Super fast lunch tip! (and other ramblings)

A few basic items of background information:

1. I like to cook...usually.

2. I like eating fresh veggies and I feel a lot better when I eat them. A salad is my go-to lunch.

3. I don't mind peeling/chopping/slicing/prepping fruits and vegetables. I find it very relaxing and kind of meditative.

But after a workout, standing in the kitchen to chop vegetables and cook a meal is the absolute last thing that I want to do. My main goal is getting food in my face and my butt on the couch. I should note that this is also how I felt when I got home from work back in the days of my 6am to 6pm job. As I learned then, the key is forethought and preparation.

So on Mondays, I go to the grocery store and buy all my salad ingredients: some kind of leaf base, precooked beets, sauerkraut, cucumbers, carrots, other things that look fresh/tasty, plus some feta and smoked salmon.

When I get home, I wash the leaves and then repack them in a big ziplock bag. I let them air dry for a while so they don't get all nasty over the week.

Then it is chopping time: I have 5 big jars set out and proceed to fill them with the toppings for each day's salad. (If you are using beets, put them in first!) All the veggies, minus the base leaves, go in here, and into the fridge. It takes me less than 30 minutes to do all of this, but that time probably depends on which vegetables you choose.

So, when it is time for lunch, I throw down a handful of leaves, pour out the jar, then top with some smoked salmon and chopped feta. Sometimes I'll add some sunflower seeds or raisins on top. Then olive oil, balsamic, and salt/pepper and I am ready to eat! Super fast!

Interestingly, I have this memory from my childhood of my mother standing at the kitchen counter and chopping the ingredients for her lunchtime salad. So your parents do have a huge influence on your eating habits!

Another eating related item: I found Matt Fitzgerald's interview on the Endurance Planet podcast very refreshing. Instead of "you should eat x because of y, but not a because of b," he was much more realistic about food choices and identifying what works for each person. I'm going to have to listen again...

Reliving the race...also, good German practice!

Here is the video that SkinFit put together about Lydia Waldmueller, who finished 2nd in Norseman this year.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFdOBPBKHQE&feature=youtu.be

Even if you don't speak German, I think this is the best coverage of the "experience" of the racers and support teams. The guy who is her support crew did the race last year, so I bet that was a factor in planning the video coverage.

Now, keep in mind that she was at the front end of the race -- it is much more crowded when you are in the middle of the pack!

Notes from watching the Kona coverage

A few quick things I found enlightening:

1. I was expecting the pros to do super high-speed bike mounts. Instead, I noticed that the leaders (the ones they showed anyways) were very deliberate when getting on their bike. Yes, shoes were in the pedals and most of them used the rubber bands, but there was no "flying" involved. So I guess I can stop thinking that my mount is soooooo slooooooow. One thing I did learn is that I should probably make getting up to full speed the first priority, then slipping on my shoes. In past races, I'll only get up to half speed before putting them on. And then I get discouraged that a bunch of people pass me.

2. My race photos (especially on the run) are always terrible. Since there are always great photos of the pros running, I assume that somehow bad photos mean that I'm a bad runner. (When I actually write that down, it seems ridiculous!) Since the FinisherPix are linked to the results, now I can see the race photos of people that I know are fast -- and they are pretty bad pictures, too!

On a related note -- my singlehanded worst race photo ever was taken at Las Vegas. If you want some comic relief, check out the photos here, especially the second one at the swim exit. I thought that was a picture of a man but realized that the stripes on the swim skin were pink. Blech.

I am currently getting back into training and working on finalizing my goals and races for next year.

German Cycling Capstone Exercise

Now that race season is over, I'm happy to be riding my trusty Merida road bike out on the open roads again. It is so nice to have my hands on the brakes at all times, plus I feel very well balanced. So I'm been out exploring some of the bike routes along the river.

Yesterday, as I'm 30 minutes into my ride, I shift to my small chainring to anticipate the approaching intersection. I immediately hear the terrible sound of something hitting my spokes, so I quickly stop. It turns out that my chain had dropped in between the cassette and the spokes. To make matters worse, the wheel was now out of alignment and therefore could not spin. The good news was that I wasn't on the side of a road somewhere, I was close enough to civilization that I could get a cab if I needed, and the weather was fine. I eventually loosed up the brake cable to make the caliper wide enough for the wobbly wheel to spin and I slowly rode home, being extremely careful with the rear brake. I got home with no problems and finished my required time on my trainer and tri bike.

Ironically, as I am riding down the street to get home, I was passed by a German Red Cross vehicle. The road isn't very wide due to parked cars, so I was kind of miffed that they were really close and going a bit fast. But then, the car slams on the brakes and as I am going on the right to avoid it, the passenger opens the door only a few feet in front of me. I bailed onto the sidewalk, said the only German swear word I know, and made it the last 400m home.

I decided I would quickly clean off the bike before I was going to determine if I could fix the problem at home. It became evident that there is the possibility the derailleur hanger might be bent. Checking that requires a tool that I don't have, so I'd need to go to a bike shop.

Normally, I take my bike to Rad Sport Smit in Gustavsberg, but that is a long drive. I chose to go to the 4 Riders shop in the neighboring town. I had already checked them out, and they seemed like a quality shop. I loaded my bike in the car, expecting that I would have to leave it there.

I was able to explain to the mechanic my problem in German. He immediately took a look, adjusted the limit screws and then tightened the spokes until the wheel was back in alignment. (The hanger wasn't bent after all.) The whole process took about 5 minutes. And it only cost 10 EUR! This was a win-win-win situation!!

So proud of myself for being prepared, keeping my wits about me, and dealing with the entire situation quickly and without getting discouraged.

And for future reference, the phrase "my wheel is untrue" is "das rad hat einen Achter." Why isn't that in my phrasebook?

Don't Be That Triathlete

I found this video from Competitor Magazine hilarious. Lesley Patterson did a great job of spoofing some of the more bizarre practices people engage in.

The pie on the bike reminded me of a gal a few spots away from me at the Redman Half a few years ago. As we are racking our bikes the night before, I glanced at her bento box -- it was chock full of various baked goods in ziploc baggies. It looked like a very small version of the offerings at a bake sale set up outside a Walmart. I think I said something about her selection and she replied, "yeah, I like variety."

At races, I'll always take note of the people who put their wetsuit on really, really early. (I understand it takes a while -- I allow at least 15 minutes!) I'm talking about an hour before the race starts. But at Norseman, I saw a guy with his wetsuit on (fully pulled up, too) around 3 am. The race started at 5 am.

I think a great idea for triathlon spectators would be to have a photo scavenger hunt. Everyone gets the same list for things like "craziest hat," "most epic beard, "brightest jersey," or "most kiniseotape." Compare and discuss later.

There was one thing that would have really put this video over the top: When she was at the office, she should have been wearing calf compression sleeves, shorts, and sandals/Crocs. However, that probably would have hit too close to home for many people.

Vegas Notes

Since the World Championship is moving to Mt. Tremblant, I probably won't be doing this course again. But there were important things that I did and learned, so I'll write them for my own historical record:

1. Drafting on the swim. I was concerned about still being tired during the swim, so I actively worked to always find someone's feet. I normally just swim my own race and probably waste a lot of energy. The lake is really muddy, so I did have to do a lot of heads-up sighting to make sure I was still behind someone. This might have slowed me down a bit, but I didn't feel drained after getting out of the water, so that is a plus.

2. The foot rinse. In the run to T1, part of the lane was through a grassy area that the rain and 1700 previous competitors had turned into a mud pit. After that, we were routed through a sand volleyball court. As a result, my feet were covered in wet sand. There were volunteers handing out water right at the beginning of the carpet and I grabbed one with each hand and poured them on my feet. That was an outstanding decision.

3. Change to water plan. Since the temps were not hot on the first 2/3ds of the bike, I only grabbed water at half of them. I was still getting fluids from my gel bottle (8 gels + water in a 12oz bottle). Once the sun came out at the end and I had finished my gels, I made sure to drink a bit more after the last aid station.

4. Run fueling plan. They added an extra aid station this year, but my basic plan was to take water and coke at every aid station except the one halfway up the hill -- I carried two PowerGels to eat on the first two laps. I also would dump ice down my shorts or top. My run was 10 minutes faster this year, so I was pretty pleased with that.

5. Post-race air travel. I flew through Atlanta on the Tuesday after the race on Sunday. Despite wearing compression nylons, I had a terrible cramp in my quad that popped up about 2 hours into the flight. For future post-race travel, I need to get an aisle seat so I can get up and move around more easily.

6. Heat prep. I had been going to the sauna at least once a week, taking colostrum, and doing workouts in extra clothing and I think that all of these things helped. I don't really remember feeling like I was overheating like the previous year.

I was still feeling a bit fatigued on the climbs, but I was happy with the level of effort I put in on race day. It was so great to see my Timex teammates before the race and then out on the course!

So now that my race season is done, it is time to step back, reflect, and plan out next season...

Ironman: the aftermath

So it has now been a little over three weeks since I finished Norseman. I have just under two weeks until my last race of the season, Las Vegas.

I have now come up with a "should-have" for my full distance training: I should have done more research about the post-race. I am normally a super planner and researcher, but maybe it was because I didn't want to jinx myself or take my eye off the ball so I didn't really know much about how I was going to feel after the race was over. This was (and still is!) uncharted territory for me.

I understood the importance of feeding myself nutritious food and getting plenty of sleep. With the exception of a bit of stiffness the following day, I was never in any pain. I wasn't physically exhausted. I don't think I was mentally exhausted. I felt like I was back to normal within a few days.

After about 5 days of rest, I was back to following my training, which was now mostly swims and easy recovery bike rides. Sounds pretty non-threatening...

Here is what blew my mind: despite feeling fine and my heart rate variability and resting pulse rate suggesting I was fine, within minutes of starting my workout I found I had no juice. The best analogy is to compare myself to an old cell phone. You charge it up, the display says full bars, and after pressing a few buttons, you have no battery power left. For me, this was very frustrating. I would look at my run pace or my bike speed and think, "well, this is pretty humbling." Even worse was going to our club swims -- the people I usually swim faster than were dropping me.

I guess this is going to take a while. I'm already seeing improvement in my "rebound," so that gives me hope that I will only get better and I shouldn't get discouraged. For my next Ironman, I need to be smart about scheduling races afterwards as well as planning better for the recovery stage.

Time will tell....