Accident Resolved!

Just a bit of good news to pass along! My accident has been resolved. I settled with the insurance company yesterday. I believe the amount I received was very fair, it was just a tad bit more then I had lost in total as a result from the accident. Although, money is nice, so I can get a new bike and return to my training, it can never take away the fact that I was hit by a car while cycling. A painful and traumatic experience that I wouldn't wish upon anyone. I thought I was a careful cyclist before, but now I will be extra cautious. It is unfortunate, that due to the accident I missed out on a once in a life-time bike trip and a good friends going away party, but I suppose the most important thing was that I was not seriously injured. ....and at least it gave me the chance to slow down and check out Thailand, which was completely unforgettable! 

The training continues... without a good bike

I'm just rounding out my week of training, on today's schedule is a 1.5hr run in zone 2 (with surges into Z3). This seems to be my standard run during this phase of my training, regarding the HR Zones, the time varies a bit. I just gave my friends blog a quick read, she live in MI and is training for her first Marathon, reading her blog reminded me of time I ran with her and running in MI. One great thing about that state were the 100's of miles of running trails. Here in my tiny city, I can run the perimeter in 5miles, so I tend to run the same route my attempt to change it up involves doing an out and back vs. a circle. I'm really looking forward to moving out of this city.  I have 4 months left in my contract... that's 4 more months of miles on my own. The most exciting thing I can do is run on the roads and find new routes. The sidewalks in Korea are made of bricks, so they aren't ideal for running. It's best to stick to the bike path or the roads. As I've learned the hard way, the roads aren't the safest place to be. Nonetheless, this evening I'll set off to complete my 1.5hr run, maybe thinking about the trails in MI, or my old trials in TX... and try and avoid starring at the massive spiders that line the trail in Anseong. 

This week is my biggest week so far in this training plan. I've got 10.5hrs schedule between running, biking, and swimming. I don't have any weight sessions schedule, so I'll add a few in on my own. My swims have just passed the 3k mark, I'm really looking forward to them! 

I finally have a meeting scheduled with the insurance company, it's Tuesday. From what I've been told, it should go something like this: here is our offer xxxxxxx; I'll either agree or disagree, possible make a counter offer, and see if an agreement can be reached. I would like to reach an agreement. I really need to get back on the bike (on a good bike). Keep your fingers crossed the offer given is something I can agree with. If it's not, I'll have to look into what the next steps are... assuming it will involve me taking the insurance company to court. I really don't want to waste my time and energy on that, so I am really hoping that the insurance company will settle at a good price with me and I'll have enough money to fix/replace my old bike. :)

Another stamp in my passport - THAILAND!

With the bike accident, I now have 3 weeks off work and no plans! Cycling the West coast is out... and Thailand is in! I booked my flight on Wednesday and was off to foreign land on Sunday. I was only able to book 15 days since I booked it so close to the travel time, flights back were sold out or very expensive. So I had 2 weeks to do whatever I wanted in this great place! I was flying in and out of Bangkok. I had read the Lonely Planet and had a game plan: 1 day in Bangkok, night train down to the south and boat to islands on the East coast (the Gulf of Thailand) island hop a bit then head over to the West side and island hop a bit more before heading back to Bangkok for my flight. Bangkok was a cool place, a bit dirty though. I stayed on Khao San Road, which is known for being a backpackers haven. I met a group of people who were from Africa, hung out with them for the night! It was a fun time. The next morning, I was up pretty early for a run around Bangkok, then was off to see some sights and would need to be at the train station by 6pm for my train! I waited to book the train until I arrived in Thailand, and it was much cheaper then booking it online. It was very quick and easy to book all my travel (boats, taxi's, trains) on the go! 
By midday of day 2, I had arrived on Ko Samui! I decided to stay here for one night! It was beautiful. I made sure to get a massage and enjoy the beach. I booked the afternoon boat over to Ko Phangan, which for me was a little more my style for an island. I made my first stop a place called "Backpackers Thailand" a place run by someone from Austrailia, asked a few questions about the island and met some people who were there and had the same idea as me. The 3 of us shared a cab up to Hat Yao, the place that was recommended as one of the islands best beaches! I was very pleased with this recommendation! After locating a good place to stay, the first thing I did was head down to the beach and get in a swim!! I ended up spending 4 days on this island. It was so much fun! 
The first night I had a dinner with my new friends, the following day I did a tour that involved: elephant ride, crocodile show, a temple, hiking to a view point, a waterfall, lunch, seeing a beach, walking to an island, and snorkelling! It was a great tour!!! The next day was my relaxing day, I read and soaked up the sun, I also rented  a kayak and explored some of the other beaches, I had dinner at the Night Market, I had to take a cab there, was able to take a motorcycle taxi on the way back! Very cool way to travel. The night market had great authentic Thai food, for very very cheap! The following day I made the transition to my next island - Ko Tao! This island is very tiny, 21km in diameter, I could run the whole thing and it would be a 1/2 marathon! Now if only it wasn't covered in rain-forest, then I could have run it! Instead of running around the island, I ran on the beach I was staying on, took a scooter on the island road, checked out most all the beaches, hiked up to 2 different view points, and did one AWESOME tour!!! The tour was really great, I spent my morning abseiling down about 30meters on a rock that was about 300meters up on a mountain top! It was very nerve-racking the first go-around. 

After the abseiling, we went to another rock and began climbing, then over to one more rock to climb again! The afternoon part was postponed to the next day, since we had a quick rain and the zip line was too wet to use. I spent my afternoon on the motorbike! The next day, the tour finished off with a boat trip to one of the top 10 beaches in the world, doing an island to island zip line, hiking up to a great viewpoint, and snorkelling!! It was great! I watched a near-perfect sunset, and boarded the night boat to make my way to Krabi! 
Krabi is the town on the west side of the country, it's home to Ao Nang and Railey beaches! I found a great little bungalow on Ao Nang, right on the beach and it even had hot water (a luxury you have to pay extra for in Thailand, I was able to find a place that didn't change extra for it!). I made this place my home for the time I was on the West Coast. I lined up activities for the days I was there. Rocking climbing at Railey beach, great limestone massive rocks, and it's known to be one of the best places in the world to climb! I did a boat tour of 3 different islands, it included snokelling, and seeing a really cool looking cave, one of the beaches we was was the beach where the movie "The Beach" was filmed. 

The next day was a kayaking cave tour, we toured 4 caves via kayak, then did a walk through the rain-forest and saw a wonderful waterfall. While here, I also rented a scooter, explored a few beaches, and had a fun dinner with my friends from Seoul! Finally, I had to make my way back to Bangkok, spend a few hours there seeing the 'weekend market' and mailed a few things to the states. Then I was off to the airport to make my way back to Seoul! I met a ton of people on this trip from all over the world! It was an amazing experience!!! I cannot wait to set sail and add a few more stamps to my passport! 

Car + Bike = Bad News

So I'm quite excited to be working with a coach now, my first week of training was complete, it was all HR tests and speed tests... now I'm on the the actual training. I set of Saturday morning for my 1:20hr spinning ride, and I was about 1:10hr into and I was thinking about being home, I was quite bored with my ride, and didn't really like the route I had picked. I was near downtown Anseong, and crossing an intersection when a car from the other side decided not to stop. I was more then 1/2way across the intersection and did what I could (slow down and turn left!) to avoid meeting the car's grill.... it wasn't enough, I ended up being hit by the car anyway. I was a bit shocked it happened. I jumped up as soon as it happened to make sure the guy driving didn't leave. I looked at my bike, front tire was completely bent! I was so angry! I called my co-teacher right away to have her talk to the guy, I didn't want to him drive away and leave me with a broken bike, stranded. Luckily, as I was calling my co-teacher, a police officer pulled up. I had my co-teacher talk with him. She and another co-worker were on their way. Even though it was Saturday morning, the school was still open, classes are still going on... ick! The police office kept asking me if I needed to go to the hospital, I said I was ok... they were all very concerned about all the blood coming from my elbow. It was dripping... a bit gross, but it wasn't a bad cut. After about 10min my co-teacher and co-worker showed up, they all insisted I go to the hospital and at least get x-rays, so I went. They took my bike to an impound place, I assume they gave the driver a ticket (but who knows), they said I would hear from the insurance company soon. By the time I finished at the hospital (only about 30min they are quick here), I had received a text from the insurance company with their phone number and a case number. After I got home, I showered and relaxed, I started to feel some pain, mainly just aches. I did feel dizzy when I was standing, my ears were ringing, my head hurt, and I was nauseous. All signs of a concussion.... so after a few hours of trying to relax, I decided to go back to the hospital. HA! This is how much of a JOKE the hospital in my city is... 1st, they never once asked about my head the first time I was there. Then when I go back to tell them all my symptoms, the one thing they care about the most is that I'm nauseous, and they give me a shot and some medicine for digestion.... idiots!!!! They said if my head still hurt on Monday they would give me a CT scan. Good thing I've had a concussion before and I'm not an idiot... I spent the rest of my day watching some movies with a friend who offered to come over and chill out with me. It was very nice of her! She cooked some soup for me too! :) The next day, I was sore... very sore!!! I spent the day just relaxing, I talked to my coteacher, she said to just take Monday off school. My head was feeling much better but my back was really hurting. I was using ice and heat to help ease the pain. I went back to see the doctor on Tuesday morning, he told me I should take 2 weeks off from working out... I thought to myself, they guy is crazy. He is not a sports doctor and he doesn't have a clue how my body functions. I probably could have run as soon as Wednesday, if not run, for sure swim, but I 1/2 listened to the doctor. I did my first run on Saturday, just a week after the accident and I felt great. Took it slow and easy, but no problems at all.


After being told to take 2 weeks off, I was upset. Between the time off and my bike being ruined, it was looking like my summer vacation was going to suck! While roof-top tanning, the idea came to me about going away, just lounging on a nice beach somewhere. FAR away from Korea! Perfect idea... I looked up plane tickets online, and within about 24hours I had booked a flight to Thailand. I would leave on Sunday. I had something to look forward to now, a new place to run and swim, plus tan, relax, read, and do some fun activities!!! 


Within a few days I was feeling back to normal. I elbow still hurt a bit, and my bruises were still there to remind me of the accident. They were big and ugly on my legs and arms. They were there for about a week. Now the biggest stress, dealing with an insurance company to get my bike paid for. UGH!


The insurance company so far has worked quickly. Within a few days they had an offer to me, they said the accident was 60% their clients fault and 40% my fault, ha! They offered to pay 100% of my medical costs, but would only pay 60% of the bike repair costs. I think that this has to be a joke or a nightmare. Not a chance in the world am I going to come out of pocket... If I hadn't slowed down and turned (which is why I assume they think it's partly my fault) they I could be dead, I sure as heck wouldn't have gotten away with just a few bruises. These people are crazy!!!!! At this point, I am refusing their tiny offer. I am just waiting to hear from them again. I am very anxious to get a new bike and get back out there. Hopefully this will end well and soon! 

Working with a coach - Day 2

Monday was my first day of working with my new coaches. My task is to record my resting heart rate (RHR) every morning this week. I started off on Monday, my RHR is lower then I thought it was! Came in at 54bpm. The day was a rest day, but they did have me do 30min of stretching by following their stretching video. It felt good, I know I tend to skip stretching in when I work out. 

Day 2, I measured my HRH again, this time it was 57bpm. The evening was my first work out, it was a max heart rate test while running. I set out to do my 30min tough workout. Finished up and reviewed my data... my MHR came in at 189bpm. I am waiting on feed back from my coaches! :)

70.3 Round 2!

The first one was great, I loved it... and I spent the last week relaxing, eating all kinds of food I don't usually eat, even enjoyed a few too many glasses of vino! But now it's time to get back to work. The target is Ironman 70.3 Taiwan! The date is November 6th, 2011! The game plan is to training with the help of some others! I am officially a coached athlete! I was recommended so great coaches from one of my friends in Seoul. So I talked to them, and feel really good about using them. I think they will take the guess work out of the whole training process, but most importantly, they will keep me on track! I was given my first week of workouts today, they look great! I'm ready to dive in and get down to business. :) 
The other big change that I am making for this go around with training is my bike. Yes I did just buy my current bike. But I bought it on a very small budget, I just wanted to pick something up to get me cycling, it has served it's purpose well. Now it's time for me to finally have a 'grown-up's' bike! I picked up my new frame this weekend, this will actually be a bit of a project. The frame is by Giant, it's a blend of carbon and aluminum. I got it from a friend who now has a sponsored frame. The bike sells for $3,000 and is about 4 months old. I don't have a full bike yet, just a frame, seat post, saddle, and crank. So I have some parts to buy and then will have to put it all together. I have been looking into components, so far I am leaning towards the Sram Rivals. Because I am building it and got a great deal on the frame, I'll be able to put it together to be a light (about 8kg), fast, bike at a good price! A bike that will be perfect till I'm ready to invest in a tri-bike! As for my current bike, that will be turned into a touring bike, so I will have to buy some racks and bags and it will be great for my multi-day trips! 

I am an IRONMAN (70.3)

Race weekend... I had it cleared with my school to leave early on Friday in order to catch the bus up to Gimpo airport.

 I had called the English help line to find out the time tables and how long the ride is. After being told the bus ride is about 2hr 20min I opted for the 4:10pm bus, thinking I'd have about an hour to kill before my flight.... turns out the bus ride took over 3 hours and I missed my flight!! Ah! I did get lucky enough to find an open airline that had a seat on their plane and room for my bike, I made it to Jeju on Friday night... of course since it was late I missed dinner. I though to myself, great I hope this isn't an indication of how this weekend will go.... 


Saturday morning was a busy one! Up early to get my bike assembled, and go with my roommates down to the beach for a swim! We rode down there and back, about 24km total. I went to the registration to get all checked in.... did some shopping at the Ironman store. Picked up a few things for my bike at the expo. By this time it was a little past noon, and I was starving! Myself and a few others went to the restaurant at my hotel to grab some lunch... then it was time to go to the mandatory race meeting. They reviewed the course and some of the rules. 

Then it was time to set up my transition bags, I needed one for the swim to bike area and one for the bike to run area. I needed to put anything I would need in these bags, (shoes, visor, helmet, food, etc). Once that was complete and all my numbers were on my bike, helmet, and race belt I was ready to ride my bike down to the beach again to set it up for Sunday. On the way back to the hotel, I shared a cab with this guy who flew over from the USA, he works for Good Morning America as the show's personal trainer, he also does some health segment on the show. Now it was time to for a quick shower and to meet up with a few friends for dinner!! We ended up at Crazy Burger, there didn't seem to be many options around the resort area for food. Luckily I was able to get a salad, so I kept my pre-race meals healthy! Finally got back to the room about 8-830pm, time to settle down, watch some TV (CSI of course, haha), and go to sleep!! Alarm set for 4am, since my roommates were doing the full ironman, their start time was 7am! 





Race morning!! After my roommates left, I was able to relax and close my eyes for about another hour. Got up and had some break fast, got ready and met my friend before heading to the shuttle  to the start line. I was surprisingly calm at the start line, I had a bit on nerves on Saturday morning while warming up, so I guess I had gotten it out of my system. I hung out with the girls I knew who were also doing the race, and watched the people doing the Full Ironman swim. As 9am approached I did my final bit of getting ready and made sure my bike was set up, and moved my way to the beach. 



This race was a mass-start meaning that all participants will run into the water and start at the same time. My plan was to start at the back and swim my way up. 9am hit and the "canon" (or weak sounding gun) shot off and the race began! I ran/walked my way into the water and then tried to get into a rhythm with my swim. I was able to overtake quite a few people, I did have some problems keeping a rhythm because there were so many of us in the water at once (about 250 people). I manged to get out of the water in 41min. I saw quite a few bikes still racked when I got to mine, so I must have done a good job on passing people. Now it was time to put all the biking I've done in the past few months to work. The course was all hills, even when it looked flat it was usually a false flat, and was really a hill. I was told after the total elevation climbed was 3500ft. I had fun and tried to keep the pace that I planned on riding. I had a race plan and it was very tempting to ride faster or really push it on the up-hills, but I didn't want to use too much and have nothing left for the run. About 46 miles into the ride my back began to really hurt. Felt like some sort of spasm or something. Making the last 10 miles really painful! By 52 miles into the ride, my only thought was pedal faster and get off this bike! My legs were getting a bit fatigued at this point, but not bad. My source of pain was my back, and my feet a little bit. The bike did take a bit longer then I planned on it taking, but all in all I didn't mind. I made it almost an hour before the cut-off time and was left with 4 hours to complete an 1/2 marathon. After making it into T2, I felt an awesome since of relief. I knew even if I walked the entire 13.1 miles I could do it in under 4 hours! After a quick change of my shoes, I sucked down a melted snickers and set off on the 'run' or as I will call it, the ironman-shuffle! Ha! The hills on the run were non-stop and killer. Not one section of the run was flat! Since my feet were hurting, I took the first 1-2miles in a fast walk/slow run. As my body adjusted to the run, I actually was able to do a slow trot for most of the whole 13.1miles. I did walk on some of the up-hills near the end. At every aid station, I took in water and most I took in some gatorade too. I was constantly using the sponges to try and keep cool. I had an American Flag with me, I had intended on just having it in my pocket during the run, but since the sun was shinning bright, I decided to cover my shoulders with it. A really good idea since my back was already burnt from the bike!!! For as little as I ran in my training, I was a bit surprised that I was able to run most the race. I had this little voice in my head telling me, if I keep moving, I can place in my AG. I knew my competition and I knew where they were on the course, so I used this as my motivation. The run was an out an back, the way out felt like it was easier then the back. There was more downhills on the way out. The last mile of the race was all up hill too, this made it a challenge. I saw quite a few people doing the ironman-shuffle out there. A lot of people looked like they were suffering! I made a good attempt at being a cheerleader on the run and encouraging people as we passed each other! I even saw one guy napping in the bus station! After making it up the hill and around the corner knowing how close I was to the finish, I picked up the speed and let the joy of finishing this race take over my body. True to my fashion, I sprinted in for a strong finish! Flag held high above my head with a huge smile on my face!!!


After the race I got my massage, and attempted to eat... didn't go as well as I wanted. I was a bit dehydrated  boo! There really wasn't enough time to get back to the hotel, disassemble my bike, and make it to the airport in time for my flight, so I called the airline to have it changed. I was able to attend the award ceremony and dinner... where I got my trophy for a 3rd place win in my age group! At dinner, I filled up 2 plates full of all the different foods they had, and kept trying to eat... fail! Still feeling like I was going to be sick, I gave up on eating and went back to the hotel for shower. I spent the rest of the evening down at the finish watching the full ironman competitors come in! So awesome to see this!!! :) I was so happy to be there and to have completed my race! I made it back to my room a bit before midnight to go to sleep! 


Monday morning (happy 4th of July to my fellow American's!), got up early and had a good breakfast down at the hotel restaurant! Much needed after not being able to eat on Sunday! I woke up with a great deal of pain in my back, other then that, my legs were just a bit sore. I packed up and went to catch my plane. By the time I made it back to Seoul, my legs were sore for all the sitting. 


Overall it was a totally awesome experience. I was so happy to be out there racing. I had such great spirits and a big smile on my face all day. I know that I gave my all and did the best that I could do. I learned SO MUCH from this race! I am so ready to take on another. This time I'll do it teamed with a coach, as to help me stay on track and get the most out of all my workouts! Thank you all for your support in this! I am now 1 step closer to my goal of completing a full Ironman! :)