What am I doing? a post BY Lindsey ABOUT Lindsey

This is a question I have asked myself many times over the past few months. It presents itself, most annoyingly, during a training session. When you're asking yourself: 'why am I doing this?' it severely inhibits your ability to get anything done. Even when you DO have a great session (e.g., swim a set faster than you ever have--Lauren and I refer to this as approaching world record pace!), I still don't feel that accomplished.


A few people remind me, specifically in this sport, what it's like to GO AFTER IT. Lauren, for one, put in up to TWENTY-FIVE HOUR training wks in the build to IM CDA, IN ADDITION to the time she spent in her kneeling chair at work, going to ART/chiro, getting massaged, watching the bachelorette/annoying Matt, pilating, etc. And for people new to the sport, like the Chicken Tender Runner, his enthusiasm borders on WAYYY over the top, but he's a cool guy who has made nice gains thanks to his obsession to improve. My boyfriend, Carl, who learned to swim yesterday, is now swimming ~13k/wk and staying on top of his training in his build to IM LOU, in support of the Carpenter's Shelter. His consistency between last fall and this spring resulted in a 25% time improvement at the half-ironman distance. As with anything, reaching individual goals involves a simple formula, and right now, I don't have what it takes.


As I stood on the side of the Potomac River last summer with Paulo, watching the women's pro field take to the water in the the World Championship series race, a lone woman was FLUNG off the back of a pack and swimming solo. Paulo told me that to race ITU you HAVE to be ready to race and that she shouldn't have even showed up. It was a waste of time. True that. I struggle to get through a putt putt game without being a competitive jerk, so without that winning attitude, I know better than get on a start line until I'm RACE READY.


After training camp this spring, Paulo stopped coaching me, giving me the freedom to figure out what it is I want out of life. I spent the next two months, overcoming the gazillionth muscle strain incurred in the last 15 months and received some valuable feedback on my running form from Jay Dicharry, an uber physical therapist out of UVA.


I religiously visited Sonja Evers, a physical therapist in Sarah Thorpe's Sports + Spinal Physical Therapy outfit. Sonja's treatment, and more importantly, her advice, has had a positive impact on me overcoming pains in the ass/quad/ITB. My approach to running involves patience and above all, love for the movement. With Sonja's consultation, I started taking_it_easy.xls and tracked my PRE-HAB efforts, the amount of running completed, and how that affected the area in question.


I'm proud to say that this will be my third consecutive week of running a total of 4.5 hrs and I am enjoying the ability to turn over my legs. In a couple weeks I'm joining up with teammates from the Georgetown Running Company to do the Rockville Twilighter, a 5 mile running race. I'm looking forward to running and perhaps hurting a little, the healthy hurt.


Also, I thank my dad for always providing me with constructive and diplomatic advice. A while back he told me:


"While your motivation may be suspect for some workouts while recovering, make sure this doesn't affect other parts of your life. Take advantage by using the time in other areas... ...and fix your time trial bike. I see some symbolism of a broken bike hanging out in your apartment."


At long last, I'm evaluating my next steps and taking care of some necessary maintenance.


Here's a photo with Dad taken last Labor Day. Also appearing, other favorites: eggs, coffee and costco clothes.

Lauren - 7th at IM Coeur d'Alene

"Lauren's running is on FIRE."

-her super sherpa husband Matt

Big congrats to Lauren Harrison on her fabulous 7th place finish at IM CdA (10:00:16). Most notably, she ran a 3:24 marathon leg of the race, shaving 22 min of her previous run PR ... and simply, PUSHING THE ENTIRE RACE. Keep shaving, Lauren!

(RUMOR has it that the finish was roughly 17 running seconds longer than 140.6 miles.)

POSITIVE TITLE

Yes, I know I have tragically failed to keep the blog updated lately. Most of the blame lies with LJ who clearly needs to post, though. (crickets..crickets..)

The purpose of this blog is to eliminate from view that terrible title from my previous post. No need to dwell on the past... The reason I have FAILED to blog lately is that I have been too busy trying to get the work done for this last block of Ironman training. Here is a sample of my past 6 weeks (excluding this lovely taper that Pataky has truly embraced more than I have):

Number of meltdowns and crying like a baby sessions with Matt: .5
Number of days with no running on the schedule: ZERO
Number of new injuries: ZERO
Number of new itunes songs I have purchased: Steve Jobs bought his latest house in woodside because of my itunes habit.

Number of snakes I have seen while riding/running: 6
Number of mountain lions I have seen while training: 0
Number of skunks I have seen while running: 1
Number of coyotoes I have seen while running: 2
Number of times I have found myself shopping aimlessly for "sports stuff" at Sports Basement: 4

Number of times I have driven my bike to Darrell at Front of the Pack to fix
something: 4
*Number of times I have emailed Darrell in a panic about the fact that my powermeter was clearly not working as I could not get into Zone 2(failed to remember that perhaps this is because I am actually tired): 3

Number of redeye flights I have taken followed immediately by a long bike ride: 1
Number of episodes of "Real Housewives of New Jersey" I have watched in a row while taking said red eye flight: 6 (Note: I don't recommend this)

Number of gchat lines I have exchanged with Lindsey: 3 trillion
Number of gels I have consumed: at least 2 boxes (gross!)

Anyway, I'm off to Idaho tomorrow and am ready to leave it all on the course this weekend. The Sherpa is prepped and ready to go as well replete with a new Sherpa shirt which will be revealed on race day.

*This resulted in the crying like a baby session with Matt.







NON training activities of the 6 week period jam-packed into one weekend in Jersey.



Darrell fixing my "broken" SRM.



A blog post would not be complete without a gratuitous picture of a mountain lion.

Wildflower 2010 - asleep at the wheel

Last weekend I participated in the Wildflower Long Course triathlon.

I woke up early race morning to eat my rice/egg Lindsey-patented concoction but was barely able to swallow it. I segued to a much-beloved powerbar but it took me the full 30 min drive to the lake from our house to get that one down. Where is Lindsey when you need her culinary skills?

I fell asleep around 8:00am when the gun went off on Saturday morning and apparently swam and rode my bike coming into t2 in around 12th-ish place. I then woke up and found myself running up and down hills trying to kill thoughts that my back would flare up or that I'd acquire a season-frustrating injury like last year. I did manage to go faster than last year, but am not happy with my performance..specifically from a mental standpoint.

I read a fellow male pro's race report and was tempted to copy and paste it into this blog as I completely identified with his race....all about hesitating.

I did learn that in order to really race, I must jettison my doubts, specifically those about getting injured. There is no place in triathlon (as well as business, relationships,school, and life for that matter)for hesitation or doubt - this is a sure fire way to get one thrown off the back of the swim wave, among other issues. If I "control F"ed my entire email inbox, I can only imagine how many times I've written the word "back" or "injury." NO MORE I SAY!!!!

I am now ready to put my head down and focus on this next IM training block. Wildflower was an expensive lesson but one I apparently needed to learn so as not to make the same mistake again.

Pics to follow later....

Progress in the Swamp: New Orleans 70.3 RACE report

I decided (or perhaps it was decided for me) to start off the race season a bit later this year at New Orleans instead of the typical Oceanside - Wildflower pattern I've been doing the past few years. I've been putting in the work this winter, but much of it has been on the tready or trainer in our garage/dungeon due to a myriad of reasons (injury prevention, rain, cold weather, lack of daylight, did I mention rain?) I actually told Pataky before this race that I felt prepared and excited to go out and get the work done on race day. I don't usually verbalize such thoughts, but felt it was about time to own it.

Anyway, my time in the swamp was awesome. I stayed with my Louisiana celebrity friend John Fell in his hood near Lafayette on Friday night and then we drove down a few hours to NOLA the next day for the pro meeting and all that jazz. Other than forgetting my swimskin, all the pre race stuff went off without a hitch. (Although we did manage to find ourselves roaming around the french quarter for an hour looking for race morning bagels. Note to NOLA city planners: add additional grocery stores that contain more than beads and booze). After a bit of UFC fight channel indoctrination, I headed to bed...which ended up being the floor of the sound proofed bathroom at midnight as countless numbers of cars drove past my bedroom window with drunken people singing such gems as: "making love in the club," among other songs.

The swim was an exercise in not drowning. We ran for what seemed like HOURS to get to deep enough water for swimming. I was cruising in zone 10 and by the time we were able to actually swim, I was pretty much wasted. I managed to keep a pack of girls in sight until the turnaround when the waves and interesting buoy setup made sighting less than easy. After having to retrace some swimming, I finally made it to shore and tried (successfully) to put the swim past me.

The bike course was great. I haven't ridden a flat race course for awhile, so it was nice to put the hammer down and just go. I passed a couple of girls and was then passed by another. The wind was bad on the way out but we had a great tailwind on part of the way back.

I was pretty much alone on the run course. Other than the awesome aid stations, it felt like a typical solo training run (although I was running faster, in a swim suit with a race belt, and had vanilla powergel plastered across my arm and legs...with the occasional photographer capturing unsightly facial expressions. On a side note: don't you find it odd that these photographers always get you at your worst...like when your shoulders are clearly not where you told your coach they would be...or you have that look of death on your face?!) At the mile 10 marker, swamp celebrity John informed me that there were girls within striking distance ahead and that I was currently in 7th place. I picked up the pace on the homestretch (which was awesome.....shaded....crowds....etc..) and ended up running my way to an unprecedented 5th place finish!

I really enjoyed RACING and am ready for more! The race venue and support were awesome and I definitely plan to be back. Thanks to John and his excellent stand-in sherpa and motivational skills. Also thanks to Coach Paulo for throwing down some creative training schedules to get me to the start line healthy and Darrell at FRONT OF THE PACK for dealing with my 500 last minute bike issues......and thanks to Matt for walking the dogs, cooking, etc.. and not making me feel too guilty. :)



We went to a post-race crawfish boil at John's parents' house...a virgin crawfish experience for me! I learned how to rip the tail off the poor creature and pull out the meat. Killer.




On the podium..apparently contemplating the fact that I am holding a check.



The swamp!

White Bike of LOVE

Careful you must be when sensing the future, Anakin. The fear of loss is a path to the dark side.

-Yoda

Lauren's New Bike, New Season, and Bikes for Bombs

Seeing that my race season is starting in about 2 weeks, I've been busy taking inventory of my equipment and mind.

Last night I picked up my new bike (frame) from Front of the Pack. I rode my old frame into the ground and decided that it was time to get a new one. Since I don't like change (except for the kind you can believe in), I just replaced the frame with a new frame that happens to have a KILLER PAINT JOB.



Darrell (FOTP owner) was awesome and stayed late to finish building up the bike. He probably built it really fast because I was sitting there droning on about all the latest triathlon gossip.

Matt has been out of town so I've been left alone to my own mechanical devices. This morning before riding I attempted to drop the tip of the saddle. This became a 3 hour debacle including desperate phone calls and iphone videos to Matt, expletives, and finally a mad dash to the shop to have Darrell and Co. fix my mess. This is where I'd like to justify my lack of mechanical skills by citing the law of comparative advantage. Society can maximize its collective efficiency only when individuals focus on a product/service that they can produce most efficiently/with lowest opportunity cost, which is CLEARLY not bike maintenance for me.

My virgin ride with the new bike today was awesome! I've really been enjoying the training lately and this new bike added to my euphoria. Seeing that the official start to my race season is coming up, I've been reflecting on triathlon in general. I'll be honest - last year I didn't love triathlon. I spent much of my training and racing all pent up and angry, and I think much of this was because I was trying to prove something. I realize that my self-worth need not be based only in whether I can swim 100x100s on the 1:25, or if I can move from being in the top 99.88999% of fastest cyclists in the world, to being in the top 99.89999%. Its not like any of this will contribute to world peace or end suicide bombings. (On second thought, perhaps if would-be suicide bombers started endurance training 5 hours per day, they'd be too tired to blow themselves up...bikes for bombs people...).

So....the only rational reason for me PERSONALLY to continue in triathlon is because I LOVE IT...otherwise, this sport is just a big waste of time and money. Thankfully, I've determined that I do love training and racing and therefore, I might as well go out and execute every single training session to its fullest...no more wasting time here!

Happy 2010 race season everybody!


My self-worth is also not based upon my laundry skills.


I thought Matt would be able to help me fix the saddle simply based upon examining this photo.


John Fell, my cajun nutrition sponsor and triathlon housing manager, sent me some new products to try. I felt like a kid at Christmas.