Typical response from Mike Ricci of D3 Multisport

Because when women disagree with men, we are "off our meds" or "crazy" or "on our monthly cycle" (Those are all phrases he has used to describe me at one time or another. What else do you do with powerful women? I mean, we have to be controlled. The days of burning us are over, right? Next you know, we'll want the right to vote.)

Please read THIS article that covers the topic of how some men attempt to emotionally manipulate women.


WOMEN athletes: Take special note of his patronizing comments. His views of women come across loud & clear. (Take a minute, scroll down to see what women and men think about his comments).


The reason I wrote the previous post is because athletes have no recourse for a coach that mistreats & attempts to bully them. I have nothing to gain from these posts. He has everything to lose, so he is in full on attack mode now. People get angry when they know they are wrong.

He sent several other messages, but they came in at the exact moment I blocked him, which is probably a good thing because as one person said, "that behavior is sort of pathological". So, I never saw the rest of his messages.   In addition to this, he attempted to follow me on Strava today. Now, that's odd behavior isn't it? Fortunately, I blocked him as of yesterday. He has also been on my blog. Good thing I'm on strong enough meds that I don't find that just a little bit strange.

I cannot stress enough that I tried to talk to him to give him honest feedback about why I canceled coaching with him, but he kept attacking me instead. In fact, I sent the email. He responded with, "I'm not even going to read it." Alrighty then.

All I ask is that all of you share this information with people. ESPECIALLY women athletes. We do not have to accept this type of treatment from anyone. There is a reason he has very few women athletes....and no women athletes over the age of 45. We simply don't put up with that shit.

Oh and here's a screenshot of the training history that he deleted. There's more, but I think one month is adequate proof.

And this screenshot shows the last week of training history that still remains before he started deleting data.

This is just a small sampling of comments from total strangers and people I know. In particular, Thank you to all the men for your support (who commented that women should not be bullied by a man like this). You and Mr. Tea are the type of men who appreciate strong, confident & intelligent women. WE women truly appreciate you.  To my female supporters, thank you for your support and comments and stories of also being bullied by male counterparts.

Good for you, Tea! We are adults (well, most of the time) and should be treated as such. Name calling is just childish and has no place in a coaching relationship.

F him

Wow

Guy has some major problems.

Talk about major douch-baggery. I certainly hope you never took any of that personally because that behavior is not worth a second of emotional stress.

Sounds like a troll and looks like he needs a good fight Tea!

Look, there are so many GOOD coaching options with coaches who are passionate about the success and enjoyment of their athletes. There is no good reason to suffer through a coach that isn't the right fit, let alone a coach who is just a lousy business owner.

Thank you for having the guts to break the silence and let some sunlight and oxygen hit this subject. Bullying, shadow-skulking, name calling... sounds like a narcissist control freak who couldn't own you. I've encountered something similar recently and it's no picnic. Brava, Tea. For speaking up.

What. The. Fuck

Someone didn't like being called out on his bad behavior.

He's got a problem.

Someone needs meds. Coaching is a business relationship and crap like this should not happen.

You win! His warped perspective is very clear in that post - "You should really go back on your meds" = ATTACK I never doubted you Tea. Flush the turd and go have a happy life.

After his response I am glad to see that you are moving on. Life is too short for this kind of drama. Keep smiling!

"Chuck it in the fuck-it bucket and move on. 

Your results in performance, training and racing this year ARE the last word. 

Also, you should know that you are admired, respected and, dammit, LIKED. Because you are you."

Whoa. Coaches are weird.

And this from another coach: "That is truly unprofessional to tell someone to get back on their meds. The job of a coach is to work with the obstacles that the athlete faces by either modifying the workouts, changing the plan, or developing a new strategy to have the client start to see progress and success. The Snap-On dealer doesn't have a truck big enough for this TOOL. Ugh!!!!"

There's nothing much more patronizing that to play the 'meds' or the 'period' card. Beyond demeaning. You need to get a helium balloon, write his name on a small piece of paper, attach it to the string, and let it go. S'rsly

NO MAN should EVER talk to a woman like that. 

Wow. That behavior is nothing short of pathological.

Don't make my mistake

NEVER HIRE Mike Ricci from D3 MULTISPORT. Please make sure to read the update here. It's only fair that you read his own comments.

I hate to slam a small business, but when service is this bad, I want to get the word out.

In a way, a Coach is your employee. I fired Mike because he was not performing the minimum requirements of his job.

1.) When I stopped training, Mike Ricci cancelled my plan, didn't finish my month, never refunded my money and deleted some of my training history. When I tried to contact him, he would not respond to my email. (He also blocked me on Twitter and all social media, so that I could not use that method of contact either.)

2.) He is extremely controlling. I repeatedly tried to talk to him about my training and the problems I was having, only to be met with "I'm the coach. Do what I say". "LET ME DO MY JOB" (the caps were his). In addition to this, he demanded that I talk to him every week via a phone call. When I told him that I didn't have time to talk once a week, he went off on me. I told him I could talk once a month. When I set up the meeting to talk once a month, he ignored the meeting request and blew off the meeting.

3.) When I didn't follow his orders, or tried to question training methods, or understand the direction we were going, he got angry.....very angry.....
I once asked for a day off, and he said, "IF YOU KNOW YOUR BODY SO WELL TAKE A DAY OFF". All I was trying to do was request a day off. I hadn't had one in weeks. I wasn't sleeping. I was irritable. I was being "over trained". This is a coach's responsibility: to pay attention to energy levels of their athletes.

4.) He ignored my need to work around scheduling conflicts and said that I "wanted to do my own thing".

5.) When I tried to talk to him to clear the air, he called me a liar and STOPPED the conversation. Only wanting to blame me and was completely unwilling to look at the fact that his training approach wasn't working.

6.) He was overly critical of me. When I did a workout, he would get on me about how I did. The next time I tried to do it better. That next time, he was even more critical. No matter what I did, it wasn't good enough. The worst part was that he started pitting me against other athletes. We went to a race where his CU tri team was also racing. He kept telling another D3 Coach that I would beat certain CU athletes. WHO DOES THAT? That is HORRIBLE coaching. I was 46 years old. I was in really bad shape that day. I shouldn't even have started the race.  They were all in their early 20's. I was supposed to feel good about that? Hell no. It goes to show that he didn't even care about me or MY goals. I ended up getting a DNF. If he was even paying ANY attention to me as an athlete, he would have said, "Hey Tea, I think you need to sit this one out".

7.) The entire year of 2013, my times slowed. Instead of helping me get faster, he put increasing pressure on me to podium in an effort to avoid the issue of my slowing times. Who cares about placing if you aren't meeting your own goals? Who cares about WINNING if your times were some the of slowest you've had?

The saddest part is that I almost gave up on triathlon because of him. I felt like a failure. I hated triathlon. I hated racing. The fun was completely gone because of a Coach.

I have repeatedly admitted to handling the break up poorly and have talked about it openly here. (I was abrupt. No warning, but I never attacked him. I needed time away from him to clear my head). But I think everyone who reads this can understand what it's like to get to a point where you're just not going to take it anymore. I do not deserve to be attacked and called names like I was tonight.

Sadly, this is the short list. I have a 3 page letter that I typed to him earlier this year outlining all of reasons I quit. I never sent that letter.

If you want to know the particulars about my situation, please contact me. I was quiet about this for too long.

Stuff I love

It's been years since I posted a few of my favorite things! What makes this whole swim, bike & run thing a little more comfortable or fun? (Besides the activities themselves, of course).

Swim:

1.) When I swim open water or with masters, there's a lot going on to keep me focused on my workout. Coach also prefers that I swim on my own, more times than I swim with masters. These are usually pretty long sets at a less intense pace. These workouts can exceed an hour, so how do I keep from going crazy, following the black line, back and forth? I love my waterproof ipod with short headphones (clip them onto your goggles). I don't know if this link is the exact one that I bought. If you buy one, make sure that you get the one that allows you to press the buttons while in the water. Some of the waterproofing companies say pressing buttons will void the warranty. I've been using mine for 10 months now with no issues. OH....and make sure you get the "flipturn" headphones. If you're a runner, having a waterproof ipod and headphones goes a long way when you get caught in the rain.....or even if you sweat profusely....like....ummm....some of us.

2.) SUNSCREEN: I am fortunate that I can swim outside all year long. In Colorado, we have the highest rates of skin cancer in the US. In 2004, I had skin cancer, and my Aunt died from melanoma two years ago. It was a horrible, horrible thing to go through. I've tried every sunscreen out there. They are all pretty much equal, except this one. I love Neutrogena's sunscreen because you can put it directly on wetskin. It's waterproof, so I can use is for Swimming, sweating or even just being in very humid places. 

3.) Just for fun! As a masters swimmer, we get to sign up for the FLOG or Fitness Log. Now, I already log my workouts in Training Peaks, so why would I log it again in the FLOG? BECAUSE I GET FREE STUFF WHEN I HIT MILESTONES! Who doesn't love free stuff? You get swim caps for hitting 50 miles, a string back pack for other miles, swim suits, etc. 

4.) For those of you open water swimmers, I've tried MANY wetsuits over the years. I have to say the BlueSeventy is my absolute favorite. Everyone will have a different preference, but I love the buoyancy of the Blue Seventy over the Xterra. I also love having bigger arms holes and a tighter fitting torso. (Tighter fit = less drag). 

5.) With all that time spent in the pool and bouncing between chlorinated pools and acid pools, and being in my late 40's, my hair gets JACKED UP. That was until I found Sebastian's Penetrait. This stuff has been a savior for my hair. This is supposed to be a weekly formula, but I use it every time I swim, and it keeps my hair from getting the pool frizz.

One warning: Don't google Penetrate....just don't. Trust me.

Bike

1.) Women and men both need a way to carry extra food, keys, cell phone etc. Finding one that's easy to open while riding and big enough without being bulky has been a challenge for me. I LOVE my Xlabs Rocket Pocket. (And lady friends, it's long enough to carry full sized tampons). 

2.) I hadn't bought a bike helmet since I started riding. That's a long long time. When I needed to buy a new racing helmet this year, I was stuck. Do I go with the brand new Rudy Helmet? That bad boy costs around $500-$600. My previous helmet was a Rudy, and I liked it. I started doing some research on helmets. I noticed that some of the pro women at Kona last year were wearing ROAD racing helmets instead of triathlon helmets. Why? Well hell. The triathlon helmets are very hot. When racing in hot weather, it can be uncomfortable, especially since many women opt for long hair---for very good reason. Have you ever notice that women triathletes have long hair? Ever wonder why?It's not a fashion statement. It's purely functional.  It's because we train so much. It's much easier to put wet hair into a messy bun than having to deal with styling short hair. BUT, I digress. While a road helmet, can give a rider air flow and the option of spraying themselves with water. I decided to go with the Specialized for even more reasons: It has a ponytail cut out! This one is their top of the line helmet, and it's still less than half the price of the RUDY. It's so lightweight and comfortable that it doesn't even feel like I'm wearing a helmet. The airflow is amazing and means no more over heating. I bought the white one to deflect the heat even more. (Picture shown is blue...no duh).

3.) Fuel. This crosses all sports. Infinit Nutrition has a number of products that I absolutely love. I need to give you warning. I've gone back and forth between using Infinit and NOT using the product. The reason for it is that their CUSTOMER SERVICE SUCKS. Over the years, I've contacted them 5 times via email and twice via social media. THEY NEVER RESPONDED. NOT ONCE. I would much rather give my business to a company that actually cares about me. Still, they are the only company (that I am aware of) that allows you to completely customize your sport drink. THAT's why I use their products. I need a lot of sodium and a lot of calories. When I order my own custom blend, I have them put very little flavoring in it. This allows me to create a concentrated blend without having an over powering taste. (I'm very taste sensitive). Another reason I love the products is because the product doesn't sour or change flavor when it gets hot. I can go out for a 5 hour ride, the drink will get warm, but it will taste just as good as when it is ice cold. Another product of theirs that I love is the Infinit Mud. It's a mocha flavored protein/carbohydrate drink. I have it every single morning at breakfast. I love it! Mix it with (in my case) coconut milk and ice, and it tastes exactly like an iced coffee drink. 

4.) Hands down the best salt tablet out there with 333mg of sodium per tablet. That's +100mg more than SaltStick. I rest my case. 

5.) More and more women owned companies are getting involved with triathlon. Women have different needs. We have different bodies and need clothes that are cut bigger in the hips and thighs while also giving us support on top. Coeur sports has all of that. I'm bigger on top and have struggled with finding a top supportive enough to hold the girls in place without restricting my ability to breath. Coeur has been the first company to offer a built in shelf bra that is strong enough for those of us who are C cups and larger. No more wearing a running bra that only leads to horrible chafing (after the swim. I mean really. Running bras are made for running NOT running after a swim!) I also need bottoms that are cut larger in the legs. The shorts offer seam free chamois, yoga styled waist band (no muffin top), and best of all....3 rear pockets on the shorts! THANK YOU COEUR!

6.) For fun! Strava started as a tool for cyclists, but it branched out into running. Now, we can upload bikes, runs, swims, and ANY other workout. The amazing thing about Strava is that State Governments are starting to buy their "hot spot" software. The governments buy the software to find where people are being the most active in an effort to make certain areas MORE Safe OR they use it a way to determine were to put in new pedestrian friendly paths. Now, that's the bigger picture. I use strava because it's SO FREAKING FUN. If you have a Garmin, timex or other device, your workouts will/can automatically upload to Strava. Every time you run/ride a segment faster, you get a virtual cup. When you run/ride a segment faster than anyone else, you get a QOM or KOM (Queen or King of the mountain). You can join challenges every month and set goals for yourself. I love it. It's fun. Also, it gives me a way to connect with people directly about their workouts WITHOUT posting it on FB. I am pretty sure everyone was pretty tired of me posting workouts on social media. NOW the only people that see my workouts are my Strava friends who are also currently training. It's a WIN-WIN.  Did I mention that STRAVA is FREE??

The Run

1.) By the time you get to the run, any little thing that can make you more comfortable, the better. To prevent chafing, I use Trislide, It's an anti-chafing product that goes on via spray, so your hands stay clean. The other benefit is that Tri-slide (when you spray your feet), makes getting on shoes a BREEZE. Shoes just slip right on! Wetsuit just slides right off! With other products, I've noticed that when I'm walking down to the shore, the sand will stick to my feet. I don't really want to hop on the bike with gravel stuck to my feet. Likewise, running with gravel stuck to you isn't a whole lot of fun. NOTHING sticks to trislide. NOTHING. 

2.) Fuel, once again. On the run, I take gels and salt tablets. Since I need 300 calories per hour plus sodium, it's a lot to carry for a half marathon and longer. I also struggle with taste sensitivity. I cannot take in sweet tasting gels. That limits the flavors that I can have. Introducing E-Gel. I can't rave about this product enough. First of all, each e-gel is 150 calories versus most other brands which are 100 calories. (The packs are larger, but I carry fewer, so who cares?). They have more than DOUBLE the electrolytes and have significantly more carbohydrates per pack. BEST OF ALL, they cost almost $1 per gel LESS. When I first bought the variety pack, I was extremely concerned about the taste. I thought they would be thrown away because they were too sweet. To my surprise, the flavors are more tart. They aren't sweet at all. I have had all the flavors now and love all of them! They also have a sports drink. I haven't tried it yet, but I will probably give it a try next year for my shorter distance races and masters swims. If you decide to try these gels, please use my member referral number: Member ID: 471293.  I can earn points which translate into discounts on my next purchase. I think you get a discount too. 

3.) For those of you who trail run or run in snow and ice, you cannot live without IceSpikes. Be safe. Keep your traction. In the winter, I run a series of 5ks often times on sheets of ice. IceSpikes is the BEST product out there to prevent dangerous slips and falls. These are spikes that screw into your shoes and can be removed without harm to your shoes. I just keep them in my trail shoes. There are no straps or coils that can move around while running. IceSpikes are the most stable option and MUCH better than using sheet metal screws because the IceSpikes actually grip the ground. 

WOW! I think that's it for now. Until next time, I'll also leave you with some of my favorite online stores.

Bike Nashbar Probably the best deals on the internet for tires, tubes, cartridges, even sunglasses. Check out their Nashbar brand products. Why spend $200 on sunglasses when you can spend $50 on a store brand?

First Endurance The multivitamin and the OptygenHP are probably the best products on the market. You only take OptygenHP for around 12 weeks leading up to your A race. (Make sure to order the Protype Multi-vitamins. The old version has both calcium and iron. Iron shouldn't be taken at the same time as calcium. The newer version removed the calcium and increased the iron because most endurance athletes have some varying leveling of iron deficiency.)

SwimOutlet Still the best deals for everything swim.

Road Runner Sports Been shopping here for years and haven't found a better source for running gear. It's still the cheapest running gear on the market. Shop the RRS brand. 

Have fun out there!

I can't explain it

Consistency means nothing if you aren't doing the right training. You can train for 10-15-20 hours a weeks and not see improvements. You can train for 10-15-20 hours a week and slow down. 

Coaches will tell you that consistency is the most important aspect of improving. That's because they want your business. I think Coaching is THE most important thing you can do for yourself when you start triathlon, but you need to find the right Coach. Every single person is different. I wrote a lengthy post awhile ago about how to find the right Coach. As soon as I have time, I'll add the link to this post.

Consistency is not the most important aspect. Take it from me. I've been there. It's really frustrating.

Consistency with the right training is the most important aspect.

I started doing triathlon 8 or 9 years ago. I've done just about every type of training available from free plans, to paid plans to forums to semi-coaching plans to 1-1 coaching. I'm now on my 2nd Coach, so I understand how important it is to find the right fit.

If improvement was only about consistency, I'd be running 7:00 miles by now.


Something happened over the weekend.....this is where I am going to struggle to describe what happened. Some of you will see yourself in this post. Some of you won't have any idea what I'm talking about.

For years, I did the training. On the long days, I always felt the same. I was tired and just getting through the workouts was enough for me. I always waited for taper. I mean....that's what taper is for, right? Shed your exhaustion and have your best race.

It never happened that way for me. In races, I felt exactly the same as I did in training. I'd start the day feeling tired and thinking "ok. let's just get through this....but THIS time there will be MAGIC that happens that will give me my best race."

For triathletes, being tired is like a badge of honor. "Yeah, I'm so tired....I trained for 22 hours this week."

I didn't know that was the wrong way to view training. You/we should never be so tired that we cannot give the effort needed on hard days.

Over the weekend, I swam over 3 miles. I biked over 6:15. At the end of that, I ran 45 minutes. Twenty of those minutes were supposed to be at HIM pace.

The loud voice in my head went off, "NO F*CKING WAY. I'm not going to be able to run at HIM pace."

But somewhere inside me there was another voice that said, "Liz has been right every step of the way. Take the warm up slow. She is ALWAYS right. And right now, she knows something you don't."

That first 15 minutes was a suckfest.....but I wasn't "tired". My legs were uncomfortable after doing the HIM bike pacing for 3:30. But the more I ran, the better I felt. My pace started as 12:30. Then it quickly started dropping as I started to shake off the ride.

By the time I got to my HIM pacing part of the run, I was exactly where I wanted to be. That's not entirely true. I thought I was going to run an 11:30. Then, I realized that my pace kept dropping and dropping, but I wasn't struggling anymore. Ideally, I want my HIM pace to be 10:45. That's exactly what I ran.

But it wasn't the fact that I nailed the pacing, it was how I felt. It wasn't a struggle in the way it used to be. Yes, my legs were feeling it, but they should after over 6 hours of riding.

The only way I can describe it is to say that I felt strong.

(Of course, fueling is a big part of this too, but I've already beat THAT dead horse).

Feeling strong. Feeling like for the first time since I started triathlon, that I can DO this. I can accomplish what I have always believed that I could. It was so frustrating for me to believe in my heart that I was a better athlete than my times showed. Even more frustrating was feeling like I was being blamed for my lackluster performances. I knew that wasn't true, but I didn't know what was wrong.....for years and years.

All those years that I wasn't ready, it was because I never had this feeling. I couldn't mentally go through a 70.3 again feeling the way I felt with my previous ones.

For the first time ever, I realized that I could have a huge PR....not "hoping" to have a huge pr....not "waiting for the magic to happen".....I could have a huge PR because I am strong, and my training paces show that I am capable of pulling it off.

*****

If you are new to triathlon, please don't make the mistake I made. Hire a coach. It's worth the investment. I thought I couldn't afford it. Now I realize that with the amount that I spend on equipment, fuel & races, the extra money for a coach would have saved me years of frustration.

If you're a runner, my Coach Liz just coached an athlete to a 1:16 half marathon....and that was just this weekend. Contact her. (And please tell her I sent you, so she knows how much I rave about her).

If you're a triathlete, Coach Liz is not just a World Champ herself, but she coaches World Champion triathletes and many of her athletes podium, qualify for nationals/worlds. She also coaches people who are very new to the sport.

For those of you who are still sitting on the couch, she coaches people just like you too. If you're following the adventures of Mr. Tea, you'll know that when he started with her, he had trouble walking 15 minutes. Now, he's running and walking and strength training for over an hour.

View her athlete's results here. She just had a baby in August, so the results haven't been updated since then.

Follow her on twitter here. She constantly posts excellent research articles, motivational images & cute baby pictures.

Coaches are not created equal. Hire the right one.

Can we just do this thing already?

I'm starting to get impatient.

That's probably because I'm tired. I'm always eating. I'm tired of eating and being tired and doing laundry and finding time to get to the grocery store. I'm tired of getting up on weekend mornings to get my long rides/swims/runs done.

I only have 3 more weeks and really only 1 more weekend of training like this. Then, 1 easier weekend before the race.

I'm at the point where I just want to race, but I know there's a method to all this madness. There are peak weeks & taper. I've followed the plan this long, another 3 weeks is nothing.

It's not the individual workouts that are hard. Those are fine. It's the week after week of bigger volumes.

In the end it will be worth it.

I ran a split run the other day. Total mileage ended up being 10 miles with 6.5 of those miles being at HIM pace and faster, over.and.over.and.over. 5 minutes HIM, 4 minutes faster than HIM....then each interval of 4 minutes had to be faster than the previous one.

After that, I almost couldn't get myself into the car later in the day.

The next day, I could barely run 2 miles.

Friday, I did the hardest & longest swim in a little while, ending the set with 4 x 200 pull at 85%. Not really, ending the set with a 200m IM.....after the 4 x 200 pulls....oh and there were 100's somewhere in there that were all out. Its all a blur now.

Then, I swam early Saturday morning....I could barely lift my arms for each stroke, and my back screamed at me the entire time.

Under all this training and muscle fatigue, there is greatness just sort of laying around, waiting for its moment to show its head.

I know its there. Well, I have to believe its there.

Right now, my mind and body are getting ready to race behind the scenes.My head is foggy. I can't remember the names of good friends. I may have worn the same outfit 3 days in a row. I stared at the cashier at the store yesterday when he asked me how far a half iron is.....did I randomly tell a complete stranger I was doing one? I've had pasta and chocolate milk for breakfast two days in a row because nothing is faster than leftovers...that and I love chocolate milk. Work seems to be going ok, so I'm assuming someone else must be actually doing my work temporarily.

Probably worst of all...I haven't played a word worth more than 7 points on Words with Friends in a week.

No....worst of all...Mr. Tea had to tell me that I had a player on a bye on my Fantasy football team. I'm on a fantasy football league?

Other than my life being completely turned upside down for a short period of time, I have to call this training cycle a success.

It really does feel like my first 70.3 in every way. Although, I'm not yet to the point where I can be nervous, and I haven't had any race dreams yet. I'm just too tired for either of those things, I think.

I do have doubts about my ability to do what I need to do. Then, Liz said, 'I'm taking the thinking out of this for you. I will give you the plan. Just do what I say. Be a machine."

That was like a weight being lifted off me. Simple. I don't have to write a race plan. I don't have to think. I just have to do. I can "do". I've been "doing" for weeks now. She tells me I'm doing something wrong, I don't argue....I just fix it. She tells me I'm doing something right....and I barely notice.

It's a way to deal with the details without getting wrapped up in the details = making the details, habits. Habits that I don't have to think about.

Just do.

Like a machine.

BOOSH DAHLING BOOSH

I made it. I'm in my last big push for my 70.3 training.

In a way, I can't believe I did it. It's never been an issue of being physically able to do the workouts. It was always an issue of finding ways to keep me engaged in the process.

In previous years many many years ago, (I didn't have a coach), I would shorten my long rides or skip them altogether because they were boring. I'd do the same route every time because it was the closest to the house if something went wrong.

Long runs were a sufferfest, simply because I had NO understanding of fueling.

The swims were pretty decent, but I was doing no open water swimming. Granted, the swim isn't really a concern for me. Still, we all know how important it is to practice open water swimming pacing. OWS and pool swimming are two completely different animals.

Earlier this year, I talked to Liz about where my known weaknesses are. We set up a plan that included mixing in sprint races. She added in bike tours (to keep me engaged in the long ride process). I did open water swim races and went to different locations to practice in different conditions. My long runs were broken down into different pieces and different strategies to keep even the longest of runs interesting. Most importantly, we worked on my fueling plan, trying many different approaches until we found the one that worked for me.

I got through all the workouts. I didn't miss one. I didn't skip any because I just wasn't feeling it. I found that "I just wasn't feeling it" is all mental. The days that feel the worst are the days that I needed to push the most. I either do the workout or I don't. There isn't any "I just wasn't into it today". NOPE. Not for me. That was old Tea. New Tea runs or bikes or swims no matter how hard it is physically or mentally.

Because that's how you're supposed to feel when training for a 70.3. Carrying your body 70 miles under its own power requires being physical and mentally strong enough to do it. The only way you get that is by doing the training on the days that you feel like you can't.

Here I am. I'm in my last month, 3.5 weeks to be exact.

I had two big volume weeks of +15 hours of training back to back. At the end of those two weeks, I was mentally drained. Getting up for long rides and packing up gear and constantly washing bottles and clothes....it just becomes mentally draining for me. I knew I only had to do it for 2 weeks, so I got through it.

Then I hit recovery week (last week). It was just enough to let me recharge. I've never been one of those people who like to do insane workouts for the sake of doing insane workouts. I've always been a "less is more" athlete. Give me what I need to have my best race. I knew that I had to do those +15 hour weeks to meet my goals. That's what I did.

The number of training hours (that I can manage with the rest of my life) always changes as I adapt to new volumes. At the beginning of this year, my max was 12 hours. I knew that I could comfortably train for 12 hours a week. Then, Liz helped me get to 15 hours by creating fun workouts and giving me a lot of recovery. The fact is that I'm a 46 (almost 47) year old woman. I can hit workouts harder than many athletes who are younger than me, but I'm smart enough to know that I also need a lot of recovery from those workouts. I need a lot of sleep and a number of supplements that I was never taking before but need now that I know how my body is changing as I get older.

But maybe the biggest thing that I learned this year is that there is no such thing as being ready for a particular distance. In a way, it's like having kids. Sometimes people will say, "We're waiting until we're ready."  You're never really ready.

It's up to you to take that leap. You know. The one that separates who you are and who you want to be.

Holy F*cktards, Batman: A Race Report

How do you know a race went well? 

When you finish, and you have NO IDEA what your paces or finish times were. You just know you FUCKING ROCKED IT.

Oh yeah. This is the NSFW version.

Quick background:
This is a crazy competitive race. I know these women. They run SICK fast. They'll run 22:00-25:00 5ks. 

I can't compete with that. 

But, I CAN compete with them on the swim and bike.

Given the number of seriously fast women, I thought I'd make top 15 at BEST. I'm not training for sprints. I want to follow my plan. HAVE FUN.

The Swim

Not my fastest swim at all, but I am thrilled! We are getting ready to start. No one wants to start at the front. This is weird because the strong swimmers ALWAYS line up at the front. Where are the men? They should be in the front.

The swim itself. Pretty awesome. I paced really well swimming into the chop. I wanted to really feel the swim, and I did. I easily caught the waves before me and not just the slowest swimmers. I was swimming right in the muck of two and three waves ahead of me.

I kept the lookout for blue swim caps. Could not find one. I knew I was in the lead. At the last buoy, I took advantage of the tailwind and started really going strong. I hit the beach, stubbed my toe on a big piece of cconcrete and fell back into the water. I got passed by a blue swim cap as I was running toward transition.

I never checked my garmin to see what my pace was. All I knew was that I felt great. I felt like I accomplished something.

T1:

Got to my bike and my helmet and sunglasses are gone again.

SIGH. REALLY PEOPLE? YOU CAN'T TAKE 2 SECONDS TO BE COURTEOUS TO THE OTHER ATHLETES?

I found my helmet AND sunglasses.

That's all I'll say about that.

THE BIKE

Where do I begin? I've been wanting to hit threshold. Today, I've gotten as close as I've ever gotten to that goal. In fact, the first 5 miles were over threshold. 

Right at the beginning, I caught the woman that passed me coming out of the water. I wouldn't say I blew by her....it was more of "HOLY FUCK I WANT TO CATCH HER BUT SHE'S SO DAMN FAST".  That's when I went over threshold. I *did* catch her. Only for her and I to yo-yo the rest of the time. Dammit, she was fast. 

Eventually, another woman caught me, but I don't think she was in my AG. BUT, she passed me like I was standing still, which begs the question:

WHO THE FUCK ARE THESE WOMEN?

Let me talk seriously about the bike for a minute. I have put all of my energy into my running this year, the "mental" side of running. I am fully aware that I am not giving my best on the bike. For now, I'm ok with that.(Next year, that's not OK. It's only on the sprint/olys. I'm doing much better with the 70.3 bike training). I'm making improvements on the bike at every single race, so it's not all bad. The biggest gains I can make are on the run. That's where I've put my effort. 

On the other hand, I rode my best of the year today. I felt like I did anyway. There were times where my legs were just burning, and I kept pushing through it. I backed off a little bit on some of the downhills later. THAT'S something for me to work on next year. I can really take advantage of downhills, and I'm not. I'm so much taller and therefore heavier than most women in my AG that the downhills should be my place to really pass them. I tend to take a breather.

I knew that if I wanted to be a serious contender today, I had to come in at 35:00 and faster. I did not anticipate the dirt road....actually, I knew the dirt road was there. I'd just forgotten about it. I went really slow there. I came in around 36:00.

T2

Dear Bitchface who stole my brand new favorite visor,

YOU suck.

XOXO,

Karma

The Run

A few points to note:

1.) I gave up training with music: HUGE WIN. WHAT a difference. If you are a triathlete and are training with music, unplug! Unless you're a woman in my AG.....I don't need anymore competition.

2) My heart rate monitor is temperamental. Sometimes it works in races, sometimes it says my heart rate is 60. 

3.) I get stressed out when I feel like I need to hit a certain pace. 

With all that said, I decided to run by effort. I could see my lap pace, and I could see my average pace. But how close could I get to threshold by just going by feel?  

I didn't check my garmin until I heard it beep 1 mile. My first mile was a 9:48.  HOLY F......wait that's enough F words for today. 

I'M DOING IT! I'M RUNNING SUB 10 MINUTE PACE.

Systems check:

How do you feel?

My butt and legs are feeling it, but I like it. I know I doing something good.

Can you keep it up?

The course has a half mile long hill, we run up and down and back up and down. My goal was to keep my average pace UNDER a 10:00 pace running up the hill. When I hit the downhill, I was going to get my pace back to the 9:3X.

And I DID IT.

And it wasn't horrible.

And I can't figure out why it wasn't horrible.

I actually had FUN running. Yes, I was uncomfortable. Yes, I was passed on the run. But I felt success. I felt like I had truly accomplished something. It was like all of a sudden I got to see what my next few years were going to be like. I am going to get faster!

It wasn't perfect....I mean, there was that one time at band camp when I lost focus for a few seconds on the downhill and knew I was starting to plod along.

Then, I saw Liz shaking her head and heard her saying, "I don't even know what you're doing right now."

Right then, I decided no one was going to pass me for the rest of the run.

Except THAT guy. 

OK, Now no one is going to pass me.

And, I had my first ever sub 30 minute OTB 5k. BARELY sub 30 at 29:58 (officially it was 29:58), but I WILL TAKE IT. 

Big win. 

I managed to do a negative split. HUGE WIN for Steady State Sally.

I got home and realized that I was very very very close to threshold, so running by effort worked for the first time ever. 

I crossed the finish line. I wish I could tell you I was smiling. Nope. Instead, I'm sure my race photo will show a look of "OhpleaseletthisbetheendbecauseImabouttopassout" Dave W will be happy to hear that I couldn't even form a sentence and had to ask some 7 year old to open my bottle of water. I was downright dizzy for a few seconds.

I calmed down and ran my cool down. Amazing how easy the cool down felt today. When I finished my cool down, I went over to find my results. 

I couldn't find them.

Because I was looking at times 10 minutes slower than where I finished.

And my jaw dropped when I saw that I came in 4th place. 1st, 2nd and 3rd were pretty close. Then, I was 5 minutes behind 3rd. 

I knew these results were correct. I felt it. I knew I had a fantastic race. I will take 4th place racing fantastic competition over a podium any day of the week.

Those women make me better. They help me race harder. I want to be like them. I respect the hell out of them for being able to go out there and run the way they can run. 

Well, I guess that's it. I mentioned last time that I really feel like things are FINALLY coming together for me. Now, I'm down to my very last race of the season. If there's a positive to heading into off season, it's that,  now that I'm really starting to see improvements all the way around, I'll be working my butt off during the off season to get to my next level.