Travel Griffin Ironwoman - A Journey About One Girl's Dream to Become an Ironman

Thursday, April 3, 2014

We Got This!!

First off, I apologize for the delay on this entry.

Last week was a doosey of a week. When we last left off, we were heading into our swim session. it was awesome. tons of drills, which can be boring and mindless, but it does help in the long run. I was also informed that when I breath, I lift my head to high out of the water, so I need to keep "one goggle eye" in the water when I breath... it is more difficult than i expected and i proceeded to drink A LOT of pool water last week.

On Wednesday I did my first group trainer ride. it was tough, especially with my Piriformis not at 100%... but i managed to do a decent job. i kept up with everyone, but I had to keep my gear a tad easier than everyone else as it was starting to act up. After the ride, we had to do a quick 5min run, to make sure our legs stay used to the transition.

here is a breakdown of what we had to do:

Thursday was a running drill set and let me tell you... it KICKED MY A$$!! Holy Cow! Basically it was 10min warm up and 5min cool down with a super tough 30min set... check it out. it may seem like its a breeze, but give it a shot and let me know how ya feel after. :-)

Short, Speed, Speed!

Find a stretch of road/path that you can run approx 2-3mins un-interrupted by stop lights or intersections. Flat to gentle rollers.

WARM UP:10mins @ easy, conversational pace.

MAIN SET:Mark your starting spot as POINT A. Start your watch and run 2mins @ MODERATE pace. Stop. This is POINT B.

Turn around and run back to POINT A in 1:55

Turn around and run back to POINT B in 1:50

Turn around and run back to POINT A in BEST EFFORT - SPRINT.**No rest between run efforts****

2min rest between sets**Repeat 3x (30mins)

WARM DOWN: 5mins@ easy jog or walk.

Friday was our homework swim. it was a gorgeous and so peaceful on Friday am at the pool. i had a lane to myself and knock it out. The cool thing is we are set to do 2400 yards... but on fridays, the Culver City pool is open with lanes that are 50 meters opposed to the 25 yards we do on Tuesday nights, so every friday i a get a little extra in, which is nice now and will kill me later as i get into the longer distances.

Saturday morning our team conquered the PCH for the first time. It was roughly 36.2 miles along the scenic highway as well as detour up and down the connected canyons and a lovely 30min run after. Don't get me wrong, this was no easy feat. It was a momentous day in our training as we tackled a course that is always full of surprises, soaring emotions, challenges physical capabilities AND it was the longest and most intense ride to date of this season. it was CRAZY AWESOME! - BEAUTIFUL and HARD. My Piriformis acted up only at the last 5miles, so that was good... and my run after was kinda weak. i only did 2.5miles in the 30min. i should have done at least 3mi. but given my calves were so tight from the killer run work out on Thursday and my butt, i was struggling... but i did it!

Here is the awesome view i got to bike and run on Sunday through Zuma / Malibu. Life could be harder. :-)

This was the first Canyon we did. You may think, that's not too bad. YOU ARE WRONG. it is switchback hills

View from the top of the Second Canyon

The Course

Sunday.. YES! Sunday.... remember that Amalfi Hillie bike loop i was telling you about before... well on Sunday we did part of it with other hills looped together with a final trek up San Vicente for a total of 8.1 miles .. and i did it in 1:36! i was pumped! i am getting so much better with my running and i managed to do the first 5 miles, which as the crazy hill part in 57 min! BOOM!! so excited. I think i might actually be able to say soon that i like running!! WHAT!?!?!?

Additionally, on Sunday, i made my way down to San Diego to pick up my new bike!! WAHOOOO!!! now i just have to learn it! :-)

So, Tuesday we had a swim marker test to see where we are at with our swim times and techniques. Given that I missed that last marker, i cannot honestly see what my improvement was, but i can tell you from experience, i have improved. i managed to do 1650 yard in 30:32. WAHOO!! i was hauling it and pushing myself like crazy. at one point i thought i was done, until my coach informed me that i had another 100 yards to go! such a bummer when i put all the effort in the last 100 yards. :-) ... but It was awesome and definitely managed to stay at 2min/100 yards or quicker! YAY!!

Yesterday we were back on a bike day. I was really looking forward to taking my new baby out for a spin, but since it rained on Tuesday night, or ride was canceled. Boo. which meant we were all set for a trainer ride. The good thing is that the trainer rides are crazy intense and fun when you are with a group. the bad things is i already had plans to see a screening of "TAMMY" with Melissa McCarthy (it was awful and do not go when it comes out).. so i had to do the trainer ride by myself. Talk about a motivation killer. :-) but i did it! i turned on Scandal and hopped on my bike for another rendition of Death B4 DNF... and to be honest, my butt didn't hurt, so i was really able to push it and man was i a sweaty mess. thank goodness i put a towel down below my bike. gross! :-) and then i did a mile after in 10min flat!! best time yet off the bike! WAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

I am so excited with my progress. it is such an exciting to feeling to see where i was 11 weeks ago with my 1:1 intervals on the run and gasping for air in the first 4 miles on the bike. Its awesome.

this weekend, I am doing the SoCal Ragnar Relay where we run from Huntington Beach to San Diego. I have the 4th largest leg, roughly 16.6 miles in total. please pray for me.

lots of laughs and love,

Rachel

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Recovery Week... Plus the San Vicente Challenge

This week was a recovery week.

Man did I need it. I did not realize how much we have done, until Saturday when our recovery ride was 3 Amalfi Hill Loops with 1 mile running sprints in between each set. WHAT?!!? this is what we do on an easy week, Lordy, what is in store this week for a build week!

To fill you in, a recovery week is not necessarily zero workouts, it is just less distance, but more intense - or intervals. this way we will help our bodies recover from the mileage we put on it the couple of weeks before, while building up our endurance.

So Tuesday night at swim practice, we had we timed sets. Since I missed the time drill while at NYTF, the coaches put me in 2 min intervals which means, I should be able to swim 100 yards in 2min. If i finish 100 Yards in 1.45, then i have 15 seconds to rest, if i finish in 2:02, i have to do another 100 yards with no break. make sense? so basically after warm up swims, 600 yards of timed intervals... we have 100 yards of easy swim then BOOM 10 x 100 Yards at your Interval - GO! WOW.. I swam my little heart out.. and the first 300 yards was at 1:42/1:45... the final 700 yards i was a 1:50!! WAHOOOO!! i couldn't believe it. i was exhausted, but loved it!! --- Cut to Friday Homework swims - we had the same drill sets and I was dying!! i think the fact that on Tuesday, we swam 25 yards at a time, so i had the wall to push off of, which helped me with the time. On Friday, the length of the pool was 50 METERS which made it slightly harder, which i appreciated, because i can see my true time. Overall i was roughly 2:10. going the 50 yards i felt i was faster than on the return 50 yards. that very well could have all been in my head, but either way, i didn't too bad and still managed to finish 2400 yards in 1hr. I was happy!!

Oh!! We got our Team Swim Parkas! I love it and it is sooooo warm!

Wednesday and Thursday was our bike and run with teammates at Ocean and San Vicente. and I love it. Lately, it has just been two or three of us, so we get a little extra quality time with Coach Riz which is extremely beneficial. Both my running and cycling have improved.

Now.. cut to the weekend. Remember those Amalfi loops I was telling you about. well.. I forgot to tell you that after the loop, the coaches threw in the San V Challenge. What is that?? Well, basically, San Vicente has a slight incline from west to east. So the challenge is on the street number you bike at the mph.. so from 10th Street - 11th Street you bike 10mph, 11th-12th 11mph, 12th-13th 13mph, etc etc etc... sounds easy right... think again.. it is quite challenging, hence the name challenge in the title. :-) for slower riders such as myself, it is a struggle to get to those miles (i had to drop out at mile 14)... where the fast riders struggle to drop down to 10mph/11mph. it is very interesting.

So, after the Amalfi Loop and San V Challenge, you then had to hop off your bike and sprint a mile as fast as you can, come back to your bike and do it 2 more times... ... oh, and did i mention during one of your loops, the coaches would take the air out of your bike tires so you were forced to change your tire! SOOOOOOOOOO MEAN.. but so smart! You NEVER know when you will get a flat, so you need to always be prepared to fix one. My first loop was pretty good. my legs were getting into it, i made it 14th street on the challenge and my mile run i did in 10:32! which is awesome for me, especially hopping off a bike. wahoo.. i was in the zone!

I was up on my second Amalfi loop, at the top of "Chain Break Hill," when my right hip/butt starts "grinding." It was a pain I have never felt before... Uh Oh.. i think - so i try to bike it out, then I see Coach Javier and tell him what's up. I hop off my bike and immediately start doing a few stretches he suggests but unfortunately, it is not hitting the right spot, so I continue on the loop, struggling and finally make it back down to San V and think, i can do the challenge, right? NOPE! I was wrong. I made it to 4th street and had to turn around. it was awful. I used a roller, slightly crying and continued to stretch it out, not knowing what really is going on. I then took my ice pack out of my "recovery drink bag" and put it down my pants, LOL. (Those bike shorts are so tight, it was nice and snug!!) So for the rest of the day, i was on ibuprofen and ice. 20min on 30min off. and trying to massage it... i put so much pressure on it, i actually gave myself a bruise.

: Kelie & Bucket at Ocean and San Vicente. Photo Credit: Kelie Anderson

: View of Pacific Ocean at San Vicente. Photo Credit: Kelie Anderson

Sunday we did an Open Water swim at Tower 26. Again the ocean was in the low 60s. it was so nice. We managed to get in a few loops, which felt so great. I swear, the ocean is my happy place. :-) after the swim we did a gorgeous run along the coast. it was just over 5 miles. and I actually enjoyed it!! (shhhhhh... don't tell anyone) :-) my hip/butt bothered me a little, but not enough to slow me down as i did the 5mi in 57min! BOOM! But by the end of the day and yesterday my hip/butt was sore. as it turns out, the coaches and my friend who is a sports med doc, all seem to think that i strained my Piriformis. (i had to look it up. The piriformis (from Latin piriformis = "pear shaped") is a muscle in the gluteal region of the lower limb. It is one of the six muscles in the lateral rotator group)... basically, I strained it and inflamed it, which it was probably pushing on my sciatic, ergo pain. ... so.. i now have to be very mindful of it. i am over the icing phase and now onto heat and stretches. i should be fine, but if it continues, i will have to get it checked out. YOGA, here is come!! :-)

: Tower 26 - photo Credit: Kelie Anderson

: View from our run.

Tonight is the pool and the start our 3rd build session. I am nervous and excited to see what is in store. I

know that we are headed to Zuma this weekend for a ride. The rolling hills of PCH are awesome, but I have a feeling we may be doing some canyons. Yikes!! Say a little prayer my Piriformis can "pirform!" :-)

Stay tuned and thanks again for all your support!

Rachel

Training and Celebrating, They Do Work Together

This past Saturday I turned 36.

And I chose to celebrate by waking up at 6:30am to train. Now, most people would call me insane, heck I probably would, too. Afterall no one forced me to train for an Ironman.

To start the morning off, I tackled our first Open Water (Ocean) Swim. It was roughly 3/4 of a mile. I am guesstimating that distance, as each loop from lifeguard stand the next was about 300 meters and I managed to squeeze in 4 loops. It was amazing. The water, thankfully, was in the low sixties, which was awesome. It is usually in the 50s this time of year, so I was expecting my feet to freeze right off my body, but nope, mother nature was on our side and it was lovely.

My amazing training buddies were also celebrating with me. Tracy and Ashley (god bless 'em) attempted to make a "36" with me in honor of my 36th birthday. As you can see from the photo below, it did not go well. :-)

After the swim, we headed out for a 7.5 mile run around Marina Del Rey. it was gorgeous and HOT. Since I had been traveling and was sick, followed by bachelorette party, I have not been committed to my running. I missed about 3 weeks and instead of trying to squeeze in a run when i could, I enjoyed the fact that I had not ran. This was definitely not the smartest move, so this run was especially tough. Granted, I finally reach 7.5 miles, but it took me 1:40min to do so, which equals about 13:30 pace, which is terrible. I think you all can walk faster than that. :-) So, Yes, I am happy I hit the mileage, but now i know that i definitely have to continue to push myself. Oh... I did forget to mention that every mile we had to do drills. YAY DRILLS. (Kidding) At every other mile we had to do "leg stances" (basically stand like Captain Morgan) for 30sec on each leg followed by writing out "Open Water Is Awesome" with each leg, which I also did with my ankles since they are so weak. at the alternate mile we had to do 30sec plank, rest, 30sec plank. it was brutal... (but look at that form!) .. and did i mention the view?

After that monstrosity of a morning, a few of us walked over to C&O Trattoria for some lunch. C&O is so awesome and yummy. They have the most amazing garlic knots and I seriously thinkg that each of us had at least 10!! Soooooooo good!

After training and lunch, the birthday celebration continued. Of course, I am not going to lie, the morning workout was draining. I had to take a quick power nap before the night's festivities, which included an in-home wine tasting. Talk about awesome. 12 friends, 8-10 bottles wine, cheese, chocolate, strawberries and more = heaven! it was fantastic. The wine was seriously so amazing. it was all european wine, so there were no sulfates or sugar, which made getting up yesterday a little easier. :-) After Wine Tasting another 10 friends popped by for game night. it was hysterical we played "Celebrity" and everyone had a great time.

So that leads me sunday. Lordy. 27ish miles all hills with a 1.5 mile run after, not exactly the what I had in mind. Although, I was pretty proud of myself. I think i actually killed those hills. We did the Amalfi

Loop once and integrate in the "1-2-3s of Mandy". What is that you say?? Well, it is up Manderville Canyon... where we would bike up 1 Mile, then bike back down, then up 2 miles, then bike back down, then up 3 miles and bike back down. it was not crazy steep, but it was a solid incline up the canyon. Overall it is a 5 mile climb and I hear the last 2 miles are crazy steep. I am sure the coaches will surprise us with that soon! Then of course we headed back and finished up with a Brentwood Country Club Loop. I was tired.

http://www.mandevillecanyonassociation.com/

Anywhoooooooooo... that was my weekend. It was a lot of fun with friends and training. We conquered our second build week. I got an awesome massage yesterday and I am also happy to report that my birthday wish for people to donate to LLS was a huge success. We raised close to $750 donated over the weekend. I am super excited as I am now raised about 55% of my goal.

Wahoooooooooooooooooo!!

So, today is St. Patrick's Day. It started off with a 4.4 earthquake wake up call. WOW... and of course my house is so old, it felt like a 6.6 earthquake, so I was up! I am enjoying work today.

It is gorgeous out and then it is off meet some friends to celebrate my heritage.

Man, I love this holiday! CHEERS!

"There are only two kinds of people in the world, The Irish and those who wish they were."

Training in Puerto Rico

I spent the weekend in Puerto Rico.

It was awesome and honestly looooooooong overdue, despite it only lasted a couple of days and despite the fact that it was a bachelorette party.

I took the red eye out thursday night and arrived in San Juan via a layover in Miami on Friday morning. It was beautiful and hot and immediately grabbed a drink and headed to the beach. i needed it. Between training and being sick, I just wanted to decompress.

The girls arrived a couple of hours later and the fun began.

Without getting into details, I am just going to say that we the whole weekend consisted of a lot of fun and a lot of dancing! :-)

But I will add in that although I was unable to get in a run that I wanted, I was able to do an open water swim. I am guesstimating that is was over a half a mile and i did it in about 30min. Not my best, but definitely not too shabby considering I have not done an open water swim in over 2yrs! :-)

Anywhoooooo... now that most of the craziness and traveling is over, it is time for me to get down to business. I do have Marc's wedding in April, but at least now, I am not traveling every weekend like I have been the past 2 months. So GAME ON... GAME ON.

Below are a few pictures from the weekend.

See you soon and thanks for your support.

Rachel

The Javits Cough... and the Battle to Prevail

Soo... in my last post i reminded you all that i was behind on my training due to NYTF and getting sick... That nasty Javits Cough / Plague, as we in the toy industry have been calling it -- because everyone got it and everyone was wiped out the week after NYTF, lasted a little longer than I would have liked and knocked me out for a two weeks. UGH.

That being said on Saturday, March 1st, I buckled down and battled my way through a 1 hour trainer session followed by a (roughly) 2mi run. Man, it was tough. honestly, I was unmotivated because I was so run down and mentally unmotivated because I was out of it for so long, I was nervous. but the support I got from my coaches and team was awesome. They reminded me that the race is still a while away and that I have plenty of time. Just hearing that relieved some of the stress that i put on myself. So after the training ride and we went out for a transition run, I of course was at the back of the heap. Running my intervals and trying to keep up. As we made our way back from our loop on beach, (Which was awesome - we ran by where they were setting up for the Spirit Awards), Javier (one of the coaches) spotted me as the lone soldier and ran me in. Knowing that I was getting over sick he asked if I wanted to slow it down. I was surprised he asked, as my running pace is normally 11.5, so when i asked Why? he said, "well you are running a 9min mile right now and i don't think its the best for your cough/chest congestion." i was floored! i couldn't believe I was running that fast and agreed to slow down and walk a bit as I was coughing every minute or so. LOL. When we got back to the team, I of course was embarrassed that I took so long, in what seemed like forever, (reality i was 5min behind everyone else), but the team was there with arms wide open to greet me with the tunnel of love. it was awesome! They really are a special group. Amazing, Supportive and just all around Awesome.

Sunday, I was spent. Saturday truly took it out of me. I fell asleep by 8:45 that night and spent most of Sunday recouping before heading to a friend's for the Oscars.

Monday, I went to Crossfit which was great. worked on my core and strength training and did (4) rounds for time of a 300 meter run, 5 Box jumps, 10 Wall Balls & 15 Situps in 12min 24 seconds. it may not seem like a lot, but trust me, it kicks your butt.

Yesterday I officially signed up for Vineman. So it is 100% serious.

Last night was our pool session. YAY! The Pool, oh how I missed you. We conquered 2200 Yards in 1hr. Concentrating on form. it was great and I was happy to be back. At the end of the night, Coach Riz asked me to take the team out with our Go Team. I was so excited i forgot to say "ok team on three.. go team".. i just shouted Go Team. it was hysterical and we did it again. this time i nailed it.. "On the count of three, GO Team.. One.. TWO.. THREE.. GO TEAM!" BOOM!

This morning was hills... boy was that a nice wake up call on the old legs that have not really been on a bike in two weeks! Lordy, burn baby burn. We met at San Vicente and Ocean in Santa Monica at 6:45am (i was up at 5:45) and headed up San Vicente for a quick 1mi loop before heading up for the "Amalfi Loop"... it is a decently challenging - switchback hills through a beautiful neighborhood. the ride was gorgeous.. the hills made my heart rate beat so fast, i thought my heart was going to beat right out of my chest and the ride was very tranquil. Overall it was about 9.5miles of awesomeness.

Tomorrow night I head to Puerto Rico for my soon-to-be sister-in-law's bachelorette party. This should be very interesting. The good thing is the water will be warm so i can get in some open water swims and the girls are all runners, so i should get a few runs in as well. The bad things is that this is a bachelorette party, LOL.

til next time... enjoy some fun pics and don't forget to donate! :-)

http://pages.teamintraining.org/los/VineHIrn14/RachelHGriffin

Rach

Traveling and Training... Part II

I am behind.

I went to NY over a week ago for NY Toy Fair (NYTF). It was a long and grueling week which left me with little to no time to train. i honestly thought i would get a lot more training sessions in that i did. it is very frustrating.

Upon arriving in NYC on Friday, Feb 14th, i was greeted with snow and sludge. gross and definitely not the way i wanted to start of my week. Saturday morning, i checked my calendar and saw that i had 30 min to spare, so i jumped on the treadmill to get "something" in before my meetings would begin. it was extremely boring but i was able to run just shy of 3 miles and squeezed in some strength and conditioning, too. then i was off to Javits center to meet with the Toy Industry Association for a pre-NYTF press meeting. Shortly after, i received email after email letting me know that half my team was delayed due to weather conditions. Normally, it wouldn't be an issue, but we were hosting our first blogger breakfast the following morning and i also had the Toy of the Year (TOTY) Awards Dinner that night. You can see how i may have felt slightly stressed given that i only had a few hours to semi-prep the blogger breakfast room and get ready for the TOTYs. Luckily, all of our gift bag samples were shipped to javits and i had most of my PR samples with me from my last trip to NYC, plus i was able to get help from a friend in our trade marketing team. So, the set up wasn't too painful and with 1hr left to spare, i raced back to the hotel for the TOTYs...

The night was great. I was able to see old colleagues and watch Spin Master receive TWO TOTY Awards. it was very exciting and for those of you that don't know, the TOTYs are the "Oscars" of the Toy Industry, so this is a huge honor. :-)

after a rather late night, i headed back to the hotel to sleep for roughly 4hrs, to begin what would be the next super crazy, hectic days that is NYTF. Up at 5:00am and back to Javits to finalize the blogger breakfast. My team had arrived in the wee hours of the night, so they were just as tired as I was, but we did it! We hosted a successful blogger breakfast with 50 fantastic bloggers and then headed up to our showroom to continue to talk to press about our amazing hot toys for 2014 and what will be hot for the Holidays. (Can you believe that i am already talking about the holidays?!?!?)

anywhoooo.. the next 4 days were just as manic as the first two. Segments on The View and Fox and Friends, local & national press, double events every night and so on. it was a fantastic show for us. Amazing coverage and excitement for what is to come. That being said, trying to fit in a work out was tough and to be honest, trying to squeeze in a trip to the ladies room or a bite to eat was just as tough... although, i wasn't able to work out, i bet i clocked a minimum of 10 miles a day during the show and events. If only my Garmin looked a little classier or i brought my Fitbit, i could have tracked my steps! :-)

By Friday, Feb 21st, i was able to get to the pool. it was probably the most crowded pool i have ever seen. it had 3 lanes -- 2 for lap swim & 1 for aerobics. needless to say, it was a good thing i was doing drills for technique and not for speed. :-)

although i did dry my hair before stepping out into that cold and nasty abyss. i think the germs from the week were already in my system. by the end of the night, the cough had set in.

UGH.

Saturday was my soon-to-be sister-in-law's (Christy) bridal shower. When i woke up, i decided to NOT run. i could tell that i had a "fight" on my hands. so, instead of joining my brother and Christy on a 4 mile loop, i stayed in bed and took as many Musinex and Advil I could and continued to drink as much water as possible. At the shower, i think i drank 4 pitchers of water. no joke. i also peed about 100 times.

(TMI? :-) )

Finally, Sunday - i can go home and boy am i ready. With a cough that mimics a fog horn and a nose that runs better that i do, i take another cold and sinus pill and head for JFK. Surprisingly, i make it through the flight with no major coughing spells, but i did manage to go through multiple packs of travel tissues and hand sanitzer. :-)

arriving home at 5:00pm... i realized i needed to skip our "re-commitment" party. Not that i am not committed, but i know i needed to rest and i didn't want to jeopardize getting anyone else sick. So, i managed to make a small bowl of pasta before falling asleep at 8:00pm! Seriously, 8pm?!?!

so today is Monday, our rest day. and thank goodness for that. i took off from work today and tomorrow in hopes to have a mini-vacation. but this is now turning into re-coop days. i did do our strength and conditioning drills today, so i am happy about that, but i also feel weak and tired and the cough and runny nose are worse. UGH.. just what i need, right?

so by missing a week and getting sick, i am nervous about the weeks ahead. last week, the team had their second build phase, where hills were introduced in both the bike and the run, plus the coaches timed everyone on their swim and i missed it. i think my running pace is still within the time that is required, but running hills, not so much.... and hills on a bike, it is has been a while, so i know that will be a struggle. the only thing i have going for me right now is that i know my swimming is pretty decent.

that being said, what can i do? it is what it is, right? i just have to suck it up and know that it will get better. i will get better - physically, mentally and healthy!. i will kick this cold and conquer the challenges ahead.

now that NYTF is over, i will finally have time to breathe. it is Go Time. i know that i have some bumps in the road ahead. i am a workaholic and i know that work will always pop up and my brothers wedding will take away a couple of weekends, but i am determined and that is all i can be, right?

so, lets do this.

enjoy some wacky pictures from my trip to NYC.

love always,

Rachel