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MaryStella's Triathlon training crossfit endurance


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Took a recovery swim this morning. 500 yards of drills and then 20 minutes of easy swimming. Tried to focus on my form the entire time. My knee is really sore. I'm still limping around on it. I went for more ART on it which of course hurt but hopefully it will help especially for eagleman. The doc scared me a bit when mentioned if i don't get better in a few visits with him, he wants me to get an MRI of my knee. That has never worked out well for me in the pasted so anything I hear that word It just sounds like more surgery to me. We'll see what happens in the next few days as I am tapering and hopefully the knee can recover without as much load on it. I was surprised to find myself kinda tired today. I wasn't really sore expect for the knee but my energy level wasnt the same as it normally is. Maybe recovering from the sprint tri yesterday. I am surprised but it was so short. I went to get a Re-fit done on my tri bike. The aerobars, seat height were changed. Also my cleat position was changed. I immediately noticed a difference in my knee once I rode with the changed cleat position but i don't know if it was for the better or not because of the knee already hurting so much. I have a rest day on the schedule tomorrow. It's going to be an interesting week!

 

lobster - i wish that was my 5ktime but sadly it was my 2 mile time!

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thanks! Considering how much run training ive been able to do since surgery and with my injuries Im happy with it! Athought I do wish I wore my garmin I think I might have been able to push a little more if I realied my distance during the race.

 

Today is a full on rest day. My knee is feeling better after the ART yesterday so hopefully with the rest I can get it back on track for eagleman this weekend! I need it to go 70+ miles so im gonna baby it this week!

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It depends on what the injury is. They are basically cleaning up your muscles and tendons so it works great on overuse injuries. But if you have a tear or something like that it is just a temp fix it wouldn't heal something like that.

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thanks lobster! Im excited too!

 

The problem with rest days are they are exhausting. I was really tired last night and to drag myself out of bed this morning. did 300 of drills to warmup then 1,000 at an easy pace - time was 20.19. There may be some extra yardage in there as I wasn't being a very good counter. I was pretty much tired today too and my knee still hurts!! I went for more ART so it hurts from that too now! Icing it as much as I can. I read my athlete guide last night and now it is time for the dreaded packing! one of the worst things about multi-sport. just have to bring so much crap with you! I know I will feel less stressed with the packing is mostly over. I will feel even better once I make it to Cambridge. I am hoping the knee improves for sunday. doing my best to make it but healing takes time and that's what I don't really have.

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still tapering. not as tired today. did 35 minutes in the pool this morning with a pull buoy. The knee feels better than it did yesterday but it is still really sore. I am hoping the pain will be manageable for eagleman. I am going for more ART tomorrow before driving down to Maryland. It's always sore after ART. I plan to swim beforeheard and then hopefully by saturday it will be recovered from the art. I packed a bunch of stuff tonight and will finish packing tomorrow. I took so much stuff I really hope I didn't forget anything. That's one of the hard parts about triathlon just sooooooo much gear!

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thanks lobster!

Drove down to maryland yesterday and checked in my hotel. Hit the packet pickup and got all my goodies! I went to the pre-race meeting because I was there at the time. Found out the water temp was 81.9 so there is no way the race will be wetsuit legal. That's going to make the swim more interesting as the Choptank river is appropriately named. Got my niece signed up as a volunteer to help at the finish while I am racing. It was a relaxing quiet nice which was nice. Took a soak too! Up early again this morning. Went to bed early though so that was ok. I tried to sleep in but it just doesn't happen for me! I met up with Tom for breakfast. He brought my Jay's aerohelmet so i can look slick on the bike. We headed out on rode the run course on our bikes. Felt my knee a little but what can i do about it at this point. I am just going to have to deal with it through the race. We also took a dip in the choptank river where the swim will be tomorrow. The water is warm and choppy but overall it was an ok swim. My sighting wasn't the greatest. The buoys seem kinda small to me. I am sure it will be better when there are more people in the water to follow. I feel I am well hydrated. I haven't been eating as much as normal though which i guess is ok. Tomorrow is the big day and I am looking forward to getting out there. It has been a long week of waiting for the race to get here. Hoping we have some decent weather for the race. It's been pretty hot here so far. I'm not too concerned with it because there is nothing to be done about it. I feel good about my hydration going into it. We just had really bad storms here so who knows what the weather will be tomorrow!

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Yesterday I did Ironman 70.3 Eagleman in Cambridge Maryland. It was my first shot at racing a Half-Iron distance triathlon. I felt more like I completed the race than really competed in the race but it was an experience and I know what to expect for my future 70.3 distance races. I finished in under 7 hours just hitting 6:59:13 although i had no idea that was the case while i was out there racing. My wave went off in the middle of the race and it was also my first time in a race with this many participants. Of course you have to get there and get setup and then just wait for a long time before your wave goes off. I didn't have any problems getting setup. I was actually getting hungry waiting to go. I had a banana and coconut water for breakfast. I was going to have a clif bar but i had no appetite to eat it until it was time to start and then I was afraid to eat something like that right before going into the water. It was an in water start with alot of waiting again as the waves were about 10 minutes apart. Finally the horn sounded and we were off. the water temp was 82 degrees so the race was not wetsuit legal. Normally I don't care but this particular race it would have been nice to have a wetsuit because the water is choppy and your fighting the current. let's just say the choptank river is appropriately named. I know I swam way too wide on the entire swim course. I was having trouble sighting the buoys. I felt like they were small and hard to see. We had to keep them on our right and I was always way to the left of them. Im sure that didn't help my swim time. I got caught by some men from the wave behind us towards the second turn buoy. i got kicked pretty good a few times. I also caught the slower swimmers from the wave ahead of us. I just feel like I was in the water for a long time. My swim time was 48:06. I had no problems in transition either although I had more gear to put on this time than usual with my knee brace. I also normally wear my race belt because it is under my wetsuit but i choose to keep it off this time. Had to get my garmin going too. So i was off to the bike course. Eagleman has a rep for being a windy bike course because it is very flat and there is nothing to block the wind. was there wind yes. But for the most part over the entire course there were only a few spots were you felt like you were pushing into the headwind. It never was obscenely windy. The wind was almost kinda nice because it kept you a little cooler. The first ten miles of the bike course I didnt feel well. The second ten I didn't feel much better either. I can't really say exactly what the problem was. My legs didn't feel like they wanted to go any faster than we were moving. It felt like I was getting passed by lots of people and that wasn't making me feel much better either. BUt I kept moving and hoping that it was change a bit and it did. For the most part the next 25 miles on the bike were the best for me. Now from the results on my garmin i was pretty much averaging about 3:30 miles but I wasn't pushing hard. My HR was not up where it should have been for racing. I've heard the bike course is scenic. I saw nothing but the pavement in front of my aerobars so i really have no idea where it was. I did occasionally come up to stretch out my neck a bit. But overall i stayed aero when possible and I was following my fueling strategy to the letter. The last ten miles of the bike I really needed to pee but I couldnt find myself able to do it which was weird because i've done it before. The last 5 miles of the bike I was getting really uncomfortable I was going to be happy to just get off the bike and be able to pee. bike time was 3:23. Again no issues in transition except I was looking for a place to pee didnt see any so started on the run since I knew they had potties out there. I didn't ride my bike hard enough because my legs didnt even seem to have that brick feeling. I don't know what my problem was. Was the iron distance a mental thing for me? was I holding back afraid to go too hard with so much racing left to do I don't really know. I do know I can def swim bike and run faster than I did yesterday and that these times will improve in my future races. I did the half-marathon at the end in 2:42 minutes. Pretty much with an even split time wise for the first 10k and the second 10k. I never really crashed out. I just kept clipping along at a slow pace. When I found the first porta potty after a mile there was a line for it and i refused to stand there and wait. So i kept running. That became annoying so I just decided to pee on the side of the road. Then I felt much better The biggest story of the run was the heat. There is no shade on the course and it is just warm the whole way. At every aid station I would grab my soda and water. drink both of them and then throw all the ice down my shirt. If i could I would even grab a cup of ice and put that down my shirt too. The best part about tri tops are they are tight enough to hold the ice against your skin. You could hear it bouncing around in my shirt as I ran. I am not sure if it really kept my any cooler although you would think that it would have to. It kept my tri suit wet. My socks and sneakers also got wet so I got blisters on my feet which didn't help the running. I got a little bit of chaffing and sunburn on my face and shoulders because my products must have worn off. my t1 time was 2 minutes and my t2 time was 3 minutes. I don't know what I was doing that long! After the race I was tired and my feet hurt mostly from the blisters. My knee was also sore. 70 miles tends not to heal injuries but I wanted to do this race. I was pretty happy to actually find vegan friendly options at the post race food. Nothing tasted really good to me but I was able to get some food down. I really needed a shower and get out of my wet clothes so I didn't hang around the race. Once I got cleaned up and ate some tofu and veggie I felt much better. I've got some soreness this morning but mostly it is my knee and lower legs that hurt. Everything else seems fine. I was able to sleep last night which I am happy about. I haven't had caffeine in years as it usually really bothers me so i was a little concerned with drinking the soda on the race course. But honestly with the state that I was in at that point the soda probably helped. I was pretty tired coming off the bike and heading out on the run. I probably could have just started crying as I didn't have a lot of desire to go out and run a half marathon at that point. But never being one to quit of course I was going to do it. All of the people cheering were kinda playing on my emotions at that point and I really needed to disassociate from it and stay in my own head. Sounds weird I know they were trying to help. The biggest help was probably the people playing music outside on the run course. that always got me going a bit especially since they were songs i liked. I wish you could use IPODS on the run course! There were a few times in the race on both the bike and run where I was gasping for breathe. This has happened to me a few times before and it wasn't effort related. I don't know if i am developing asthma. I already have lots of allergy issues. Or if it is more of an emotional response. I felt it after I finished too. But mostly there I was just tired. The race was very well run. the only negative thing I could say was at the finish no one gave you any water. you had to wait in line to get your towel and medal and picture taken then walk through the food line and there was still no water. After you got your food they say water was located somewhere else. I just didn't have the energy to go get it. In a race where peopel are going to go down for dehydration probably not the best idea to have them searching for water. My hydration was actually pretty good. I was able to pee right after the race and when i got back to the hotel. So the nutri/hydra plans were the success story of the day. It feels good to have this one under the belt. Im sure it will give me confidence in future races. Today I'll travel back home and get on with recovery this week. The next big thing on the schedule is heading up to lake placid to train this weekend.

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That's f'n tough, Mary. You should be really proud. You don't think you did great, but imagine all the people that couldn't do it at all.

 

Do you think maybe you should have eaten something fatty instead of just a banana? Do you think that would have made you feel less crappy the whole time?

 

I can't imagine constant strenuous physical activity like that for 7 hours straight.

 

I'm very impressed

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Congrats on competeing in that race!!

dang.. 48 minutes in the water... (I can barely last 30 minutes in the bath tub! ) Incredible to say the least.

Oh and that getting kicked in the face thing. Next time I say wear those spiked gloves and see how many kick you then. Must be some 70's roller derby gear on ebay...

Glad the knee hung in there. I'm sure that was a concern from time to time... You are on the East coast and they had vegan munchies at the end?? Wow-Very cool.

Cruddy about the breathing.. I know for me anytime I enter a patch of scotchbroom or other types of plants, my throat starts itching and harder to breath if I'm working. Hopefully that's all it is.

 

Thanks for such a great after race report. Fun to read.

It feels good to have this one under the belt. Im sure it will give me confidence in future races.

I can't agree more. Well done!!

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Drove home from Maryland yesterday. Due to road construction it ended up being a long drive. I got myself reorganized and went out for an easy road bike ride with my husband on his new R3!! which had me wanting my new R3. I called my bike shop today and said if they can't get this located I just want to order it from Cervelo this week so that when they make it is july I get one! Im pretty excited for it!! Our ride was mostly flat and we were out for about 50 minutes. This morning I went for an easy 20 minute swim. I tried to focus on my form since I am not going for time. Did the Crossfit Endurance Recovery WOD too. I actually feel good expect for my knee. I am going to try to let that recover this week so I can have a good trip to lake placid. Im back on the ice and actually it is better than I expected it to be after eagleman. Maybe that is a good sign and means it is healing. most likely it is just because there were not any hills to deal with down there.

 

@rob - i would normally eat a clif bar before hand but i just didn't feel like i could stomach it. I do think it would have worked out better had I done that. Or at least an energy gel before the swim start. I'll work on that for next time.

 

Thanks everyone for all of your kind comments about my race. I was feeling a little down about it because I know I am both fitter and faster than my times showed. But sometimes doing these endurance events are not about how fast you can go but really about what you can endure. can you stick with it when things are not going well for you? I am using it as a learning experience. I was saddened by it because i put so much training into it. But it was still a good experience. I know what to expect next time and in reality if your not winning the thing which i am def not going to do who really cares how fast you go. we all get the same finisher medals at the end. That being said I will be faster next time! i just know it!

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I registered to do my first Full Ironman Event today and it is going to be NYC on August 11, 2012! I am really excited to have a spot in the inaugural race. I think this particular race is going to have special meaning for me as I used to live in NYC and it has always had a special place in my heart.I'll probably be crying my eyes out Ill be so emotional about it! Let's hope I can run over the GWB without any issues! the swim in the hudson has to be the least exciting part of the race although I expect it to be faster swim times. I doubt there is any majoring climbing since they are using the palisades. Overall it will be a real mental and physical test not only on race but in the next year while training for it. I've always had HUGE respect for ironman athletes because I really believed that is was something that I could not do myself. It's just insanely far. But after training with Jay in triathlon for a year now. I know I can do it. When I started this last season I remember doing a duathlon as my first event and just thinking wow this is going to be tough! And then year later I raced my first 70.3. And while racing is always hard work i have seen my progression over the last year and I really look forward to seeing where I will be in another year from now. It hasn't been the easiest year for me training wise with various injuries to deal with throughout the season but i've learned a lot and im looking forward to this next challenge.

 

Another easy training day just recovery stuff. had a 30-40 minute easy bike ride on the schedule so I just used my bike to commute around today. I also did the Crossfit Endurance Recovery Wod. I am feeling good since Eagleman. I also went for an ART session on my knee. The doc said the tissue quality is getting better. He thinks my plan of training in placid this weekend and then seeing how the knee is and adjusting the schedule around it is a good one. I will go back to him next week and after placid and get another tune up. But then it might be time to rest the knee a bit and let it fully recover if necessary. We'll see how it goes up in Placid. He agreed that swimming and doing crossfit exercises that don't aggravate it until it heals is the best approach. Testing out the cycling and running as it feels better to see when it is ready.

 

Tomorrow has a full rest day on the schedule. Ill finish packing my stuff for the weekend training. I am really looking forward to going to lake placid. I have never been there before but I hear it is beautiful. It will also be so much fun to train with jay and his athletes.

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@lobster - i am so excited to be doing nyc ironman style 2!!!

 

@rc - sadly i doubt i am going to be able to make it this year. they changed the dates and made them earlier and i can't get out of work that week and they are not having it over the weekend so i can't even just come down for the weekend. However maybe we can still meetup while you are out east.

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