MONICA
37 years old
freelance photographer
running coach
Sunny Southern Cali, US of A

NO AUTOGRAPHS, PLEASE.
JUST TAKE THE BUTTON...





CHI RUNNING
by Danny Dreyer

GOING LONG
by Joe Friel
& Gordon Byrn

THE PALEO DIET FOR ATHLETES
by Loren Cordain and Joe Friel

KILLING YOURSELF TO LIVE:
85% OF TRUE STORY

by Chuck Klosterman

WHAT I TALK ABOUT WHEN I TALK ABOUT RUNNING
by Haruki Murakami

HAVEN'T HAD CABLE SINCE THE MOVE SIX MONTHS AGO. NOW I HAVE THAT DIGITAL BOX THAT I GOT FREE WITH THE GOVERNMENT VOUCHER. I'M HOOKED ON THE FREE USN CHANNEL (NBC) THAT PLAYS OLD KONA SPECIALS FROM YEARS PAST!!!

THEN OF COURSE FOR THE HOURS I SPEND ON THE TRAINER...


MY O.G. IPOD SHUFFLE



2009
2/1/09 Surf City Run HALF MARATHON
2/8/09 Chinatown Firecracker Run 5k and 10k
2/14/09 Tour de Palm Springs 55 MILE RIDE
3/14/09 Pasadena Triathlon REVERSE POOL SPRINT
4/4/09 Oceanside 70.3 HALF IRONMAN
5/3/09 Cinco de Mayo Run for the Cure HALF MARATHON
8/1/09 Vineman Full FULL IRONMAN
11/1/09 New York Marathon MARATHON
2008
2/3/08 Surf City Run HALF MARATHON
2/9/08 Tour de Palm Springs CENTURY RIDE
2/10/08 Chinatown Firecracker Run 5k and 10k
3/08/08 Pasadena Triathlon REVERSE POOL SPRINT
4/19/08 Rage in the Sage HALF IRONMAN
5/25/08 IM Brasil FULL IRONMAN
140.6 BABY!!!
7/20/08 Strawberry Fields Triathlon OLYMPIC
2007
2/4/07 Pacific Shoreline HALF MARATHON
3/31/07 Oceanside 70.3 HALF IRONMAN
6/3/07 Danskin All Ladies Tri SPRINT
6/24/07 Breath of Life Tri OLYMPIC
7/12/07 Playa Del Run #2 AQUATHLON
7/22/07 Vineman 70.3 HALF IRONMAN
8/9/07 Playa Del Run #3 AQUATHLON
8/19/07 Hansen Dam Tri SPRINT
10/7/07 People Powered Ride METRIC CENTURY FUN RIDE
11/4/07 New York Marathon MARATHON

ALLEZ
BOLDER
DC RAINMAKER
DECAF PLEASE
DYING WATER BUFFALO
FE-Lady
GREYHOUND
IM ABLE
IRON DEAN
IRON JASON
IRON MOM JENNY
IRON POL
IRON WIL
KONA SHELLEY
Lance NotStrong
LITTLE MISS RUNNERS PANTS
LOCKED AND LOADED...
NEOPRENE WEDGIE
NEWBIE TRIATHLETE 2007
OBRATS
SPANDEX KING
SPOKANE AL
Steve in a Speedo?! Gross!!
TEA
TriFAThlete
TRI GEEK KAHUNA
triSARAtops


www.flickr.com
This is a Flickr badge showing photos in a set called danskin all ladies triathlon '07. Make your own badge here.








  

  





Thursday, March 20, 2008

PSA: DON'T BE A DUMBASS LIKE ME!!

so last night i had a small brick on the schedule. it was small in distance but big on intensity at least for the run portion. i was supposed to ride 25 miles in upper zone 2 while maintaining 90 rpm. no sweat right? then right off the bike i was supposed to run 7 miles AT SLIGHTLY FASTER THAN RACE PACE. crazy thing is, i don't even know what my race pace is for Ironman. i mean, i know what my race pace is for a straight foot race marathon, but not an Ironman marathon. i just have no idea how the swim and bike fatigue will slow me down and by how much. and then i was supposed to run SLIGHTLY FASTER than that?? so i picked a heart rate zone of about 170 which is definitely in my zone 3. let's see if i can hold it there. AND I DID!!! that came out to just under 9:00 miles, definitely slightly faster than any marathon pace i've ever kept. SUCCESS RIGHT???

i always tell my runners that i coach that the strength of my coaching style is that i've done everything wrong so that they don't have to. really, EVERYTHING from not eating breakfast before a long run to showing up for a 14 miler STILL DRUNK from the night before. THAT.WAS.NOT.PRETTY.PEOPLE. oh, and lest we forget the time i ran a half mary in BRAND NEW SHOES i bought the day before? NOT.PRETTY.EITHER. so last night after my brick, i added another one to the list of "don't do what i did" or better yet "do what i DIDN'T DO."

i definitely pushed it on the brick. COACH warned that while the distance for some workouts would stay short, the intensity would increase. so short was the brick that i came home and was delighted that i still had nearly two hours before i needed to get to bed to get up and do this crap all over again!! so i made a mad dash for THE BATHTUB. oh what luxury, what decadence to actually be able to soak my body and read some trash magazines for a second. i sat there for over an hour reading all about Nicole and the new baby, the Jolie-Pitts, of course Miss Tragique herself, Brittany, and much much more. then IT HIT ME. i started to feel woozy, a little light headed, and my stomach started to retch on itself. UH.OH...

if there's one thing i THOUGHT i'd learned in training, it's that nutrition is the 4th event. no wait, transition is the 4th event, nutrition is the 5th?? you know what i'm gettin' at. and just as important as pre-fueling, and fueling while in the effort, YOU'VE GOT TO REPLENISH TO RECOVER QUICKLY AND BE ABLE TO DO IT ALL OVER AGAIN. so in my haste to get in the tub and soak, i hadn't eaten A THING. there i was in the bathtub feeling light headed and starting to tremble uncontrollably. luckily my mom had just gotten in from a late work meeting, (yeah, my moms is living with me right now. whole other story for a whole other day on a whole other blog.) so i yelled out to her for help. i needed something in my system quick, so i asked her to bring me a root beer. the quick sugar and carbonation helped stop the trembling enough to where i could get out and lay on my bed, but the damage was done, and then i didn't even know what i COULD eat. so i had some brown rice and my stomach couldn't handle it. it was so empty and then with the quick introduction of the rice, it cramped and seized all which ways. so i went straight to bed and tried to lay still and let my stomach calm down. at about 2am, i woke up hungry and had a small bowl of cereal which felt satisfying and my stomach felt back to normal. but did i learn my lesson???

NOPE.

got up about 6am to shower and then head off to a shoot. in my head, i'd already had breakfast with that bowl of cereal. YEAH, LIKE 5 HOURS AGO!!! and off i went. what i was supposed to shoot at 9am got pushed to 11am, but it could have been anytime in between then all depending on a 3rd party delivery. so i just sat around waiting and reading Going Long in my car, as this was a location shoot with no catering as most of my jobs have. started to shoot around 10:30, and by noon, SAME THING AGAIN. it started to get warm, i started to get woozy again, and it suddenly occurred to me that it'd been 12 HOURS SINCE THAT LAST BOWL OF CEREAL. i had to sit down for a second, then take some last shots, and then bolt out of there as fast as i could and FIND FOOD. oh joy, no cash in wallet. FIND BANK THEN FIND FOOD. and by the time i ate, the stomach cramped again. it's now 11:30pm, and although i've eaten small amounts all afternoon since the most recent brain fart, the cramps are still holding on.

is this the gastro distress they talk about at Ironman?? could i be so stupid as to let this happen to me all the way in Brasil?? could i really be so absent minded as to let this happen to me on the big day?? i would hope not, but look how distracted i got over a bathtub and a People Magazine!!!! i can only hope to keep my head in the game and never let this happen again. after all, i've never again run a half mary in brand new shoes OR run 14 miles while still drunk. so do as i say and NOT AS I DO....

EAT RIGHT
EAT OFTEN
EAT BEFORE, DURING, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY,

AFTER

4 Comments:

Blogger Steve Stenzel said...

Yes! It's all about the food! That's what I've been trying to tell everyone for YEARS!!!

March 21, 2008 at 7:53 AM

 
Blogger Iron Pol said...

So, my first triathlon...

On a bike I had for exactly 14 hours before the race. Total distance on said bike BEFORE the race? Just under 1/2 a mile ridden in the parking lot of the LBS. The bike was two days late getting there, and delayed in getting assembled.

Total distance before a mechanical failure? 6 miles of a 15 mile bike.

What's that they say about not using new equipment in a race... At least you broke the rule in training.

March 21, 2008 at 6:34 PM

 
Blogger Rainmaker said...

Indeed - food is where it's all at. I started to make the same mistake as you today after my 3-hr ride. About an hour later (while in the shower for 20+ minutes), I realized I was starting to feel weird. Doh...chocolate milk time!

March 23, 2008 at 8:42 PM

 
Blogger cdnhollywood said...

Ouch! Eat, girl! Eat!

March 24, 2008 at 6:22 AM

 

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