No, I didn't swim/ride/run off the edge of the planet!!

 

Wow, did time get away from me there...and it's not like I don't have anything to blog about either! So let's get to talking.

Happy New Year 2012!!

Seriously...It's March 6and I'm finally writing my New Year's salutations?!? I honestly started writing this blog February 3rd...what the heck?!? It's looking like it's going to be a rockin' year (and rollin' too)!

My New Year didn't start off exactly how I had planned. I decided to take the week of Christmas to New Year's off from my Half Ironman (HIM) training plan I was working on for a little break before starting up on the Portland Triathlon Club Race Team HIM plan from coach Jeff Smith. That plan would have worked great had I not come down with strep throat January 2! So my one week hiatus grew into a nearly three week break, which as I've learned from Jeff, is where "detraining" starts to occur. DRAT! It took me a while to get back on track from the detraining and recovering from being sick, sicker than I realized strep would make me. I did get going again was really glad I started my training in November so I had some reserve built up.

January 1st also brought a new fire station assignment, which has turned into a great thing. I moved from the ultra crazy busy station in Rockwood, where I've spent the majority of my 18 year career. Station 74 is actually one of the busiest stations in all of Multnomah County, averaging 15 calls per 24 hour period, the majority after 8PM. My new station is in a primarily residential, improved socioeconomic area and runs about three calls a shift, all during the day and usually sleeps all night! This is turning out to be a great thing for my training, allowing me time to train on duty, get sleep, and be rested enough to workout the next morning when I get off duty rather than going back to bed at home.

This new station had just finished an earthquake preparedness remodel and required quite a bit of work to get things back together and the project wrapped up when I got there, which took a lot of my attention. Now it's pretty much done and I can get back into a routine!

Half Ironman Training

The Portland Tri Club Race Team's training plans were released the first of January, so I transitioned from the generic HIM plan I was working on to the race team plan that fit with my Vineman 70.3 timeline. It's been great, a lot of work, averaging about 12 hours of training a week now. It's been a lot of work to shuffle the plan around (and learning the Training Peaks program we're using to facilitate the plan online) to work with my schedule and life, but it's working out. I did take a week off last week because I just got exhausted from the juggling and needed a break to get life stuff done and have some semblance of a social life! I have read and heard a lot about the difficulties people have juggling Ironman training and family/relationships/work and hadn't appreciated how difficult it could be to juggle Ironman training as a single person, not having anyone to pick up slack to help do simple things such as grocery shopping, household chores, errands, etc. Heck, I couldn't get my blog done! That week helped me get things reorganized and now I'm ready to get back on track.

Firefighter Stair Climb

This weekend is the Scott Firefighter Stair Climb in Seattle. I've very excited for it! My tri training has been the bulk of my prep for it. I have added some stair stepper and stairmill training with my SCBA and turnouts/SCBA the past few weeks. I have decided to go with a larger capacity SCBA bottle so I don't have to stop halfway for a bottle change; it does add about 3.5 pounds to my pack, but I think it will work out ok. My plan is to have a 1 step/second pace, which gives me a projected 18 minute overall time. We'll see how it goes race day! My start time isn't until 3:10 in the afternoon. After one firefighter starting every 10 seconds since 8AM, the ambient temperature in the stairwell should be at least a balmy 100 degress or more with all that body heat. Yay....!

There's still time to make a tax-deductible donation on my fundraising page. I appreciate all the donations that have been made in memory of my father and grandmother, and in support of my climb. Thank you all!!

Shamrock Run

The weekend after the stairclimb will be the Portland Shamrock Run. You may recall that last year was my first Shamrock Run and that it was part of a girls' weekend with high school BFFs Seriny and Patty. Well we've decided to make this an annual event, so we are all running this year; Seriny and Patty will be doing the 5K, I'm going to do the 15K again. And this year....we won't be hungover for the start of the event...I'm pretty sure...

So, it's been a long update. There a ton to write about, but I'll break it up into other posts. My next post will be next week all about the stairclimb. I can't wait!!

Train well!

Cindy

You're Kinda A Triathlon Nerd...

Triathlon Nerd

I got the best compliment today...someone told me while I was in the pool and they were leaving Portland Triathlon Club Saturday Swim Practice..."You're kinda a triathlon nerd!" So true, I am! Triathlon nerd is awesome--who wudda thought a year ago I'd be considered a triathlon nerd!

Half Ironman Training Week 2
I've been very diligent about my workouts this week, no skipping! I've incorporated some Portland Triathlon club runs and the Saturday Swim Training at Parkrose High School.

This weeks totals:

Running: 14.42 miles
Swimming: 4.0 miles
Cycling: 49.14 miles


8 hours 48 minutes total
2,045 Calories burned

Here are the goals of my training plan so far, and for the next two weeks:

Racing Prep: No racing planned for this period, but since you've probably identified your key half IM race, take a look at the course, predicted weather, swim conditions, articles on last year's race. Compare all these race components with your own strengths and weaknesses. Use online bulletin boards to get course tips from previous competitors. Know thy course.

Training:
This period is "preparing to train"--building base endurance through work and recovery. We'll keep the same number of hours throughout the period and approximately the same schedule. The goal is consistency and getting the body warmed up for the longer periods ahead.

Physical Health: Starting a structured program is probably going to leave you needing a bit more sleep than you're used to getting. Water too. Don't skimp on either. Take full advantage of rest days.

Mental Health: Try to get in outdoor workouts in the best and worst weather possible. The more cold, wet, windy, and sweltering conditions you experience while training will carry over to much higher confidence come race day. You can't prepare much physically on race morning, so confidence and motivation reign supreme.

Efficiency: Form, form, form. If your swim stroke needs work (that's all of us), find ways to improve technique in these early weeks-hire a local coach to video and give feedback, take lessons, read, watch videos. Form, form, and form are the keys to swimming fast.

That's all for this week's posting. Hopefully I'll have something more interesting than just my training update next week...


Have a safe week!

38 Weeks--It's Like a Baby!

Ok, so it's going to be another bucket list smashing year! I signed up for Vineman Ironman 70.3 yesterday, yes, that's a half-Ironman, my first. Registration started at 0900 PST, sharp, and I was registered by 0901--good thing I got on as soon as registration opened, as the event sold out in THREE hours! So, July 15, 2012 is circled in big red marker.

38 Weeks and Counting
Vineman in July gives me 38 weeks to prepare--my Half-Ironman Gestation Program!! We won't have the Portland Triathlon Club training plans for several more weeks and I wanted to start my training now, so am starting with the Half-Ironman plan from Beginnertriathlete.com. This will give me a great start for when the PTC plan comes out. So far it has been a vigorous workout week, and this is just the prep. The first day was a total of 1.6 mile lap swimming. This time last year, I couldn't even swim a full lap--what an improvement!

2012 Portland Triathlon Club Board

This weekend marks the first  of the Saturday PTC coached training swims at Parkrose High School in Portland. It's a 28 week program, $85 for full program or $5 drop-in for members ($100 for series and $10 drop-in for non-members). I'm really looking forward to this! Check out the website or Facebook page for more information on signing up.

Portland Triathlon Club 2012 Board
I think I forgot to mention that we elected a new board for 2012. I'm very excited to be working on the board as Membership Chair! The Board is full of great people with great energy and we're looking forward to a fantastic year with lots of great events. We're working on a new and improved website, more workout and social events, and will have details on the 2012 race team coming out in the next couple of weeks.


That's it for this week's installment. I should have another vegan nutrition post soon, been eluding to it all summer and now that things have slowed down race-wise, I have more time to devote to it.

Have a great week!