TT's SCHMET's

if you've been following this blog for any real amount of time, you know how i feel about time trials. plain and simple - i hate them. they push your limits. they make you scream. they make you puke. they make you wonder what the hell you are trying to make your body do. all in all - they make you HURT. and not in a "oh wow, that was such a great workout, it hurt so bad it felt good" no, no. its more like "oh wow, that was such a brutal expenditure of dynamic forward movement that hurt so bad i now have to lay down and try to recoup some sort of energy just to make it back to my car without passing out."

TT1 - the run
actually this one wasn't so bad. i met Bri at the track in Clairemont so i could get in my 3 miles before his TNT team started their track workout. Bri and Coach monitored each lap and as i ran by, Coach shouted encouraging words like "form looks great" "staying on the mark" "good pacing kate" while Bri and Iris screamed "GO KATIE GO!!" i ended up jack rabbiting the first loop in 1:40 but settled back down to 2 minutes laps until i hit the last mile.

first run TT:
mile 1: 8:36
mile 2: 8:38
mile 3: 8:36

second run TT:
mile 1: 7:49
mile 2: 8:04
mile 3: 7:53

not extraordinary but not too shabby either. the best part about it was my knee never acted up, which was very encouraging. i am looking forward to the upcoming track workouts so i can get some speed back under me and in these little legs of mine. although, i can't really say they're little anymore - they seem to be growing as of late. my "skinny" jeans don't fit in the quad section anymore. i can't say that i am stoked about losing my one and only expensive jeans to the likes of triathlon but i've lost a lot more to this sport so i guess i'm on the up and up for now...

TT2: the swim
oh the unhighly unanticipated, loathsome hilarity of a "sprint" in the water. i mean who the hell came up with this unusual form of torturous punishment? what have i done to deserve this?! one - i had planned on doing this at 5AM Wednesday but due to the unfortunate kidnapping of my poor goggles (or more truthfully and sadly, the fact that i left them at the cove) i had to avert the TT to that evening. bad - no, horrible idea. two - the lanes at the CP are overtaken on Monday and apparently Wednesday evenings by the Master's swim class, leaving two measly open lanes at the end of the pool for the pond scum who try to come and crash their perfect form and seamless wakes. alas, the animation of my TT went like this: rotate the hips - g l i d e...&push, rotate the hips - g l i d e...&push, WHACK! hit the guy in front of me &push, rotate the hips - g l i d e...&push, rotate the hips - g l i d e...&push, WHACK! get slapped in the leg by the guy behind me &push. that went on for pretty much the entire time giving way to pretty poor results but in the end i came out on top.

first swim TT:
Lap1: 1:52
Lap2: 1:57
Lap3: 2:59
Lap4: 2:20
Lap5: 2:21
Lap6: 2:58
Lap7: 2:16
Lap8: 2:18
Lap9: 2:50
Lap10: 2:15

second swim TT:
Lap1: 1:50
Lap2: 1:53
Lap3: 2:00
Lap4: 2:01
Lap5: 2:10
Lap6: 2:12
Lap7: 2:06
Lap8: 2:10
Lap9: 2:05
Lap10: 2:08

although i do like swimming much more than i used to, i still hate sprint swimming - mainly because i am the opposite of fast and that is discouraging. i did however just purchase some God awful paddle contraptions on the advice of Luke to build up my arm strength which in turn, is supposed to make me faster. we'll have to see about that...

TT3: the bike
well here's a good story. my last one was a sham of a time trial, a debacle of sorts - as i happened to attempt this crazy task in the midst of the first weekend, on the second day of the Over the Line tourney on Fiesta Island. ummmm, not so much what you would call ideal TTing conditions. but i went with it, and put up some pretty pathetic numbers. it didn't hurt me and afterwards i even went and rode/swept the TNT Saturday AM workout to Del Dios. that was NOT the case yesterday. i decided to change my TT location to the Coronado Strand, mainly because i despise the barren landscaping, the continuous dirt hills and the rows of smelly port o' potties that line the loops of that horrendous hallowed training ground. i did a short .2 mile warm up on the bike and shot off when i felt the need for speed, or something like that. GOOD GOD - the wind was awful. Winnie the Pooh would have loved to be in this blustering tunnel of pain. at least his red balloon could have carried him away to saner ground. i, on the other hand, had to push myself through until the very end. i kept looking at my speed and seeing 18 something or other which was less than comforting because just 4 days prior i rode this exact route and got up to 26.4 mph on one stretch. oh Lord this sucked. luckily, on the way out i was unknowingly fighting the head/cross winds (opposite of the previous jaunt) and was able to reap some of the tail/cross winds on the way back...

first bike TT:
12 miles - 41:35
i believe that's like an avg. of 10 mph :(

second bike TT:
12.05 miles - 36:24
that is an avg. of 19.5 mph :) WOOHOO

as soon as i hit the 12 mile mark, i stopped, got off my bike and proceeded to puke as cars drove by - some honked while others hollered. APPARENTLY i need to find a better pre-workout meal than tuna fish salad and Kettle Potato Chips - i mean its hard to get all my calories in each day so i thought this was a decent way to get in the added protein, fat and carbs to fuel my workouts. i do eat this every afternoon you know, approximately 2.5 to 3 hours before go time and CLEARLY it has ceased to work for me. i know this every time because every time i feel like i may be sick, but the push isn't hard enough to actually make that sickness occur...until yesterday. a change must be made and i have no idea what to do about it except trial and error, and that kids may lead to more upset stomachs and (please God save me) barfing on the side of the road. ugh - at least i am recognizing this now instead of closer to race day.

so its done. my week of hell is over...until next month when CB forces me to jump through these dreaded hoops yet again. oy! now - on to a weekend of EPIC proportions...

happy training kids :)

frustrated and missing

frustrated: it is 4:20 AM in the freakin morning. i am up. wide awake. have my new, very stylish swimsuit on. i am getting prepared for the dreaded TT that awaits me in the pool in just 40 short minutes. i am packing up my bag in order to leave...what the eff do you know?! i somehow lost my new goggles. i must have left them at the cove on Sunday after our washing machine swim due to my complete disorientation and nauseousness after exiting the water. i mean, i was well enough to refuel with my Barney Butter and apple, but apparently not well enough to remember to freakin pick up my freakin brand new, only been worn 4 times goggles...OY VEY! so now instead of a lunch time nap, its gonna be a lunch time trip to freakin Paradowski's swim shop to buy a new freakin pair of goggles! maybe this time i'll get a backup pair for this exact type of situation, although if i do something this stupid again, i may have to find someway to punish myself for the stupidity of it all - like swim an extra 5000 :(

missing: brand new pair of TYR NEST PRO goggles (and hot pink swim cap), slightly tinted for my viewing pleasure. black in color and oh so pretty. last seen at the group Cove swim Sunday, August 10th, 2008. if you or anyone you know have seen these and are in the know of their whereabouts, please contact America's Most Wanted Gogglers. there is a man hunt being assembled as we speak to comb the ends of the earth until they are found. i am very worried.

ps. did i mention this is freakin TT week? and did i also mention how much i despise TTs? so to dedicate an entire week to something i passionately hate is not so much an ideal use of time spent. and to throw a wrench in my very well meaning plans just plain sucks. i guess i'll head to the pool tonight...anyone want to time me while i attempt another one of these kick you in the teeth and make you scream "UNCLE" human sacrifices? oh the things i do...

;)

another TT under the belt

you probably don't know this about me but i hate physical testing. any kind of skill testing freaks me out. i did fine in school - made it through grade school, middle school, high school and college just fine except when it came to actual physical testing - PE, sports, A&M soccer - they all came with some sort of base testing to then be followed by more testing months later to re-evaluate that crappy showing you made only to be followed up again and again and again...the circle of shame and depression never end, the slap of poor performance stings as it sweeps across your face and you feel like you can't show your face because you suck so bad. after college soccer ended, i rejoiced in the simple fact that i would never again have to put myself through the torture...then i met Gurujan and he forced me to test. i had made it through my first TNT season not having done any base testing - conveniently skipping each of those sessions. coach made me test and i miraculously didn't hate it. i did really well but i also had a season to work up to my "base level" and i felt pretty good about it. the circle wasn't so shameful and depressing even when he made me test again and again. then knee surgery hit and i was out for a year and the skill testing stopped for what i thought might be forever - so wrong.

now i have been faced with the base testing concept again but this time it really is base. i mean down in the dumps, slow as molasses, a snail could possibly have passed me on any one of these TT. the things i put myself through. CB finally called me out yesterday when i sheepishly admitted i hadn't done my swim TT, the death stroke, the bane of my triathlon experience, the dreaded and not so pretty swim. in the end, he told me to stop complaining and just get it over with so. i. did...

i get to the Coronado pool - the only pool i can truly say i enjoy swimming in, especially at 6AMish as the sun rises and i get to experience the canvas God repaints every morning just for me, or so i tell myself :) alas, it was 6PM so none of that painting was on the horizon, just lanes of choppy water and bobbling heads. it seems as though the entire marine corp comes to swim at 6PM on Monday evenings along with the master's swim program. the pool was chalk full of warm bodies. i was overwhelmed. overwhelmed to think that all of these scantily clad, national security weapons were about to see me flail around in their lanes for a 10X100 TT, where i had 10 seconds to stop and rest. in reality i had 10 seconds to stop, try to see through my very foggy goggles, take my sopping wet hand up out of the water, grab my marker, try to write on the now sopping wet pad of paper that i brought to record the masquerade only to start it all over again. the guy beside commented "wow, now that's serious" and chuckled as he skimmed back over the surface for his next lap leaving me huffing and puffing, arms aching as if they might fall off, pride and humility duking it out at the end of the lane, and the thought "i'd drown you right now sir if i had the strength, or at least hold you under for a few seconds!"

in the end, i finished. i thought of CB a lot, and not anything good. thoughts like, "when i finally meet you i am going to sock you in the stomach for making me do this." now that i've had a night to sleep on it, i feel pretty good about the whole experience. i have now gone way out of my comfort zone on two occasions in the past couple of days, by myself. and although the numbers are pretty shoddy and a little inaccurate (i mean its hard to get the timing down when your actually trying to do the time), i'm glad i did it and i don't despise my new coach as much as i thought i did in the midst of my athletic excursion in the sea, or pool if you want to get technical. at least i got some race simulation - i got get kicked in the chest once and then kicked in the stomach twice by some guy who wasn't even in my lane! i did a 100m warm up, followed by the TT and then immediately left the lane, no cool down, no "hey thanks for sharing the lane", no nothing...touched the side, stopped my watch and literally jumped out of the water and high tailed it to the locker room.

on a high note - i was able to re-call all of my splits on my TIMEX so the whole writing on soppy paper wasn't necessary, but i wasn't sure i could figure the damn thing out, so i did it just-in-case. i finally sent all 3 TT results on and now i want to forget them...that is until next time - when i. blow. them. out. of. the. water...