Swimming at Lake Del Valle

Posted on May 25, 2013 by aleksruns

The Bay Area is an awesome place for triathlon: perfect weather year-round, biker-friendly roads (flat, hilly: take your pick), runner-friendly trails. But it doesn’t have very many open-water swim options.

[And no, the cold Pacific is not a viable open-water swim option, if you ask me.]

There are plenty of lakes nearby, but many of them do not allow swimming outside of organized events (boo, UVAS!). One notable exception is Lake Del Valle in Livermore, so this weekend we headed out there — an hour-plus drive — for a morning of swim-bike-run fun. We got there early (8 a.m., don’t ask me when I got up), so we could beat the crowds: a great idea, it turns out, because later in the morning the water got quite busy with boats.

I can’t stress enough the importance of practicing open-water swimming if you’re new to triathlon (like me). My first such swim – in a wetsuit, and not counting swimming in the Black Sea growing up – was during my first triathlon and I certainly wish I’d practiced at least once before. No amount of swimming in a pool will prepare you for open water, it’s just that different.

Sighting, in particular (looking ahead of you every so often to make sure you’re swimming the right way), completely throws me off rhythm and I cheated quite a bit: breaststroke, oh yea. (And yes, I didn’t wear a wetsuit. The water was great!)

I tried my new Garmin in an open-water swim for the first time, too:[Thanks for the photos, Julie!]

We swam 0.6 miles, according to my watch, though looking at the GPS route, I kind of doubt its accuracy very much.Looks like it was losing GPS signal every now and then and jumping around in the water, because what we did was basically four out-and-backs to a nearby buoy:My guess is, the signal will be more consistent if I stick the watch under my swim cap. Smarter, if I want more accurate data — not so smart if I somehow lose the watch in the water.

The bike leg was quick, but pretty challenging. If you go out there to bike, be ready for the massive hills going out of the park. We only did 8.75 miles, but the total climb was 1231 ft. Wowza. The run was my favorite part, obviously. (I’m getting the impression that most people in triathlon hate the run. I don’t get it? I spend the entire swim and bike looking forward to it?)

We decided to forego the monster hill and headed in the opposite direction, up a dirt path around the lake. Such a beautiful place to run! That road was just shy of a 15-min run at an easy 9:30 pace for me (not sure what that makes it, 1.6 miles each way?), so I ran a mile out and back, then again out to the end of the path and back, for a total of five miles:Just one semi-tough climb, rewarding you with a great view from the top of course (see the photo at the very top of this post).

Totally worth it to go to the very end of the path, too:If you’re looking for a place to practice open-water swimming and do some bike-running afterwards, Lake Del Valle is definitely a great way to go — even if, for me at least, it was definitely out of the way!

What is your experience with open-water swimming? Like? Not like? Never!?!?

The Iron Fit Training Schedule

Posted on May 23, 2013 by aleksruns

Like many runners, signing up for races motivates me to keep ~~my day job so I don’t bankrupt the family~~ up with my training.

But lately, my training has been of the “feel like” and “how about” variety.

Today, I feel like biking for an hour. How about a four-mile run?

That’s not good, considering I have a half marathon in two weeks, where I hope to run a decent time, followed by a sprint triathlon the week after and, at the end of June, my first Olympic distance triathlon. For which I haven’t trained. So, to avoid the situation above, I’ve been searching for a decent triathlon training plan that I can follow, that would also (somewhat) accommodate my running schedule.

So far, I’ve found no such thing.

But I did read this book.

To be iron fit, who would’t want that?

Unlike books and online plans that tell you how to train for a half marathon or marathon, there are very, very few books dedicated to training for middle-distance triathlon. Not Triathlon Training For Dummies or The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Triathlon Training, thank you very much. So I figure, I’ll take what’s available — Ironman training books abound, of course — and adjust.

Be Iron Fit has three 30-week training programs — Finish It, Intermediate and Competitive. Each starts with a 10-week base-building period, which I figure would be just the right amount of training for me. So, my first week (next week?) would look like this:Pretty much the only thing I understand here is the fact that we’re kicking things off with a rest day: love it already! But don’t worry, I’ll decipher and give you the details as I go.

In other news, my new Garmin arrived yesterday and I love it already.[The kid, too.]

I’ll show you the beautiful charts and stuff it produces soon!

So far this week:First bike ride with the Garmin. Not only is the GPS data flawless (no more skipping back and forth through neighbors’ houses!), but the auto-pause function worked perfectly. Extremely helpful to not have to pause/ re-start the tracker at each streetlight, or have this wait time mess up your data averages.

On Wednesday, I biked to the store and back (cycled some errands?):

Little did I know that my Garmin would arrive, and obviously would need to be tested right away. So that evening, I ran to the gym, swam a little (yes, it works in the water and measures all kinds of cool stuff!), then ran back:That was before I had set it up to automatic pause, so the waiting at red lights (4 minutes at one point on my way there!) is baked in. For the swim, I couldn’t start the watch for the first 400 yards, so I just tracked the final 1000.

Tomorrow is a rest day!

Questions: What training program do you use? What GPS tracking devices?

Recipe vs Reality: Sweet Potato Burgers with Avocado

Posted on May 20, 2013 by aleksruns

Based on extensive experience, I’ve decided to start a new “recipe vs reality” blog feature.

You see, I try new recipes all the time. But while they look amazingly appetizing online; what happens in our kitchen… not so much:I tried to make these blue cheese tartlets on Thanksgiving and blamed the result on Turkey Trot tiredness… but really, it wasn’t a fluke.

The other day, I came across these mouthwatering sweet potato burgers with avocado (seriously, look at the photos and tell me you don’t want to eat them):

Source: LunchBoxBunch.com

So right away, I procured (most) of the ingredients and got to work. Baked the sweet potatoes, mashed them, mixed in white beans, [forgot to get tahini sauce, oh well], added whole wheat flour and it was time to heat the oil, make the patties and cook:

Oops… burned ‘em.

Original (yum!):

Source: LunchBoxBunch.com

Mine:

To boot, we didn’t have any burger buns around (we almost never make burgers at home), so I had to use sourdough bread slices:

HusbandRuns said they looked great to him, but he’s obliged to say so by marital contract?

They were still yummy, though.

Have you had any follow-the-recipe disasters recently?

Workout today:Drills and some easy laps. I’m not getting any faster in the pool, which is a little disconcerting, considering I’m planning to do an Olympic distance triathlon (swim portion is 1500 meters, or 0.93 miles) in a little over a month. The race leaders will be crossing that Finish line, and I’ll still be swimming!

If You Aren’t Tri-ing, Help Out

Posted on May 19, 2013 by aleksruns

Today was the first time in quite a while that I’ve had to wake up before 5 a.m. and not run a race or triathlon. I was volunteering at one!

I signed up to volunteer for the Morgan Hill Sprint Triathlon at UVAS reservoir because:

a) a friend from my Tri training club is doing it,
b) I’m doing another tri at that location in a few weeks, and
c) all volunteers get a 50% discount off a future race!

That’s right! Considering the triathlon I want to do next month is $130, and my shift was just three hours and change, I’d say I was getting paid to help out at an event and have fun! Also, to observe and learn stuff, because when it comes to triathlon, I’ve got tons to learn.

To make things interesting, I decided to bike to the event, which is about 20-25 miles from where we live, depending on which way I take. You would think sleeping in and driving would make more sense, but I had a great ride, pretty much all by my lonesome on the road. No cars! No bikes! Just me and some cows:[Yes, I was in somewhat of a hurry to get there. But when a photo op presents itself, you take it. It's a moo point.]

I also got to watch the sunrise:The ride ended up at 26 miles exactly and took me almost 1 hour 50 minutes. That’s a long time and I need to practice this biking thing more.

But I did get to the triathlon just in time: everyone was set up and athletes were heading into the water:Not long after I took my position at the water station in transition, the area emptied out:

How many thousands of dollars worth of bikes is that, you think?

My job was to hand out water to the athletes as they headed out on the bike (and later, run). Barely 10 minutes had passed when the first men out of the water appeared. Talk about fast!

Then things started to get busy and I had to stop taking pictures and start handing out water:

I was just getting into the water-handing groove – and, more importantly, screaming Water, Water – when one of the race organizers showed up and told me she needs someone loud at the bike dismount area, so I should head over there with her. I’ll take that as a compliment?

I spent the next hour and a half screaming Dismount! and Off the bike here! to the incoming bikers, some of whom were visibly tired. Several accidents almost happened.

My shift was done just as the awards ceremony was starting, so I got to watch that and eat some food (half a burrito and a beer at 10:30; yes please!) with friends. It was an appropriately fun ending to a super-fun experience.

Well, not quite the end until I biked back home, now, was it? I took a shorter way back, though it was decidedly hillier: 1349 ft climb, vs just 963 ft in the morning.

I have been “refueling” with soy ice cream sandwiches all afternoon? Also, this: My new favorite thing.

Have you ever volunteered at a race? How did it go?

Exercising the Credit Card

Posted on May 18, 2013 by aleksruns

Hello hello! How’s your weekend going? For some reason I keep thinking it’s Sunday today, and on Friday morning I thought it was Saturday.

In fact, I woke up thinking it was Saturday and mumbled to the husband “I need to get to the gym!” and he told me what day it was. I was actually relieved that I get to “sleep in” before I get to work.

~~First world~~ Runner problems…

Anyway. I did my early a.m. gym duty today, and since then I’ve been exercising the credit cards… Ever have one of those days?First, I dropped some cash at the chiropractor because my back has been hurting – spasming, really – since Thursday night. That’s what happens when you overdo it in the swimming pool? The chiro cracked my vertebrae and it got much better, which obviously meant I could walk comfortably and carry my bag and wallet into ~~a store~~ lots of stores.

We went to Performance Bycicle, so I can get one of those storage pouches for my bike: an essential purchase, really, so I can finally start trying to eat while biking. But somehow, we ended up leaving with that, a USB-chargable front headlight, a new kiddie bike bell (at least the ring isn’t annoying!) and a new kid helmet that costs 2x as mine? Then we went to Whole Foods and I’ll just assume you know what happens there.

Except when you’re with a kid, you also find yourself with a new glass water bottle. Oh well, those always come into good use.

And then, back home, the real workout began! (This is very exciting!) As DC Rainmaker recently alerted the Internets, Garmin is running a huge sale on some of its Forerunner models, including the 910XT, which I’ve been ogling for a very, very, very long time. This is the Rolex of GPS watches, especially if you bike and swim, as well. I’ve been writing to Santa about it for years, but he hasn’t been getting my letters?

Very well, Santa, if you won’t bring it to me, I’ll order it myself. I got it off the site linked to at DC Rainmaker, but it was the exact same price on Amazon, too. Except you may have to pay sales tax there, depending on where you live. At $337 (25% off!), the price is right, especially if you have an old Garmin Forerunner to trade in and get another $50 back. I can’t wait to get mine and get swim/ bike/ running without having to deal with stuff like this: Tomorrow, I’m leaving the credit cards at home and heading out to volunteer at the Morgan Hill Sprint Triathlon. It’ll be a 5 a.m. wake-up call so I can bike there: about 25 miles from where we live, then back after the event. Should be interesting!

How’s your weekend going? Did anyone run/ race already?

Caffeine On the Go — And a Sweet Giveaway!

Posted on May 16, 2013 by aleksruns

Anyone who knows me – or reads the name of this blog – will tell you that I love coffee. It’s delicious. I write poetry about it. Some nights, I go to bed thinking:And of course, you know that caffeine — in moderation — has been proven to enhance athletic performance.

If there is one downside to all that, it’s that coffee makes you… you know, go. My numerous visits to the porta-potties pre-race have been duly noted, by family and strangers alike. (One lady told me I probably have “nervous pre-race bladder.” Er, no. I have what we call three cups of coffee in the past two hours.)

But one company has come up with an interesting solution to my problem: caffeinated gum! Java Gum contacted me recently, asking if I wanted to sample their products — and offer some to my readers as well. I figured, why not?

I tried Java Gum before (and after!) the Big Sur marathon and yes, it did provide that jolt of wakefulness I get from a cup of joe. Without the unnecessary liquid (which at that point I’d rather get from water or an energy drink).

Each piece of gum contains 65 mg of caffeine — equivalent to a 10-oz cup of coffee. It’s technically anhydrous (dehydrated) caffeine, which according to this study comparing the performance effects of both during endurance exercise, is exactly the same thing.

And it tastes just like regular gum!

Want to try it? Java Gum will send four of you a prize package, which includes:

six packs of gum (three spearmint and three peppermint flavor),
a T-shirt,
a tank top.

You could be just like me with my tank top, which I’ve worn on a few short runs already, or just around town (the front scores some awkward stares, it’s fun!):Or like these happy folks, modeling everything in the package:So what do you need to do?

You can leave a comment here (tell me how you like your morning coffee — or what your pre-race coffee routine is, or both!), you can like my Facebook page, or JavaGum’s, or you can do some Tweeting. None of these are mandatory, but each of these will give you two entries in the giveaway (and some you can do daily). Make sure you use the Rafflecopter widget below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

And, please, chew responsibly. The gum has caffeine, so taking too much may make you feel the way you feel after drinking too much coffee.

Don’t Run to Eat — Eat to Run

Posted on May 13, 2013 by aleksruns

If most runners are like me, chances are they first started running — and kept at it for a while — just so they could eat their favorite foods. A half-tub of ice cream after a half marathon? Yes please! Humongous Costco muffin for breakfast? Why not; I’ll run it off later. Whipped cream on your coffee? Ode-worthy!

But the more I keep running, the more I realized that I enjoy it most not when I run to eat, but the other way around: when I eat to run.

Not that I would quit ice cream, or even muffins — but find a healthier alternative. Like soy or coconut ice cream, for example… and these:Vegetable-oat muffins, recipe appropriated from Bree Wee’s garden bread. Healthy and delicious!

OK, so objectively speaking, they look quite ugly… and I’ve been the only person in the house to eat them? But I do like them! So let’s make a deal. I’ll give you the recipe, you make a batch and let me know if you like them — you know, to make me feel better!

Oat-vegetable muffins
2 small zucchini (or 1 large)
2 carrots
2 bananas
a handful or two pumpkin seeds, raw (optional)
3 tbsp coconut oil
maple syrup (to taste)
cinnamon (to taste)

Mix zucchini, carrots and bananas in food processor. Transfer mix to a bowl and throw in the rest of the ingredients and mix together:Transfer to a muffin tray (you can fill ‘em up, the mixture won’t rise). Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Let cool down and enjoy. I think they taste best the day after!

Many thanks to Bree Wee for the inspiration! (As if I needed more reasons to love her blog!)

[WHOA RunKeeper changed their web interface! What?!?]

OK, let me give you the deets on this swim workout and then I’m off to study what RunKeeper changed and why.

Warmup: 250
500 free style, lengthening stroke (and bilateral breathing)
1000 free, timed (25 minutes… FYI this is very slow)
500 free, lengthening stroke
250 warm down, anything but free style (I alternated breast stroke and back stroke)

The guy swimming in the next lane was training for a 10K. He meant a 10K in the water. Dude…

What’s the longest you ever swam?

What are your favorite healthy treat recipes?

Happy Mother’s Day and BelieveIAm Journal Winners

Posted on May 12, 2013 by aleksruns

Happy Mother Runner’s Day, mother readers! Hope you’re having a wonderful day and are being pampered and thanked properly for everything that you do and the supermoms that you are! Today’s post will be a quick one: just stopping by to let you know who the winners of the BelieveIAm journal giveaway are, then I’m off to do supermom things like bake cakes from scratch, clean the house with 100% organic homemade cleaners and sew some new clothes for BabyRuns, from 100% organic cotton that I made.

Kidding. I just woke up from my nap and when I’m done here I’ll probably watch some Hulu, then we’ll have to eat out because I haven’t cooked anything today.

[But I did bike nearly 27 miles, tell you about that later!]

Oh yeah. The winners of the two journals are:

Number 4, Jennifer Nelson:
Good luck with your first half marathon, Jennifer! Now you have one more place to document your journey — and those to come! Enjoy!

And Number 15, Chloe:
I love that! Signing up for races and setting an example for my kid are my biggest motivators, too. And look at that – you did win! Congrats!

Jennifer and Chloe, please drop me an email with your addresses, so I can mail you the journals!

Today’s ride:Decided to celebrate Mother’s Day by riding my bike longer than I ever have today. That meant doing at least 20 miles, so the plan was to go out, ride for a little over 10 miles somewhere and head back. I wasn’t sure how RunKeeper would manage, considering its drunken performance at the Sirena18 yesterday, but what do you know: it worked perfectly.

I, however, managed to get lost a little bit. Not LOST-lost (and certainly not on an island with supernatural creatures…), but somehow on my way back I ended up on the busy El Camino Real (a highway with no bike lane, but plenty of traffic lights) instead of the beautiful tree-lined Foothill Expressway. The traffic lights slowed me down a lot, but overall I had a great ride that ended up being exactly two hours long – and I was hungry like a horse by the time I was done. Learning to drink and eat on the bike is still on my to-do list, and with an Olympic distance triathlon I’m eyeing on June 16, I’m running out of time. Help!

How was your Mother’s Day? Did you get some miles in? Or mimosas?

The Mermaids Who Ran for a Long Time: Sirena18 Recap

Posted on May 11, 2013 by aleksruns

A few months ago, I was looking into women-only races that hand out pendants and necklaces to finishers — you know, actual bling rather than “race bling” — and discovered the Mermaid Series. They put up a series of events in the Bay Area, including an 18-mile run, dubbed Sirena18, in the beautiful Quarry Lakes Regional Recreation Area; on Mother’s day weekend.

It was a no brainer!

So today’s wake-up call was 5 a.m. If you ever run a race at Quarry Lakes, give yourself plenty of time for parking. The entrance can get backed up with hundreds of cars on race mornings. (We had signed up to do Brazen Racing’s Quarry Turkey races last Thanksgiving weekend as a family, and missed the kids race because of the long line.)

But this time, the line to get in was pretty much non-existent and I parked with one hour to spare.

The area is beautiful, but at 6:30 in the morning it was a bit too chilly for hanging out: So like most people, I visited the porta-potty and then dashed back to the car for some warmth.

There were only 125 women running the 18-miler and the start area was very relaxed. I chatted with some MRTT friends (running the half, 10K or 5K) until five seconds before the gun — and we were off!

The first couple of miles looped around the lakes:I had no time goal for this race — other than to have a good time! My pace felt like a 10-min mile, super easy and relaxed; I was surprised to see my Runkeeper time at 8:57 at the first mile marker.

Speaking of Runkeeper, it decided today was not its day to keep track of things:Good thing I didn’t have to watch my pace for this one!

In fact, one thing this Mermaid Run was in need of was more mile markers – especially for the Sirena18. After mile four, they basically left us to wonder how far we’d gone (26 miles, according to my RunKeeper… Now 35! Now 43!) — and how fast. And when available, mile markers were for some reason facing the wrong way?Eh, I’ll let that slide. It was a beautiful day and I was running:If you’re thinking this looks like any ol’ training run (where are the other racers?), you’d be correct. With so few of us over an 18-mile distance, we spread out quickly and I was running in a small groups of 2-3 women of by myself most of the time. The trail was open to all others, of course, so there were lots of cyclists, walkers and non-race runners, too.

The best part was the final mile, when we ran into the Mini Mermaids, who were running their 1.5 mile kids run, all dressed up in Mermaid costumes. Too cute!

Behind the Finish line:Now that the 18 miles were behind me, the real difficult part began! Getting some food, drink and a massage. That is: waiting in lines. Long, long, long lines!

Chiropractor/ massage line:I gave up on that one after a while because I figured getting food and drink was more important. I must’ve waited for at least a half hour on that one before giving up, too.

Seriously. Running 18 miles: no problem. Waiting in line? I give up!

I ended up not eating anything, but drank a few more bottles of water, checked out my results – 9th in my age group… out of 20; well – better than half! – and came back to the massage line, determined to wait it out this time. To survive! To persevere!

The line seemed a lot shorter than it was earlier, but let me tell you: I spent at least an hour there, if not longer. But the view was awesome:Finally, my turn. Yes, please!

Bling, Swag
Now, the important stuff: the bling. I have to say that when the volunteer handed me a little baggie with a pendant inside – no chain – I was a bit disappointed. But on further inspection, the pendant is not bad: I may even wear it some time! The t-shirt rocks:It looks just like a regular t-shirt, with no race distances or sponsor logos in the back, which I love. It means I can – and will! – wear it a lot, rather than just stash it in the pile of race shirts to be forgotten until who knows when.

Do you ever wear race t-shirts other than to run?

Today:[Had to fix the distance/ route manually - that, too, required more patience than running the distance.]

Official time: 02:48:38
Average pace: 9:22 min/ mile
Overall place: 27 (out of 125)
Age place: 9 (out of 20)

A Mother Runner’s Outfit for a Mother Runner’s Day Race

Posted on May 10, 2013 by aleksruns

What does a mother runner wear when the mother runner runs a mother runner’s day race?

[Now repeat that quickly three times. Ha!]

I’m running the Sirena18 tomorrow, an 18-mile race that’s part of the Mermaid series. I have to wake up at 5 a.m., not easy after a busy week, but hey: it’ll be jolly good fun! And, I get to wear one of my favorite outfits, which happens to be particularly appropriate for a pre-Mother Runner’s Day race.

Take a peek:Here’s what you see:

1. Sexy Back Dress by SkirtSports. SkirtSports is founded and run by Nicole DeBoom: professional triathlete, Ironman champion, and most importantly, mom to an adorable little girl.

2. Moving Comfort sports bra; with extra-thick padding. Mother runners need that.

3. Tri-shorts by SkirtSports; lined with silicone so they don’t ride up – and the thighs don’t chafe. Also, the light padding at the bottom may have been meant to protect your lady parts while you’re biking, but it also helps on the run. Mother runners know what I mean.

4. Badass Mother Runner sweaty band from Another Mother Runner. ’nuff said!

5. ProCompression socks in pink argyle. Because knee long socks mean you don’t have to wax your legs all that often! Oh, and also there’s that quicker-recovery thing.

And, of course: