learning to run

Those of you at Duathlon Worlds in Richmond Virginia in 2007 might remember this scary little guy...... he was on the course..... and he was screaming BOOOO! When I realized that screaming BOO to a bunch of athletes was..... not likely to be taken correctly...... we switched to ROOOOOOAAAAAAARRRRRR!!!!!! Nothing says Halloween like a Monster with a walker!

"You learned to run." Were Coach T's parting words to me, "Now you have to learn to run fast."

Yeah, I did learn to run. At a party in 2007 I remember telling him I would never be able to run more than 3-4 times a week because of my Achilles. He told me if he was coaching me, he'd have me run every single day. I gasped. Did he HEAR ME???? I spend four months in Das Boot, and on crutches and I will not go back to that by over training.

Apparently I misunderstood. I got injured because I was training wrong. Not because I was overtraining.

I am by nature not a great runner. Yet. Over the past 2 years I have focused on the Ironman and I can hang on to my Ironman running pace (which for me is a 3:55 - 4:00 Ironman..... stop laughing all you sub 3:30 freaks!!!). It has served me well. It has served me so well that in Texas I hung at exactly that pace no matter what. Which would have been really lovely had it been an Ironman and not a half.

But beggars can't be choosers.

I can run every single day. My running has greatly improved and in 2009 I am determined to show it. I can run while sleeping, forever and ever. Coach T is right, this year I shall be running fast. We all have our definition of fast, just accept and be yours. It's not worth comparing. Fast for me is fast for me.

As I already printed my first week of transition period..... I already am wrestling with myself about starting earlier. But No. Coach says Nov 2nd. That means I start in Florida, the day after Curt does Ironman. What better place to start? Next week I will allow myself to begin some running. Some, not a lot. 3 days at 30 minutes each as my back is feeling G.R.E.A.T.

(PS: it is ok to run in the off-season. In a few days I will have a post about the off-season itself.)

In December I will begin a running camp. Just like I did before. Now the key to these running camps is running the right pace. Many of you have heard me boast about the benefits of the Jack Daniels running programs. Here is a good link if you are not familiar with the whole V Dot system. Do yourself an even bigger favor, read his book.

The most important thing to not is that you don't run a V Dot you have not earned.

Example: My E paced is 9 minute miles. I have dropped to that over the year. Now that seems way too slow, but read through the program and then understand. I don't want to run 9 minute miles, I want to average 7-7:30's in a race. That's in a race, not in building a foundation though. 7:30 is my T pace. The way I will improve on that is training specificity at my V Dot. Not at an e paced or a t pace I have not yet earned. Unless I want another injury.

So I run at my V dot E pace for running camp. E pace teaches you to run efficiently (and saves you $175 on a pair of Newton shoes). E paced allows you to run frequently. It creates a lot of strength.

I will test by jumping into a 5K. Maybe a 10K. in December. We will see what the schedule holds. Reevaluation time. V Dot adjustment? Hopefully so. If not, we keep at it. Then we will take it from there.

This season will hold more T pace and some R paced runs than I had last season. And I will build my long run to 2 hours early, just like I did last year. This is all part of the foundation and the pieces of a carefully laid plan.

Don't worry, as it happens I will walk you through it with much more detail and much more explanation. I will do that will all of my training. Want numbers and watts? You will get them here. Call me the slower female Gordo. I will share what works and what doesn't. Take what you want from it.

Each of us is an individual. My plan won't work for you because...... it's my plan. Perhaps you can take pieces of my plan and apply them to your plan. Perhaps you will look at it and think..... wacko.

That's why I love this country. Freedom!

So 2009 will be the year I find a fast run within me. It's there. Damn thing has been buried in the Ironman. Since we have divorced I feel free to explore, and free to discover. Running for joy, that's what I will call it. Nah..... Running fast for joy.

good habits

This is my yoga friend and fellow teacher Mike, with me at Ben and Jerry's!

This might be the first time I have ever truly given myself a break. In over 10 years in this sport there has always been something next... something new.... something to work towards. I force each one of the athletes on my team to take an off-season. But I have always found a good reason of why I should avoid it. Or why I should equal the hours in the pool.

This round of decompression has been heavenly. I am eating an eighth of what I typically eat. My nutrition is really going well. I feel good, really good when I eat well. This is the time of the year to establish those sound nutrition habits that will follow you through the rest of the year.

Nutrition is a tricky thing and there is no super secret method of losing weight except:

Calories out must exceed calories in.

How many calories should you eat? Great question. More than 1200 and less than 2000 is a good general rule for the average person WHO IS NOT TRAINING AS MUCH AS YOU DO. But don't get caught up in the numbers. That will cause a good dose of OCD. Concentrate on eating good food. Food without an ingredient list (in it's original form). Sure there are programs like Weight Watchers and such to help you track calories and fat. Those are good programs if that's the kind of structure you need.

I guarantee that if you strive for five, 5 fruits and veggies per day..... if you eat three balances meals, or six smaller meals, if you eat a colorful plate, if you eat some protein at each meal, if you allow yourself some indulgence, and exercise every day....... I guarantee you that you will lose weight.

It really can be that simple.

As someone who has been in the health and fitness industry for more years than I care to admit, and someone who has traveled the path of the eating disordered (to the point that it nearly took my life), I have seen more gimmicks, promises, and pills than I care to think about.

Things like body fat testing, calipers, scales that swear to know your body fat percentage by just stepping on the thing (R.I.P.P.-O.F.F.), etc etc. The true way to get your body fat tested is the dunk test which is expensive and even that.... has a margin of error. What if you got your body fat tested and you got down to that magical number, then suddenly you kept getting sick and you started to underperform? Wasn't life supposed to completely come together if you hit that magical number??? Don't let everything hinge on it.

What weight do you feel good at? What weight do you perform your best at? What weight do you think you lose power and ability at? Give it a try.

Please stop making everything so complicated. We get to live once. There is really good food out there. Check out Bree's site, she posts some terrific recipes. Put away the nonfat butter, the fat free cream cheese, employ moderation and whole foods.

That's really all you need. And you won't make yourself nuts anymore. In fact, try a handful of nuts, they're good for you!

strengthen up

Quite honestly I get really sick of the debate on whether strength training is beneficial to triathletes. I have found an equal amount of evidence on both sides of the issue and I am not here to debate it. You either do it or you don't. Much of it has to do with the individual athlete, their body, and their beliefs. There is no such thing as one size fits all, and the key is always to look at an athlete, their abilities, body, mind as an individual.


I find that those who hate to strength train never do it. I find that those who enjoy it, do it.


I find that those who have a limited amount of time skip it.


I find those that have 15 minutes in their day enjoy doing a bit of it.


In my 5 years of coaching, more often than not, the athletes who do some sort of strength training have less injuries. Now.... granted this is a highly unscientific study with athletes of different abilities, different goals, physiques, etc.


This is just my experience. And I should really say that it is not limited to the five years I have coached triathletes. It's the 30 years I have been a competitive athlete. Yes, that would make me four years old when I became a competitive swimmer.


In my opinion, a stronger muscle is a healthier muscle and it can sustain more. Bottom line. That's my experience talking. Not only for others but for myself.


Where strength training becomes a problem is:


1. When people skip a swim bike or run to strength train.

2. When triathletes focus too much on shoulder days, leg days, etc.

3. When triathletes spend more than 3 times a week for 30-45 min in the weight room.


Again, this is opinion. I can not stress it enough.


I recovered from a partial tear of my Achilles Tendon. I do various calf raises daily to help prevent further issue. That's strength training. Ever go to Physical Therapy? It's a gym of broken people doing strength training to regain function, range of motion, etc. Strength training.


It comes back to the basic rule of life, this applies to just about anything:


In moderation everything is healthy.


As you know I highly enjoy functional strength training. I bulk easily so for me working on stability balls, with cords, and with the TRX is really fun and effective for me.


First: define what you like and or don't like. Do you like barbells and hate stability balls? See if you can create a program that uses what you like. A great resource for functional strength training that utilizes all modalities is www.ptonthenet.com Chuck Wolfe is one of the creators of this site. I was really lucky to attend one of his seminars and I really enjoyed learning about his philosophy.


Next: what do you have time for? We can all make room for 15-30 minutes a day 3 times a week. While you are watching TV, maybe get in a round or two before swimming. Be that nerd on the deck who does strange exercises while waiting for a lane.


Last: Just like training, be consistent. Don't expect results of you do it once a week and then none a week and then three times a week. Achievement is found under the umbrella of consistency. Just like the rest of your training change it up. Periodize, make adjustments.


Training is an evolution through a year. It's not a set in stone kind of deal. Give yourself different things to focus on. Things that are designed to enhance your swim / bike / run combo. Have fun with it.


And finally..... do what I do. Realize that there are coaches and people in the world who will always disagree with you, your philosophy and who will find the negative side of everything. See it, acknowledge it, and let it go. It's their stuff, and not yours. Just like everything else in life and in the world, if you believe in what you are doing, and you believe in the reasons why you do what you do...... then it can only help you.

knowing thyself

Can I coach myself? It's the question I keep getting asked since I made the big announcement of my snazzy new coach.

The answer: I can.

What will it take to coach myself? Self awareness, objectivity, planning and accountability.

I met with the new coach this morning and we set some goals and some limits. Training hours. The first thing I did was put a ceiling on training hours. Why? Because I would train as many as possible, which just isn't smart.

The second thing I did was lay out my goals. I shall share those later as they are in the rough draft form still. Get a piece of paper and write down everything you want to achieve next season. Put it away and tomorrow come back to it.

What's fluff? What's real?

Marrying Brian Rhodes.... now that would be an example of a fluff goal. That got crossed off the list. (not approved by husband)

Riding faster than Lance Armstrong? Fluff again.

PR'ing in a half marathon by May? Okay now we've got something to work with.

Top three placing at the Musselman? Gulf Coast? Now we are talking.

Once those goals get dusted off and solidified, we take a look at what we need to do to get there. We study last year's results with care to remember the playing field is always different year to year. However that shall give us a start. We determine what I would need to do.

Then we look at where I am at right now. Broken, still recovering from an injury, needing some healing and needing a good plan.

So there are two ends...... now I need to make them join up in the middle.

How on earth am I going to do that? Easy, I am going to start where all things begin. At the beginning. From now until November 1st I have some goals. We are all such goal oriented task masters aren't we? Give me a goal and a plan and I will get it. Or deal with bumps along the way.

My goals for October:

1. Heal

2. Wake up and see what I feel like doing that day. Do only what I feel like doing.

3. Good nutrition. I can drop weight like madd in the off-season.

4. Mental rest. I have given myself days and limits of planning for next season. Otherwise I would dream about it every single day.

I think that if you take on the task of coaching yourself you do have to be brutally honest. I will have to look at my weeks and my logs and track my progress just like I do with every single one of my athletes.

I will teach you how to do the very same thing. I always tell my athletes that there should be a point where you can take this thing and fly. Otherwise I have taught you nothing. Some have found their wings and they know I am here to support. Some have taken flight, some have not. They just need to trust that they know what to do.

Just like I do.

Texas Longhorn 70.3 Race Report

Best truck I have ever seen!

I loved this race. That's really all that I need to say. I loved it. Many of the local Austin athletes were mortified that this course was a representation of their city. I couldn't understand why. I come from beautiful countryside with good roads, and I thought the same thing existed in Austin. This race was not only beautiful but F.U.N. Texans are perhaps the funnest people on the face of this earth.

Hands down.

Due to my bike crash on September 11th I knew this was going to be a rough day for me. I raced the entire day with strategy. If I could just race about a 5:10-5:15 I could place high enough to qualify or attain a roll down slot to the 2009 70.3 World Championships. That would give me over a year and I could take an eight week off-season with no pressure.

The water was warm and day of race it was just cold enough to be wetsuit legal. I was a bit worried because I had left my wetsuits back in New York, as it seemed that only dropping an ice burg into the water would allow wetsuits! Enter the Blue Seventy Point Zero3 suit.

I had swam in this thing in the beautiful waters of Barton Springs, and it felt great. If I had stood at the race start with a choice of a westsuit and the Blue Seventy, I would have chosen the Blue Seventy. For the first time ever I was able to have a good swim in warm water. Sure the swim was short but I felt terrific. My back gave me no troubles.

Onto the bike I felt fantastic. I stayed very in control as I hit my wattages and speeds and I was passing people like crazy. The course was fun, twists, turns, some small climbs, and a headwind. I love to ride in a headwind! Sure the road at times was crappy. My nutrition was secure, and I have ridden roads like this before. We have some like these at home. I understand that a 56 mile bike course has to be designed a specific way. This race director knows his stiff and honestly these roads were not horrible. Bumpy in spots. No big deal. By far the funnest bike course I have been on. It felt good to ride hard but I was careful not to ride too hard. Even though I knew the run was going to be slow I had to keep my strategery in mind.

Off the bike my back hurt a bit but I knew walking was not going to help. I reverted to E pace and had the run been 26.2 miles I am sure I would have finished in the top three.

For once in my life I wished it was a longer run ;-)

The run was fun. A double loop on roads and through trails and the hill..... not so bad at all. Plenty of time to see friends and cheer everyone on. Plenty of time for high fives. I kept the pain in control. I played it very smart. There were a few times I tried to pick up the pace and the pain grew stronger.

I reminded myself of the goal. It was no longer to PR but to try and grab a spot. To grab a spot we had to race smart.

About one mile from the finish line I came upon a guy named Matt. He was struggling. He began to walk. I grabbed his arm and yelled at him, "Not at mile 12 Matt! We have one more mile to go" So we ran it in together.

I have to say that through the race I got so many cheers for the Texas suit. I added in a Longhorn salute and I got even more. I am proud to admit to being a poser Texas girl. As I came up quadzilla the race director was there. He was shouting out names as we crossed the mat.

"And representing the great state of Texas is Mary Eggers!" He screamed. "From......" There was a pause..... "Form Henrietta New York?" I screamed to him that today I was a Texan.

And I was damn proud.

I finished the race feeling fine. Feeling happy for a finish line. Feeling thrilled that I did what I could do with what I was given that day. I was lucky to be racing at all.

Kim hung around the awards with me, and when it finally came down to rolldown my heart began to pound. I just wanted to truly achieve one of the big goals I had set.

When the spot rolled down to me, he didn't even finish my name when I cried "I'll take it!" And I was so happy to sign the dotted line.

Whew. Pressure off.

It was truly a great day. I was blessed to spend it with friends. I was in awe to watch guys like Richie Cunningham and Tim DeBoom...... and to watch Simon Lessing come up on stage one more time.

I took a lesson from the women's winner Lisa Bentley. She took time, she allowed herself to recover and she is coming back slow. She's had some slow races and she's had some obstacles, but each day she is faster and she is stronger.

And so shall I be. I turn 35 this year and I know it will be the best year of my life thus far.

Now it shall be 8 weeks of off-season. Nothing but yoga and rehab this week. Next week a bit of swimming. November 1st I will start to run but nothing really structured until December 1st.

I have had the opportunity this year to work with a really amazing coach. Trevor Syversen. He is absolutely awesome. In fact I have had the fortune of working with some very amazing people through my career. From each person I hope to gain knowledge and insight.

And now it is time to come full circle. I have a new coach. She's experienced, she knows more than she thinks she does. She's a female. She's had some great years and not so great years. She's a working mom who loves her family, her life and her sport. And I hear she's really cool. Find out more about her here.

All I know is this: she knows me better than anyone else in the world.

we've officially seen it all now.....

This is a woman from Rochester. She's done at least a hundred Ironmans, she's done Hawaii at least a hundred times. She's one hell of an athlete. And she's fifty something! But I found this on Slowtwitch. It was labeled "We have officially seen it all......" Oh my!

It's the latest fad these compression socks. Most people who wear them don't even know what they do or what they are for. When I wear compression socks I wear them while working (I am a nurse) or when flying. Rarely at any other time.

As I paged through the latest edition of Triathlete and Inside Tri I laughed. Label it a compression item and it is a hot seller.

Bottom line: these things work when you are not racing. Know what you are wearing them for. Know the safe compression measurements. Did you know you can get different levels of "tightness"? How do you know which one is safe for you?

These babies have been around a lot longer than triathletes have. We in the medical field know them as Ted Stockings and we use them for patients who are recovering from surgeries, bed ridden etc.

I am always so stunned when I ask someone why they wear these and they tell me:

"I don't know..... but they work."

Here is a good read and it's really simple: http://www2.trainingbible.com/joesblog/2007_10_01_archive.html it's by Joel Friel and there are some very good references at the end.

And if you still don't believe it ...... the swim helmet can add compression for only $19.99 if you are one of the first five callers in the next 20 minutes to 1-800-swim-helmet!

Kim's Longhorn 70.3 Race Report

Since I touched down I have been on the run. From work to class and Thursday it all slows down! I shall collect my race thoughts on Thursday. But first I have Kim's race report. She is one of my athletes and the first one to jump on the Texas bandwagon. Her first 1/2 Ironman, her first big race..... way to go KIM!

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70.3 Longhorn (6:12:49; 48th/90):
I don’t even know where to start. This race definitely has taught me many things. First of all, the weekend was amazing. I am so lucky I got to spend it with a great group of people. If it wasn’t for the company I probably would have freaked out. I was able to ask all of my rookie questions without feeling like an idiot.

Race Morning: I wasn’t as nervous as I thought I would be. I was very excited to get the show on the road.

Swim (27:28.30; 20th/90): I thought the swim was very difficult. I would get a line to swim, but then after a couple more strokes I was within another group of different colored caps. I fought with a couple people but never let anyone truly get to me. I just kept swimming. During the swim, I thought to myself, I must be swimming really slow. It just seemed to take awhile. But then once I exited the water, I looked at my watch 28:xx. Wow, that was fast. Then I found out that the course was VERY short. But that’s ok.

T1 (2:40.25): Nothing exciting happened here except that my feet we caked in mud. I felt like I was in a barn with all the mud.

Bike (3:09:16.40; 44th/90; 17.8 mph): The minute I got on my bike I heard a thumping noise. I had no idea what it was but didn’t think it would cause too much of a problem. This course could have been much faster for me. When I would go down the hills the thumping noise would louder. This thumping was shaking my entire body. I could see my arms move. I knew this would affect my back muscles. I tried to keep as relaxed as I could. At mile 7, I was going down a hill, getting speed to hang up the next hill.

Then I heard metal against metal, then it was too late. I camp to a complete stop to see what happened. My water bottle unit that hangs behind the seat was about 25 yards away from me (with my new bottles from Mellow Johny’s L, Lance Armstrongs bike shop).

At that point, a few things went through my head. First, RELAX. Everything will be OK (because it has to). I can’t go back and get those bottles; I have no place to put them. So I got back on my bike and started to pedal. Then I had to come up with another plan. Then Mary’s voice came into my head.

This was the conversation:

Mary: “So what are you going to do if you lose your bottles?

Kim: “Gatorade Endurance,” Thinking to myself, this will never happen. Little did I know.

Mary: How many calories per bottle?”

Kim: “150 per bottle”

At this point, I thought to myself, wow that is a lot of liquid to drink to keep around 225 calories an hour. As well as some water. And we all know I don’t handle GE that well. I didn’t want to risk Plan B since I know I don’t digest GE very well. Onto Option C, I guess I will GU it the entire day.

GU it is.

Once I made this decision, I never looked back. I was put in a situation that I never wanted to get in. I made the best of this and had to deal with the cards that I was playing with. I got to the first aid station. Came to a complete stop, got about 6 Gu’s. Filled up my aero bottle and then went on my way. I couldn’t read the labels on the package, so I just assumed the calories around 100. I took one GU every 45 min.

I could see that the Power Bar GU’s do have caffeine in them. But I could not see the sodium. My watch was still set to beep every 15 min. I took one salt tablet every 15 min, and then on the 45 min I took a GU’s with NO salt tablet.

A couple times I had to guess what 15 min tick was going off but I think I guessed right. I had no nutrition problems. I did find out that the Power Bar Gu’s have 115 calories. That means I consumed 460 calories of GU, and about 50 calories of a Power Bar. Totaling: 510 calories for a little over 3 hours, which is much lower than I would have ever thought. Maybe this happened to show me that I don’t need as many calories as the calculations tell me.

Mary passed me around mile 20 (right where we calculated she would, that meant Mary was where she was supposed to be!). At that point I asked her if I had a bulge in my back tire, she said no. WE celebrated; I wished her good luck and that I would see her on the run. Man she is strong on the bike. She was out of my sight in less than minutes.

I did get hungry around mile 35. I needed something to chew. I took a bit of a Power Bar. Another bad idea. It felt like I had saw dust in my mouth. It took about 5 miles to chew one piece. But it did take away my hunger.

I told myself if I saw a Bike Repair Car, I would stop to have them check my bike out. That did not happen until mile 40. Then I thought to myself, I have been riding for 40 miles, I think I can go another 16. So I kept riding.

Every Aid station I took a bottle of water, re-filled my aerobottle and then dumped the rest of the water on my head.

Once I was getting close to transition, I saw that I would come in around 3:10. Kind of disappointed but with everything that happened, I couldn’t be too upset. If everything went my way I know I would have been in at least 5-10 mins faster. This still allowed me to have 2:20 for the ½ marathon to get in less than 6 hours. Being that this was my first ½ Ironman and it was 90 degrees, I did not want to get myself hung up on breaking 6 hours.

T2 (2:41): My bike was very far from the entrance. I hate running in my biking shoes.

Run (2:30:43; 63rd/90; 11:30): I couldn’t have had more fun on the run. I never had any low thoughts, the miles kept passing by. It did take me until 2 miles to get in a grove. My legs wanted to run faster at first, but I knew I would regret that later. I kept around a 945 – 1030 pace while I was running (including the hills). On the second loop I started to walk the hills. They seemed much bigger the second time around. This course was much hillier than I thought it was going to be.

I did have to shuffle through the aid stations to make sure I was getting sponges, towels, water, water and more water. I kept the same nutrition as I had on the bike. Solely on the course. I took three gels then salt tablets around every 20 min. Depending on where the aid stations where located.

At mile 6 my knee felt like my bones where rubbing against each other. I didn’t let this bother me, as I knew everything would be ok in about one more hour. I also started to drink coke at this point. I don’t know why, it just sounded good.

I met a man around mile 10, right when you go back into the woods. If it wasn’t for him I probably would have walked more than I did. We had small talk the rest of the time. It was refreshing hearing other people’s stories. At that time, there was about a group of 5 of us, making it to the finish line.

It was neat because you could hear the finish line from mile 11. That was very inspiring. All these people were waiting for ME to cross that line.

The minute I came up that last hill, I had a smile across my face, which I can’t even describe. I can’t wait to see the pictures.

While making my way through the finishing Shute, I had a zillion thoughts cross my mind. My dreams are finally coming true. The hard work has finally paid off. With all of my accidents in the past, I am so lucky I am ABLE to run across that finish line. If only some of my doctors knew what I was doing now.

Of course I could not have done this without Mary and the support of my family and friends. Everyone plays an important part of my journey to become and Ironman.

What I have learned: This is exactly how I wanted this race to go. I learned that I can handle anything out on the race course. There are some things that I have no control over. And I have to make the best out of what happens. You never want to lose your nutrition, bike problems, and have a nagging knee pain.

Nutrition: I am very particular about my nutrition. Losing my nutrition allowed me to “try” ….I mean be forced to use something else. And it worked. I made smart decisions and didn’t flip out. I also found out that during a ½ Ironman (in 90 degree weather), I only need to average around 150 calories an hour. My total calories was 905.

Mechanical Problems: Even though I rode my bike less than 12 hours before this race. I must get on my bike race morning. This would have eliminated this thumping noise. I am assuming it was my magnet hitting my spoke. I will be taking my bike to Jim, just to make sure.
Knee Problems: Being that I was having a very sensitive stomach a couple days before race day, I did not want to take Advil during the race. This is the first time I ran a race with no Advil. I have found out the reason my knee starts’ aching is because my knee is swelling. Monday I still woke up with the same pain as Sunday. Monday night the swelling has dropped to my right foot. My foot looked like a sausage. I slept with my feet elevated and the pain magically went away. And it hasn’t come back.

Pacing: I did not know what to expect, being that this was my first ½ Ironman. Now that I look back, I could have pushed it harder on the bike, and be able to hold onto the run. The heat and changing my nutrition plan concerned me. I didn’t know how I was going to react to anything.