Swim workouts – 3/10-17

Time to go to Missouri on Tuesday to see the boy swim. Hopefully all his hard work will have paid off……and if it has then I am in trouble as I told him I would buy him a Tri Bike if he placed top 5 at Nationals. Keep your fingers crossed that I'll be closer to broke next week.

Congrats to all who did their local 8k's – From Ryan's 27:04 up in DC to the crew in the Burg who braved the cold temps to do some great times (Ruth 1^st overall, Bob and Bill at 30 min, and too many great times to mention!) Good luck to those doing Shamrock next weekend!

Group A	Group B	Distance
400 w/u + 100 drill	200 w/u + 100 drill	500/300
5 x 400 at LT (level 4) + 100 drill – 1 MR between	5 x 200 at LT (level 4) + 50 drill choice – 1 MR	2000/1250
5 x 100 PULL – breath on 3, 5, 7 w/15 SR	5 x 50 pull – breath on 3, 5, 7 w/15 SR	500/250
200 Drill	100 Drill	200/100 (3200/1900)

 

More to follow tomorrow – I'm pooped!

Swim workouts 3/3 to 3/9

Sweet and simple this week!

Workout #1

Group A	Group B	Description	Distance
200 swim, 200 kick, 200 scull/pull by 25's	100 swim, 100 kick, 100 scull/pull by 25's	Warm up	600/300
6 x (300 swim + 50 kick no board) w/30 SR	6 x (150 + 50 kick) w/30 SR	Swim is done at LT effort (zone 3 or level 4)	2100/1200
800 pull, every 4th 25 is scull w/paddles	400 pull, every 4th 25 is scull w/paddles (or without)	Smooth effort, but use the paddles to get a feel of the sculling motion	800/400
			3500/1900

 

Workout #2

400 easy swim	200 easy swim	Warm up	400/200
400 swim	200 swim	First 150 is long and smooth, pick up last 250. B group, first 50 is long, pickup last 150	400/200
2 x 50 back + 2 x 200 free w/20 SR between all	2 x 25 back + 2 x 100 free w/20 Sr	Focus on good technique with the back, and then when doing free first ½ is long and smooth, then pick up the pace to hard effort for the last ½	500/250
2 x 50 back + 4 x 100 IM	2 x 25 back + 2 x 100 free	All w/20 SR – focus on long strokes for all, keep HR below L3	500/250
150 easy	100 easy	Loosen up	150/100
6 x 125 Pull w/paddles w/20 sec rest	6 x 75 pull w/paddles w/20 sr	Good steady effort	750/450
8 x 25 fast! w/40 SR	4 x 25 FAST w/40 SR	FAST Free!	200/100
200 easy cool down	100 easy cool down	Throw some drills in here	200/100
			3100/1650

Rob’s Question

What is multi-planar core training? It seems that even as Triathletes or just Runners we have a tendency to only move in one plane (or direction) and that is straight ahead. We do very little of the kind of training that works the whole body, or even better we seem to have not been able to keep our stabilizing muscles strong – the ones where when you plant your foot down while running that our body can be stabilized and not twist/rock/roll and totally screw up our body.

We really need to focus not only on the abdominals and back, but also the hip flexors, and primarily the Gluteus Medius. Here is a link that you can read a bit more as long as you don't mind the blatant advertising. http://www.sportsinjurybulletin.com/archive/core-strength-training.html

Multi-plane core exercise can be anything from throwing a medicine ball around with a friend, to going down into lunge position and reaching sideways with arms, to standing on one leg and holding small weights and working on the arm motion of running.

 

Core and Diet

This week I've been able to attend two lectures (for lack of a better word) on both core and nutrition at the FARC and Tri-Fred open meetings. Both had awesome speakers – E.J. O'Malley (core) and Donna Hetrick (nutrition).

I can honestly say that of the two….they both are so important to the sport of running, swimming, and riding. To be stronger and faster you need fuel, and to help you stay injury free you need a strong core (not to mention it will help you get faster).

So what did I take away from both talks?

Nutrition – really need to focus on my protein intake a bit better. I was good for awhile, but I started to slip in the past couple of weeks.

Core – really need to work on my stability. Which means focusing on developing a stronger gluteus medias, and doing some single leg squats with multi-planar movement. This way when I get back running I will be more prepared to handle the load to not only my feet, but also my knees which have grown 'creaky' the last 8 months.

Tomorrow go to the Doc to see if I am 'healed'! AMEN.

Swim workouts – 2/25

Going to try something novel for the next few weeks! Bear with me on this guys.

This week we are again going to focus on backstroke technique, and if you do have any questions please contact me asap (before you go swimming).

Workout #1

A	B	Description	A	B
8 x 75	4 x 75	25 swim, 25 drill (4-stage free), 25 swim w/15 SR	600	300
6 x 100	4 x 100	Drill backstroke for 75 then swim 25 (see drills below) w/20 SR	600	400
8 x 50	4 x 50	25 free to 25 back at good effort (at LT) w/10 SR	400	200
6 x 200	3 x 200	At slightly below LT (use HRM) w/20 SR	1200	600
8 x 50	4 x 50	At Hard effort w/30 SR, get HR up there in above LT zone (level 5)	400	200
Easy 200	Easy 100	Cool down	3400	1800

 

Drills:

1. " I-L-I" - Hand lead kick, with head up (looking at sky/roof). One hand at side, other in the lead (I position), then bring arm up that was at the side and point to the roof (L position), then bring it back down to the 'I' position. – change sides every other 75 (one 75 work on right side, other 75 on left side)
   
2. Freeze Frame: 'I' position (hand lead kick). Point to the roof ('L' position) hold for 1-2 seconds, then bring the arm back and at same time stroke with the hand/arm that was in the lead position. You've switched sides - now repeat the I, L, pause, and Switch/stroke
   
3. LA Combo – 4 strokes backstroke/3 strokes freestyle – this is sort of a modified corkscrew. Key is to try and swim in a straight line, keep the tempo the same between strokes.
   

In backstroke – the actual stroke underwater is one where you imagine you are scraping the sides of the pool with your fingernails. Pinky finger enters the water first, then you reach down about 8" below the surface and pretend that you are taking those fingernails and scraping the sides of the pool (or that you grab a handle and pull yourself through the water). Elbow is facing the bottom of the pool, and your arm should be bent at a 90 degree angle at this point.

Remember to exit the water with your thumb first.

Workout #2

A	B	Description	A	B
300	200	50 swim, 50 drill – repeat, choice drill	300	200
400	250	Swim at below LT – 15 SR	400	250
375	225	Swim at below LT – 15 SR	375	225
350	200	Swim at below LT – 15 SR	350	200
325	175	Swim at below LT – 15 SR	325	175
300	150	Start to crank it up a notch – at LT w/30 SR	300	150
275	125	Same as above	275	125
250	100	At LT – 30 SR	250	100
225	75	At LT – 30 SR	225	75
200	50	At LT – 30 SR	200	50
175	25	At level 5 – 45 SR	175	25
150	100	A – at level 5 45 SR, B is cool down	150	100
125		At Level 5 – 45SR	125
100		At level 5 – 45 SR	100
75		Drill – easy 10 SR	75
50		SPRINT – 1 MR	50
25		Sprint – 1 MR	25
200		Cool down w/drills	200
			3900	1675

PSAC Champs – Day 2 & 3

Max wins 1000 free only 3 days post-Flu. Unfortunately the effort wiped him out for the 500 free where he ended up making it back into the consolation heat (much to his disgust). This is all a learning aspect for him. He has to realize that when you are sick like that it will take time to recover until you are 100%, and you can't blame your mental attitude for everything. Fortunately tonight he felt much better swimming, winning the consolation heat, and would have placed 5^th overall if he had swim that time in the morning. Even so….he still has the 400 IM tomorrow, which is probably his favorite event.

In the meantime I am day 8 in wearing the boot. Foot is getting a lot better, all the swelling seems to be gone. Today did a 25 min run in the hotel pool in the 'deep' end. Better than nothing!

Rest of meet o.k. - Swims one of his worst 500 times of the year. Body is still wiped out from previous nights race and still in flu-recovery mode. Ended up in Consols, finished first there, but still wasn't the outcome he had originally hoped for before he got sick.

400 IM - wins this event by the hair on his chinny-chin-chin, but he can check this off his list also. Then he was given the news that he would be swimming the 4 x 200 relay (free). As lead off leg he finally looked and felt like he wanted to all weekend - swam one of his best times in 1:42.7, and gave his team a much needed lead to end up winning with an NCAA -A cut.

All in all it was a learning lesson for him this week.
a. That the flu takes a lot out of you, and you do need to adjust some of your goals.
b. Needs to change his pre-meet meals because between nerves and the milk - the milk doesn't like the nerves.
c. It ain't over until the fat lady sings.

Another day with no wheels

In other words – no running or riding. We leave today for PSAC (penn state athletic conference) swim meet championships. Max is swimming the 1000, 400 IM and 500 Free. Should be interesting as he had the flu on Fri-Sunday, and returned to practice Monday afternoon (for brief 1500). Haven't heard from the boy since Tuesday morning (said he felt fine in practice), but let's just hope he hasn't tapered down as he has nationals in 3 weeks.

Anyway – swim yesterday and tried a novel approach (novel for me anyway). I actually used my HRM during the swim, and did what my coach said to do in terms of going into specific training zones. Something I probably should have done long ago, but for some reason I sort of poo-poo'd it for swimming. I use it when running, and occasionally wear it for riding, but only occasionally because for some reason it is real work to get to my zones on the bike. Which means I should wear it more. When I get back on the bike.

Swim workout was this:

200 w/u, 10 x 200 at just below LT (about 143-147 bpm), then 10 x 50 at LT (did these backstroke), then 10 x 50 (5 at below LT, and 5 above LT). cool down 100 easy. Had to get to appointment. Otherwise a good swim.

Time to pack and hit the road!

Swim Notes from 2/19/08

Did a nice workout with Ken at the YMCA yesterday where we did:

10 x 50 free swim on 1:00 easy

10 x 50 drill back w/10 SR – Did the I-L-I drill first to focus on getting ready for Freeze Frame. Ken learned that by doing this first it helps to teach the other swimmers to keep that hand leading during the 'L' position, so that when we do Freeze Frame we can really work on the timing of the stroke. Also did some fist closed to get a better feel for the water by setting up the stroking arm better. I must remember to bring fins to Masters swim on Monday for those who could use some short fins for these drills.

Then we did 4 x 500: 100 swim, 100 kick, 100 fast swim, 100 drill, 100 swim fast – focused on good body position. He noticed that when I breath to the right I crunch my body up a bit – so fixed this by keeping the head steady and looking directly to the side or slightly in front of me while breathing on that side.

20 x 25 – odds fast free (counted strokes – averaged 18-19), and then slow count your strokes for the easy – averaged 12-13 strokes.

Then a 600 of 75 pull/25 scull – all with paddles. It was here that Ken came up with the sculling pattern to get ready for fly – a sort of front scull, but you don't work the insweep. You just press down with the chest, and then rotate the hands/paddles with the thumb going down to face the bottom of the pool. This really helped to set up the stroke, improve body position so that the core gets more involved (and less arms) and also helped ME to keep my elbows up – or in a fixed position.

In fact this was the key phrase for me today with freestyle – keep elbows in fixed position during stroke.

So you want to be a Triathlete

Starting in March I am helping to create a competitive Triathlon team for athletes aged 14-22 years.

I hope to be able to set up at least 2-3 practices each week where me and other experienced triathletes can help to teach these young athletes all about the sport, and also how to succeed at it. I know that the Fredericksburg area has a ton of GREAT athletes. Now we just have to coax them to come out and play!

First meeting will be on March 18, location/time to be determined later. All athletes will need to have a bike to train on, bike shoes, helmet, and the ability to swim at least freestyle adequately. This is not going to be a lesson for beginners, but a full out triathlon training program.

More later!

Stressed out!

OK...screwed around with the high school kids and end up with a stress fracture in the 2nd metatarsal of my right foot. Haven't run now for 40 days, and am about to go stir crazy.

The good news is that I have been put into a boot to keep me from doing anything else crazy, and no riding now for 2 weeks. They also gave me a bone stimulator to help with the healing.

5 days later and it is starting to feel way better, and the swelling is going down. Hopefully in another 9 days I will be out riding my bike, and the week after that I get to start running.

I will have only 3 months to prepare for Worlds. Well....at least I won't be burned out by then from training!

Port de Bales

It starts to climb about 2-3 miles from the house. Ian has warned us that it is the toughest climb in the Tour de France, and to expect it to be chilly at the top.

I'm thinking 'not a problem' this should be tough, but it can't be much harder than the climbs we make up into Skyline Drive.

Talk about being naive! First sign post we see tells us that we have 19km to go to the peak. And as time goes on we see more and more signs that tell us the grade of climb and how much further we needed to go.

Let me say that it was a great day! Perfect weather, nice and warm in lower 80's, and no humidity. So climbing here is a bit easier than in Virginia. But not that much when it comes to over 12k with most of it being at 6-10 percent grade.

For those of you who live in Fredericksburg, just think Bubba on Lee Drive.....only 10 miles long!

I feel good going up this monster as we occasionally get a 100 meter respite occasionally on the way up (or I stop and take a picture). But the closer we get to the top, the more I start to think......

WHAT GOES UP, MUST COME DOWN!

I'm still pedaling away with only 2,000 meters to go to the top when I spot Jack on the side of the road. His face is covered in sweat, and he looks almost gray. He doesn't feel well at all, and is trying to rationalize continuing with the climb.

At this point I want to finish what I started because the climbing was tough, but I knew it was do-able. It was just the fact that I would have to go back down this twisty/turning road all the way down.

I start to attempt to get back on my bike (try doing this on a 10% grade), and almost fall off. I stop and pause. Again I am really getting scared about the ride back down. So I made the executive decision. I was going to turn around and go back.

And Jack rightly joins me. We meet Aimee (who was behind us at this point) and told her of our decision so that she could tell Ian and Louisa so they wouldn't freeze waiting around for us.

By now the temps are colder because a cloud has covered the mountain overhead. Plus you get the wind in your face going down. I don my arm warmers, and then it's a crawl to the bottom.

You see....I think I actually went down as slow as I went up. At one stop where Karen was with Jack I had him massage my hands. They were almost welded onto the brakes.

I was going so slow that I could almost have flipped over my bike bars at points of the ride down. I could read all the writing on the road for the Tour racers, and contemplate walking down. Heck, I could probably slide down faster on my bike cleats than I was riding.

But no matter....I obviously made my way down safely, and of course then beat myself up for becoming such a chicken.

Up on a hilltop a lonely goat herd......

Yodelady-yodelady-yodelady-whoooo!

1800 meters of climbing the Port de Bales, the toughest climb on the Tour de France course, and Ian takes us on it on our third day in France. Did anyone ever tell him how evil he is?

Where am I?

Luscan, France at the Pyrenees Multi-Sport Camp owned by Julie and Ian Wright (aka 'The Wrighties'). I am coaching a small women's tri camp, and I have some excellent athletes that I've gotten to know and really enjoy.

First there is Louisa - 22 - from the UK. Occupation - Student (far left/blonde)
Next is Aimee - 19 - also from UK, and daughter of Ian/Julie. Occupation Student (far right)
Then there is Maya - 21 - from Lebanon. Occupation - Student (second)
And Karen from the Burg, or should I say transplanted to Mississippi (third).

Picture is from a hike up into the mountains to view this lake, but as you can see it got quite misty!

And of course there is Julie, and I must find a picture of her!

Saturday we arrive, and then drive to our home port of Luscan from Toulouse. From here we get taken out right away on a ride through the countryside for 28 miles with Aimee as our guide. Karen's plane got in late, and she needed a nap. So I went out with her later in the day, and of course I couldn't re-produce the route we went earlier in the day. But oh well.....we just followed some random arrows out, and returned the same way back.

Day 2 - get up early to run, and since I'm slightly injured I was relegated to the mountain bike. The mountain bike with the seat set too low, and the front brakes made this high pitched whine that wouldn't stop no matter what. So I followed the ladies for 3 miles with this noise and my knees up to my ears.

Then it is off for a nice ride up our first 'Cols' in the Pyrenees with Aimee as our Guide. Julie stayed behind to help Maya get used to a road bike. This was a really great ride, not that hard to get up (790 meters), and a lot of fun to go down. At the top of the mountain we had a little lunch, then it was off on our bikes back to the house.

Off to the local lake where we swam in open water for about 30 minutes or so. Nothing like a nice cool mountain fed lake that isn't loaded with muck and duck poop.

November Recovery

So November is almost at it's end! I've had a great recovery post IM, and have been doing just whatever my little brain feels like doing. Nothing really structured, but just making sure that I do a little something almost every day. If I miss a day...big deal!

Have been doing core work with friends, and trying to keep my running going. Am trying out mountain biking for the next couple of weeks....just to see if I want to get a mountain bike itself.

Did N'Telos 8k in Richmond last week - 32:54. Race itself was o.k, but my recovery isn't quite over yet. Legs felt great, but the heart/lungs were not too happy with me. Turkey Trot is Thursday - so a short 5k that will be painful is in order for the day. Besides that it will be a food fest!

On to the real vacation!

Kauai is not just for the birds!

After a short couple of hops on a small plane we made it to our second destination - Kauai. Talk about a really cool island! Lots of mountain peaks just outside the door, ocean only a bit away, and if I was a surfer I probably would be in heaven. But seeing as I'm just a big chicken...

First day we took a bit of a hike up some trail that was unbelievably challenging considering most of the trails we run on are pretty tame. Of course the destroyed big toes of my feet weren't happy with me, and my body was still trashed from Saturday's race, it was a great way to get the excess lactic acid and the adrenaline flowing. (see pictures)

I paid the photographer for this one ;>)

Race Day
Got up early.
Ate breakfast (oatmeal, coffee and juice)
Got the race site at 5am
Took all of 5 minutes to get body marked.
Sat around for 90 min waiting for the start.

I wish all races were that uneventful leading up the the event. We got in the water with about 12 minutes until race time. Tread water for a bit, talk to a few of the other swimmers, and then the cannon goes off!

I thought I had seeded myself appropriately, but it turns out I probably could have moved up further in the pack, as I got stuck behind a lot of slower people for quite a bit. But I stayed patient, worked my way around them when I could, and just stay relaxed and smooth. I have to say that this was one of the best IM swims I've ever had in terms of having space to swim (probably 40% of the race), and was able to set my rhythm to suit my desire. In hindsight I could have gone faster with not much more effort, but hey I had fun on the swim. No Ruth...I did not use your joke, although I thought about it while swimming (Hey...does this ocean make my butt look big?).

Swim time 1:06 (from what I've read it was the same as Natascha Badmann's), T-1 was quick and uneventful with the exception that I never knew that pier was so LOOONNNNGGG. Seems to take forever to run around, get your bike, and then run out.

The Bike - Best time for the Kona course for me. Roughly 20 min faster than three years ago, and mentally 20 times easier.

I get on the bike, and right away I start to get passed by what literally seemed like 100's of riders (Jack informed me that it was 500). So this made me even happier....really! It meant that I had a REALLY GOOD swim.

First 65 miles were in a mild headwind. All the way to the turnaround point. We start climbing to Hawi, and the wind really starts to come at us. Which made it for some fun times. One guy passed me, and I turned to him and said, "My friend told me that this was a FLAT course"....he laughs and tells me my friend must have been lying.

We get to the turnaround point where I pick up my Frozen bottle of Endurox (which was no slush, but tasted really great) and my Red Bull. I joke to the volunteers that I was hoping that it would give me 'Wings'. Which it sort of did because then we get to leave Hawi with a great tailwind. We literaly flew down the hill. And then when the hill ended, yep......the wind changed.

We now had a headwind again. Nothing really bad mind you, but enough to slow you down by about 1 mph (or for a rider like me). So it was back to grinding away.

I now had the opportunity to share my jokes (thanks Trevor) with some of my rider friends, as at this point of the race I was continually trading places with Meredith (from New Jersy) and Caitlin (from Kaiula-Kona) for the last 35 miles.

Then at the 100 mile mark we start to get our tailwind back. Yee-haw! Right away I was up 2 mph+ faster. I felt great that last 12 miles of the ride, but I was ready to get off the bike as my feet had been killing me off and on during the ride, and I felt like my bike shorts were carrying heating pads in the sensitive locations.

T-2 was fairly quick. This time I felt like I was ready to run. I was actually smiling in the changing tents as I was putting my shoes on, and getting catered to by the volunteers. Cold wet towel? Sure! Sunscreen? You bet...oh wait...you missed a spot! Thanks! Off I go for my run.

The run: Right away I felt the humidity and heat in the town. First we climb up Palani for a block (which stunk), then down a side road for about 1/2 mile, then left down another road and we're back on Alii Drive heading out of town. Alii Drive runs right along the ocean which of course means that it will be a bit warmer and humid. It's sort of like running in Virginia at 3:00 in the afternoon in the middle of July. Yes....so much fun!

We have several hills to climb over, and down, and then we get to do it all again on the way back in before heading out on the Queen K highway (which has no trees). I really dislike running along Alii Drive. Sure there are lot's of people to cheer you on, but the conditions don't make it enjoyable. At this point I am walking 20-30 steps, and running for a few minutes. When my heart feels like it's about to climb out of my throat I walk. Once it goes back into it's proper location I pick up and run again. I can't wait to get on the Queen K.

Of course first we get to climb for another block on Palani - which for those of you who live in the Burg is like running up Fall Hill Avenue to Silverland. Yes...one of those hills that you're better off walking up than running up. So I do the smart thing, I walk. Otherwise I think my heart would have left my body.

Once on the Queen K it is walk through the aid stations grabbing either Coke or Gatorade, pouring water all over my body, putting ice down my pants or race top (good to put in shorts, but it does get a bit cold), and then at mile 16 they start bringing out the Magic Elixir, Chicken Broth. I know that just by taking this alone will help clear up any heartrate issues and cramping issues. Up to this point I haven't had any problems with the cramps, but I needed the extra protein and sodium for the remainder of the race.

I get to the Energy Lab - did some more walk breaks here as my heart was again going a bit faster than I needed it to. I still had 9 miles to go, and I wanted to be able to run the last 6 miles versus walking my way home.

Once I get out of the Energy Lab my energy is much better. It's still light out, and I can see that if I really work it I can get a course PR. But I would have to run. So since all systems were a go I started to develop a good pace. First aid station I came to (mile 20) I ran through, but grabbed some drink stuff/ice. Mile 21 walked through and got some broth. I only had 5 miles to go, and I knew that I could make it, but my right calf was starting to threaten to knot up on me so I walked for 5-10 seconds to relax my feet (usually works with this type of cramp), then picked it right back up.

Next stop coke/ice, and only 4 miles to go. At the aid station after that I picked up my last chicken broth. I only had 3 miles to go, and I had already stopped twice to visit the port-john. I knew that I didn't need much else for the remainder of the run. It was only 3.2 miles away, and I knew that just running through the aids stations was an good option. It was sort of amazing to me that during the entire run my quadriceps felt good the entire race. The only issues I really had was keeping my HR at marathon pace effort.

With two miles to go we approached Palani....which of course means that now I get to go straight downhill for 2 blocks. Right as I turn I feel my right toenail feel like it's just been separated from the toe (no, it's still their, but bruised/swollen), but I knew that I only had a little more to go.

I could hear the finisher announcer's voice in the distance, and could see some of the lights. I see Jack right after I turn my first left with less than a mile to go. I ask him how much further before I get to turn right (then have another right to get onto Alii Drive where the finish line is) and he says it's the next turn. Well....he was wrong! It was more like 4 more blocks. Man those were hard blocks to run. It was at this point that another woman passed me, but this was o.k. because all during the last 8 miles we had been encouraging each other whenever one of us stopped. I made sure that she had some distance between me and her at the finish line so that we would both have great finish pictures.

I remembered to 'blow a kiss' to all those who would never get a chance to do this race (thanks John Faith for this idea), and for all of you who made this a really special race for me. Because if it wasn't for all the love and support from everyone it would never have been as much fun or as motivating for me.

Once I crossed the line me and the other girl hugged and went our separate ways!

Then it was time go back to the condo and have that Beer that Dave Denied Me in 2003!

Mahalo!

Twas the night before race day.....

And all through the condo, not a beer was drunken (because I'm saving it for tomorrow).

Hard to believe that the time has come. Today was uneventful, as I just went out and checked my bike and gear in, and then came back to the abode to eat, drink fluids, watch some t.v., and then it's off to bed after I finish this up.

Not nervous yet. Not sure if I want to be...but I'm sure that once I get in the water I'll start to get excited. Of course Ruth called me today and told me if I needed to laugh while swimming to just ask myself "Hmmm....does the ocean make my butt look big?"

Which of course brought a laugh to me, and this is probably what I'll think about once I get out there. Hopefully the surf will go down a bit, but the good news is that I've been swimming out there all week and it really isn't that bad (of course it might be totally different tomorrow).

What I will think of tomorrow is the following:'

The swim - I know that Betsy will be right in front of me so I can draft off of her (mentally). Of course it will probably be some dude from Germany, but I can pretend.

The bike - I know that I'll have Shelley on my rear wheel drafting off of me like the Tick she is....and I'll imagine her laughing at me when I try and shake her off my wheel. Seeing as I've only done that once in the past 3 years. And then there will be Sherry thinking too much behind us.

The run - Ruth. Running stride for stride with me like she did all summer.

Thanks Guys....as I wouldn't have been able to do it all without you!

Oh...and special thanks to Graham for building a great training program to follow. I promise I only swore at you once. I think it was when I was doing the 4 x 3 mile repeats.

Until tomorrow!

My Brother

Well....he does sort of look like me doesn't he?

This is Peter Reid - two time champion of this race. He's recently retired, and he looked like he was really enjoying himself when I interrupted him for a picture.

But like a true gentleman he took it in stride, and got someone to take a picture of me with him.

Time slides by when you're doing nothing!

Last two days have been fairly uneventful.

On Wednesday I first went for a swim with Tony Lyons at the Beach where we will start and swim. It's kind of fun to go out with a few hundred other folks, and then it gets interesting as you try to avoid running into someone as they are either coming in or going out.

Tony swam to the right of me most of the way out. I could always see him, and occasionally he would stop and look around like this Seal. I would then bark out 'Marco'...then after awhile he figured it out and would see me and shout 'Polo'. Then as you get out of the water you get to get your gear you checked in and a water bottle AND a bottle of Gatorade. Talk about service!

After our swim we went to Java Lava where it is rumored to host many a Pro Athlete's...and in civilian terms I guess you could call them 'Stars'. In fact I found one so good looking I had my picture taken with him.

After all this I got myself registered. For those of you who normally run races this just means that I checked in, got weighed, and given a huge spiel on what each and every bag is designated for come race day by my helpful volunteer Don (see above).

This race probably has twice the number of volunteers that Marine Corps Marathon does, and our government doesn't pay them to show up either :>)

Last workout for the day was an easy 60 min ride and 10 min run off the bike. It would have been easy but Jack and I decided to take a different route (trying to avoid the traffic in town) and ended up climing for about 3-4 miles. But it was fun going downhill for several miles.

Thursday: Go to the beach again for a short swim with Tony. Jack opts for the pool. After that I head over to find the Masters Women Breakfast. I had hoped to meet a few more athletes that are in my age category, but since I arrived late (due to my inept reading of e-mails and directions) I didn't get a chance to really schmooze with any of them. Did get to finish hearing Joanna Zieger giving a talk and taking questions though.

Then the afternoon was spent spending money at the expo (don't worry Niki, I didn't get you anything, but I did get Cam something), then going to the ART (active release technique) tent to get adjusted, then it was off to the condo to eat lunch and then hang out at the beach next to the hotel.

Where one of the local 'white' boys started to give this German guy grief about wearing a speedo. Of course this kid was drunk, plus it kind of was funny to listen to him call the guy a Wahine (white guy) when he himself was white. Or whatever slang term the folks here use for non-Hawaiians.

Off to the banquet where I drag my husband to eat some really crappy food, but the atmosphere is sort of cool. Oh...it was worthwhile going to the breakfast because someone gave me that extra ticket!

Dumped Jack, and got a new guy. Does this make me a BadAss? Or just a DumbAss?

Spandex.....it's a priviledge, not a right!

Just to go back a bit......here we are on the little island jumper plane leaving Honolulu. My husband is sitting near these three young girls (who I thought were hookers, but were surfers) when one of them starts talking about how her Dad always says that spandex is a priviledge, not a right....this is so true even in the world of triathlon.

Some men should not wear spandex. Especially light colored spandex. I will say no more.

And what is it about women triathletes with boob jobs? You'd figure with all the unbelievably fit bodies out there you would figure that most are all comfortable with what God gave them. Obviously not. I even ran into a woman at the pool locker room today, who must be in her late 50's, who had them done.

Even so....Kona is covered with people who look like they've been genetically altered in some form. From normal people to these 'uber' people - If all Americans looked like this town I know for a fact that we would never have problems with those pesky oil countries. They'd be too scared of us. We'd all look like 'Arnold', only with really expensive bikes.

As you can tell I'm starting to go stir-crazy sitting around with not much to do. Yes, a envious position, and trust me I'm not whining. Just stating some facts.

I did swim today, nothing much, but I felt like I hadn't swam in over a month. Heart rate was up, I felt nauseous, and generally like a slug. Which is a good thing, because it means that I'm tapering. Or I am a slug.

Celebrity sightings for the day: Karen and Donna Smyers at the pool. Karen is a Pro, her sister is my competition (well...she wouldn't call me her competition). Even so...Karen did smile at me and say hi ;>)

More ramblings later!