Yes...I only have one follower (technically) but I've noticed that my blog is movin' on up in the "Pam Gudenau" google search. (C'mon everyone google searches their name...) Well, at least I do, because my education focuses on internet marketing and what better way to see how you've marketed yourself than a simple google search. Well, I really never intended this blog to get attention but I guess now I have no choice. I'm pretty sure anyone reading this has come across it because of this USAT club challenge. Your search probably started with "who is this Pam Gudenau chick and does she have a frickin' social life?" Well, the short answer is no. I'm training about 30 hours a week, working in Fraser Bicycle and Fitness' cycling lab, and going to school SUPER full time with 18 credit hours and a research scholar position with an OU Marketing professor. Oh, and lovin' every minute of it.
USAT CLUB CHALLENGE
--Swim
When my coach told me about this challenge, I saw this as a perfect opportunity to focus on each of the three disciplines separately throughout base training. I let one week go by without training hard because of finals and then I realized I had a ton of catching up to do. I was still required to complete my training plan each week but any extra time would be devoted to the discipline of the month. Also, to ensure my sanity and safety, all extra workouts had to be at Active Recovery pace. No crazy shit. This is base training! During swim month I began swimming during all of the sessions available to Team Fraser. This meant Monday through Friday morning at 5:30 am, Monday and Wed again at 9pm, Saturday at 10:30 and an extra swim at OU on Sunday if I could fit it in. During this time I got a great deal of help from many swim coaches and took in everything they had to say. Since I had only been swimming for one year so far, I felt like I still had a chance of fixing any mistakes in my stroke. By the end of swim month I had a bit of a shoulder injury. It was just sore from overuse. As soon as Jan 1st came, I was SOOO sick of swimming!
--Bike
For bike month, I really got competitive. I don't know what happened! One second this was a friendly competition, the next second I was biking 20 hours a week competing with my coach for the most miles. I rode all kinds of courses on the computrainer. I found out that I can do the first 40 miles of Ironman Fl in one gear (fun fact). It hurts, but I can do it. I still did the bike workouts, but I spent an extra few hours a day on the bike spinning easy (ok, sometimes I cheated and went hard). I learned alot about my body and how it recovers. I focused on minimal caloric intake while riding and proper recovery. Lemme tell ya, this sounds easy but nutrition became my worst nightmare! My body composition changed drastically and I felt like a 13 old boy with the way I was eating. Since I only have one year of true athletic background, I feel like I added alot more muscle to my body during the month of January. My legs feel like steel. I'm not sure if this is a good thing or not. Oh, and skinny jeans- not an option. I'm pretty sure my calves would rip the jeans at the seams. My quads are even busting through my clothes. Its so awkward when you pants fit around you waist but are tight on your cycling muscles. Kinda feel hulk-like. Anyways, I was logging over 300 miles a week and my ASS was feeling it. Seriously, I really wonder if anyone else tortured their bum as much as I did. When it got the the end of the month, I was riding in very awkward position (hands on aero arm pads holding the majority of my body weight) just wondering if I'd ever be able to ride comfortably again. Also, I've almost emptied a tub of my favorite chamois butter. Are you guys loving this conversation or what?!
--31 hour IRONMAN, 24 hour Charity Challenge
So, bike month came down to a 24 hour charity challenge on Sat and Sun. I knew that this was going to end up being some type of bike 'til ya drop challenge for Tony and I because neither of us were going to give up without a fight. The challenge started at 5pm on Saturday so I decided why not extend the challenge and turn it into a 2day Ironman. WHAT WAS I THINKING?! I started on Saturday morning with my 2.4 mile swim. I got in the pool, but my head underwater and didn't stop until 1 hour and 13 mins later. I was really proud of my time. I could swim 50 yards a year ago and now I'm swimming MILES, fairly fast (fast for me at least...). When I finished my swim, I headed home and prepared waffle batter for my planned midnight waffle dinner. (You may be wondering how this is important, well, when you work out 4-5 hours a day, FOOD becomes a VERY important topic). I headed to the bike shop around 3pm and didn't see daylight until 1 day and 3 hours later. During that time I bike and ran my heart out. I basically did a REALLY LONG brick. The first day I managed to get about 13 miles in on the run. (I had done 5 in the morning before the swim) and I'm not sure how many on the bike. I rode at 5pm-7pm for my charity team on IM canada's course. A few long climbs, but not bad at all. The next time I rode was at 8am on Kona's course. OMG! I rode uphill for um, I dunno, 2 HOURS! I think the course was a smoothed out version of Kona (I rode the real one a few days earlier and there were drastic grade changes) but it still sucked major ba|_|_s. When I finally reached the point where it went downhill, it was time to change. Ugh, like 22 miles in 2 hours. Totally embarrassing and annoyingly slow. Sunday started (I really don't know when one day ended and the other began...) with 13.2 miles left in my marathon and about 60 some on the bike. I was very tempted to just ride ride ride because I knew these miles were going to add to my bike total, but I knew that if I wanted to be ready for my mileage increase during run month, I had to finish that darn treadmill marathon. Did I mention, I slept only a few interrupted hours this entire weekend?! I did my 13.2 miles in a few segments. When my sister came to ride, I told her that I wasn't getting off the treadmill until she got off the bike. After her bike, I had her walk next to me for about a mile because I was just desperate for human interaction. So much was going on behind me in the lab, but all I saw was a green wall illuminated by the orange numbers. Once the calories got to the thousands and the mileage was passed ten, the orange was really glaring! It all became a blur. My mind went totally blank and I lost all emotion on my face. This sounds kinda depressing but I was very proud of this. I feel like I'm finally becoming mentally trained to get in "the zone". Around 2 pm I finished my 26.2 miles! Again, one year ago, I couldn't make it through a shift a DQ without severe hip pain from walking. Yeah, walking hurt me and now I'm running MARATHON distance! So surreal! I almost cried, I was so amazed at the progress I had made in one year. Then I started thinking about how my coach MADE ME A TRIATHLETE! I mean, most people start by being good at at least one discipline. I was just a dq girl and for some odd reason, he decided to make me his little project. I'm so grateful he believed in me. I ended my Ironman training session halfway through my last shift on the bike. I ended up going about 123 miles on the bike during that time period and by the end of it, I felt STRONG!
-My plan
During this IM training session, I decided to use the data that had been offered to me after my first VO2 Max test. Tony was able to tell me what watts to maintain during an IM distance race in order to burn carbs and fat efficiently. I knew I was going to be tempted to show 'em what I've got, but I decided that instead of showing off by sprinting and later showing off what I look like when I hit lactate threshold, or THE WALL, I decided pick a number and stay there. 2oo watts was my goal provided to me by my vo2 test and sure enough, it was spot on. I was able to bike 2 hours at 200 watts with just water, get off the bike, have a bite to eat (WAFFLES BABY!) and get on the treadmill to run. Sometimes it amazes me how much science goes into this. I mean, its kinda creepy that my coach knows EXACTLY what my body is currently capable of, but also frickin' amazing that he can work with me on a realistic level to set goals and train properly to get there. Every time I see a rider that isn't one of Tony's clients, I just want to share with them my wealth of knowledge I've obtained just from conversations with him.
-Recovery
I was SERIOUSLY frightened of a few things. (1) Extreme hunger for DAYS after the event. (2) Extreme pain for days after the event. (3)Extreme fatigue for...ever. Guess what? I had none of the above. My legs were pretty tight but nothing a recovery spin at a higher cadence couldn't fix. I wasn't that hungry. Well, at least not more than usual. And, I rested a ton on Monday and woke up fully recovered. I think my recovery time is my biggest gain from bike month. It seems like I can bike hard and be fully recovered a few hours later. This process used to take days.
--Run month
I am hoping to increase my mileage 10 percent a week. Last week I ran 56 miles. That takes me to 61 for this week. I'm halfway there with a few long runs left in the week, I think I can make it. Me and my Newtons... I'm going to FORCE myself to love running. Thank God feb is the shortest month of the year. haha! I'm hoping to end the month with the ability to run a half at my goal IM marathon pace.
--The benefits
Other than becoming extremely in tune with my body, my nutrition, my heart rate and my recovery, I have actually made some progress in all 3 disciplines. This week is test week and I've already finished my swim and bike test. My swim test was the same as last month but I'm still holding that 50 yard increase to my 20 minute time trial. Also, I can swim HOURS longer than I used to be able to. Bike test was tonight and my oh my, I'm so glad I tested on rested legs. Last month I was exhausted when I testing and after puking during my first attempt and performing pathetically during my second, I was starting to think I'd never have the power card and threshold number to match how strong I feel. Well, today I ended up holding a 291 average for 20 mins. This was some kind of miracle! I even did most of the test at 99-100 rpms. Thats totally out of character for me, I tend to ride at an 80rpm average to go with my "masher" title. Technically, this is not my best test ever (I did 296 at my peak last year, but I also weighed more, so this is really my fastest power test). I'm hoping to join the 300 club next month. I don't think any female has ever tested that high in the lab. Actually, I think i might already hold that "highest female" record. As a 5'10" chick, I don't think I've really accomplished anything extraordinary. Well, either way, I WANT 300! Also, did I mention how much of a torture-fest this power test was? It was a 20 min TT, recovery, then a 6 min TT (which is expected to be higher than your 20 min average...) then a peak power test. Fun fact: I beat Tony, and really that's all that matters. I always knew that as a coach, Tony had the ability to make his clients as good as him (which is pretty darn good) but now I know that he has the ability to make you as good as you can be! I really respect that talent and am so damn glad to that he uses it on helping me.
Ok, seriously, I type as much as I talk (which is too much...clearly). I need to go to bed! I have swim in 4 hours.
Hope all you silent stalkers enjoyed this! Feel free to add me on Facebook for access to my daily swim, bike, run, EAT insights.
-Bam Bam
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