The new job is going great. I really love it – and I think I’m really good at it – and have thrown myself into it the way I used to throw myself into my tri training.
But now I am getting fat and out of shape because my training has been put on the back burner. I finally stepped on the scale and I weigh 156 lbs. My race weight is 144 lbs. I hate running with those extra 12 pounds of baggage. I am slow and I feel the extra weight on even the slightest incline. And it’s incredibly demoralizing to run my usual 6 miler “to the lake and back” at a 20% slower pace.
I need a plan so that I am motivated to train. So here it is. It includes lots of hills to give me extra incentive to work hard to shed some of those pounds.
- Tar Heel 10 miler, April 9th. Hilly run on UNC campus that finishes in Kenan Stadium and includes running up Laurel Hill, yikes!
- Bandits Challenge, June 18. Super hilly OLY race.
- Kure Beach Double Sprint, June 26, super fun times with Ginger! Do big ocean waves count as hills?
- Mayo Lake*, Aug 13, Kinda Hilly sprint
- Nuclear Swim*, Aug 28, 1 mile swim in Lake Harris
- Bridge to Bridge, Sept ??, 105 miles, 12,000 feet of climbing, ends with climb up Grandfather mountain. Yay!
- Washington Half*, Oct 29. Not hilly, but I loved this race course, so I want to do it again!
*I have included three FS Series races this year in my plan. They are a local race production company in North Carolina and put on a super fun race with the best race schwagg! At right is pictured the sweet hoodie that all participants were given at the Washington Half last year. I love that hoodie!
There, now that I’ve written out this plan, I better get my butt in gear!
I’ve been bummed since I found out that the “Blood Sweat and Gears” 100 mile bike ride is the same weekend as Kure Beach triathlon. I charted out the various race dates, and I think Mountains of Misery might fit into my schedule the best. And that ride ends with a Cat 1 climb – how cool is that?! Then, I found this chart comparing various mountain century rides versus elevation. Why does it excite me that Mountains of Misery is at the bottom of this chart? I need mental help.
Here is a nice little chart comparing various rides.
Three Mountain Metric (jun 4) 75 miles elevation gain is 8600 feet
Blood, Sweat and Gears (jul 25) 101 miles 9908 feet
Brutal 100 (mid Aug) 105 miles 10,167 feet
Hilly Hellacious (oct) 100 miles 9281 feet
Bridge to Bridge (sept) 105 miles 11,739 feet
6 Gap Century (sept) 100 miles 11,657 feet
Chea Challenge (jun 4) 100 miles 9,501 feet
(part of 3 mtn madness)
Mt, Mitchell (may 16) 100 miles 12,255 feet
Mountains of Misery (may 29) 104 miles 12,880 feet
See my earlier post for dates and links to the rides above.
After weeks of cold and snowy weather here in NC, we finally had a nice warm Saturday. So I headed out for a long bike ride. It was a fantastic day for a ride, too. About 8 miles into my ride, a female rider waved to me as she rode by in the opposite direction. I waved back, and wondered who it was. She looked lean and mean, for sure. Later in the evening, I found out it was local pro triathlete and USAT coach, Stacey Richardson, when she struck up a google chat with me. :-) Stacey is always filled with words of wisdom, and has graciously allowed me to share this with my readers. Enjoy!
stacey: heya carol. that was me waving to you today on fearrington
road, just beyond governor’s village. good to see you out! hope to
God that was a big gear set and not how you usually ride, you beast!
: )
me: haha, how did you recognize me and how on earth did you evaluate
my cadence during that short wave? i do tend to drive a big gear, my
weakness, i know. very nice day for a ride…did you enjoy?
stacey: are you kidding? I saw you half a mile away, grinding 75 rpms.
: ))
but your smile is what gave you away, too. : ))
it was great to be out!
me: aw thanks. i could tell you were a pro, but my eyes are bad, so
did not recognize you! thinking of getting contacts for riding.
stacey: haha. I wear prescription sunglasses. Im with you!
a pro. riding 16 mph. oh yeah. get it awwwwn. : )
me: good thinking. your riding form was spot on…i can spot that much!
what is next in your tri life?
stacey: hahhaa.
recovering.
riding 42 miles felt like an eternity today! : )
to think that 6 weeks ago I was in rocking IM shape!
bleggh.
me: I know, not fair how easy it is to lose all that hard earned fitness.
i rode 3 hours and have been exhausted all day since. that used to be
a walk in the park for me.
stacey: solid work! now do it at 90 rpms and you won’t be so tired. : )))))
then it’s not weight lifting on the bike but rather pure aerobic
exercise, burning fat not glycogen. : )))
let me know when you are going out. we’ll drag you along. heck, you
can drag us! ; )
me: i am fat and out of shape right now so i’m sure i could not keep
pace with you. i love my new job but there is ALWAYS food around.
donuts, pizza, pretzels, cookies. ACK, how am i supposed to get lean
again with that going on?
stacey: I know. I hear ye. but again, make sure you are burning fat on long distance workouts,
missy. it’s called using your metabolic fitness to your advantage.
cadence, aerobic. no grinding. and eating while you ride so you
don’t chow at home. I’m soo guilty of that sometimes.
you are in great shape. so don’t you let a few lbs put the frown on you.
think of it as adding training benefit- cuase when you lose em you can FLYY! ; )
me: good points, thanks. i think i am going to do a mountain
century this season. that will give me big incentive to try to get
lean.
stacey: sweet. I do most of em. blue ridge brutal is lovely. tour
de cashiers is murder.
queen isaqueena’s last ride I’ve never done.
mountains of misery is goofy.
roan moan- lovely!
I’ll be going to most of em.
me: how is blood sweat and gears? i just like that sound o f that one!
stacey: stupid hard at times. beautiful.
for that one, def lose the weight or you’ll die.
Ive done it with 5 extra lbs and thought I’d shoot myself.
me: FML
stacey: fml?
me: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=fml
stacey: ohh! like that!!! you are so online hip
me: can’t believe you never saw that on facebook.
stacey: haha. I’m not that hip, dude.
I do waste more time on fb now. ; )
stacey: road bikes a must [for mountain century]
me: i do have a road bike. need to get fit on it b/c it is very uncofmrtable
stacey: ooh. good idea. it should feel like home.
bike fit-matt loder, cary cycle surgeon.
stacey: or — dave w or me. TTFN. see. I know one.
me: have a good one.
stacey: : )))
xoxoxoox
me: ur cute!
stupid hard at times. beautiful. I like that. I’m in…. http://www.bloodsweatandgears.org/
Update later on: Not sure if I can do Blood sweat and gears. It might end up on the same weekend as Kure Beach, dang!
Here is a list for myself while I think about this:
- Mountains of Misery is May 29th. Got to figure out when is UNC graduation. http://www.cyclingdoubleheader.com/mountains-of-misery
- Blood Sweat and Gears was June 26th last year. Date not set yet. http://bloodsweatandgears.org/bsg/main/start.htm
- Roan Moan. Date not set yet, but will be last saturday in July, probably not doable due to Kure Beach. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Roan-Moan/321923559916
- Blue Ridge Brutal, Mid August, possibly. http://www.ashecivic.com/about-blue-ridge-brutal.html
- Tour de Casheirs, early May (crap, that’s not enough time to lose 20 lbs!), http://tourdecashiers.com/
- queen isaqueena’s last ride, May 7, queen isaqueena’s last ride http://ilrsc.com/
- 3 mountain madness, june 4th, http://www.3mountainmadness.com/routes.htm
List of century rides southeast 2010. http://nashvillecyclist.com/events/charity-rides
I guess I need to chart out my race schedule so I can choose which one to do. Maybe there are other choices as well.
Tags: beautiful, blood sweat and gears, cadence, riding, stupid hard
Just call me the crooked woman.
I’ve had this terrible stiff neck and shoulder pain for about three weeks. I can barely turn my head to look over my right shoulder when driving on the highway. Today on my way home from work, I stayed in the slow lane all the way home just to avoid having to change lanes.
I noticed in the mirror today one shoulder is lower than the other. I think it looks alot worse in real life than the picture below shows. Maybe it’s just in my head. Or my neck.
This the the third time in three years I have had this issue:
The first time was during my Ironman training. I ramped up my bike mileage too fast. I was in a panic because I was in my peak training for Beach2Battleship, so I went to a chiropractor hoping to get back to the business of training as quickly as possible. That worked out great, thank you Dr. Ed Raymond. The adjustments immediately got my neck back to full range of motion, allowing me to continue training, but did not completely alleviate the pain. The thing I loved about Dr. Ed was that he has a sports training background and gave me really good advice about how to fix the root cause of the problem.
The second time was last summer while training for Halfmax. What set off the episode that time…was too much swimming combined with poor sleep posture, and bad form doing lat pulldowns at the gym. Again, I was in the middle of my all-important training plan and could not afford to just ‘wait until it got better’. So, I went to a different chiropractor that was located near work. I did not like that guy at all – he just tried to sell me a bunch of crap and services that I did not want, and tried to convince me that I needed adjustments 3x per week for 6 weeks. I went twice, and that helped some, but did not buy into his long term chiropractor sales pitch.
This time around I think it is due to too much computer mousing, bad sleep posture, and falling on my shoulder while using my roller trainers. And since I am not training for anything, I am not in a panic for a quick fix, so I decided to just wait it out. Well, that’s not working out too well. I can’t tolerate swimming at all. Forget about doing any crunches or P90X workouts. Running is not too bad, but swinging my arms hurts alot – so I don’t enjoy running. The pain is not horrible, but it’s really starting to grate on my nerves and make me crabby. And, I want to get into a good workout groove, even tho I’m not training for a s specific race. I need the endorphins to keep me happy.
Maybe I should buy a crooked cat? And catch a crooked mouse. Or, maybe I should just stop using my mouse!
Tags: chiropractor, neck pain, shoulder pain
I received two boxes of the new Wheaties box featuring Chris McCormack, ahead of sales to the general public. Lucky me! This new Wheaties box will be available in stores in March 2011. I gave one box to a friend at work who is training for his first Ironman in 2011, along with his girlfriend. I hope that the Macca Wheaties will bring Scottie and Jennifer good luck. Scottie put this on his Facebook, so I guess that means he liked it 
“Macca whaaaaaaat?!!!”
The Wheaties Fuel box, I kept for myself. I had never even heard of the Fuel variety of Wheaties before. I ate some right before hopping on my roller trainer to watch Ironman Kona on TV. The Wheaties Fuel tasted like regular Wheaties, sweeter, and with a crunchier, granola-like texture. They were delish! And I greatly enjoyed the Kona action – especially seeing the epic Ironwar between Macca and Raelert.
I’m going to write another blog post about my trainer roller ride. Stay tuned for that. In the meantime., please read on for the Wheaties news…
WHEATIES® CROWNS THE ULTIMATE ENDURANCE ATHLETE: 2010 FORD IRONMAN WORLD CHAMPION TO BE FEATURED ON BOTH WHEATIES AND WHEATIES FUEL BOXES
Australian Triathlete Chris McCormack First Ironman Wheaties and Wheaties FUEL Boxes Unveiled
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — (December 14, 2010) — After swimming, cycling and running his way to victory at the Ford Ironman World Championship, the world’s most challenging endurance event, Wheaties is proud to unveil Chris McCormack as the first Ironman World Champion to appear on Wheaties and Wheaties FUEL boxes. The boxes featuring the 140.6 mile champion will hit store shelves in March, and the Wheaties FUEL-sponsored 2010 Ford Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii debuts on NBC on Saturday, December 18.
“Chris McCormack is an inspiring athlete, and we are proud to recognize the multi-sport endurance triathlon events and competitors that Chris represents by featuring him as our first Ironman champion to grace Wheaties and Wheaties FUEL boxes,” said Wheaties FUEL Marketing Manager Dan Stangler. “Wheaties FUEL, designed to fuel athletic performance, is a great nutrition source for athletes looking to jumpstart their morning as they pursue excellence on and off of the race course and Chris is certainly a perfect example of that journey.”
McCormack battled against extreme heat conditions, heavy rain fall and melting lava roads to swim 2.4 miles, cycle 112 miles and run 26.2 miles in Kona this year. He has triumphed under equally-challenging conditions at nearly every major short course on the global triathlon calendar from Chicago to San Diego and New York City to Los Angeles. In addition, he has captured first place at Ironman distance races from Australia to Germany, as well as the Olympic Distance World Championship, and his Ford Ironman World Championship win marks his fifth top-10 finish. McCormack finished the grueling 140.6-mile Ford Ironman World Championship race in just over eight hours, at 08:10:37 to break through the finish line tape first out of approximately 1800 of the world’s top professional and age group athletes competing in the 2010 championship event.
“Breakfast is such an important meal of the day for any athlete. Given the long hours I train, I really need a nutrition source with a blend of simple and complex carbohydrates that can help fuel me,” said Chris McCormack. “I never miss breakfast, and I include whole grains and B vitamins to provide the long-lasting energy I need to endure a grueling workout, so I can’t think of a bigger honor than being on a Wheaties box and representing the accolades of being an Ironman. I know my kids will get so excited to see my face in the cereal aisle.”
McCormack’s appearance on the Wheaties box will be accompanied by the cover of the Wheaties FUEL box, which was the official cereal and sponsor of the Ford Ironman World Championship because it provides balanced nutrition that helps athletes prepare to win. Wheaties Fuel provides a blend of carbohydrates: simple carbs for rapid supply of energy, complex carbohydrates from whole grain to provide long-lasting energy and help fuel working muscles, and fiber to help curb hunger while limiting feelings of fullness. B-vitamins help unlock the energy contained in the carbohydrates. Wheaties FUEL also contains an excellent source of iron. Iron helps transport oxygen to working muscles. The cereal was developed by a team of elite athletes in the various sports of triathlon (Hunter Kemper), decathlon (Bryan Clay), basketball (Kevin Garnett), baseball (Albert Pujols) and football (Peyton Manning), and a leading sports nutritionist (Dr. John Ivy, University of Texas) to help fuel wins. Proper nutrition is critical to reaching the highest levels of athletic performance. Each of us strive for our own wins every day. Wheaties FUEL can help you prepare for any challenge.
“It is a great day for the sport, and for triathletes everywhere, to have Chris McCormack featured on Wheaties and WheatiesFUEL boxes as the first ever Ironman to receive this great honor,” said Ben Fertic, chief executive officer, Ironman. “He joins an elite list of athletes, and it’s exciting to see the sport – and its accomplished athletes – receive this recognition by such a highly regarded brand as Wheaties.”
Not only is McCormack the first Ironman World Champion to be featured on a Wheaties box, he will also be the first athlete featured on the cover of the Wheaties FUEL box outside of the cereal’s elite co-creators.
Wheaties FUEL recently unveiled Wheaties FUEL Prepare to Win nutrition tips from Ironman competitors all over the world. The first three videos in the series are available to view on the Wheaties Facebook page. The latest addition features nutrition tips from McCormack. The brand is challenging Ironman athletes from around the globe to submit their nutrition tips via video submissions to the Wheaties Facebook page in order to share their personal learnings with other athletes.
About Wheaties
Born out of a fortunate mistake in 1924, original Wheaties was created when a health clinician accidentally spilled a wheat bran mixture onto a hot stove. The result was tasty, crispy wheat flakes that became known as Washburn’s Gold Medal Whole Wheat Flakes. A year later, the cumbersome name was shortened to Wheaties. Baseball legend Lou Gehrig was the first athlete featured on a Wheaties Box, when he appeared on the back cover in 1934. In 1958, American champion pole-vaulter Bob Richards was the first person to appear on the front of the package, jumpstarting the phenomenon of “being on the Wheaties box,” which has since been graced by some of the greatest athletes of all time, including Bruce Jenner, Walter Payton, Mary Lou Retton, and many others. To view a complete timeline of Wheaties Champions, visitwww.wheaties.com.
About Wheaties FUEL
Wheaties FUEL is a lightly sweetened, crunchy whole wheat flake with crispy rice and a touch of cinnamon and honey and it represents the evolution of the iconic 85-year-old Breakfast of Champions. Wheaties FUEL is the first-ever cereal designed to help meet the nutritional needs of today’s athletes and was created with the help of Peyton Manning, triathlete Hunter Kemper, Kevin Garnett, gold medal-winning decathlete Bryan Clay, Albert Pujols and sports nutritionist Dr. John Ivy. The ready to eat cereal provides long-lasting energy from whole grain to help keep you going, and 100% of the Daily Value of five B-vitamins to help the body release energy from food.
For more information on Wheaties and the Wheaties FUEL evolution visit www.Wheaties.com. And, become a Breakfast of Champions fan on www.Facebook.com/Wheaties to receive exclusive content and more.
About Ironman
World Triathlon Corporation (WTC) is a Tampa-based company recognized for athletic excellence, distinguished events and quality products. WTC’s ever-growing portfolio includes the Ironman, Ironman 70.3, 5150, Iron Girl and IronKids brands, which have a combined total of more than 100 events worldwide each year. Supported by partners including Ford, Timex, Foster Grant and PowerBar, Ironman is the No.1 user-based sports brand in the world and has been a respected name in triathlon since its inception in 1978.
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The Breakfast of Champions, Wheaties and Wheaties Fuel are registered trademarks of General Mills.
