2011, a year in review

I am a big fan of a website called the Dailymile.  I describe it to my friends as a kind of Facebook for athletes.  It is  a great place to share your training with others who are interested in it (my family is not always excited to hear about most recent workout).  One of my favorite features is the ability to review your training in a number of ways with just a couple clicks.  I have taken a few snapshots from the website to show you what I did this year.

My swimming was a little all over the place this year.  I hope to keep swimming 10,000 yds per week while I train for Ironman St. George.  Luckily I am a relatively strong swimmer so I can get away with three swims a week and as long as I just maintain where I am at I should have a good swim in St. George.

Once my 70.3s were all done for the year I really turned my focus from the bike to my run so that is why there is a major decrease in my miles after July.  But as you can see, I am going to be focusing on my bike very heavily for the next 5 months while I prepare for Ironman St. George.  I did see a lot of improvement on the bike this year, but I still have a long way to go.

And for running, I really rediscovered a love for it this year.  I was able to make huge improvements in my speed and endurance which led me to Boston Qualify in October!  I backed off substantially in December so I could focus on my form and hopefully that will pay off in 2012.  I am really proud of doing 7 consecutive months over 100 miles!

You can see most of my race results here but the highlights of the year include completing two 70.3 triathlons (both under 6 hours), two marathons (Boston qualified in one and won my age group in the other), and finishing my first Ultra marathon (50K).  I couldn’t have done any of this with out the support of my family, teammates, and friends (both online and IRL).  I did things this year I never thought I could do, EVAH.  Here’s to hoping that 2012 will be as successful and rewarding!

Click here to see the year end summary from Dailymile!

Mistakes were made…

If you have been following me you know that of the three disciplines in triathlon, the bike gives me the most trouble.  Every tri I do I get passed left and right (but mostly left) on the bike.  I have found it difficult to improve on the bike for two reasons.  One, it takes LOTS of time on the bike to get better.  Where running for an 1-2 hours can really help your running, you need to spend at least 2-4 hours on the bike.  And two, I get frustrated doing things I struggle at (who doesn’t).  I find riding the bike hard  so I have a difficult time pushing myself sometimes.

So yesterday I went out to do my longest ride to date, 70 miles.  And while the scenery was beautiful, there were some ugly moments.  Here are the details from the ride:

Here are the basic details from the ride.  Most notable here is the elevation gain (which is very close to the elevation gain I will be doing in St. George), and my HR data.  Usually my HR is MUCH higher than this.  I am really happy with my HR numbers (I have been avoiding using my HR monitor but yesterday I thought it might be helpful).

Here is the map of where my ride took me.  It was a beautiful day. Clear at first when I got to the beach, then foggy when I started my climb up Mulholland.  The fog/clouds cleared up quickly and I had lots of warm sun on my shoulders (good thing I remembered the sunblock!)

And here is the elevation profile.  The climb was a mile longer than I remembered and I took a different way down.  The descent was a blast!

So here is what went wrong…

One, I underestimated how long the ride would take me.  Because of this I didn’t have enough food with me and not the right kind.  I had a peanut butter and Nutella sandwich, one Perfect Fit Protein Cookie (which pretty much saved me), and two Gu’s.  That was it! I was gone for over 6 hours and was riding for over 5.  Plus I only had water. No electrolytes or extra carbs.  Needless to say I was under-fueled and was feeling really bad by the end. So bad that I was in tears and if it wasn’t for the kindness of a friend I might not have made it home (I forgot to bring money also). But once I re-fueled yesterday I felt better almost instantly.

Two, I tried something new on my longest ride ever.  All the clothes (except for my shoes and socks) were brand new.  Luckily only one item of clothing gave me trouble, my new Skins tights.  They were rubbing me in a place that was getting pretty uncomfortable and there was a patch of fabric under the knees that was really uncomfortable as well.

New tri kit over new Skins tights.

All of the mistakes I made are fixable and the fact that I didn’t call for a ride home has me feeling very proud of the ride.  There were several places I could have turned left instead of right and got home faster but it was really important to me to do the distance.  I am VERY nervous about the ride in Ironman St. George.  I need to put in a lot of saddle time to feel more at ease about the upcoming race distance.  Luckily I have 18 more weeks to go, and there are miles and miles and miles of roads to ride here!

Week 1 of 20 – Ironman St. George Training

Week 1 of 20 is done; hay in the barn so to speak.  My focus this week was on ramping up my bike miles.  I had a little extra time in my schedule so I made it to three computrainer sessions in one week.  By the third one I was really feeling the extra bike miles.  I have a general plan for my weekly training but since my schedule was more flexible than usual I kind of altered the plan for the week.  Here are the details for the week:

Swim: 3 miles/ 1:57

Bike: 101 miles/6:34

Run: 20 miles/3:20

Total: 124 miles/11:51

I also finally made it back to the trails.  I had been working on my running form for the last 4 weeks and really haven’t done any running since the 50K on November 20th.  I didn’t stick to the plan as best as I probably should have but I really concentrated on my form during all my running this week.  Overall I think I am on the right track.  I can feel when I am doing it right (at least I think I am doing it right), and I definitely felt it in my calves which is an indicator I may be finally getting off my heels!

View from my first trail run in 4 weeks!

Overall I felt pretty good this week.  My long ride was not as long as I had hoped but life just got in the way that day.  This next week will be a little off as well due to the holidays being off work (first week off  in 18 months!!!).  One week down, 19 to go.

I Want to Be an Ironman

This week is  the beginning of my 20 week plan to become an Ironman.  Most plans are longer than 20 weeks but I am starting this after recently completing a couple marathons and an ultra marathon so I feel a couple weeks of rest is  more important that having a 24 week plan.  I am very limited on time for training.  I am recently separated so there is a big juggling act that has to take place in order to balance work, kids, and training.  None of this would be possible if it wasn’t for the support of my parents (my Mom especially), my family (kids and ex),  my team, and my friends (online and IRL).

Now that I am officially on a plan I have to do my best to stay true to it, while not driving myself and my family crazy.  I have a general schedule that I will be using and then a weekend plan for the buildup of the long rides and runs.  Luckily swimming is not an issue for me and I am not planning on trying to make great improvements there.  I just want to maintain.

Here is my weekly schedule

Monday: PM Swim/Yoga

Tuesday: PM Ride (on trainer or at computrainer studio)/Run

Wednesday: PM Swim (after the kids go to bed)

Thursday: AM Run/ PM Ride (trainer)

Friday: REST!!!! (or swim maybe…)

Saturday: Swim/ Long Run

Sunday: Long Ride/ Short Run

Ready, Set, GO!

My first winner!

Congratulations Caroline for winning the race entry to the Los Angeles 13.1 Race on January 15, 2012!!  I will be in touch with your code for entry!  For the rest of you, it should be a great race so I hope to see you there!.

13.1 Los Angeles Race Entry Giveaway

I was lucky enough to be given an entry to the 13.1 event that will be held in Los Angeles on January 15th 2012 AND they gave me an entry to raffle off! (first time I get to do this!!)  This will be my first time running this race but I have heard good things about it.  Click here to see all the details about the race.  The race isn’t far off so I want to get the raffle done ASAP.  I will draw a winner on Friday 12/16 so get your entries in.  The prize will get you entry to the race (an $85 value, not too bad!), so make sure you can make it out for the race.

Ways to Enter (4 in total):

1. Comment on this post.
2. Follow my blog (of course you are already following me right?), and leave me a comment that you followed.
3. Like the 13.1 series on Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/131marathon?sk=app_2309869772 , and leave me a comment.
4. Lastly, tweet the following statement “I hope I win an entry to the 13.1 Los Angeles race, http://www.131marathon.com/13_1_Los_Angeles.htm,  from @tribeccato ‘s blog, https://tribeccato.wordpress.com”, then leave me a comment.

Good luck and I hope to see you at the start line!

Vegas- pictures, audio, and so much more!

Jeff and I at Rock N Roll Las Vegas being athletic supporters!

OK, if you haven’t gone to a race just to cheer the runners on, I highly suggest you do!  I had a blast in Vegas!  I met a  bunch of people I have been in contact for almost a year with but have never met IRL (in real life).  I met Nessa, Kim,  Jeff, Jason, Karen, Sara, Sugarmagnolia, and Scotty. Above are some pictures from the weekend and below some links for race reports from those that ran.  You MUST listen to the podcast that Kim did.  Click here to get it.

Jason’s Race Report

Sugarmagnolia’s Race Report

Scotty’s Race Report

Seven things about me…

OK, I was tagged by Travis to do this a while ago and I got side tracked.  So let me see if I can come up with seven things about me that are interesting…

1. I take my coffee black (like my men, J/K). Always have, always will, except during the holidays when I can get skinny peppermint mochas.
2. I used to be mistaken for a boy when I was younger (10-12). I had a very short haircut and might have been a little tom-boyish, might!
3. I am recently separated and up until right now I haven’t really shared that publicly, except with those close to me.
4. I come from a very small family, one brother and only one cousin.
5. I have never broken a bone!  (and I plan on keeping it that way!)
6. I prefer dogs over cats.
7. I like to sleep on my tummy.

OK, there you have it, seven things you probably didn’t know about me.  You can go on with your day.

I am going to be a bad blogger and not tag anyone with this… If you want to play, go for it!

 

Going to spectate

I am sitting at the airport, waiting for my plane to Las Vegas. I am not going to run a race but just to watch. When you are running a race it is amazing how much energy you can draw from the spectators and supporters; it can make the difference for me sometimes! So my goal for this race is to call out a lot of names, help people make it through the miles, and just have fun!

I will miss you Buster

Yesterday was a sad day. I had to put down my beautiful Chesapeake Bay Retriever, Buster Brown.  He was a great dog.  Super lovey, not too bright, and HUGE!  I was just thinking of the things about Buster I will miss and some of my funny memories of him and I felt like I need to write them out.

• When Buster was a puppy he ate all of the food on two shelves of the pantry, including  an entire canister of sugar (he had a ring of sugar around his nose from licking it out), and 10 lbs of uncooked rice. A quick trip to the emergency vet and a lot of puking and he was all better!
• When I was in labor with my first son Buster wouldn’t leave my side.  He was so concerned about me.  Of course it was kind of gross when he licked the amniotic fluid off my leg when my water broke!
• He was a really big drooler and sometimes the drool would hang down for inches off his mouth.  My youngest child used to play with his giant drool.
• He used to sleep on my side of the bed and even though I had no place to sleep (he was a really big dog), I would never kick him out of the bed. He would keep my feet warm.
• If you played a harmonica he would howl.
• He wouldn’t leave my side when I was home.
• He was a water dog that didn’t swim.
• He liked to pre-wash the dishes in the dishwasher.
• He would lay right in front of the stove as I cooked (hoping for me to drop something).
• He was awesome with my kids.
• I miss the way his paws smell (yes, I know that sounds strange).

Thanks for letting me get this out…