Heart Rate Zone Testing: Part I

Alright, so... when last we met, I was on my way down to Rehoboth for my heart rate zone testing and was trying to recap the last week while sitting in a traffic jam. I got down a little early, so I checked into my hotel real quick before I went to meet Bruce and Kevin at their new digs at First Street Station in Rehoboth. I got there, got my bike out of the car (the chain had come off, I was pretty sure I broke the whole thing, but Kevin said it wasn't a big deal and was able to put it back on for me-- note to self, learn more things about my equipment).

So, heart rate zone testing has a cool purpose-- instead of relying on your level of perceived exertion, you have actual target heart rate zones based on your athletic performance during your test for each type of workout that you should be doing (recovery, lower aerobic, upper aerobic, nozone/uptempo, and threshhold). A description and sample test results can be found here: http://www.tricoach.us/id51.html-- I will post mine as soon as I get it.

Kevin and Bruce hooked my bike up to the computrainer and I saddled up-- the computrainer is pretty cool. I was on my bike in front of a giant TV, and Kevin was controlling the program through a computer-- I was on a virtual tri-course with little virtual fans cheering for me as I tested it out. After I was ready to go, Kevin gave me a series of target wattages and I had to pedal at that wattage for a two-minute interval before he increased the wattage by 15. He was monitoring my heart rate on my Mio Alpha heart rate monitor and he would ask me to rate my level of exertion on a scale of 1 to 10. With each increase, my exertion increased pretty steadily. I will post the actual results once I get them, but the test went on for a total of 20 minutes, so 10 intervals-- starting (I think) in the 70's and moving, finally, into the early 200's. By the last interval, I was pretty sure I was going to die, but I made it!

Unfortunately, by damn heart rate monitor lost my rate, and I had to wipe off the sensor to get it back-- it was around 170 about 15 seconds after I finished the last interval. Ah, the plight of the strapless heart-rate monitor. While I love running strapless (almost sounds dirty, doesn't it hehe)-- I have experienced so many times the frustration of having my sweatiness interfere with the infrared sensor and lose my heart rate, thus ruining my stats for the workout. Kevin and Bruce recommended getting a heart rate monitor with  a strap. I am very interested in the Garmin tri-watch with strap. The catch, here, is that I am also poor. So... there's that.

Kevin recommended that I come back and do the test again on the treadmill, since heart rate zones differ from biking to running. Also, I will have a better idea of what my max is, since I will have a strap then.

I have three takeaways from this adventure: 1) Kevin said my bike isn't dirty enough, and that I need to ride it more. Challenge accepted. 2) Kevin also said my pedal stroke needs some serious work and that I will put a lot of wear and tear on my bike if I don't fix it. Bruce put me through some one leg pedal drills which were clearly more challenging that I thought. I thought about keeping my feet flexed and not pointed while biking today and had some great splits and my longest ride in my shortest amount of time. 3) Was that I need to increase my cadence by about 10 strokes to get into the 90 range-- which will thus increase my efficiency-- and it definitely did today!

I had a hilarious dinner at Dogfish Head afterwards with the Thirsty Thursday crowd-- it was pizza night and I had a celebratory pizza and then a small ice cream cone out of principle on the boardwalk (the principle being that I didn't get to do it all year, so I did it Thursday).

Friday morning, Kevin took me out into the ocean and, I s--- you not, there were like 10 foot waves. The bilateral breathing is great when you're breathing shore side but not so great when you're breathing ocean side and the wave smacks you in the face. I lost a lot of my technique because the ocean was so choppy. The water was a nice temperature and the sun was just coming up as we were getting in.

All this, and I was back in time for work (yeeha) at 9:30am.

Bruce is racing at a half-ironman in Montauk this weekend (good luck, Bruce!). When I get my heart rate zones back I'll write more about the results and also about my brick workout today. I'm starting to feel a little more legit! Talk soon.
Xo,
Katie

Groin detachment: is that a thing?

So, as I sit in stopped traffic on my way down to tricoach for my heart rate test, I finally have a free moment to reflect on my last week of training.

Last we spoke, I had just completed a nice swim workout. Tuesday was my first day of two a days-- an hour bike ride (and mapmyride cooperated!) and a 30 minute run that I squeezed in at lunch. I'm getting some knee pain in my right knee pretty consistently during runs, so that's not much fun-- I think its my bursitis just saying 'sup. I see you, B, do me a favor and cool it for a bit. Aerobically, I feel solid. Muscularly, eh, well... I have "some work" to do. Only using the old hockey muscles really takes a toll on my less importa-- errr, I mean-- other muscles. :)

Yesterday was a 30 minute bike ride which I did indoors at lunch-- that was great! Spinning is so much smoother than outdoor cycling-- I felt like a champ doing my climbs. I felt the best I have in a while, physically-- maybe because I could only see the front of myself, but I admired what was left of my weightlifting developed shoulders and I could see those quads doin' work! Man, for a few months there I just couldn't understand why anyone would voluntarily hop on a machine inside a boring old gym in front of a mirror... but I get it! I see the beauty in challenging myself, and my overall outlook on life has become more positive just in these past few days.

That evening, however, I think the old stems thought we were calling it a night because when I asked them to run and do some lunges, squats, squat-thrusts, etc., I'm pretty sure my groins actually began to separate from my leg bones-- they were like, "alright, we're done, heading to the car... is the rest of you coming?" I modified a little bit and we got through it, but I guess this is how I know I'm working hard, and that I *need* to work hard. Two frozen packs of broccoli and a good night's rest later, I'm doing a little better. :) at least I got to watch zumba while running, those girls (and 2 guys) can really work it!

Sorry if there were some typos, but the open road is now calling and I'm trying to hurry before its my turn to go. Will update later with the results of my heart rate zone test and ocean swim tomorrow am with Kevin from Tricoach. I was told not to eat dinner before hand, as it is "challenging." Yeeha!

Also, took this gem of a photo at my favorite spot that I rode by on my long bike ride, saw our friend Court (who many of you may know). Will finally be skating on fresh ice tomorrow for the first time.

Talk soon!

You only live once, amiright?!

So, about a month ago, there I sat with my boyfriend and my puppy, cuddled up on the couch browsing the internet on Saturday evening. After a spring and summer filled with my usual ice hockey, a weight lifting phase, a brief foray into crossfit, and then a period of dormancy, I simply couldn't take it any more. I had no motivation, no direction, no "up and at' em" and certainly no desire to get my ass out of bed to work out like I used to.

I attributed my lack of will to my inability to set goals. I seriously suck at it-- in many aspects of my life, but that's another post for another day. I do really well when I have a concrete thing that other people are holding me accountable for, (like an MBA... ) but I am not a self-motivator. I can't go running for the sake of going running, unless something is chasing me or I have an upcoming race and I don't want to embarrass myself.

I turned to Darin, my super in-shape, self-motivating boyfriend, and said, "I'm going to sign up for a triathlon." He said, "That's cool. Do you want to think about it for a bit?" Defiantly, I said, "NO! I'm doing it now." With a couple clicks, quick keystrokes, and the recitation of my credit card number (which has become a frequent thing for this sport, so far haha), I, Katherine E. Keeports, troubled swimmer, labored runner, and lazy biker, signed up for the inaugural Brooklyn Triathlon on November 10, 2013.

The next morning, I woke up, got out of bed, scratched my sleepy head and went-- "Um.... I signed up for a what?!" To be honest, I really had been wanting to get into triathlon for the last year, but my grad school and full-time work schedule just simply wouldn't let it happen, but this whole scenario was hilarious for a couple reasons. The first, probably, is that I can't swim. Well, I couldn't swim when I signed up-- but I'm making leaps and bounds of progress! More on that later. Second, is that the swim will be taking place in November. In New York. In the Bay. In what will probably be 50-something degree water. I have quickly learned about many necessary accessories involving neoprene and anti-hypothermia properties that I will be absolutely adorning myself with. Yeeha, right?! Third, is that, outside of swimming, I was absolutely not prepared in any way. I had no viable bike, very few biking accessories, even my running shoes were falling apart. But I did have a pair of chamoise shorts and a whole lot of heart!

Anyhoot, I started swimming by myself in my parents' pool (I was too shy to go to the Y). I bought an awesome bike from the nice guys at Wooden Wheels in Newark and rode it blissfully. I ran a few times-- lumbering through 5k distances like a polar bear on its hind legs (allow yourself to revel in the visual, there). 

I attended a swim clinic with TriCoach and met Kevin Danahy and Bruce Clayton-- two awesome, accomplished triathletes and USAT certified triathlon coaches. This swim clinic opened my eyes and made me really realize what it would take to finish (read: not drown) at Brooklyn. (Sidenote: Bruce is now my coach!) I met Kate, who said she would be interested in Brooklyn too, and I am so excited to train and compete with her-- she's an awesome swimmer.

So, here I am. Week 1, Day 1 of my training plan. Today was swim day! I have completed an ocean swim, a lake swim (where I swam race distance-- so stoked), and many hours in the pool-- and today was the first day I didn't feel like a uncoordinated Labrador in a one-piece-- I actually felt like I semi-knew what I was doing. I even shared a lap lane with someone! Legit. At the lake swim (which was my last swim before today), I swam with Katie, who just completed her first tri (and loved it!), and Sue (awesome ironwoman), and as I struggled panting and gasping back to the starting point after 400m, Sue said, "Try it again, but do it at your own pace." That small piece of advice allowed me to swim 800 meters consecutively that day and has been a HUGE help to me in my training! I am keeping this blog as a journal to understand my experiences and reflect on the things I accomplish and the things I need to work on. I KNOW it's going to be an amazing, fun, probably hilarious journey.

In all seriousness, I am so excited to train for this race, to set goals and accomplish them, to make new friends, and to challenge myself on new levels, physically and mentally. This is gonna be awesome!!

XO,

Katie