run this amazing day

After struggling through a fall season where my HR zones were continually being "adjusted," I decided that I'd like to get a VO2 max test.  A VO2 max test measures many things, but the results of the test will give you your zones based on science instead of guesswork and formulas.  VO2 max refers to the maximum amount of oxygen that an athlete can use during intense exercise.  The test gives you your VO2 max number, which is a good indication of your aerobic endurance potential , but it also gives you a ton of other information about how many and the kind of calories you currently burn during exercise at different intensities, as well as HR information as related to zones.   I asked Lauren for a recommendation because I knew that she was really happy with the test she took last spring , and ended up scheduling with Melissa Dalio from endura coaching.  I contacted her via email about the test and we scheduled it for last week.   My initial impression of M...

At this race last year I was pretty horrified at the conditions for the swim.  It was my first OWS, but I still wasn't prepared to swim through a mile of strangling seaweed in a brackish bay that tasted slightly like fish poop.  This year, the race was moved to the other side of the island and I was moved forward in the mafia rotation to the bike leg.  I felt pretty prepared to race the crap out of this, making sure to get on the bike at least twice in the 8 weeks preceding the race. We managed to get our incorrectly-sized bikes from the rental company late Friday evening and I took a short spin around the parking lot.  Race morning was an unqualified disaster.  We woke up and headed down to transition where a single volunteer (race director?) appeared to be managing the chaos.  Our chip was missing, so we were initially told to "just take another one."  Note to race directors: this is how to make your day suck really hard.  But in a magical u...

Let's take a look at November goals... November Goals Get back on the bike after Richmond.   This gets a check, I've been on it twice since Philly. Take 2 on the squash vegetables.   I made butternut squash risotto and put it plus eggplant on a pizza!  Huge win. Maaaaaybe stop drinking so much on weekends.  Maybe.   Definitely a check, 2 weeks of being sick knocked this one right out.   Check out that photography class thing at some point.   Bah, giant fail. Keep the speed workouts to 1x a week and most of the miles easy. That definitely happened - I did track Tuesdays only for speedwork this month and lots of easy miles. Wear shorts as long as possible.  45º is not cold!   I wore shorts yesterday - but a few warm weeks definitely helped this one. My plans for the month derailed when I got sick a week before the Richmond Half.  I decided to bail on it and instead race Philly the following weekend.  Even though I didn't...

1. After several days of complete rest, I'm 100% sure that I was completely burned out.  The first two days I didn't want to do anything.  I woke up on day 3 wanting to get back in the pool (but I didn't, see: narky shoulder), and after doing a short but hard V02 max run test last night, I'm almost ready to get back on the bike (I know this doesn't make any sense).  I'm going to continue resting and sleeping and eating the good food through the weekend, but I already feel a bit of my mojo creeping back.  I'll ease back into training starting next Tuesday, and I'm almost rested enough to be looking forward to it.  Almost. 2.  My 10ish days of complete rest were briefly interrupted last night by a V02 max test (more on this soon) and will again be briefly interrupted this weekend when we return to Key West to defend our triathlon relay title .  Last year I did the swim - my first ever open water swim - and the Mafia musical chairs have put me on the b...