I believe I have had a paradigm shift in my running, thanks to my meeting with USAT Coach, Stacey Richardson.   I’ve spent the last two years making tiny improvements in my running by focusing on form, cadence, posture.   These worked to an extent, yes.    But I think in some ways I was stuck in the land of Chi/Pose running.  Pose says to lean to get gravity working for you.  I really never got that, even tho I still think it’s good stuff.   Pose also says to land on the balls of your feet,  lift your feet off the ground using your hamstrings.  I did get that, and still think that is good stuff, too.     Chi says to think about fast cadence, moving your feet, while keeping your core body stable.    Chi likens your core body to the car of a train, and your feet to the wheels – spinning fast as if in a circular motion.   This kind of works too.  But I was keeping my upper body TOO still.   Like a robot.  For the past year, I have been trying to run like a robot!

Stacey told me to let my hips move naturally, working in balance with my arms.   She also said to play with it.   And she said to skip the music and listen to my feet.

Some thoughts:

chi talks about body being like the car of a train.   I took this to mean upper body should be as still as possible and legs move independently.  but really, your legs and uppper body are one fluid entity.  There is a lift in the hip, or maybe it’s a circular motion in the hip joints.  And the glutes are engaged in this motion.   Hard to explain.  Need to do a video blog or something.

More notes:

On Tuesday, I went on the IOS ride, and did my usual brick run afterwards.    I did not bring my music.  I listened to my feet and thought about “light, light, light”.     It’s only 1.6 miles, but I made a PR on that run.   I was running pretty fast in Zone 2 at a pace of 8:46.   I was even chatting with another girl while running that pace!!!    I usually get close to a pace of 10 on that run.

Today, I ran my usual 6 miles to the lake and back, rolling hills.   I again tried to listen to my feet.   I also tried to let my hips move naturally. Not a lot, just a little hip movement, as opposed to my former stiff hipped robot style of running.      I usually have to bust my ass to get a sub 10 pace on that run.   I got to the half way point in 28 minutes.   Heart rate was in Zone 2.  I felt like a cheetah!    The way back was a struggle, tho, as my hips and core were fatigued.   And it was getting very hot and humid.   The second half, my heart rate was mostly Zone 3.   I still finished the run in 59 minutes, sub 10 pace.

I think it will take my body some time to build endurance in my hips and glutes.  I think these muscles must have been just taking it easy up until now.  I guess you could call me a lazy ass.  Hahaha!     My hips are sore and tired now.     I expect this will take me six weeks to adjust, just like it did when I changed my biking.    Should be plenty of time for Duke 1/2 and B2B.

All I need now is a paradigm shift in my swimming

Aug 1st: did do a nice solid brick run, flat, at pace of 9m/m. Hips and adductors super sore before, so it was a good pace on sore legs. Right knee hurt that night.

Aug 2nd: Right knee okay in the am, after icing it and advil. Got pace of 10:14 on my 6mile lake run, 142 avg hr. Not too bad, but not monumental either. Still real sore.

Need to rewrite this completely, because I’m not so sure it’s a paradigm shift. maybe more of a kaizen. also, use this…

Great quote from Matt’s blog: “Of course, I could not really swim all day at that pace. My new pull is so novel and unnatural for me that it is mentally if not physically exhausting to recreate it stroke after stroke. Indeed, I cannot yet recreate it with exactitude every time. There’s always a little variation as I fumble to follow the pressure of the water against my hand and forearm and to coordinate the pull with my body rotation, the movement of my recovery arm, and my kick. I have a lot of work ahead of me to groove and perfect these new patterns.”

I’m finding this to be true with the changes I have made in my running. I think the changes are right. However, I have a hard time maintaining the new running form, and the faster pace that is coming along with it. Stay tuned, I will be writing alot more about my running progress!

This is my training plan for the week that Marty Gaal gave me:  I have a long run midweek.  That is very different from what I always did in the past.  Change is good.  

• Monday 30-Aug off
• Tuesday 31-Aug swim at lunch IOS ride T run
• Wednesday 1-Sep run at lunch 45 min steady
• Thursday 2-Sep swim at lunch 1.25 hour run with 2×15 min Z3 on 5 min recovery.
• Friday 3-Sep off
• Saturday 4-Sep long ride, 3 hour build to moderately hard/tempo effort T run
• Sunday 5-Sep long run 10-12 miles (max 2 hours)
• Monday 6-Sep ride or off (LABOR DAY, no work, w00t!)

When I did the Harris lake nuclear swim, I faded in the 2nd half.  My time was 4 min slower as compared ot last year. It made me realize that I am just not used to swimming that hard for that long.   So this week at the pool, I chose a “Muscular Endurance  – Distance” swim workout from my “Swim workouts in a Binder” book by Gale Bernhardt.   I hate those workouts because it has a lot of long-ish swim sets at race pace.   It was hard, but it’s what I need more of.

Thank goodness for Aquaphor!    I get lots of chaffing during training, but none during races!   Hmmmm…maybe I should wear the Velocity suit all the time???

Here is  a picture of me and Ginger, aka, Aquaphor Chic, at Kure Beach.   Do you think if I start calling myself “Velocity Chic” I will beat Ginger some day?

FTC GUIDES NOTICE: THIS PRODUCT WAS PROVIDED FREE OF CHARGE BY OUTSIDEPR.  THE PRODUCT IS MADE BY http://www.sugoi.com

I wore my 2XU calf sleeves to help support my legs throughout a long day of walking. They worked well for that, especially since I was planning to go for a swim and they are quick dry.  More about compression sleeves later…read on about my fun day at Carowinds.

I wasn’t expecting to get in a workout at Carowinds, but I did.  It was an awesomely fun workout in the wave pool.    Every 5 minutes or so, a horn blows and huge waves are generated at the deep end of the wave pool.     I got in and started swimming laps.    It was great training to fight the waves, and bob in and around the crowds of swimmers.   The waves last about 5 minutes, then there is a break of 5 minutes.   I needed those breaks, too, as it was exhausting.   I swam for a good solid 30 minutes.   Here is a random Youtube video I found that shows the wave pool…

I had not brought goggles so I got alot of chlorine in my eyes during that swim.    By the end of the day, my vision was blurred.   I had a very difficult time driving home, and to make matters worse, we drove for 3 straight hours through a torrential downpour.   Bad vision + bad weather = very stressed out Carol by the time we arrived home.  I was so happy to crawl into bed that night, fosho!

I did the Mayo Lake Sprint Triathlon on August 7, 2010. My friend, Ginger, aka “Aquaphor Chic” came down on Friday evening to spend the night. We went to Chipotle for dinner – Ginger’s idea!   It was yummy and I ate way too much for a pre-race dinner.   I think Ginger was trying to fatten me up for race day.

Later, we had some red wine and just chilled at my house.   We sat at my kitchen table surfing the internet with identical Dell Inspiron 1525 laptop computers.  I think it is funny that we had the exact same computer.  Great minds think alike!    My laptop is cooler tho, because I have a bumper sticker of a bicycle chainring on it .    After a while, we did a  facebook chat with each other while sitting side by side.  Haha, what a couple of nerds!    I wish I had thought to take a picture of that.

We got up at the crack of dawn and drove to the race in Roxboro, NC, which is about an hour from my house. I followed her car as we wound our way thourgh back country roads. Luckily, she had a GPS navigation system, and we made it in plenty of time to get our race packets and set up our gear.

Results:

The race played out in the usual way:  Ginger came out of the water first.  I was 2 minutes behind her going out onto the bike.  I caught her on the bike and passed her at mile 10.    She was less than a minute behind me going out to the run.   She caught me just past mile 1 and passed me.    It was a fun day and I was pleased with my performance and time, even tho I am bummed to once again get beat by Ginger!   This was probably the last chance for me to beat her,  because next year she ages up.  Well, I guess I can still beat her, it just won’t count in the results.

Swim 750m: 15:14, 2nd Age group.  Guess who got 1st?
T1: 1:01
Bike 17 miles: 46:12, 20.8 average speed, 1st Age group, 2nd overall female bike split
T2: 0:55
Run 3 miles (rugged hilly trail): 28:01, about 9:30 min/mile pace, 5th Age group.
Overall Time: 1:31:21  2nd Age group, 6th female.

Average heart rate:  165 for bike and 171 for run.  I was going balls to the wall the entire race!   It was exhausting!

Ginger got 1st Age group, 4th female.  She was just a few seconds behind a 40 year old who got third overall female award.

Swim

The race took place at Mayo lake – a small man made lake in Roxboro, NC.   The water was murky as NC lakes tend to be, and there was no chop whatsover.  I scoped out the swim course, and noted that the exit was very muddy and steep. I was pretty sure they’d have volunteers to help folks climb out of the water.  I planned on using them.

I started out swimming pretty hard to get in front of the pack.   I did not find any feet to draft off of, as it was a small race field, and what little pack there was, thinned out quickly. I held a good straight line and f I swam strong.  I pushed hard at end to pass some slower folks, as I wanted to beat them to the volunteers helping swimmers out of that muddy spot.   Once out of the water, there was a steep bank to scramble up.  They did a good job putting carpet on that to protect my feet.  Thank you, FS Series!

I ran as hard as I could all the way to my bike spot.    I looked at my watch in transition, and it said 15 minutes and change. I felt good really about that, given my lack of swim training and pitiful times at the pool!

Bike:

I hopped on my bike, and immediately started going hard.  I pushed it hard the whole time.   The course was 17 miles of rollers. Nothing too steep, not much flat.   Just nice rollers which suits me well.

Ever since replacing my chain last week, I have been having trouble shifting. During the last IOS training ride, I could not shift up to big ring and the whole ride ended up being a super spin in the small ring!  For this race, I decided to put it in my big ring and stay there. I was afraid if I shifted down, I would not be able to shift back up. That was a good call, as there were lots of false flat downs where I was glad to have the big ring. And there were not any climbs where I felt I really needed the small ring. I did do some standing on climbs, but it felt good.

I kept looking for Ginger but did not see her.   I am a little nearsighted, so it was hard to see details of the tri tops as I approached each rider. I saw a few white shirts in the distance.  But as I closed in each time,  I could tell by the body position that it was not Ginger. I knew she would have good riding position, stable upper body and solid cadence.

At mile 5, I saw a white shirt rider with good solid riding position. I was pretty sure that was Ginger. I had to work really hard to gain on her. I kept wondering if I wasn’t biking up to par, but then I’d look at my average speed which showed 21 mph. That is a great speed, so then I wondered if she was pushing harder than normal. It took me a few miles before I could make out the aquaphor on her shirt.  At mile 10 I finally passed her. I pushed it as hard as I could until the end, because I knew I needed to put distance on her for the run.

I yelled at alot of folks who were blocking on the left side of the road, taking their time to pass, or just plain lollygagging on the left side. I felt bad yelling, but I could not afford to lose time on the bike. Balls to the wall is what it takes in a sprint race.

I used Gu Brew in my bike aero bottle for my sprint tri. That stuff is great – good energy and more electrolytes than the Gu gels.

Run:

Once again, I tried to run fast through the transition.   I am not fast at putting on my shoes, tho, so I  need to practice that more.   I think I just need to work on putting my shoes on fast every time I go for a run.

I grabbed a small water bottle and a Gu gel.  I started running hard.   As I ran around the loop near transition, I saw Ginger also heading out of T2. Crap, I was not far enough ahead of her. My only hope was that her bad knee would not let her run fast on the trails.   I ran as hard as my legs would go.  It was hard, hard, hard.    I was staying pace with a few folks ahead of me.  I was actually afraid to lose sight of them, for fear of getting lost in the woods on the trails.  That would suck to lose your way in a race!

After what seemed like an eternity of running as hard as I could, I passed the 1 mile marker sign.  I was devastated, and I said “Oh fudge, I thought we were almost done”.   Only I did not say Fudge.  The guy in front of me laughed as well as he could through his hard breath.  I could not hold that pace for 2 more miles.    I had to ease up, just a little.    The trail ran out of the woods through a little green clearing. There, I glanced over my shoulder. Ginger was not far behind, and soon after that, she passed me.   I tried to match her pace, but could not.  Oh how I wish I could find some kind of magic speed at those moments.

I kept up a very hard pace the rest of the 2 miles, because I knew there were other fast chicks out there and I did not want to let them pass.  It was so so so hard and I was breathing heavy and just wanted it to be over.    I felt the same sense of devastation as I passed the two mile marker.    The last half mile was a struggle to keep up my pace  on those twisty knotty trails.    I was doing well not letting any females pass me.    Then I tripped and fell hard.  A woman stopped and asked if I was okay.  I thanked her, waved her on and said ” just Go, go go!”.     I did not want to ruin her race!     Lucky for me, she was not in my age group!   She ran on and I got up, shook my knees out, and keep on going.      A little bit later, I tripped again.   Another female passed me, this time with 40 on her leg. Phew, not my age group.     Lucky for me, I have a knack to fall “well”, i.e., without serious injury.    I got up and kept running hard all the way to the finish.

It would have been a fantastically fun run had I not been going so hard.    I love running on trails, but not so much when I have to run at race pace!   Ginger got 1st place, I got 2nd, and a Facebook friend named Suzy got third.  It was Suzy’s first podium finish.    It was also  Jennifer’s first podium finish – she is another Facebook friend.   It was fun watching their excitement as they made their first trip to the podium.  Congrats to all!

Garmin Data:

Swim: http://connect.garm...om/activity/43527820
Bike: http://connect.garm...om/activity/43527830 avg 20.8 mph. avg hr 165
Run: http://connect.garm...om/activity/43527839 avg hr 171 max pace 9:30. don’t know why this felt so hard to do a mediocre pace. it was a bit hilly, but not like Bandits!!

Candid Photos:

My work buddy named Steve gave me a set of Roller Trainers. OMG, what a great workout. It forced me to engage my core, keep a high cadence and high speed, good pedal stroke, and minimal upper body movement. Basically, forced me to have good form. I videotaped my first try at it. The first 10 minutes consisted of falling down alot. The next ten was holding onto the armchair with one hand and trying to hold steady. Then I got the hang of it and did 10 minutes solid. Good times! Can’t wait to try it again!

I did the Kure Beach Double Sprint triathlon race on June 27th, 2010.    Double Sprint means: swim, run, bike, run, swim.   It was at Kure Beach, North Carolina, one of my favorite beach destinations.   In case you were wondering, Kure is pronounced Cur-ee, like the french scientist, Madame Curie.

I did this race back in 2006, and there were 8 foot swells due to a Tropical Storm.   I DNF’d because I could not get past the breakers.  It was terrifying!   I was hoping for better weather this time around.

Goals:

I always look back at prior year’s race results, and my own performance history to come up with some goal to work toward.  Last year’s top three in my age group came in at  1:17 or less.    So, my ‘wow that would be awesome’ goal was 1:17.   I kind of figured 1:20 was more like it, since I don’t feel in tip top shape right now.

I decided to go without a watch for this race.  It’s much more enjoyable to just let your body go — and go hard — than to constantly look at a watch to check pace, time, splits, heart rate, blah blah.

Fun with Friends:

I drove down to Kure Beach on Saturday to meet my good friend, Ginger, aka, Aquaphor chic.  We met at packet pickup at the Two Wheeler Dealer in Wilmington.  While there, I met a blog reader named Kim.  She worked at the bike shop, is a triathlete, and she also does a sport called paddle boarding, which sounds really hard.   Hi Kim!   It’s always fun to meet a bloggy peep.  :-)

Then we met up with some BT buddies…John K, Maria, and Pete.   We all went out for dinner at Flaming Amy’s grill.  Awesome food, which left us all with food babies.   Not the best pre-race nutrition, but oh well!

After eating, Ginger and I went down to the beach to do some practice running swim starts with dolphin dives.   The water was refreshingly cool temperature and the waves were fun.  She gave me lots of pointers.  It was such a great time that I said “I wish the swim for tomorrow’s race was longer”.  

After swimming, Ginger and I went to our hotel to check in, shower, plot our race strategy, prep our bikes, and other girly fun.  Haha, prepping our bikes is girly fun.

BTW, Ginger is recovering from knee surgery, and has only been running for three weeks after a six month haitus.    Kure Beach was her first race back after her injury.   This race may be my only chance to ever beat her, because normally, she’s super fast in the run!

Photos:

Official Results:

Swim 1, 375 meters:     8:11
Run 1, 1.5 miles :            12:59
Bike, 12 miles:                  32:50 (2nd AG, 10th OF)
Run 2, 1.5 miles:             13:22
Swim 2, 375 meters:     12:37
Overall:                               1:19:56 7th AG, 30th OF

Race Morning:

Ate food, hung out with Ginger, met  lots of folks.  Did some strides on the beach before the swim start.  I observed some of the earlier waves to see what the current was doing.  Walked down to the waves and peed in the water.  Hey, fish do it.

Swim 1:

I tend to veer left and the current was pushing to the left, so I positioned myself in front, but off to the right.     When the horn went off, I ran and dolphin dived into the waves.  It was great fun as if I was a little kid playing in the waves – alongside a bunch of other little kids!   Rough kids, too!      It was a wild swim with lots of punching and kicking going on, the most body contact I have ever experienced in a race.   And I loved every minute of it.    The pack thinned out as soon as we turned the buoy.  I sighted well, held a good line, swam strong.    Sometimes all I saw when lifting my head to breathe were waves, so I just took a few more strokes and tried again.  It was all good.  I was sad when the swim was over.

Run 1:

Ginger is a better swimmer than me, so I knew she’d be ahead of me.  As soon as I got thru transition, I spotted her about 35 yards ahead of me.    I worked hard for 1.5 miles, gradually inching on her, but never quite passing her.   I was about 10 feet behind as we headed into the bike.

Bike:

Ginger must also be really fast at transitions, because when I got out on the bike course, she was nowhere to be seen.   The bike course was a two laps out and back course.     I could feel that I had a nice tailwind on the way out.   That meant I would have a headwind for the way back.   I was not going all out yet, as I knew I’d have a headwind in the final 3 miles.   I just rode hard, but not too hard. Passed alot of people.   I yelled at a couple folks blocking me from passing, too.

I finally spotted Ginger at the  turn around of  lap 1, at mile 3.    I was going to wait until the second lap to hammer hard to pass her.   Somewhere around mile 5, a woman with 46 on one leg, and an ‘m-dot’ tattoo on the other leg, passed me.   Damn.  I picked up my pace to match hers, but did not pass her back.    I shadowed her at a safe distance, for I knew passing her would just start a game of leap frog and toast my legs.

Soon after heading out for lap 2, I passed Ginger.  She told me about m-dot girl up ahead. I said “I know, she passed me too”!     It was not too difficult to match m-dot girl’s pace as long as I stayed focused and worked hard.  I noticed that m-dot girl would sometimes slow down to drink from her water bottle.      Just after the turn around for lap 2, mile 9, she drank from her water.  I took that opportunity to make the pass, hoping she would not notice me.     Then I went HARD so, even if she did notice, she would not be able to pass me back.   That worked, she did not pass me back.  However, you can see m-dot girl right behind me in the bike dismount picture below, so I didn’t make much gains on her.

Run 2:

I was not happy to get off the bike.  I was tired and hot and really did not want to run 1.5 miles back to the beach.  Did I mention it was hot?!      When I hit the run course, I saw m-dot girl and Ginger ahead of me.   Crap, I even practiced fast transitions!   Even tho I  was hot and I was tired, I had to work hard to catch Ginger and m-dot girl!     And I did.  I passed them both fairly soon after the run start.  I ran as hard as I could to put some distance on them for that final swim.    It was sooo hard.   And I was soooo looking forward to that final swim.  That cold water was going to be refreshing in this heat.   That’s what kept me going hard, the thought of that cold ocean water.

When I got to the beach, I tore of my shoes, donned cap and googles and ran up the beach toward the swim start.  The beach was crowded with spectators, and no racers were directly in front of me.   And I was not thinking right, so I dove in the water about 150 yards too soon, and started swimming toward the middle buoy.      Read my earlier post about that, with maps.

As soon as my body cooled down, my head started to clear.   Kind of makes you wonder about the wisdom of swimming in such hot tiring conditions.

I started wondering how close Ginger was. Was she gaining on me?  Was I swimming well?  Wouldn’t it be cool if we crossed the finish line together?  Even cooler if we tied?!

Then it dawned on me that I was all alone.  Why hadn’t I seen any other swimmers?  I didn’t expect a big pack as with the first swim, but I felt I should  be seeing someone, anyone!    I stopped to tread water to scope out the situation.    Here is what went through my head:

• OH CRAP!!!!  I AM SWIMMING TOWARD THE WRONG BUOY.
• FML
• What should I do?
• FML
• There goes any chance of beating Ginger or M-dot girl – who I had fought hard to pass.
• FML
• Should I go back and walk up the beach 150 yards?
• FML
• Should I swim the extra distance?   I swam  few strokes that way, and  the current was strong against me.
• FML
• Should I just cut the swim short?  Would anyone notice?    I would know.  And what glory would there be in winning on a cheat.

I decided nothing to do but swim the extra distance. Against the current.    I decided that since I had lost any hope of a good race result, I would enjoy that swim, not push hard.   Then I remembered how I had wished the swim course was longer.   Haha, got my wish, didn’t I?

I did enjoy that swim.  I played with the waves, played with my stroke, and had fun.  At one point I remember thinking “Hey this is fun swimming in the ocean, and I’m not even thinking about sharks.   D’oh, I just did think about them.”     (Did I ever mention that I am afraid of sharks?)

This picture is me running up the beach at the end toward the finish chute.  You can see I am very calm and relaxed and having fun at this point.    I’m mostly bummed that I did not get the chance to cross the line with my good friend Ginger.    I am very pleased with my time, making just under 1:20, despite having to swim an extra 15o yards against the current.   . Life is good.

And thanks, Ginger, for a fun beach weekend!    Ginger got 4th place in our age group with a time of 1:17 – Congratulations!!!!    In a reasonable year, that would have gotten her on the podium.  But this year, there were three uber fast chicks who all got 1:14 or less.

That’s what I did today at the Kure Beach Double Sprint Triathlon. Double sprint means swim-run-bike-run-swim. And, I sure blew it all over the pool during that second swim. I was having a great race, too. I worked very hard and passed Aquaphor chic and another girl during the bike. They both passed me back in Transition. I had to work hard again to pass them back in 2nd run. I was going as hard as I could during that 2nd run to try to put some distance on them, because I knew they were better swimmers. So hard that my brain was not working too well.

When I got to the beach for the second swim, I entered to water too soon and started swimming for the middle buoy (see orange path in figure below). We were supposed run 300 yards down the beach to the far buoy, and swim with the current back past three buoys (see yellow path below).

I realized my mistake about half way out. Then, I had to swim 150 yards against the current to the round the far buoy, and back track to the middle and last buoy, then back in. That 150 yards against the current was a tough swim. And a hard pill to swallow. And it cost me at least 3 minutes.

My finish time was 1:19:56, still very respectable, so I am pleased. The bummer thing, is that it was going to be a really close race whether Ginger would catch me in the end. It would have been so cool if we got our picture together going thru the finish chute.

All in all, I had a great race, and good times with my friend, Ginger. Here is a picture before the race of Maria (a facebook friend), Ginger and me: