The Big Picture and Redlining

By this time of the year, I usually have 3 or so triathlons under my belt already. It was an odd feeling coming into this weekend having volunteered at more events than I raced. Watching my friends race (and podium!) weekend after weekend made me want to pull my hair out because I wanted to be there at the local races, representing my teams and bringing home the hardware. But it was an itch to not be scratched. It was like poison ivy rash!

Besides wanting to race alongside friends and show how dangerous having a coach and consistent purposeful training has made me, I wanted to podium so Team Zoot, Bike Barn, and Pacific Health Labs won't regret having me represent them. I also needed to 'pad my resume' in case I have to (re)apply to triathlon teams for 2015. In what has been a very quiet year for me, local triathlons would give me the best shots at podiums, hence why I was itching like crazy to race. But I held back because I had other plans in mind. Bigger plans.

With a schedule full of 70.3s, Ironman, and Nationals, top finishes are not expected. It's more of a PR race for me. Until I'm good enough, that is. But that's what this entire year is about. Bigger races. Bigger dreams. Bigger risks.

Shadow Creek Ranch Triathlon was a tune-up race for Age Group Nationals in 27 days. I had recently retested with coach (which I finally passed!), and I needed to get used to my new zones, especially the higher zones since my next few races are short and fast. So the past two weeks, my training plan included a few sessions of Zone 3 and Zone 4 on the bike and swim and Zone 2 on the run. These were a HUGE difference from my base training Zone 1 that was prepping me for Ironman Texas next year. Nevertheless, I took on the challenge and enjoyed the break from the monotonous Zone 1 :)

The enjoyment ended soon as I forgot how much it hurt to go fast. You have to become comfortable with being uncomfortable. Feel the burn, and find the fuel within yourself to keep the fire ablaze. The race plan set by coach was to 'redline' it the entire way. What does he mean by that? 

"Race like you stole something."

"But I've never stolen anything."

"Pretend the cops are after you."

"But.."

"Just push hard every leg. Be prepared to hurt the entire race. Zone 4 all way, you'll be redlining it. Save nothing."

Hurt, I understood. Redlining, I feared. Save nothing, I what!? But challenge accepted.

I should've known better than to ask Tim to mark me with race numbers :P

Swim (500m)

I had an excellent pre-race swim Friday and was ready to drop a few minutes off my previous swim time. Warm-up went well, and I was roaring to go. Once the race started, I immediately began to motor my way through the water, and it. felt. freaking. great. Smooth and effortless. Okay, not that effortless just yet, but it was significantly easier! Once I got clear of packs and the racers were strung out, I got into a good rhythm and was starting to reel competitors in. Three quarters through the swim, I noticed my heart rate was pretty high, and despite supposedly racing by redlining, I didn't want to redline in the swim and not make it to T1, so I took it down a notch. After getting out of the water, I glanced at my watch and saw that I had slowed down too much. Argh!

Upset and on a mission to make up time. Grrrr!
PC: Nicole Lamb

T1: I zoomed through T1. By zoom, I mean, I freaking blazed through there. I was out by 32.9 seconds! This was by far my proudest moment of the entire race because I practiced my bike transitions Saturday afternoon until I got it right. Tim even sat out in the humid heat to make sure I didn't crash and get hurt.

Moments later, I was down the street while some were still clipping in :)
PC: Brenna Matejka

My cycling shoes were already clipped in, and all I had to do was run my bike out of transition, hop on, and go! Next up is learning how to superman the bike - jump/fly on while running. :) I'd love to get my T1 time well below 30 seconds.

Bike (17 miles)

My favorite leg of every race :) Redlining wasn't so bad on the bike. My breathing was better, so I was able to handle the hard effort. It was difficult to hold 200 watts consistently due to the nature of the course (2 turn arounds, 3 turns) and the wind. Every time I got into a good rhythm, it was time to slow down and change directions again. Boo. But I still managed to pull out an awesome bike split. 

17 miles, 44:52.8, 22.7 mph

No caption needed ;) I'm just going to keep looking even better and faster on the bike!
PC: Philip Shama

Midway through the bike, which is where I usually tell myself to hold back and save something for the run, I told myself to keep pushing. This was a learning race, and I needed to learn to redline and save absolutely nothing. I needed to suffer. For some reason, the only competitor's calf I looked at was on the back stretch of the second lap, and I saw that she was in my age group. I blew by her with an extra boost of watts to try to mess with her mentally.

Keep pushing. Make her fear you. Create a big gap now, and she'll have to work hard to hunt you down on the run. You got this. She can't catch you. Maybe she's not even a runner.

But I'm not a runner eith-

Shut up! You are today.

Oh, the race thoughts that go inside my head.. I managed to average 190W comfortably. I will definitely need to put in more work before Nationals so it'll feel even easier.

T2: I'm pretty proud of this one too since the last time I tried a shoeless ejection, my right little toe got caught between tire spokes and ripped, making the run a bloody mess. My timing chip didn't register my T2 time (too fast!!?) but I'm sure it was a PR! Not only that, the other first was that there were absolutely no bikes on my rack or any of the racks in my vicinity. WHAT?! I left T2 with a huge grin on my face.

No toes were harmed with this smooth and quick T2!
PC: Tim Miller

Run (3.2 miles)

I was in high spirits. I had pushed hard on the bike, and my legs were still feeling great coming into the run. Coach said redlining the run was a sub 7:00 pace. Yeah, I gave him that same look you have right now when he said that to me O_o. I had a hard time holding a sub 9 pace during the week due to illness, so I came in with very little confidence to hold a sub 7 pace, but I had to just give it a shot. 

Redlining on the run lasted only 0.2 miles. Goodness gracious. The legs felt good, it was the lungs. That doesn't mean my cardio sucks, it's that I use my lungs poorly at higher efforts (shallow breathing). Coach and I have known this for a while, and I now have a device to help me utilize my entire lung capacity while training and racing at higher intensities, so I can get enough oxygen delivered for the effort at hand and not fatigue as fast. Just like any other muscle, the lung needs to be trained too!

Pace drop says it all. Ouch. Need lung training!

Redlining hurts. This is precisely why I prefer 70.3s and Ironmans!

I had to slow down so I could get my bearings back, and once I found the most uncomfortable pace that I could sustain safely, I locked into that cadence and just hoped that the finish line would appear soon. Any competitor ahead of me probably felt like they were at a bull fight, because it definitely sounded like a snorting toro was behind them. Goodness gracious, I cannot wait to get my deeper breathing down so I can attack silently!

So spent. Was counting down the 0.01 miles to the finish.
PC: Tim Miller

I couldn't even say hi to Tim after crossing the finish line because I was ready to drop down and crank out 15. By 15, I don't mean push ups, I mean laying down in the grass sprawled out for 15 minutes. Instead of trying to help me stay upright, Tim kept his hands on his camera phone because he wanted to be ready to take a picture in case I threw up. What an awesome sherpa, huh? I can't get mad at that because it proved that I did push myself and redlined as much as I could.

3.2 miles, 25:55, 7:51min/mile, AVG HR: 198bpm!

Finish
After two consecutive years of coming in second at this race, I got first in my age group! I also managed to cut another few minutes off my time, but the most shocking result of the day was winning my age group by 6 minutes. That's a massive margin for a sprint race. Crazy!

Winner winner got a nice fried chicken dinner! (I really did.)

KT making a reference to Karen's Half Ironman T1 earlier this year.. :)

I definitely have some momentum going in my favor heading into Nationals in a few weeks, and I hope to maintain it with a solid training block. I will be utilizing my PowerLung everyday so I can train my lungs to support my sprinting efforts in Milwaukee! :)

The Sleep Chronicles

Sleep, rest, and recovery. My three nemesis became my three main foci and my new triathlon. Best case scenario (for which I had all my fingers and toes crossed) was that I could resolve all those issues within a few weeks. Shame on me for thinking years of sleep trouble could be fixed that soon. The past two months have been a serious roller coaster, emotionally and physically, and I've had to refocus on the smaller things that I can control and to exhibit more discipline than I ever have.

My Sleep Chronicles
Week 1: Good sleep just wasn't happening, and I was starting to get really frustrated. During a Thursday morning run, I was so fed up that I was prepared to stop in the middle of the street, take off my shoes, and throw them as part of a temper tantrum (something I rarely ever do, which means I'm really upset). Then I figured that might be a bad idea because I might get hit by a car, and I wouldn't be able to throw tantrums again train.

Week 2: The quality of sleep worsened. I was too worried about not sleeping well and that my entire future depended on getting this issue fixed. The only reason I was able to make it through the training sessions and hit my numbers was because I was getting more hours of sleep than I normally do despite still waking up 4+ times throughout the night.

Felt like a zombie for a while. Even the bags under my eyes had bags.

Week 3: Something clicked. I finally started sleeping better and only woke up a few times at night but went right back to sleep. Workouts were feeling easier, and I wasn't feeling as lethargic as usual. Then I volunteered for Ironman Texas that weekend, and the super early morning rising plus long days messed up my rhythm.

Week 4: See week 2 and 3. Volunteered for another race on a very crucial rest day. Doh!

Catching sleep whenever I can. A perk to carpooling to the TT Championships.
PC: Natalie Pruitt

Week 5: BREAKTHROUGH ..day. I slept through the entire night one day, and it was GLORIOUS! I mean, I was so excited that I emailed coach. :) I felt like superwoman that day and killed the workouts and the to-do list. The rest of the week sucked but getting that taste of sufficient rest gave me hope and strength to remain disciplined.

Week 6-8: Still similar to week 1-3, but it got progressively easier and easier to sleep early and well.

Despite all the frustration and setbacks, I'm kind of glad I'm going through the trenches now because I'm really learning what it means to be an athlete 24/7. And since sharing is caring, and I am naturally caring, I will share. :) Here are some of the top lessons/skills I've had to learn, re-learn, or hone:

1. Have patience and lots of it. I am normally a very patient person when it comes to others, but when it's about me, all bets are off! It's a lot harder to focus on something when you've failed at it for years and have almost completely given up. Sleep (quality and quantity) is not my forte, and it was really challenging to put it first above all else and to continue practicing good sleeping habits despite having little to no improvement. I had to learn to take it one night at a time and to continually encourage myself to keep up the good work. It'll all pay off. It has to.

I've learned to take it one day at a time and to enjoy every moment. Even if I'm dragging my feet on a run.

2. It's imperative to let things go. If I don't sleep well one night, I didn't fret about it the next day or conjure up worse case scenarios in my head (Oh, you'll never be able to sleep well. You won't make it as a professional athlete. It was never meant to be.) Bollucks! As Ron Weasley would say. It's just one night. I'll add in an extra nap during the day or try to go to bed a little earlier that night. There's no reason in shaming myself over something I can't control. Just stay the course and keep at it.

3. Have a good support system. It's a must have in all walks of life. All my close friends and family know about my new bedtime, and they try their best to adhere to it, which helps immensely. I was at a dinner party one evening, and I stayed longer than I should've because I didn't want to seem rude and be the person who just came to eat and left before socializing. But next thing you know, my sister Karen shouted from across the room, ANGIE! GO HOME! IT'S PAST YOUR BEDTIME! Then she proceeded to yell at Tim, inquiring why he hadn't made me leave yet. His response: I can't control her.

4. Be prepared to make sacrifices and be very disciplined. Tim was right, as usual (except when he's around me ;) ), that no one can control me. It's on me to go to bed early. Even if everyone else in my life catered to my schedule so I could get the rest I need, if I don't sleep or can't sleep, it's my fault. I have to be very disciplined in leaving parties and functions early so I can get home before 8 to prepare for bed. That being said, I also miss out on a lot of get togethers, tv shows, movies, or other would-be-fun-impromptu-adventures because I need to sleep. Any rattling to my already fragile sleeping rhythm will throw my sleep off for a while. And you know, I can't be throwing tantrums every week during training! :P

5. I comes before U. I am not promoting selfishness, but it is imperative that we learn to take care of ourselves from time to time. If our own state of health isn't great, how are we to give the best care to someone else? I have struggled with this issue and saying no for many years, and that led me to this massive sleep debt for which I am paying for now. It is really hard for someone like me to reject helping someone or volunteering, but I need to do that in the meantime until I get this sleep thing in order.

Volunteering at Ironman Texas.
Even though I was supposed to be watching the athletes, I had to think about me and eat :)

6. Leave room for surprises. There's no need to get down during a tough time. Training was tough without enough sleep, and the adjustments coach made to my training plan discouraged me because it made me feel less adequate, that I was moving backwards. The dream felt as if it was fleeting. During this time, I forgot one crucial thing. Quality over quantity. Progress over dreams. Dreams don't come true overnight. It takes days, months, sometimes even years to come to fruition. You have to look at the little changes and progress that you're making, because it'll all accrue. Just as a dam holds back droplets of water, your fitness banks keeps getting filled. And once there's enough water, once there's enough fitness, the dam breaks, and you'll have your breakthrough moment. My breakthrough moment was the Texas Time Trial Championships. It never crossed my mind during these past two months that I was capable of those performances. But my body said, surprise! You treated me well the last 8 weeks, so let me return the favor. If you don't give up on yourself, you'll be rewarded :)

There's no shame in cheesing, because I'm really proud of this surprise achievement!
PC: Natalie Pruitt

Week Now: I still struggle some nights with good quality sleep, but it's definitely getting better. I try not to get as frustrated as before and instead focus on the positives and the progress I have made. I know in the long run that all this effort and sacrifice and discipline will pay off tenfolds. So next time someone invites me to a late night party/trip/raves, I can proudly reply, "Sorry, I can't attend. I'm training to become a World Champion." :)

#truth