The Bree Wee effect......

I don't know if some of my readers know who, " Bree Wee" is, but she is one of my favorite pro triathletes and mom's who writes an amazing blog and is tremendously open about her life and sport and well to put it plainly, I just think she is amazing. ( of course I've never met the woman) but based on what I read she sounds great. However, my idol has a flaw, she is having trouble with running off the bike ( sound familiar?). She recently was in Idaho at IM CDA and she swam and biked fairly well ( however not her usual best) but did not complete the run. She recently had a bad showing at IM South AFrica but that was because of a DVT she had in her calves but in most of her 70.3 races and Olympics this year she has definitely not run to her potential, I mean by a long shot in any of her races.

If you go and read her blog she explains that this weekend she was battling some inner demons, things she just usually tries to forget and just smiles through but for some reason her head wasn't into the game and by the time it was her turn to run on sunday the tears were flowing down her face and she decided to just stop. She has realized that since her recent divorce and whatever else she is feeling and going through that she is going to go and see a sports psychologist and work with her coach on the mental side of things to help her as an athlete. Heres a woman who can run 5 minute miles at the track and can do a sub 3 hr marathon and she is having issues running off the bike?

Its amazing what the psychie can do to the athlete. The reason I love Bree ( there are many) but for me, I'm certainly not as fast as her but I too have a mental block when it comes to running off the bike. I constantly talk to myself on the bike about the run, I obesses about the run, I think all that mental talk in my head exhausts me and it takes a toll on my ability to run to my potential. I don't want to go to Lake Placid and have the same experience I had last year, I don't want to walk 8-10 miles of the run, I want to run the marathon, I don't care how slow but I want to be able to run. I want to be able to be confident that I can run and that I can finish strong as long as I didn't over do the bike and I nailed my nutrition. I want to be confident.

I don't have any real demons that I am battling with, the only demon is myself. My coach has said that after LP we are really going to work on this aspect of my game because I'm a work horse when it comes to training but I'm a mess when it comes to biking to my full potential and running to my full potential at races. It really comes down to my confidence and believing in myself that I've done the work and I'm capable. I don't really have a killer instinct when it comes to racing only a desire to better myself every time I go out there. If I happen to be doing well then at times I get aggressive and I want to beat people but usually ( again a downfall of mine) am afraid to be aggressive because I'm afraid of failing. Afraid that I can't follow through with what I really want to do and am capable of.

I admire Bree for taking the steps necessary to battle her inner demons and make heselfr whole again after everything she has endured, I truly believe this is the last piece of the puzzle for her that will make her a contender in any race that she does. For me, I too need to take the steps necessary to believe in myself, to believe that I can do better than I did last year at IMLP, that I can run a successful marathon off the bike, or even better, that I can run effectively off the bike in any race, at least to the best of my ability. I think I'm going to try some accupuncture before IMLP and if that doesn't work I"m going to work on some meditation.

Triathlon is a lot about working out and getting in the miles but its also about your mind and where you are and how you feel about yourself and your abilities. So many people say racing is 10% physical, 90% mental, I don't know if those numbers are correct but I think thats pretty close.

A few quotes:

" Fortune favors the prepared mind."- Louis Pasteur

" A lot of athletes forget that, above all, the body is only the house of their spirit; the body will do what the mind tells it to do." Toni Hassler

" What we tell ourselves can either help us or hurt us, depending on what the message is."- Jerry Lunch

What do you say at the 5hr mark to yourself?

AFter the Patriot 1/2 ironman last weekend it was back to work and getting in some more volume this week and next, especially on the bike. Before today I had already ridden 6hrs on the bike and I had 6hrs to do today. I got out fairly early and the temps were good, not too sunny but it got windy as the day progressed. I traveled to NH again and all around the NOrth Shore, it gets really lonely being on your bike for 6hrs by yourself you start talking to yourself. I can't tell you how many conversations I had today with myself, good/bad and ugly, but at not time did I want or need to get off my bike ( except to go to the BR and get some ice).

My problem is after about 3hrs I start to get really bored on the bike, even though the scenery today was really beautiful and the weather not so bad I just really don't want to ride anymore, especially when there isn't intervals to do or something completely structured, just a long ride, it just bores me. Since you can't ride with music it makes it even worse to try to keep yourself occupied and the mind going. At about the 5hr mark I just wanted the ride to be over, I wasn't especially tired but I was really bored, at least in ironman there will be lots of people around and people cheering, etc.. that it gives you a distraction. So I rode home with about 40 minutes left to my ride, put my bike on my trainer and watched soccer, it was great, my watts for over 40 minutes were in the 200's I felt good and I finished the 6hrs no problem.

No T- run scheduled today but a 21 mile run tomorrow. I am currently battling another case of laryngitis but except for a slightly sore throat and no voice I feel pretty well. Lets hope for a good nights sleep and a good run tomorrow.

p.s. I want to wish my good friend Mary " Good Luck" tomorrow as she races Ironman Couer d'lane in Idaho. This is her second ironman and she has a really good shot of doing very well in her age group and possibly getting a Kona Slot. Lets hope for good weather and great bike and run legs.

I also want to wish luck to all my friends racing the Cohasset Tri and the 13.1 1/2 marathon on Sunday, good luck guys.

a few people I forgot

oh and of course, Dawn and Greg G, who I raced with today and who are also coached by JRM, they both did so awesome today and Dawn won her age group and I believe Greg did very well in the Aquabike division ( sorry you have to do such a long workout tomorrow).

Patriot 1/2 ironman report

The official results are not in yet but overall I came in 7th overall female, and 1st in the womens 40-44 age group. I am not going to deny the fact that it was a tough day out there for me and I'm not going to deny the fact that many times going through my head I thought, " and I have to do this distance twice in 5 weeks, what the hell was I thinking?". Anyway, my report is this...

Yesterday was a very long day for me, as you guys know I have 4 kids 8 and under and yesterday was 3 of my kids last day of school, the other one had a doctors appointment in Arlington, Ma that i had to get him too by 9am ( of course she called and said that it needed to be delayed until 10:30am-I was so pissed, what the hell was I going to do with my 7 year old for 2 friggin hours in Arlington?) anyway, we found a park and had a little snack, etc.... Anyway, 6 1/2 hrs later we were home in Beverly and I had to get him to a Birthday party in Magnolia in 5 minutes. The other kids were home from school and thank goodness my babysitter was able to manage them until hubby got home to take one to flag football practice. By about 6pm I was so exhausted, I packed up all the kids to drive back to Magnolia to get Alex and then home to make dinner and get them to bed by 8p. I took a shower had the car packed for today and tried to go to bed by 9:30p.

Today, got up at 4am, got dressed, had coffee, got my fuel in the refrigerator and drove to East FReetown, MA.

Got to E. Freetown by 5:30, registered got settled and started my warmup. I was feeling pretty relaxed, not too nervous, it was already warm out so I knew it was going to be a tough day on the run, however I knew my fitness was good, I've done everything I needed to do so I wasn't lacking confidence I just wished that running was my strongest asses and not the other two.

The race started 15 minutes late, the sprint athletes went out first and I was in the second to last wave of the 1/2 ironman athletes so we really didn't get into the water until about 8am.

The SWim: last year the swim was grossly short, I came out of the water in 22 minutes for a supposedly 1.2 mile swim, well I should be in the friggin olympics if that was the case. This year the swim was grossly long, maybe by about .3-.4 miles, I came out in 33 minutes based on my watch so that is really slow for me especially in a wetsuit, I normally come out in about 30 minutes. The good thing was the longer the swim the better off I am with the other ladies and I was 3rd or 4th coming out of the water in my age group but the 4 of us ladies pretty much passed all of the ladies in the previous group which was very comforting to know. Plus many men too which is even better.

T1 fairly quick, wetsuit not really an issue.

The bike was not as flat as I remembered, there were some hills, not significant climbs like at Mooseman or LP but lots of rollers which make you work and switch up your gears. Last year I did this course in 2:52 and change today I did it in 2:47, a bit better, should of gone harder but it was really hot and windy and the car traffic was brutal. Many times we had to stop and ride around cars and a lot of times we had to really slow down to ride side by side with cars, this really sucked. I took in an extra 1200mg of sodium with my powerade endurance, peed 3 times and knew that I was adequately hydrated. I used Carbopro this time around instead of food and didn't feel any urge to eat anything and didn't feel any significant bonking issues. I had a good bike that only one woman passed me who eventually ended up in 2nd place overall but besides 1-2 women I played back and forth with and I eventually won no-one passed me on the bike. I loved riding by the men though, it was really encouraging to hear them say, " wow, great going", " good biking". I did see a lot of people flatting out there today, the roads were not in good condition, a lot of times that I normally would of been in aero I chose not too because of the condition of the roads. It was also very windy especially on the second go around on the bike, so being a bit more conservative was the way to go.

T2 my groin was really tight coming off the bike, similar to how I felt but not as bad as I did at the Florida 70.3 last year, I think it has something to do with being in Aero more than I normally am ( wont be a huge issue in Placid) but the groin worked itself out when I ran, so not bad.

The run- I tried to stay positive and my legs were turning over okay from the get go, however, it was really hot and mentally I needed to keep checking in with myself from the beginning. I stopped at every water stop to get my Heed and water but I was able to always run at the same pace in between stops. I knew I wanted to race to end but on reflection I could of gone on longer if I had too but my stupid mistake was to run with no socks today and I got a few blisters on my feet, not a ton but a few. With all the water and pee the sloshing in my feet caused a lot of friction. Anyway, the run ended up in the high 8's I'm assuming, I havent' gotten the final results, lets just hope LP feels a bit better.

I'm happy with my performance but I know that I really need to continue to work on my run off the bike to become the competitive triathlete that I know I can be. The mental game is coming around, the swim and bike are competitive but the run is just fair, I'm willing to put the work in so after LP and some rest it wlll be back to the drawing board.

Anyway, a bunch of my friends were out today doing there best, I want to give a shout out to my training partner Bob who is currently a bit injured but came out today to swim and do they bike, lets hope things get better before LP buddy, Michelle, Nancy, Courtney, Bob, Dustin and of course my awesome friend Shannon who was a bit skeptical about doing the run given that her hip has been causing her some issues on her longer runs, she just crushed the swim and her bike went great and it wasn't until mile 8 that her hip just said, " no way sister". She pulled out a 5:45 today with an injury and 6th in her age group out of more than 100 women, can you just imagine what she could do if she were healthy. She is so positive and so happy for everyone she is just a pure joy to have around. Love her.

Anyway, back to the drawing board and putting in another 2 weeks of some hard work before Ironman taper. Chat with you soon.

Ho Hum week

so there is really nothing too much to chat about this week, I had a funky week with regards to training, a little lack of motivation, a bit tired from the LP training weekend, the UTI, etc... and it doesn't help that the kids have less than a week left of school and both schools like to cram everything in on almost everyday possible that they can. Of course, I'm a room parent for two classes and I try to never miss any of my kids activities, so a lot of my workouts this week were done early morning, late at night, right before pick-up, you get my drift, and next week begins a little taper for the Patriot 1/2 ironman which is next Saturday. I'm really hoping to test my fitness on saturday and hope that I can be successful in each aspect of the race, especially the run. Of course, there are a million things to do next week for the kids so hopefully all my workouts will get in.

I have to say, even though the training for ironman or even a 1/2 ironman can be hard and time consuming the hardest part for me is the juggling, how can I fit "x" in when I have to do, 15 other things and make 5 other people happy at the same time. I'm going to look forward to not having to do that after IMLP, I mean I still have a few races left in the season after LP but the time committment wont be the same and the juggling won't be as critical. I'm kind of done with it.

Anyway, I'm looking for " MOJO" if someone finds it for me can you send it my way I'm going to need it for next Saturday.

Lake Placid Training Camp

So on Thursday night I left to travel to Burlington, Vermont to spend the night with my friends before heading up to Lake Placid to get a good solid weekend in of training. Got a good night sleep and headed up in the morning. The weather was great, sunny, 60's, perfect. The camp I signed up for is the Multisport camp which is run by, Heather Fuhr, hawaii ironman winner and 5x winner of Lake Placid, Paula Newby Frasier ( need I say more), Roch Frey, Paul Huddle and other amazing ironman athletes. Anyway, doing the camp was the only way I was able to get into ironman this year but I'm so glad I got to go because the training and the experience you get from these guys is amazing. Our schedule for the weekend was this:

Friday- swim in mirror lake, ~ 5000 yards, did 7 x 500 yd repeats in the lake as the main set, using the buoys as our guide it was great practicing siting, and just plain awesome to get into the lake. The water was super warm and I was glad I had my short sleeve.
We then had a little snack and headed out on our 25 mile bike ride. Roch and Heather put me in the lead group of men, the only woman, I was so nervous because my friend Bob and all the other uber guys with all their ironman gear on were in the group, I was so sure I was not going to keep up but unlike last year I decided not to bag the group because I was nervous I stayed to see what I could do. It was great, we biked out of town and then climbed back of the 3 bears for good practice and was never dropped, I held my own.
We got dressed had a good lecture and then to dinner.

That night I rented," The Hangover", so funny, I just needed to relax before going to bed because I knew that I was riding the two loops tomorrow with the same men and 25miles is a bit different then 112 so in my mind I just didn't want to get dropped, I didn't want to kill myself either to keep up and blow myself up for the rest of the weekend, so I just needed to relax.

Saturday- got up had breakfast, had all my nutrition ready ( tried Carbo-pro for the first time) instead of a lot of solid nutrition with the hopes I wouldn't bonk and or get some GI distress which I normally do. We were the last group to go out because technically we were the fastest group. It was rainy and wet and a bit windy but not too bad.

***** The course has been changed since previous years, the old out and back is no more because the bridge is out, so before you head out to wilmington ( which I think is the hardest climb of the ride) you go straight for 5.7 miles and then turn around. You then climb the hills to wilmington to the old out and back and you do 1 mile in the old out and back and then back out. The new out and back is a bit less hilly and has some good flats to build up some speed and rest the legs before heading back to town. The first loop we covered in just over 3hrs, which I was psyched about. On the descents on the wet roads I let the men take off but on the climbs and flats I was right there, I think ( except for Bob) they didn't expect me to be with them but I was. The second loop we didn't do the new out and back and just went into town, we were definitely faster the second loop and all in all I averaged 17.8mph for the 100 miles and 171watts average.

When we finished we went for a 5 mile T-run, I struggled a bit, it got a bit warm and humid but I made my way through and finished. No-one wanted to swim in the lake that night so I opted to go to bed early instead after dinner to rest up for my long run in the morning.

Sunday- long run with the group was on the schedule today, however Bob and I had to do 20 miles, so we got up early at 6am and headed out to the turn around on the run and ran back into town ( 6 miles) " Thanks Bob for picking the hillest section of the course to start my run). I initially felt good but over time and especially when we met up with the group to do the entire 13.1, I was getting tired. I knew I just wanted to finish the run with no stopping and to watch my fuel intake. It was pouring rain from the get go and it was cold. I only made it through 18 miles and my legs said enough. I knew when I started to chill and my HR was low that I wasn't able to keep my body warm and all I was going to do is beat myself up more to finish a lousy 2 miles so I called it quits and headed back to the room for a hot shower. I averaged 9:10 pace for the 18 miles, I was very depressed about that and it brought back a lot of emotions for me on how I felt on race day last year. The marathon in ironman is no joke and its the hardest thing for me, I only hope with a good taper and some fresher legs I can embrace the marathon and at least just feel a tad better when running it.

The end of the camp had a little lecture on race day happenings and then it was awards time. I got a pair of Oakley sunglasses and Bob won a new Xterra wet suit. The amount of free stuff I got this year and last completely pays for the camp, its absolutely crazy. Multisport does a great job with its camps and I would highly recommend them if you ever want to do one.

Anyway, with being wet pretty much the whole weekend and on my bike a ton I developed a UTI, not fun when your driving home and with traffic and bad weather and needing to go pee every few minutes it took me over 6 1/2 hours to get home. I called my MD on the way home and was able to pick up antibiotics before I got to my house, hopefully I'll feel better soon.

I'm a bit tired today but may head to the pool for a few laps just to flush out my body a bit. 48 days and counting, its crazy, I can't believe its almost here.