Great week, greater weekend!

I last left you with a sad, short ride due to mechanical (or human) issues. From there, my week blossomed into pure awesomeness.

Thursday I did a spin class with my co-worker in the morning, had a productive and generally good day at work and went to the gym the evening and busted out an awesome swim. It’s no secret on this blog that I love the pool and swimming but I do get tired in the water. Usually around 2200 yards I get fatigued and I notice my form slipping to the wayside however, Thursday at 2500 yards I felt like I could keep going and going and going (just like the energizer bunny). I stopped at 2500 y mostly because the pool was starting to get a little crowed.

Friday I did a track workout with my Mr. Pi (which I also counted as my Fall Five Miler for RunningLaur’s virtual race). Mr. Pi ran laps on the track I did the track circuit inspired by Kristen.

1 mile warm up
400 m
3 x 10 push ups
400 m
3 x 50 crunches
400 m
3 x 10 push ups
400m
3 x 50 crunches
(I skipped the mile tempo run I had planned here)
2 x 800 m 1:30 RI
2 x 400 m :45 RI (My last 400 m was at 7:42 pace and I passed Mr. Pi! That’s right, I PASSED Mr. Pi! Granted it was only a 400 m for me and he wasn’t doing speedwork but I PASSED Mr. Pi.)
1 mile cool down (really it was more like .70 cool down)

Let’s just say my arms and abs were sore on Saturday!

Friday night I was dancing the night away at the lovely Emily’s wedding. Her wedding was amazing and Mr. Pi and I felt so lucky to be included in her special day. They did a really neat thing with their wedding rings which I’ve never seen before, they passed them around the audience so that everyone at their wedding could touch their rings and silently bestow their well wishes. I thought that was so neat. It was an amazing wedding site and I had so much with the PBJ’s plus a couple of bay area visitors! Jen has lots of pictures on her blog from the night but I’ll leave a couple here too:

The girls with the lovely bride!Mt. Hood at sunset. I'm an ocean girl and I thought this was absolutely stunning. Maybe I'm turning into a moutain girl too.The "A" girls, Angela, Alisa and Amy!

Saturday morning I was pretty tired and a little hung over (hehe) but Mr. Pi and I got on our bikes and biked downtown. It’s not a long ride but the fastest way is on Terwilliger (i.e. HILLS). I run on Terwilliger a lot but have only biked it once. Having Mr. Pi with me made it less scary but it was still a little scary. Mr. Pi went to his office. (Yes, office. Mr. Pi has a temporary position researching and teaching back at the college where he finished his Masters.) I went to the gym to swim. I got in 1000 y straight swim, 300 y of alternating fast/slow 50’s and 200 y of kicking before I decided I was done with the pool. Biking home was hard, it’s more uphill than downhill on the way home, but I made it. I found granny gear and just cranked away. The Portland Triathlon bike portion, rides on Terwilliger so if I want to do that race next year I better buck up!

Sunday, Mr. Pi and went out to the Banks-Vernonia trail. Many of the PBJ’ers have run on the trail, Mr. Pi and I have only biked on it. I knew the first few miles were going to be up hill, not a steep grade but a steady up hill. Mr. Pi was going to be running 16 miles and I was planning a half marathon. He started off in the opposite direction, so he could come back to the car to fill up his water bottle since he lost his fuel belt. I started off strong. I was aiming for 11:15 miles for the first half and I was hoping I could kick it up the second half knowing it would be downhill. Well, at mile 4 my avg pace was 12:10, clearly it was more uphill than I was anticipating (this is even slow for me now on long runs). I was getting discouraged but every time I got down on myself I looked around at the beautiful forest with the sun shining through the trees and was rejuvenated by the peaceful scenery (Again, maybe I am becoming more of mountainey forest girl instead of a beach girl). At the 6.5 mile turn around my avg pace was 12:18. I told Mr. Pi that I would probably avg 11:30 on the way up so I knew he might be getting worried about me. As I turned around, I vowed that I wouldn’t stare at my watch but rather just let my legs go and enjoy the downhill. Of course, I can’t not glance down once in awhile, every time I did I kept seeing 9:XX, sometimes for a brief second 8:XX. I was pumped! I skipped through a few of my slower songs and found some booty shake hippty hop and just cranked it. I saw Mr. Pi about mile 9 and he did say he was getting worried but was glad I was doing so well on the downhill. It was about this time I took a break to Gu and realized if I could keep a 10:00 I might get a half marathon PR. Whoa! How quickly this run had changed from the slowest long run in a long time…to…I might be able to half mary PR. I kept on trucking but failed to remember that 1) I don’t normally run a 9:XX pace and my leggies were feeling a bit tired and 2) the last 1.25 miles were flat no longer downhill. Granted even on fatigued legs and flat ground I was still hovering in the 10:30-10:45 range. I missed the half mary PR by 2 minutes but ended feeling fantastic about my negative split. I know I shouldn’t put too much stock in it since it was on an uphill/downhill course but still, it was a great feeling to push at the end of a long run when my race history has shown a steady slowing of pace.

Yesterday, I rested like there was no tomorrow. My calves were pretty tight so I did some stretching but no other exercise, other than a short walk with Zoey. The lovely Grippo came over yesterday to help me get beautified (i.e. cover my roots). Here are some fun pictures from our home hair dying experience. I have to say I heart Grippo and I’m really sad that she is moving next month. Thanks for helping me chica, couldn’t have done it without ya!

Clearly, no big news in this post it’s coming in a couple of days. Definitely before I leave for wedding #2 and #3.

Before!

Why yes, that is laying on the couch and resting hair!Step one in process.Step two.Ta - da the finished product from the back. One really blonde strip but the rest a honey golden color, exactly what I wanted.
And the front.

Back to the burn

Last night I had to miss spin due to a work meeting but I did end up with a good ride after work. I left work promptly after my meeting to ride with a friend. Every time I ride with her we have some sort of mechanical issue, it’s usually related to pumping up the tires. Yesterday was no different. It was kinda like one of those “how many blonde's does it take…” moments. Eventually we figured out how to successfully pump up her tires but after 30-40 minutes of floundering I decided my slightly low tires were just fine. We had planned to go 20 miles but we knew we wouldn’t make it before it got dark so we headed out to ride a fastest ride to get in a few miles before the sun went down. Garmin quit about 4 miles in but we estimate we went about 12ish miles and we guesstimate we were out on the road for about 45 minutes. This equates to a damn fast ride for Alisa! I was tired and breathing heavier than usual but I could have kept going. I can’t wait to see what my leggies can do when I get a road bike. It was a nice ride, not too crowded, though we did run into this group (only in Portland would you encounter a group of NAKED riders, that’s right NAKED—for those not wanting to click the link). All in all, a good workout for the day.

This morning, I got up early and met a friend for spin class. I have been swimming then spinning on Thursday’s but I just did spin this morning. It was an instructor I didn’t know so I had no clue what to expect. She was a little dry, as in, not a lot of visualization mostly instructions (more on, out of the saddle, etc) but her class had me sweating within the first 15 minutes—always a good sign.

Now I’m sitting at my desk, enjoying a lovely cup of pumpkin deliciousness otherwise known as pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks. YUM!

Too bad mine doesn't actually have this cool pumpkin on it!

I’ve been thinking a lot about the next few months and will be announcing some exciting stuff in the next week or so.

Not every week can be great, right?

Last week was an awesome week of workouts. I felt great, I even felt a little speedy! To celebrate my week of awesomeness I took Monday off.

Yesterday, I had planned a 4-6 mile run with a multiple ironman finisher who used to work down the hall from me (now works in a different building). Well, it turned into more of a walk than a run. The first 2 miles felt good but somewhere on the east side of the river I lost it. I was hot (which I rarely complain about) and tired, my legs felt like lead. We ended up with 4.75 mi/1:03...yikes! At least it was good conversation (right UB?). I had wanted to count that run toward RunningLaur's Fall 5 Miler for which I have my own special bib for being the second registrant but I'm now going to go for a fantastic 5'er on Thursday! Hopefully, it'll be a run worth reporting. Isn't my bib AWESOME?!?!
Tonight due to a work meeting I can't make spin with Jen (SAD!!!!) but I did shove my bike in the car this morning and am planning a ride after the meeting.

Anyone who reads the PBJ's blogs knows that SOMEONE is getting married this weekend. I love weddings. Happy wedding eve, eve! See ya Friday Emily!

Awesomeness with a side of booty burn

Like this awesome chica, I too, had a good training week.

I don’t usually workout 7 days in a row but I was feeling good this week and went for 7!

Monday: Swim (you already heard about this workout)

Tuesday: Run- hills (you already hear about this workout too and how it’s the third week in a row of running hills under 11 min pace! Go me!)

Wednesday: Not trifecta success but dufecta success. Spin class with Jen! We had a new guy that we were making fun of on email before we even got to class. We continued to poke fun as his first two songs of spin were boy bands. However, by the end of the hour we were sweatin’ like no tomorrow and concluded his class was HARD! Jen headed out for her run (in the rain---crazy girl.) I waited in line (that’s right, waited in line) for a treadmill to do my run. Stupid gym took out an entire row (AN.ENTIRE.ROW) of treadmills for crappy new elliptical machines. Blah! Run was uneventful and slow but I got it done. The pool had a line 4 people deep so I opted to skip swimming.

Thursday: Being the bad ass I am, I got up and headed to the pool bright and early for some longer sets. I allotted myself a 5 minute “transition” (it’s hard to put on clothes when you’re wet) before heading to the “torture chamber” i.e. Chrisanthe’s spin class. My legs were heavy after boy band palooza class the night before but I managed to finish Chrisanthe’s class strong.

Friday: I really wanted to do a track workout but couldn’t seem to muster the energy after work to do one. Instead I did two “tempo-ish” miles on the track near my place (10:00 mm pace) and 2 miles on hills.

Saturday: Woke up to a rainy morning. Mr. Pi and I still ventured out in the rain for a ride on Sauvie Island. The first 6 miles were pretty rainy and we had doubts we’d finish 30 miles. We headed down a couple of side roads I’d never been on and they were awesome! We even saw J & Z. We both felt great until about mile 25ish. This is where I hit the wall—BIG TIME! However, we still finished strong 30.63 (second longest ride I’ve even done in my life). After this ride, an Olympic triathlon (maybe even 70.3) doesn’t seem so totally out of my reach. Though, Mr. Pi was even wondering how it’s possible to run after a long ride. Clearly, I have a lot to learn about the bike and a lot of room for improvement but 30 miles on a mountain bike without dying is a good start. I definitely had booty burn after this ride!

Sunday: Beautiful, sunshiny, clear morning—a bit chilly but I’ll take sunshine any day! Mr. Pi and I met the girls. The four of us ran together for the first couple miles. I figured JM and Gazelle would take off, since they are now running their long runs just a bit too fast for me. Gazelle took off but JM was having a bit of a rough go—her knee was bothering her and she was feeling sick. Since I’m basically just out running for fun these days I stuck with her. Even with our walk breaks, we ended our stint together a mere :08 seconds per mile slower than my normal long runs (when she runs, she runs fast). I left JM at the parking lot so she could go home and rest and ventured back out on my own for a few more miles. I had planned on 13-14 but decided 12.5 was plenty. Not long after I got back to the parking lot, Mr. Pi returned and shortly behind him Gazelle. We then ventured to breakfast which ended up being a major disaster. We waited about an hour (maybe longer) to get seated. Then, another 30-45 min for food. Granted it was crowded but I thought the wait was a little ridiculous. Next week we decided it would be better to start eating at each other’s houses. I’m all for this plan and Mr. Pi and I are happy to host a post-run breakfast. Be warned though, we are in holy hills land.

Totals:
Running: 22.75 mi
Biking: 30.63 + 2 spin classes**
Swimming: 3950 yards
**Pure awesomeness!

I start my week today with a sore booty (i.e. booty burn) and heavy legs--today is officially a rest day. Here’s to another great week!

Reflecting & Planning

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about Saturday’s tri. Triathlons make me feel so strong and capable. Running races mostly make me tired and feel slow. I’m no expert triathlete by any means but I think I’m happier at the end of tri’s (all two of them) than I ever have been at the end of a running race (even PR races). I’m really excited about next season and training in the off season. (Speaking of, what do you triathletes do in the off season? How do you keep up your training?) I know I have a lot of room to improve (especially on the bike). I think getting a new bike is going to have to wait a few weeks/months, need to build up that savings account a little first.

In the meantime, I’m going to focus on continuing to improve my running (which has been improving). My long runs are faster than they were during either of my three marathon training cycles. I’ve been working on finding a pace that feels comfortable and conversational. I’ve also been inspired by Kristen and her speed increases over the past few months. I’m contemplating signing up for another half marathon this fall, I already have one on the calendar, Nike. I’m using Nike as an excuse to visit CA and enjoy the company of friends, I’m not intending to PR there.

This week has started well, though I feel a little bit of sickness coming on. Monday night I had a great swim. I didn’t really want to go but I called Mr. Pi for a pep talk and ended up having a great workout. Starting with an EMPTY pool---hooray! By the end of my workout it was filling up but not overly crowded. I kept with my goal of adding intervals!

300 swim/200 kick – warm up
Main set:
3 x 200 IM w/:30 RI (increasing speed each 200, though I’m pretty sure my fly got slower each time)
200 kick – (2 x fly, free, breast, free)
3 x 100 interval w/:20 RI (25 fast, 25 recovery, 25 fast, 25 recovery/50 fast, 50 recovery/75 fast, 25 recovery)
100 kick – (free all out)
500 –cool down
Total: 2200 yards/50:23

Tuesday night, I was going to do a Kristen inspired track workout but my running buddy wanted to run hills so we ran Terwilliger. This is always a challenging workout however; I’ve certainly noticed an improvement in my hill running. I used to always run this route at 11:30 – 12:00, the last three weeks I’ve run it it’s been under 11:00 min/mile. Last night 4.25mi/44:55.

It's Wednesday and we all know what that means...Spin with Jen, a brick run and hopefully a swim (i.e. hopefully trifecta success).

Anyone else feel like this week is dragging?

Aluminum Man Sprint Triathlon Race Report

Saturday, I headed out to The Dalles, in the Columbia Gorge for my second triathlon. Jen was doing the Olympic and had told me about the race a few weeks ago. It was great to have her there as well as Mr. Pi and Zach. When I signed up for the race I assumed it was the same distance as my other sprint tri (1/2 mi swim, 12 mi bike, 5k run). Turns out this race was slightly different .5k swim, 20k bike, 5k run. However, when we got there and listened to the course routes it turns out that the bike course was 15 miles and 30 miles for the two races (20k according to google is 12.4 miles). This of course made me pretty nervous, especially when the announcer said “The bike course will be nice and challenging for everyone with rolling hills.” YIKES! I knew I was undertrained for the bike and with the addition of extra miles and hills, I was even more nervous. Here’s how it went.

Short version of the stats:

Overall Time-2:00:11 (The run, swim and both transitions were faster this time around. I anticipated the bike to be slower.)

Division Place 5/Overall Place in Sprint 124/131

Note: Jen, did awesome and placed 2^nd in her AG! Way to go Tri Guru.

Me and Jen before the start.

Posing in my cap, ever since my first ever swim meet I've always thought caps look ridiculous in pictures! The only thing worse are pictures of me in my old water polo helmets!

Swim .5k

I wanted to push harder this time on the swim course and I definitely did on the second half but I think I can still push harder. This was also my first encounter with the “washing machine.” From the start to the first buoy there were lots of elbows and feet in my face. After the first buoy I said screw you people and took off. I started passing people right and left, it was great. For a little while, I was out in the open, all by myself. It kinda freaked me out, I thought maybe I was way off course but I kept sighting and kept going. The swim felt good but again I think I could push harder.

Swim totals: 12:45/Overall place 53/131 (2nd fastest in my AG, first place in AG was only 2 sec faster)

T1

My only goals for the transitions were to beat my times from last time. My time at Blue Lake was 3:14, so I succeeded. I also took more time to dry off my feet because last time they were soaked. Other than that transition was pretty uneventful.

Time: 2:53

Bike 20k (Garmin said: 14.8 miles)

I was really nervous going into the bike as I knew it was going to be challenging. I haven’t trained as much on the bike and I knew the course was going to be challenging. There was a little hill on the way up and over the freeway. This is where I started to get passed. From here on out most of what I heard was “on your left.” I did feel pretty good knowing that lots of guys passed me, which means I passed several of them on the swim. The bike course was, as touted, challenging. There were a couple of larger hills but it felt mostly uphill until the turn over (minus one awesome downhill, which sadly was going to be an uphill on the way back). At the turn around, I stopped for some water since I still don’t know how to drink and ride (need to work on that). On the way back I tried to focus and not worry about the Olympic distance competitors who were now also starting to pass me. I really tried to enjoy the scenery which reminded me a lot of Northern California, minus the absolutely stunning views of Mt. Hood. I also concentrated on not braking the down hills. I’m usually a big fraidy cat on down hills but I just let it rip. Even so, I knew my time was really slow. Definitely need to work on biking and hills next season. Also, still need a new bike, creaky mountain bike is not cutting it.

Bike Totals: 1:06:14/Overall Place 128/131

T2

Again, my only goal was to beat my time from my first Tri. Time at Blue Lake was 2:23, another success. I will say that the transition area was closer to the swim and bike exits. Even so, I’m happy with my transitions.

Time: 1:56

Run 5k

I started off on the run really strong despite the challenging bike course. I was plugging away with a 10:30 pace. Unfortunately, I got a side cramp that forced a walk break about a mile in, from there it was downhill with the pace. I saw Jen heading out on her 10k about half a mile from the finish, it was a much needed boost to get a high five. She looked so strong! I need to continue to work on building my speed outside of brick runs and I think I need to start doing longer brick runs. Nonetheless, my run time was faster than Blue Lake. (Blue Lake was 37:50.)

Run Totals: 36:23/Overall place 124/131

Better than any medal, a kiss from Mr. Pi!

A few pictures of Jen.Coming off the bike into T2.

Jen off on the run.

Looking strong at the finish!

Yay, another Tri under our belts!

Dunlap's pose with our sampler tray. Mmmmmm.

10 random thoughts post-race:

1) I still love the sport of triathloning!

2) I need a different tri top. While I love that it’s pink, it rides and gets uber annoying.

3) I need a new bike!

4) I need to train harder on the bike (especially on hills).

5) Next season, I need a more structured training plan. (I’m hoping Jen, Gazelle or maybe, Mr. Pi, will be my tri training partners.)

6) Mr. Pi is the best race spectator/supporter ever!

7) Female competitors are way nicer than male ones.

8) Continue to include swim intervals in training. Push harder on the swim course, I would love to be in the top 20 overall on a swim.

9) I need to work on longer brick runs and more speedwork.

10) Triathlons make me feel strong.

Saturday night I was in bed and asleep by 8:30pm it was glorious. Here’s to another great race and more lessons about triathloning learned. Watch out Tri season 2010!

Long Labor Day Weekend

I have several pictures from my long labor day weekend so I’ll keep the re-cap short. Wednesday, I had a good spin class with Jen and an awesome brick run post-spin. Had to skip my swim since there was a line to get into the pool and I had a meeting to get to by 7pm. Wednesday night I picked up my Mom for a weekend of fun.

Thursday we got up early and headed toward the coast. We started with a hike in Oswald State Park. It was chilly, foggy and even a little rainy but the hike was still great. Here are a few pictures:

After the hike we headed up the coast to Cannon Beach for lunch. There is a little place Mr. Pi and I discovered with the world’s best brownies so, of course, we had to get one of those!

After lunch and a stroll on the beach we went drove down the coast to Tillamook for CHEESE!

Friday morning, I managed to drag myself out of bed to meet JM and the Gazelle for a run. They went 18, I went 12. It was a good long run! On the way to the run I saw this:

Mom and I had a great breakfast at Gravy post-run. So far, best hot chocolate in town. The portions were huge, I wish I'd taken a picture but I think I was too hungry to pause for a picture.

The rest of Friday Mom and I shopped up and down NW 23rd.

Saturday, I had the best intentions of getting up for an early swim but I was wayyyy too tired. We slept in and went for coffee instead. The plan was to go to Hood River but the weather didn't really cooperate. Instead we hit the outlets in Woodburn. I even started my Xmas shopping (yay)!

Saturday night we decided to hit the town for a nice dinner out. My dinner was AMAZING. Mmmmmmmmmm...
Sunday, I ran a quick 5k and did 20 minutes on the spin bike, while my Mom walked on the treadmill. Again, the weather wasn't the best for traveling to the Gorge so we stayed in and did chores. Not the most exciting but definitely useful. I love that my Mom helped me with my laundry, it was great! (Other than the power going out at the laundry mat. My stuff was mostly dry, thank goodness.)

Sunday night we curled up on the couch with some yummy take out and watched an old classic, a movie my Mom taped for me when I was about 6. It was great!

This morning we woke up to a few clouds but also some sunshine! We walked to breakfast and I treated my Mom to a birthday breakfast cinnamon bun french toast---YUMMY! Then, it was off the airport for Mom.

I met up with her and we did an awesome 6 mile run. I got to hear more about her fab wedding and see her super cute pup! Have I mentioned I love running friends?!?!

I had a great few days off and I'm not really looking forward to going back to work but c'est la vie, right?