Super Sprint Triathlon Grand Prix in Oceanside, CA

WOW!! What an AMAZING race!

Certainly the most exciting event I have ever been a part of. The Format was a 300mswim, 5mi draft legal bike, 1.5mi run- Repeat. The swim was in the Pacific Ocean with what to me, coming from Central Virginia, looked like quite large waves. The spectators gave off incredible energy the entire time, the motorbike TV cameras did a great job with coverage and didn’t crash anyone around a 1/2 mile lap, the announcer was Greg Welch- amazing, the lap counter was Paula Newby Fraser- amazing, pretty unreal atmosphere!

I did a good job staying in the race until surprisingly the first run- which is so weird cause I usually never worrying about my run. I had a slow transition out of T2 and my body just felt totally rocked and I couldn’t get up to speed, then I got rocked some more in the second swim with googles full of water after getting busted by a wave on the way out- unable to see back to shore I got badly split from the back and had the second bike to tackle myself ( I was the only one solo as those behind me had each other). It is amazing how a small mistake or failure of your body to respond for a split second can drop you instantly out from a race in an event this like this- but that also is what makes it so exciting!! My last run felt awesome though and I was happy to finish strong in 8th place. Even though I got rocked a bit and it certainly was not my best race of the season- I still had so so so much fun- by far the most fun I have ever had in a triathlon…totally amazing!! I am also very motivated now to work on my transitions and quick speed- as this was definitely exposed as a major weakness that I knew about- but now I really know =) I think the spectators had even more fun, although that is hard to imagine…

My dad came to watch and it is the first time he has seen me race triathlon professionally. He is not that familiar with the sport nor is he a triathlon fan- however, he still had an AMAZING time and got so caught up in the race, I have never seen him so excited for an athletic event. It was very clear to me that this is an event with huge potential for a general audience and might just bring triathlon into the general consciousness of many Americans. I am so incredibly excited to follow the future development of this race series. Anyone who has the opportunity to should definitely go watch one of these events next year- Words can’t describe the atmosphere and excitement. I can’t think of the last time I felt so much pain and excitement at the same time. Simply brilliant – new – exciting – innovative – and so so awesome!

http://www.sstrigp.com/sstrigp.com/Home.html

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Half Full Triathlon- Much more than just a triathlon...

This weekend I had the honor of participating in truly the most special event I have ever taken part in. The inaugural Half Full Triathlon drew over a 1000 participants and 400 volunteers (do the ratio on that!) this past Sunday in Columbia Maryland to raise support and awareness for young adults battling cancer. I can guarantee that there has never been a more impressive inaugural event. Headlining the event were Rebecca and Laurel Wassner (the only pro triathlete who has beaten cancer) as well as Eric Shanteau (also a cancer survivor, 2008 Olympian and American Record Holder in the 200m breast stroke) and Doug Ulman (the CEO of Livestrong). This event was run by the Ulman Cancer Fund, a young adult alliance organization with Livestrong, and 100% of race registration went directly to their cause of advocating for and supporting the largely marginalized and under-served population of cancer patients that are young adults in this country.

The Triathlon itself cannot be captured through words on paper. From the incredible major media coverage, the nicest most helpful volunteers on the planet!, amazing gift bag, impressive expo, free chipotle, free McDonalds, free lace locks, Oakley raffles ect, ect ,ect It had EVERYTHING and even more that you would find at the largest, most well-know triathlon in the country. This event has obviously inspired major support from all directions. This is going to be a HUGE event in the future and an important movement in the triathlon world. The distance was a 70 mile race with a .9mile swim, 56 mile bike and 13.1 run. The distance is significant in that it represents the 70,000 young adults diagnosed with cancer in the US each year. What I really want to talk about is exactly what that means at this race and why this race is different.

I woke up Sunday morning looking forward to helping my relay team with the swim portion of the race, but I was mostly excited because I knew I was about to witness triathlon in a new light. I was right about that. The swim was gorgeous, pancake flat, smooth water. And our relay team won the relay division as well as had the fastest overall time of the day- owing not at all to my swim but by an insane 1:17 half marathon by James Linville and an impressive bike by Scott McAims. And 3 of the top 5 relay teams were from UVA (out of 100 relays!). So UVA had an incredible day. But what was different about the race had nothing to do with the performances of just that day.

Standing at the finish line I witnessed cancer survivor after cancer survivor cross under the large finishing banner, past the photographers, announcers and TV cameras. Most of them would stumble a little after the line as they dropped their faces into their hands and started to weep. These were often very young people. And even more often, these were people that had never done a triathlon before and now had just completed a 70 mile race after battling cancer. Could they have ever imagined being in the finishers ring of such an event the months or years before when they sat in a stark hospital room with a line of chemotherapy streaming into their veins or confronted their mortality in quiet hours alone somewhere – all at such an unimaginably young age? Looking around, people all along the course carried signs with photos and memories of loved ones lost too early- and yet there was hope there too. I was not the only one that noticed. The event was permeated with a hope that cannot be destroyed. Everyone felt it together.

This is one of too many examples to cite during this sacred day. To recommend this race like I have others would not be doing the event justice. This is a race for anyone who has ever doubted that triathlon could change the world or anyone who wants to witness what that change looks like in full display. I hadn’t ever seen it before; but now I have- and I know now that this sport is much bigger than I realized.

USAT Elite Nationals Race Report...

This weekend was certainly one I will remember for the rest of my life. Before the race, I had been anxious about the draft legal format; this was my first real ITU race. I knew the swim would be really tough- in the draft legal races you have to make a pack of cyclists out of the water or your race is over. This year, there were also a lot of big names in the race, which would also make everything faster and harder for someone with little experience like myself. Going into the race, I tried to put these thoughts aside and, being a person of faith, reminded myself that things are not really in my control anyways so really why worry about it too much. On race morning, we paraded down to the dock. When the starting horn went off, it was 90 degrees outside. Things might be even tougher than I imagined….

The swim started and it was pure violent, explosive, white water madness. I was able to stay with the main pack for about 500m…then had to do some work on my own for a while in a small pack of three. After about 1000m I left my pack of three and bridged up to another girl who had come off the main pack with about 300m to go. We got out of the water together- 45 seconds down from the main pack…

I nailed the flying mount! Woohoo!

We made our way to the main pack in less than a lap and a half, that was the much easier than I expected. There was a descent 300m climb on the bike course that I knew I could use to my advantage later in the bike. Our pack was very disorganized and we weren’t really pushing a good pace- the lead pack put a lot of time on us. I tried to sit in as much as possible but I ended up pulling a bit more than I should have because I was worried we might get lapped out. On the second to last lap I made a move on the climb- where all good road racing moves are made- an instantly put 50m on the pack. I slowed just a little to let two girls catch me and we were off. We worked together great and put about 30 seconds on the pack in a lap and a half- If only we had gone earlier we could have probably made a go at catching the next pack- but live and learn….

The run was miserable but I went out extremely conservatively because I knew the heat would be a major factor in the race. It was in the mid 90s and the run was very exposed. It was a great battle with the mind demons, but I kept them at bay long enough- it gets a little easier to keep them down each race. By the middle of the run, people were starting to roll back to me but it was getting tough. I started to break up the laps into 2 sections by making it a goal to get to the next water station (which was every half lap) and not think about the remaining portion of the run- the only thought I allowed myself was concentrating on getting to the next water station. This is a marathon strategy that works great for distance events. I went from 8th off the bike (then to 10th after transition- dah!) to finish 4th overall and 3rd American at the end of the day. This was a big result for me, one that was way beyond even my “reach” goals. Right now I am just trying to process it all. Days like that are the reason why triathlon is such a tremendous sport! I really hope everyone in this sport gets a day like that, whatever that means for you, every once in a while =) Tremendous thanks to Fast Forward Triathlon, InsideOut Sports, Computrainer, American Bicycle Group and Ragged Mountain Racing for all their tremendous support of development athletes like myself. This support is vital to driving the sport of triathlon forward.

Elite Nationals Preview

This weekend in Tuscaloosa, AL is the USAT Age group and elite national championships. I have been in town for two days now and the thing that has struck me the most is how supportive and friendly the town has been towards all the smelly, legg-shaved, ridiculous compression sock wearing triathletes that have bombarded this small southern college town. I think the Elite race will be fun and it is a big USAT event. However, I think this best part of this weekend will be the Age Group race. I would highly recommend people putting this race on their calendars for next year if they qualify. It is truely the best of the best in short course Age Group racing. The amatuers I have seen here have all the focus and drive of the pros I have seen at other races. In age group racing it is really difficult to know exactly how you “stack up” becuase racing is so regional. I think this is a great opportunity for age groupers to really get a sense of where they are competing on a national level. The age group race is also awesome becuase it goes off early in the morning and then they get to chill out and watch the elites suffer in the mid day heat if they want to.

Anyways, enough promotion. As far as the elite race goes, I am excited; this is my first ITU race so I really have no idea what to expect. The bike is 8 laps instead of 6, so that is a little rough on the “less fast” swimmers like myself becuase it makes it easier to “lap out” on the draft legal bike (you get pulled from the race if you get lapped by the front pack). However, there is also a descent hill on the course which should play to my advantage because I am a strong hill climber. My focus is really just to swim 100% and see what happens after that. My swimming keeps getting faster and faster each month so this will be a good benchmark. Draft legal racing seems to be a lot less predicitable and more reactive than non drafting racing. I am pretty comfortable with the tactics of road racing so I think I’ll know what to do whatever happens after the swim. It is going to be in the 90′s by the time we start at 12pm so that should affect the race significantly too. All the big names in short course triathlon are here this weekend, including 4 olympians from 2008 so it should be a great race up front. You can check it out on Versus TV channel on Oct 14 from 4-6pm with Tour de France announcer Craig Hammilton. Good luck to Brian Duffy who is racing the AG race this weekend- look for a seriously dominant performance from him, cant wait!!

Lastly, here is an interview I did with Competitor Magazine that came out yesterday if anyone is interested….thanks!

http://triathlon.competitor.com/2010/09/news/collegiate-national-champ-nicole-kelleher-takes-on-the-pros_13176

Off to practice a few more flying mounts…

Thoughts on Galen Rupp and elite distance running wisdom...

Thinking of helpful or interesting things to post- I was watching Galen Rupp win the men's 10k in the USATF National championship meet. Galen had run behind another athlete the entire race, right on his heels. As the end of the race neared, the announcer mentioned that Galen would kick with 500-600m to go and no one would be able to stop him from there. As the race progressed, sure enough, Galen started his kick at 500 to go, pulled away immediately and won the race easily. In his post race interview Galen said, "You never go to the front until you are going to hold the lead til the line" (or some statement close to that) I thought this was a great thing for triathletes to think about because I dont think we have the same discipline when it comes to the tactics of racing the run. Galen goes with 500-600 in every race, this is no coincidence. He goes at this time because he knows that is how long he can go for, close to all out, and hold it until the line. I am sure he has trained many hours just on developing the precision of this kick. I think we could really learn from this.

During the run in a triathlon, you are hot, tired, in serious pain and just wanting to be through as quickly as possible. But if you are racing against a particular person or even those in your pack off the bike, it might be of benefit to have patience and a plan. Before the race even starts it may be useful to have a plan if you find yourself running against someone at the end. Let them do the pacemaking until a point when you can take the lead and hold it until the line. If you have speed, this may be as short as 400m or maybe even less...if you dont have speed this point could be a long pressing kick starting at 1.5-2mi out. Know thyself and have a plan. Of course if your competitior is running too slow, just leave him and hunt the next one down- but the point is that once you pass someone, they should not be passing you back! If you arent sure, be patient, sit in behind them and conserve your energy....until you know you can leave them for good!

3rd Pro Female Philly Tri...what the???!?!?!

So Sunday was my first real deal pro race and I got 3rd...craziness!!! I cant believe it, that was way outside my expectations considering the field was seriously stacked (Wassner twins, jenna shoemake, pip taylor, mary beth ellis... these crazy crazy famous people!) totally insanity...

What really helped me of course was that they turned the race into a duathlon because of a horrible tradegy the day earlier when a young triathlete with two young kids passed away in the river- please pray for healing in that family and that they will find support from every direction where they have even the smallest need...

The first 5k went great, I ran on jenna shoemaker's heals the whole way and just zoned out and let her carry me. I ran very within myself at about 85% and we rolled into T1 right behind the wassner twins in 18:26. After T1 I could see the wassner twins up the road and I decided just to follow them and hang behind them on the bike becuase I was a little shocked at that point that I was in 4th....pip taylor (who I met after the race and has a super sweet demeanor- I can totally see why she has such a great reputation!!)caught us around the second loop and I just continued to hang behind and follow their leads...meanwhile jenna shoemaker and samuels from New zealand up the road were putting massive massive time on us on the bike!! Coming into T2 my legs felt recovered and I felt like I went a bit conservative on the bike but I knew the next 10k was going to be hell! It was incredibly hot and humid by that point (did I forget to mention I dropped my full waterbottle on the first lap of the bike!- so no water for quite a while!- rookie mistake!) I passed pip and rebecca wassner soon after T1 and felt fine until about mile 3...miles 3-6 were unbelievably hard- I was running alone, it was sooo hot and miserable..It took everything I had not to stop- I definatley could not have run any harder even though the time was not very good (39:59)....After the race I was in shock- my goal going into it was not to get last...never thought I could win money and podium! Thanks to Barb lindquist for encouraging me to race in the pro field...I almost raced as an amateur this race..haha!!

Next time my swim will be tested and that will be a whole new ballgame...stay tuned...=)

nervous/excited/nervous/excited?!?!

So this weekend is my first real pro race at the Philadelphia triathlon. Philly became part of the lifetime fitness series this year so the field is really stacked so it should be an "interesting" race as my first pro race. My running has been going so great thanks to my ragged mountain teammates, and my swimming keeps improving steadily...my biking has been a lot less in volume and intensity recently as I am trying to make the switch to an ITU style..so it should be interesting to see what happens with that as philly is not draft legal- my cycling was much stronger than I thought at collegiate nats so hopefully some of that will carry over a bit..All you can do is your best so that is my plan and we will see where the chips fall for this first race in scary scary pro land....should be very humbling and a great learning experience in any case! I am certainly leaning on my faith in this situation that God will be walking through this with me no matter what happens so I can relax and remeber there is nothing to fear and nothing to loose here- just an opportunity to learn.

Good luck to kate lucas and hunter this weekend at IM coeur dalene and all the people doing the cville sprint tri (including wes/dustin/mark/bev/ray/eric/anyone else I missed!!) Also good luck to my new teammate Brian Duffy at philly too! and robin of course who is doing the philly sprint!! cant wait to hear all the great results!!

Apologies/ Updates!

So sorry for being such a bum and not updating regularly!!! Part of my apology runs into my updates...because I have joined several new teams and have several developments in my tri training that make it so I probably cant be posting my workouts too much anymore because it is probably not fair to the people helping me out at this point...


So some very exciting news is that I joined a new Pro Development Team, Fast Forward, that is partnered with Inside-Out sports, Quintanaroo and Computrainer. This is all very exciting because I am now able to get some serious coaching and gear/bike/wheels/product/everything support that is going to allow me to be the most competitive I can be with my somewhat limited financial resources..I am also soo super excited to be part of a team again!! and to have some great coaching!! The team is stacked with some very impressive athletes so far and it will be great to be a part of their accomplishments!

Another update is that I have been invited to an Elite Development Training Camp at the olympic training center in Colorado springs, CO from July 26-aug 8..I am super excited about this- what an amazing opportunity- I never thought I would have such an opportunity- God is good!!! This means, however, that I have jumped in with the sharks now and have gotten my pro licence- which also means I will be racing in the pro fields from now on which is scary business but you have to grow up somehow with everything I suppose.....My first pro race will either be Philly or NYC depending on when my license is processed....very exicting but will be very very humbling....

Another update is I have joing CYAC, an age group swim club in Charlottesville that is super super hard and has some amazing 14-19 yr old athletes- amazing kids! I am finally in a do or die situation in every practice which is exactly what I need with my swimmming- This has been a huge huge answer to prayer and I finally see a way now that my swimming will continue to dramatically improve.

Lastly, I joined the ragged mountain elite racing team in cville that is training post collegiate athletes with the goal of olympic trials for track and marathon events...amazing group of people, I am really starting to run fast again and it is so easy with great people right next to you to push you to it..great coaches and another huge blessing!!

My biking has seriously taken a back seat this past month and I think that will hurt me in philly and NYC but I have really wanted to start to prepare for my ITU racing that I am now starting at the end of July...another update!

Anyways, Huge blessings all over the place, I am very excited about the rest of the summer and next year...I will continue to blog as much as I can on training without being unfair to the coaches that are helping me now and the other athletes on these teams by posting their workouts...

sorry again for being super lazy for a bit!!
Congrats to all the local cvillers who finished eagleman last weekend...most brutal conditions ever- I am so proud of you guys!!

Breezypoint triathlon Sun 6

am race- won race...I was happy with the swim, for the first time I was at the front of the race after the swim..I was 2nd out of the water and only 14sec behind the first woman...pretty happy with that - although I still have a lot to improve in the open water. I was able to find some guys feet to draft off of for about half of the swim so that was a success in practicing drafting- which will be key for me..haha...

after the bike I was pretty far ahead so I just got to go easy the run- which was awesome! the run is always so painful no matter what but this was awesome becuase the run was actually fun!

Met some really awesome female triathletes in the area too- triathletes are so nice in this area! so great! And won $400- which rocks!

6th overall with the men (just out of the money for men =) )

june 3/4/5

thurs- 1hr40 min moderate with dustin...starting to lighting on my so had to cut the ride short- feeling pretty tired so I didnt really care to much...

Fri- 8 mi total, main set- 5x 1000m w/ 2 min rest in b/t intervals- on the track with the ragged mountain team- 3:34, 3:33, 3:30, 3:27, 3:25- great workout! defiantely have not run this fast since college...working out with fast people to push you is amazing and so much less painful!

pm- swim 3k: main set was 6x300 on 4 min, then 3:55, then 3:50 interval (3:45-3:50 for all) I am going so slow! what the heck! I feel sooo sloooowww.....blah

Sat- am bike, 3 hrs, lots of drating, took it easy and I still felt really tired..humm...racing tomorrow with no taper so should be interesting....

tues/wed june 1/2

tues am-8mi total: hill workout with my new Ragged mountain teammates...we did 8x this hill going from fontaine up to ohill...wow- sooo fun to workout with a team again, makes all the difference!

pm swim- my BIIIGGG SWIM TEST! this was set up by Barb lindquist at USAT to give her an idea of my swimming ability. I am going to the olympic training center in colorado springs for the last week of july and first week of august and I need to let the big boss know that I am not snail slow...
YES! did well....the test is a 200 yd sprint from a dive, 1 min rest, 800 all out....I did a 2:11, 9:34- thanks dustin and wes for helping me and timing and being the best!! I am happy with that and so was Barb so that is great!

wed- pm bike- 1 hr easy...
straight to pool- 5k with phil and wes...main set was 2x( 400 on the 5:30 (4:58), 2x200 on the 2:45 (2:26-2:27), 4x100 on the 1:20 (1:11-1:13)...thanks phil and wes for being fast and helping me! cant wait to watch you guys race at eagleman!

Mon May 31

am- bike, 1:30, 25 mi, main w/o was 6x5 mins hard on rolling terrian...crazy hot again outside...tried to go pretty hard on the intervals cause they were so short...hopefully I can get a little speed back on the bike...

open water swim! so fun...only did about 1k, but practiced a lot of drafting off of Val and phil- thanks guys! I definatley need to become a great drafter =) , I think I need to practice this a lot more...great turnout of cville athletes- thanks for organizing wes!

friday/sat/sun may 28/29/30

Fri- am bike, 3:40, 60+?? mi- tootally grueling workout...went from thousand oaks, down to the beach and did 30 mins hard interval on pacific coast highway (it is the craziest- you can ride your bike on the highway in CA, very strange)...the wind was at my back so I was flying without too much effort...the 5 mins easy, 30 mins hard interval up a massive mountain without one break in the grade- very very hard, very hot..this was serious pain...then I had a 30 min rest while I descended down the other side of the mountain...then my last 30 min hard interval was into the wind on a rolling section...this was unbelievably hard- either this was a much harder workout than I envisioned in my head or I am out of shape on the bike...dont know what to think??

brick run- 30 mins zone 3, 4mi...wanted to do a tempo after this ride but I was just too wasted, no way I could do it....

Sat- 1:15, 4k, swim with masters group long course meters...main set was 10x100 on the 1:30 interval... I was coming into the wall at 1:23-1:25 which I was not too happy with...I think I am really tired from yesterday....flying back to VA today...

Sun- had to spend the night in atlanta cause I missed my connection due to weather...did a long run after I got back to cville, 1:30, 12mi, sooooo hot here- wow! the humidity and heat is extreme- it will definately take some reacclimating too....I am tired!

thurs may 27

am run- easy 8 mi with amazing and way cool olympian jill savage, got some more great advice from a wise sage of triathlon...I really trust what she is telling me too, I think she has my best interests at heart when she shares advice with me - this is sooo important when trying to figure out whose advice to listen to, I am very happy to have met her and I am hoping she can give me some more input (especially swimming!) in the future. Also met the owner/founder of SaltStick electrolyte tablets, he is super nice too - I will definately be trying out his product just because he seems like such a nice guy (isnt that funny how that works...)

pm swim- 3k with masters group, main set was 6x200 descend1-3 and 4-6 on the 2:50 interval (2:25, 2:23, 2:18, 2:25, 2:24, 2:19)...then 10x100 pull on the 1:20 interval (1:13-1:15, I dont have paddles here and I am a slow poke puller)

I am going to miss these group workouts when I leave CA! They have been so fun and the outdoor pool is soooo nice, my back is seriously fried and I love that! The coach is Nancy Reno- who is super experienced and hugely accomplished swimmer herself- I highly highly recommend this group to anyone training ever in this area, it is quite an impressive resource because it is tailored to triathletes!

Word on the street is that Wes (my husband) and Dustin, who are my training buddies, are getting in nasty shape and are going to kill me on the bike whe I get back...cant wait! =)

tues/wed may 25/26

tues- pm swim, 5k- lots of shorter stuff, main set: 3x200 on the 2:45 interval (2:24, 2:22, 2:18), 4x100 on the 1:15 interval (1:05, 1:09, 1:08, 1:07)...

pm track workout- 9 mi total...odd workout cause I joined the group track workout here in town...the main workout was 3x (4x250 hard, 150 easy jog- continuous running intervals, 1 lap easy, repeat) all my 200 splits were 36-37, which is very fast for me cause I dont have a lot of natural speed so I was happy with that....after the workout I took about a 10 min break and cooled down with some people and then went back to do 2xmile with 2 min rest in between (6:08, 5:55)...I was going to do a third but my legs really started to feel heavy after the fast 250s so I bagged it...I have been in that place before and I know that is the place where injury is introduced..when you cant feel your legs much anymore- best to know when to back off sometimes perhaps...

wed- am bike- 90 mins easy

swim- 6k...did the 3k workout with the masters group...lots of faster stuff again, a set of 4x125 on the 1:40 interval ( all 1:27-1:28), lots of 75s, 25s,50s again....then went next door to the community pool and did another set of 4x500 on the 7:00 interval (6:35, 6:24, 6:15, 6:13)- pretty happy with these time becuase my arms were beat from the 1st 500...

Sun/Mon may 23/24

Sun- am swim, 5k: main set- 15x100 on the 1:20 interval (all 1:11-1:13), 150 hard (1:42), 20x75 (all 53-55), 150 hard (1:45)...

long run after- 90mins, 12 mi

Mon- pm swim, 5k...a lot of short, faster intervals...lots of 50s and 25s...


I have been doing a lot of faster, shorter stuff then I am used to with the masters group I have been training with. I think it is making me faster- which will hopefully make me be able to hold a faster pace for longer...

Fri/Sat May 21, 22

Fri: am bike- 1.5 hrs...30 mi- 3x20 min threshold intervals (21.8mph avg for all 3)...really strong wind today, very slow out, very fast in....

brick run after- 20 mins tempo, 10 mins cool down....

Sat: am swim- 3k, main set was 150 hard (1:45), 20x75 on the 1:05 interval (all 53-54)..150 hard (1:46)...

thurs may 20

my big board exam for med school was today....9 hours long! with only 45 min break all day! crazy...the ironman of tests....

off today..

Also, i just realized there is a "comments" section on this blog...i am sooo sorry to anyone who commented on my posts in the past and i didnt respond..i am not a butthead, I am just an idiot! there is a difference.....sorry! but thanks for all the great comments!! I promise to respond from now on!

I am excited to get back to swimming with this awesome masters group in CA...think i will try to do some two-a-days this coming week.....urrrgg..i wish we had a group like this in Charlottesville!

wed may 19

pm bike- 4hrs! soooo loongg, 60mi...my new cycling buddies in CA like to go reeeaally long....it is such a different type of riding...most of the ride is really slow, and then the climbs are hard and like 30-45 mins long without breaks over these huge mountains...I feel like I havent been doing hard workouts on the bike but then I am seriously sore after these rides and we are averaging only 15mph..I dont really get it but hopefully I'll be ok?!?...I like the company so whatever....

my big test is tomorrow..yikes!

Mon/Tues may 17/18

Mon- pm bike ride easy- 23mi, 90min....

pm swim- 5k total...yes! breakthrough! main set was 4x300 on the 3:45 interval (3:28, 3:32, 3:38, 3:38)...also 16x50 on the 40 sec interval....there was a few guy college swimmers in my lane and I had to really get going to not get lapped =) ....this was soooo helpful though, I dont think I have ever done a 300 with 1:09 splits! really excited...I couldnt even do 1:09 for 100 a few months ago...I was starting to get discouraged with my inferior swimming and wondering if I can really be fast enough to make an ITU switch and tonight was very encouraging...finally seeing some of the last 3 weeks of lots of swimming pay off! I just need to keep going for another year with this swim volume...yikes!...seriously though- the lesson I got from this was swim with people much faster than you!

Tues- pm track workout...6x600 all 1:59 or 2:00...probably need to be doing a lot more reps but I went to a group trackworkout tonight....also I havent really done any speed yet so I thought it was ok to start with just a few repeats....I'll definately have to do another running workout this week though...Also at the track workout- I met Jill Savage, she is Jordan Rapp's wife and super cool former olympian triathlete! she gave me some great advice and hopefully we will be meeting up for runs here so I can get some more help and inspiration! crazy!

pm swim- 2.5k total: 400 stroke per distance (<17 strokes/length), 2x200 stroke/dis (<16), 4x100 (<15), 8x50 drill.....I am finding the stroke per distance stuff helpful I think...I think it is good for triathletes particularly without a strong swim background because we tend to think higher tempo in the pool means you go faster- which isnt true if you dont have a good distance gain with each stroke....almost every triathlete I know really needs to do distance/stroke work (I think?!?- but then again, i am not really an authority!=) )

Sun May 16

am swim- 5k total, main set: 24x100 all on 1:20 interval...wasnt expecting such a hard workout today, think i kind of slacked it a little but nonetheless, that is a tough workout no matter what...was with the maters group here, the workouts will be no joke tougher that i thought!!

run right after - 12 mi easy long run

Fri/Sat may 15/16

Fri- am run- 9mi, fartlek workout: 4x8 mins at threshold+, 2 min jog inbetween. IT band feels great!! sooo happy, i am back on track now....

pm- swim with tri masters group here is CA, 3k?, it is certainly so much more fun to swim with other people!

pm- yoga, awesome! my hip felt great after! I got a HUGE pop somewhere in there during the sesson and it felt sooo much better after....dont think ill be writing about by hip much more =)

Sat- am bike, 3:30, 53mi, most of the ride was really chill pace, one 30 min climb that was really though up into the santa monica mountains but I didnt push too hard, then at 8 min climb after that that I tried to go harder on....got to ride with a fun group...I havent done any hard bike workouts this week with is a little concerning but oh well....but the good news is the climbs are really really huge here so hoping that will make up for a little of my laziness otherwise...

brick run- (really about 30 mins after we stopped though..) 40 mins, 5++mi, zone 3.5ish steady, hot but felt good...

Thurs may 13

am bike- 3hours, 50 mi? with a former Cat 1 cyclist who showed me mercy, super slow for most of it...but then there was this serious crazy climb, like a real mountain, that lasted 15-20 mins that was pretty hard and got me huffing it. This area of california has got some amazing riding...The route we went today was part of the last stage of the Tour of California which I will be watching in person next weekend...woohoo!

I am in CA to take my step 2 board exam so my training has been a little limited this week but, after next thursday I will free of all hard things in med school for 2 years!!

Also- hip feels great today! going to try a harder run w/o tomorrow! =) Being a scared neurotic pays off when staving off injury!

Mon/tues/Wed May 10-12

Mon- am swim. 6200 yds....main set 500 TT (5:59)...4x400 descend on 5:40 (last one 4:49), 4x300 descend (last one 3:35), 4x200 (last one 2:21 getting tired at the pt obviously), 4x100 (last one 1:09..busted!)...

Pm 90 min easy bike, exploring thousand oaks, ca
my hip is suspect still....not sure what to do but going to take it easy whatever I do

Tues- pm swim- 4700 yds, drills and stroke per distance work...

got a massage on my IT band today, felt a lot better after...

Wed- am swim- 5300 yds: main set 5x(3x100 on 1:30 (all 1:06-1:08), 1x100 on 2:00)

run right after- 45 min easy, 6 mi....IT band feels good...going to just ice and stretch...hold off on hard workouts til the weekend but I think I might be back in business...crossing my fingers!!

sunday may 9, weekly totals...

Dont forget mothers day today!!
off today

weekly totals:

Hours: 17:10
Bike 8:45
swim: 20k even - need to up this, still low but next week ill have an outdoor pool so shouldnt be tough
run- 17 mi, this is pathetic, but I took 2 running days off to be extra careful about a weird pain on my lateral hip...so that is why i am such a pathetic runner this week....nonetheless, still pathetic

fri/sat may 7/8

am swim- 5k, main set: 600 stroke per distance, 2x300 build on 4:30 (3:45s), 6x100 on the 1:15 (1:09-1:10s), 1 min rest, 6x100 on the 1:20 (1:12s), 2x300 build on 4:30 (3:46s), 600 hard (500 split was 6:09)....felt pretty good about this workout, i can tell I am defiantely getting faster but still have a loooong way to go....

pm ride- super easy, nobody does easy like me =) 1:45, 25 mi

Sat- am ride, 3 hrs, 55 mi, drafted a lot trying to keep things in zone 3 with just a little zone 4...then way zone 2 the last hour.....i feel like a weird muscle thing in my hip so I am being super cautious...I am way conservative now with injuries and know ill do fine if I stay healthy so opted out of my brick run today and going to take tomorrow off completely....flying out to CA tomorrow so that actually works out well...

pm lift- just arms....i think i hurt my hip lifting my legs now that i think about it- had some trouble with hamstring lifting last weekend and forced it when I should not have- that and my first attempt at some faster track work so far this season probably wasnt the best combo, going to stay away from leg lifting for a while....

ragged mt team and Sports Illustrated!

Check out this weeks Sports Illustrated..I am in the "faces in the crowd" section...a little photo and paragraph! sweet..pretty sure I will never be in sports illustrated again =)


also, just found out I was accepted onto the ragged mt racing team, charlottesvilles local olympic trials running development team...this is great news for my training..i didnt think they would take a triathlete but they are willint to take me...I havent been focusing on my run really at all yet but I know I will get super fast with these people to workout with!!

thur may 6

pm bike- 1:15 slow slow spinning..20mi

pm brick track w/o- 9mi total...main set of 5 mi on the track: 4x (1200, 2 min rest, 800, 90 sec rest)...1200s (4:27, 4:23, 4:23, 4:23), 800s (2:45, 2:45, 2:46, 2:46)....happy with that for right now...thanks to wes for being a great pacer and training partner this week!

wed may 5

am swim- 42oo meters in 50m pool, main set was 6x500 on 9:00 interval...then some fast 50s...was by myself so it was very difficult to motivate....

pm swim- 2k yds...stroke work- jen, who is a super fast olympic trials person helped me with my stroke and changed some stuff...it seems to have helped me get a lot more distance out of my stroke so that is good...i need all the help i can get and i am very thankful to have dustin and jen on board helping me!

Tues may 4

am swim- 3700 yds, drills that i have mentioned before, paddles, kicking, strok per distance...I swam 20K last week, shooting for 25k this week...and it keeps going up from there....

pm bike- 2:45 total, main intervals: 3x20 mins at sugar hollow TT style, no drafting with Wes, thanks Wes! avg 22.8, 23.6, 23.4 mph, very happy with this.....slight uphill all the way out about 12min, slight downhill back in about 8min....it pay to have a husband who is faster than me on the bike to push me!

Also just recieved an email that I might speak of more later but in the course of the email found out that some very amazing triathletes nationally actually read this blog or are at least aware of it...I am kind of shocked and very honored by that =) I still cant believe anyone would care to read this....wow, shoot, got to keep it updated! and maybe try to make it less boring?!?!

Sun/Mon may 2/3

Sun- am long run, 10 mi easy
pm- swim, 3k total: 500 warm up, 3x (5x50 drill- R arm, L arm, finger tip drag, catch ups, 6kicks on each side), 800 pull w paddles, 200 c/d

Mon-am run 8 mi zone 3 steady
pm swim: 4800 total: main set was 5x200 all under 2:20 on a 3:00 interval, 5x200 all at 2:25 on a 2:40 interval, 3x500 (pull,swim,pull)

Time to get my swim on!

sat

am- 63 mi bike with Tri club, 3hours...great ride, hot..we avg 23.2 mph between free union and white hall (maybe 20 mi section- no joke hilly too)...(fastest ever by tri club!) thank to rudy and james probably =) and wes and dustin of course, who are smokin fast too =)

brick run right after- 5 miles moderate pace

thurs/fri

thurs- easy pm bike with dustin, 2 hours 36mi...

Fri- am swim 4k total, main set: 3x (400 zone 3, 300 zone 3.5, 200 race pace, 100 fast)....

sweet article- thanks to hunter and chris

thanks to hunter reed for writing the article and Chris McCartney for taking the sweetest pics ever!! thanks guys....
if anyone cares to read it you can find it here..

http://triathlon.competitor.com/2010/04/news/catching-up-with-usat-collegiate-national-champion-nicole-kelleher_9075

Wed apr 28

am swim- long course meters, 4k meters, main set 6x500 descending 1-3 and 4-6...my arms are blasted because I have swam more in 2 days than I usually do most weeks but I made it through...times between 7:15-7:40...not great but not terrible considering my degree of soreness....

pm run- 8 mi easy...love running easy! I am applying to the Ragged mountain racing post collegiate development team in town, we will see if they let a triathlete in?? not sure?? but if I start up with those guys I dont think i'll get too much easy running so I have to enjoy it now!

pm weights- I am starting an aggressive weight routine on my arms- mostly lats, triceps, deltoids, traps.....to help my swimming get faster cause I got baby weak arms..this is totally new to my training and I finally have time to do it! also going to start core stuff which i havent been doing either---generally you want to start these things in way preseason mode so I am not really doing this right but whatever, not going to worry about that now.....

last week, monday, tues

took the week off and just did some easy stuff for fun...
back to some funness this week...

Mon-
swim pm- 3600, main set was 4x (3x100 hard, 1x100 easy all on 1:30... all 12 hard ones between 1:06 and 1:09...so excited, this is sooo much faster than I have been doing =)) )

pm run- 6 miles easy easy with wes

Tues-
am swim- 4800yds, main set (500, 2x400 pull, 3x300, 4x200 pull, 5x100)...dustin wrote this

pm bike- 2 hours, 38 mi with BBB group....zone 3 steady (and some delicious zone 2 =)) )

going to build up again this week with a big base week but going to stay away from hard workouts..ill restart hard stuff next week....my next big race is still 9 weeks away...

RACE REPORT- Collegaite Nats...

I really dont know what my times were cause of my timining chip issues but here are my best guess- the only one I am fairly confident of is the swim cause I know who was around when I got out:

swim (600ishm)- 7:10ish
bike (40K but worst conditions in the world)- 1:10:30ish
run (6.6-6.7 mi- much longer than 10k)- 41:00ish (? I know instinctively I was running around 6:10/mi pace whatever that is...)
transitions- the speed of a glacier moving towards the sea....
overall time: 2:03:10

swim- 53 degree water...the swim was the most vicious swim ever...I have several bruises and a goose egg on my head from the fallout...around the first buoy I got the two handed shove on my head underwater...I went under about 10 feet and popped back up backwards with the entire field swimming over me...I just really need to improve my open water swimming...I realized that is my biggest weakness- specifically open water...So I finished the 600ish meter swim in about 7:10, roughly around 40 seconds behind the leader...the swim was cut in half (it was supposed to be 750) due to the conditions...

T1- more getting beat up: On my way in, I ran over someones wetsuit and it slipped out form under me. I hit the ground with my left hip,knee and hand- all of which have big bruises on them today...I got up, flustered, found my bike where I struggled to put on my shoes and helmet becuase I was having adrenaline issues after the wipe out, I lost considerable time

Bike- I started the bike in about 12th place...I quickly caught a bunch of people right out of transition...there was a big hill at the beginning (I am pretty dominant on hills without a lot of effort)...then I just kept passing people like crazy...I couldnt believe it- the conditions were terrible (completely wet course, 40s temperature, 20mph winds constantly with 25+mph gusts) but I felt great, I never really felt like I was going that hard but by the turn around I was already in 3rd place and passed all the favorites in the race...I did get passed by one girl from texas tech who had the fastest bike split (wow she was fast!!!) but I am pretty sure I had the second fastest bike split of the day and I think the race was won on the bike for me...I knew at the turn around on the bike, when I passed last years winner- who is very good, that I had a really good chance to win

T2-my feet were completely numb- I couldnt feel anything below my ankles, I was freaked out that I would roll an ankle and not even feel it...had a lot of trouble getting on my shoes- I need to practice transitions obviously....pathetic..

Run- Started the run more than a minute + back,...started out steady, couldnt feel my feet for the first 1.5 miles, miserable...but at the first turnaround (1.5 mi in) two great things happened: I could feel my feet again!! and I caught the two girls in front of me....after the turn around I saw the two girls who race ITU and who are very good- I think they were probably 90 seconds back at that point- they looked like they were charging like mad...when I run I get lazy unless someone is really threatening me...so I just continued at a somewhat cruise race pace until the 3 mi turnaround when I could see what they were doing....last years winner was still about 90 sec -2 mins back and the second place from last year was falling back from her ...so I just keep grinding at a good but relatively comfortable race pace until the final turn around...when I saw she was still 2 mins back, I relaxed and didnt have to worry about getting caught....I cruised in and i dont think anyone expected me to be coming cause no one had the tape up so I had to slow down in the chute for them to get the tape ready....crazy- I guess that is what happens when you are not supposed to win.....

So I crossed the finished line and didnt realize there were a bay of cameras in front of me..I kind of looked at it and realized what it was and so just stood there (kind of like an idiot) for about 5-10seconds with the banner over my head...not sure what to do but I figured they might want a picture becuase I hadnt given them anything to work with- I totally forgot about that part...I guess I am still a real novice- oh well....

COLLEGIATE NATS- BELIEVE...

Wow, so I won collegiate nats...I thought I had a good shot in my own mind- though nobody else might have known about me..what a great position to be in...- there is so much more to be learned from it all that way....

I am in a very contemplative mood since the race so I am going to share a little of that- something I normally dont do...Ill write a true race report tomorrow for anyone interested in that...

I have been thinking on the value of triathlon and how this experience translates into life...I think there are many correlates, but the thing I want to share is thoughts on fear and doubt...I used to have a lot of fear of failure and self doubt in college, especially earlier on and especially in big races, this would be difficult to control and keep at bay so I could race well...that has subsided over the years but now it is gone from me now- which may sound like a small thing but it really isnt. And I think this has to do with my faith. I have always had a weak faith and major doubts not only in myself but also in the existence of a God that really loves us (how could this be with all the horror and suffering in the world?, I was always not fully sure)- but I have just been blessed with this deep faith in the past 6 months or so that I never know existed for people. Even through certain recent personal tragedies I am walking through now- I have been freed in a certain way...I think this triathlon championship is just a small representation of where I am at in my personal journey of faith right now...I have everything I need now and it is a permanent sustainer...I also have loving friends, parents, family, husband- I am so blessed now and I see that now when I didnt really see it earlier. I have nothing to lose now because I already have everything I need and those things cannot be taken from me...this has really made me free...no more fear or failure or self doubt- those things seem so far away now...

And all of this is not about winning triathlons of course...

I am just hoping that whatever successes I have can somehow be used to positively impact other people- even if it is just encouragement, something small or whatever- I just dont know how to use this in a positive way yet- I am hoping that will become more clear, I have never been great at this and have always been much more selfish with time and energy than I might have hoped for myself but I just pray that this experience can be used for what it was intended, to benefit somebody in some way despite my own human tendencies towards pure self-involvement....

Triathlons showcase such a great display of humanity...I am proud to be involved in this sport...

sat apr 9

off- please let me get over this cold soon!!!

fri apr 8

am swim, 3k main set 8x200, 1-4 descend, 5-8 hold steady...2:39, 2:35, 2:28, 2:25, 2:25, 2:26, 2:25, 2:26....dustin paced me for most of it until his googles broke...thanks dustin!

pm run- 8mi, 3x (3min at 10k, 90 sec easy, 2 min at 5k, 1 min easy, 1min at 1500m pace, 30 sec easy, repeat)

I have gotten some type of cold and it is really doing it damage right now- coughing, sore throat, yellow/brown stuff, not good...think I need to rest for a bit now...I can only make myself slower from this point on being so close to the race (next saturday...) so I think i need to chill and kick this cold....

thus apr 7

off

wed apr 7

pm bike- 1:30 zone 2.5-3ish steady...

pm swim- 4k, main set: 3x800 descend on 12:00 (averages for each: 1:19, 1:17, 1:14)...2x (2x100 build on 1:30, 4x50 hard on 50 sec)...w/o courtesy of dustin again, as always

tues apr 6

am - long run, 12mi, 1:30 easy...ran through the appomattox courthouse where the civil war ended- highly recommend running here if you are ever in appomattox for some reason- lots of fire roads and open fields to run on...it was super erie in the early morning with the fog rolling over all these open fields where so many people died....creepy but also historic and cool...

pm-bike, 33 mi, 1:45: main set- 4x (10 mins at 40KTT pace, 2 min easy, 5 mins at 20KTT pace, 1 min easy..repeat).....trying to get a little bit shorter speedier stuff in now that I am getting closer to my race on apr 17....

Mon apr 5

day off, super tired

weekly totals

total time: 16:40

bike: 8:15 (hoping to be closer to 10 but you cant always have what you want...)
run: 33.5mi
swim: 14k yds

solid for now...

sun apr 4

easy easy bike- the easiest bike ever done while moving forward....3 hours, 45 miles (that is generous)... just wes and I so that was fun- we almost never train just us so that was great!

pm swim- 2800yds, 1000 of drills, 1000 of stroke per distance....

Apr 3 EPICNESS!!

Crazy Epicness, most ridiculous w/o yet!

bike- 45 mi total: no drafting 40k TT effort Jeff cup loops (10mi/loop)....1st interval- 2x loop (20 mis) 55:30...3 min rest...1xjeff cup loop (10mi) 28:10....avg over 22 mph....crazy!!! way faster than I thought I could do- without race wheels on a rolling course- I am super pysched!

brick track run right after at walton middle school: 3mi race pace- 18:28 (6:09/mi avg), 3 min rest, 2 mi faster 12:04 (6:02/mi avg), 3 mins rest, 1 mile 5:48.... 7 mi total with cool down- I little slower than i would have hoped but the bike was so much faster than I thought I dont care...

Thank you to dustin for helping me with this, no way I could have done this alone (Dustin had an amazing workout too!!)...thanks wes for organizing us!

phew!

friday apr 2

pm swim: 3600 yds, main set: 8x200 descend by 2s on 3:00 (2:39 down to 2:22), 8x100 descend by 2s on 1:20 (1:15 down to 1:09), 8x50 descend by 2s

crazy w/o planned for tomorrow

thurs apr 1

pm bike- 90 min easy, 25 mi- bike still broken- trying not to totally destroy it so going easy on the chain

brick run right after- 30 min , 4 mi, easy

feeling super blah today....
hopefully i will get out of this funk soon- i have some major hard workouts planned for sat.....

wed mar 31

pm bike- bad news, I was supposed to do a hard bike today but that is something wrong with my cogs and I wont be able to fix it til the weekend - I cant really ride hard on the cogs right now or I will break my chain pretty quick- huge bummer cause this is a super important week for me...
90 mins on bike easy- blah

for people taking workouts off of this: my plan was to do 8x10 mins 40KTT pace with 2 mins easy in between....

pm swim- 3k meters: 1k of easy drills, 1k of stroke per distance, 1k of swim/paddles....

tue mar 30

pm run- this is a really good hard workout: 11+ mi total, 1:25...main w/o is 6x8 min at 10K race pace, 2 min jog in between...this is modeled after the endless 2K repeats I used to do in college (plus about a min and a half to each interval) this is a tough w/o but totally great for strength- you can tell by the end!

pm swim- 4k Meters (crap- I dont know my intervals at all) main set: 800 descending, 2x600 IM pace, 2x400 half IM pace....I couldnt finish the workout because i ran out of time but it is supposed to be 3x400 and then 4x200....dustins workout...

I have to drive 30 mins each way to the only pool around...not ideal

Mon Mar 29

pm long run- 12 mi, 90 min easy with wes (he did a tempo in the middle- I, however, was lazy and did no such thing...)

I am getting ready for a huge week this week, my plan is 20ish hours, we will see how close I get.....

please let me have places to train in appomatox!! I already know I will be driving 30 mins each way every am to swim...yikes!

sun march 28

really tired today, didnt accomplish what i wanted to this weekend but oh well

pm bike on trainer (raining outside)- 1:30 total: 3x20 min hard aerobic intervals...good sets for tri specific workouts...

low numbers this week, even for an easy week, better week starting tomorrow!

march 27-smithfield sprint

am race- smithfield sprint- 1st overall, 5th with the men..and unexpectedly beat the 3rd overall female at collegiate nats last year and winner of the 2012 talent ID race...best competition I have raced yet and a confidence booster for nationals in 3 weeks....good day!!


post race: 1:15 bike zone 3

Dustin was 3rd in his AG and rocked for coming off injury! nice work!

wes comes back today!! Maybe he can help me with some training...

fri mar 26

pm swim: 5k, main set: 600 long on 9:00, 4x150 hard on 2:15 hard, 2x300 on 4:30 steady zone 4, 4x150 hard on 2:15, 600 descending on 9:00...

Thur mar 25

pm- farlek w/o: 8+ mi total, 1 hr, main set: 4x (3min 5k pace, 90 sec easy, 2 min 3-5k pace, 1 min easy, 1 min 1500 pace, 30 sec easy, repeat)

this is a great pre race fartlek (althought I would probably do 2-3 sets if I was really trying to race well- not 4) but nonethe less, quick easy farlek just to put a little speed in the legs before a race...I used to do this all the time 2 days before a race at dartmouth....

tues/wes march 23/24

tues- off! =)) big test on friday so trying to study...



wed- pm bike: 35 mi, 1:50, main set 6x 10 min intervals at 20kTT, 2 min easy in b/t

finally a great, fast workout...avg 20-21 on hilly blue ridge parkway...really feel like i am on the verge of a big breakthrough on the bike, i can feel it coming....finally!

Mon march 22

pm easy long run- 90 mins, 12 mi...up and down mill mountain twice...the worse thing about going up a mountain is coming back down....I need a massage!

Weekly totals

So this week was supposed to be a down week but I too many hours at the end of the week, so next week will be my down week- that works better for my school schedule anyways....


total hrs: 16:30
swim- 10k (ugg! not good yet again)
bike: 10:45- yes! very happy with this
Run: 22 mi - doing my long run on monday instead of sunday so this is artificially low.....whatev..

Sunday Mar 21

afternoon bike- 2+ hours, 35 mi- super chill, recovery and fun! With robin and dustin (dustin way out in front the whole time circling back to get us- sorry dustin!)

pm swim- 5k, main set was dustin's w/o: 500 hard (6:08), 5oo easy (7:04) both on 7:30, 5x200 (all 2:28-2:29) on 2:40, 10x100- 2 hard, 1 easy, repeat all on 1:40 (hard 100's all 1:08-1:09)
felt better today...not as swim discouraged but I need to swim more!

congrats to wes for a great sermon given in Jamacia! apparently he blew the crowd away =)

Saturday March 20!!

YES! great great day! the weather is in the 70s...

am bike with CRC- 50+ mi, 2:40- Great ride, stayed with the CRC lead group the whole time (Dee Dee, Eric Fletcher, Rudy, James, some fast CRC guys- the usual suspects), tried to do a little tempoing up a long steady hill for probably 5-10 mins then took a lot more pulls than I have been (still not pulling a lot but at least I didnt draft the ENTIRE time..) I felt really good today too and I know I was working harder than I have on any other sat ride!! Our avg was flying for the hard parts.....yes!

brick run right after- SWEET! 8 mi total, 10 min warm up, 3x10 min tempos on track with 2 mins easy in between ( mile splits: 5:58, 6:02, 6:07), 10 min cool down...ran the first one with phil- thank goodness cause I needed some help, phil is fast!...It was really hot today but I felt really strong mentally and physcially even though I ran out of water and was really feeling it by the last one...God is good- He gives and takes away but today he gave me an awesome day!

anyone reading this blog for ideas: I really think these Sat workouts that I have been doing are really great. Initially I didn't think they could be done- I thought they would be too hard, but I just decided to try, and now I think I can feel enormous benefit as far as muscular strenght and endurance for the exact type of running you need for triathlon...If I do well this year, it will be because of these Sat workouts so I highly encourage anyone looking for workout ideas to think about doing stuff like this - one thing I learned in college running is that if your workouts are harder than your races, you wont fear racing and, even on a bad day, you will race well... I am hoping the same priciple applys to triathlon....

Good Luck to James and the rest of the UVA tri people in CA next weekend!! I know James is ready to really lay down some fastness!

thurs/ fri mar 18/19

Thurs- pm bike, 90 mins easy, 20mi, hilly but super super easy, I am really really tired from being in the operating room all day, standing and retracting somone's pelvis open for 8 hrs straight..very very exhausted...need a mental and physical break for a day or two..

Fri- Wes came down to suprise me in roanoke yesterday and we finished the ride together...soooo great, totally re-energizing and just what I needed right now!! I am so happy he is here! Wes did 4.5+ hrs of training today..go Wes!

pm bike with wes 90 min, 20 mi- really easy, fun, great weather, slooow but feels good!! feeling better mentally and only 3 more days of my OBGYN rotation! Family medicine next will be sooo much easier to train and Ill have a lot more time to sleep too =) I have been getting 5-6 hours of sleep every night for the past month- this is completely unsustainable....

wed March 17

pm run: 10 mi total, main w/o : 4x (8 min at 10k pace, 3 min easy)...I am feeling a bit tired...i either ran these pretty hard or my legs are heavy..not sure which but that is the beauty (or beast depending on how you look at it) of not being on the track and being without a garmin...

doing only one workout a day is great mentally...I even had time today to go out for a big fat mexican dinner and a margartia tonight with friends!! happy st. patricks day!

Tues march 16

A little chiller this week as it is my down week....(I am on a 3 week high volume, 1 week at lower volume plan to keep from burning out too quick- it is a looooong season!)

pm swim- 5k total, dustins workout, main set: 5x600 on 9:00 (times: 7:47, 7:46, 7:45, 7:47, 7:48) still hard to motivate swimming alone...I think the effort may have been too easy on these, oh well, i think i just need to try to maintain at this point cause I am not strong enough mentally to improve on my own with swimming yet.....bummer..ill just keep doing it as best i can for now....

Monday March 15

afternoon off from clinical duties means hammertime!

afternoon KEY BIKE WORKOUT - 3 hrs total, 50+ mi: main w/o- 3x30 mins hard at 30K TT pace, 5 mins easy in between intervals...the course was on the blue ridge parkway which is way more hilly than I wanted but the good news is I still averaged 19-20 mph with big hills and big big wind today....no course is as tough as this one, even so- i would have liked to have been on a flatter course for better race simulation- oh well!! still was a killer workout....

brick run after- easy, 30 min, 4 miles steady 7:30-7:45ish pace....feels great to run easy...

weekly totals

Total time: 14:30 (low because i missed a key workout on sunday due to rain...did it on monday though so it will count for next week)

swim- 14,500 (better but still not good)

bike- 7 hours (looks a little low from big bike workout missed on sunday)

run- 28 miles

Sunday March 14

pm swim: 4k total, main set 500 moderate on 7:00, 2x100 hard on 1:30, 100 easy on 2:00, 400 moderate on 6:00, 2x100 hard on 1:30, 100 easy on 2:00, 300 moderate on 4:30, 2x100 hard on 1:30, 100 easy on 2:00, 200 moderate on 3:00, 2x100 hard on 1:30, 100 easy on 2:00

times: 500- 6:30, 400- 5:10, 300- 3:47, 200- 2:28, all 100s hard at 1:10-1:11...still hard to motivate with these solo swims....

workout courtesy of Dustin, like usual....

pm bike : 1:15 outside, zone 3 steady

Marth Jeff race report

The race started quick with a 5:45 first mile, I was a little suprised by the pace but I felt like I was easing into it... the first 3 miles I ran with a girl named Louise on the ragged mountain racing team (the cville post collegiate development team) and wes and we kind of pushed the pace a bit on each other, Louised got ahead of me right before mile 2 and I kind of let her go a little- trying to just run in myself and not run to0 hard and she came back within a min or two, 2 miles was in 11:42...3mi in 17:22 (so the 5k was definately sub 18 (maybe 17:55ish)...which I havent done for a while- so I was certainly happy with that!) I just kept chugging along at a pretty consistant pace the whole time staying in myself and I just pulled away slowly right before mile 3 and then just kept pulling away slowly til the end, wes helped a lot at the end by letting me know how far ahead I was during the last mile...29:11 finish time...5:53/mi avg.. new course record!! (by 27 seconds)

so the racing tactics were not great on my part but that wasnt really my objective - (in a running race you should really just sit on someone's shoulder and let them do the work until you can put in a surge and drop then definatively and quickly either with a kick at the end or in the middle of the race if your kick is weak- the objective of this is when you make your move- you should leave no hope in their mind that they can stay with you, they will be much more likely to break and give up this way) however, I wasnt really trying to race as much as put in an even effort for a good controlled workout..

I felt great the whole time, trying to stay in myself and not put too much effort into the race. My goal was to do an effort in between racing and a threshold workout and I actually think I acheieved that pretty well- I never felt in extremis or anything close, I just kind of chugged along at an even pace and I feel great today so I think I didnt go too hard- which was my goal. I am very suprised at the finish time considering the effort wasnt at full race effort- Very strange but I wont complain...just going to keep working, I guess I am just getting really fit ?!?!?!...

Sat mar 13- martha jeff 8k

am race- 5mi race, 1st place female overall, 10th overall with men, 29:11 on a moderately hilly course with wes...new course record! (old record was 29:38)- with warm up and cool down total for day was 11 mi

am bike after- 2:15 total: 1:15 at davids house on the trainer easy, then another 1hr outside afterwards easy...felt good

mini race report to come this afternoon!

wed, thurs, fri mar 10-12

Wed- pm run, 10+ mi total: main w/o- 5x (4 min at 10k pace, 2 min easy, 2min at 5k pace, 1 min easy, 1 min 1500m pace, 30 sec easy, repeat with 4 min again)...

pm swim- 2500yds total: 1500 easy drills, 1000 stroke per distance

Thurs- pm swim: 4k total, main set 5x500 on 7:00 (times- 6:22, 6:25, 6:25, 6: 30, 6:30) getting a little burnt out on swimming alone in a cold dark pool...really hard for me to work hard by myself, I think I am just going to have to hope to maintain my swimming level until I move back to cville

pm bike- 1:10 total on trainer inside: 4x10mins at high cadence (rpm 100+), 5 min rest inbetween

Fri- off, worked too late and had to drive back to cville =(

Tues Mar 9

Getting bored of training alone again. I am excited because my husband wes told me he is going to run the Martha jefferson 8k with me this sat. We work really well together in races and I havent gotten to train when him as much since I have been in roanoke so I am excited to train with him again

afternoon- 40 mi bike on blueridge parkway- interval w/o: 8 x(5 mins at 30k TT pace, 2min easy, 2 mins at 10k TT pace, 1 min easy, repeat) 2:15 total

45 min, 6 mi run right after bike, zone 3 steady pace

pm swim- 4k total, main set: 2x (1x00- 5:10 for each, 2x200- 2:27 each, 4x100- 1:10-1:12 each)

time for more sleep

Moday March 8

OFF

worked the overnight shift 7pm-7am Sunday and monday night....terrible! not conducive to tri training at all....wow I am tired.......

Weekly totals, blue seventy-nunn update

Weekly totals:

18 hrs total (most yet)

swim 1300 (still not that great, but i am doing all my workouts solo for now so that is my excuse)

bike 10 hr (yes! finally met my goal for one week, haha)

run 34.5 (no need to go up here for me, happy my knee feels great!)


I decided not to do the blueseventy-nunn project after talking to several people, I think I can get a better deal if I wait a bit and put up some good results in some better races this year... got to believe in yourself in life, even if you are wrong- right? =))

Sunday Mar 7

am- long run, 1:30, 12mi....did the martha jefferson 8k course in the middle in 37:30 at an easy pace so I was pretty happy with that...winning time is probably going to be right under 31:00 so we will see how next weekend goes- my plan is to do an effort inbetween racing and threshold so we will see what that is good for...

pm- easy bike with Craig...wow, my legs are really really tired...Craig was pulling away up the hills and i know he was doing an easy effort, i am obviously trashed at this point...was planning to take tomorrow off anyway because I start night shift work tonight - 7pm to 7am...going to be rough....then back in the next day at 4:00pm for another night shift...brutal

sat mar 6

sweet day!

am- CRC, chipotle ride, 45 mi total, 2:20....first section I stay with the CRC group, they had a lot of pros out today and the pace was super super hot...but a lot of surges and hill sprinting so I didnt want to do it the whole ride cause that is not optimal tri training (if I can even hang the whole ride...) eric and I were the only triathletes able to hang so we were pretty outnumbered today....second 1/2 with triathlete group, pace much more managable but my legs were toast at that point so i just sucked the front group a bunch (like I pretty much always do on that ride, why do I get so lazy!?! It feels so much better to draft though!)

off the bike:
track workout: 7 mi total, main w/o was 6x800m on the track, descending by 2s, splits: 3:03, 3:02, 2:52, 2:52, 2:46, 2:44....psyched!! these are really fast splits for me, esp after a really hard 45 mi ride....awesome stuff!! wes was out in front helping me with the pace the whole time (thanks wes!) and eric and rick suffered through it with us too...everyone did great and is running really fast! wahoo!

Fri Mar 5

afternoon swim- 3k total, 1 hr: 1000 variety of drills (100x (right arm, left arm, freestyle kick switch, catch ups, finger drags, fist, slow perfect swim, sculling, dolphin kick on back, right/left arm)), 1000 stroke per distance- I am at 12 per length now, 700 drills- same thing, 300 paddles

feels good to do stroke work, i need more of it!

pm bike- 1 hr easy spin, 12mi, on bluerigde parkway so it is really hilly but just went super super easy, zone 1 type easy....does anyone ever do zone 1 anymore??

thur mar 4

pm run- easy 7mi , 56 mins, easy but lots of hills, up and down mill mountain in roanoke twice...good to get off the flats here for a bit

pm swim- 4k, 1:10: main set 4x(3x100 hard on 1:25, 100 easy on 1:30) hit the hard ones all at 1:10-1:13....then 3x300 descending- last 300 was 3:43....

on other news: i just got notice that I have been accepted onto the blueseventy-nunn elite team...we will see what happens with this, not 100% sure i am going to sign the contract yet- ill blog more on it later...have to make sure i can still represent UVA at collegiate nats.....good news either way though!!

wed mar 3

Blah...getting the training alone blues...

felt lazy today

pm bike- 2 hrs on trainer steady pace, pretty relaxed, blah! I need little triathlon servants to come to roanoke and be my training friends and conform to my ridiculous schedule all the time...blahhness..........

tues mar 2

pm- swim- 4 k total, one of dustin crazy hard workouts: main set- 10x 300 with the odds hard and evens easy all on the 4:30....I did the hard ones all at 3:45- which is not great but not bad considering I am doing this by myself in the pool and God did not make me to do workouts alone....

got immediately on the treadmill cuase it is dark and snowy outside....

1:10 total, 9 mi: 15 min warm up, then 4x (8 min hard, 4 min easy continuous fartlek) I did the first interval at 6:30 pace, 2nd one at 6:20 pace, 3rd one at 6:10 pace and the last one between 5:50 and 6:00 pace....felt pretty good, not too hard...i am happy with the effort I am able to do on the treadmill cause running is more painful and usually slower for me than running outside.....my running is coming back slowly but surely!

Mon mar 1

only a month and a half to collegiate nats!

am swim- 2k of easy drills, 1000 straight of distance per stroke- I am at 14 to 15 strokes /lap right now- not fantastic but I am only 5 foot 5inches- but still that is a weak excuse...1000 of drill variety...

pm bike- 3 hrs total, 55 mi: 1 hr outside on the blueridge parkway- lots of climbing and steady hills- zone 3ish....then came inside after dark and got on the trainer for another 2 hrs of 3x30 min aerobic intervals..i am very happy with this workout cause i kind of just made it up as i went which made it go by quick.....

Sun feb 28 and weekly totals...

am run- 12 mi easy run, easy pace ~8min/mi...

pm- easy bike, 2:10 total, ~35mi, easy day today...nothing exciting to blog...

weekly totals:

16:10 hrs total
35 mi running
8:30 hrs biking
12,000 yds swimming...

excited about the running total, would like to see my cycling and swimming still creep up a little if i can...we'll see how demanding my next rotation for school is!

Sat Feb 27

awesome day!

am bike- 50 miles with triclub group and CRC, really hard, we avg 20.5 mi/hr over the CRC course which is smoking...really really hard and tough, wheww!

right after: tempo brick on the track with Rick....5.5 mi total (40 min) main w/o: 20 min tempo on track, mile splits: 6:17, 6:15, 6:07....Went through the 5k mark at 19:19 which is great...really excited about this workout and how i felt considering the 50 mi hard ride before. really excited!! Rick was smoking today too with Dave pushing him as well...watch out cville men =)

feb friday 26

am swim- 4k, main set is 3x (300 moderate, 3x100 descending)...100s: 1:18, 1:15, 1:12- pretty slow but i am feeling pretty heavy and slow in the pool recenting, just got to keep grinding...

pm bike- 1:30 pretty easy on trainer indoors, bailed on a great outdoor interval workout due to the weather but i was happy because i am feeling a bit fatigued and i think i need to work in more recovery...trying not to break down too much this earlier

Thus Feb 24

am run- 10 mi with Rick's group...great run, sooo fun to finally run with some other people, soo great, avg around 7:30-7:45 with 3 sub 7:00 miles in the middle...great turnout, over 15 people, great job rick!

pm bike- 2 hours, super super easy with wes (wes doesnt like it when i make him go so easy...) crazy windy out, felt like i was staying still while going into some headwinds, it is supposed to be even worse tomorrow..yikes!

Wed Feb 23

pm swim at AFC- finally back in cville, i am a little slower with the swim now but i expected that: 5k total, 500 at 6:12, 2x400, 3x300, 4x200, 5x100 on the 1:20 (1:11-1:14s)...felt great to have some training buddies again!

totals from last week, sorry forgot to post!

total: 12:15 total, this was my low week for the month but I maybe did a hour too much, i was shooting for 11hrs

swim: crap! the worst, only 4k cause i forgot to bring my swimsuit to roanoke, this is why my swimming has declined probably =( wayyy tooo little even for a down week

running: 20 miles, i didnt really do a long run so that is why this is so low....

bike: 7:45, pretty good for a down week, first rides outside!!

i did weight for the first time this week, ( this is not something i would recommend, i am just lazy but i should have started weights months ago, in fact it should be first on the training macrocycle, whoops...)

TUES Feb 23

so sorry for not staying up dated for people that read this, I didnt realize anyone was actually reading this until i didnt update for a few days and people started asking me about it...sorry! I will stay current now that I know people may actually use this.....sorry!!


ok so am- swim with roanoke master- 3k, 1hr...short intervals, too short for triathlon really in my opinion, a lot of 50s and 100s, my swimming feels much slower now that i have not been swimming with my normal cvill group and i am kind of bummed about that...hopefully it wont take me too long to get it back..

pm- fartlek run, 1:10 total, 9mi- 4 X (4 mins at 10 K pace, 2 mins rest jog slow, 2 mins at 5k pace, 1 min rest jog slow, 1 min at 1500m pace- this is very fast, 30 seconds rest, repeat!) make sure to only take 30seconds before your restart the 4 min 10k pace interval as this is the whole point of the workout....felt great!! I am finally getting back to a place of really relaxing when i am running fast, i havent really felt that way for 5 years since college....I really think this is the way to run fast, you have to find a way to relax everything else as much as possible, when you are really running a fast distance race, the rest of your body should feel limp almost...it is a hard thing to describe but i think most great distance runners do this from what i understand....maybe ill write some more on this later....

feb 22

off- booo.... in the hospital today...boooo!!! cant wait to get through next few days and have a big training weekend!!

sun feb 21

pm bike- 2:15 on bike outside...35 miles total...easy easy easy zone 2, felt good!

sat Feb 20

yes! great day

am- 2 hr bike with chipotle group, did a lot of drafting but pushed the hills, sucked rudy's wheel the whole time....42 miles total...

run right off the bike- 7 mi total, 50 mins: 10 min w/u, 3x10 mins with 2 mins rest in between intervals- i think i was really going quick, maybe 6:15ish....felt great, tired but strong....this was a clutch workout for me, so excited!

friday feb 19

pm swim- at AFC by myself, 4k total: main set: 300 long strokes, 6x150 on 2:15 descending 1-3/4-6, 300 long strokes, 6x100 on 1:30 descend 1-3/4-6, 300 long stroke, 6x50 descend....I am so slow now, crap! I am around 1:13-1:15 pace for these things.... I cant wait to get back to cville for wed night swim with the group!

wed/thur feb 17/18

Wed- off, on call in the hospital

Thurs- pm: indoor bike on trainer 1:30 total: 30 min warmup, 6x5 min power intervals with 5 mins rest in between....quick transition to run...

run 40 mins at zone 3 on treadmill, 7:30-7:40 pace....

weights- arms: big focus on triceps, lats for swimming/hamstrings cause i have weak ones....

mon/tue feb 15/16...

mon- pm bike on trainer, 2 hrs total, 2x40 mins aerobic intervals...wheww..a hard hard workout...i was sweating more than i ever have..i think this workout is awesome for building power and strength...i am always amazed by how long you can go with burning legs on the bike- it is so different that the impending bonk that that feeling brings with running....

tues- pm treadmill run, 8+ miles, 1hr....main workout was a 30 min tempo run...i started at 6:45 pace and then brought it down every 5 mins until I finished at 6:15 pace...felt great! I dont even think i really touched my lactate threshold which is really encouraging...felt really pretty easy which is weird??? very strange....also, with treadmill runs, make sure you do 1% incline to mimic the road accurately.....

Sunday, feb 14 and weekly totals...

Sun- am long run, 1:30, roughly 11 miles due to some slow ice/snow spots, but it is better than doing it indoors! Zone 2 the whole way..... slipped and fell on my back banana peel style at one point...worst part is I fell into a puddle of ice water and still had an hour left...no injuries though, other than embarrassment...

weekly totals: 16:30 total, 31 miles running, 12000 yds swimming, 8:30 biking...highest volume week yet, I am beginning to finally work into my running...I still want to be getting at least another hour in on the bike but Ill have to work on that after next week cause next week is my down week with a little more rest (I am on a 3 weeks high volume, 1 week lower volume schedule) so i will be shoot for around 10 hours total training....

happy valentines day!

Sat Feb 13

another great day!

am trainer ride- 3 hrs steady indoors on trainer with a crew of friends, I am back in cville now and enjoying the company of other humans in training finally =))) There is nothing better than training with others after being alone for 2 weeks!!!

am swim- 3800 total, this is a weird workout that I created myself and all swimmers tell me is a bad idea so be warned! 3000 in one interval, descending every 1000: 1st 1000- easy, 2nd 1000- 1:20 pace, 3rd 1000- 1:18 pace...I have really found this workout helps my endurance in the pool bigtime, however, swimmers tell me (and I believe them) that it may promote bad technique when you get tired at the end of the set- so I only do this workout about 1x per month....I would advise others without awesome technique to limit this type of workout....

Thurs/Friday Feb 11/12

Thurs: am swim- 32oo yd swim with the roanoke masters group, lots of 50s and 100s, I used this workout for my short swim day...

am run- 30 mins, 4 mi easy right after swim on treadmill, I had a little ache in my shin and stopped right away...I am getting smarter in my old age =)

pm bike- 2:10 total indoor bike, main set is 3x30 mins in big ring gearing at 60-65 rpm. This is a great workout for building strength/power and especially good for females! My legs are tired now....

Friday: pm run: 8mi total, 1hr...Fartlek workout: 20 mins warmup, 3x( 4 mins at 10k pace, 2 mins easy, 2 mins at 5k pace, 1 min easy, 1 min at 1500m pace, 30 seconds easy, repeat!) take note- this is a great workout! I did this workout all the time in college for 10k preparation (althought I did a few more sets then but I am working up to that)...the 4 mins after only 30 secs rest is the secret to this workout...and I got to run it outside! A great day!

Wednesday, Feb 10

am- bikeness, fire drill in the building at 3:30am..couldnt get back to sleep so of course I hopped on the bike trainer...1:40 total: 30 mins one leggeds, 90 seconds alternating legs...same principle as I described before, but these are also done best at avg cadence (85-90ish rpm) and down on the tri bars...I used to do these sitting up on the bike and i think my stroke has gotten much better by being down on the bars...5 min rest, 6x (4 min on, 1 min off) high cadence- 100+ prm...a pretty light workout on the legs overall...

pm- 1 hr total, 8+ miles: warm up...20 min tempo on treadmill, first 15 mins at 6:40, last 5 min between 6:15-6:30... cool down This pace isnt blazing fast but I was happy with how I felt, very relaxed, and it is really early so the pace is ok, plenty of time to get faster later on....right now i am just trying to get a little strong...

30 mins weights: upper body, mostly focusing on lats and triceps for swimming..also think the bench press is always good and I always do hamstrings because my quads are much stronger than my hamstrings after year of running so I always try to help out my puny hamstrings...

overall a good day...thinking about racing earlier to help get motivated for collegiate nats coming up fast in april!

Mon Feb 9- Back to business....

today was great, out of the hospital by 4:30 and back to training...

pm bike- 1.30 total on trainer, 2x30 mins aerobic intervals...supposedly this is a good w/o for 40k TT but i would like to be workout up to doing a couple more....watched a great documentary on Fred Ledow(?) founder of the NYC marathon...it was very touching and interesting, i cried at the end...great movie for lovers of running....

pm swim- not the greatest, 5k total yds, main set was 2x400 on 6:40 which was moderate pace with tons of rest, then 4x200 on 2:30 ( then repeat entire set for a total of 3200 in the main set) I started out ok for the first 2 200s but then had to change the interval to 2:35 cause i just wasnt making it....maybe it was the bike before or maybe doing the workout on my own...i am not a great solo worker but i dont have a choice at this point....

Cant wait to get back to Cville this weekend!

Sun Feb 7/Mon Feb 8- the worst

In the hospital 14 hrs on sunday and just got back from 17 hr today with back to back call days...so no training either day! terrible...this med school things sometimes really messes up the important stuff like triathlons =)...but i will have a better schedule now for a while so time to make it all up starting tomorrow! looking on the bright side-my back feels 95% now...i try to make all unplanned things become part of the plan- you have to believe in what you are doing no matter what on race day, this is true even if you are doing the wrong things right!?!? I think so- the belief may be more important that what you are actually do to get there anyways...... goodnight!

Sat Feb 6

Sat- bike- 3 hrs in zone 2-3 on trainer..mostly zone 2 steady nothing special...Watched Food Inc., this is a GREAT documentary that all americans should see! I think its convicting message is good for triathlon nutrition too!

Mon- Fri this past week (Feb 1-5)

Monday- am Swim: 3700 yds, 1:15 total time with Dustin and Jen (former Olympic trials qualifier and Division I allstar at SMU where I ran track/XC ) at AFC....the main set was 5x500 descending (which means getting faster each one) all on 7:00...times: 6:39, 6:35, 6:25, 6:17, 6:09...I was wiped out by the last one but encourage by my times...thanks Jen and Dustin!

I moved to roanoke for the month today for my pediatrics rotation so I hurt my back moving my stuff out to the car...this sucks...

pm Long Run- in the late afternoon, 1:30 total time, going really slow cause it is snowy/icy out and my back hurt most of the run..crap, not good...I thinking 8:00+ pace...when will spring come, shoot me now..

Tues- am Swim: Went to the masters group swim at Roanoke YMCA coached by Pat who was 12th pro in the 1987 Ironman- dang that is good.... mostly easy 3500 yds that took about 1:10 total time, main set was 6X100 with alot of rest on 1:45, times: 1:10, 1:10, 1:10, 1:10, 1:11, 1:09...rest was easy sets. My back is still hurting and flip turns are somewhat painful today.

Stood on my feet all day in the newborn nursery in the hospital...my back is screaming at me! shoot...not good

pm Bike- 1:45 on indoor trainer, the roads are nasty and cant ride outside...w/o was 3x20 min intervals at zone 3.5-4ish, this set is good for starting to build TT endurance..I do everything pretty much on effort cause I get discouraged when I wear a HR monitor (I can rarely get my HR above 160 on the indoor bike even with great effort??) and I cant afford a power meter... my back doesnt hurt at all when I am on the bike! =)

Wed- off, my back is really hurting, time to take a day off, i moved my bed to the floor in these aweful dorm rooms in roanoke with beds that are not suitable for prison institutions...hopefully that will help

Thurs- am swim- masters in roanoke again, I took at the sets pretty easy and didnt even look at my times so it is not worth recording...35o0 yds total, 1hr, zone 2-3 I would guess...lots of shorter sets (50s-150s). back feels a little better, not great though, definately cant run today like I was planning on...

pm bike indoors- 2hrs, zone 2-3...I do a pyramid set where I start in my easiest gear and move 1 gear down every 5 mins and then back up all in the smaller chain ring...it is a good steady, somewhat easier base building workout...and it eats a long of time up on the indoor trainer which is always important

Fri- am run on treadmill- horrible snow storm, cant run outside....1 hr total, 8+ mi, 15 mi warm up, 3x10 min intervals with 2 mins easy inbetween each interval...intervals at 6:15-6:30 pace right now with the rest intervals as slow as you want...cool down 10 mins....felt good, back feels better!! Running indoors in tough on the soul though....

am swim- 1 hr, 3k drills: 1,000 distance per stroke drill- really important for me and a lot of triathletes because our cadences tends to be too high in the pool and we arent getting enough out of our stroke, I am taking 12 strokes per length right now- which isnt that bad for being 5 foot 5- if you are taller you should be doing definately fewer...1,000 drill variety: one arms, finger drag, switch drill, catchups, ect..1,000 with paddles working on stroke form and this is helpful to build strenght (which i need!)

pm bike- 2hrs indoors, 2x15 min of one legged drills on 1:30 min switching each leg, 5 min easy in between sets- very important to work on your pedal stroke here, making sure there are not weak spots in your stroke- try to pedal perfect circles focusing particularly on "scraping the mudd of the bottom of your shoe" motion during the downstroke...then 30 mins of high cadence (100+ rpm) broken into 4 mins on, 1min off- try to keep goot technique...legs feel not too bad...back feels good...

Quick Overview

So a quick overview of my training so far this winter is I have been trying to do 4 week blocks of 3 weeks at 13-15 hrs per week and one week of 8-11 hrs/wk. I have to change this often becuase of my medical school schedule but that has been my goal. I have also been sick once this winter which took me out for an entire week and travelled a bit but no injuries or major set backs! I started ramping up for this base season in Oct and got to goal at the beginning of Jan. I have been focusing heavily on swimming this winter with roughly 15k yds/wk and have put running on the back burner (15-20 mi/wk) and have been trying to maintain my cycling somewhere in the middle (7-8hrs/wk)...however, I think going forward I am going to ramp up big on the cycling (at least 10hrs/wk going forward) and running now (30-35 mi/wk) and cut back a little on the swimming becuase I have made huge improvements with swimming and would be happy to maintain where I am right now without improving too much more for this season. Strength training has been my one big weakness thus far, I havent been able to do much at all due to lack of motivation and time but I know it is important and hopefully I can get my butt into gear with that soon (although it would have been better to do more strength in the pre-base phase of training but that is gone now).....I am going to post my training from now on starting with this past week (feb 1-7)!

Why I am doing a blog.....

I have never "blogged" before and I dont even really know how to use text messaging much less...but here I am.....I wanted to create a forum for sharing training ideas, things that worked, things that didnt work and really just make my daily training available for others to see and to learn what to do and probably what not to do in some cases.

I have done triathlons for a while but this off-season has been the first year since my college track/XC days that I have really intentionally trained to the amounts that one probably should if they are going to try to be fairly competitive in this sport. I started off planning my training by trying to research what pros and truely elite age group level athletes do for training schedules. What I found was that nobody shares what they are doing on a daily basis for training. I suppose this is becuase most people are paying for a coach to write their schedules or they dont want their competitors to read what they are doing. Either way, I wanted to make my training pulic for others to learn from if possible. The caveat being that I am self coached (with consistent input from people who are experts in swimming/cycling) and so probably I am doing some crazy things, but i hope i am doing some good things too and maybe sharing that can help someone else in thier training......

A quick note on where my training plans come from...I believe more in the model of becoming a great runner, swimmer and cyclist individually then I do the idea of becoming a great triathlete. This model seems to be more common among the people that win races on raceday from what I have observed. So I try to get expert swimmers and cyclists to help me....

I ran Division I XC/Track for 5 years at two separate programs and was pretty successful, then I was an assistant coach for a Division I level program after my eligibility expired...so I get most of my running stuff from myself. I get swimming advice from Dustin (wont mention last names without permission), a surgery resident and nasty swimmer; he has helped improve my swimming this off season to a level I would have never thought possible at the end of last year...it has truely been dramatic and so I trust him empirically. Cycling input I solicit mostly from Saul, a friend who has coached many great cyclists and an elite triathlete too. My husband Wes is also a great cyclist, especially in a race, so I bounce stuff off of him as well.

I hope this blog can be helpful to someone out there when they are planning their training!