ride was pretty eventful.

• I had to turn early on my 3rd long loop because there were what looked like two Presidential helicopters landed in the park. A man with a large gun gave me the signal to turn around, so I did. Especially because of the large armed cars, Army dudes with large guns, and lots of white guys in suits who looked important standing around - so I turned around and peddled away fast.
  
• On the end of Hains Point I saw 5 plain clothed Army dudes running with face masks (not comforting).
  
• There was a nasty crash and I saw 3 ambulances heading towards them. I did offer to stop and help, but they said they were okay.
• NO MORE SQUEAKING!
• There was something else but it was 14 hours ago and I forgot.

After my ride, I did my 30 minute run with a solid 4:1 and was very happy.

YAY training!

Now I need to go to bed and get up early (again) so I can work on rebuilding the proper bike muscles (again).

Hello Spring!

(Sunday's post)

You know that feeling that it is spring? Kind of smells like rain? With a smidge of humidity? And growing grass/trees/flowers? And all the pollen EVERYWHERE??? Yes, that was today.

And it was AWESOME!

I got a bit of a late start for my 2.5 hour ride, but was clipped in around 10. It was 77 degrees. Remember last week when I had to wear toe warmers on my shoes, a long sleeved jersey, and a vest? And full fingered gloves? Well today I had to put on my SPF 50.

I headed out on MacArthur and immediately heard my name yelled by someone. Not even 10 minutes later, I heard it again. I was riding solo and have come to terms with the fact that I will be doing a lot of training on my own this year. Hopefully a bunch of us can head to the same locations, ride similar routes, and all meet up for lunch - but my worries and whining about how everyone is faster than me is a story for another post.

Back to my AWESOME ride. I made it up the hill at Old Anglers and felt much better than the previous 2 weeks. I decided instead of doing loops, I would to head down the hilly River Road. And you know what, I saw even more people. It was AWESOME! Even though I was riding on my own, but I wasn't. And I loved it. I am pretty noticeable on Blain with his yellow glory, green bar tape (pic on the left in case you forgot what he looks like), and my knee braces and DC Tri jersey - but still, it's great. Every time I saw someone, I picked up my cadence, checked my form, and put on a smile. Thanks Andrea, Katie, Lindsey, Alejandro, Courtney, Jenny, Joe, AJ, Chris, Josh, and everyone else.

The only scary part to the ride - (Mom and Dad, you may want to skip this part!) was on my way back I was flying downhill and hit a max speed around 38.4 mph. As I was going down, a truck passed me and kicked up a rock that smacked right into my helmet. I was happy I wasn't in aero because even holding onto my breaks, it hit hard enough to knock my balance and make me pretty wobbly. I am also pretty luck it wasn't lower into my sunglasses/face or chest. It was one of those situations that has not happened to me before, I can't control, and that frightens me about biking. But, helmets are AWESOME.

Anyway, towards the end of the ride I saw a few more people, tried to stick with them, and push myself a bit more. I felt good - so I figured why not? By the time Jill and Kevin came by, I was ready to go. Then I looked at my heart rate. WAY to high 2 hours+ into the ride with a one more hill and a 15 minute power walk (or my first real brick of the season) to go. So I slowed down, off they went, and I still felt good.

When I finished the ride, I was at 39.2 miles, so I rode around until I hit 40 miles. WOOT!! I then put on my running shoes and started my power walk.

Now, that was the first time I didn't feel great. What a wakeup call! But it was 88 degrees out, my first time trying to brick, so I have to be happy with 15 minutes - it was a start. I will continue to choose to go minute by minute, mile by mile, even if I must walk 26.2 miles. And today's workout helped me believe that even more.

He's Happy!

I just finished my first full week, sent it off, and Coach seems happy with me. YAY! Read this
"It made my night to get your e-mail and just reminded me at how good a worker you are. Keep it up Amanda! I am all smiles on this end! Coach"

Woot!!

Saturday started off with me not wanting to workout at all. I mean, Not.At.All. I even cleaned out my fridge. The oldest thing I found was some tartar sauce that expired in March 2010 - not too bad.
Anyway, I had a wedding shower to go to at noon, so I knew my time was limited to get in my first full brick of a 30 minute bike and 30 minute run. So, at the last possible minute, I hopped on my bike. This was followed up by a quick trip to the gym in my building to hop on the treadmill. I wanted to keep it easy so I just did a 4:1 and about 10 minutes into the jog, I felt great. I was really happy I forced my self onto the bike and got my workout in.

And today was 3 hour spin. Rob, of course, made the theme music Love. Blah. Tomorrow is the worst holiday EVER!
Anyway, back to the workout. It felt great. I had the first drip of sweat from my nose about 15 minutes into class. That feel, of pure hard work, just feels awesome.
I did get pretty tired and about half way though, Kimberly and I want to put our heads down and see if we could spin in our sleep - not really possible.
Oh, and after, Rob gave us some positive affirmation.
(It says COMPLETED if you can't tell. And it's still on my hand as it didn't come off in the shower. Or the 18 times I have washed my hands since.)

The rest of the day has been spent at the grocery store re-stocking my freezer and fridge. I even made stuffed peppers!

Now if I only had time to do my laundry too...