1.17.2011
Healing
It's no secret that I've spent the last 5 weeks healing from a broken arm, which has put a damper on spirits for sure. But, this time has helped me focus on the part of training that I don't necessarily neglect, but am not very good at. That is, mental training. It's just like when I was a personal trainer and made people do the things they hated the most - that was my job. I knew when they weren't with me, they only did the things they were good at, inevitably the exercises they enjoyed doing. Same with me, I thoroughly enjoy the physical aspects of training...but sadly, that's not all it takes to be successful at racing. Because I wait too long, it's always so overwhelming. Like I said, the good news is that I've had some time to focus on my mental training, and it's been very healing. Most of my life I have been happy and optimistic, but there are times when I just feel this dark cloud following me around, and it keeps me from looking up - it keeps me from my dreams. It's good to see light again :) And I think I realize what it means when I need to take care of myself - I need to be my own friend. We all need to. I need to sit down with myself and have those tough conversations that I keep supressed behind the I'm too busy or don't know how to deal with you so go away. It's not rocket science and it's not that I don't hear it all the time, but it's sometimes hard to convince myself that I need to listen and I need to not just ask for help from others, but I need to ask for help from myself. THIS training for me is far more difficult than mile repeats or timed 400s in the pool. But we all know that anything worth acheiving is worth working for. THIS training is going to be far more rewarding than I imagined. I feel that I've come so far in a short period of time, and the most exciting thing of all, is that I have a long way to go! Ugh.
1.04.2011
New Year - same old me!
All-in-all, the holiday season was darn good! I had a lot of fun visiting family, and catching up with Ryan.
I've often told people that just because I work out a lot, doesn't mean it's easy. The end of my racing season this year, was not too long ago, December 10th. This has made it particularly difficult to be motivated come the first of the year. In fact, I was a little uncertain wether or not I could actually find my motivation again! It completely snuck up on me the other day as I started to look at races for this coming season...and there it was all over again. Now, I'm faced with a foreign challenge of not being able to train hard for a few more weeks due to my heeling broken arm. So, I've taken on a few other projects to keep me occupied...like re-organizing the entire house :) Hey, I have to do something with my energy!
I am definitley looking forward to the coming season, doing the things I love the most; racing my heart out and spending time with family and friends.
I've often told people that just because I work out a lot, doesn't mean it's easy. The end of my racing season this year, was not too long ago, December 10th. This has made it particularly difficult to be motivated come the first of the year. In fact, I was a little uncertain wether or not I could actually find my motivation again! It completely snuck up on me the other day as I started to look at races for this coming season...and there it was all over again. Now, I'm faced with a foreign challenge of not being able to train hard for a few more weeks due to my heeling broken arm. So, I've taken on a few other projects to keep me occupied...like re-organizing the entire house :) Hey, I have to do something with my energy!
I am definitley looking forward to the coming season, doing the things I love the most; racing my heart out and spending time with family and friends.
8.05.2010
Mile Repeats
Please note - trying any of the activities in my blog may cause serious injury..do not try this at home!
So - on my birthday I decided instead of doing a triathlon, I would do a 10k. Perfect, way less painful and I would have enough energy to enjoy the company of the ones I love! Unfortunately, I put so much pressure on myself that I barely made it past the 1st mile before I started to have trouble with my breathing...augh, here we go! Needless to say, I ended up having to slow way down and ended up with the worst side cramp in history. This, of course, sent my day into a total tail spin...don't worry, I did eventually recover. It just took a 2 hour car ride and a long, hot bike ride. Which brings me to my latest fete - mile repeats. Anyone who has done these can attest, they are hard. It doesn't really seem to matter how many you do, or how fast you're doing them...they hurt, period. A mere 3 mornings after my race, I ran times that would have crushed my goal. In fact, if I would have ran the 6:12, 6:09, 6:07 & 5:54...and finished the last of the 10k @ 7:45 pace, I would have beat my goal. WTF!
There are a couple of things I took away from this lesson:
#1 - Don't race on your birthday, the risk of disappointing yourself is way too high!
#2 - Breathing right keeps you from hyperventilating and doesn't even slow you down :)
#3 - While focusing on breathing, don't forget to relax your shoulders, or you may strain a neck muscle
#4 - Remember that only I am aware of my personal goals, getting upset only confuses people.
#5 - Sweet new racing flats don't make me invincible.
#6 - Breathing exercises will not only help my training, but also help me not take out my frustrations on those around me....breathe...
..I tried to come up with 10, but they were just getting stupid...I'll leave the top 10 to Letterman.
So - on my birthday I decided instead of doing a triathlon, I would do a 10k. Perfect, way less painful and I would have enough energy to enjoy the company of the ones I love! Unfortunately, I put so much pressure on myself that I barely made it past the 1st mile before I started to have trouble with my breathing...augh, here we go! Needless to say, I ended up having to slow way down and ended up with the worst side cramp in history. This, of course, sent my day into a total tail spin...don't worry, I did eventually recover. It just took a 2 hour car ride and a long, hot bike ride. Which brings me to my latest fete - mile repeats. Anyone who has done these can attest, they are hard. It doesn't really seem to matter how many you do, or how fast you're doing them...they hurt, period. A mere 3 mornings after my race, I ran times that would have crushed my goal. In fact, if I would have ran the 6:12, 6:09, 6:07 & 5:54...and finished the last of the 10k @ 7:45 pace, I would have beat my goal. WTF!
There are a couple of things I took away from this lesson:
#1 - Don't race on your birthday, the risk of disappointing yourself is way too high!
#2 - Breathing right keeps you from hyperventilating and doesn't even slow you down :)
#3 - While focusing on breathing, don't forget to relax your shoulders, or you may strain a neck muscle
#4 - Remember that only I am aware of my personal goals, getting upset only confuses people.
#5 - Sweet new racing flats don't make me invincible.
#6 - Breathing exercises will not only help my training, but also help me not take out my frustrations on those around me....breathe...
..I tried to come up with 10, but they were just getting stupid...I'll leave the top 10 to Letterman.
7.09.2010
100+
(yes, I mean the temperature)
Ok, so I don't know about anyone else, but going from 70 to 100 in a week makes my body a little crazy!
Wednesday I attempted to do a 10 mile TT up Weber canyon...and after getting 2 bloody noses, hyperventilating 3 times and getting sick, I was finally on my way back home. Feeling like I did, I knew I had to hydrate, even though it would mean emptying my only source of fluids. Thankfully, my body has become very efficient at cooling itself, so I was able to make the 10 more miles to a gas station. Mistakenly I filled my bottle with soda water - I never thought soda water could taste SO GOOD! By the time I made it home, I was starting to feel a little better - an ice bath and recovery drink later I almost felt like myself again!
So, of course the next day I thought I would be fine running hill repeats since I had acclimated...right! Yeah, good thinking Barkley...
I felt really good and saw I was running my warm-up way too fast, so tried to slow myself down or I knew I would pay for it later. After a little over 3 miles, I was good and warm, to say the least. After my first hill, I began to question my sanity. On the way back down, I had a sit down with myself to in order to find my motivation to continue. Could I do this? Was it worth it? Would my body make me pay for it later? After a couple of minutes, I was ready to go again...I refused to let myself quit!
#2 and #3 were right on track. Unfortunately in the middle of my 4th and final interval, my body finally caught on..my stomach started to cramp a little and I decided to back off my pace and coast to the top, after-all I still had a long ways to go before I was home.
My trip home, was a walk/jog and even then, my heart rate fluctuated between 150-160. 1/2 way between my hill and home is a Starbucks - I stopped in for a water and to call for help. Unfortunately my ride was out on a bike ride, but fortunately the water was enough to get me home! I would take a sip, then pour some of the icy water down my back then down my front - a pattern I repeated until I finally made it home.
Not sure if I'm glad I did the work-out, but I am glad that I didn't quit!
Ok, so I don't know about anyone else, but going from 70 to 100 in a week makes my body a little crazy!
Wednesday I attempted to do a 10 mile TT up Weber canyon...and after getting 2 bloody noses, hyperventilating 3 times and getting sick, I was finally on my way back home. Feeling like I did, I knew I had to hydrate, even though it would mean emptying my only source of fluids. Thankfully, my body has become very efficient at cooling itself, so I was able to make the 10 more miles to a gas station. Mistakenly I filled my bottle with soda water - I never thought soda water could taste SO GOOD! By the time I made it home, I was starting to feel a little better - an ice bath and recovery drink later I almost felt like myself again!
So, of course the next day I thought I would be fine running hill repeats since I had acclimated...right! Yeah, good thinking Barkley...
I felt really good and saw I was running my warm-up way too fast, so tried to slow myself down or I knew I would pay for it later. After a little over 3 miles, I was good and warm, to say the least. After my first hill, I began to question my sanity. On the way back down, I had a sit down with myself to in order to find my motivation to continue. Could I do this? Was it worth it? Would my body make me pay for it later? After a couple of minutes, I was ready to go again...I refused to let myself quit!
#2 and #3 were right on track. Unfortunately in the middle of my 4th and final interval, my body finally caught on..my stomach started to cramp a little and I decided to back off my pace and coast to the top, after-all I still had a long ways to go before I was home.
My trip home, was a walk/jog and even then, my heart rate fluctuated between 150-160. 1/2 way between my hill and home is a Starbucks - I stopped in for a water and to call for help. Unfortunately my ride was out on a bike ride, but fortunately the water was enough to get me home! I would take a sip, then pour some of the icy water down my back then down my front - a pattern I repeated until I finally made it home.
Not sure if I'm glad I did the work-out, but I am glad that I didn't quit!
6.12.2010
Training Ride
So, I'm almost finished with my last HARD week of training before my first A race of the season - I can hardly wait! Today while I was riding and looking at my super high-tech garmin, I thought for such a high tech devise, why doesn't my virtual pacer ever have the same head wind that I have or ever go up the same hills???
I can't believe it's been so long since my last post. I have been super busy, which means any spare time I have is spent sleeping...not writing :(
I vow to keep up with it now that the season has actually started and I will have more interesting things to report.
Too much has happened in the past 2 months to try and catch up on everything - but here are a few highlights:
I did my first cycling stage race in a few years and won all 3 stages :) It was even more sweet when I beat the lady that said triathletes can't ride bikes - ha!
The first triathlon of the season was Onion Man in Walla Walla and I placed 2nd :) I was way too far behind after the swim to make it up - but I'm working on that! Now I'm getting ready for Pacific Crest, which is usually my favorite race of the season - yipeee!
I can't believe it's been so long since my last post. I have been super busy, which means any spare time I have is spent sleeping...not writing :(
I vow to keep up with it now that the season has actually started and I will have more interesting things to report.
Too much has happened in the past 2 months to try and catch up on everything - but here are a few highlights:
I did my first cycling stage race in a few years and won all 3 stages :) It was even more sweet when I beat the lady that said triathletes can't ride bikes - ha!
The first triathlon of the season was Onion Man in Walla Walla and I placed 2nd :) I was way too far behind after the swim to make it up - but I'm working on that! Now I'm getting ready for Pacific Crest, which is usually my favorite race of the season - yipeee!
4.11.2010
the race is on!
It's finally, officially race season, yipee!
Yesterday was the first in a series of five local multi-sport races, the Rage in the Sage.
It still surprises me how nervous I get before races, it's like I'm not going to remember how to run or not know how to put on a race number (thank goodness for race belts). Yesterday was no exception!
It seemed like the weather was going to be perfect - starting at about 45 degrees, sunny with calm wind expected. Of course, when we showed up, it was about 38 degrees with howling wind - it is the desert after-all. At that point my objective changed from racing hard to getting out of the wind as fast as I possibly could. Thankfully, my training has paid off and I finished just under 1-hour, 15 minutes...about 8 minutes faster than last time I did the race :)
It was amazing to see so many participants in such crumby conditions racing their hearts out. THAT is exactly the reason I still do these events. Yes, I of course am hell-bent on achieving my own personal goals as well, but it's everyone else that keeps me going. In fact, even one of my clients who wasn't even racing came out to cheer me on - can you believe it!?!? It's a heck of a lot easier to keep your motivation up when you are surrounded by such motivated people.
I am so looking forward to doing more local races and having more FUN as the summer continues!
Yesterday was the first in a series of five local multi-sport races, the Rage in the Sage.
It still surprises me how nervous I get before races, it's like I'm not going to remember how to run or not know how to put on a race number (thank goodness for race belts). Yesterday was no exception!
It seemed like the weather was going to be perfect - starting at about 45 degrees, sunny with calm wind expected. Of course, when we showed up, it was about 38 degrees with howling wind - it is the desert after-all. At that point my objective changed from racing hard to getting out of the wind as fast as I possibly could. Thankfully, my training has paid off and I finished just under 1-hour, 15 minutes...about 8 minutes faster than last time I did the race :)
It was amazing to see so many participants in such crumby conditions racing their hearts out. THAT is exactly the reason I still do these events. Yes, I of course am hell-bent on achieving my own personal goals as well, but it's everyone else that keeps me going. In fact, even one of my clients who wasn't even racing came out to cheer me on - can you believe it!?!? It's a heck of a lot easier to keep your motivation up when you are surrounded by such motivated people.
I am so looking forward to doing more local races and having more FUN as the summer continues!
3.28.2010
long and hard...
seriously.
I finally kept up with "the group" for Saturday's bike ride, which surprisingly left me with mixed emotions. I was so proud of myself for "hanging on", but by the time I had a chance to realize what had happened, I was well passed the half way point (which means, there is no short-cut home) on a 70+ mile ride in the middle of no-where, when I realized I was exhausted! The pace was a blistering (too me) 20 mph or so, but the worst part wasn't the pace, it was the focus. If for a split second my mind wandered off to notice a munching cow or even a crazy cloud formation, I would have been done for...stranded in wheat fields with only deranged farmers and their ruthless dogs to boost my motivation. About that point, Ryan said to me, "you know, you're the only girl here"...yah, and I was beginning to think it was a very bad idea! Not only were they really messing up my potty break, but when was chat time? Don't you guys ever just ride at conversation pace?!?! When we stopped to get some water, I looked around and thought who the hell are these guys? The only recognition I had for the past 3 hours was of what they looked like on their bike from behind. Once they took their helmets and glasses off, I realized they probably didn't care about chit-chat, they wanted this ride to over with as much as I did! As we trudged along thru the wind, I began to appreciate the silent communication of group rides - and that the group seemed to not think of me as a girl, but just as a rider...who better start pulling her keep!!! Hey, I'm working on it.
I finally kept up with "the group" for Saturday's bike ride, which surprisingly left me with mixed emotions. I was so proud of myself for "hanging on", but by the time I had a chance to realize what had happened, I was well passed the half way point (which means, there is no short-cut home) on a 70+ mile ride in the middle of no-where, when I realized I was exhausted! The pace was a blistering (too me) 20 mph or so, but the worst part wasn't the pace, it was the focus. If for a split second my mind wandered off to notice a munching cow or even a crazy cloud formation, I would have been done for...stranded in wheat fields with only deranged farmers and their ruthless dogs to boost my motivation. About that point, Ryan said to me, "you know, you're the only girl here"...yah, and I was beginning to think it was a very bad idea! Not only were they really messing up my potty break, but when was chat time? Don't you guys ever just ride at conversation pace?!?! When we stopped to get some water, I looked around and thought who the hell are these guys? The only recognition I had for the past 3 hours was of what they looked like on their bike from behind. Once they took their helmets and glasses off, I realized they probably didn't care about chit-chat, they wanted this ride to over with as much as I did! As we trudged along thru the wind, I began to appreciate the silent communication of group rides - and that the group seemed to not think of me as a girl, but just as a rider...who better start pulling her keep!!! Hey, I'm working on it.
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