Dr. Kathy's Training Blog

It has been a pleasant 8 days since the HARDEST RACE OF MY LIFE.  Shall I begin to share with you my amazing experience at XTERRA World Championship in Maui? Here I go!!!

It was hot morning, a blue sky sitting over calm ocean waters, and the lava gleamed black, deadly and beckoning to me on the trails of the volcano Haleakala, hiding behind a grueling swim.

The Blessing

Hours before the start of this adventure each year, the racers are all blessed on the beach by Reverend Alalani, a traditionally dressed Maui religious leader.  She blesses us with a palm frond dipped over and over again in holy water.  This is taken very seriously by most of the racers, as it is a huge day with many potential dangerous spots, so we take all the blessings we can get.

This year unlike previous ones, 600 racers were sort of corralled into a small section of the beach and we had to stay on the sand before the gun went off.  I, being the “shy” swimmer that I am, fear being slugged in the jaw or kicked in the goggles or worse, being swum over, more than losing.  SOOO, when the gun went off, I ran diabolically opposite to everyone else, down the beach to get a way from fists and feet.  I jumped into the ocean and started my swim grateful of being on the edge, when I gradually began to notice this most amazing colorful school of fish, hundreds of these tropical red, blue, green, orange, and yellow sea life, swimming all around my goggles and my body!  I thought to myself “Self, why are all these fish swimming so close to all these swimmers?”……and looked up to notice they weren’t, the fish were swimming with one lost swimmer who was swimming AWAY from the buoy with a very strong current I hadn’t noticed.

The Swim

Um, long long swim story short, I kind of lost some time and more energy trying to swim back to the buoy and back into the race.  But despite rumors, I wasn’t being herded away by a group of dolphins or escaping from a shark.  No excuse, I just got a little (a lot) lost!

The Bike

The fun part came when I got onto my bike.  Woohooo!  Unfortunately, I had to pass awesome swimmers/crappy mtn. bikers on the climb, which just adds to my time as they always mess up “the line”.  All part of the challenge though, I wouldn’t have to worry if I could just swim a little faster than a very large rock.  Now after a grueling 1600 foot climb (up and down equaling to @34oo feet of total mtn. bike climb) in only 6 miles, on loose lava and hot dusty terrain, I should really say the fun part was finally descending this great volcano.  It feels like people are not moving when I pass them on the bike down technical descents. Truly, I marvel at how fast I can go down a mountain sometimes.  That is my forte and the real reason I earn the spot at XTERRA Worlds.  I love to bike and just love the challenge of going as fast as I possibly can down a rocky, lava rock covered, tire-piercing long thorn Kiawe lined, dangerous and steep race trail. That brought me from the back of the pack to 5^th place in my age group as I left the bike and began… THE RUN.

Running Through Spooky Forest

Running after that ride was pretty rough, for pros and amateurs alike!  I felt pretty pooped out for the first 2 miles, which was all a climb up that darn volcano.  But after the 3^rd mile I sort of got it together mentally and started up a good rhythm.  I passed a lady in my age group at a water station at mile 4, and it was pretty funny what I was thinking at that moment.  Her back was to me and I thought I could tip toe by her, sneaking by while she drank her water so that she wouldn’t know she had to hunt me down again.  I actually tried to be “quiet” in “the pass”, imagining her not noticing my sneaky move. You see, my mind was mush by then so you can’t blame me for thinking this was a worthy strategy.  Anyhow, that put me in 4^th for my age group as she never caught up to me.  I passed only one more woman and that was again demonstrating one of my fortes; running quickly over a mass of loose and dangerous lava rocks.  I am blessed with mountain goat abilities when running on technical turf, and I passed this great athlete (who by the way was one of my goals to beat; she was the only amateur woman who beat me at Richmond XTERRA-by 4 minutes- in June, and has since turned pro!), and as I passed her I could see she was really trying to speed up.  But not all of us have this uncanny ability to sprint on broken sharp edged lava like a billy goat on a teeny trail!  There was only a quarter of a mile left and I crossed the finish line saying to myself “Self, don’t cry yet, no one will know it is because you are so HAPPY to be done this one-hell-of-a-race!”.

Finally!

So, here are my race results from last weekend with my previous race results from 2006.

Note I was in the same age group both races, 35-39.

2009:  Swim-37  Bike-2:09  Run-1:07  Total-3:53:25

Place-4^th

2006:  Swim-33:50 Bike-2:17  Run-1:10  Total-4:04:57

Place-2^nd

Thus, I improved my overall time in 3 years (and had my 2nd beautiful daughter in the middle of them), but everyone else got even faster than me!

I have to say this. I am so inspired by all these ladies out there, who are working professionals with consuming jobs and beautiful children and family responsibilities, who carve out a training program within a demanding schedule and then succeed in attaining such fitness and skill.  I am inspired by these amazing female athletes to never give up myself, to keep trying to improve on my weaknesses, to shoot for personal best despite the challenges and time constraints.  Thank you to all you women out there who kick butt in this crazy world while racing in this crazy sport.  You inspire me to be the best that I can be in our shared passion of XTERRA while balancing an amazingly full life around it.

Molikini In the Distance

I want to thank my husband and daddy of my daughters, Pierre, for being my best friend, my own rock I can lean on when I am burned out, and for sharing with me the immense joy of fitness and fast mountain bike rides down really steep mountains.

My Rock

Now, what crazy awesome fitness goals will you set for yourself in 2010?  Let me help you in whatever it may be, for that is the purpose of my blog.  It is meant to inspire you to get out and MOVE, be ACTIVE, and ENJOY and SHARE the fitness challenge of getting to your own personal best.

What do I plan for 2010?  HMMMM, I’ll have to sleep on that one.

Aloha my friends!

Token Maui Sunset Pic!

ALRIGHT, I’m trying not to fret about our big race next weekend. If you race, you know what I mean… worrying about stupid things like “I just can’t get sick before next weekend” and “I hope I make the swim cut-off time!”. My workout for Thursday was a FABULOUS run with my dear friend Scott Scudamore. We were at the Wakefield trails doing a 40 minute run with 3 sets of 3 minutes hard. It is so motivating to run with a pal, and so much more enjoyable sometimes to share the beautiful outdoors this way with a friend. I think I kicked his butt more than he kicked mine but we both had a super workout. The entire purpose was to “REV THE ENGINES, BURN OUT THE EXISTING CARBON, AND PREP THE OVEN” for race day WITHOUT depleting our systems much at all. I felt fresh and light afterwards, I think Scott did too. (He is racing XTERRA Worlds as well next week! Go Scott Go!)

Yesterday I was scheduled for my most favorite thing to do on a cold and rainy day. Ooohhh I just love to jump into the cold water at the swimming pool when my skin is already frost bitten. Feels so refreshing. Anyways, enough complaining Coutinho. Pierre and I did DRILLS for 25 minutes followed by a few hard 50’s. Honestly, it was fabulous learning and I even warmed up to turn a shade of light blue. Coach Melissa told me to focus on my body-balance in the water, so my feet aren’t down at a 45 degree angle below my head making me have to pull them like big huge weights through the water. The drills are working, so remember this, if you want to swim like a swimmer and not like a rock, get a swim coach, it works!

Have a super weekend and get your exercise in despite this rainy day. Burke Lake is a great place to walk/run even when it is wet out, there is much tree cover to protect you from the wind too. SEE YOU!

13 days until lift off…. Maui XTERRA World Championships!!! There are 22 women in my age group who I will be competing against, and truly I feel like I will be lucky to place 21st at this point. Time to start the taper while not getting sick. Today was a great swim with Pierre, 25 minutes of drills and then the fun part: 4 sets of 50 meters descending (going harder), then 2 sets of 200, 150 hard and 50 easy. Because I am racing Pierre, I actually pulled out a 1 min 25 sec. 100 on both sets, and my last 50 was REALLY SLOW, so this is not something I could endure. I was breathing so hard in my hard sets that I was making a whistling noise in my chest, totally hilarious! This workout I fit into my lunch break nicely, and I even had time for a tea and honey at Starbucks with my hubby before going back to treating my patients.

Regular application of exercise is what will give you results…A fitter body, a FASTER body, a healthier mind, a more energetic experience of your day, a more POSITIVE outlook on life, a better appreciation for food, a great night’s sleep, and so on and so on!!!!! Please make a fitness goal and fit exercise into your daily routine. You will LOVE the results!

Saturday has dawned and my work out for today was my cherished MOUNTAIN BIKE RIDE!!! BUT, first pancakes with my family, then to my office to treat some wonderful patients for a few hours, then at last to my beloved trails of Wakefield for an hour steady spin. No hard stretches today, I just focussed on maintaining an even effort even in the twisty rooty parts or short climbs. Then…. my oldest daughter’s first bike race, an out and back with other kids 6 and under on 2 wheels. (Valerie is 4!) Valerie on her tiny bike with a cadence of about 250 peddle strokes per minute because the crank arm is about 3 inches long, came not last but 2nd to last. I told her that is GREAT, because her competition will have no expectations of her next year when she has a bike that actually fits her growing frame! She’ll crush it! Cool I told you before, a bike fit makes all the difference in the world, no matter how small you are!

I refer to Melissa Dalio for a professional bike fit, you can email her directly with questions about your bike and how it might be causing problems due to poor fit, to mdcoaching@verizon.net. And if you don’t have a bike, GO TO THE BIKE LANE! www.thebikelane.com.

I got to mountain bike ride today with my husband on the great trails of Wakefield. This is MY kind of training, fun, out in the woods and sunshine, peaceful and a super awesome workout. My workout today was an hour and a half steady ride with a 15 minute hard section making every 3 minute a super hard effort. Great training to ride hard on twisty trails, and I just love riding down other mountain bikers on the trails, pretending that they are the next girl at Maui that I have to run down! My advise is for you to go out and get yourself a Trek Fuel at the Bike Lane or at the very least get your bike fit to your body. Since I got a bike that actually fits my frame, my bike performance has tripled. Afterward, my 4 year old daughter rode with my husband 2 miles on her training wheel-less bike in training for her first bike race tomorrow at Wakefield at the Children’s Health Festival/Monster Mash MTB Race. She is a little rock star that one!

Last hard track workout before Maui!

Thursday was TRACK day!  Pierre and I went OUTSIDE to play on the track, while a high school foot ball team of smelly teenagers practiced their sport!  Track consisted of a mile warm up, then 4x 1200 meters “all out” with a 400 easy run in between.  My left hip flexor started to hurt again from an injury I took crashing at Rocky Gap XTERRA in June when a bunch of boys wouldn’t let me pass on the mountain bike.   (quick story, I yelled out “on your left” to a string of 6 guys, no one shifted even slightly to allow me to thread my way by in those tight twisty trails.  So I had to pass one at a time going AROUND pretty densely packed trees.   As I was passing the last guy, he shifted INTO my pass and I caught my left handlebar on a tree, resulting somehow in me being whipped completely around the tree, over the trail in front of this guy at a 90 degree angle, and several feet on the other side of him.  My left hip was whipped backwards and my bike landed 5 feet further.  This crash made the boys stop with concern and they asked if I was ok…I said um, let me see, um, I am not sure, urrrr, ouch, and by the time I carted my bike back to the trail IN FRONT of the boys I decided I was fine and left them in my dust! But my hip flexor was torn and I couldn’t train for a week after that one.)

Hi there, what another BEAUTIFUL day to be outside, but despite the sunshine and falling leaves, Pierre made me swim again. I swam in the lane next to my old swim coach, Alan Melvin (he rocks!), so I was very self-conscious of my faulty stroke! Coach Melissa’s last words to me as I ran out of my office in my lunch break was “keep the back of your head down when breathing” (you know, the occiput!). As I was swimming, I had to go under water and watch Alan smoothly glide through the water with such fluid motion. Will I ever get there? After doing a bunch of drills, Pierre and I hammered out 6 hard 50’s, and on the last one we were clearly racing each other. My stroke fell completely apart and I was snorting water up my nose because I was laughing so hard but I STILL WON! Made it back to work 5 minutes before my first afternoon patient so I could get some food in my tummy, and off I went treating awesome patients again all afternoon. I made it to pick up my darling Madison just in time at 5:30, home to make dinner, showered 2 little girls, read books, counted to 10 (yes, my youngest will be the brain!), and cuddled until 8:45, and now I am typing to you at 10:18pm. I’ll be asleep in 20 minutes! SLEEP WELL, that’s when you heal and your body prepares for it’s NEXT WORK OUT!!!!!