Rapid-fire Recap

Where, oh where, has my little blog gone?

My longest blogger break has officially come to an end.  The break was completely unplanned, but I'm glad that I took it.  I needed some time to think about my goals for the future and then some additional time to settle into a plan to get me there.  Compared to the last three summers, training has been very different for me and that has taken some getting used to.

What follows is a rapid-fire recap of what I consider to be the most important highlights of summer 2011.

Hardware at the FIT triathlon

May 14th- Florida International Sprint Triathlon. Eventually I will connect a brief race report to the sidebar link, but for now, let's just say that this triathlon was "interesting" and I'll get to that part in a moment.  As mentioned in my post on May 13th (also the last time that I blogged), the run portion of this race had been moved to the beach and I was dealing with a case of peroneal tendonitis.  Although I was not thrilled about the beach run, I decided to bite the bullet and waddle through it if I had to.  The "interesting" part of this race were the myriad of tidal pools that formed along the run course that morning.  Hence, there was never any flat sand to run on.  In the end, FIT was more like a sprint aquabike with a muddy buddy run attached to it.  I did manage take 1st place in my age group and 4th overall female.  In retrospect, I actually enjoyed the unconventional run.  I may sign up for an Xterra someday.

May 17th-  I began easy base training for my November marathon.  As the weeks went by, I peppered my run training with some short, easy-paced bike riding and absolutely no swimming! 

13th anniversary trip to St. Augustine came to a screeching halt
when the mother of all back spasms struck!

End of June-  The tightness in my right hip/lower back that had first developed during Spring 2008 and then roared it's angry head during Spring/Fall 2010, was beginning to nag me again.  Around the same time MSL decided to suprise me with a surprise anniversary trip to St. Augustine.  This wonderful trip came with a 5 hour car-ride which caused my hip/back to wildly protest.  The pain escalated to a point where I couldn't bend over, I couldn't get into my MINI because it's too low to the ground, I couldn't even sit comfortably on the couch.  Lying flat was the only comfortable position.  I knew the pain was muscular since it had been relieved through Meilus Muscular Therapy in 2008, but since then, I had done nothing to actually "prevent" a reoccurrence.  On July 1st, I decided that my aversion to strength training and diligent stretching needed to come to an end.  I contacted an awesome trainer & Stott Pilates/TRX instructor that I knew from my "aerobics" days and began training with her twice per week.  Six weeks later and I feel like a new person.  No pain, lots of happy miles... life is good.

Chillin' in crisp, cool GA mountain water.

July 16th-  Englewood Sprint Triathlon.  Again, I will eventually attach a brief race report.  This local triathlon was to be my last tri of the season.  I had not set foot in any water since the FIT tri in mid-May and had only put in a "whopping" 230 bike miles over a 2 month period.  I was in complete "marathon mode" at this point and knew that I was probably going to scrape by with the skin of my teeth.  Scrape, indeed.  My swim time was 20 seconds slower than the previous year, my bike was 8 seconds slower and my run... eeks... was 2:30 slower!  Just goes to show that triathlon is three sports.  My loss of swim/bike fitness definitely affected my ability to run (at a time in my life when I am running better than ever).  I did, however, manage to capture another 1st place age group placement.  So while it was not my finest moment (and I knew that it wasn't going to be), I was able to ride the coattails of the training that I had done for St. Anthony's.

Fail on the Georgia trails (my leg was worse)!
Thankfully, I didn't ruin my Lulu tank.
That would have been something to cry over!

July 27th-  Hills!  MSL and I joined a couple of our friends in the Georgia mountains.  MSL's goal was to put the final touch on his training for the upcoming 1600 mile Brotherhood Ride to NYC and my goal was to get off the concrete for a while and enjoy the shock absorbing trails.  Well, while my legs felt great the entire time (dirt sure is cushy), I was pushed waaaaay out of my comfort zone on all of my runs.  The area that we were staying in is famous for the Tour de Georgia and the ultra challenging Six-Gap Century ride; hence, there wasn't a piece of "flat" or even "semi-flat" to be found.  I suffered in those mountains for three days!  I developed a blister the size of an Easter egg on my right sole, fell over some rogue rocks and bled like a stuck pig and was reminded that while easy-paced runs are the core of marathon training, it was time for me to get a little speed back in my legs and open my lungs up.

July 4th!  The "white" is not b/c it's cold out.

August 15th-  Training.  The 2011 Philadelphia Marathon looms on the horizon a mere 14 weeks away.  I am pleased with how things have been going and am also ridiculously excited!  Thanks to a mix of smart training, Pilates and TRX, my body is holding up well and I really can't complain.  I am super glad that I began training in mid-May and not in early July (which is when many 20 week marathon plans would have started) as it has allowed me to cautiously ramp up mileage.  My only concern right now is with the heat.  Our lows do not get below 80F at this time of the year and morning humidity always averages between 96-99%.  The humidity drops a bit around 2PM, but by then the heat index is well above 100F with full-on "sunburn sun."  It is not at all unusual for me to end a morning run in a heat index of 90F or slightly above. I will not, however, run in a heat index higher than 95F-- that's just insane.  It would be easier to deal with the temperatures if we had a break in the weather trend, but unfortunately, when you live in South Florida it's crazy hot and humid every single day.  MSL and I like to joke about the fact that being a weather forecaster down here must be awfully boring if there isn't a hurricane swirling around:  High of 95/Low 80... every single, darn day for months at a time!

MSL's Brotherhood Ride kit- 1600 miles
and 22 days worth of cycling (Naples, FL to NYC).
We will never, ever forget the 411 police,
fire and EMS personnel who made the ultimate
sacrifice nearly 10 years ago.

In past years, I have complained ad nauseum about my dislike of the oppressive Florida heat and humidity. This year, however, my only complaint is that it's very difficult to determine a race pace for Philly (typically 49F) when all I've got to go on is a wonky, heat-skewed take on RPE and HR.  My body works so hard to keep my core cool that turning over my legs is a distant afterthought.  So, two weeks ago I decided to raise the white flag and do two of my weekly runs indoors on the thrillmill.  I'm hoping that this will allow me to somewhat properly prep my muscle fibers for race pace and also keep me more hydrated throughout the week.

If it isn't already blatantly obvious, this blog is now in "run mode" and it may very well stay that way 'till the end of time.  I've always loved pure running much more than triathlon, but unlike the pure runner who discovers triathlon through cross-training, I pretty much jumped feet first into triathlon and then fell in love with running.  Totally backwards, but then again, I have always marched to my own drummer.