Lead up to Austin...

Austin 70.3 is less than 3 weeks away. I am anxious to race, which is a good sign. The new training has been really tough, but excellent. I am doing intervals on the track (something I have rarely done in the past) and am running faster than I ever have. My body has had to “learn” how to move faster than my usual “tempo”-type of pace that I have been running for so long. I am hoping that it will translate into a FAST run at Austin! I am confident that it will. On the bike, I am doing a lot more “high-end” work than I am used to as well. Lots of big gear work, as well as intervals at high wattage AND high RPM. In the water, I am swimming intervals that are reminiscent of my College days (although not quite as fast as my College days, I am afraid). Threshold work, which includes endless sets done on little rest, as well as work with paddles to help develop strength and work on stroke efficiency. My “work days” (as far as “hard training” is concerned) are Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. On these days I have to really focus and get psyched up for hard sessions in the swim bike and run. Monday and Friday are my “off” days, in which the focus is on recovery, however these days are very important as well. I have to be sure than I make the most out of my rest days, so that I am ready to hit the hard workouts that follow. I usually do some sort of “easy” workout, such as an easy spin on the bike, or an easy swim, as well as core work.


Speaking of core, at least twice a week, I have been doing a routine that my friend Jamie Fishlow taught to me in his “core class” out of Runners Edge on Tuesday nights (that along with some of Don Rourke’s core exercises). I had the pleasure of running into Jamie on the bike last week while he was out for a ride up around Huntington on his break from work. It not only broke up a long bike ride for me, but it brightened my day as well. It is always a treat to have company on a workout. Jamie is a Phys. Ed. Teacher for Huntington High School as well as a Multisport Coach (and core instructor), Ironman athlete, father, husband, and all around great guy. He can ride the hills too, which I found out on the hour that I got to ride with him through Cold Spring Harbor and Huntington!



Though I find that I train alone much of the time, I had the opportunity to train with a lot of people last week, which was SO NICE! George and I did a ride on Monday (it was supposed to be a LIGHT easy spin, but I always find that trying to stay on George’s wheel requires much more of an effort on my part…no worries though, I find that the effort ends up “opening up my legs” for the next day much better than my “barely hit any wattage” spin for an hour by myself). Also, as I mentioned my ride with Jamie, as well as a ride with a friend, Jim, that lives up in Rye, NY (Jim is doing Ironman Hawaii this year for the first time!). The ride from Rye ended up being 1:45 longer than I had scheduled (YIKES!). I felt a bit guilty about this and was concerned as I try to stick to the exact plan that is written for me, but it ended up being a good ride with the halfway point being the top of Bear Mtn (see picture). I am hoping that it doesn’t take too much out of me this week…I will soon find out during my track workout today! Of course, being an a "somewhat Type A" triathlete, I ended up opting out of a nice dinner with Jim and his girlfriend Nadine at their house, due to the fact that I would get home late and I had a HARD workout Sunday morning bright and early before heading to work at Runner's Edge. I owe them a nice dinner...maybe when they return from Kona! On Sunday, during my easy spin that preceded a challenging long run, I ran into my friends (and recent IM finishers) Nancy Cattabiani, Bill Romas and Tom & Mary-Frances Horan. I rode with them for about 45 min. SO, all is good. I am “recharged” from my training with friends and I am and ready to rock in Austin October 5th!

One of Those Days...

I hopped on my bike today for a 90 minute ride that included some short hard intervals. It is my recovery week and the short intervals help to keep me recovered, but "open". It was my kind of day today...hot and humid. I love it! I did my swim today outside, in one of my favorite spots, which was gorgeous at 7 AM (see picture to the right of this spot named "George's Bay" by my friends). Then I caught up on some of my coaching and got ready to ride. I was psyched for my ride as I haven't ridden my Scott Plasma since last week (I was visiting friends in Boulder for a wedding and was riding my road bike the past week...see picture of my friend Simon on a ride in Colorado below to the left and of my friend's Jim and Danielle at there wedding below right). I dressed in a sleeveless tri top (Zoot of course) and my Zoot shorts (all pink and black), threw on my pink Rudy Projects and my silver and purple Specialized bike shoes and was ready to rock.

Today, I decided to head to Hecksher park to do my intervals. I was riding solo. As I pulled off of my block and onto the main road, a Landscaping truck filled with landscapers (who else would be in a landscaping truck?!) was stopped at a light. As they passed me, I got blessed with many "cat calls" and looks. Predictable, as this is a common occurrence with men in Landscaping trucks, but not necessarily "enjoyable". I did what I usually do...ignore them and ride on. Sometimes I laugh to myself because it is actually pretty funny... Today I just moved on.

Five minutes later I was heading down the road in my aero position when I got a "shock". As I was riding and minding my business, a car full of guys (high school kids?) drove up next to me and smacked me as they drove by. They didn't smack me with their car, instead they drove up real close and reached out of the window smacking me with their hands! They were going for my ass, no doubt (believe it or not this has happened to me before...getting smacked on the ass by kids in a car), but they missed and hit my back and arm instead. Not knowing what was going on, I jumped up and almost wiped out right there. As soon as I realized what happened I got their license plate.

Once they sped away, I stopped and started crying like a little girl...not quite crying out loud, but a sniffle and a few tears instantly occurred. (Honestly, I am not very "stoic". I cry relatively easily...people who don't know me well would be surprised to hear this...those who know me very well would not be surprised in the least) . I composed myself and called my boyfriend to leave the license plate number with him and ask if he could give it to his cop friend. Of course I called to get some sympathy from him as well (like most any sad/hurt girl would do)! No answer as I suspected (I called his cell...didn't feel like this incident warranted bothering him at work...so I left a message on the cell. It would do the trick...I felt a little better). THEN, I called my mom (like any sad/hurt/upset/lonely on the side of the road little girl would do). I got some real nice sympathy from her (that naturally made me feel better)! Finally, after feeling more pissed off than sad I headed back on my bike for my workout. For some extra motivation on my intervals, I pictured the punks that harassed me being caught and beat up! Childish? I don't care...it got me fired up!

On the way to the park (after getting smacked) I was stopped at a light, when a shady looking car with a man about 50-something pulled up next to me and asked, "Are you training for the Olympics"? "F%$#* YOU and leave me alone you dirty bastard!" is what I wanted to say..."YES, I AM" is what I did say... Would this man pull up next to a guy on his bike and strike up this conversation? Maybe, but I doubt it. I was still not over getting smacked and harassed and my tolerance was gone.

On the way home, I was about to turn back onto my street and who was there? A different group of landscapers that all stopped and stared at me as I went by. After passing them (feeling every single eye on me) I heard the all too familiar creepy giggles from the group that no doubt followed a perverted comment by one of the group members. I don't have anything against landscapers, per Se, it just seems that 90+% of the time that I pass them while riding on my bike alone, I get a response such as the previous responses that I have just described. I could bet money on it and could make more than I do as a Professional Triathlete (not hard to do, I know)!

So, as I think about it, it just makes me angry that this is something that I have to deal with, but deal with it I must. Besides the fact that I could have fallen after being hit and had a "career-ending injury", I could have fallen and broken my neck! ...those kids don't care and don't think that way, I know, but the point is that it is rare to ride around by myself and not come across some sort of incident. There are always incidents, even when I am riding with a guy or group of guys, but they are different incidents... You might hear a, "get the F#%@* out of the road!", or you might get a beep and the finger out the window to follow, but rarely do I react by feeling harassed and sorry for myself and I never react by crying on the side of the road with cell phone in hand. Sometimes I wonder how I will get through my career without any major incidents on the roads around Long Island (I love Long Island, but I find it unfortunate that many of the people around here do not appreciate cyclists in the least). Of course, I cannot dwell on this, and I wont. I love what I do and I love to train. I definitely like company, but I like solo riding too. I won't let it get to me too much, but today was just "one of those days"!