Building the Spring Running & Triathlon Endurance Machine

After a good week of endurance training I am feeling pretty good about where I am for the end of February! I am building the endurance machine as I did last season. Despite a rougher week last week with a cold/flu bug I was able to rest a few days and quickly get back up and running. Sometimes getting sick can be a little blessing in disguise as it allows for extra rest days that I would never actually take off if it were up to me. Our bodies tend to let us know when a rest is needed. So I listened and bounced back to a great training week including a terrific weekend.

Saturday the weather was perfect to run an easy 13.1 with Steve. Yesterday we killed our 3200m swim and it was a hard set too! Following the workouts we recovered well and I am ready to attack the week! I have a very hard training block leading up to our vacation next Wednesday.

Since I need to get in a quality long run again this weekend I am considering running the Youngstown Millcreek Distance Classic Half Marathon. It has 17+ hills and is known to be a tough course. I think this is a good opportunity to get in a hard, hilly training run prior to vacation. Right now the weather shows 26 and no snow so this could be a good one. Additionally I have a number of other tough workouts scheduled for the week including Masters Swim tomorrow, and doubles & triples for the rest of the week including a good bit of core work again this week as we get ready to head to the beach!

Once on vacation I will have no scheduled workouts although plan to do a good bit of running on and near the beach with Steve. It will be nice to get up and run and then relax in the sun all day! Coming home is always tough and I have a hard week before heading out to see my Rev3 Triathlon family at the 2014 Team Summit in Virginia. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone and plan to get in some group runs there too.

The following 2 weeks it's back to hard, focused training with a lot of running as we ramp up to the Fools 25K on March 30 followed up quickly by the 20 Mile Drop and Cleveland Marathon. That wraps up the spring running season as we head into Multisport and prepare for Rev3 Williamsburg 70.3 and build all summer to Rev3 Cedar Point 140.6!

I am so excited about this season and  my #1 priority is to stay healthy so I can accomplish my goals and to have some fun along the way!

2014 Dirty Love Trail 10K Race Report

I'm happy to report that the first race of 2014 is in the books! Despite a tough day physically and mentally I am happy with how it went. Anyone who runs or has ever tried to run knows it can be hard at times. This race was one of those times for myself and probably every other person who ran that day.

I had questioned whether I would even toe the line for the Dirty Love on Sunday. With lingering IT band issues that had improved within the week or two before I didn't want to overdo it. I made the decision to give it a go and just try to have fun with the race versus trying to get on the podium.

It was somewhere between 15-20 degrees at the start and snowing a bit. We had gotten fresh snow all week and the trails at North Chagrin Reservation were already covered. Needless to say this made for an interesting and slow race.

Staying warm prerace with the hubby!

Steve and I tried to stay warm in the car and the heated shelter for a little while and then we did a mile warm up on the bridle trails about 30 minutes before the start and my Garmin indicated a 12-minute mile. Really I thought. This is going to be a tough one!

At 9:25 a couple hundred brave runners lined up in a field ready to take off...in a foot of snow. To describe it in words doesn't do it justice. You MUST see this start and luckily there's a video here.

After maybe 200-400 meters through the field of deep snow my heart rate was definitely sky high and from there we got on the trail to start the long journey through the snowy woods to the finish. The trails were snowy and slippery and mostly single track with some amazing views. There were some hills too including one BIG hill that will make even the strongest runners walk a few steps!

In the pain cave!

For most of the race there was not much passing. I was not even sure where I was place wise but hadn't seen a woman pass me until the last 1/2 mile of the race. That woman who ended up being 3rd overall finished about a minute ahead of me. She looked strong when she passed me and I certainly didn't feel the energy and desire to try to catch her. I thought the finish would never come but when I saw it and heard Steve yelling for me I was a happy girl! I finished 4th of 100 females and 1st in the 35-39AG with a time of 1:09 and change (11:13 pace! to put it in perspective about 3-4 minutes off my normal trail pace). So I am happy with how it went and I'm not in a bad place with my running in February and coming off an injury. I'm hoping things can only get better from here.

Nice race swag!

I was rewarded with some nice swag for my hard work including a sweet pink mug and some gift certificates to Vertical Runner. And then I rewarded myself with a couple hard-earned beers and pizza at Willoughby Brewing with Steve and some friends. Beer and pizza taste even better after running in the woods for 90 minutes.

Next up it's the Fools 25k trail race in late March - another Western Reserve Racing production. This will be my first 25K so I am excited! Now it's time to start logging some mileage! If only the weather in Cleveland would cooperate!

World Cancer Day - Tri for the Cure!

Today is World Cancer Day. Almost everyone has been affected by cancer in some way. Some of us have lost a loved one or friend. Some have personally fought this terrible disease themselves. Whatever your personal connection to cancer, know that you CAN make a difference in a number of different ways. From making a donation to one of the many reputable organizations out there to fundraising for the cancer charity of your choice to volunteering your time to do things for cancer patients - please find a way to get involved in the fight!

There are a few ways that I plan to help this cause in 2014:

1) I just announced today that I am volunteering as a triathlon coach for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Northern Ohio "Team in Training" chapter. I am super excited to work with these individuals and help them achieve their goal of completing the Greater Cleveland Triathlon. This race is literally in my backyard and I am friends with the race director so I am confident it will be an awesome experience!

2) I am completing my first 140.6 iron-distance triathlon at Rev3 Cedar Point in September and plan to race in honor of my cousin Danielle who lost her life to cancer in May of 2012. Danielle was a true fighter and an inspiration to everyone who came in contact with her. I will complete this race and raise money for cancer for her. As a member of Team Rev3 and a past member of Team Fight I will again raise money for Team Fight, the team that supports The Ulman Cancer Fund for Young Adults.

3) I will support and love anyone I know that is suffering with this disease as well as people I have yet to meet. Being compassionate is important. This can happen to any of us!

This is a battle that is personal. We must all get involved. Please do something this year to help with the fight - whether monetary, volunteering your time or even just increasing awareness of the disease. Every little thing really does make a difference!

Glad to see you go, go, go, go, goodbye...January - Update on the Training

What a month. Blah! I am so happy to see January go! Although it is a time of resolutions and new beginnings for many, for me it was just a bad month. You see I really have a strong dislike of winter to begin with. I have always had Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) to some degree...more like the "winter blues" but this year it has been at an all-time high. Some days it is hard to pull myself out of bed only to go out into the bitter cold (some days as cold as -30 degrees with the windchill) not to mention the feet of snow we have had several times in the Northeast. Really all I want to do is eat and sleep yet I have somehow managed to keep training. Us Clevelanders are tough people. We just keep going.

With the winter training being more difficult than I can recall in many years I have been relegated to running a lot of my mileage this winter on the treadmill. I'm not even a treadmill hater anymore but I am just sick of it and so is my cranky IT band! In fact I've spent the month with hamstring/IT band issues with the left leg. Taping up with KT tape, foam rolling, Normatec, stretching and more stretching. Next week I'm headed in to a sports chiro to see if they can nip this in the butt before the season really starts. 

Frozen after our N. Chagrin yetti trail run!

Next weekend I am scheduled to run the dirty love trail 10K at North Chagrin Reservation. It is a fun race. A group of us did the preview run last weekend and it was extremely cold and snowy and took about twice the amount of time it would in nice weather. So we will see how the week goes and I will decide if I am racing or not. It would sure be nice to get out there but my goals this year are too important to compromise so if I have to sit things out at times this year I am prepared to do so.

And in other news Steve and I booked a short all-inclusive trip to Cozumel, Mexico in early March. I really cannot wait to feel the warmth of the sun on my skin and toes in the sand. I am hoping to be running healthy for the trip so we can enjoy some warm runs! Looking forward to the vacation and daylight savings time and spring coming up too! 

The Importance of Using a Training Plan For Your Running or Triathlon Races

Even if you are an experienced athlete it is important to have a solid training plan as you enter the 2014 running or triathlon season. Training plans can be found or developed in a variety of ways:

• Find an "off-the-shelf" plan that meets your expectations about your goal. This can usually be done by searching online, reading some of the popular running and triathlon magazines or visiting your local library or book shop.
• Use a plan that you have successfully used in the past if your goals are similar for an upcoming race - you can always tweak the time goals and workouts a little if you're looking to PR.
• Ask a friend with more experience than you what kind of plan that he or she uses. Sometimes they might be able to suggest a plan source that will work for you.
• Work with a coach to develop a plan that is more specific to you and your goals. This often goes just beyond training and delves into things like nutrition and emotional support.

Once you have selected or developed your plan it is important to TRY and stick as much to the plan as possible. There will inevitably be days or even weeks where something goes wrong such as sickness, injury or a work project...but it is important to remain committed to your plan and move towards your goal. The following strategies may help you to stay on plan:

• Schedule your workouts if not scheduled for you by a coach - add them to your daily calendar, post them somewhere where you can quickly access your schedule if need be. 
• Log your workouts in some fashion. Some people are oldschool about it and keep written training logs while others use tools like Training Peaks, Garmin Connect, Strava, etc to save workout information. If you work with a coach he or she may have a preference for what application you use to record your training. 
• If you miss a workout don't try to overload yourself on another day. This can lead to fatigue, injury and even burnout from the training workload.
• If you don't have a coach be sure to have a good support system in place that understands your goals and expectations. Family and friends often make terrific support teams. 
• It helps to have friends that can serve as training partners but be careful not to adjust your needed workout pace too much on a key workout to accommodate the training friend's pace.

Find your plan, work your plan and make 2014 a great season! And feel free to share any input on plans that have worked for you or someone you know in the comments. It might help someone else to succeed!

Effective Strength Training for Triathletes and Runners

Many triathletes and runners understand that strength training is an important component of fitness, yet so many do not understand how to execute this type of training. They may think that any type of strength training is good when in fact they may be doing very little to improve in their sport.  For example, a simple leg press exercise may seem sufficient to strengthen certain muscles such as the glutes and hamstrings yet the single leg squat would in fact be more beneficial to the athlete. Why is this? The single leg squat is a functional strength exercise that engages multiple muscles (glutes, hamstrings, calves, hips, abdominals, back) and planes of motion, whereas the leg press machine only allows the athlete to move in one plane and isolates the specific muscles being used (i.e. glutes, hips and hamstrings).

The woman above is doing the plank jacks

Functional strength training is accessible to athletes anywhere. A gym can be helpful but is not needed. Simply put your body is a gym and its own resistance is the only needed tool. Certainly you will want to add some additional tools such as a stability ball, resistance bands, etc.

 Below is an example of a functional strength workout that can be performed at home or at your gym.

Warm up: You should warm up for 2-3 minutes with some dynamic stretching before you begin any of the exercises. You can do some simple butt kicks, toe touches, jumping jacks, leg swings, etc just to get your heart rate elevated and help warm up the muscles to reduce the chance of injury.

Following the warm up you can repeat the series of exercises below anywhere from 3-5 times depending on your schedule and comfort level.

1. 12-15 reps squat and reach with stability ball (hold the stability ball out from your chest as you squat and in by your chest as you stand before the next rep)

2. 12-15 reps of single leg squats on each side (do one cycle on the first side then alternate so you are getting an even workout on both sides of the body)

3. 12-15 plank jacks (begin in a high plank and jump your legs open and then together for each rep)

4. 12-15 russian twists with med ball or dumbbell (seated with your feet up and back leaning towards the floor, move the weight from side to side, count both sides as 1 rep)

5. 12-15 lunge and reach with med ball or dumbbell (starting with your right side, do a lunge to the right holding the weight and bring the weight up overhead to that side, alternate sides after each cycle)

6. 12-15 woodchops with med ball or dumbbell (holding the weight in your hand, swing your arm up in a chopping motion, switch sides after each cycle)

7. 3 x 30 seconds of steam engine (hands behind your head or neck bring your right elbow to your left knee and alternate to other side with left elbow to right knee)

8. 3 x 30 seconds of mountain climbers (begin on hands and knees and jump your legs forward and back one at a time)

9. 12-15 hip circles (lying on your side, bring your right leg up and do a circle motion with your leg, switch sides after one cycle)

10. 12-15 bicycle crunches (lie on your back as you would for a simple crunch and then as you crunch in, bring your right elbow to your left knee and then immediately switch to your left elbow and right knee and back and forth through each rep)

Cooldown with 1-2 minutes of stretching

What I'm up to this "Off season" & Moving Into the Season

Well it's the off season for the next 4-6 weeks or so. From there it's time to build up the endurance for an exciting and tough season starting off in February and March with some trail racing, a half marathon in April, marathon in May and diving into the triathlon season with a 70.3 in June, some other races and the big 140.6 in September! I'm looking forward to moving ahead because I am not really a huge fan of the off season and I am super excited to finish my first 140.6!!

So what am I up to now? Strength work including TRX, yoga, kickboxing and lifting as well as masters swimming with Liquid Lifestyles Liquid N'durance. My typical weeks now consist of a couple short 45-60 minute runs and a long run of 90-120 mins, a couple shorter 45-60 min bike sessions and a weekly long ride of 90-120 mins along with a 90 minute swim session and 2 or 3 45-75 minute strength sessions for a total of around 8-10 hours a week.

I plan to add a second day of coached swim practice after the holidays so I can maximize the gains here since this is really where I need the most help. Additionally I am working on some dietary changes and trying to get my weight and body composition in the right place for a successful 2014 season.

As the early season approaches I will add in more running in prep for the early season races and the marathon. I expect to be running at least 5-7 x weekly during this phase as well as maintaining 3-4 sessions with the bike, 2 swims and 1 or more core sessions. This is lots of hours of training, which means I can drink more tasty IPAs and Stouts of course ;)

So, lots of fun stuff going on now and working on my strength and swim and excited to ramp up as we head into 2014! What are you up to now and what are you goals for next year?