Today has been quite the day already!
I did a reverse triathlon: 6.35 mile run, 1.5 hr ride, 1.2 mile swim. Felt good, the best that I have felt all week. I may actually be returning to normal here shortly! Yay! My confidence to no longer slacking for Gulf Coast. I went through some old Garmin files and realized that I have put in the training, I just need to relax and let whatever happens happen this week!
After my triathlon I ran errands, gave both the dogs a bath and an extra long run, did laundry and now I am TIRED. Going to pick up some yummy Mai Tai takeout and do some stretching then call it a day!
Hope your Sunday was a funday too!
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Friday, May 1, 2009
Party like a rockstar!
Things were moving along quite nicely in triathlon training land for me until last week. I have been partying like a rockstar, drinking too much beer, staying up WAY too late and still getting my training in! Oddly my times are improving despite doing all the things that are supposed to be horrible for tri training. I ran the fastest 12 miles ever, on 4.5 hours of sleep, and 6 beers (and maybe a half bottle of wine too!). That was a huge confidence booster! My biking and swimming were getting much stronger too.....until the friggin' swine flu hit me and I have been down ever since!
Last Sunday was to be the last big hoorah before my half taper and full taper weeks. The plan was to do a little Reger-like triathlon. I woke up Sunday feeling a little quesy. I ate a light breakfast because my tummy didn't seem to want to eat a lot. I headed out to the SC and decided to ride 56 miles in the following segments: 20 miles easy, next 20 moderate: last 16 hard. I ended up with an avg speed of 19.3 after the first 20, 19.8 after mile 40 and finished up at 20.1. I was pleased with that but noticed that my tummy was still hurting and I didn't take in enough calories. I figured that I was dehydrated from previous nights beer drinking and the fact that I didn't get much sleep. I started off on my hour run and ran into Matt (Kelly's husband) I saw Kelly out riding, she took an unfortunate spill on the bike but still managed to get her 70 miles in. Go Kelly! When Matt saw me running he decided to turn around and run back in with me. Oh. My. God. Seriously? Matt is way too fast to even think about running with me. He was jogging and I was running. Acutally it was really good for me because he was pushing me to run faster than I felt like running. At that point my stomach was not happy and I was pretty sure I was just hungry. I finished up my run and was pleased with my time and distance.
Sunday night all hell broke loose. I started puking and didn't stop until 5am Monday morning. My back was hurting so badly that I was crying. I was in more pain then when I broke my leg! I called my mom that morning because I honestly thought that I had spinal meningitus, the swine flu, or some type of parasite that was going to kill me. I was throwing up water, had taken three scalding hot baths, and was using every form of heat that I could find and was still miserable. Mom came over and took me to the doctor a couple hours later and they sent me to the hospital. Suckity suck. I hate hospitals. A CT scan, ultrasound, bloodwork, and several bags of IV fluids later, they told me that I wasn't going to die. That would come next week at mile 9 or so of the run at Gulf Coast.
So today is Friday and I have only done one swim so far. I attempted a run and got two miles before I almost puked on Wednesday. Today I went to the hooch for a 10-miler. I made it 3.5 miles before I got dizzy and threw up. I think my body is trying to tell me something! I know in my head that I am still not 100% but my body wants to train so desperately! I have not gotten caught up on my sleep either this week, and I feel fat and lazy.
Thanks to everyone who checked in with me in my ill state! I appreciate it! I am going to attempt some training this weekend, more for confidence than any actual gains in my fitness. I REALLY hope that I can kick this before next weekend!
Last Sunday was to be the last big hoorah before my half taper and full taper weeks. The plan was to do a little Reger-like triathlon. I woke up Sunday feeling a little quesy. I ate a light breakfast because my tummy didn't seem to want to eat a lot. I headed out to the SC and decided to ride 56 miles in the following segments: 20 miles easy, next 20 moderate: last 16 hard. I ended up with an avg speed of 19.3 after the first 20, 19.8 after mile 40 and finished up at 20.1. I was pleased with that but noticed that my tummy was still hurting and I didn't take in enough calories. I figured that I was dehydrated from previous nights beer drinking and the fact that I didn't get much sleep. I started off on my hour run and ran into Matt (Kelly's husband) I saw Kelly out riding, she took an unfortunate spill on the bike but still managed to get her 70 miles in. Go Kelly! When Matt saw me running he decided to turn around and run back in with me. Oh. My. God. Seriously? Matt is way too fast to even think about running with me. He was jogging and I was running. Acutally it was really good for me because he was pushing me to run faster than I felt like running. At that point my stomach was not happy and I was pretty sure I was just hungry. I finished up my run and was pleased with my time and distance.
Sunday night all hell broke loose. I started puking and didn't stop until 5am Monday morning. My back was hurting so badly that I was crying. I was in more pain then when I broke my leg! I called my mom that morning because I honestly thought that I had spinal meningitus, the swine flu, or some type of parasite that was going to kill me. I was throwing up water, had taken three scalding hot baths, and was using every form of heat that I could find and was still miserable. Mom came over and took me to the doctor a couple hours later and they sent me to the hospital. Suckity suck. I hate hospitals. A CT scan, ultrasound, bloodwork, and several bags of IV fluids later, they told me that I wasn't going to die. That would come next week at mile 9 or so of the run at Gulf Coast.
So today is Friday and I have only done one swim so far. I attempted a run and got two miles before I almost puked on Wednesday. Today I went to the hooch for a 10-miler. I made it 3.5 miles before I got dizzy and threw up. I think my body is trying to tell me something! I know in my head that I am still not 100% but my body wants to train so desperately! I have not gotten caught up on my sleep either this week, and I feel fat and lazy.
Thanks to everyone who checked in with me in my ill state! I appreciate it! I am going to attempt some training this weekend, more for confidence than any actual gains in my fitness. I REALLY hope that I can kick this before next weekend!
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Yes, I am alive!!!!
I have been having fun, working training really hard half the time and not at all the rest of the time, went to California for Team Luna Chix Summit and had the most amazing time! The pic above shows me riding in Saulsalito which was SO beautiful. My blogger is acting somewhat weird, so I cannot edit the pics, but hopefully there is another pic on here that shows Sarah and I riding our bikes over the Golden Gate Bridge. It was scary looking out over the water but at the same time totally amazing and incredible! Training in California was for sure WAY different than being in Georgia! I was afraid that once I got back I would not want to do anything here, but it turns out that I was able to suck it up and did 70 on the Silver Comet all by my lonesome self!
Questions for those of you still reading: What is the most awesome running sock ever created? Preferrably with arch support? I am in need of some new socks. I have tried most brands already. I like thin socks but they seem to make my feet really hot when I run. Running right now has been tough for me because of a nasty fall I took last weekend at Stone Mountain on the covered bridge portion of the trail. Ugh. I attempted to run this week but this was all I was able to do: 10 min warm-up at 6.5 mph, 16 min at 8.0, then I had to stop...knee was just acting too crazy and I was over compensating for the bad knee with my hip and didn't want to jack that up too! I have been doing some meridian stretching which has been interesting and helpful. It's a workout too though and leaves me pretty sore.
I am having to hold myself back from going into a training frenzy right now! Gulf Coast is going to be here so soon (May 9th!) and I am sort of freaked out about my knee and the fact that I took 10 days off from swimming due to an ear infection. Ugh. So far this week I have already trained almost 5.5 hours and it's only Thursday, AND I still have to do a 90 min bike and 30 min run. The good news in all of this is that I have finally figured out my nutrition and cleaned up my eating habits once and for all! I have been getting my body fat testing and work and went from 20% to 19% to 16.8%!! So excited about that! The 16.8% in 8 weeks is awesome, but the best part is that I have only lost 1 pound! This means that I have turned fat into muscle, which is okay because more muscle equals higher VO2 Max, metabolism, and hopefully more strength on the bike and run!
Monday, March 23, 2009
Getting 2 Tri/ Raisin Hope
Saturday I was very fortunate enough to be able to volunteer with Mike Lenhart's organization, Getting 2 Tri. If you have never heard of Mike or his group, I suggest that you check out his website. They are incredible people! I was paired up with another guy named Mike to be his "handler". We met up at Ga Tech and the first thing he said was "wow....I really like your legs." Mike was hilarious! I accidentally bumped into his leg and apologized without really thinking about it. Mike's response was "Don't worry, I didn't feel it!" I wanted to know his story but was apprehensive about whether or not it was okay to ask. Mike was a totally open book and happy to share!He is 31 years old and was in the Army stationed in Iraq when his convoy drove over a roadside bomb. He lost both legs below the knee. It happened on August 17, 2007. August 19, 2007 was when I made my comeback race from breaking my leg. Thinking about this caused me to be so grateful and realize how blessed that I am that I was able to make such a good recovery and that my long-term, permanent damage was nothing compared to these athletes. We spent the majority of our ride deep in conversation about our situations, what he felt after his accident, what life is like now, etc. It is amazing to think about what he has been through in such a short period of time!
Mike is training for the 2012 London Paraolympics. He is a hand cyclist and does the marathon event. We went out to the Silver Comet to ride for an hour before lunch. During our ride Mike was really the handler because he has a mirror on his bike. He warned me of cyclist coming, etc, etc. The people on the trail that day kept looking and looking at us and one lady wanted to take photos! Most of the athletes were hand cyclist that were missing limbs or paralyzed, so I guess it was unusual to see so many at the same time!
After our ride we headed to the depot for lunch. That is where I met Saul Raisin. For those of you who don't know, Saul was a professional cyclist who was involved in a horrible accident. He was in a coma and recovered, but had to learn to do everything again. He still has some lasting brain injury and started an organization, Raisin Hope, that raises awareness and gives support to people with traumatic brain injury. Saul is still able to ride now, but cannot compete professionally due to liability reasons. He has switched over to the triathlon world and is competing in Ironman Hawaii! After chatting for a few minutes we decided to head out and ride more. I was REALLY looking forward to him laying it on me and making me hurt, but he went easy on me! He blew through all the intersections (don't worry, I told him that he had to stop!) and I enjoyed listening to him talk about training in Europe, his lactate threshold testing numbers, the book he wrote, and what his life is like after his accident. He lives in Dalton and in September there is going to be a century to benefit his charity. It would be awesome to go out there and support everyone!
On the way back in from our ride we passed by Mike who was testing out someone else's bike that was a "kneeler". As we rode past him he yelled "Danielle, don't leave with my legs in your car!!!!" His legs WERE in my car and I probably wouldn't have driven off with them in the front seat (they weighed a thousand pounds!) The look on the faces of the ladies jogging was too funny for words.
I got my 3.5 hours of training in although it was broken up and took almost 7 hours, but I didn't care. I left the Silver Comet with a renewed sense of appreciation for things in life and a better attitude. Complain about training? Not me!
Mike is training for the 2012 London Paraolympics. He is a hand cyclist and does the marathon event. We went out to the Silver Comet to ride for an hour before lunch. During our ride Mike was really the handler because he has a mirror on his bike. He warned me of cyclist coming, etc, etc. The people on the trail that day kept looking and looking at us and one lady wanted to take photos! Most of the athletes were hand cyclist that were missing limbs or paralyzed, so I guess it was unusual to see so many at the same time!
After our ride we headed to the depot for lunch. That is where I met Saul Raisin. For those of you who don't know, Saul was a professional cyclist who was involved in a horrible accident. He was in a coma and recovered, but had to learn to do everything again. He still has some lasting brain injury and started an organization, Raisin Hope, that raises awareness and gives support to people with traumatic brain injury. Saul is still able to ride now, but cannot compete professionally due to liability reasons. He has switched over to the triathlon world and is competing in Ironman Hawaii! After chatting for a few minutes we decided to head out and ride more. I was REALLY looking forward to him laying it on me and making me hurt, but he went easy on me! He blew through all the intersections (don't worry, I told him that he had to stop!) and I enjoyed listening to him talk about training in Europe, his lactate threshold testing numbers, the book he wrote, and what his life is like after his accident. He lives in Dalton and in September there is going to be a century to benefit his charity. It would be awesome to go out there and support everyone!
On the way back in from our ride we passed by Mike who was testing out someone else's bike that was a "kneeler". As we rode past him he yelled "Danielle, don't leave with my legs in your car!!!!" His legs WERE in my car and I probably wouldn't have driven off with them in the front seat (they weighed a thousand pounds!) The look on the faces of the ladies jogging was too funny for words.
I got my 3.5 hours of training in although it was broken up and took almost 7 hours, but I didn't care. I left the Silver Comet with a renewed sense of appreciation for things in life and a better attitude. Complain about training? Not me!
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Guys say the darndest things....
So I am at work (Concourse Athletic Club) and I am watching some guys play Squash (my new fav sport...SO hard!) There is a guy sitting by the wall and I look at him and notice that he looks really familiar. Here is our exact conversation:
Me: "I know you from somewhere"
Him: "Is it because I look like Ashton Kutcher?"
Me: "Actually no....you just look familiar...like one of my brothers friends"
Him: "All the ladies say that"
Me: "Right. Do you know Scott Grabol?"
Him: "OMG!!! Are you Danielle Grabol? I used to be your neighboor! You drove me to school for like two years! You totally corrupted me! You gave me my first alcohol! Are you REALLY Danielle Grabol?"
Me: "SHHHH! Be quiet, I WORK here! Yes, I am Danielle!"
Him: (Standing up and staring at me kind of funny) "I just can't believe it's you....I remember you being a lot bigger and uglier."
Me: "Excuse me?!?"
Him: " I mean I just don't remember you being so pretty in high school."
Then I SWEAR I am not making this next part up. He took my water bottle, opened it and drank out of it! When I looked at him like I was going to smack him clear across the room he said "What? I am thirsty!" SERIOUSLY??
In other, better news, I PR'd last Saturday at Silver Comet 10k. 48:33, 7:49 avg pace. Didn't feel as bad as I thought it would. 9/89 in my age group and 39th female overall out of 400 something. I was surprised, I usually place much lower in running races. Guess the speedsters all ran the CRR 10k the week before.
Me: "I know you from somewhere"
Him: "Is it because I look like Ashton Kutcher?"
Me: "Actually no....you just look familiar...like one of my brothers friends"
Him: "All the ladies say that"
Me: "Right. Do you know Scott Grabol?"
Him: "OMG!!! Are you Danielle Grabol? I used to be your neighboor! You drove me to school for like two years! You totally corrupted me! You gave me my first alcohol! Are you REALLY Danielle Grabol?"
Me: "SHHHH! Be quiet, I WORK here! Yes, I am Danielle!"
Him: (Standing up and staring at me kind of funny) "I just can't believe it's you....I remember you being a lot bigger and uglier."
Me: "Excuse me?!?"
Him: " I mean I just don't remember you being so pretty in high school."
Then I SWEAR I am not making this next part up. He took my water bottle, opened it and drank out of it! When I looked at him like I was going to smack him clear across the room he said "What? I am thirsty!" SERIOUSLY??
In other, better news, I PR'd last Saturday at Silver Comet 10k. 48:33, 7:49 avg pace. Didn't feel as bad as I thought it would. 9/89 in my age group and 39th female overall out of 400 something. I was surprised, I usually place much lower in running races. Guess the speedsters all ran the CRR 10k the week before.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Water logged.....
Now that I am a seasoned masters swimmer (I have been swimming it for a month!) I will admit that I absolutly cannot swim on my own. It's like the worse feeling in the world to go into a pool and have no peer pressure.
This week was SUPPOSED to be a recovery week. Week #12 out of 20 in my half-Ironman training plan. What's that mean? 8 weeks left until Gulf Coast! Coach Pete doesn't believe in "recovery" when it comes to swimming. So that means that my swimming yardage for the week is currently 7500 yards with one more swim left! Yesterday's main set was 15x100 at hard effort. I didn't swim that hard though because after that we still had to do 4x300's at our best pace. I was so afraid of burning my arms out that I took it relatively easy. The wonderful (and surprising) thing was that my "easier" pace now is what I would have considered my all-out pace last season! Can I just tell you how much I heart master's? Even the times where we have to swim backstroke and breaststroke? Anyways......
Tomorrow I am PR hunting at the Silver Comet 10k. This will be the 4th 10k that I have ever run outside of triathlon. It's probably my favorite distance in running. A little bit easier than a 5k but no where near as time consuming as a half-marathon. It's right in the middle, you know you worked really hard, but not too hard to need to climb down that stairs backwards. Since it's flat I am thinking my odds of setting a personal record should be pretty good. I got a massage this week and my quads are WAY more tender than I would like them to be the day before a race. Hope to see you guys out there!
Funny (and random) story. I am at the Concourse getting ready to swim and a woman asks me "Excuse me, but what type of cellulite creme do you use on your legs? They look great!" Me: "Oh this isn't from a creme. It's from working hard." Ha...ha...some people want the easy way out of everything!
This week was SUPPOSED to be a recovery week. Week #12 out of 20 in my half-Ironman training plan. What's that mean? 8 weeks left until Gulf Coast! Coach Pete doesn't believe in "recovery" when it comes to swimming. So that means that my swimming yardage for the week is currently 7500 yards with one more swim left! Yesterday's main set was 15x100 at hard effort. I didn't swim that hard though because after that we still had to do 4x300's at our best pace. I was so afraid of burning my arms out that I took it relatively easy. The wonderful (and surprising) thing was that my "easier" pace now is what I would have considered my all-out pace last season! Can I just tell you how much I heart master's? Even the times where we have to swim backstroke and breaststroke? Anyways......
Tomorrow I am PR hunting at the Silver Comet 10k. This will be the 4th 10k that I have ever run outside of triathlon. It's probably my favorite distance in running. A little bit easier than a 5k but no where near as time consuming as a half-marathon. It's right in the middle, you know you worked really hard, but not too hard to need to climb down that stairs backwards. Since it's flat I am thinking my odds of setting a personal record should be pretty good. I got a massage this week and my quads are WAY more tender than I would like them to be the day before a race. Hope to see you guys out there!
Funny (and random) story. I am at the Concourse getting ready to swim and a woman asks me "Excuse me, but what type of cellulite creme do you use on your legs? They look great!" Me: "Oh this isn't from a creme. It's from working hard." Ha...ha...some people want the easy way out of everything!
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Amazing, incredible baby Ashley....
I have to admit that it's a funny feeling seeing Ashley. From the moment Karen knew she was pregnant Ashley is ALL that we have talked about. 9 months of baby talk makes you very anxious to meet the little bugger! Friday night Karen checked into the hosptial and I watched a movie with her and her husband. Saturday she was being induced and we weren't really sure what was going to happen, but she made me PROMISE that I would be there with her....so I was there! Like really there, as in there for 19 hours. Holy moly. That was a long night. Karen had some excellent pain control by the wonderful labor and delivery nurses at Northside hospital so she slept through a lot of her labor. The rest of us? We sat up watching to size of her contractions and placing bets on how much the baby was going to weigh.
The action finally got going around 1:30 a.m. Honestly, it was no where near as bad as I thought it was going to be. Karen kicked everyone out of the room except me, her husband, and our other BFF Christy. I should have read a book or taken a class or something, because I didn't know the breathing patterns, or how fast to count, or anything other than the nurse handing me a leg. I realize this may sound weird to some of you, why would you want your two best friends watching something like this? You have to understand Karen. She doesn't do pain alone. Ever. When we were in high school I would go to the dentist with her because she couldn't stand the thought of having her cavities filled. So we are friends like that!
Overall the experience was pretty amazing. Karen's husband was a rock. Totally incredible. They are so much closer after the experience. I am still in a bit of shock and awe and have to say that being a woman is really awesome. No offense to men, but y'all just couldn't hang with the whole birthing of a baby.
The baby? Ashley Madeline, 7 lb 14 oz (Karen's sister in law won the pot of $60 for guessing the weight) she is angelic. Red hair, blue eyes, rosey cheeks and a little red nose, it really makes her look perfect. I have been to see her everyday and it's hard to not take her home. Even her cries are perfect~ sounds like a little bird chirp. I am sure that all this will change in time, but I am enjoying my new goddaughter in all her perfection right now!
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