hammy healing

Yup, I think I'm spontaneously healing. It shouldn't be too amazing, I spontaneously get injured all the time! Seriously though, I put together a nice training week last week which actually looked like an organized attempt to get fit enough for a 70.3 race (half ironman for you old schoolers) and I feel pretty good. I did note that the speed/tempo work seemed to aggrevate the hammy the most so I replaced that with hill repeats this week. Since the run course at Rhode Island 70.3looks anything but flat, I thought I would toss this in. Been riding in the hills, did 86 miles Sunday with 30 min brick which went amazingly well. The Dane wonders what I'm worried about, that I'm pretty fit but I just don't feel it for some reason. I look in my training log and don't see the weeks of 15-20 hours strung together and worry. Maybe I shouldn't. Who knows but we'll certainly find out 7/13! Fingers crossed. Mostly, gotta stay healthy to train for Kona!
Kia Kaha

Back to reality

Wishing I was in my favorite hiding spot in Maui

No sooner did I get my last blog done did I get the stomach crud! Boy was I sick for a couple days. Ick. I tried to pretend I was well and ran my regular workouts on Weds (tempo run) and Thurs ("long" run) and this was likely not the prudent thing to do but I didn't die. Tried swimming Thurs morning and was met by a massive wave of nausea and had to quit. I think I'm in the clear now although 3 pounds lighter. I had a great weekend of riding - necessary since I had been off the bike nearly 2 weeks! Did some tempo on Sat, nice easy-ish ride yesterday with L&L on the beach then a ride in the hills today with good group. Solid three days and I didn't suffer too badly. I have been seriously questioning my fitness here less than 7 weeks from IM Rhode Island 70.3 but I'll probably be ok, not great. Anyway, back to reality now and routine is found again. The Dane is already back in Vienna for the week - I miss him so since we were attached at the hip for our entire trip. The week will go by fast though and he'll be home. Still dealing with the niggly hamstring (only right side now, used to be both) but just running through it all now. At my age, there's always something hurting!
kia kaha

Back home

view from terrace
view from terrace
Willy, the Dane and me

The week went by like a flash and I wish I could have spent more time. But, the reality is that I have to return to work which will be tough. I was an awesome trip and meaningful in so many ways. Mostly, meeting the Dane's family and getting to know each other was fun. They are really nice people and seemed to embrace me very well. We're loosely planning to head back over the the holidays, I have to check how much vacation time I have! I have some more pics to share, these are from the terrace of the Dane's parents home, beautiful views! It was a little chilly but refreshing compared to being back in FL. Poor Dane got sick (?food poisoning) the night before we came back and is still not well but is a trooper. I felt so bad because I couldn't do anything for him except grab more barf bags on the plane. Anyway, safe and sound back home. We did get up to swim this morning which was ok despite being out of the water for 10 days! I will dive back into training mode this week and hopefully get some good sessions in on the bike. Thanks to everyone for the emails. The video is our hotel room in Copenhagen, cute 300 year old place!
kia kaha

Back in CPH

Last city of stay, Copenhagen. Trip comes full circle. We are off to in-laws for grill out and watch end of today's Giro stage. Exciting. A couple videos on from the drive from the airport. Pretty cool that I can do this from my camera! Enjoy...

hello from Zurich

view from our hotel room in Zurich


Wow, what a beautiful city this is! We are only here for a day but really saw a lot just roaming around. I will put up some photos but they don't do it justice. I feel more comfy here than Vienna because it's easier to get around, more similar to Copenhagen. I liked Vienna just found it really confusing to get around. So much so, I ran on the treadmill which I hate to do but better than getting lost in a city where I cannot read signs or speak good enough German! Luckily, I had one of Anders' employee's wife to give me the guided walking tour. We really have had incredible weather also. That will likely end when we return to Copenhagen this afternoon where it will be chilly (for us, spring for them). Back home on Sunday, boo hoo. I has been a wonderful trip and I cannot wait to come back to Europe.
kia kaha

We inadvertently stumbled upon the changing of the Royal guards while still in Copenhagen, video below. Really cool, loved the music!

In Vienna, the weather is beautiful and what a magnificent city. Did a lovely walking tour while the Dane was working. Did a run on the treadmill today which I hate but was afraid of getting lost! Ran 41 minutes since it's my 41st birthday, felt it was appropriate and plenty boring! Probably the longest I've ever done on a treadmill! Off to Zurich tomorrow, the Dane has business there and I am a handy travel partner. Enjoy the photos!
Kia Kaha

side track through Copenhagen

It's late, we're tired and supposed to be in Vienna tonight. But, we're still in Copenhagen which isn't so bad at all. I have pics but cannot download but found an adapter for my camera battery and it's charging as we speak. Anyway, another day in Copenhagen, which turned from summer to winter in one day (well, Florida winter) then off to Vienna tomorrow. Cool sites today and people watching. More tomorrow, I'm tired and have major allergy issues here!
Kia Kaha

Oh, beautiful Denmark. We slept until almost 10 am (but that's only 4 am my time) this morning. Took a beautiful run through Deer Park (cannot type it in Danish) and it was truly invigorating! Nice dirt trails with people everywhere having picnics. Saw the King's old hunting palace and green grass and trees as far as the eye could see - I wished I had my camera! I will post pics when I can hook up the camera to the Mac Book. It's a holiday here now and nothing is open. We had lunch with the in laws and it's Dane's older sister & BF at the world's oldest amusement park right outside of Copenhagen, called Bakken. Not far away. just at bus ride (although we ran through there today). It was lovely and the weather wonderful. However, the temperature has taken a bit of a plunge and when the sun goes away, it's like winter in FL!! I brought appropriate Florida winter clothing though! We will be having dinner at the hotel here with the Dane's old high school friends which will be fun. Truth be told, we completely invaded their apartment last night when we couldn't find and open restaurant late (after my power nap) had wonderful cheese and wine and got back to the hotel late........(really late). We have dubbed this the Danish cave (the Tavanese will get this!). Yada, yada, yada we woke up late. It was fun meeting the people who have known the Dane for so many years. We have had a lot of fun and it's really cool to see a different culture and see where the Dane comes from. More later.
Kia Kaha

happy mom's day

I'm blogging from beautiful Denmark, land of the Dane. We have absolutely gorgeous weather, the Dane's family is shocked it's this warm so "early". Anyhow, I'll get pics up as soon as I find a converter and can charge my camera battery. I just had the nap of my life and feel refreshed after long travel and lunch with the in-laws - who, by the way, are very lovely people. More later, just wanted to tell my mother happy day to her (since I cannot call).
kia kaha

This one's for Bri........

I'll get to Bri's questions in a bit. First I want to jot down my weekend of training. Rode in the hills on Saturday with the group, had no idea how long this was going to be but we went out like banshee's and I knew I was in for it. The Dane proceeded to blow the group apart throughout the entire ride, myself included going off the back a few times. Luckily, there was some regrouping every now and then because I would have been seriously lost! So, 76.7 miles later, I'm running a nice relaxed brick with Linda M., thank goodness she remembered her "jogging shoes" this time. My brother and his wife arrived for the weekend and there was some eating and drinking to do the rest of the day. Sunday brought another ride, just three of us though, 55 miles then a 35 min brick at an uncomfortable pace! I was dead. Spent the remainder of the day at the beach with more eating and drinking. Needless to say, it was a fun weekend. I was supposed to race St Croix this weekend but glad I didn't after seeing the blazing times for my AG!
Anyhow, the rest of you can stop reading if you like. Bri has to endure this entire paragraph since she asked:
Grew up "all over" as military child, but mostly in Colorado Springs. Played all sports in school but started running in 7th grade and never looked back. Only qualified for State in the high jump (I was pretty good at it) and relays. Got a smarty pants scholarship to Missouri Baptist College and ran XC and track there. Transferred after 3 years there to Southeast Missouri St U and ran there as well. Never really excelled while in college, injured a lot. Began swimming a bit my last year in college mostly as rehab. I had a bike but didn't ride much, used that as rehab as well. Did my first tri after college, an Olympic distance race in Pueblo, CO and could never recall having so much fun "racing". I nearly drowned but enjoyed it none the less. Figured I wasn't going to be going to be participating in the Olympics so tried to figure out what to do with my life. Went to school part time and worked, picking up my pre med requirements. Went off to medical school in '93 and my triathlon career, such as it was, went on hold for a while. Came to FL in '97 for residency and never left. Diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis in '98 and thought I'd never be active again - this was indeed a challenge. Anyway, had a good doc and got put on good meds and can function now though not as before. Met the Dane on Sat morning group ride and had a very secretive crush for a long time. Little did I know, he felt the same. We had a platonic, training relationship for many years. Yada, yada, yada, now we're happily married. I work for the VA so my hours are stable but the work is hard. The only things we really watch on TV are cooking shows, nature shows, some reality shows and sports. Takes me a year to read a book because I read in bed and last about 30 seconds usually. Haven't traveled much but hope to change that. Going to Europe next week with the Dane and can't wait to see some of the areas he travels to regularly. So that's the outline of 41 years of my life. Hope I got to the highlights Bri!
kia kaha

The gory details - St A's

Got up before my alarm at about 3am, early.... Pretty much had everything packed up so morning routine was Red Bull, oatmeal, toilet and out the door. Really uneventful morning, had parking spot picked out from the previous day which was nice. Checked on Lucille (the bike, remember?), pumped up her tires and set up my LITTLE area. Said hi to a couple people, did 10 minute jog then the 20 minute walk to swim start. Walked a little with/behind Andy Potts, boy is he tall and skinny! Got my 2XU wetsuit on, checked out the sandy bottom of the run in on the beach and felt pretty good, not nervous at all. The swim start for the elite wave is a lot less nerve wracking with only a fraction of the numbers of the AG wave! On my brief warm up swim, noted the water to have a bit of chop but nothing scary. Gun goes off (actually, the guy said GO, so I went), had a good run in and got going. A little bumping and jiving for position but nothing bad, everyone behaves within this experienced group of FAST women! I thought I had a good little group but found the water to be a lot rougher than my warm up swim. Anyhow, it was a little currenty too which didn't help. I didn't swim hard, pretty steady but just couldn't switch into that next gear. Got out of the swim, finally, and didn't even look at my watch, I knew it was slow. Grabbed Lucy and we headed out of T1. Immediately on the bike, I could feel my legs still had a bit of fatigue in them. I decided, HARDEN UP was going to be the mantra of the day (too much time on my feet the previous two days?). I watched the SRM with interest, mostly to make sure I didn't let up. I passed a few gals and a couple passed me and I hung on with another girl, legally of course. The bike actually went by pretty fast even though I was hurting the whole time. Anyway, got back to T2, racked Lucy, put on my runners and exited. If I thought my legs were bad for the bike, the run was a bit of a nightmare. Not only did I just PR for 40K bike by over 2 minutes, I'm not in the best run shape right now. Went out a little too fast but caught a couple gals in the process. I then went into damage control, my quads were done. Decided a steady pace was better than a serious positive split on the out and back course so just went into cruise mode. Honestly, I thought I was running a lot slower than I ended up! I think I finished ok, not where I wanted but I raced as hard as I could. Not bad for a long course gal like myself with some of the fastest amateur women in the country. I had a great experience overall and may make this an A race next year and see if I can crack top 10. I'm really sore and am taking a couple days pretty easy now to recover. Thanks to everyone who cheered for me and to Val and Paul for helping get Lucille set up. And always, my favorite training partner and motivator, the Dane.
Kia Kaha
p.s. from St Pete Times 4/30/08: The highest Tampa Bay area woman was Kathy Frailing, 41, of Belleair Beach, who finished 228th overall. Christina Noordstar, 32, of Tierra Verde came in 319th. Kailand Cosgrove, 18, of Tarpon Springs came in 434th, followed by Amy Keener, 32, of St. Petersburg in 492nd.

St Anthony's brief RR

Just wanted to jot a few things down so I don't forget to mention them when I post a long, painful to read race report. First off, it was a really fun weekend. I got to see and chat with a bunch of friends that I don't get to see very often which was great. I also got to get to know some people better that I had wanted to meet, especially the Gaal's. Too bad you guys don't live here, we'd have a blast! The girls I raced against in the elite amateur wave were crazy fast, as usual. I had a really bad swim - 2 1/2 minutes slower than last year. Great bike - 2 minutes faster than last year. And, the same slow run as usual. All in all, I got what I wanted out of this race, major bike improvements. I haven't been running a lot so didn't expect much there. The swim was pretty rough which I don't tend to swim well in - another area for improvement. It was a fun day and I held my own in the end, fourteenth out of 40-50 elite amateurs - not bad for what I put into the training. Note to self, don't stand all day for two days prior to the race again. More to come....
Kia Kaha

St. Anthony's week, weeeeeee!

Ok, I'd be a lot more excited about racing St. A's if I was in better shape and not gimpy but it's a fun weekend anyway. Tonight we'll head to St Pete Beach for Mad Dog swim and probably run into some friends along the way. We ran this morning and the Dane found his legs. Usually, he doesn't like to run under 9:00 miles on early morning runs but after the first mile, he was obviously feeling spry and we ended up running 6 miles in a decent clip. Saw alot of other runners out, it was neat. Friday evening, we'll head over the the Mad Dog party where we'll run into more friends and get to mingle with some of the best triathlon pro's in the world - pretty cool experience and one of the reasons I love this sport! We'll also be helping out in the Outspokin booth, selling Val's wares to all. This is sort of my second job as I get a lot in return for helping out at the expo! I hope to have a decent race but one never knows. I'm racing in the elite amateur division just to get out in an early wave because it's chaos racing in the age group waves. I'm one of the older gals but hopefully can finish mid-pack or so like last year. We rode quite hard last Sat and Sun with bricks both days and the legs are still quite dead so I'm doing a few grandma days here hoping they come around for Sunday. I'm going to forgo another ART session prior to the race because, even though it is helping my hammies, it really makes my legs feel knackered. So, anyhow, it'll be a fun weekend and regardless of how I finish, I'll race hard. I think I have a good chance to win the St A's household trophy this year although I know the Dane will fight to the death! All in good fun!
Kia Kaha

Lucille

That's what I've named my new P3. It was the funnest name of all my deceased family members, RIP. Plus, "Charles" just doesn't have the same meaning unless Lucille is the one saying it (only my family members will get that one)!
I have a headache and am coming down with a cold. Bummer.
Kia Kaha

Escape From Fort Desoto Sprint Tri

Can't believe I've crammed two races and some solid training into a six day span. I was a bit nervous about this race for several reasons. There are always some fast women here, I know a lot of people racing and I had some hard training days this week and didn't know how the legs would shake out. Well, I did ok, second overall female and got another Master's award. Every time I gripe about being old, I like to think of the Master's awards I've been racking up, kinda nice. I had a good warm up run/bike. I had some ART (active release) on Friday after work and this really helped my hammy's, I think. I only had a partial treatment since I was racing the next day but I will definitely get more treatments even though it's painful. The swim was a little tricky - long run out over the sand bar which sends the old heart into anaerobic nirvana! We had a current to swim against so it seemed pretty long. I concentrated on keeping my arm tempo really high like coach Seth preaches and it paid off. I got through the endless droves of prior waves with ease and just plugged along. All in all, a really good swim for me. It's about time because I have been really working on this. Onto the bike and the legs argued with me a bit. I had a rough go but just tried to keep the watts up and ignore the pain. Average bike but I didn't lose any placing, just time to the leader. On the run, I had one speed - unfortunately, it was the same speed as last week but this was a shorter run and needed to be much faster! Guess running mile repeats on Thursday night might have a bit to do with that! I did feel strong as the run progressed onto the sand, I just couldn't catch anyone ahead - Sharon was absolutely gone! Much credit to her, she is a fierce competitor and raises my game every time we race! I had a much better race than I had here last year, gotta be happy with that. The positive I take from the race is that I had a pretty balanced effort, not super fast or slow on anything, just steady in each.
Rode in the hills today and felt decent for not having been there for about 5 months!
Another hard week this week then I'll ramp it down for St. Anthony's on the 27th. Rethinking the half ironman, may change to Rhode Island 70.3 in July instead of Kansas - gives us more time and likely will be more inviting. Gotta look at the calender. The Dane comes back home today, yeah!!
Kia Kaha.

Great Clermont Oly tri

This race was kind of weird. I haven't traveled solo to a race since being with the Dane. I had no support crew or literally anyone I knew that was racing. Put that on top of being racked with the men, being numbered 313, having significant bad weather all night prior, I wasn't really sure about this. I got up at 3:30 am to make the drive to Clermont, not sure how bad the weather was going to be. I had a little oatmeal which I'm testing out for race day breaky, working well I'll say. The drive was wet but not raining, good. The weather was quite still in Clermont which was a nice surprise. Got my packet, made sure they knew I was a female (was originally registered male) and got transition squared away. One reason I like doing early "c" races is because you're reminded of all the silly things you seem to forget about since the last major race. I brought no towel to "mark my territory" amongst the men but, no worries, I have the plastic bag my wetsuit was previously in. Took my token 10 minute run to open up the body and the hamstrings were arguing but I didn't care to listen. We, the women, were the last wave, as usual. Got a good start but just didn't feel terribly comfortable the entire swim. Didn't get into any good drafts, just swimming along on my own but not super hard. My swim split represented that, not happy and hopefully will be better come St. Anthony's. Onto the bike after novice transition - couldn't get my wetsuit off and my glasses and helmet on. I liked having the SRM for a few reasons - I wasn't a slave to it but it kept me honest when I wanted to soft pedal a bit. I changed my bike position a bit last week (trying to get more aerodynamic) and am not comfortable on it at all at this point so all my descending was done out of the aero bars - ugh, slow. I did feel comfortable and strong on the flats. Kept my head in the game though my legs were not very rested. Off onto the run and felt immediately, I had left my legs on the bike course. I didn't head out like a bat out of Hell like I normally do and this proved to be a smart move with my current fitness level and advanced age. My hamstrings were killing so I jogged up the hills and tried to push down. Finished in 2:22 something and this is actually a PR for any Clermont olympic course for me. They moved transition also so much longer run to T1 than previously. I ended up 4th overall female which was a nice surprise since I didn't expect to have an overall result. Swim was not great, bike was definitely better and run was better than I expected with the injury issues since Jan. I actually felt stronger as the run went on, with the exception of the hills which really killed my hamstrings. I have diagnosed myself with a high hamstring tendonopathy which is basically a problem where the hamstring attaches to the pelvis. I have a massage tomorrow and my first ART treatment on Friday, hopefully this will help. If I don't get much relief, I'll have to reassess my spring races, the goal is Kona, afterall. Overall, I feel really good about the first race even with all the mistakes and pains I've had. One thing I love about this sport is there is always a learning curve!
Kia Kaha

New ride for '08

PICS NOT SO GREAT, THEY'RE FROM MY PHONE.

Thank goodness for rest week!

I've had a solid training week last week and am thoroughly tired and sore. I did all my workouts, plus extra swimming. My long run is still not long but I'm trying to gradually extend that. It'll affect my early races but hopefully I'll have it long enough for half ironman in June. I'm dealing with some really strange pains in my butt/hamstring area so have stopped the power weights - may have been too much to do while training with power on the bike. I'm gonna see how a week of rest does then persue opinions if these pains don't resolve next week. Being over 40 is a drag. I do have a race on Sunday 4/6, olympic distance tri in Clermont. I'll get to shake out the race cobwebs and open things up for real. I feel good about the swim and bike but the run is lagging due to time off from the injury. I'm really only doing this race because I don't like to have St A's being my first Oly distance tri. I look forward to racing with the power meter, not for instant in-race feedback but more for reviewing afterwards. We'll see. My legs are currently toast, hopefully I'll get a little spring back by Sunday. I have whirlwind schedule planned for April - Clermont 4/6, sprint tri 4/12, then St A's 4/27 (this being the most important of the three). I'm getting a new '08 P3C frame this week, my trusty '06 frame is on it's way to Sweden - I hope it's ridden fast! I'll be sure to take pics!
Kia Kaha

Bend and snap

Yeah, remember that from Legally Blonde?? Or something similar to that anyway. Funny movie. But, the point is, I'm trying to grasp the two-beat kick. It sounds really simple but, for one who did not grow up swimming, it is far from simple. Seems that learning to swim properly and efficiently has taken up more time than training the other sports! Anyway, Coach Seth was on deck demonstrating the two-beat kick dryland style and got into this rhythm and the word snap popped out of his mouth and Val and I busted up laughing (especially after Val blurted out "bend and snap"). Guess you had to be there! Keep in mind, we're swimming at 5AM, it doesn't take much to get giddy. He was making up drills for me to do and I felt like a wounded animal. I got to swim this morning with all of the lesson fresh in my mind and feel I have a mild grasp on it. I don't know if it's a runner thing but I didn't think I did that much kicking. We swam some 300's this morning and I really tried to concentrate on NOT kicking, just doing two-beat and dragging my legs. Amazing how much less tiring it felt! I didn't swim faster necessarily but it felt more efficient. Not sure I was doing it right but I'm working on it (different coach on deck). And, if you should see me running, yes I'm wearing compression socks. Not trying to be a Euro wannabe, just nursing my lower leg from the injury Jan/Feb and these really seem to help. They just look really dorky! Oh well, the price for better perfomance!
Kia Kaha -> my new slogan

Swimming and power lifting

Ohhhhhh, can I say painful combination! I have been on this strength training program for 3 1/2 weeks now, it's more based somewhat on power lifts and the remainder on moving your own body weight and dynamic resistance. It is killer and I'm spending more time in the gym than I ever have. I hope it's getting me stronger because I am truly sore after each session. The exercises change every session so the body doesn't adapt so easily and one can continue to make strength gains. Anyhow, I'm doing all this while ramping up my swimming, biking and running. Training on the bike with the power meter is becoming like another weight session and is quite demanding but every session is quality - no junk miles here! Running is coming along slowly. Did almost 7 miles yesterday with 3 x 7 min tempo in the middle. I'm not fast but I'm working on it. Swimming is challenging when paired with the weight training. However, I'm getting faster, I think. Had a 1000y TT in the pool this morning (done solo) and averaged 1:25 pace for the distance. I think that's some sort of improvement for me. It's not fast by any stretch but it's not so long ago that I was using 1:40 as my aerobic "T-pace". And, the fact that I'm in to middle of massive weight training AND able to swim faster is really positive! I think the technique work I'm doing is really helping me to not always try and muscle through the water. I am pumped that once I go to a maintenance phase on the weights in 6-7 weeks, I'll swim way faster. It is really fun because I used to be such an aweful swimmer. Just shows what dedication, consistency and drive can do to turn a weakness into a potential weapon. Now, if I can just ride the bike faster and not lose all that wonderful time I'll gain in the water, I'll be all set!
cheers