Changing Obsessive Behavior

Last week was an interesting week for me. I had about a 24-hour span when I wasn’t sure if I had some sort of life-threatening illness.  Not a whole lot of fun. 

I’m a pretty responsible person when it comes down to my health.  I know I don’t eat right all the time, but considering I work for one of the best restaurants in town, I think limit my food intake pretty well.  I exercise (obviously), don’t drink or smoke and have never done drugs.  I go to my yearly exams like clockwork.  I also don’t have a history of illness in my family.  Longevity is common in my family, especially for the women.  My Grandma Christine passed away at 96 last year, and my Grandma Helen just turned 96 last week and is still as active as ever.

So I have to say that I was pretty surprised late last week when I received a letter in the mail stating that “further examination” was needed because a “spot” was found on a scan taken at my annual exam. (Sidebar – I got a LETTER?  Really?  A spot on a scan doesn’t warrant a phone call? Apparently not.)  Now to me, this letter basically said, “you have cancer.”  I tried to be calm and realistic, but I admit, I was inwardly panicking.

I know this is a sport-related blog and I don’t want to get into the details of my anxiety so I’ll skip all that.  Long story short - I was able to make an appointment for the next day (ok, I insisted I got an appointment).  The more detailed scans came back clear and I’m fine. No cancer here!

Now here is the tie in with sports.  Any guesses as to what one of my first thoughts was after reading that letter?  “But I just ran 5 miles last night!  I can’t be sick!”  Classic denial.  One of my next thoughts? “Crap, having cancer is really going to screw with my Half-Ironman training.”  How crazy is that?  I’m not even a professional athlete!  (For the record, I did think about my amazing husband, family and friends during this time as well.  I’m not a complete freak.)

It was then I decided that I needed to lighten up on myself in terms of training.  I know I have a tendency to be obsessive about things like exercise.  If I have a workout on my schedule, it’s going to get done somehow – usually by getting up crazy early or staying up late.  I rarely blow off workouts, and if I do – I make them up the next day.  If I have a bad run in the morning, I feel the need to bike or swim later to make up for it.  A dedicated personality trait is a good thing for an athlete, but I don't think an obsessive one is.  I shouldn’t beat myself up because I don’t run as fast as I’d like or can’t swim as far as the training schedule says I should at this point. Exercise is supposed to be fun, right?   

I feel very fortunate that I’m healthy enough to train for this Half-Ironman and I’ve really enjoyed the training so far.  But there are other things in life too.  It’s finding the balance that will be my challenge.

Workouts last week:

Monday – 30 minute bike trainer

Tuesday – 30 minute bike trainer

Wednesday – EN run and 600 yards swim

Thursday & Friday – 24 hours of anxiety

Saturday – Swim lesson & 45 minutes on trainer

Sunday – 10 mile run with EN.

Oh the Horror!!

   I recently had to experience something that no female over the age of, let's face it, 25 years old should ever have to go through.  Yes, thanks to this fun little sport I have taken up - triathlon, I had to go purchase a new bathing suit.
  Now I know that I ride bikes and that requires tight, funny-looking clothing.  I also run, which for 8 months out of the year generally requires very little amounts of clothing - shorts and a t-shirt or tank top.  I'm used to having my arms and legs exposed.  And I'm generally OK with that.  I mean, I have the same hang-ups about my body that most people have.  I've always hated my legs...  I inherited my father's genetics in that regard - short and stocky, especially my calves.  These are the legs that inspired my Grandmother, upon seeing me as a teen to say "Boy - she'd got those Moczulewski legs, doesn't she?"  These are also the legs motivated the high school track coach to ask me to shot put for the school team.  SHOT PUT!!   Not that there is anything wrong with shot put I guess, but it's not exactly something a high school girl dreams of being recruited to do.  The funniest part about this is that I was wearing my cheerleading uniform at the time.  Can you imagine?  The shot putting cheerleader!
  Anyway, back to the swim suit.  I probably haven't purchased a swim suit in at least 5 years, possibly 8.  And those were more for sunbathing rather than swimming.  I trained for my tri last year in a suit I'd had for years but had rarely worn.  But that suit is now pretty threadbare and a little stretched out.  It was definitely time for a new one.  So down I went to Endurance Sports and Rec in Franklin.  Deanna was kind enough to help me with sizes, since I was completely clueless as to what size I wore.  I picked out a few suits by different manufacturers: Speedo, blueseventy and TYR, all one-pieces, and went into the dressing room.
   Ah - the cruel, dreaded dressing room - bright, unflattering lights, mirrors that show every flaw...not my exactly my idea of a fun place of spending an afternoon.  But in I went.  I tried on the first suit and almost gave up.  I could barely get the stupid thing on!  Fortunately, I figured out that I had accidentally picked up the wrong size.  Once that was fixed, I tried again with somewhat better results.  Kicker about racing suits though is that they're actually made for swimming and aerodynamics rather than cuteness.  Sure, if you're an Olympic swimmer they might look cute, but one the average woman - not so much.  Being short-legged, I need a higher-cut suit in the legs to make them seem longer.  Unfortunately, none of these suits did that.  They're also tight.  I definitely felt like a sausage.  A short-legged sausage.  Sigh.
  I did finally decide on one.  It's red and black, coincidentally the same color scheme as my bike, which is nice.  I don't have to be all matchy-matchy, but I'm cool with things being coordinated.  I'm still not thrilled with my legs in a swim suit, but I'll deal.  Yes, these are the legs that were the bane of my existence in high school, but they are also the legs that have carried me successfully across the finish line of 8 half-marathons.  I've enjoyed many hours of riding my bike with these legs.  They're also the legs that were muscular enough to buffer against the impact of a car pinning them against a guardrail (the doctor said most shins would have shattered on impact).  And they will, hopefully, be the legs that allow me to finish the Augusta Half-Ironman in September.

My Slog Through Hell

   Yesterday was my running group's (the fantastic East Nasty running group) last long run prior to the Country Music Half Marathon.  The plan was to run 14 miles, most of which on the actual race course.  Now, considering I hadn't run further than 5 miles since the Shamrock Half Marathon a few weeks back, I was a little concerned about the distance.  I had also had decent bike / swim workout the day prior my legs were a little tired.  But knowing I'd be running with Heidi, Rhonda and Polly, I figured I'd be OK.
   Unfortunately, what I didn't plan on was the heat.  Nashville happened to have record-breaking heat over the last weekend.  When we showed up at Bongo Java to run at 8AM on Sunday morning, it was already 75 degrees.  I'd dressed accordingly - tank top and running skirt - and also brought my water bottle.  East Nasty had a water cooler out along the course that we'd pass twice during the run where we could fill-up our bottles if necessary.  In theory, this should have been enough.  In theory...
   So we started out.  All of us (the aforementioned Heidi, Rhonda and Polly) were planning on taking it easy and just getting through the run.  Knowing how hot it was and how long we had to go, we started at a pretty conservative pace.  I think, while we were hot, we were doing OK until we came upon the water cooler at the Roundabout near Music Row (that's a traffic circle for you Northerners).  That water cooler had kind of been a carrot for me during the run - my reward of a little rest and some cold water.  Knowing it was there, I had paced my drinking so I'd have an empty bottle to fill up.  Problem was - someone had dumped out the water before we got there.  (Sidebar - We're assuming that it wasn't someone in our group who dumped it, because that's really just not cool.  Plus, we found out later the cooler had been stolen.)  I can't tell you how mad we were the water had been dumped.  By this time, it was at least 80 and would creep up to almost 90 throughout the day.  We needed that water!
   So we slogged on.  After about a mile, as if a mirage, we saw a table with some very nice women and a water cooler.  Like angels from heaven, the employees from lululemon (a fabulous running/yoga store if you've never been there), were out manning a water stop for the East Nasty training run.  I can't tell you how thankful we were to see them.
   Now properly rehydrated, we went along our merry way.  Well, not so merrily actually, but we went along.  By now it was hot.  REALLY hot.  And we weren't in much shade.  We stopped at a Circle K to stock up on supplies (YAY for debit cards!!)  and cool off a bit before facing the heat again.  I'm thinking around mile 6 is when I felt my first heat-related chill.   NOT a good sign and we weren't even half-way done yet.
   This was about the time when we hit Granny White Road.  This is a tough section of the course as it's  hilly.  This is also where we started to walk.  A lot.  We started a plan of trying to run down the hills while walking up them.  We've run worse hills, but yesterday Granny White just seemed endless.  I have no doubt that if the weather was cooler, the hills would have been kinder.
  After another stop at a different convenience store and a pass past the lululemon water stop, we were finally on the home stretch.  I know we were all pretty miserable by now.  For me personally, I was just trying to figure out how to make it back without passing out.  We walked more than ran the last 3 miles, but I didn't care.  All I was focused on was getting back to Bongo Java and sitting in air-conditioning for a long, long while.  I had never been more relieved to finish a run.
   Many thanks to Heidi, Polly, Rhonda, Julia, Sara and Chuck for "running" with me yesterday.  And a HUGE thank you to the ladies from lululemon.  They were truly lifesavers.

My New Ride!

   I've always said that any day you get a new bike is a good day.  Well, following in the tradition of me lucking into bikes that deserve way faster owners than I am, I had great day last week!  I am now the proud owner of an Orbea Alleta frame and fork, which will eventually be set up to be my tri bike.  Yes, yes, I know.  I've only done one tri so far and considering how awesome my road bike is, some might think I don't really need a tri bike.  And I totally agree.  But yet, here I am with a new addition to our bike stable.
   So how did I acquire this little gem?  A little backstory - my boss at my day job has a son who races on the collegiate level.  Back in 2006 my boss bought his son this Orbea to use as his time trial (TT) bike.   Kicker is that very soon after this purchase, his son got a sponsorship deal from the Hincapie Development Cycling Team.  Fun little benefit of getting a sponsorship from a major team like Hincapie - you also get a new bike.   So the new Orbea TT bike that had only been ridden 4 times went into storage and sat there for 5 years.   When I mentioned to Mike (the boss) that I started racing tris, and he thought about the bike.  Wanting to clear out some space, he gave me a great deal on it.  Then before you could say "bike hoarder," I owned a new bike!

   I don't have decent pictures of the actual frame and fork, but this is the model and paint job.

So pretty!   

Looks fast, huh?

   Now what should be interesting, is that I know less about building up a tri bike than I do about triathlons.  My goal is to have it built for the Augusta Half-Ironman at the end of September.  

   Training update: my training took a little step backwards due to vacation and a Spring cold, but I'm back on track now.  I have two tris in May - both sprints.  My goal is to not embarrrass myself!

  

Something Different

   So I did something I'd never done before while I vacation - I rode on a velodrome.  For those unfamiliar with a velodrome - it's a banked, oval bike track.  Think of a NASCAR track, but for bikes.  Being from a cycling family, I've been familiar with velodromes since childhood.  My dad grew up in Kenosha, Wisconsin, home of the oldest operating velodrome in the US (http://www.333m.com/).  My dad and brother would sometimes ride on it when we would go visit, but I never did.  Why?  It's SCARY!   Track bikes are different from standard road bikes in two distinct ways: 1) They have a fixed-gear, which means no freewheel and no coasting - you have a keep pedaling at all times.  2) No brakes.  Yes, you heard me, no brakes.  So if you're riding behind someone and they get squirrelly, you can't stop or even coast to slow down.  Then take that bike and put it on a track with steep, banked turns...well, I think you can see why my childhood self wasn't so keen on trying it out.  

  But my fear of velodromes kind of went away when I went to the Master's Track World Championships to watch my dad race last October.  While still a little scary, riding on a velodrome looked really fun and I mentioned as much to my dad.  So when I was home visiting them last week, Dad and I took a little road-trip to Trexlertown, PA - home of the Valley Preferred Cycling Center and the closest velodrome to the DC-area (about 4 hours away).  

   This velodrome has a cool history in that it was created by Bob Rodale, publisher of Bicycling Magazine.  If you're a history / cycling geek like me, check out this link http://www.thevelodrome.com/about-us/history/ for a bit more about Bob and the history of the track.

   We arrived at the track around 10:00am.  Being that it was a Tuesday, overcast and only about 50 degrees, my dad and I were the only riders at the track.  Which was fine with me because the last thing I wanted to do was crash out another rider.  The first thing I noticed about the velodrome were the grandstands on both sides of the track.  GRANDSTANDS!  As in places where people can sit to watch bike races.  Yes, the velodrome in Portugal had grandstands, but that's in Europe.   The US hasn't embraced cycling as a spectator sport in over 100 years.  

  

   On race day, all the riders set up in the pit area, which is in the middle of the velodrome.  Here they can work on their bikes and warm-up before their races.

   

    After bundling-up against the cold, it was finally time to ride.  Every track has a flat apron on the bottom of the track where riders can just cruise.  I spent a few minutes there getting used to my dad's practice track bike, which I was riding for the day.  As I stated previously, this was a fixed-gear bike, but  since it was his practice bike- he had a rear brake on it.  While I lose coolness points for having a brake, I was happy to have it as insurance that I wouldn't crash into something for the lack of being able to stop.  

   There are three lines on the track: black, red and blue.  While they mean something specific for races, I was only using them as a guide as to how high I was on the track.  The higher you are, the steeper it is.  When I first got on the track, I pretty much lived between the black and red lines, which isn't that steep at all.  It's a freaky thing to have the road beneath you slant though.  Takes some getting used to.  I kept feeling like I was going to slide down the track.  But slowly I started to creep closer to the red line, and finally past it.  Then once I got comfortable there, I creeped closer to the blue line and finally got past it.  I was surprised at how quickly I was able to adapt to riding on the track.  I figured it'd take me several trips to the track to get me above the blue line.  I eventually got up enough courage to ride up by the "rails" which is up at the very top of the track.   Now THAT was scary.  I just kept thinking "just keep pedaling, just keep pedaling" over and over while riding up there.  I didn't know what was worse, the thought of sliding down the track or busting through the signage that lined the top of it.  Fortunately, I didn't do either.

(I'm above the blue line!!)

 I did want to try one thing while I was in Trexlertown.  I'd seen racers in Portugal ride WAY up at the top, and then swoop down to the bottom of the track to pick up momentum.  Now THAT looked fun.  I figured since we were the only two in the track, I may as well try it.  After making sure Dad wasn't anywhere near me, I rode up by the rails through the turn and then just flew down to the lower part of the track in the straightaway.  It was so cool and very fast!!  Unfortunately, it was then I forgot that I couldn't coast and jammed my legs when I stopped pedaling, but no biggie.  I did the swoop maneuver a few more times before going home.  

(My dad on the track.  He rocks.)

  It was a great day.  

Race Report- Yuengling Shamrock Half Marathon

  The reason I started running was to stay in touch with two of my best friends from college- Debbie and Dana.  We run a half-marathon once or twice a year together; sometimes one close to one of our homes, sometimes one that is a destination.  So far, we've run in Indy, Richmond (2009), Disney World (2010) and now the Yuengling Shamrock in Virginia Beach.  While sometimes the race might not be the easiest thing, the three of us never fail to have a great time.  VA Beach is also home to another one of our college friends, Jen, so it was a real Mason reunion.  It was great!
  Every big race starts with the expo.  This is the place where you pick up your bib numbers and race shirts.  It's also a great shopping opportunity.  I love a good expo.  Lots of crap, but generally lots of freebies too.  It's fun to look around at all of the different booths and vendors.  Sometimes they're crazy crowded, but the Shamrock expo wasn't that bad.

(Deb and Dana with a leprechaun) 

   This race is always held around St. Patrick's Day, thus the Shamrock theme.  For the first time, we decided to dress the part and go with a green theme for our running attire, complete with green boas.  Deb and I actually got really crazy and painted our nails green.  When in Rome, right?

  The weekend actually had several different races.  Saturday had an 8k, along with a kid's run.  Sunday was the half-marathon and a full marathon.  Unfortunately, the race organizers felt the need to start the half at 7:00 am.  That meant getting up at 5:30 Eastern, which felt like 4:30 for this Central Time Zone girl.  Not fun.  But after a very loud alarm and a swig of Diet Dr. Pepper, I got dressed and was ready to go!

   We had to walk about 20 blocks to the start.  The wind was CRAZY, which made it really cold.  Fortunately, Debbie was smart and brought us all throw away shirts we could wear to keep warm and then ditch once the race started (Thanks Deb!).  They were desperately needed.
   I started in Corral 4.  (I'm always amazed at how Corrals are assigned.  It seems I'm somehow always in some random corral.  Granted, I'm not fast so I should be in the mid-corrals, but one time Dana and I put down the same time, and she got Corral 1, and I got Corral 5!  But my time to complain about corrals is for another time... )  I took a look around and saw that many people have dressed the part.  Leprechaun outfits, kilts, green hair - you name it.  It was all there.  And I thought I was cute with my boa and green shorts!
   The race itself went off without a hitch.  I'd been told it was pancake flat, and it was.  I think the elevation rose about 10 feet throughout the entire race.  This would have been a great race to attempt a PR, but I knew going in my speed wasn't there.  As long as I ran the whole thing, I'd be happy.  So I just kept a nice easy pace and tried to keep the boa feathers out of my mouth, with limited success.
  What I always find amusing is that for a race this big (about 8,500 people just for the half), how I somehow manage to run the most of, or the entire race, with a few people.  This race it was a woman in a tie-dyed shirt.  She was literally standing next to me at the start, and then I would see her out on the course at random times throughout the race.  When I stopped to take off my throw-away shirt, she stopped to get water.  When I stopped at mile 6 rest rooms, she stopped at mile 7 and I caught her.  It's not like we were trying to pace each other, it's just how things worked out.  I did kind of want to smack her during the last half-mile though because she kept doing this sprint / walk kind of thing.  She'd RACE past me, and then stop to walk right in front of me.  (New runners- don't EVER do that.  It's annoying to the other runners.)  We ended up finishing together.  I have no idea if she even noticed I was there.
   Overall, great experience.  I felt great until mile 6, when I stopped for the rest room, had a 5 minute wait, and my legs got cold.  Miles 6-9 were fine, but I started to hurt a little during miles 9-10.  However, the thought of finishing pushed me through.  I just kept looking ahead hoping to see the giant Neptune statue which signaled the finish.  Finally, he was there.

(YAY Neptune!!)

   I finished the race and was not only awarded a finishers medal (which can also be used as a bottle opener), but also a finishers hat AND a finishers long-sleeved t-shirt instead of a mylar blanket.  Nice touch Shamrock organizers.  I had to pass on the Yuengling beer and the Murphy's Irish Stew though, which was offered at the finish line festival.  It was fitting for the theme, but wasn't really appetizing at 9:30 in the morning after just finishing a half-marathon.
   As I said before, overall a great experience.  I would absolutely do this race again. Hopefully, next time for a PR.  :-)

(Me and Dana at the finish with our new bling / bottle openers)

Watch time: 2:20
Chip time: 2:25 (gotta love long lines - they just ruin your time!)

I Know Why the Swim is First

   I have a fun, part-time job in freelance sports production.  Long story short- I work on the Jumbotron crew for two professional sports teams in Nashville - the Tennessee Titans and the Nashville Predators.   We're getting towards the end of the Preds season now, and we're in the middle of a home-stretch.  I think 12 of the next 15 games are at home.  And if it wasn't for me going on vacation next week, I'd be working every one of them.  Great for the wallet- but hell on a training schedule.
  Since I have games on most Saturdays, Tuesdays and Thursdays this month, I have to get my workouts in on the remaining days.  Fortunately, the C25k program is over, so that time is available now.  Unfortunately, I need to double-up my workouts on some days.  Today was one of those days.
   In an attempt to actually plan my workouts rather than just winging it like I did for my last tri, I'm currently basing my workouts from a plan I got from Fleet Feet- a local running store.  It's specifically designed for the sprint tri I'm doing in May.  I started it on Monday with the swim - 500 yards total.  That swim felt great, but I also hadn't done any exercise since the Tom King 5k the previous Saturday.  Now don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking out those 500 yards in one stretch; I have to take breaks.  But I would always swim 25 to 50 yards at a time (as the schedule planned) and I never took one a break longer that one-minute.
  Well, Tuesday I had to skip my planning running work-out (the dreaded speed session) due to a Preds game.  So today, being the slave to the schedule, I did my 4x1-mile speed work and then went to pool.  The mile repeats felt good.  Really good.  I know I bitch out speed sessions, but they definitely work.  My goal time was supposed to be 10:07.  I did all four under 9:45 - and I was trying to slow down.  So my body is definitely adjusting to the tempo change, which is good.
   But from there I went to the pool...which wasn't so good.  That great feeling I had on Monday was gone. I left my schedule at home so I wasn't sure what my exact workout was supposed to be.  I just remembered I was supposed to swim 550 yards total.  So I did 8x25 and then 5x50, which is one 50 longer than Monday.  It was terrible.  My legs just felt like lead and my arms just sort of hit the water rather than slicing into it like a knife.  I was S-L-O-W too. But whatever.  I finished and hopefully, I'm better for it.
  As I mentioned in the title - I know why the swim is first.  Because people will freaking DROWN if it's last because they are so tired.  You can always coast on a bike and walk on the run, but you'll drown if you stop swimming.  And no one wants that!

Things to work on:
Speed - both running and swimming
Form - swimming
Breathing from both sides rather than just one when swimming